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MUSIC

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KABUL, Afghanistan — When Taliban

fighters rode triumphantly into Kabul airport

early Tuesday, they did so on U.S.-supplied

pickup trucks, wearing U.S.-supplied uni-

forms and brandishing U.S.-supplied M4 and

M16 rifles. Then they spent hours examining

the bonanza of materiel that American troops

unintentionally bequeathed them in what had

been the U.S.’ last redoubt in Afghanistan.

“This is ghaneema,” said one uniformed Ta-

liban fighter: war booty. With a gloved hand,

he snapped up the night-vision goggles on his

ballistic helmet, looking like the very model of

an Afghan soldier the U.S. had tried to help

create to eliminate people like him. He walked

inside a hangar and gawked with his squad

mates at the U.S. Embassy helicopters gleam-

ing under powerful overhead lights.

The choppers were just part of the Taliban’s

haul. The group’s blindingly fast sweep

through most of Afghanistan netted it billions

of dollars’ worth of U.S. military equipment

and weaponry given to the Afghan National

Defense and Security Forces, which collapsed

in the 11 days before the Taliban seized Kabul,

the capital, on Aug. 15. Afghan soldiers who

didn’t surrender shed their uniforms and gear

The spoils of warTanks, trucks, helicopters, drones, bullets: What US-supplied arms mean for Taliban

BY NABIH BULOS

Los Angeles Times

SEE SPOILS ON PAGE 6

AFGHANISTAN

Top: Taliban fighters arrive inside the HamidKarzai International Airport after the U.S.military’s withdrawal on Tuesday. Left: Tali-ban special forces stand guard outside theairport after the U.S. military’s withdrawal inKabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday.

PHOTOS BY KHWAJA TAWFIQ SEDIQI/AP

Volume 80 Edition 100B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban special forcesbring abrupt end toKabul protest marchPage 6

VIRUS OUTBREAK

US death tollhits 1,500 a dayamid delta scourge Page 7

Sources: Big 12 planning to expand by four teams ›› College football, Page 23

The war in Afghanistan wasn’t

even half over when Adam Hol-

royd earned his Silver Star.

But it would not be pinned on

the retired sergeant’s chest until

more than a decade later — after

the enemy he

fought, the Tali-

ban, had already

retaken the

country.

Holroyd

pulled a special

operations med-

ic to safety dur-

ing a firefight in

a remote corner

of Nuristan province 12 years ago,

then he battled a fire in an out-

house that held dozens of rocket-

propelled grenades. Later, he

climbed into the smoldering shack

to pull out the RPG rounds, crate

by crate.

The 10th Mountain Division vet-

eran was finally presented the

country’s third-highest award for

those actions Wednesday in a cer-

emony at Fort Drum, N.Y., two

days after the U.S. withdrew its

last troops from Afghanistan. The

ceremony culminated an 11-year

push, plus a year of delay after the

medal was misplaced.

Yet nearly a decade earlier, a

SEAL who had been on a shadowy

mission with the CIA when he

helped Holroyd quench the fire

and remove the RPGs was quietly

awarded a Navy Cross. It’s one

step down from a Medal of Honor.

“I’m pretty sure we could have

gotten more than a Silver Star …

but we had to get something,” said

a senior Army noncommissioned

officer who drove the effort to get

Holroyd’s medal but who asked

not to be named in order to discuss

the matter.

SEE FIGHT ON PAGE 4

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

Army vet’sSilver Starcomes after11-year fight

Holroyd

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, September 5, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

Major stock indexes on Wall

Street closed mostly lower Fri-

day, though a rally in Big Tech

companies nudged the Nasdaq to

another all-time high.

The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1%

a day after notching a record high.

The benchmark index still man-

aged its second straight weekly

gain. Losses in financial, industri-

al and utilities companies out-

weighed gains in technology

stocks and other sectors of the

S&P 500. Energy prices mostly

fell. Gold and silver rose. Treasu-

ry yields were mixed.

Stock indexes' uneven finish

followed a government report

showing that U.S. employers cre-

ated far fewer jobs than expected

last month. The report led inves-

tors to question whether the delta

variant is starting to impact eco-

nomic growth.

“Investors are saying, ‘looks

like this transition from reopen-

ing to a reopened economy is go-

ing to take a little bit longer,’” said

Tom Hainlin, national investment

strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth

Management.

The S&P 500 slipped 1.52 points

to 4,535.43. The Dow Jones Indus-

trial Average fell 74.73 points, or

0.2%, to 35,369.09. The Nasdaq

composite rose 32.34 points, or

0.2%, to 15,363.52, its third

straight gain. The technology-

heavy index also posted a weekly

gain.

The indexes’ moves were most-

ly muted ahead of a long holiday

weekend. U.S. stock markets will

be closed Monday for Labor Day.

Stocks on Wall Street end week mostly lower Associated Press

Bahrain94/91

Baghdad105/75

Doha102/86

Kuwait City108/85

Riyadh107/81

Kandahar

Kabul

Djibouti100/85

SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

74/55

Ramstein74/41

Stuttgart73/52

Lajes,Azores71/68

Rota87/62

Morón98/65 Sigonella

83/71

Naples82/67

Aviano/Vicenza76/58

Pápa75/50

Souda Bay78/73

Brussels78/59

Zagan67/52

DrawskoPomorskie

64/52

SUNDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa67/62

Guam84/81

Tokyo65/62

Okinawa84/81

Sasebo83/73

Iwakuni80/73

Seoul78/64

Osan78/63

Busan77/72

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

MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 12Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Movies ......................... 15Music ..................... 13-14Opinion ........................ 18Sports .................... 19-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Sept. 6) $1.16Dollar buys (Sept. 6) 0.8189 British pound (Sept. 6) $1.35Japanese yen (Sept. 6) 107.00South Korean won (Sept. 6) 1127.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3769Britain (Pound) 1.3851Canada (Dollar) 1.2529 China(Yuan) 6.4375 Denmark (Krone) 6.2549 Egypt (Pound) 15.7036 Euro 0.8412Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7736 Hungary (Forint) 292.65 Israel (Shekel) 3.2039 Japan (Yen) 109.67 Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3006

Norway (Krone) 8.6420

Philippines (Peso) 49.87 Poland (Zloty) 3.79 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7507 Singapore (Dollar) 1.3405

South Korea (Won) 1156.07 Switzerland (Franc) 0.9134Thailand (Baht) 32.47 Turkey (NewLira) 8.3020

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

INTEREST RATES

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

EXCHANGE RATES

Sunday, September 5, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

TOKYO — A former U.S. soldier

who lost both legs to a roadside

bomb in Baghdad sprinted in a Pa-

ralympic 200-meter final on Fri-

day.

Luis Puertas, 34, of Orlando, Fla.,

was riding in a convoy while de-

ployed to Iraq’s capital city in 2006

when his Humvee was hit by a

deadly bomb called an explosively

formed penetrator, he told Stars

and Stripes after his race.

The penetrators can fire a slug of

high-density metal up to 6,500 mph.

Puertas, a specialist with the Ar-

my’s 4th Infantry Division, had

both legs blown off immediately by

the blast.

Six months after losing his legs,

he ran in the Army Ten-Miler in

Washington, D.C., he said.

Puertas said he was inspired to

run by his former squad leader in

Iraq, Richard McColloch, who had

deployed multiple times and guard-

ed the Tomb of the Unknown Sol-

dier at Arlington National Cemete-

ry, Va.

“He called me every day and

asked if I was training, and one day

he came and we did it,” Puertas

said. “We will never abandon each

other no matter how bad life gets.”

In 2012, after watching Britain’s

Richard Whitehead, a double knee

amputee, sprint to a world record

and gold medal in the 200 meters at

the London Paralympics, Puertas

was inspired to sprint for gold.

“I want to be that guy,” he said in

an undated article on the Team

USA website. “I want the crowd

roaring for me.”

The high-tech running blades

Puertas used in Tokyo would be an

advantage in distance running, he

told Stars and Stripes, but don’t pro-

vide any boost beyond what a

sprinter would achieve running

with their legs.

“What it gives you is what you

don’t have,” he said.

On Friday evening at the Nation-

al Stadium in Tokyo, Puertas ran

the 200 meters in 25.4 seconds,

placing fourth in a race won by

South African Ntando Mahlangu in

23.59 seconds.

“It’s an honor to represent my

country,” he said. “I represented it

before in a much more dangerous

way. This is more relaxing and

easy.”

Puertas was one of three U.S. mil-

itary veterans who competed in the

Tokyo Paralympics’ track-and-

field events.

AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes

Paralympian Luis Puertas, an Army veteran who lost both legs in Iraq,runs in a 200meter event at National Stadium in Tokyo, Friday.

Army veteran who lost his legsin Iraq sprints in Paralympics

BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @SethRobson1

TOKYO — A U.S. soldier

smashed a world swimming re-

cord by two seconds to win Para-

lympic gold in the women’s 100-

meter backstroke at Tokyo Aquat-

ics Center on Friday evening.

Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Marks,

31, of Colorado Springs, Colo., fin-

ished with a record time of

1:19.57. China’s Yuyan Jian won

silver in 1:20.65, and Germany’s

Verena Schott

took bronze in

1:21.16.

Marks, a com-

bat medic and

member of the

Army’s World

Class Athlete

Program, in-

jured her hips in

Iraq and later had a leg amputat-

ed. She competes in a class that

includes people with different

types of disabilities, including ce-

rebral palsy, short stature and

amputations.

“Winning the gold feels great,”

Marks said after the race, accord-

ing to the Team USA website.

“I’ve loved every race that I’ve

gotten to swim. This one is one of

my favorites because I get to

breathe the whole time, so it was

amazing. There’s some really fast

girls in that pool so I was very ex-

cited that I could hold my own

with them.”

Marks’ medal was one of four

golds won by Team USA in the

pool on the final night of swim-

ming at the games. The team

earned 35 swimming medals in

Tokyo — 15 gold, 10 silver and 10

bronze.

Marks also won Team USA its

first swimming medal of the

games, taking silver in the 50-me-

ter freestyle on Aug. 25. She fol-

lowed that with a bronze in the 50-

meter butterfly on Monday.

She had already won gold in the

100-meter backstroke during the

2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janei-

ro. She also won bronze in the

4x100-meter medley relay that

year.

Marks enlisted in the Army in

2008 and severely injured both of

her hips in Iraq in 2010, according

to the World Class Athlete Pro-

gram. She spent much of her re-

habilitation in the pool at Brooke

Army Medical Center in Fort Sam

Houston, Texas.

“No one expects to be injured. It

is one of those things that no one

thinks will happen to them,” she

said in a March 17 article on the

Army’s website. Marks declined

to discuss how she was injured in

an interview with ESPN for a

March 25, 2016 story.

She underwent multiple sur-

geries. In 2017, her left leg was

amputated below the knee, ac-

cording to Team USA’s official

website.

The daughter of a Marine who

served in Vietnam, Marks fell in

love with the military as a teen af-

ter attending an at-risk youth a-

cademy run by service members,

according to the Army profile.

US soldier wins Paralympic gold for backstrokeBY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

NATHANIEL GARCIA/U.S. Army

Army Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Marks swims backstroke on her way to a gold medal in Tokyo, Friday.

[email protected] Twitter: @SethRobson1

Marks

MILITARY

SAN DIEGO — The Marine

Corps on Friday halted water-

borne operations for its new am-

phibious vehicle after identifying

a problem with its towing mecha-

nism.

Marine Corps spokesman Maj.

Jim Stenger said the decision was

made “out of an abundance of cau-

tion.”

The Amphibious Combat Vehi-

cle was obtained by the Marine

Corps last year to replace the Viet-

nam-era Amphibious Assault Ve-

hicle, or AAV, which suffered

problems.

Last year, eight Marines and

one sailor were killed off the coast

of San Diego inside an AAV after

becoming trapped inside the vehi-

cle.

Marine Corps leaders after the

July 2020 accident vowed to make

safety a bigger priority.

The break in waterborne oper-

ations come a day after the fam-

ilies of the eight Marines and one

sailor filed a lawsuit in Los An-

geles against the manufacturer,

BAE Systems.

“Realistic training is a vital

component of readiness, and the

Marine Corps is committed to en-

suring Marines train under the

safest conditions possible; this in-

cludes ensuring the functionality

of vehicles and equipment,” Sten-

ger said in a statement Friday.

Lawyer Eric Dubin, who is rep-

resenting the families, has said

BAE Systems knew for a decade

or more about a design defect that

makes it nearly impossible for

troops to open the cargo hatches

and escape the 26-ton amphibious

vehicles when they sink.

The troops last summer were

trapped inside for 45 minutes be-

fore the vehicle, known as an AAV,

sank.

An investigation by the mari-

time branch found the accident off

San Clemente Island was caused

by inadequate training, shabby

maintenance of the 35-year-old

amphibious assault vehicles and

poor judgment by commanders.

BAE Systems also was selected

by the Marine Corps to make the

new vehicles or ACVs, which the

military started receiving last

year.

BAE Systems has declined to

comment on the lawsuit.

The vehicles have been at the

heart of the Marine Corps’ am-

phibious operations, carrying

troops from ship to shore for both

combat and humanitarian oper-

ations since the early 1980s. They

can traverse both land and sea.

Marine Corps haltswaterborne operationsfor amphibious vehicle

Associated Press


AFGHANISTAN

Stars and Stripes is not identify-

ing the sailor, though his name has

previously been disclosed in other

published sources, including mil-

itary promotion board results

linking him to SEAL Team 6.

A redacted version of the Navy

Cross citation was included in a

2016 USA Today report on secret

medals, but Holroyd’s actions had

been largely unknown before this

week’s ceremony.

Had he not risked his life on re-

peated trips to smother the burn-

ing stockpile of RPGs, a resulting

blast could have been deadly and

likely would have deprived dozens

of soldiers of a schoolhouse that

was protecting them from well-

disciplined enemy snipers, the se-

nior NCO said.

“What Adam did, not only did it

save lives, but it saved the mis-

sion,” he said.

Mountain FireHolroyd’s actions in the fire-

fight came about a month into a

mission to liberate Barg-e Matal

district, a remote mountain village

that was a vacation spot for Ka-

bul’s elite.

A task force of some 220 U.S.

and Afghan troops — most from

1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Re-

giment — were sent to secure the

district center on a long-range air

assault in July 2009. The mission

was known as Operation Moun-

tain Fire.

It was largely political, request-

ed by Afghanistan’s president at

the time, Hamid Karzai, to secure

polling places ahead of August

elections, said Jason Dempsey, a

retired lieutenant colonel who had

previously served with 1-32.

Clearing it was supposed to take

three days but ended up taking

about 70.

Though the district center was a

meaningless objective, Mountain

Fire “put an incredible load on 1-

32,” said Dempsey.

The assault force landed with-

out a fight in cornfields outside

town, in the shadows of high

mountain peaks of the Hindu

Kush, said Maj. Michael Harri-

son, former commander of Attack

Company, 1-32.

Fleeing villagers avoided eye

contact, an ominous sign, and

within hours the enemy launched

an ambush from the hills on all

sides. An RPG blast mortally

wounded Staff Sgt. Eric Lind-

strom.

Two medics earned Bronze

Stars with Valor for repeatedly

braving machine-gun and rocket

fire to treat and help evacuate five

wounded that first day.

The Americans then dug in for a

grueling battle, Harrison said in a

phone interview. What followed

was over two months of fighting

from mud-and-timber huts and in

the surrounding mountains to al-

low police and district leaders to

return.

For the senior NCO, a squad

leader on the mission, it was the

heaviest fighting he saw in his 30

months in the country.

Holroyd and others declined to

discuss the SEAL’s mission, but it

seems to have been as part of a

covert Joint Special Operations

Command and CIA “omega team”

hunting terrorists, which was

mentioned in chapters of Bing

West’s book “The Wrong War.”

The book also recounted 1-32’s

mission there.

“The CIA believed that Lash-

kar-e-Taiba was dug in up in

Barg-e Matal” and that al-Qaida

members were using the nearby

pass into Pakistan, said Wesley

Morgan, author of “The Hardest

Place,” a recent book about the

war in northeastern Afghanistan.

By 2009, the agency couldn’t

just drive up to Nuristan, even

with an omega team, he said. They

had to fly and piggyback onto

larger infantry operations for se-

curity and cover.

After Lindstrom’s death, Spc.

Justin Coleman and Spc. Alexan-

der Miller were killed in separate

incidents in late July. West wrote

that enemy snipers killed three

Afghans and wounded dozens of

troops, including Americans.

A week after the battalion final-

ly left in late September, insur-

gents assaulted the nearest U.S.

outpost to its south, Combat Out-

post Keating. The U.S. withdrew

from there shortly thereafter.

Schoolhouse attackIn 2008, insurgents had overrun

another outpost in Nuristan, at

Wanat, in what was one of the

bloodiest incidents for the U.S. in

the 20-year war.

Though the attack on COP Keat-

ing hadn’t yet occurred when Hol-

royd’s unit came under assault,

the senior NCO had an ominous

premonition of an outcome simi-

lar to those two routs.

“That’s what I pictured was

about to happen” in Barg-e Matal,

he said.

Holroyd’s heroics came on Aug.

10, 2009, in response to an attack

on the battalion headquarters ele-

ment at what was dubbed “the

girls’ schoolhouse.”

Early on, a sniper’s bullet hit a

joint task force medic, breaking

his arm and throwing him to the

ground.

Both Holroyd and the SEAL

braved enemy fire to drag him to

cover, their citations state.

Minutes later, a burning RPG

hit a commode building that

served as an ammo supply point

and housed hundreds of RPG

rounds. A blast could have set

them off, but the cache didn’t ex-

plode.

“We should have all bought a

lottery ticket that day,” the senior

NCO said.

The roughly 50 soldiers were

ordered to evacuate, but Holroyd

didn’t hear that command, he said.

Annoyed at the prospect of dig-

ging in elsewhere, he chose to

fight the flames.

“There’s fear there, but there’s

also the very practical,” he said. “I

didn’t want to move all my stuff.”

As the attack raged, he sprinted

back and forth between the burn-

ing weapons cache and a small,

twisted-up hose, filling a bucket

and emptying it on the flames. Sgt.

Sam Alibrando helped and would

earn a Bronze Star with Valor for

his efforts, the senior NCO said.

Soon the SEAL joined in, ma-

naging to untangle the hose and

giving their efforts a needed boost,

recalled Holroyd, who between

bucket runs manned a machine

gun to suppress the attack.

Once the rocket cache was sat-

urated, the men soon found that

several RPGs were out of their

cases and hot, dangerously close

to exploding, awards records

state.

That’s when Holroyd volun-

teered to go into the building and

pass the cases out to the others.

The SEAL made several trips to

throw them over the compound’s

wall, his citation states, and with

his bare hands he removed the

smoldering RPG warhead that ig-

nited the conflagration.

Then the sailor went outside the

compound, making several trips

under fire to toss the ordnance in-

to the river. Their actions allowed

the other troops to return to their

positions and repel the assault, re-

cords state.

That wouldn’t have been possi-

ble without Holroyd.

“What he initiated ended up

saving everything,” the senior

NCO said. “Lots of people are alive

because of him and they probably

don’t realize it.”

UnrecognizedSoon after the attack, Holroyd

was chewed out for not evacuating

the schoolhouse, he said, but

members of the Navy who were

there wanted to put him in for an

award.

The senior NCO submitted him

for the Silver Star with the Army.

The recommendation was ap-

proved at the brigade level before

the paperwork “just disap-

peared,” Holroyd said. He learned

of the nomination only after he’d

left the service.

It’s not clear when the SEAL got

the Navy Cross — an official cited

security concerns in response to a

query — but an unredacted cita-

tion was published online in a gov-

ernment document apparently

created in 2011.

At some point, Holroyd met

with a senator’s aide about an in-

quiry into his own missing award,

but that went nowhere, he said in

July.

A co-founder of Spiritus Sys-

tems, a tactical gear company

popular with special operations

troops, Holroyd said he just let the

matter go after that. It wasn’t

about the award, he said, but frus-

tration over 1-32’s relative lack of

honors.

“We did things that were very

dangerous,” he said. “And they

weren’t recognized.”

The battalion received a Valo-

rous Unit Award in 2010 for Moun-

tain Fire. But Holroyd believed

that many of its soldiers, particu-

larly the junior enlisted ones,

didn’t get their deserved individu-

al recognition, he said in July.

He said he planned to dedicate

his Silver Star to them.

“This award is and has always

been larger than just me,” he was

quoted in an Army statement as

saying at Wednesday’s ceremony.

Many people helped ultimately

shepherd the award nomination

through the system, said the se-

nior NCO.

In 2019, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefa-

nik, a Republican whose district in

New York includes Fort Drum,

wrote a letter to the Army secre-

tary requesting Holroyd be

awarded the medal.

Later that year, the awards

packet got final endorsements

from military officers, and then-

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy

signed the citation in May 2020.

Holroyd said he also received a

letter from a general apologizing

for the delay.

It’s still not clear what held up

the awards process, but the senior

NCO said he never gave up on it

because the thought of not doing

so drove him “absolutely crazy.”

The medal honors the blood,

sweat and tears Holroyd gave

while doing what was asked of

him, the senior NCO said. He still

hopes an upgrade to a higher

award is possible.

“This was absolutely the least I

could do” to say thanks, he said.

“Sometimes words don’t do it.”

Fight: Soldier fought offflames, removed unstableRPGs amid intense battleFROM PAGE 1

U.S. ARMY

U.S. soldiers from 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division fire mortar rounds atsuspected Taliban fighting positions during Operation Mountain Fire in Nuristan province, Afghanistan, inJuly 2009.

MIKE STRASSER/U.S. Army

Retired Sgt. Adam Holroyd isawarded the Silver Star during aceremony, Wednesday, at FortDrum N.Y.

[email protected]


AFGHANISTAN

Bone-tired like everyone else in

Kabul, Taliban fighters spent the

last moments of the 20-year Af-

ghanistan war watching the night

skies for the flares that would sig-

nal the United States was gone.

From afar, U.S. generals watched

video screens with the same antic-

ipation.

Relief washed over the war’s

winners and the losers when the

final U.S. plane took off.

For those in-between and left

behind — possibly a majority of

the allied Afghans who sought

U.S. clearance to escape — fear

spread about what comes next,

given the Taliban’s history of ruth-

lessness and repression of women.

And for thousands of U.S. officials

and volunteers working around

the world to place Afghan refu-

gees, there is still no rest.

As witnessed by The Associated

Press in Kabul and as told by peo-

ple The AP interviewed from all

sides, the war ended with episodes

of brutality, enduring trauma, a

massive if fraught humanitarian

effort and moments of grace.

Enemies for two decades were

thrust into a bizarre collaboration,

joined in a common goal — the Ta-

liban and the United States were

united in wanting the United

States out. They wanted, too, to

avoid another deadly terrorist at-

tack. Both sides had a stake in

making the last 24 hours work.

In that stretch, the Americans

worried that extremists would

take aim at the hulking, helicop-

ter-swallowing transport planes

as they lifted off with the last U.S.

troops and officials. Instead, in the

green tint of night-vision goggles,

the Americans looked down to

goodbye waves from Taliban

fighters on the tarmac.

The Taliban had worried that

the Americans would rig the air-

port with mines. Instead, the

Americans left them with two use-

ful fire trucks and functional

front-end loaders along with a

bleak panorama of self-sabotaged

U.S. military machinery.

After several sleepless nights

from the unrelenting thunder of

U.S. evacuation flights overhead,

Hemad Sherzad joined his fellow

Taliban fighters in celebration

from his post at the airport.

“We cried for almost an hour

out of happiness,” Sherzad said.

“We yelled a lot — even our throat

was in pain.”

It was a harrowing 24 hours,

capped Monday by the final C-17

takeoff at 11:59 p.m. in Kabul.

Airport madnessBefore leaving Kabul, a U.S.

consular officer with 25 years at

the State Department was busy

trying to process special visas for

qualifying Afghans who made it

through the Taliban, Afghan mil-

itary and U.S. checkpoints into the

airport. What she saw was

wrenching.

“It was horrendous what the

people had to go through to get in,”

she said. “Some people had spent

three to five days waiting. On the

inside, we could hear the live am-

munition being fired to keep the

crowds back and the ones who

made it in would tell us about Tali-

ban soldiers with whips, sticks

with nails in them, flash-bang gre-

nades and tear gas pushing people

back.”

Even more upsetting, she said,

were the children who got inside

the airport separated from family,

some plucked by chance out of

teeming crowds by U.S. troops or

others. As many as 30 children a

day, many confused and all of

them frightened, were showing up

alone for evacuation flights during

the 12 days she was on the ground.

A small unit at the airport for

unaccompanied children set up by

Norway was quickly over-

whelmed, prompting UNICEF to

take over. UNICEF is now run-

ning a center for unaccompanied

child evacuees in Qatar.

More broadly, the U.S. sent

thousands of employees to more

than a half-dozen spots around

Europe and the Middle East for

screening and processing Afghan

refugees before they moved on to

the United States, or were reject-

ed. U.S. embassies in Mexico,

South Korea, India and elsewhere

operated virtual call centers to

handle the deluge of emails and

calls on the evacuations.

Over the previous days in Ka-

bul, many Afghans were turned

back by the Taliban; others were

allowed past them only to be stop-

ped at a U.S. checkpoint. It was

madness trying to sort out who sat-

isfied both sides and could make it

through the gauntlet.

Some Taliban soldiers ap-

peared to be out for rough justice;

others were disciplined, even col-

legial, over the last hours they

spent face to face with U.S. troops

at the airport. Some were caught

off-guard by the U.S. decision to

leave a day earlier than called for

in the agreement between the

combatants.

Sherzad said he and fellow Tali-

ban soldiers gave cigarettes to the

Americans at the airport and snuff

to Afghans still in the uniform of

their disintegrating army.

By then, he said, “everyone was

calm. Just normal chitchat.” Yet,

“We were just counting minutes

and moments for the time to rise

our flag after full independence.”

U.S. efforts to get at-risk Af-

ghans and others onto the airport

grounds were complicated by the

viral spread of an electronic code

that the U.S. sought to provide to

those given priority for evacua-

tion, said a senior State Depart-

ment official who was on the

ground in Kabul until Monday.

The official said the code, in-

tended for local Afghan staff at the

U.S. Embassy, had been shared so

widely and quickly that almost all

people seeking entry had a copy

on their phone within an hour of it

being distributed.

At the same time, the official

said, some U.S. citizens showed up

with large groups of Afghans,

many not eligible for priority

evacuation. And there were Af-

ghan “entrepreneurs” who would

falsely claim to be at an airport

gate with groups of prominent at-

risk Afghan officials.

“It involved some really painful

trade-offs for everyone involved,”

the official said of the selections

for evacuation. “Everyone who

lived it is haunted by the choices

we had to make.”

The official said it appeared to

him, at least anecdotally, that a

majority of the Afghans who ap-

plied for special visas because of

their past or present ties with the

U.S. did not make it out.

Among the hurdles was the de-

sign of the airport itself. It had

been constructed with restrictive

access to prevent terrorist attacks

and did not lend itself to allowing

any large groups of people inside,

let alone thousands frantically

seeking entry. All of this unfolded

under constant fear of another at-

tack from an Islamic State off-

shoot that killed 169 Afghans and

13 U.S. service members in the

Aug. 26 suicide bombing at the air-

port.

There were times, said another

U.S. official familiar with the

process, when Afghans made it on

to evacuation planes, only to be

pulled off before the flight when

they were found to be on no-fly

lists.

This official said that as far as is

known, all but one U.S. Embassy

employee made it out. That person

had the required special visa but

couldn’t bear to leave her parents

and other relatives behind. De-

spite pleading from Afghan and

American colleagues to get on the

evacuation bus to the airport, she

opted to stay, the official said.

But a 24-year-old former U.S.

contractor, Salim Yawer, who ob-

tained visas and a gate pass with

the help of his brother, a U.S. citi-

zen, never got out with his wife

and children aged 4 and 1½. They

tried four times to get to the air-

port before the Americans left.

“Each time we tried getting to

the gate, I was afraid my small

children would come under feet of

other people,” he said. He, too, did

not expect the Americans to leave

Monday, and he went back to the

airport the next day.

“We didn’t know that night that

the Americans would leave us be-

hind,” Yawer said. “Monday, still,

there were U.S. forces and planes

and hopes among people. But

Tuesday was a day of disappoint-

ment. ... Taliban were all over the

area and there was no plane in the

sky of Kabul anymore.”

Yawer owned a Kabul construc-

tion company and traveled to vari-

ous provinces doing work for the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he

said from his village back in north-

ern Kapisa province, where he

fled.

CountdownIn the final scramble at the Ka-

bul airport that evening, evacuees

were directed to specific gates as

U.S. commanders communicated

directly with the Taliban to get

people out.

■ About 8 a.m. Monday, explo-

sions could be heard as five rock-

ets were launched toward the air-

port. Three fell outside the airport,

one landed inside but did no dam-

age and one was intercepted by

the U.S. anti-rocket system. No

one was hurt.

Again, ISIS-K militants, com-

mon foe of both the Taliban and

the Americans, were suspected as

the source.

■ Through the morning, the

last 1,500 or so Afghans to get out

of the country before the U.S.

withdrawal left on civilian trans-

port. By 1:30 p.m., 1,200 U.S.

troops remained on the ground

and flights began to move them

steadily out.

U.S. airpower — bombers,

fighter jets, armed drones and the

special operations helicopters

known as Little Birds — provided

air cover.

■ Into the evening, U.S. troops

finished several days’ work de-

stroying or removing military

equipment. They disabled 27

Humvees and 73 aircraft, often

draining transmission fluids and

engine oil and running the engines

until they seized. They used

thermite grenades to destroy the

system that had intercepted a

rocket that morning. Equipment

useful for civilian airport purpos-

es, like the fire trucks, were left

behind for the new authorities.

■ At the end, fewer than 1,000

troops remained. Five C-17 planes

came in darkness to take them out,

with crews specially trained to fly

into and out of airfields at night

without air traffic control.

From Scott Air Force Base in Il-

linois, Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost,

commander of Air Mobility Com-

mand, watched on video screens

as the aircraft filled and lined up

for takeoff. An iconic image

showed Maj. Gen. Christopher

Donahue, commander of the 82nd

Airborne Division, carrying his

M-4 rifle as walked into a C-17 and

into history as the last of the U.S.

soldiers in Afghanistan.

Crisp orders and messages cap-

tured the last moments.

“Chock 5 100% accounted for,”

said one message, meaning all five

aircraft were fully loaded and all

people accounted for. “Clam-

shell,” came an order, meaning re-

tract the C-17 ramps one by one.

Then, “flush the force,” meaning

get out.

■ One minute to midnight, the

last of the five took off.

Soon came the message “MAF

Safe,” meaning the Mobility Air

Forces were gone from Kabul air

space and in safe skies.

The American generals re-

laxed. From the ground in Kabul,

Taliban fighter Mohammad Ras-

soul, known among other fighters

as “Afghan Eagle,” had been

watching, too.

“Our eyes were on the sky des-

perately waiting,” he said. The

roar of planes that had kept him up

for two nights had stopped. The

Taliban flares at the airport

streaked the sky.

“After 20 years of struggle we

achieved our target,” Rassoul

said. He dared hope for a better

life for his wife, two daughters and

son.

“I want my children to grow up

under peace,” he said. “Away

from drone strikes.”

24 hours of brutality, trauma, grace in Kabul

ALEXANDER BURNETT, U.S. ARMY/AP

Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division and others prepare toboard a C17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport inKabul, Afghanistan, on Monday.

BY TAMEEM AKHGAR,MATTHEW LEE, LOLITA C.BALDOR, RAHIM FAIEZ AND

CALVIN WOODWARD

Associated Press


KABUL, Afghanistan — Tali-

ban special forces in camouflage

fired their weapons into the air

Saturday, bringing an abrupt and

frightening end to the latest pro-

test march in the capital by Af-

ghan women demanding equal

rights from the new rulers.

Taliban fighters quickly cap-

tured most of Afghanistan last

month and celebrated the depar-

ture of the last U.S. forces after 20

years of war. The insurgent group

must now govern a war-ravaged

country that is heavily reliant on

international aid.

The women’s march — the sec-

ond in as many days in Kabul —

began peacefully. Demonstrators

laid a wreath outside Afghanis-

tan’s Defense Ministry to honor

Afghan soldiers who died fighting

the Taliban before marching on to

the presidential palace.

“We are here to gain human

rights in Afghanistan,” said 20-

year-old protester Maryam Naiby.

“I love my country. I will always

be here.”

As the protesters’ shouts grew

louder, several Taliban officials

waded into the crowd to ask what

they wanted to say.

Flanked by fellow demonstra-

tors, Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-year-old

university student, told her Tali-

ban interlocutor that Islam’s

prophet gave women rights and

they wanted theirs. The Taliban

official promised women would be

given their rights but the women,

all in their early 20s, were skepti-

cal.

As the demonstrators reached

the presidential palace, a dozen

Taliban special forces ran into the

crowd, firing in the air and send-

ing demonstrators fleeing. Kabiri,

who spoke to The Associated

Press, said they also fired tear gas.

The Taliban have promised an

inclusive government and a more

moderate form of Islamic rule

than when they last ruled the

country from 1996 to 2001. But

many Afghans, especially women,

are deeply skeptical and fear a roll

back of rights gained over the last

two decades.

Taliban special forces bring abrupt end to women’s protestAssociated Press

AFGHANISTAN

and turned tail, following many of

their military and political lead-

ers.

For their effort, Taliban fight-

ers reaped almost 2,000 Humvees

and trucks; more than 50 armored

fighting vehicles, including Mine-

Resistant Ambush Protection ve-

hicles, or MRAPs; scores of artil-

lery and mortar pieces; more than

a dozen aging but working heli-

copters and attack aircraft; a doz-

en tanks; seven Boeing-manufac-

tured drones; and millions upon

millions of bullets, according to a

list compiled by the Oryx Blog,

which tracks weapons used in

conflicts.

Many of the items had been dis-

abled by departing U.S. troops or

are beyond the ken of Taliban

fighters to operate. But a bitter

irony of the chaotic Western with-

drawal from Afghanistan is that

the very group the U.S. ousted 20

years ago is not only back in pow-

er but better-equipped militarily

than ever before to repel adver-

saries and enforce its brand of re-

pressive rule.

Slightly less than one-third of

the $83 billion Washington spent

on the Afghan defense forces

went toward materiel, estimates

say. That it now lies in the hands

of the U.S.’ erstwhile enemy is a

source of embarrassment for the

Biden administration, with for-

mer President Donald Trump in-

veighing in a statement Monday

that “ALL EQUIPMENT should

be demanded to be immediately

returned to the United States,”

along with “every penny” of its

cost.

The arms have transformed the

Taliban into a skewed version of

the army the U.S. wanted the Af-

ghans to have. One commander in

the Taliban’s elite Fateh Zwak

group proudly showed off the

brown-gray pickups once used by

the CIA-backed National Directo-

rate for Security, the Afghan gov-

ernment’s intelligence service.

The only thing different was the

insignias.

Many of the fighters acted the

part too, demonstrating what Dan

Grazier, who served as a Marine

in Afghanistan and is now a de-

fense policy analyst at the Wash-

ington-based Project on Govern-

ment Oversight, said was behav-

ior suggesting they had once been

part of the Afghan security forces

that had been trained by Ameri-

cans.

“The stance, the way they’re

holding the rifles, the trigger fin-

ger, how’s it’s flat and laying out-

side the trigger guard,” he said.

“That’s hallmark American mili-

tary training right there.”

The leftover U.S. gear is omni-

present in Kabul, where Taliban

fighters wielding shiny black M4s

on dark-green Ford Ranger

trucks is a routine sight. Humvees

protect bigger government build-

ings. (The U.S. gave the Afghan

army almost 5,000 M4s and ma-

chine guns in 2017, according to

reports from Washington’s Spe-

cial Inspector General for Af-

ghanistan Reconstruction.)

Less frequently seen — because

they are not so easily usable — are

the more lethal weapons, includ-

ing the A-29 Super Tucano, a tur-

boprop attack aircraft reminis-

cent of a World War II-era P-51

Mustang but with modern avion-

ics, and helicopters such as

MD-530s and Black Hawks.

U.S. troops “demilitarized,” or

rendered inoperable, 73 aircraft

left behind at Kabul airport, along

with some 70 MRAP vehicles and

27 Humvees, U.S. Central Com-

mand said. The deliberate sabo-

tage was evident Tuesday, when

Taliban officials toured the air-

port grounds.

Although the A-29s were ar-

ranged neatly in their hangar,

they stood amid a dump of sullied

camo-patterned bags, socks, bul-

let boxes, grenades and discarded

food packets. Their avionics bays

were open, and electronic boxes

that operate vital systems, includ-

ing the starter for the motors, had

been ripped out, their compo-

nents bashed to bits. A C-17 trans-

port plane parked outside squat-

ted on one wheel, and the Black

Hawks had their windows

smashed and trash strewn inside

bays that once carried vital sup-

plies to Afghan soldiers or evac-

uated them, sometimes alive but

often dead, back home.

Most ruined were the MD-530s.

In flight, they were nimble heli-

copters, buzzing around and al-

most jousting with Taliban fight-

ers assaulting government out-

posts. Now they were smooshed

together in the hangar, as if a gi-

ant child had flicked them into

each other. Their joysticks were

cut at the handle.

The disarray left some Afghans

angry, including one journalist

who was no friend of the Taliban.

But he was also unsurprised, he

said.

“This is what we’ve come to ex-

pect from Americans,” he said.

Some of the Afghan air force-

fleet had also been taken by their

Afghan pilots to the Panjshir Val-

ley in northern Afghanistan,

where the anti-Taliban resistance

is bunkered, or to neighboring Uz-

bekistan. Authorities in Uzbekis-

tan confirmed last month that

some 46 Afghan military aircraft

landed in the country.

Although quips on social media

about a “Taliban air force” are

overblown, the group has man-

aged to operate a few helicopters

snatched from Afghan forces be-

fore they could destroy them.

Dozens of Afghan air force pilots,

many of them trainees, are still

stuck in Afghanistan; some have

been coerced into flying them for

the group, said pilots interviewed

by the Los Angeles Times.

Videos posted on social media

from the southern city of Kanda-

har show a Black Hawk flying the

Taliban’s white banner during a

military parade last week. The oc-

casional whump-whump of a Rus-

sian Mi-17 helicopter can still be

heard over Kabul.

None of the aerial fleet left be-

hind is cutting-edge, said a U.S.

pilot and trainer who asked not to

be named so as to comment free-

ly. The aircraft, he said, were

“stripped of every modern com-

ponent.”

“They were sliced-up trucks,

because the environment didn’t

need the fancy stuff — they didn’t

even have the standard self-de-

fense systems,” he said, adding

that the rules for selling the equip-

ment to the Afghan air forcere-

quired some demilitarization any-

way.

Besides, whatever does fly now

probably won’t be doing so in a

few months, said an Afghan air

force colonel who spoke on condi-

tion of anonymity because he re-

cently escaped the country and

still has family in Afghanistan.

Even when the Afghan army ex-

isted, he said, it had no way of

maintaining the aircraft without

contractors and a steady pipeline

of spare parts; bigger repairs re-

quired the aircraft to be taken to

U.S. bases in the United Arab

Emirates or Qatar.

“These aircraft aren’t flyable,”

he said. “I’m happy they’ll try to

fly them. They’ll kill a lot of Tali-

ban when they do.”

Spoils: US ‘demilitarized’ many aircraft, vehicles FROM PAGE 1

WALI SABAWOON/AP

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint near Hamid Karzai international Airport in Kabul, Aug. 28.


Brian Pierce, a coroner in Bald-

win County, Ala., thought he had

seen the last of the coronavirus

months ago as the area’s death

count held steady at 318 for most of

the spring and summer. But then

in July and August, the fatalities

began mounting and last week,

things got so bad the state rolled a

trailer into his parking lot as a tem-

porary morgue.

“I think most people were think-

ing, ‘We’re good,’ ” he said. “Life

was almost back to normal. Now

I’m telling my kids again to please

stay home.”

Nationally, COVID-19 deaths

have climbed steadily in recent

weeks, hitting a seven-day aver-

age of about 1,500 a day Thursday,

after falling to the low 200s in early

July — the latest handiwork of a

contagious variant that has ex-

ploited the return to everyday ac-

tivities by tens of millions of Amer-

icans, many of them unvaccinated.

The dead include two Texas teach-

ers at a junior high, who died last

week within days of each other; a

13-year-old middle school boy

from Georgia; and a pregnant

nurse, 37, in Southern California

who left behind five children.

What is different about this

fourth pandemic wave in the Unit-

ed States is that the growing rates

of vaccination and natural immu-

nity have broken the relationship

between infections and deaths in

many areas.

The daily count of new infec-

tions is rising in almost every part

of the country. But only some plac-

es — mostly southern states with

lower vaccination rates — are see-

ing a parallel surge in deaths. The

seven-day average of daily deaths

is about a third of what it was in Ja-

nuary, the pandemic’s most dead-

ly month, but is forecast to contin-

ue rising as high numbers of pa-

tients are hospitalized.

While most regions with in-

creasing deaths have lower vacci-

nation rates, that isn’t the case for

all of them.

Florida, for example, where

more than 53% of the population is

fully vaccinated, is the worst-hit

state in terms of daily deaths

which have averaged 325 over the

past week, alongside almost

20,000 new daily infections on av-

erage. Despite resistance from lo-

cal school boards, Florida Gov.

Ron DeSantis has fought to en-

force his ban on mask mandates

and made good on a threat to with-

hold salaries from some of them

this week even after a judge ruled

the ban unconstitutional.

David Wesley Dowdy, an epide-

miologist at the Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Public

Health, said the situation under-

scores the unanswered questions

about the virus 18 months out —

and the limitations of mathemati-

cal forecasting to predict the daily

choices of 330 million Americans.

“The driving factor in the cur-

rent wave is human behavior —

how people interact and how peo-

ple respond to risk — and that is

really very unpredictable,” he

said.

“We are in a perfect storm of vi-

ral changes and behavioral chang-

es,” agreed Lauren Ancel Meyers,

director of the University of Texas

Covid-19 Modeling Consortium.

Virtually every time that hu-

mans have underestimated the vi-

rus, and let down their guard,

deaths surged.

Deborah Birx, coordinator of

former president Donald Trump’s

coronavirus task force, suggested

in March 2020, that mitigation

measures might keep deaths at

100,000 to 240,000 under the most

optimistic scenario. But by the end

of 2020, when vaccines were first

authorized for emergency use, the

nation had long surpassed those

numbers, and forecasters predict-

ed U.S. COVID-19 deaths would

top out at around 550,000.

As of Thursday, the country has

logged more than 640,000 deaths

— and many experts believe we

are not yet at the peak.

When looking at coronavirus

deaths, the United States current-

ly looks like two very different

countries with a mostly north-

south divide.

Alabama’s top health official

has warned “there is no more

room to put these bodies,” while a

central Florida medical coalition

has purchased 14 portable mor-

gues to help manage the “unprece-

dented” deaths.

Florida and Louisiana are expe-

riencing their highest pandemic

deaths per capita to date, surpass-

ing their January toll. Mississip-

pi’s death rate is higher than those

other states, although far lower

than at its January peak.

Of the 14 states experiencing the

worst death rates this week, only

Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming are

outside the South.

At the other end, many Northern

and Midwestern states still have

low death rates despite rising case

counts, though covid-19 deaths

typically lag infection reports by

several weeks. The seven states

averaging two or fewer daily

deaths per capita were Vermont,

Alaska, Rhode Island, the Dako-

tas, Maine, and New Hampshire,

along with the District. Most have

high vaccination rates, or high

rates of natural immunity from

earlier pandemic waves, or both.

Ali Mokdad, a researcher at the

Institute for Health Metrics and

Evaluation at the University of

Washington whose model is con-

sidered among the more optimis-

tic, said that at least nine states

may have reached, or passed, their

peak for the delta variant — Mis-

souri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas,

Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida

in the south, along with Nevada

and Hawaii — but that has little to

do with policy changes or other

major events.

Likely it’s more about “individ-

ual caution and [delta] running out

of susceptible individuals,” he and

his team wrote in a recent report.

COVID death toll reaches 1,500 people a dayThe Washington Post

KYLE GREEN/AP

Dr. William Dittrich M.D. looks over a COVID19 patient in the medical intensive care unit at St. Luke'sBoise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday.

FDA commissioner during the

Obama administration. “They

needed to say something, but they

could have just said, ‘we’re work-

ing on boosters, more to come.’”

WASHINGTON — President

Joe Biden’s plans to start delivery

of booster shots by Sept. 20 for most

Americans who received the CO-

VID-19 vaccines are facing new

complications that could delay the

availability of third doses for those

who received the Moderna vac-

cine, administration officials said

Friday.

Biden announced last month

that his administration was plan-

ning for boosters to be available for

all Americans who received the

mRNA vaccines in an effort to pro-

vide more enduring protection

against the coronavirus, pending

approvals from the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention

and the Food and Drug Adminis-

tration.

Those agencies, though, are

awaiting critical data before sign-

ing off on the third doses, with

Moderna’s vaccine increasingly

seen as unlikely to make the Sept.

20 milestone.

According to one official, Moder-

na produced inadequate data for

the FDA and CDC to recommend

the third dose of its vaccine and

FDA has requested additional data

that is likely to delay those boosters

into October. Pfizer, which is fur-

ther along in the review process, in

part because of data collected from

the vaccine’s use in Israel, is still

expected to be approved for a third

dose for all by Sept. 20. A key FDA

panel is to review Pfizer’s data on

boosters on Sept. 17.

Data for boosters on Johnson &

Johnson’s single-dose vaccine

won’t be available for months,

since that shot wasn’t approved un-

til February, officials said.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting

FDA commissioner, and CDC Di-

rector Dr. Rochelle Walensky,

briefed White House COVID-19 co-

ordinator Jeff Zients and other offi-

cials about the expected Moderna

delay on Thursday, officials said.

Most of the 206 million Ameri-

cans at least partially vaccinated

against COVID-19 received the

Pfizer shot, but about 80 million re-

ceived the Moderna vaccine, ac-

cording to CDC data.

The administration’s public pro-

nouncement about booster availa-

bility, a break from the more delib-

erate and behind-the-scenes plan-

ning that defined its early vaccina-

tion campaign, sparked concerns

from some that the White House

was getting ahead of the science on

boosters.

“The announcement in August

kinda jumped the gun,” said Dr.

Stephen Ostroff, former acting

The White House said it was

merely preparing for the boosters’

eventual approval, and that the re-

views were “all part of a process

that is now underway.”

Some may miss Sept. 20 booster shot startAssociated Press

HANNAH BEIER/Bloomberg

A healthcare worker administers a third dose of the PfizerBioNTechvaccine at a senior living facility in Worcester, Pa., on Aug. 25.

VIRUS OUTBREAK


NEW ORLEANS — With power

due back for almost all of New Or-

leans this week, Mayor LaToya

Cantrell strongly encouraged resi-

dents who evacuated because of

Hurricane Ida to begin returning

home. But outside the city, the pro-

spects of recovery appeared bleak-

er, with homes and businesses in

tatters.

Six days after Hurricane Ida

made landfall, hard-hit parts of

Louisiana were still struggling to

restore any sense of normalcy.

Even around New Orleans, a con-

tinued lack of power for most resi-

dents made a sultry stretch of sum-

mer hard to bear and added to

woes in the aftermath of Ida. Loui-

siana authorities searched Friday

for a man they said shot another

man to death after they both waited

in a long line to fill up at a gas sta-

tion in suburban New Orleans.

Cantrell said the city is offering

transportation to any resident

looking to leave the city and get to a

public shelter. It already began

moving some residents out of se-

nior homes.

At the Renaissance Place senior

home Friday, dozens of residents

lined up to get on minibuses

equipped with wheelchair lifts af-

ter city officials said they deter-

mined conditions at the facility

were not safe and evacuated it.

Reggie Brown, 68, was among

those waiting to join fellow resi-

dents on a bus. He said residents,

many in wheelchairs, have been

stuck at the facility since Ida. Ele-

vators stopped working three days

ago and garbage was piling up in-

side, he said. The residents were

being taken to a state-run shelter,

the mayor’s office said.

“I’m getting on the last bus,”

Brown said. “I’m able-bodied.”

Aphone message for the compa-

ny that manages the Renaissance

site, HSI Management Inc., was

not immediately returned.

But Cantrell also encouraged

residents to return to the city as

their power comes back, saying

they could help the relief effort by

taking in neighbors and family who

were still in the dark. Only a small

number of city residents had pow-

er back by Friday though almost all

electricity should return by

Wednesday, according to Entergy,

the company that provides power

to New Orleans and much of south-

east Louisiana in the storm’s path.

“We are saying, you can come

home,” Cantrell told a news con-

ference.

The outlook was not as promis-

ing south and west of the city,

where Ida’s fury fully struck. The

sheriff’s office in Lafourche Parish

cautioned returning residents

about the difficult situation that

awaited them — no power, no run-

ning water, little cellphone service

and almost no gasoline.

Late Friday, Entergy said its

damage assessments across south-

east Louisiana were almost com-

plete, and the company posted res-

toration times for most customers.

Some parishes outside New Or-

leans were battered for hours by

winds of 100 mph or more.

President Joe Biden arrived Fri-

day to survey the damage in some

of those spots, touring a neighbor-

hood in LaPlace, a community be-

tween the Mississippi River and

Lake Pontchartrain that suffered

catastrophic wind and water dam-

age that sheared off roofs and

flooded homes.

“I promise we’re going to have

your back,” Biden said at the outset

of a briefing by officials.

The president has also promised

full federal support to the North-

east, where Ida’s remnants

dumped record-breaking rain and

killed at least 50 people from Vir-

ginia to Connecticut.

At least 14 deaths were blamed

on the storm in Louisiana, Missis-

sippi and Alabama, including those

of three nursing home residents

who were evacuated along with

hundreds of other seniors to a

warehouse in Louisiana ahead of

the hurricane. State health officials

have launched an investigation in-

to those deaths and a fourth one at

the warehouse facility in Tangipa-

hoa Parish, where they say condi-

tions became unhealthy and un-

safe.

The health department on Fri-

day reported an additional death —

a59-year-old man who was poison-

ed by carbon monoxide from a gen-

erator that was believed to be run-

ning inside his home. Several

deaths in the aftermath of the

storm have been blamed on carbon

monoxide poisoning, which can

happen if generators are run im-

properly.

More than 800,000 homes and

businesses remained without pow-

er Friday evening across southeast

Louisiana, according to the Public

Service Commission. That’s about

36% of all utility customers state-

wide, but it’s down from the peak of

around 1.1 million after the storm

arrived last Sunday with top winds

of 150 mph. Ida is tied for the fifth-

strongest hurricane ever to strike

the mainland U.S.

CHRIS GRANGER, THE TIMESPICAYUNE, THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE/AP

People wait to get gas at a Shell Station on Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Metairie, La., Thursday. Stationsare slowly starting to open days after Hurricane Ida.

New Orleans mayor urges Ida evacuees to return Associated Press

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.

— Tens of thousands of South

Lake Tahoe residents were

watching hopefully during the

weekend for a chance to return

home as firefighters made pro-

gress against a threatening Cali-

fornia blaze that has turned their

thriving resort into a ghost town.

Lighter winds and higher hu-

midity heading into the Labor

Day weekend reduced the spread

of flames and fire crews were

quick to take advantage by dou-

bling down on burning and cut-

ting fire lines around the Caldor

Fire.

Bulldozers with giant blades,

crews armed with shovels and a

fleet of aircraft dropping hun-

dreds of thousands of gallons of

water and fire retardant helped

keep the fire’s advance to a couple

of thousand acres — a fraction of

its explosive spread last month

and the smallest increase in

weeks.

“Things are clearly heading in

the right direction for us,” said

Dean Gould, a supervisor with the

U.S. Forest Service.

The northeast section of the im-

mense Sierra Nevada blaze was

still within a few miles of South

Lake Tahoe and the Nevada state

line but fire officials said it hadn’t

made any significant advances in

several days and wasn’t challeng-

ing containment lines in long sec-

tions of its perimeter.

A map displayed at a Friday

evening briefing showed much of

the 333-square-mile blaze ringed

in black, to indicate containment

lines.

With the fire about one-third

surrounded, authorities allowed

more people back into their

homes on the western and north-

ern sides of the fires Friday after-

noon.

But there was no timeline for al-

lowing the return of 22,000 South

Lake Tahoe residents and others

across the state line in Douglas

County, Nev., who were evacuat-

ed days ago. Authorities were tak-

ing that decision day by day.

“It’s all based on fire behavior,”

said Jake Cagle, a fire operations

section chief. “For now, things are

looking good … we’re getting

close.”

The resort area can easily ac-

commodate 100,000 people on a

busy weekend but was eerily

empty just before the holiday

weekend.

The wildfire dealt a major blow

to an economy that heavily de-

pends on tourism and was starting

to rebound this summer from

pandemic shutdowns.

“It’s a big hit for our local busi-

nesses and the workers who rely

on a steady income to pay rent and

put food on their table,” said De-

vin Middlebrook, mayor pro-tem

of South Lake Tahoe.

He said the shutdown will also

hurt the city, as it gets most of its

revenue to pay for police and fire

services, as well as road mainte-

nance, from hotel taxes and sales

taxes.

Fire crews still had a lot of work

to do in the grasslands, timber

stands and granite outcroppings.

And despite the overall better

weather, winds could still be

“squirrely” and locally erratic as

they hit the region’s ridges and

deep canyons.

The fire — which began Aug.

14, was named after the road

where it started and raged

through densely forested, craggy

areas — was still considered a

threat to more than 30,000 homes,

businesses and other buildings

ranging from cabins to ski resorts.

Wildfires this year have burned

at least 1,500 homes and decimat-

ed several mountain hamlets. The

Dixie Fire, burning about 65 miles

north of the Caldor Fire, is the

second-largest wildfire in state

history at about 1,380 square

miles and is 55% contained.

JAE C. HONG/AP

Two firefighters from the Cosumnes Fire Department carry waterhoses while holding a fire line to keep the Caldor Fire from spreadingin South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Friday.

No timeline for return of Lake Tahoe evacuees amid Caldor FireBY DAISY NGUYEN

Associated Press

NATION


NATION

PHOENIX — An Arizona man

who sported face paint, no shirt

and a furry hat with horns when

he joined the mob that stormed

the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded

guilty Friday to a felony charge

and wants to be released from jail

while he awaits sentencing.

Jacob Chansley, who was wide-

ly photographed in the Senate

chamber with a flagpole topped

with a spear, could face 41 to 51

months in prison under sentenc-

ing guidelines, a prosecutor said.

The man who called himself “QA-

non Shaman” has been jailed for

nearly eight months since his ar-

rest.

Before entering the plea, Chan-

sley was found by a judge to be

mentally competent after having

been transferred to a Colorado fa-

cility for a mental health evalua-

tion. His lawyer Albert Watkins

said the solitary confinement that

Chansley faced for most of his

time in jail has had an adverse ef-

fect on his mental health and that

his time in Colorado helped him

regain his sharpness.

“I am very appreciative for the

court’s willingness to have my

mental vulnerabilities examin-

ed,” Chansley said before plead-

ing guilty to a charge of obstruct-

ing an official proceeding.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lam-

berth is considering Chansley’s

request to be released from jail

while he awaits sentencing, which

is set for Nov. 17.

Chansley acknowledged in a

court record to being one of the

first 30 pro-Trump rioters to

stream into the Capitol building.

He riled up the crowd with a bull-

horn as officers tried to control

them, posed for photos and pro-

fanely referred to then-Vice Pres-

ident Mike Pence as a traitor

while in the Senate. He wrote a

note to Pence saying, “It’s only a

matter of time, justice is coming.”

He also made a social media post

in November in which he promot-

ed hangings for traitors.

The image of Chansley with his

face painted like the American

flag, wearing a bear skin head

dress and looking as if he were

howling was one of the first strik-

ing images to emerge from the

riot.

Chansley is among roughly 600

people charged in the riot that

forced lawmakers into hiding as

they were meeting to certify Pres-

ident Joe Biden’s Electoral Col-

lege victory. Fifty others have

pleaded guilty, mostly to misde-

meanor charges of demonstrating

in the Capitol.

Only one defendant who plead-

ed guilty to a felony charge has re-

ceived their punishment so far.

Paul Hodgkins, a crane operator

from Florida who breached the

U.S. Senate chamber carrying a

Trump campaign flag, was sen-

tenced in July to eight months in

prison after pleading guilty to ob-

structing an official proceeding.

Chansley’s lawyer said his cli-

ent has since repudiated the QA-

non movement and asked that

there be no more references to his

past affiliations with the move-

ment.

After the hearing, attorney

Watkins told reporters that Chan-

sley was under pressure from

family members not to plead

guilty because they believed

Trump would be reinstated as

president and would pardon him.

Watkins said Chansley previously

felt like Trump’s message spoke

to him and that his client’s fond-

ness for Trump was akin to a first

love.

AP

Jacob Chansley, right with fur hat, during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in Washington pleaded guilty on Friday to afelony obstruction charge. He has asked to be released from jail while he awaits sentencing.

‘QAnon Shaman’ pleads guiltyto felony charge in Capitol riot

BY JACQUES BILLEAUD

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President

Joe Biden on Friday directed the

declassification of certain docu-

ments related to the Sept. 11, 2001,

terrorist attacks, a supportive ges-

ture to victims’ families who have

long sought the records in hopes of

implicating the Saudi govern-

ment.

The order, coming less than a

week before the 20th anniversary

of the attacks, is a significant mo-

ment in a yearslong tussle be-

tween the government and the

families over what classified in-

formation about the run-up to the

attacks could be made public.

That conflict was on display last

month when many relatives, sur-

vivors and first responders came

out against Biden’s participation

in 9/11 memorial events if the doc-

uments remained classified.

Biden said Friday that he was

making good on a campaign com-

mitment by ordering the declassi-

fication review and pledged that

his administration “will continue

to engage respectfully with mem-

bers of this community.”

“The significant events in ques-

tion occurred two decades ago or

longer, and they concern a tragic

moment that continues to reso-

nate in American history and in

the lives of so many Americans,”

the executive order states. “It is

therefore critical to ensure that

the United States Government

maximizes transparency, relying

on classification only when nar-

rowly tailored and necessary.”

The order directs the Justice

Department and other executive

branch agencies to begin a declas-

sification review, and requires

that declassified documents be re-

leased over the next six months.

Brett Eagleson, whose father,

Bruce, was among the World

Trade Center victims and who is

an advocate for other victims’ rel-

atives, commended the action as a

“critical first step.” He said the

families would be closely watch-

ing the process to make sure that

the Justice Department follows

through and acts “in good faith.”

“The first test will be on 9/11,

and the world will be watching.

We look forward to thanking Pres-

ident Biden in person next week

as he joins us at Ground Zero to

honor those who died or were in-

jured 20 years ago,” Eagleson

said.

Still, the practical impact of the

executive order and any new doc-

uments it might yield was not im-

mediately clear. Public docu-

ments released in the last two dec-

ades, including by the 9/11 Com-

mission, have detailed numerous

Saudi entanglements but have not

proved government complicity.

A long-running lawsuit in feder-

al court in New York aims to hold

the Saudi government account-

able and alleges that Saudi offi-

cials provided significant support

to some of the hijackers before the

attacks. The lawsuit took a major

step forward this year with the

questioning under oath of former

Saudi officials, and family mem-

bers have long regarded the dis-

closure of declassified documents

as an important step in making

their case.

The Saudi government has de-

nied any connection to the attacks.

Fifteen of the hijackers were

Saudi, as was Osama bin Laden,

whose al-Qaida network was be-

hind the attacks. Particular scruti-

ny has centered on the support of-

fered to the first two hijackers to

arrive in the U.S., Nawaf al-Hazmi

and Khalid al-Mihdhar, including

from a Saudi national with ties to

the Saudi government who helped

the men find and lease an apart-

ment in San Diego and who had

earlier attracted FBI scrutiny.

Biden moves todeclassify some9/11 documents

BY ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — A state judge

has shielded, for now, Texas abor-

tion clinics from lawsuits by an anti-

abortion group under a new state

abortion law in a narrow ruling

handed down Friday.

The temporary restraining order

Friday by state District Judge

Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin in

response to the Planned Parent-

hood request does not interfere

with the provision. However, it

shields clinics from whistleblower

lawsuits by the nonprofit group

Texas Right to Life, its legislative

director and 100 unidentified indi-

viduals.

A hearing on a preliminary in-

junction request was set for Sept.

13.

The law, which took effect

Wednesday, allows anyone, any-

where, to sue anyone connected to

an abortion in which cardiac activ-

ity was detected in the embryo — as

early as six weeks into a pregnancy

before most women even realize

they are pregnant.

In a petition filed late Thursday,

Planned Parenthood said about

85% to 90% of people who obtain

abortions in Texas are at least six

weeks into pregnancy.

The order “offers protection to

the brave health care providers and

staff at Planned Parenthood health

centers throughout Texas, who

have continued to offer care as best

they can within the law while facing

surveillance, harassment, and

threats from vigilantes eager to stop

them,” said Planned Parenthood

spokeswoman Helene Krasnoff in a

statement.

However, the order will not deter

Texas Right to Life’s efforts, said

Elizabeth Graham, the group’s vice

president. In a statement, the group

said: “We expect an impartial court

will dismiss Planned Parenthood’s

lawsuit. Until then, we will continue

our diligent efforts to ensure the

abortion industry fully follows” the

new law.

Judge shields Texas clinics from anti-abortion group’s suitsAssociated Press


WELLINGTON, New Zealand

— New Zealand authorities im-

prisoned a man inspired by the

Islamic State for three years after

catching him with a hunting knife

and extremist videos — but at a

certain point, despite grave fears

he would attack others, they say

they could do nothing more to

keep him behind bars.

So for 53 days from July, police

tracked the man’s every move, an

operation that involved some 30

officers working around the

clock. Their fears were borne out

Friday when he walked into an

Auckland supermarket, grabbed

a kitchen knife from a store shelf

and stabbed five people, critical-

ly injuring three.

Two more shoppers were in-

jured in the melee. On Saturday,

three of the victims remained

hospitalized in critical condition

and three more were in stable or

moderate conditions. The sev-

enth person was recovering at

home.

Court documents named the

man as Ahamed Aathil Mohamed

Samsudeen, 32, a Tamil Muslim

who arrived in New Zealand 10

years ago on a student visa seek-

ing refugee status.

Undercover officers monitor-

ing him from just outside the su-

permarket sprang into action

when they saw shoppers running

and heard shouting, police said,

and shot him dead within a couple

of minutes of him beginning his

attack.

The attack has highlighted de-

ficiencies in New Zealand’s anti-

terror laws, which experts say

are too focused on punishing ac-

tions and inadequate for dealing

with plots before they are carried

out. Prime Minister Jacinda Ar-

dern said lawmakers were close

to filling some of those legislative

holes when the attack occurred.

She vowed law changes by the

end of the month.

Police Commissioner Andrew

Coster said the law they were

working under required a sus-

pect to make the first move.

“We might have an under-

standing of intent, and ideology,

and we might have high levels of

concern,” Coster said. “But that

is not sufficient for us to take any

enforcement action.”

Samsudeen was first noticed

by police in 2016 when he started

posting support for terror attacks

and violent extremism on Face-

book.

Police twice confronted him

but he kept on posting. In 2017,

they arrested him at Auckland

Airport. He was headed for Syria,

authorities say, presumably to

join ISIS insurgency. Police

searches found he had a hunting

knife and some banned propa-

ganda material, and he was later

released on bail. In 2018, he

bought another knife, and police

found two ISIS videos.

He spent the next three years

in jail after pleading guilty to var-

ious crimes and for breaching

bail. On new charges in May, a ju-

ry found Samsudeen guilty on

two counts of possessing objec-

tionable videos, both of which

showed ISIS imagery.

However, the videos didn’t

show violent murders like some

ISIS videos and weren’t classi-

fied as the worst kind of illicit ma-

terial. High Court Judge Sally

Fitzgerald described the contents

as religious hymns sung in Ara-

bic.

A court report warned Samsu-

deen had the motivation and

means to commit violent acts in

the community and posed a high

risk. It described him as harbor-

ing extreme attitudes, living an

isolated lifestyle, and having a

sense of entitlement.

But the judge decided to re-

lease him, sentencing him to a

year’s supervision at an Auck-

land mosque.

Fitzgerald noted the extreme

concerns of police, saying she

didn’t know if they were right, but

“I sincerely hope they are not.”

Extremist freed before New Zealand attackBY NICK PERRY

Associated Press

WORLD

DEBARK, Ethiopia — As they

bring war to other parts of Ethio-

pia, resurgent Tigray fighters face

growing allegations that they are

retaliating for the abuses their

people suffered back home.

In interviews with The Associ-

ated Press, more than a dozen wit-

nesses offered the most wide-

spread descriptions yet of Tigray

forces striking communities and a

religious site with artillery, killing

civilians, looting health centers

and schools and sending hundreds

of thousands of people fleeing in

the past two months.

In the town of Nefas Mewucha

in the Amhara region, a hospital’s

medical equipment was smashed.

The fighters looted medicines and

other supplies, leaving more than

a dozen patients to die.

“It is a lie that they are not tar-

geting civilians and infrastruc-

tures,” hospital manager Birhanu

Mulu told the AP. He said his team

had to transfer some 400 patients

elsewhere for care. “Everyone

can come and witness the destruc-

tion that they caused.”

The war that began last Novem-

ber was confined at first to Ethio-

pia’s sealed-off northern Tigray

region. Accounts of atrocities of-

ten emerged long after they oc-

curred: Tigrayans described

gang-rapes, massacres and forced

starvation by federal forces and

their allies from Amhara and

neighboring Eritrea.

The Tigray forces retook much

of their home region in a stunning

turn in June, and now the fighting

has spilled into Amhara. Angered

by the attacks on their communi-

ties and families, the fighters are

being accused of targeting civil-

ians from the other side.

The United States, which for

months has been outspoken about

the abuses against Tigrayans, this

week turned sharp criticism on

the Tigray forces.

“In Amhara now, we now know

that the (Tigray forces have) ...

looted the warehouses, they’ve

looted trucks and they have

caused a great deal of destruction

in all the villages they have visit-

ed,” the head of the U.S. Agency

for Economic Development, Sean

Jones, told the Ethiopian Broad-

casting Corporation.

In recent interviews with the

AP, the spokesman for the Tigray

forces Getachew Reda said they

are avoiding civilian casualties.

“They shouldn’t be scared,” he

said last month. “Wherever we go

in Amhara, people are extending a

very warm welcome.”

He did not respond to the AP

about the new witness accounts,

but tweeted in response to USAID

that “we cannot vouch for every

unacceptable behavior of off-grid

fighters in such matters.”

AP

Displaced Amharas gather in a kindergarten school housing the internallydisplaced, in Debark, in theAmhara region of northern Ethiopia, on Wednesday.

Tigray forces accused of abusesAssociated Press

TOKYO — Amid growing criti-

cism of his handling of the pan-

demic, Prime Minister Yoshihide

Suga said Friday he won’t run for

the leadership of the governing

party later this month, paving the

way for a new Japanese leader af-

ter just a year in office.

Suga told reporters that heading

Japan’s pandemic response and

campaigning to lead his governing

Liberal Democratic Party at the

same time divided his energies. “I

have decided not to run for the

party leadership elections, as I

would like to focus on coronavirus

measures,” Suga told reporters

who rushed to his office after the

news broke.

Suga has faced criticism and

nosediving public support over a

coronavirus response seen as too

slow and limited and for holding

the Olympics despite the public’s

health concerns. His hope of hav-

ing the Olympic festivities help

turn around his plunging popular-

ity was also dashed.

He said he had put all his energy

into important issues including

the virus response since he took

office.

“But doing both takes enormous

energy and I have decided that I

should just choose one or the oth-

er,” he said. “As I have repeatedly

said, protecting people’s lives and

health is my responsibility as

prime minister, and that’s what I

will dedicate myself to.”

The Liberal Democrats and

their coalition partner have a ma-

jority in parliament, meaning

whoever wins the Sept. 29 party

vote is virtually guaranteed to be-

come the new prime minister.

The official start of the party

campaign is Sept. 17. Candidacy

requires factional support largely

controlled by party heavyweights,

and their choices may not match

those favored in public opinion

surveys.

Two Cabinet ministers in for-

mer Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s

government have come out as po-

tential candi-

dates: dovish

former Foreign

Minister Fumio

Kishida, seen as

a top contender,

and former Inte-

rior Minister Sa-

nae Takaichi,

who shares

Abe’s rightwing ideology.

Current Vaccinations Minister

Taro Kono also expressed interest

on Friday, saying he will make a

final decision after consulting fel-

low lawmakers. Former Defense

Miniter Shigeru Ishiba, a favorite

in media surveys, and Seiko Noda,

former gender equality minister,

also reportedly have expressed in-

tentions to run.

Kishida has criticized Suga’s

handling of the pandemic and re-

cently proposed a series of virus

measures, including more fund-

ing, a pledge to secure more hospi-

tal beds and creation of a health

crisis management agency to cen-

tralize pandemic measures.

Kono, the son of the longest-

serving lower house speaker and

grandson of a former deputy

prime minister, is a political blue

blood and has served as foreign

and defense ministers.

Suga’s decision is largely seen

as a political move so the party can

have a fresh leader before nation-

al elections later this year.

Japan’s PM to quitas leader of party

Associated Press

Suga


AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Misspelling of Modernaleads to tourist’s arrest

HI HONOLULU — A Illi-

nois woman submitted a

fake COVID-19 vaccination card

to visit Hawaii with a glaring spell-

ing error that led to her arrest:

Moderna was spelled “Maderna,”

according to court documents.

In order to bypass Hawaii’s 10-

day traveler quarantine, she up-

loaded a vaccination card to the

state’s Safe Travels program and

arrived in Honolulu Aug. 23 on a

Southwest Airlines flight, the doc-

uments said.

“Airport screeners found suspi-

cious errors … such as Moderna

was spelled wrong and that her

home was in Illinois but her shot

was taken at Delaware,” Wilson

Lau, a special agent with the Ha-

waii attorney general’s investiga-

tion division, wrote in an email to a

Delaware official who confirmed

there was no vaccination record

for the woman, 24, under her name

and birth date.

The email is included in docu-

ments filed in court. She was

charged with two misdemeanor

counts of violating Hawaii’s emer-

gency rules to control the spread

of COVID-19.

Man swinging machetekilled by deputies

MT MISSOULA — A man

who was swinging a

machete and making lethal

threats was shot and killed as Mis-

soula County law enforcement of-

ficers tried to deescalate the situa-

tion, the sheriff’s office said.

The man did not comply with

the verbal commands of officers

responding to a disturbance north-

west of Missoula and deputies ini-

tially used a “less lethal option” to

try to get him to comply, the sher-

iff’s office said.

That failed and the man contin-

ued to pose a lethal threat, officials

said.

At least one officer fired shots at

the man, Sheriff TJ McDermott

said. The suspect was flown to a

hospital in Missoula where he died

of his injuries. His name has not

been released.

Fantasy Fest is on butno parade or street fair

FL KEY WEST — An an-

nual celebration of de-

bauchery and outrageous cos-

tumed parties in the Florida Keys

is canceling its famous parade this

year due to the state’s surge in CO-

VID-19 cases, but events connect-

ed to the 42-year-old festival are

still being held, according to plan-

ners.

The Fantasy Fest parade and a

street fair in Key Fest slated for

the end of October have been can-

celed because of the pandemic,

and a masquerade march through

the city’s Old Town section has

been put on hold until organizers

can determine that it’s safe to hold,

Nadene Grossman Orr, the festiv-

al’s director said in a statement.

In pre-pandemic times, the 10-

day festival attracted as many as

75,000 visitors each year around

Halloween for dozens of adult par-

ties, costumed marches, street

fairs and balls.

Police: Boy died of drugoverdose at friend’s home

MO WASHINGTON — A

teenager died of a

drug overdose during a sleepover

at a friend’s house in eastern Mis-

souri, and three adults at the house

were arrested, police said.

Police were called to a home in

Washington and found Zackary

Foster dead in an upstairs bed-

room, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

reported.

The boy’s friend, 12, told investi-

gators they had been experiment-

ing with drugs they found in the

house, police Sgt. Steve Sitzes said.

After securing a search war-

rant, officers found various pre-

scription and some illegal drugs in

the house, including methamphe-

tamine and capsules possibly con-

taining heroin or fentanyl, Sitzes

said.

Police took the boy and his sis-

ter, 7, into protective custody.

Police: Man killed relativeafter vaccine dispute

IL VIENNA — A southern Il-

linois man shot his half-

brother to death following an argu-

ment over the COVID-19 vaccine,

authorities said.

Larry D. Cavitt, 68, of Goreville,

was charged in Johnson County

Court with murder and aggravat-

ed battery with use of a firearm.

The charges stem from the death

of Cavitt’s half-brother, Joseph E.

Geyman, 51.

Johnson County Sheriff Pete

Sopczak said the two men, who

lived next door to each other, ar-

gued over the COVID-19 vaccine

before Cavitt took out a handgun

and fatally shot Geyman in the

head.

Sopczak said there was no phys-

ical altercation prior to the shoot-

ing in the unincorporated Johnson

County village of Tunnel Hill.

Ex-FBI official accused offalsely claiming worktime

MD GREENBELT — A

former section chief

at the FBI’s Quantico laboratory is

facing federal charges, accused of

claiming nearly 900 hours of work

he didn’t do over four years, ac-

cording to court documents.

John Behun worked for the FBI

for more than 28 years until his

termination in February 2019. He

served as a laboratory division

section chief, leading the section

that supports human resources, fi-

nance, compliance/health and

safety programs, according to

charging documents.

Last month, Behun was charged

in the U.S. District Court in Green-

belt with theft of government

property in the case first reported

by WRC-TV. The station reported

that Behun has not entered a plea.

An investigation by the Justice

Department’s Office of the Inspec-

tor General found that many times

from 2015 to 2018, Behun worked

significantly less than he claimed

for a total of 876 falsely certified

hours, according to charging doc-

uments.

State to pay addictiontreatment providers more

ME PORTLAND — Facil-

ities that provide

treatment for substance use disor-

der will be reimbursed at a higher

rate for the Medicaid patients they

treat, Maine Gov. Janet Mills an-

nounced.

Some $2.1 million set aside in the

budget passed in July will go to-

ward making the payments to a

range of facilities, including de-

toxification providers and halfway

houses, the Portland Press Herald

reported.

The increase will take effect

Nov. 1. Detoxification providers

will get $385 per person per day,

up from $217. The reimbursement

rate for halfway houses will in-

crease from $106 per person per

day to $165.

Depending on their classifica-

tion, reimbursement rates for oth-

er residential rehab facilities will

increase between 28% and 39%.

Woman says concertattack paralyzed her

NH GILFORD — Police

are investigating after

awoman says she was knocked un-

conscious and became paralyzed

from the waist down during a Pit-

bull concert in New Hampshire.

The woman, from Keene, said

she was struck in the head by two

adults on Aug. 29 after an argu-

ment about an alcoholic beverage

at the Bank of NH Pavilion concert

in Gilford. She was with friends at-

tending the concert.

Doctors said she suffered blunt

force trauma to the spinal cord,

which resulted in paralysis from

the waist down. She was being

transferred to a Boston hospital

for further evaluation and treat-

ment.

Gilford Deputy Chief Kristian

Kelley said that a suspect has been

identified, but investigators are

still looking for witnesses and col-

lecting statements.

STEVE MELLON, PITTSBURGH POSTGAZETTE/AP

Firefighters bicycle along Ohio River Boulevard near Emsworth, Pa. on their way to Pittsburgh, Thursday. The effort, calledBay2Brooklyn2021, honors firefighters and others who died in the attacks of 9/11.

Riding to remember

THE CENSUS

$2.1M The final payment that Panama City, Fla. will pay toCrowder Gulf, the disaster recovery company that

handled the city’s storm debris after Hurricane Michael in 2018. The PanamaCity News Herald reported that about $94.6 million has been spent to removeall of its hurricane debris. Most of the cost will be reimbursed by the FederalEmergency Management Agency. In all, crews collected 5.7 million cubicyards of debris from the city and removed 18,000 tree stumps.

From The Associated Press


MUSIC

Turn on your car stereo. Or open one of

Spotify’s top hits playlists. Or peruse your

TikTok feed. Or go to a cafe, mall, bar, a

busy street corner and just listen. Before

long, you’ll hear it.

It’s impossible to miss the recent slew of

chart-topping, female-forward, hip-hop duets. From the

record-breaking, headline-making “WAP” by Cardi B and

Megan Thee Stallion; to the otherworldly anthem by Doja

Cat and SZA, “Kiss Me More”; to the recent and instantly

trending “Rumors” that teamed up Lizzo and Cardi B,

Black women have been choosing to feature, well, other

Black women.

It’s simple, according to Carl Chery, head of urban

music at Spotify. We’re in a golden age of female hip-hop.

“A year and a half ago in comparison to now, the field

has expanded so much,” Chery said. “You’re seeing wom-

en who emerged as early as two years ago become stars.

We’ve never seen this. I don’t think there’s ever been this

many female rap stars, ever.”

Men have long dominated hip-hop, and white exec-

utives have long dominated the music industry. In the

(very recent) past, most Black female artists trying to

make it big have found success by leaning on either of

these pillars. Between the late ’80s and early 2000s, Eve,

Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim, Trina and Foxy Brown were

among one of the first waves of successful women in hip-

Megan Thee Stallion performs at the Lollapaloozamusic festival on July 31 at Grant Park in Chicago.“WAP,” Megan Thee Stallion’s collaboration with Cardi B, broke the record for the biggest 24hourdebut for an allfemale collaboration on YouTube andcurrently has more than 876 million plays on Spotify.

ROB GRABOWSKI, INVISION/AP

PowerfulpairingsHit collaborations between Black women are sparking golden age of female hip-hop

BY NATACHI ONWUAMAEGBU

The Washington Post

SEE PAIRINGS ON PAGE 14


MUSIC

hop. Most were led onstage by all-male

recording agencies (Eve and the Ruff

Ryders) or famous male rappers (Lil’ Kim

and Notorious B.I.G., Trina and Trick

Daddy).

Recent female duets and features might

prove this phenomena moot as Black

women are producing some of their most

listened-to songs with other Black women.

They’re doing so while discussing sex,

drugs and female friendships.

“It’s incredible,” Chery said.

In 2019, Chery noticed the beginnings of

this new wave of Black female artists. Acts

such as City Girls, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Cardi

B, Saweetie, SZA and Megan Thee Stallion

were making a name for themselves on

the heels of Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and

Beyoncé’s seemingly stand-alone success-

es, without the scaffolding of big names or

record labels to prop them up.

“Meg isn’t connected to anyone like

that,” Chery said. “She’s standing up on

her own.”

“WAP,” Megan Thee Stallion’s collab-

oration with Cardi B, broke the record for

the biggest 24-hour debut for an all-female

collaboration on YouTube and currently

has more than 876 million plays on Spot-

ify, the most of any of Megan Thee Stal-

lion’s songs. In second place? “Savage

Remix,” her song with Beyoncé.

“Women are ruling,” said Bktherula, a

female rapper from Atlanta. “It’s really

amazing to just hear women everywhere

all the time. You open TikTok, music apps,

what do you hear? Black women.”

The 18-year-old musician began record-

ing music four years ago, but her career

took off when her single “Left Right” went

viral in 2019. Now she has more than 1

million monthly listeners on Spotify with

her hit song nearing 15 million plays. Like

Megan Thee Stallion, Bktherula doesn’t

shy away from broaching any subject

matter in her music — but she does know

that listeners, especially men, aren’t used

to seeing such confident Black women.

“They’re seeing women, Black women,

talking about whatever the hell we want to

talk about, and for some reason they don’t

treat us like male rappers,” said Bkther-

ula. “When a guy talks about the same

stuff, they’re silent. If anything, I think it’s

better when women talk about sex and

speak their mind.”

When women do rap and sing about sex

with the vulgarity typically reserved for

men, however, it becomes mainstream

news. The vivid lyrics and anatomical

subject matter of “WAP” evoked ample

pushback, especially from conservative

pundits, and inspired Megan Thee Stal-

lion’s next single (the title of which is

unprintable in a family newspaper) re-

leased this year. The song — which has

lyrics like “I don’t give a f— about a blog

trying to bash me / I’m the s— per the

Recording Academy” — has been listened

to more than 90 million times on Spotify.

Over the past two decades, American

culture has changed to allow for the re-

lease and praise of a song like “WAP,”

said Prince Charles Alexander, professor

of music production and engineering at

Berklee College of Music. Women speak-

ing (or singing) about taboo subjects,

while still considered risque, has become

more commonplace and accepted. For

instance, every time Rihanna dropped

music between 2007 to 2013, her songs

would chart. Her tongue-in-cheek 2011 hit

“S&M” was no different, he said.

“The line from [S&M], ‘Sticks and

stones may break my bones but chains

and whips excite me,’ didn’t evoke a lot of

controversy,” said Alexander. But there

are still perceived limits to what a woman

can rap about. Despite their often bawdy

lyrics, female rappers are still viewed as

nurturers.

“This is still an evolutionary response to

things that men have been doing since the

early ’80s,” said Alexander, who has

worked with Usher, Mary J. Blige and

Diddy. “What’s interesting is not that

women are responding, it’s that it’s being

done by artists with a family-friendly

brand. Because women are moms, aunties,

sisters. Even though they are strippers,

they are still nurturers. Even though they

are prostitutes, they are still nurturers.

Even though they are lawyers, they are

still nurturers. In our male[-dominated]

society, they still provide a certain amount

of nurturing that males are still trying to

figure out.”

It is easy to highlight how far women

have come in hip-hop. Chery has curated

the “Feelin’ Myself” playlist on Spotify for

the last two years, highlighting female

hip-hop artists and their breakthrough

songs. “Even just by working on the play-

list, I’ve seen so many new women rap-

pers,” he said. But the music industry is

still led by men, regardless of how it may

seem times have changed.

But the men in charge seem to have

realized that women are popular and

therefore profitable, said Alexander.

That’s due, in some part, to social media.

Instagram, Facebook and even streaming

services such as Spotify allow users grea-

ter control over the music they discover

and choose to listen to. Once a song be-

comes popular, it can make the leap from

your TikTok feed to a playlist like “Feelin’

Myself,” which boasts more than one

million followers.

With an increase in popular female

musicians, however, comes gendered

insults and assumptions — especially from

men within the industry. Jermaine Dupri,

a 46-year-old producer and rapper, re-

ferred to Cardi B and other female rap-

pers who discuss sex as “strippers rap-

ping.” DaBaby, who has collaborated with

Megan Thee Stallion several times, made

news for seemingly retweeting a joke

about her allegedly being shot by Tory

Lanez — an incident for which she was

mocked and questioned.

Bktherula doesn’t let that sort of hate

bother her, though; being a Black woman

in the industry is already difficult enough.

She knows she’s talented, and was before

her music went viral.

“I think we’re really starting to realize

how freaking powerful we are,” Bktherula

said. “Us Black women are extremely

talented. Other people are starting to see

that and they’re starting to gravitate to-

wards us. But the hits have been there.

And the talent has been there — for all of

us.”

Pairings: Black women finding success on their own termsFROM PAGE 13

“I think we’re really starting to realize howfreaking powerful we are.”

Bktherula

female rapper from Atlanta

HalseyIf I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

(Capitol)

Halsey gave birth this summer,

and she supplied her own baby gift

— a terrific new album in a new

musical direction.

The 13-track “If I Can’t Have

Love, I Want Power” sees Halsey teaming up with Trent

Reznor and Atticus Ross of the rock band Nine Inch Nails

and who are frequent movie soundtrack collaborators. It

marks the most divergent sound in Halsey’s career.

The album captures the thrill and fear of impending

motherhood, and, as always, an artist looking with un-

sentimental harshness at their weaknesses. Reznor and

Ross have imbued the project with their special brand of

ambient and post-industrial dread.

Highlights include the driving synthesizer-and-drum-

led “I am not a Woman, I’m a god” — a very NIN sound —

and the rocking “Honey” with Dave Grohl on drums. She

writes a lullaby for her baby on “Darling,” with Lindsey

Buckingham on guitar, “I’ll kidnap all the stars and I will

keep them in your eyes.”

Reznor and Ross have not lost Halsey in a flood of

noises and synths but made vehicles, with special touches

here and there.

This is the sound of ambition, an evolution of Halsey’s

sound from the criminally underappreciated “Badlands”

or the Romeo-and-Juliet concept album “Hopeless Foun-

tain Kingdom” and 2020’s busy, single-driven breakup

album “Manic.” It’s the sound of a mom who can have it

all: love and power.

— Mark Kennedy

Associated Press

Sturgill SimpsonThe Ballad of Dood & Juanita

(Thirty Tigers)

Sturgill Simpson knows how to

do a concept record.

His latest, “The Ballad of Dood

& Juanita,” proves once again he is

a prodigious musical chameleon. It

couldn’t be more different than his last album of original

material, 2019’s fuzz rock, eardrum-blasting anime

soundtrack “Sound & Fury.” In between, he recorded a

couple bluegrass records covering his own songs.

The new record has more in common with the two most

recent records, both released in the past year, and even

employs the same top-notch band. Willie Nelson takes a

guest turn on the track “Juanita.”

“Dood & Juanita” is a tribute of sorts to Simpson’s

grandparents, attaching their names to fictitious charac-

ters in Civil War-era Kentucky. A dog, mule, some horses

and Shawnee Indians figure prominently, as well.

Pure country, with some bluegrass, gospel and a cap-

pella thrown in for good measure, it almost feels like a

radio serial from the 1940s. There’s even sound effects to

help move the story along, including gun shots, stamped-

ing horses and a crackling fire. All that’s missing is an

overly dramatic narrator.

Simpson said the entire project was completed in five

days. It clocks it at a scant 28 minutes with several songs

a couple of minutes long or less. While expertly crafted

and executed, it’s likely to be remembered more as a

quirky, interesting curiosity, rather than a defining state-

ment.

— Scott Bauer

Associated Press

CHVRCHESScreen Violence

(EMI/Glassnote Records)

The fourth studio album from

Scottish synth-pop group

CHVRCHES was already sound-

ing great before they did some-

thing to push it into the realm of

the spectacular.

They reached out to The Cure frontman Robert Smith,

whose dark sound has been a touchstone to the younger

band. That masterstroke produced “How Not to Drown,”

bridging a generational talent gap and anointing

CHVRCHES as worthy successors: “I don’t want the

crown / You can take it now,” Smith sings.

“How Not to Drown” is just one of the highlights of

“Screen Violence,” which examines anxiety, missed con-

nections and misogyny, in real life and on screens. Mem-

bers Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty and Iain Cook

have a smoother, fuller and more assured sound.

The album kicks off with the terrific “Asking for a

Friend” with lyrics that look back fondly at a broken love.

The super “He Said She Said” is a less fond look at a con-

trolling partner, and the anthemic “Good Girls” destroys

unrealistic ideals and isn’t polite: “I cut my teeth on

weaker men / I won’t apologize again,” Mayberry sings.

You’ll find yourself returning again and again to the

lush and wistful “Lullabies” and the driving, electric

“Final Girl,” a song that plays with cinematic clichés and

has a vibe reminiscent of The Smiths. And, of course, the

blissfully perfect “How Not to Drown.” It takes the

crown.

— Mark Kennedy

Associated Press


MOVIES

With their new addition to

Marvel’s superhero uni-

verse, the makers of “Shang-

Chi and the Legend of the

Ten Rings” hope to further represent the

real world.

The movie is the first in Marvel’s in-

terconnecting film franchise to be led by

an Asian hero and a predominantly Asian

cast.

For director Destin Daniel Cretton, the

mission was to tell an epic, relatable story

that stays true to Chinese culture.

“Growing up in Hawaii, movies were

always my window to other cultures and

other experiences,” Cretton told the Daily

News. “When I watched a movie like ‘E.T.’

on Maui, that was seeing how high school-

ers are in California.

“But it also allowed me to feel connect-

ed to those kids, because they’re also

struggling with a broken home life or

insecurities or pain ... and they have the

same dreams as me. It helped me to feel

connected to people that were not like me.

I hope that this movie is something that

the Asian community can be very proud

of, but I also hope it’s a window to people

who are not from this community to feel

connected.”

Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi, who was

raised as an assassin in China by his pow-

er-hungry father before fleeing his family

and starting a low-profile life in San Fran-

cisco.

The movie, now in theaters, follows

Shang-Chi as secrets from his past catch

up to him and reunite him with his es-

tranged sister, the formidable fighter

Xialing, portrayed by Meng’er Zhang.

“Shang-Chi” marks the first film role for

Zhang, who previously worked in theater

in Nanjing and Shanghai, China. She’s

excited for audiences to meet her charac-

ter.

“She is someone you don’t want to mess

with, because she can kick some butt,”

Zhang said. “I think she’s really special.

She’s tough and unapproachable on the

outside, but she really has the sensitive

and vulnerable part deep down inside of

her. She knows to stand her own ground

and find her own voice. I think the world

is gonna love her.”

Zhang didn’t know she was trying out

for a Marvel film when she responded to

an audition call for an actress who speaks

Chinese and English. She realized the job

was for “Shang-Chi” when she was flown

out to do a screen test with Liu.

The movie leaves Zhang excited for the

onscreen representation it provides.

“I’m so proud,” she said. “For Asian

kids growing up in Western countries,

they can have a hero they can look up to

and say, ‘He looks like me.’ This story is

very heartwarming, and I think everyone

can relate.”

Cast members include Awkwafina, who

plays Shang-Chi’s best friend, and Tony

Leung, who portrays the hero’s father.

It was important, Cretton said, to be

authentic in portraying the characters and

their personal backgrounds.

“We very much are paying homage to

Chinese culture and the rich history of

kung fu films and martial arts films,”

Cretton explained. “We took incredible

care into making sure that everything just

felt real and relatable. Even though we are

in [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] ver-

sion of everything, we still want to make

sure that the cultures of these communi-

ties that we are a part of ... can all be

proud of this movie.”

The film is filled with journeys of self-

discovery for characters such as Shang-

Chi and Xialing, the director said.

“All the characters, particularly in

Shang-Chi’s family, are learning over the

course of our movie to deal with some pain

that they have not been able to deal with

since they were young,” Cretton ex-

plained.

“They all have reacted to the traumatic

experience in different ways, and over the

course of our movie, as they are learning

to revisit and redefine what that pain

means to them, I think they’re also able to

look at the beautiful parts of their pasts.”

MARVEL STUDIOS/AP

Tony Leung plays the titular ShangChi’s father in the Marvel movie “ShangChi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

Widening the circleDirector, cast of Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ hope to opendoor to new culture, expand onscreen representation

BY PETER SBLENDORIO

New York Daily News

AMY SUSSMAN/TNS

“ShangChi” director Destin Daniel Cretton, right, shown with actress Meng’er Zhang,says his mission was to tell an epic, relatable story that stayed true to Chinese culture.

MARVEL STUDIOS/AP

“This story is very heartwarming, and I think everyone can relate,” says Meng’er Zhang,who plays Xialing, the estranged sister of ShangChi (Simu Liu, right).


CROSSWORD AND COMICS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

RESETTLING LETTERINGS BY STEPHEN MCCARTHY / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

48 Like some casts

49 City nicknamed the Old Pueblo

51 French city near the Belgian border

52 Prefix with colonial

53 Tightfitting

55 Toni Morrison title heroine

56 Annual British acting award

58 Series of questions, maybe

60 Counterpart of elles

62 Opposite of never

64 Many relationships are INSTIGATED on one

68 Healthy eaters may give this A WIDE BERTH

72 Disrupt an online meeting, in a way

74 Mauna ____

75 Grp. that hasn’t yet found what it’s looking for

76 Wonder Woman and others

79 Valuable load for a mule

81 Influence

84 Pioneering gangsta rap group

85 Burdened

86 Just

88 Preferring one’s own company, perhaps

90 They can be NOISELESS while stalking prey

93 Explorers of the UNTRAVERSED

95 Burden

96 Old cable-TV inits.

97 Fill in

98 Word repeated in ‘‘I ____, I ____, it’s off to work I go’’

99 Lick, say

100 ‘‘____ merci!’’ (French cry)

101 ‘‘On it, captain!’’

103 ‘‘No need to make me a plate’’

106 Five-letter word that replaces a four-letter word?

107 1980s gaming inits.

108 Not even

111 Writing done GRAPHICALLY

115 The Trojans lacked the FORESIGHT to turn this down

116 It’s multilayered

117 You should always bring it to a competition

118 Children’s author Blyton

119 Be taken aback

120 One way to cook a 116-Across

121 Unenthusiastic

122 They know the drill: Abbr.

123 Word after hard or before short

DOWN

1 ‘‘My Two ____’’ (2015 Claudia Harrington children’s book)

2 Top

3 Appliance brand since 1934

4 Pea shooters?

5 ‘‘Sign me up!’’

6 Complete travesty

7 Feature of many British accents

8 Binges too much, for short

9 As if orchestrated

10 Indexed data structures

11 Directly

12 Fourth person to walk on the moon

13 Do a double take?

14 Boot

15 Almost

16 What makes Shrek shriek?

17 One side in a debate

18 It may be blown

24 They may be blown

26 House Republican V.I.P. Stefanik

28 Star in Canis Major

32 Just so

34 Hot-dog topper

35 Airline passenger request

36 Lion ____

38 ‘‘Dear ____ Hansen’’ (2017 Tony-winning musical)

41 Responds to br-r-r-isk weather?

42 Like zebras and lions

43 Voice with an Echo

44 Rub it in

45 ‘‘It is what it is’’ and others

46 Mike Krzyzewski, to Duke basketball fans

47 Rise

50 Hot-dog topper

54 A little too silky, maybe

56 Justin Trudeau, by birth

57 Don’t believe it!

59 Aftmost masts on ships

61 Gives fuel to

63 Gets a move on, quaintly

65 Who can hear you scream in space

66 Ending with poly-

67 Title meaning ‘‘commander’’

69 ‘‘____ Meenie’’ (2010 hit)

70 Battling

71 Rings up

73 Showing the effects of an all-nighter, say

76 Give one’s blessing to

77 It has more coastline than California, surprisingly

78 Score after seven points, maybe

80 Certain radio format

82 Apropos of

83 ‘‘Like that’ll ever happen!’’

86 ‘‘Appetizers’’ or ‘‘Desserts,’’ at a diner

87 International

cosmetics company

____ Rocher

89 Content people?

91 Larsson who wrote

‘‘The Girl With the

Dragon Tattoo’’

92 Pooh-pooh

94 Common April

activity, nowadays

97 Vietnamese sandwich

100 Group trying to sack

a QB

102 Make over, as a ship

104 A crowd, they say

105 It has 104-Down legs

106 Obscure, with ‘‘out’’

109 They may be set by industry grps.

110 Girl in ‘‘The Old Curiosity Shop’’

111 sin/tan

112 Major Japanese carrier

113 ‘‘Kill Bill’’ co-star

114 You can chew on it

115 Some appliances

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

22120291

62524232

928272

63534333231303

1404938373

746454443424

15059484

756555453525

58 59 60 61 62 63

1707968676665646

57473727

483828180897877767

9888786858

4939291909

89796959

50140130120110100199

011901801701601

511411311211111

911811711611

321221121021

Stephen McCarthy, a native of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, is a Ph.D. student studying transportation modeling in Stockholm. He got his start in puzzles by solving cryptic crosswords in Toronto’s Globe and Mail with his grandfather. Last year he began constructing American-style puzzles, incorporating some of the wordplay of cryptics in his themes and clues. This is a good example. Stephen’s last Times crossword was ‘‘Maple Leaf,’’ in June. — W.S.

ACROSS

1 What a drawbridge may bridge

5 In that case

9 Control-tower installation

14 Pass

19 ‘‘That one’s ____’’ (‘‘My bad’’)

20 Amelia Bedelia, e.g.

21 ‘‘Go me!’’

22 Member of a noble family

23 2004 film about a group of MALIGNERS

25 It might be put on for stage PAGEANTRIES

27 Annual film festival where ‘‘Saw’’ and ‘‘Get Out’’ premiered

28 ‘‘____ La La’’ (1964 hit)

29 Senator, e.g., for short

30 Avoids a bogey, perhaps

31 Being

33 Be hopping mad

34 Cool one

37 W.W. II hero, informally

39 Muletas are waved at them

40 Canon camera

41 Branch of Islam

42 You might be MARVELING AT this as it whizzes by

46 Sort of SCHEMATIC for Christian education

GUNSTON STREET

“Gunston Street” is drawn by Basil Zaviski. Email him at [email protected], and online at gunstonstreet.com.

RESULTS FOR ABOVE PUZZLE

MOATIFSORADARENACT

ONMEMAIDIRULEXENON

MEANGIRLSGREASEPAINT

SUNDANCESHANHLER

PARSENTITYBOILCAT

IKETOROSEOSSHIA

MAGLEVTRAINCATECHISM

ALLSTARTUCSONLILLE

NEOSNUGSULAOLIVIER

EXAMILSEACHTIME

DATINGSITEWHITEBREAD

ZOOMBOMBKEASETI

AMAZONSKILOSWAYNWA

LADENMERELYASOCIAL

LIONESSESADVENTURERS

ONUSTNNBRIEFOWE

WETDIEUAYESIRIATE

BLEEPNESLESSTHAN

CALLIGRAPHYGIFTHORSE

ONIONAGAMEENIDREEL

SAUTETEPIDSGTSSELL


GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY

If you own an Apple Mac Mini

M1 desktop computer, Satechi’s

new Stand Hub with SSD Enclo-

sure is a must-have.

The all-in-one hub does exactly

what Satechi sets out for it to do,

make everyday life more conve-

nient by acting as a computer

stand and a hub. It connects to

the computer with a single

USB-C connection via a built-in

5.4-inch cable from the back.

There’s no need for any other

power supply.

The Satechi Stand Hub mirrors

the Mac Mini in design with its

brushed silver aluminum alloy

finish. Measuring 7.8-by-7.8-

by-0.9 inches, it sits perfectly

under the Apple Mac Mini M1

computer with a top side plat-

form that is raised to provide

space to allow heat and air to

ventilate, preventing overheat-

ing. Four rubber feet keep the

hub raised off the desktop.

Easy-access hubs are built into

the front, which includes a single

USB-C port, three USB-A data

transfer ports, SD and microSD

memory card readers, and a 3.5

mm headphone jack. The USB

ports are for syncing and data

transfer, not charging.

But what makes this stand out

is the bottom side SSD enclosure

where you can add your SSD

drive for storage expansion.

Inside the SSD storage compart-

ment is a small screwdriver and

screw to assist with the simple

installation. The Satechi site lists

compatible SSD drives, which

have been tested to work with the

hub and include specifics from

Kingston, Samsung, Western

Digital and Adata.

Online: satechi.net; $99.99

Creatives T60 desktop speak-

ers impressed me in every as-

pect. The speaker pair is filled

with features for use as a sound

system with digital, analog and

wireless connections and func-

tionality for the work from the

home office environment.

The sound the Creatives T60

produces is impressive, and just

as impressive is the $79.99 price.

Built into the compact Hi-Fi

desktop speakers is audio tech-

nology featuring Clear Dialog

and Surround, which are power-

ed by Sound Blaster’s audio ex-

pertise.

From the Creative site, Clear

Dialog extracts the vocals and

spoken dialogue through an au-

dio processing technique, then

intelligently enhances and ampli-

fies them, allowing you to hear

each syllable clearly, and without

compromising other sounds.

Surround identifies and enhanc-

es the spatial information of

incoming audio via Sound Blas-

ter’s audio filters. The technology

optimizes the listening experi-

ence for both two-channel and

multi-channel source content

resulting in a realistic listening

experience.

Using the speakers from a

laptop, stereo receiver and

streaming via Bluetooth all pro-

duced great sound. The speakers

have high volume levels, way

more than my ears can take. The

sound is well balanced and there

are options to help achieve the

desired mix of treble and bass.

Inside each speaker is a 2.75-

inch full-range driver along with

a built-in digital amplifier. Cre-

atives BasXPort technology al-

lows the right amount of bass

without having a subwoofer.

The Creatives T60s can be

connected wirelessly with Blue-

tooth 5.0 or USB-C for digital

audio, which both worked per-

fectly in my review unit. Other

ports for the AC-powered speak-

ers include a 3.5mm aux-in (ana-

log), a 3.5mm headphone port,

and a 3.5mm port for plugging in

an external microphone for com-

municating during meetings.

A 6-foot wire connects the pair

of speakers, with the controls on

one speaker used for controlling

both. Front-facing buttons are

used for power, volume, audio

sound technologies, and switch-

ing between audio or your head-

set.

Online: us.creative.com

GADGETS

All-in-one computer standand hub makes life easier

BY GREGG ELLMAN

Tribune News Service

SATECHI/TNS

The Satechi Stand Hub sits perfectly under the Apple Mac Mini M1computer with a top side platform that is raised to provide a space toallow heat and air to ventilate, preventing overheating.

Marsha Egan has a theory: You either

control your email, or it controls you.

I have 21,000 unread messages — in

my personal account, not others I use

for work — so it’s safe to say I fall into the latter

camp. Email overwhelm can be crippling: Good

intentions to read every interesting newsletter or

respond to old friends are flattened by a constant

deluge of more, more and more messages, some

marked “urgent” or accompanied by chains that

take an hour to decipher.

“Email has become the biggest and worst in-

terrupter the universe has ever experienced,” says

Egan, a workplace productivity coach and author of

“Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-mail Excellence.”

“It’s cheap, it’s immediate, and you can copy 200

people if you want to.”

It’s also, many would agree, a giant headache and

time suck.

Most employees spend about 28% of the work-

week reading and answering emails, according to

one analysis. Maura Thomas, a speaker and trainer

on individual and corporate productivity whose

upcoming book is “The Happy Inbox,” says the first

thing many of her clients do when they open their

eyes in the morning is check their email. And the

last thing they do before they go to bed at night is,

you guessed it, refresh that inbox.

Part of taking control of our email, Thomas and

other experts say, is establishing boundaries

around when we check it. Here’s advice on that and

other ways to wrangle your inbox into order.

Preventing email overwhelm■ Check your email just a few times a day. In a

perfect world, Jim McCullen would check his email

twice before lunch and twice after. If you want to

adopt such a schedule, enlist some help. “Turn off

automatic send and receive,” says McCullen, au-

thor of “Control Your Day,” which details an email

productivity method based on David Allen’s “Get-

ting Things Done.”

Most platforms allow you to temporarily delay

new messages from arriving in your inbox. You can

also use a tool like Boomerang, which holds your

emails until you want to receive them.

If your job requires more constant vigilance, aim

to check your email “in between other things,” not

while you’re focusing on one specific task, Thomas

advises. And always process them in a batch, ver-

sus opening each email as it arrives.

■ Adhere to the four Ds. Egan applies “the four

Ds” to every email she receives: do, delete, delegate

or defer. If you deal with an email within two min-

utes, do it. If it’ll take longer, defer — which is also

known as triaging. Egan puts such emails into Fold-

er A — which stands for “action” — and then sets

reminders to return to them. You might also delete

an email or delegate it to someone else. The key is

to deal with each message before you move on to

the next, rather than letting 10 (then 100) pile up

unread. Treat your inbox as a place to receive and

process messages, not store them.

■ Turn off notifications. Do you really need an

alert for each new message? “Let me just end the

suspense for you,” Thomas says. “You have mail.”

Constant pop-ups or dings “just contribute to your

habit of distraction,” she says. “It makes it really

difficult to stay focused for any period of time, and

it chips away at patience.” In addition to disabling

notifications on your computer, she suggests doing

the same for email on your phone.

■ Don’t think of your inbox as a to-do list. Lots of

people make this mistake, says Matt Plummer,

CEO of Zarvana, which helps professionals become

more productive. Your inbox is a delivery tool; it

doesn’t function properly as a place to itemize your

tasks. Often, people think, “I’m going to need to

respond to this email, so I should just leave it in my

inbox,” Plummer says. That’s not effective. Instead,

he recommends using a task-managing app like

TickTick, which lets you log everything you need to

do and integrate tasks with your calendar.

■ Unsubscribe aggressively. Think of your in-

box as a garden you must prune, McCullen says.

Those newsletters you haven’t opened in six

months? Unsubscribe. The place you once bought a

hamburger from that now sends you deals every

day? Unsubscribe. You can always check the web-

site. Remember: Even looking at an email and de-

ciding you don’t need it steals valuable time,

McCullen says.

iStock

A constantly full inbox can be overwhelming. Tips such as only checking your email at a certain time anddealing with messages in batches can help you get control of your inbox and get on with your day.

You’ve got mailTips to get your inbox under control so you can get back to life

BY ANGELA HAUPT

The Washington Post


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stripes.com

OPINION

The lukewarm pace of coronavirus

vaccination in the United States

has led many policymakers and

private employers to impose vac-

cine mandates, sometimes going so far as to

refuse any religious or philosophical exemp-

tions. Others, such as some universities and

school districts, have opted for a softer ap-

proach — urging vaccinations, but not re-

quiring them, in hopes that enough people

will independently decide to do the right

thing.

Unfortunately, neither approach is

grounded in evidence. A substantial and ex-

panding body of research suggests that man-

datory immunizations work, but only if they

strike a middle ground that avoids draconian

measures but makes it inconvenient to opt

out.

There is no question that vaccine man-

dates, crafted well, are effective. A review of

studies from high-income countries showed

that school immunization requirements

were on average associated with 18 percent-

age points higher rates of routine childhood

vaccinations. Similarly, during and soon af-

ter the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and 2010, vac-

cination mandates were instrumental in in-

creasing health care worker influenza im-

munization rates.

Most immunization mandates allow ex-

emptions based on religious or other rea-

sons. For instance, people with a history of

severe allergies to vaccine components may

be medically exempt from mandates. Some

who say their faith doesn’t permit them to get

vaccinated may get a religious exemption.

However, if it is too easy to opt out, mandates

are not as effective. In a 2012 study, my col-

leagues and I found that states with easy ex-

emption procedures had more than twice as

high vaccine refusal rates compared with

states with difficult procedures.

But there is also a danger in making the

mandates too strict. Several governments

have tried to eliminate all nonmedical ex-

emptions with the idea that most people

won’t be able to opt out. The problem with

that approach is that there is no simple linear

relationship between the strictness of a man-

date and vaccination rates.

In 2015, after a wave outbreaks — includ-

ing a widely publicized outbreak of measles,

initially identified at Disneyland, that led to

more than 300 cases — California stopped

granting vaccination exemptions to school-

children unless it was related to a medical is-

sue. The state had also recently cracked

down on a school admission process called

“conditional entrants,” which was supposed

to be for children who had begun getting

their required vaccinations but had not com-

pleted the immunization course by the start

of school. Vaccine-averse parents had

abused the program.

The percentage of California children be-

hind on their vaccines declined from approx-

imately 10% in 2013 to almost 5% in 2017. But

this decline was mainly due to the crack-

down on the conditional entrant option, not a

result of eliminating nonmedical exemp-

tions.

Most parents with strong objections to

vaccination — who would have previously

sought nonmedical exemptions — found

loopholes, such as acquiring medical exemp-

tions, moving their children to home school-

ing or enrolling them in an independent

study program.

Mandates may not be “nudges” in terms of

the conventional use of the word, but effec-

tive mandates work by ensuring that it is far

more convenient to receive the vaccine than

not to — without taking away the choice of

opting out altogether.

For example, when Washington state

started requiring that all parents seeking

nonmedical exemptions obtain mandatory

health care-provider counseling and sign an

“informed declination” form, vaccine refus-

al declined by more than 40%.

Based on vaccine ethics and science, my

colleagues and I came up with six criteria for

triggering coronavirus vaccine require-

ments. Among other things, we stipulate that

mandates should be implemented only when

the virus is not adequately contained and vol-

untary vaccination uptake has fallen short.

Under these criteria, the use of mandates

is justified in specific settings in the United

States, including hospitals, universities,

many workplaces and the military. Since

vaccine access has been sparser for many

communities — particularly communities of

color — a general mandate that covers ev-

eryone, or all adults, is not justified at this

moment.

These mandates should include exemp-

tions for religious and medical reasons.

However, getting an exemption should not

be easier than getting vaccinated. And hav-

ing a mandate does not absolve governments

of other responsibilities related to ensuring

equitable vaccine access, such as engaging

with the community and removing financial

and logistical barriers to vaccination.

Mandates must never be vindictive; they

should not be an outlet for the collective frus-

trations of the vaccinated. Instead, vaccine

requirements that work as behavioral inter-

ventions can be a useful nudge to ensure that

as many people as possible are inoculated

against this deadly virus.

Vaccine mandates work, but not if they’re too strictBY SAAD B. OMER

Special to The Washington Post

Saad B. Omer is director of the Yale Institute for Global Healthand a professor at the Yale University schools of medicine andpublic health.

Almost 204,000 cases of COVID-19

among children were reported in

the United States in the week end-

ing Aug. 26, according to the

American Academy of Pediatrics. The num-

ber of children now hospitalized with the dis-

ease continues to hit record numbers daily,

with pediatric intensive care units in Texas,

Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi over-

whelmed or at capacity.

Many Americans likely don’t understand

how terrifying those words are. “At capacity”

means that these PICUs don’t have the staff

and resources to care adequately and safely

for additional sick patients. It means that if

your child comes to the hospital ill with CO-

VID-19, or even a non-COVID problem re-

quiring ICU-level care, they will likely have

to wait an indeterminate amount of time for a

bed. It means worsened health outcomes and

increased mortality rates. It means health

care workers will be fatigued and burnt out.

Almost five years ago, I had my own per-

sonal experience with a PICU — not as a phy-

sician but as a parent. I had given birth un-

eventfully to a beautiful, healthy baby. Two

days later, we brought him home from the

hospital. Three weeks later, as I nursed him

in the middle of the night, I noticed that he

was breathing very quickly. His little belly

moved up and down rapidly, and his nostrils

flared with each breath.

As I counted his breaths, my heart sank.

100. My baby was breathing at 100 breaths a

minute. For context, a healthy 3-week-old ba-

by takes 30 to 60 breaths a minute. We ended

up in the pediatric emergency room that

night, in the same hospital where I worked.

He was placed on oxygen to help him

breathe better. A few hours later, after a nasal

viral swab and a chest X-ray, he was diag-

nosed with respiratory syncytial virus bron-

chiolitis and admitted to the PICU.

Once he was in the PICU, a mask was

placed over his tiny face that forced oxygen

into his nose and mouth, and his vital signs

were continuously monitored. He stayed in

the PICU for five days and four nights. I slept

in a chair next to his oversized bed every

night. It was difficult to sleep those nights, not

only because of worry but also because of the

bustling ICU staff working diligently through

the night tending to my baby and the others in

the room.

We had waited only several hours in the ER

for my baby’s PICU bed. At the time, the wait

felt like forever. I cannot imagine the fear that

parents of critically ill children are experi-

encing right now in overwhelmed hospitals

across the country. When I hear about PICUs

being at capacity, I think about not only my

baby, who is now healthy and almost 5 years

old, but all of the children who require admis-

sion, for COVID-related issues or otherwise.

PICUs are seeing a surge in admissions not

only because of COVID-19 infections but also

because of a surge in RSV infections. While

RSV infections were historically low last year

because of increased masking and children

interacting with fewer people because of pan-

demic restrictions, they have picked up sig-

nificantly over the summer because of de-

creased masking and increased reopening.

As the fall approaches and more children

return to full in-person learning, we will inev-

itably see further spikes in pediatric hospital-

izations and PICU admissions. Hospitals and

health care workers will be pushed further to

the brink, if that is even possible. If PICUs re-

main at or over capacity, patient care will

continue to be severely compromised.

Federal, state and local leaders have an

obligation to ensure that our most vulnerable

— including unvaccinated children — are

protected. In addition to ensuring adults and

eligible children are vaccinated, we need pol-

icies that support non-pharmaceutical inter-

ventions to decrease transmission, such as

mask mandates, indoor capacity restrictions,

free and accessible testing, adequate ventila-

tion in indoor settings and remote learning

options.

Otherwise, parents in overwhelmed areas

will have every reason to worry, “What will

happen if my child becomes severely ill?”

These are worries that no parent should ever

have to face.

‘PICU at capacity’ terrifies any parent of a sick childBY UCHÉ BLACKSTOCK

Special to The Washington Post

Uché Blackstock is an emergency physician and founder andchief executive of Advancing Health Equity.


SCOREBOARD

PRO SOCCER

MLS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 16 4 4 52 45 28

Nashville 9 2 11 38 37 21

Orlando City 9 4 8 35 30 24

NYCFC 10 7 4 34 37 22

Philadelphia 8 7 8 32 28 24

CF Montréal 8 7 7 31 30 27

D.C. United 9 10 3 30 35 32

Columbus 7 9 6 27 25 29

Atlanta 6 7 9 27 25 28

Chicago 6 11 5 23 24 33

Inter Miami CF 6 9 5 23 21 31

New York 6 10 4 22 23 25

Cincinnati 3 9 8 17 21 37

Toronto FC 3 13 6 15 26 47

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 12 4 6 42 35 19

Sporting KC 11 5 7 40 37 26

Colorado 11 4 5 38 30 20

LA Galaxy 11 8 3 36 35 35

Minnesota 8 6 7 31 24 24

Portland 9 10 3 30 31 39

Real Salt Lake 7 8 6 27 31 27

LAFC 7 9 6 27 32 31

Vancouver 6 7 8 26 27 31

San Jose 6 7 8 26 24 29

FC Dallas 6 9 7 25 30 33

Austin FC 5 12 4 19 20 29

Houston 3 10 10 19 24 36

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday, Aug. 28

Nashville 2, Atlanta 0 Chicago 1, New York 0 LA Galaxy 3, Los Angeles FC 3, tie New York City FC 2, New England 0 D.C. United 3, Philadelphia 1 Colorado 1, Sporting Kansas City 1, tie Minnesota 2, Houston 1

Sunday, Aug. 29

FC Dallas 5, Austin FC 3 Vancouver 4, Real Salt Lake 1 Portland 2, Seattle 0

Friday’s games

Nashville 3, New York City FC 1 New England 1, Philadelphia 0 Portland 2, Houston 0 Los Angeles FC 4, Sporting Kansas City 0

Saturday’s games

Austin FC at Vancouver Columbus at Orlando City Miami at Cincinnati FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake Colorado at San Jose

Friday, Sept. 10

Orlando City at Atlanta Portland at Vancouver

Saturday, Sept. 11

LA Galaxy at Colorado Minnesota at Seattle D.C. United at New York New York City FC at New England Toronto FC at Cincinnati Columbus at Miami Nashville at CF Montréal Austin FC at Houston Chicago at Sporting Kansas City San Jose at FC Dallas

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Portland 10 4 2 32 24 11

North Carolina 8 4 4 28 22 9

Reign FC 9 7 1 28 23 18

Orlando 6 5 6 24 20 19

Chicago 7 7 3 24 19 22

Washington 6 5 5 23 19 18

Gotham FC 5 5 6 21 17 15

Houston 6 7 3 21 18 21

Louisville 4 8 4 16 13 23

Kansas City 2 11 4 10 9 28

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday, Aug. 28

Chicago 3, Kansas City 0

Sunday, Aug. 29

North Carolina 0, Washington 0, tie Orlando 1, Gotham FC 0 Reign FC 2, Portland 1 Houston 1, Louisville 0

Wednesday, Sept. 1

Reign FC 1, Houston 0

Saturday’s games

Chicago at Gotham FC Reign FC at Louisville Washington at Portland

Sunday’s games

Houston at Orlando North Carolina at Kansas City

Friday, Sept. 10

Gotham FC at Kansas City Chicago at Houston

Saturday, Sept. 11

Louisville at Orlando

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

x-Connecticut 21 6 .778 —

Chicago 14 14 .500 7½

Washington 10 16 .385 10½

New York 11 18 .379 11

Indiana 6 19 .240 14

Atlanta 6 20 .231 14½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

x-Las Vegas 20 7 .741 —

x-Seattle 19 10 .655 2

x-Minnesota 17 9 .654 2½

x-Phoenix 16 10 .615 3½

Dallas 12 15 .444 8

Los Angeles 10 18 .357 10½

Thursday’s games

Minnesota 66, Los Angeles 57Dallas 72, Atlanta 68Seattle 85, New York 75Las Vegas 90, Chicago 83

Friday’s games

No games scheduled

Saturday’s games

Phoenix at IndianaWashington at Minnesota

Sunday’s games

Las Vegas at ChicagoAtlanta at Dallas

Monday’s games

Phoenix at Indiana

U.S. OpenFriday

At USTA Billie Jean King National TennisCenter

New YorkSurface: Hardcourt outdoor

Men’s SinglesThird Round

Peter Gojowczyk, Germany, def. HenriLaaksonen, Switzerland, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

Daniil Medvedev (2), Russia, def. PabloAndujar, Spain, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3.

Daniel Evans (24), Britain, def. AlexeiPopyrin, Australia, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

Carlos Alcaraz, Spain, def. Stefanos Tsit-sipas (3), Greece, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6(5).

Diego Schwartzman (11), Argentina, def.Alex Molcan, Slovakia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

Botic van de Zandschulp, Netherlands,def. Facundo Bagnis, Argentina, 3-6, 6-0,6-2, 6-2.

Felix Auger-Aliassime (12), Canada, def.Roberto Bautista Agut (18), Spain, 6-3, 6-4,4-6, 3-6, 6-3.

Frances Tiafoe, United States, def. An-drey Rublev (5), Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6,6-1.

Women’s SinglesThird Round

Simona Halep (12), Romania, def. ElenaRybakina (19), Kazakhstan, 7-6 (11), 4-6,6-3.

Garbine Muguruza (9), Spain, def. Victo-ria Azarenka (18), Belarus, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Barbora Krejcikova (8), Czech Republic,def. Kamilla Rakhimova, Russia, 6-4, 6-2.

Elina Svitolina (5), Ukraine, def. Daria Ka-satkina (25), Russia, 6-4, 6-2.

Angelique Kerber (16), Germany, def.Sloane Stephens, United States, 5-7, 6-2,6-3.

Elise Mertens (15), Belgium, def. Ons Ja-beur (20), Tunisia, 6-3, 7-5.

Leylah Annie Fernandez, Canada, def.Naomi Osaka (3), Japan, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Aryna Sabalenka (2), Belarus, def. Da-nielle Collins (26), United States, 6-3, 6-3.

Men’s DoublesFirst Round

Andrey Golubev, Kazakhstan, and An-dreas Mies (15), Germany, def. Albert Ra-mos-Vinolas and Pedro Martinez, Spain,6-4, 6-4.

Jonathan Erlich, Israel, and Lloyd Harris,South Africa, def. Oliver Marach and Phi-lipp Oswald, Austria, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

Frederik Nielsen, Denmark, and VasekPospisil, Canada, def. Marcos Giron, Unit-ed States, and Andre Goransson, Sweden,6-3, 7-6 (3).

Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen (16), Bel-

gium, def. Ilya Ivashka, Belarus, andJaume Munar, Spain, 6-3, 6-3.

Jack Sock, United States, and Neal Skup-ski, Britain, def. Filip Krajinovic and LasloDjere, Serbia, 6-2, 6-3.

Men’s DoublesSecond Round

Benoit Paire, France, and Ricardas Be-rankis, Lithuania, def. Nathaniel Lammonsand Jackson Withrow, United States, 6-4,6-2.

Bruno Soares, Brazil, and Jamie Murray(7), Britain, def. Bjorn Fratangelo andChristopher Eubanks, United States, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Rajeev Ram, United States, and Joe Sa-lisbury (4), Britain, def. John Millman, Aus-tralia, and Thiago Monteiro, Brazil, 6-3, 6-4.

Evan King and Hunter Reese, UnitedStates, def. Austin Krajicek, United States,and Dominic Inglot, Britain, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, Aus-tralia, def. Szymon Walkow and HubertHurkacz, Poland, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Marcel Granollers, Spain, and HoracioZeballos (2), Argentina, def. Fabrice Mar-tin and Jeremy Chardy, France, 6-7 (4), 7-5,7-6 (4).

Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herb-ert (3), France, def. Marcelo Demoliner,Brazil, and Marcus Daniell, New Zealand,6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1).

Women’s DoublesFirst Round

Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan, and VarvaraGracheva, Russia, def. Misaki Doi, Japan,and Anna-Lena Friedsam, Germany, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2.

Andrea Petkovic, Germany, and AjlaTomljanovic, Australia, def. Tara Moore,Britain, and Emina Bektas, United States,6-2, 6-4.

Elixane Lechemia, France, and UlrikkeEikeri, Norway, def. Oksana Kalashnikova,Georgia, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, Rus-sia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Petra Martic, Croatia, and Shelby Rog-ers, United States, def. Mandy Minella,Luxembourg, and Liudmila Samsonova,Russia, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-4.

Second RoundBethanie Mattek-Sands, United States,

and Veronika Kudermetova (6), Russia,def. Alize Cornet and Fiona Ferro, France,6-2, 6-2.

Monica Niculescu and Elena-GabrielaRuse, Romania, def. Magda Linette, Po-land, and Bernarda Pera, United States,6-3, 7-5.

Alison van Uytvanck and Greet Minnen,Belgium, def. Kveta Peschke, Czech Re-public, and Ellen Perez (16), Australia, 7-5,1-6, 6-2.

Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (3),

Japan, def. Alicja Rosolska, Poland, and EriHozumi, Japan, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Sam Stosur, Australia, and Zhang Shuai(14), China, def. Sabrina Santamaria, Unit-ed States, and Miyu Kato, Japan, 6-2, 6-4.

Alexa Guarachi Mathison, Chile, and De-sirae Krawczyk (7), United States, def.Danka Kovinic, Montenegro, and RebeccaPeterson, Sweden, 6-1, 6-3.

Dayana Yastremska and Marta Kostyuk,Ukraine, def. Aleksandra Krunic and NinaStojanovic (17), Serbia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Anastassia Rodionova and Arina Rodio-nova, Australia, def. Renata Voracova,Czech Republic, and Anhelina Kalinina,Ukraine, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Caty McNally and Coco Gauff (11), Unit-ed States, def. Tereza Martincova andMarketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic,6-4, 6-3.

Mixed DoublesSecond Round

Andreja Klepac, Slovenia, and JoranVliegen, Belgium, def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, and Jamie Murray(5), Britain, 2-6, 6-4, 12-10.

Filip Polasek, Slovakia, and Belinda Ben-cic, Switzerland, def. Luke Saville andStorm Sanders, Australia, 6-4, 6-4.

Marcelo Arevalo-Gonzalez, El Salvador,and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico, def. Asia Mu-hammad and Jack Withrow, United States,7-6 (5), 6-3.

Austin Krajicek and Jessica Pegula, Unit-ed States, def. Lukasz Kubot, Poland, andLucie Hradecka, Czech Republic, 6-7 (4),6-0, 11-9.

Ken Skupski, Britain, and Alexa GuarachiMathison (3), Chile, def. Bruno Soares, Bra-zil, and Sam Stosur, Australia, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4.

Max Purcell, Australia, and Dayana Yas-tremska, Ukraine, def. Rajeev Ram, UnitedStates, and Sania Mirza, India, 6-3, 3-6,10-7.

Ivan Dodig, Croatia, and Nicole Melichar(1), United States, def. Zhang Shuai, China,and John Peers, Australia, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 12-10.

Montserrat Gonzalez, Paraguay, andNadia Podoroska, Argentina, def. SabrinaSantamaria and Nathaniel Lammons,United States, 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Galina Voskoboeva, Kazakhstan, and Ni-kola Cacic, Serbia, def. Matwe Middel-koop, Netherlands, and Darija Jurak, Croa-tia, 6-2, 3-6, 10-8.

Desirae Krawczyk, United States, andJoe Salisbury (2), Britain, def. MitchellKrueger and Jamie Loeb, United States,5-7, 6-3, 10-8.

Fabrice Martin, France, and YaroslavaShvedova, Kazakhstan, def. Michael Ven-us, New Zealand, and Hao-Ching Chan (7),Taiwan, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

TENNIS

injury settlement TE Alex Ellis.LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Activated

DB Ryan Smith from the reserve/COVID-19list. Signed DB Brandon Facyson and DTForrest Merrill to the practice squad.Waived DB Kemon Hall.

LOS ANGELES RAMS — Signed DB Anto-nio Brooks Jr. and RB Buddy Howell to thepractice squad.

MIAMI DOLPHINS — Signed LB Milo Eiflerto the practice squad.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed P JordanBerry. Released P Britton Colquitt.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Waivedwith an injury settlement DE Nick Thur-man.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed TE Ryan Iz-zo, RB Dexter Williams and QB Brian Le-werke to the practice squad. Released WRDamion Willis from the practice squad.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed DTMarvin Wilson to the practice squad. Re-leased S Grayland Arnold from the prac-tice squad.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Acquired CBAhkello Witherspoon from Seattle in ex-change for a 2023 fifth-round pick. WaivedDT Henry Mondeaux.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Signed TE Tan-ner Hudson, LB Rashad Smith, CB Dee Vir-gin and WR Isaiah Zuber to the practicesquad.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed G PhilHaynes to the practice squad.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Activated GNick Leverett from the reserve/COVID-19list. Placed OLB Cam Gill on injured re-serve.

TENNESSEE TITANS — Activated OLB Ha-rold Landry and WR Racey Mcmath fromthe reserve/COVID-19 list. Signed TE My-Cole Pruitt to the practice squad. ReleasedTE Miller Forristall from the practicesquad. Placed S Brady Breeze on injuredreserve.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM —Signed K Eddy Pineiro to the practicesquad.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

DETROIT RED WINGS — Signed D FilipHronek to a three-year contract.

SOCCERMajor League Soccer

INTER MIAMI CF — Loaned G Dylan Cas-tanheira to San Diego Loyal SC (USL Cham-pionship) for the remainder of the seasonwith a right to recall.

ORLANDO CITY SC — Added G Greg Ran-jitsing from the Major League Soccer gaol-keepers pool.

Jankowski from the paternity list. Return-ed OF Jorge Bonifacio to Lehigh Valley.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Placed RHP Ju-nior Fernandez on the 10-day IL. RecalledRHP Jake Woodford from Memphis (Tri-ple-A East).

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Reinstated RHPJake Arrieta from the 10-day IL. Designat-ed RHP Taylor Williams for assignment.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — ReinstatedINF Evan Longoria from the 10-day IL. Op-tioned INF/OF Mauricio Dubon to Sacra-mento (Triple-A West).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — ReinstatedRHP Kyle Finnegan from the paternity list.Placed RHP Kyle McGowan on the 10-dayIL, retroactive to Sept. 1.

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

BROOKLYN NETS — Signed C LaMarcusAldridge.

DALLAS MAVERICKS — Waived F E.J.Onu.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed LB Ron-’Dell Carter, WR Josh Doctson, CBs RasulDouglas, Antonio Hamilton, DLs JeremiahLedbetter, Jeremiah Ledbetter and OL Mi-chal Menet to the practice squad.

ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed WR KeelanDoss and OLB James Vaughters to thepractice squad. Released RB D’Onta Fore-man from the practice squad. Signed RBWayne Gallman. Waived RB Qadree Olli-son.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Waived with aninjury settlement WR Deon Cain.

CHICAGO BEARS — Signed WR RodneyAdams to the practice squad.

CINCINNATI BENGALS — Signed WRTrenton Irwin to the practice squad.

DENVER BRONCOS — Signed DT Jonath-an Harris to the practice squad.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Released WR Tay-wan Taylor from injured reserve with asettlement. Signed WR Jalen Camp and DBAntonio Phillips to the practice squad.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Signed KKaare Vedvik and TE Jacob Hollister to thepractice squad.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed TE TylerDavis and CB Marvell Tell III to the practicesquad. Released LB Curtis Bolton and WRTyler Vaughns from the practice squad.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Signed DT CortezBroughton, DB Shakur Brown and LB Chris-tian Rozeboom to the practice squad. Re-leased DT Tyler Clark from the practicesquad.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Waived with an

Friday’s transactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BOSTON RED SOX — Placed OF Jarren Du-ran on the COVID-19 IL. Recalled C ConnorWong from Worcester (Triple-A East).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Placed RHP Lu-cas Giolito on the 10-day IL, retraoctive toSeptember 1. Recalled RHP Ryan Burr fromCharlotte (Triple-A East).

HOUSTON ASTROS — Reinstated OFChas McCormick from the 10-day IL. Se-lected the contract of OF Jose Siri fromSugar Land (Triple-A West) and agreed toterms on a major league contract. Op-tioned INF Robel Garcia and RHP Enoli Pa-redes to Sugar Land.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Selected thecontract of RHP Janson Junk from RocketCity (Double-A South) and agreed to termson a major league contract. Released INFJose Iglesias.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Recalled LHPSam Moll from Las Vegas (Triple-A West).Placed RHP Frankie Montas on the re-stricted list. Activated CB Robert Alfordfrom the reserve/COVID-19 list.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Reinstated INFGleyber Torres from the 10-day IL. Op-tioned OF Esteven Florial to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A East).

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Sent 1B Ji-Man Choito FCL Rays (Florida Complex League) on arehab assignment.

TEXAS RANGERS — Agreed to terms with2B Domingo Leyba on a minor league con-tract.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Claimed INF/OFJake Lamb off waivers from Chicago WhiteSox. Designated RHP Connor Overton forassignment. Recalled LHP Kirby Sneadfrom Buffalo (Triple-A East).

National LeagueCOLORADO ROCKIES — Recalled RHP

Ashton Goudeau from Albuquerque (Tri-ple-A West). Optioned RHP Justin Law-rence to Albuquerque.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Reinstated INFEduardo Escobar and RHP Freddy Peraltafrom the 10-day IL. Optioned RHP Alec Be-ttinger to Nashville (Triple-A East). Placed2B Kolten Wong on the paternity list.

NEW YORK METS — Placed LF DominicSmith on the bereavement list. ReinstatedLHP Brad Hand from the 10-day IL.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Optioned 2BNick Maton to Lehigh Valley (Triple-AEast). Reinstated SS Didi Gregorius fromthe restricted list. Reinstated LF Travis

DEALS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Friday’s scoresEAST

Bentley 41, West Chester 17Delaware Valley 57, Kean 6Hobart 35, Alfred 3Merchant Marine 49, FDU-Florham 27Nichols 21, Westfield St. 6S. Connecticut 28, CCSU 21Salisbury 56, Albright 14Salve Regina 38, Norwich 0Ursinus 42, Alvernia 6WPI 38, Worcester St. 20

SOUTHCharlotte 31, Duke 28Virginia Tech 17, North Carolina 10Wake Forest 42, Old Dominion 10

MIDWESTE. Michigan 35, St. Francis (Pa.) 15Hiram 41, Bethany (WV) 21Kansas 17, South Dakota 14Michigan St. 38, Northwestern 21

FAR WESTChapman 35, Pacific (Ore.) 23Colorado 35, N. Colorado 7S. Dakota St. 42, Colorado St. 23Whitworth 13, Carnegie Mellon 10

PRO FOOTBALL

NFL scheduleThursday’s game

Dallas at Tampa BaySunday’s games

Arizona at TennesseeJacksonville at HoustonL.A. Chargers at WashingtonMinnesota at CincinnatiN.Y. Jets at CarolinaPhiladelphia at AtlantaPittsburgh at BuffaloSan Francisco at DetroitSeattle at IndianapolisCleveland at Kansas CityDenver at N.Y. GiantsGreen Bay at New OrleansMiami at New EnglandChicago at L.A. Rams

Monday’s gameBaltimore at Las Vegas

Sept. 5 1922 — The U.S. beats Australia 4-1 to

capture the Davis Cup for the thirdstraight year.

1949 — Pancho Gonzalez captures hissecond consecutive men’s singles title inthe U.S. Lawn Tennis Association cham-pionships. Gonzalez needs 67 games —

the most ever in a final — to defeat TedSchroeder, 16-18, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. Mary Os-borne du Pont defeats Doris Hart 6-4, 6-1for the women’s title.

1951 — Maureen Connolly, 16, wins theU.S. women’s singles title with a 6-3, 1-6,6-4 victory over Shirley Fry.

1990 — Ivan Lendl’s bid for a record nine

straight U.S. Open men’s finals ends in thequarterfinals. Pete Sampras wins in fivesets, 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2.

2001 — Old rivals Andre Agassi and PeteSampras battle in a classic match. Sam-pras wins in four sets, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6(2), 7-6 (5), with neither player losingserve.

AP SPORTLIGHT

GOLF

Tour ChampionshipPGA Tour

FridayAt East Lake Golf Club

Atlanta, Ga.Yardage: 7,346; Par: 70

Purse: $46 MillionSecond Round

Patrick Cantlay 67-66—133 -17Jon Rahm 65-65—130 -16Bryson DeChambeau 69-67—136 -11Justin Thomas 67-67—134 -10Tony Finau 72-67—139 -9Kevin Na 66-67—133 -9Viktor Hovland 66-68—134 -9Cameron Smith 68-68—136 -9Harris English 66-69—135 -9Rory McIlroy 68-66—134 -8Jordan Spieth 69-67—136 -8Louis Oosthuizen 68-67—135 -8Jason Kokrak 67-68—135 -7Billy Horschel 65-68—133 -7Dustin Johnson 68-69—137 -6Xander Schauffele 68-69—137 -5Abraham Ancer 69-70—139 -5Brooks Koepka 67-71—138 -4Sam Burns 71-70—141 -3Sergio Garcia 68-70—138 -2Sungjae Im 71-70—141 -2Scottie Scheffler 67-72—139 -2


MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Tampa Bay 85 50 .630 _

New York 78 56 .582 6½

Boston 78 59 .569 8

Toronto 71 62 .534 13

Baltimore 41 92 .308 43

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 78 57 .578 _

Cleveland 67 65 .508 9½

Detroit 64 72 .471 14½

Kansas City 60 74 .448 17½

Minnesota 58 76 .433 19½

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 79 55 .590 _

Oakland 74 61 .548 5½

Seattle 73 62 .541 6½

Los Angeles 67 68 .496 12½

Texas 47 87 .351 32

National League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 71 63 .530 _

Philadelphia 69 65 .515 2

New York 67 67 .500 4

Miami 56 79 .415 15½

Washington 55 78 .414 15½

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 82 54 .603 _

Cincinnati 72 64 .529 10

St. Louis 69 64 .519 11½

Chicago 61 75 .449 21

Pittsburgh 48 87 .356 33½

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 86 49 .637 _

Los Angeles 85 50 .630 1

San Diego 71 64 .526 15

Colorado 62 73 .459 24

Arizona 45 91 .331 41½

Friday’s games

Tampa Bay 5, Minnesota 3 Toronto 11, Oakland 10 Boston 8, Cleveland 5 N.Y. Yankees 4, Baltimore 3, 11 innings Kansas City 7, Chicago White Sox 2 L.A. Angels 3, Texas 2 Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 5 Miami 10, Philadelphia 3 N.Y. Mets 6, Washington 2, 10 innings Detroit 15, Cincinnati 5 Colorado 4, Atlanta 3 St. Louis 15, Milwaukee 4 Seattle 6, Arizona 5, 10 innings Houston 6, San Diego 3 San Francisco 3, L.A. Dodgers 2, 11 in-

nings

Saturday’s games

Baltimore at N.Y. Yankees Oakland at Toronto Minnesota at Tampa Bay Cleveland at Boston Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Texas at L.A. Angels N.Y. Mets at Washington, 1:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs N.Y. Mets at Washington, 6:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Miami Detroit at Cincinnati St. Louis at Milwaukee Atlanta at Colorado Seattle at Arizona Houston at San Diego L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco

Sunday’s games

Baltimore (Akin 2-8) at N.Y. Yankees(Kluber 4-3)

Oakland (Irvin 9-12) at Toronto (Ray10-5)

Cleveland (Plesac 9-4) at Boston (Pivet-ta 9-7)

Minnesota (Jax 3-3) at Tampa Bay (Pati-ño 4-3)

Chicago White Sox (Cease 11-6) at Kan-sas City (Singer 3-9)

Texas (Hearn 4-4) at L.A. Angels (TBD) N.Y. Mets (Walker 7-9) at Washington

(Gray 0-2) Detroit (Mize 7-7) at Cincinnati (Castillo

7-14) Philadelphia (Wheeler 11-9) at Miami

(Hernandez 1-1) St. Louis (Lester 5-6) at Milwaukee

(Burnes 9-4) Pittsburgh (Crowe 3-7) at Chicago Cubs

(Davies 6-10) Atlanta (Morton 12-5) at Colorado (Gom-

ber 9-9) Houston (Garcia 10-6) at San Diego (Pad-

dack 7-6) Seattle (Flexen 11-5) at Arizona (Gilbert

1-2) L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 13-2) at San Fran-

cisco (TBD)

Scoreboard

TORONTO — Marcus Semien

hit a game-ending three-run

homer in the ninth inning after

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tying

grand slam in the eighth, and the

Toronto Blue Jays rallied three

times to stun the Oakland Athlet-

ics 11-10 Friday night.

“We just woke up,” Semien said.

Semien connected off Sergio

Romo (1-1) for his career-best

34th home run of the season,

sparking a wild celebration at

home plate.

“It’s huge,” said Semien, who

delivered against the club that let

him leave as a free agent last off-

season. “Every win is so impor-

tant right now. Biggest at-bat of

the year for me, obviously.”

Oakland dropped three games

behind Boston in the AL wild-card

race. Toronto remains five games

back of Boston, which beat Cleve-

land 8-4 Friday.

The Blue Jays have won nine of

the past 11 meetings with Oakland,

dating to 2019.

Angels 3, Rangers 2: Shohei

Ohtani (9-1) allowed two runs,

struck out eight and threw a

stateside career-high 117 pitches

in seven innings, and host Los An-

geles beat Texas.

The Japanese two-way star

leads the majors with 42 homers

and dropped his ERA to 2.97.

Yankees 4, Orioles 3 (11):

Giancarlo Stanton led off the 11th

inning with an RBI single and host

New York came back to edge Bal-

timore,

Stanton also homered as the

Yankees remained 1½ games

ahead of Boston in the race for the

first AL wild card.

Red Sox 8, Indians 5: Kyle

Schwarber hit a leadoff homer in

the first inning, then delivered a

tiebreaking, two-run double in the

seventh that sent host Boston past

Cleveland.

Astros 6, Padres 3: Kyle Tuck-

er hit a tiebreaking two-run home

run in the eighth inning and Car-

los Correa’s three-run shot in the

fourth ended a 22-inning scoreless

streak for visiting Houston, which

beat scuffling San Diego.

Cardinals 15, Brewers 4: No-

lan Arenado homered twice in the

first three innings to help visiting

St. Louis rout Milwaukee in a

milestone performance for Adam

Wainwright and Yadier Molina.

It marked the 300th game to

feature Wainwright and Molina as

the Cardinals’ starting pitcher-

catcher combination. That total

makes them the fourth-most pro-

lific battery.

Mets 6, Nationals 2 (10):Kevin

Pillar drove in two with a 10th-in-

ning double and visiting New

York recovered after blowing a

late lead to beat Washington for its

fifth straight victory.

Mariners 6, Diamondbacks 5:

Rookie Jarred Kelenic hit a go-

ahead single in the 10th inning af-

ter earlier launching a two-run

homer to lead visiting Seattle past

Arizona.

Royals 7, White Sox 2: Dallas

Keuchel (8-8) had another rocky

outing for AL Central-leading Chi-

cago, allowing six runs in three in-

nings in a loss to host Kansas City.

Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young

Award winner, has a 7.26 ERA in

his past 11 starts after giving up

five earned runs, seven hits and

two walks with one strikeout.

Cubs 6, Pirates 5: Manager

David Ross and president of base-

ball operations Jed Hoyer missed

host Chicago’s victory over Pitts-

burgh after testing positive for

COVID-19.

Rays 5, Twins 3: Michael Wa-

cha (3-4) struck out seven over six

innings, Kevin Kiermaier had an

RBI triple during a three-run sec-

ond and host Tampa Bay beat

Minnesota,

Marlins 10, Phillies 3: Miguel

Rojas had two hits and three RBIs

during during a seven-run sixth

inning and host Miami ended Phi-

ladelphia’s six-game winning

streak.

Tigers 15, Reds 5: Dustin Gar-

neau hit a two-run homer and a so-

lo shot, Robbie Grossman had a

three-run blast and visiting De-

troit routed Cincinnati.

Rockies 4, Braves 3: Antonio

Senzatela (4-9) overcame a lead-

off home run by Ozzie Albies,

pitching seven strong innings in

host Colorado’s victory over At-

lanta.

The Braves maintained a two-

game lead in the NL East over Phi-

ladelphia.

ROUNDUP

JON BLACKER, THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

The Blue Jays’ Marcus Semien, second from front right, celebrateswith teammates after hitting a threerun walkoff home run Fridayagainst the Oakland Athletics in Toronto.

Semien’s shot liftsA’s over Blue Jays

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey could ex-

hale at last, his teammates knowing better than to

dog pile on their 34-year-old catcher celebrating

awild, 4½-hour game that put San Francisco atop

the NL West.

“They know they need to be careful with me,”

Posey cracked.

Second baseman Trea Turner threw wildly on

Posey’s bases-loaded, two-out grounder in the

11th inning and a lengthy video review upheld the

safe call as the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodg-

ers 3-2 on Friday night to grab first place.

“From my vantage point it looked like he was

off. I knew it was really close,” Posey said. “I was

hoping that it held up on replay.”

The rivals began the night tied for the division

lead. The Giants nearly won in the ninth, but Po-

sey missed a defensive play on the bases and the

Dodgers rallied to tie it at 1.

After both teams scored in the 10th, San Fran-

cisco loaded the bases in the 11th against Evan

Phillips (1-1), the Dodgers’ 11th pitcher.

Posey hit a grounder to Turner, who had plenty

of time but zipped a throw that pulled first base-

man Will Smith off the bag — normally a catcher,

Smith had never played the position in college or

as a pro before entering in the 10th.

Smith desperately tried to reach back to tag

first base as Posey crossed and Brandon Belt

raced home from third. With fans chanting

‘”Safe! Safe!” and players on both sides watching

and waiting, the safe call was confirmed.

“It was a little bit higher throw, I was stretched

out fully for it, I thought I kept my foot on, umpire

thought otherwise, then went back and looked at

replay,” Smith said. “It’s pretty close, couldn’t

overturn it I guess.”

San Francisco (86-49) holds a one-game lead

over LA (85-50) after the rivals came into the

opener of this key weekend series tied for the di-

vision lead.

The Giants took a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but

Justin Turner singled and took third on Corey

Seager’s one-out double.

Smith then hit a grounder to second baseman

Thairo Estrada, who fired home to Posey. The

All-Star catcher chased Turner back to third,

where Seager was already standing. Posey

tagged both of them, and umpire Nestor Ceja sig-

naled Seager out.

Seager and Turner then both wandered off the

bag. Posey went to tag Seager again, while Turn-

er scrambled back to the bag. Chris Taylor fol-

lowed with a single to make it 1-all.

Trea Turner hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th that

scored pinch-runner Walker Buehler for a 2-1

lead. Brandon Crawford hit a tying single in the

bottom half.

Posey, Giants outlast DodgersBY JANIE MCCAULEY

Associated Press

TONY AVELAR/AP

The Giants’ Brandon Belt celebrates after thereplay showed that Buster Posey was safe atfirst base for a 32 victory Friday against theLos Angeles Dodgers in San Francisco. Beltscored the winning run on the play.


NFL/SPORTS BRIEFS

The idea behind the HBCU

Open House staged annually by

the NFL is simple: providing op-

portunities.

Reactions from the recent

event indicate the league is on

the right track in opening off-

the-field paths for students and

alumni from the historically

Black schools that provide so

many players to pro football.

“The event was timely and

strategic,” says Jacqie McWil-

liams, commissioner of the Cen-

tral Intercollegiate Athletic As-

sociation (CIAA), one of three

conferences in attendance.

“It confirmed that over the

past two years that there have

been intentional efforts to sup-

port and identify opportunities

with the HBCU conferences col-

lectively. I appreciated the NFL

Football Operations team creat-

ing space for thought leaders to

share and be heard while identi-

fying shared values to support

meaningful opportunities that

bring value, and added value, to

both organizations.”

The Open House featured one-

on-one and group opportunities

with a variety of NFL executives

and personnel from departments

in football strategy, develop-

ment, data and analytics, talent

acquisition, experience pro-

grams and more.

Participants came from the

CIAA, Mid-Eastern Athletic

Conference (MEAC), South-

western Athletic Conference

(SWAC) and Southern Intercol-

legiate Athletic Association

(SIAA).

A partnership with the MEAC

and SWAC begun in 2016 has

been expanded to include the

other two conferences. More

than 3,000 students in the past

five years have participated in

programs carried out by the

NFL’s football ops department.

“The NFL is one of the best in

branding and telling stories,”

McWilliams notes. “We both rec-

ognize there is a need for more

Black and Brown professionals

in the industry. HBCUs have one

of the strongest recruiting bases

for talent. HBCUs’ traditions

and values align perfectly in as-

sisting with focused program-

ming on student development,

career exposure and network-

ing. It is always our goal to in-

crease opportunities for stu-

dents and athletic administra-

tors from our HBCU institutions

and the power of the NFL will as-

sist in providing access and op-

portunities.”

Indeed, students from HBCU

institutions have taken advan-

tage of advancement opportuni-

ties through the Careers in Foot-

ball Forum, the NFL Campus

Connection and the HBCU Open

House. Some of them are work-

ing for NFL teams or in the

league office.

Natara Holloway, the NFL’s

vice president of business oper-

ations and strategy for football

operations, can’t hold back her

excitement when speaking about

the symbiotic relationship creat-

ed by these initiatives.

“HBCUs have a long history of

diverse students coming out with

so much talent, and to add value

to companies, and they’ve been

overlooked for a long time,” she

says. “Not a lot of companies

have traditionally recruited

from HBCUs. We found on the

field you can find great talent

from the HBCUs, of course, and

when we started the 2016 pro-

grams, found so much more tal-

ent. And we have more people

from HBCUs in the offices

around the league than on the

field. People would be surprised

to find out that.”

There were 32 HBCU players

making opening rosters in 2020.

The number for this season is

uncertain because final rosters

remain fluid until late next week.

MICHAEL CONROY/AP

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard runs a drill during a joint practice with the Carolina Pantherson Aug. 13 in Westfield, Ind. Leonard is from South Carolina State, an HBCU school.

PartneringNFL working with HBCUsto provide opportunites

BY BARRY WILNER

Associated Press

Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin will miss

the opener against Louisville with a break-

through case of COVID-19.

Kiffin announced the positive test on Sat-

urday, two days ahead of the Rebels’ opener

in Atlanta.

Kiffin, his staff and his players are all fully

vaccinated. He said no other members of the

team are expected to miss the game because

of COVID-19.

“I am grateful to be vaccinated and experi-

encing only mild symptoms,” Kiffin said in a

statement released on Twitter. “So much so,

I debated over being tested, but I’m relieved

that I did.

“I’m proud of our program’s commitment

to vaccination and as a result there are cur-

rently no other cases to report or team mem-

bers expected to miss the game. We will con-

tinue to monitor our team closely and take

responsible measures if any symptoms

arise.”

Cantlay keeps lead at East Lake ATLANTA — For the second day in a row,

no one had a better score than Jon Rahm at

the Tour Championship. That’s just what he

needed to gain ground on Patrick Cantlay go-

ing into a weekend chase for $15 million.

Rahm birdied his last three holes Friday

for a 5-under 65. Cantlay birdied his last two

holes for a bogey-free 66 to keep one shot

ahead.

It’s not quite a two-man race for the FedEx

Cup with 36 holes still to play at East Lake,

though it was shaping up as a possibility.

Bryson DeChambeau was the next closest

player, and his 67 lost ground Friday. He was

six shots behind.

Cantlay started the Tour Championship at

10-under par because he was the No. 1 seed in

the FedEx Cup. Rahm began four shots back.

Aldridge rejoins Nets NEW YORK — LaMarcus Aldridge re-

joined the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, five

months after having to retire because of an

irregular heartbeat.

Aldridge retired in April after experienc-

ing an irregular heartbeat in the last of the

five games he played for the Nets. Aldridge

was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White

syndrome — an abnormality that can cause a

rapid heartbeat — as a rookie in 2007.

Aldridge, 36, is a seven-time All-Star who

has averaged 19.4 points in a career that be-

gan when he was the No. 2 pick in the 2006

draft. He played for Portland and San Anto-

nio before originally signing in Brooklyn in

March.

He provides the Nets with size and a post

presence that is one of the few weaknesses

on a high-scoring team that often played

small.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In other NBA news:

■ The Detroit Pistons acquired veteran

center DeAndre Jordan in a multiplayer

trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.

The Pistons also received four second-

round picks and cash considerations from

the Nets in exchange for forward Sekou

Doumbouya and center Jahlil Okafor.

Duran on COVID-related list BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox placed

outfielder Jarren Duran on the COVID-19-

related injured list Friday, bringing the

team’s total to nine players added to the list

in a span of a week.

The Red Sox announced the move before

Friday night’s home game against the Cleve-

land Indians.

Manager Alex Cora said earlier Friday

that Duran wasn’t feeling well and would not

be with the team as he underwent testing.

The club announced a few hours later that

Duran had been added to the list, which has

been growing since Boston placed infielders

Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo on it

Aug. 27.

Cora said Hernández has been feeling bet-

ter, but was unlikely to return to the lineup

this weekend. Arroyo could be back by the

middle of next week and shortstop Xander

Bogaerts, who was pulled from a game Tues-

day and added to the list, may return by the

end of next week, Cora said.

Pitchers Martín Pérez, Matt Barnes, Josh

Taylor and Hirokazu Sawamura and infiel-

der Yairo Muñoz were also placed on the list

this week.

In other baseball news:

■ Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench

says he has tested positive for COVID-19 and

will miss this year's induction ceremonies in

Cooperstown, N.Y.

The 73-year-old Bench posted Friday on

Twitter that he had the virus.

“Fortunately, I have been vaccinated, oth-

erwise doctor said I would be hospitalized,”

Bench said.

Derek Jeter, Marvin Miller, Ted Simmons

and Larry Walker will be enshrined in the

Hall festivities on Wednesday.

BRIEFLY

Kiffin to miss opener after positive COVID-19 testAssociated Press


US OPEN/WRESTLING

Steveson walked to the ring at Summer-

Slam with another American Olympic gold

medalist, Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Some

fans were surprised that Steveson didn’t

seem awestruck as he walked down the ais-

le.

“People were like ‘He didn’t look like he

wanted to be there,’ ” he said. “No. I was just

comfortable in the ring and just, straight

face and just doing a good job of being who I

am. So it was nice. I was happy to be there.”

The WWE was happy to have him there,

too. He was photographed that night with

WWE chairman/CEO Vince McMahon and

executive vice president Paul Levesque.

In the meantime, the reigning NCAA

heavyweight wrestling champion said

there’s a good chance he will show up at the

University of Minnesota when classes start.

That would position him to benefit from

name, image and likeness income while he

figures things out.

He has most often been linked with WWE

and UFC, but said he’s open to everything,

including Bellator. He said he’d be willing

to listen to All Elite Wrestling, which has not

reached out to him.

The combat sports world has been abuzz

for weeks about where he will end up.

“I can only say this — I’m waiting for a

couple of calls that may come any day now,”

he said. “But other than that, I’m chilling.”

Grappling: US gold medalistStevenson in high demandFROM PAGE 24

AARON FAVILA/AP

The United States’ Gable Dan Steveson celebrates his victory in the men’s freestyle125kg wrestling final at the Summer Olympics last month in Tokyo.

“I can only say this — I’m waiting

for a couple of calls that may come

any day now. But other than that,

I’m chilling.”

Gable Stevenson

U.S. gold medalist

NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka

looked over at her agent and said

she wanted to tell the world what

the two of them had discussed pri-

vately in an Arthur Ashe Stadium

hallway after her U.S. Open title

defense ended with a racket-toss-

ing, composure-missing, lead-

evaporating defeat in the third

round.

His reply: “Sure.”

And then Osaka, pausing every

so often as her voice got caught on

her words and her eyes filled with

tears, said Friday night she is

thinking about taking another

break from tennis “for a while.”

“I feel like for me, recently,

when I win, I don’t feel happy, I

feel more like a relief. And then

when I lose, I feel very sad,” Osaka

said at her news conference fol-

lowing a 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss at

Flushing Meadows to Leylah Fer-

nandez, an 18-year-old from Cana-

da who is ranked 73rd and never

had been this far in Grand Slam

competition. “I don’t think that’s

normal.”

The moderator in charge of the

session with reporters attempted

to cut things off, but Osaka said she

wanted to continue.

“This is very hard to articulate,”

she said, resting her left cheek in

her hand. “Basically, I feel like I’m

kind of at this point where I’m try-

ing to figure out what I want to do,

and I honestly don’t know when

I’m going to play my next tennis

match.”

Crying, she lowered her black

visor over her eyes and offered an

apology, then patted her palms on

both cheeks.

“Yeah,” Osaka added as she rose

to leave, “I think I’m going to take a

break from playing for a while.”

This was the first Slam tourna-

ment for the 23-year-old Osaka

since she pulled out of the French

Open before the second round to

take a mental health break after

having announced she would not

participate in news conferences in

Paris.

She also sat out Wimbledon, be-

fore participating in the Tokyo

Olympics, where she lit the caul-

dron as one of Japan’s most fa-

mous athletes.

Osaka owns four Grand Slam ti-

tles, including at the U.S. Open in

2018 — beating Serena Williams in

a chaotic final — and a year ago,

plus two more on the hard courts of

the Australian Open. When she

took a hiatus after Roland Garros,

she revealed that she endures

waves of anxiety before meeting

with the media and has dealt with

depression for three years.

The first sign Friday that things

were not entirely OK with Osaka

came when she smacked her rack-

et against the court after dropping

one point. Moments later, Osaka

chucked her equipment, sending it

bouncing and skidding halfway to

the net. Then came a full-on spike

near the baseline.

Her game was off. Her game

face was gone. By the end, the

crowd was booing her for turning

her back to the court and taking too

much time between points.

This day had that sort of vibe:

Earlier in Ashe, another 18-year-

old new to this territory surpris-

ingly eliminated a No. 3 seed when

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain edged

French Open runner-up Stefanos

Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6

(5) to become the youngest man in-

to the fourth round at Flushing

Meadows since Michael Chang

and Pete Sampras in 1989.

With a tenacity to match his tal-

ent, and boosted by a rowdy Ar-

thur Ashe Stadium crowd a tad

tired of Tsitsipas’ penchant for

taking lengthy breaks between

sets, Alcaraz won in just over four

hours.

“I just don’t know what hap-

pened out there in the court,” the

55th-ranked Alcaraz said after

what was only his 10th Grand Slam

contest. “I can’t believe that I beat

Stefanos Tsitsipas in an epic

match. For me, it’s a dream come

true.”

He made sure during his on-

court interview to thank the fans,

who are making up for last year’s

absence — no spectators were al-

lowed because of the coronavirus

pandemic then, but it’s full capac-

ity now — with plenty of noise.

They chanted “Let’s go, Carlos!”

They rose to their feet for ovations

at various points, including right

before the concluding tiebreaker,

with Alcaraz waving his arms to

request, and receive, even more

support.

“He can be a contender for

Grand Slam titles,” said Tsitsipas,

the runner-up at the French Open

this year. “He has the game to be

there.”

In earlier action, three women

with multiple major titles each —

Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep

and Angelique Kerber — pulled

out three-set victories to advance

to Week 2.

Muguruza got past Victoria Aza-

renka, a three-time U.S. Open run-

ner-up including a year ago, 6-4,

3-6, 6-2 and next faces French

Open champion Barbora Krejci-

kova. Kerber, who won the title in

New York in 2016, defeated 2017

champ Sloane Stephens 5-7, 6-2,

6-3. And Halep was a 7-6 (11), 4-6,

6-3 winner over Elena Rybakina.

Osaka, Tsitsipas ousted in third round

JOHN MINCHILLO/AP

Japan’s Naomi Osaka reacts during Friday’s loss to Canada’s Leylah Fernandez during the third round ofthe US Open in New York. After the loss, Osaka said she may take another break from tennis.

BY HOWARD FENDRICH

Associated Press


COLLEGE FOOTBALL

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech didn’t appear

to get much consideration when the experts tabbed

No. 10 North Carolina and No. 14 Miami as the teams to

beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Divi-

sion.

They will now.

Braxton Burmeister ran for a touchdown and threw

for another and Virginia Tech made Sam Howell look

pedestrian in a 17-10 victory over North Carolina on

Friday night in the opener for both teams.

Burmeister scored on a 4-yard run and found James

Mitchell for an 11-yard scoring strike as the Hokies

built a 14-0 lead they took into halftime. The defense

did the rest, sacking Howell six times and intercepting

three passes.

“We kept putting them back out there in the second

half,” Hokies coach Justin Fuente said about the de-

fense, which allowed 354 yards. “We couldn’t put the

game away but the defense continued to rise to the oc-

casion.”

They struggled to put the game away in the second

half until the final minute when they chased Howell

from the pocket at the Virginia Tech 40 and he tried to

find a teammate while defensive end Jordan Williams

held him by an ankle.

Howell, who’d thrown eight touchdown passes in

two prior games against Virginia Tech, whirled to get

away, then threw right to Chamarri Conner.

The play was reviewed, and when the officials an-

nounced that it was an interception, the sellout crowd

at Lane Stadium erupted with relief.

Many fans joined the team in celebration on the

field after the game, which marked the first time since

2019 that fan attendance was not limited.

The Tar Heels, who arrived with their highest pre-

season ranking since 1997, had the ball for just 9:11 in

the first half and only avoided being down by more be-

cause Keshaun King fumbled the ball away at the Tar

Heels 9.

“Obviously, now the shine’s off and the rating sure

doesn’t matter tonight,” Tar Heels coach Mack Brown

said. “We were overrated with the way we played.”

The Hokies dominated the clock in the first half,

slowing things down to avoid the kind of shootout they

had with UNC last season. In that one, the Tar Heels

rolled up 656 yards and beat a virus and injury-deci-

mated defense 56-45.

PHOTOS BY MATT GENTRY, THE ROANOKE TIMES/AP

Virginia Tech quarterback Braxton Burmeister picks up a first down against North Carolina during Friday’sgame in Blacksburg, Va. Burmeister ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the 1710 victory.

Burmeister, Virginia Techknock off North Carolina

BY HANK KURZ JR.

Associated Press

North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell is sackedby Virginia Tech’s Chamarri Conner.

The Big 12 is moving quickly on

an expansion plan that could have

the conference at 12 schools after

Texas and Oklahoma leave, with

BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati

and Houston as the “most intrigu-

ing” candidates.

Three people familiar with the

Big 12’s talks said Friday the eight

schools being left behind by the

Longhorns and Sooners are work-

ing to rebuild by adding four new

members.

Two of the people said there

were regularly scheduled meet-

ings planned for Big 12 university

presidents and athletic directors

in the coming days to discuss next

steps, and another meeting of pres-

idents was expected to take place

late next week.

One person said invitations to

new members could go out as soon

as next week.

The people spoke to The Associ-

ated Press on condition of anonym-

ity because the Big 12 was not mak-

ing its internal discussions public.

Sports Illustrated first reported

on Friday, citing unidentified

sources, that BYU, Cincinnati,

Houston and UCF were expected

to apply for membership to the Big

12 early next week. The Athletic

was first to report earlier this week

the Big 12 was focused on those

four schools.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob

Bowlsby declined to comment Fri-

day in a text message to AP.

The Southeastern Conference

invited Texas and Oklahoma to

leave the Big 12 and join that pow-

erhouse league in late July, a move

that rocked college sports and put

the Big 12’s future in doubt.

The Longhorns and Sooners

have said they will honor their cur-

rent contracts with the Big 12 and

do not plan to join the SEC until

2025, when the conference’s cur-

rent television rights contracts

with ESPN and Fox run out.

One of the people said Big 12

leaders believe it would benefit the

conference to move quickly on a

long-term plan to show stability

and not allow speculation about

the league’s uncertain future to

linger throughout the football sea-

son.

After the Pac-12 announced it

was not planning to expand last

week, it quickly became apparent

to the remaining eight Big 12

schools — Kansas, Kansas State,

Iowa State, Baylor, TCU, Oklaho-

ma State, Texas Tech and West

Virginia —- that they had no other

Power Five conference options.

Their best move was to stick to-

gether and add new members, one

of the people said.

The first question was how big

should the Big 12 be?

“I think 12 is the magic number,”

one of the people said.

How soon new members could

join is to be determined.

BYU is an independent that al-

ready has a television contract

with ESPN, one of the Big 12’s cur-

rent broadcast rights holders, and

could likely join as soon as next

football season.

Cincinnati, UCF and Houston

are in the American Athletic Con-

ference. AAC bylaws require 27

months’ notice if members plan to

leave the conference.

One person said the Big 12 has

been focused on schools with sub-

stantial fanbases, located in grow-

ing markets, and with a history of

football success under multiple

coaches.

Conceivably, new members

could join the Big 12 before Texas

and Oklahoma depart. If Texas

and Oklahoma wanted to leave the

Big 12 before 2025, it could cost the

schools tens of millions of dollars to

buy out the grant of media rights

agreements members have with

the conference.

MARK HUMPHREY/AP

Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell watches from the sideline during agame against Memphis in 2019. Cincinnati is expected to join the Big12 along with BYU, Houston and Central Florida.

Sources say Big 12adding 4 members

BY RALPH D. RUSSO

Associated Press

AP sports writer Stephen Hawkins in Fort Worth,Texas, contributed to this report.


SPORTS

Sources: Big 12 moving to expand, add four teams ›› College football, Page 23

Even an Olympic gold medalist has limits.

American wrestler Gable Steveson has

been on the go since his dramatic last-sec-

ond victory in the freestyle heavyweight

final put him at the top of the podium in Tokyo. He

blew the Gjallarhorn at a Minnesota Vikings presea-

son game, attended a Bellator MMA event and

showed up at World Wrestling Entertainment’s

SummerSlam, stepping into the ring to celebrate

bringing home the gold in front of more than 50,000

adoring fans.

He’s living it up as he contemplates his next

move.

“It’s very new and something different

that I haven’t experienced, but I think I’m

taking it very well and I’m staying the

course how I should be,” he said.

Even for a 21-year-old who seeming-

ly has the world by the tail, being Ga-

ble Steveson can be overwhelming.

Reality hit when he became so busy

that he opted out of the World

Championships in Oslo.

“It was actually really hard, to

be honest, just because we

planned on going way before we

got to Tokyo,” he said. “I was

hoping that I was going to get a

medal in Tokyo and I ended up

with the gold. And so we planned

on going and me and my coaches

talked about it. And then when we won

the gold and when I got home, it was just

like I just got hit with a bunch of stuff that I had to

do.”

He also couldn’t find time to meet with UFC presi-

dent Dana White while in Las Vegas for Summer-

Slam.

“This story came out where it was like me kind of

like ditching him,” Steveson said. “When I got to Ve-

gas for SummerSlam, I was just on the go all day and

I had no time to see him. So I didn’t ditch him. We’ll

connect soon. And I’m looking forward to that day.”

Gable Steveson has been fielding offers fromorganizations across the combat sports spectrumsince winning gold for the United States lastmonth at the Tokyo Olympics.

AP photo

Grapplingwith fameUS gold medalist Steveson having funas he considers his next career move

BY CLIFF BRUNT

Associated Press

SEE GRAPPLING ON PAGE 22

WRESTLING

Uncertain future

Osaka contemplating time awayafter third-round loss ›› US Open, Page 22

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