WASHINGTON — Back when

the election was tightening and

just a week away, Joe Biden went

big.

He flew to Warm Springs, the

Georgia town whose thermal wa-

ters once brought Franklin Dela-

no Roosevelt comfort from polio,

and pledged a restitching of

America’s economic and policy

fabric unseen since FDR’s New

Deal.

Evoking some of the nation’s

loftiest reforms helped Biden un-

seat President Donald Trump but

left him with towering promises to

keep. And he’ll be trying to deliver

against the backdrop of searing

national division and a pandemic

that has killed nearly 400,000

Americans and upended the econ-

omy.

Such change would be hard to

imagine under any circumstanc-

es, much less now.

He’s setting out with Democrats

clinging to razor-thin House and

Biden looksto deliver onambitiousagenda goals

BY WILL WEISSERT

Associated Press

Security picks faceSenate testsPage 9

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US ground troops have left, but airstrikes continue in Somalia ›› Page 4

The race against the virus that

causes COVID-19 has taken a new

turn: Mutations are rapidly pop-

ping up, and the longer it takes to

vaccinate people, the more likely

it is that a variant that can elude

current tests, treatments and vac-

cines could emerge.

The coronavirus is becoming

more genetically diverse, and

health officials say the high rate of

new cases is the main reason.

Each new infection gives the virus

a chance to mutate as it makes co-

pies of itself, threatening to undo

the progress made so far to control

the pandemic.

On Friday, the World Health

Organization urged more effort to

detect new variants. The U.S. Cen-

ters for Disease Control and Pre-

vention said a new version first

identified in the United Kingdom

may become dominant in the U.S.

by March. Although it doesn’t

cause more severe illness, it will

lead to more hospitalizations and

deaths just because it spreads

much more easily, said the CDC,

warning of “a new phase of expo-

nential growth.”

“We’re taking it really very seri-

ously,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the

U.S. government’s top infectious

disease expert, said Sunday on

NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“We need to do everything we

can now ... to get transmission as

low as we possibly can,” said Har-

vard University’s Dr. Michael Mi-

SARAH REINGEWIRTZ/AP

Daisy Ozaeta, 25, of Los Angeles, waits for a doctor to collect a blood sample from her for a COVID-19 antibody test during free testing inhonor of Martin Luther King Jr. at Southside Church of Christ in Los Angeles on Monday.

‘We’re in a race against time’A new COVID-19 challenge emerges as mutations are rising along with cases

BY MARILYNN MARCHIONE

Associated Press

VIRUS OUTBREAK

SEE CHALLENGE ON PAGE 5

ANALYSIS

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey

on Tuesday slapped advertising

bans on Twitter, Periscope and

Pinterest over their non-compli-

ance with a controversial new law

that requires social media plat-

forms to appoint legal representa-

tives in the country.

The law — which human rights

and media freedom groups say

amounts to censorship — forces

social media companies to main-

tain representatives in Turkey to

deal with complaints about con-

tent on their platforms. Compa-

nies that refuse to designate an

official representative are sub-

jected to fines, followed by adver-

tising bans and could face band-

width reductions that would

make their platforms too slow to

use.

Facebook avoided the advertis-

ing ban after it announced Mon-

day that it had begun the process

of assigning a legal entity in Tur-

key, joining LinkedIn, YouTube,

TikTok, Dailymotion and the

Russian social media site VKon-

takte, which have agreed to set up

legal entities in Turkey.

Under the law that came into

effect in October, the local repre-

sentative of social media compa-

nies would be tasked with respon-

ding to individual requests to take

down content violating privacy

and personal rights within 48

hours or to provide grounds for

rejection.

The company would be held

liable for damages if the content

is not removed or blocked within

24 hours.

Turkey slaps ad ban on Twitter, PinterestAssociated Press

Bahrain74/64

Baghdad67/45

Doha77/64

Kuwait City72/53

Riyadh83/50

Kandahar72/37

Kabul59/32

Djibouti82/73

WEDNESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

54/38

Ramstein45/33

Stuttgart36/29

Lajes,Azores62/59

Rota61/55

Morón57/48 Sigonella

61/46

Naples55/30

Aviano/Vicenza42/34

Pápa46/40

Souda Bay54/46

Brussels42/38

Zagan43/37

DrawskoPomorskie 38/33

WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa41/23

Guam84/78

Tokyo52/28

Okinawa70/66

Sasebo61/41

Iwakuni52/30

Seoul42/34

Osan44/31

Busan53/44

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

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

THURSDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports ................... 20-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Jan. 20) $1.18Dollar buys (Jan. 20) 0.8443British pound (Jan. 20) $1.33Japanese yen (Jan. 20) 101.00South Korean won (Jan. 20) 1,073.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 0.7345Canada (Dollar) 1.2756China(Yuan) 6.4821Denmark (Krone) 6.1350Egypt (Pound) 15.7348Euro 0.8246Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7527Hungary (Forint) 295.42Israel (Shekel) 3.2459Japan (Yen) 104.01Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3031

Norway (Krone) 8.5469

Philippines (Peso) 48.02Poland (Zloty) 3.74Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7514Singapore (Dollar) 1.3291

So. Korea (Won) 1,103.14Switzerlnd (Franc) 0.8881Thailand (Baht) 30.03Turkey (NewLira) 7.4489

(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 0.0930­year bond 1.85

EXCHANGE RATES

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

WAR ON TERRORISM

manitarian partners will seek $1.3

billion in aid for 16 million Afghans

in need this year, U.N. secretary-

general spokesman Stephane Du-

jarric, said this month. That’s up

from an estimated 2.3 million peo-

ple last year who needed life-sav-

ing assistance.

“It’s a huge increase in people

who need aid,” he said.

Nyamandi said that with no im-

mediate end in sight to the dec-

adeslong conflict, millions of peo-

ple will continue to suffer.

“It’s especially hard on chil-

dren, many of whom have known

nothing but violence,” he said.

According to the U.N., nearly

6,000 people — a third of them

children — were killed or wound-

ed in fighting in Afghanistan be-

tween January and September

last year, Nyamandi said. The vio-

lence continues to force hundreds

of thousands of people to flee their

KABUL, Afghanistan — Some

10 million children in war-ravaged

Afghanistan are at risk of not hav-

ing enough food to eat in 2021, a hu-

manitarian organization said

Tuesday and called for $1.3 billion

in new funds for aid.

Just over 18 million Afghans, in-

cluding 9.7 million children, are

badly in need of lifesaving sup-

port, including food, Save the Chil-

dren said in a statement. The

group called for $1.3 billion in do-

nations to pay for assistance in

2021.

Chris Nyamandi, the organiza-

tion’s Afghanistan country direc-

tor, said Afghans are suffering un-

der a combination of violent con-

flict, poverty and the coronavirus

pandemic.

“It’s a desperately bad situation

that needs urgent attention from

the international community,” he

said.

The latest round of peace talks

between the Taliban and Afghan

government negotiators that be-

gan earlier this month in Qatar has

been slow to produce results as

concerns grow over a recent spike

in violence across Afghanistan.

The pandemic has also had a di-

sastrous impact on millions of Af-

ghan families. In 2020, the World

Bank estimated that the pandemic

had hugely disrupted imports, in-

cluding vital household items,

which in turn led to rapid inflation.

The added health and economic

strains of the pandemic have dee-

pened the humanitarian impact

across the country.

Many Afghans also blame run-

away government corruption and

lawlessness for the country’s poor

economy.

The United Nations and its hu-

homes every year and limit peo-

ple’s access to resources including

hospitals and clinics.

In a Save the Children report in

December, the group said more

than 300,000 Afghan children

faced freezing winter conditions

that could lead to illness and death

without proper winter clothing

and heating. The organization pro-

vided winter kits to more than

100,000 families in 12 of Afghanis-

tan’s 34 provinces. The kits includ-

ed fuel and a heater, blankets and

winter clothes, including coats,

socks, shoes and hats.

Nyamandi said the plight of the

Afghan people is threatened by in-

adequate humanitarian funding

pledged by wealthy nations at a

conference in Geneva in Novem-

ber.

“Aid to Afghanistan has drop-

ped alarmingly at a time when hu-

manitarian need is rising. We’re

now in the unsustainable position

where aid falls far short of what’s

needed to meet the needs of the

people,” he said.

The London-based Save the

Children report cites 10-year-old

Brishna from eastern Nangarhar

province as saying her family was

forced to leave their home and

move to another district because

of the fighting.

“Life is difficult,” she said. “My

father, who is responsible for

bringing us food, is sick.”

Brishna said she and her broth-

er collect garbage for cooking fires

and it has been a long time since

they had proper food and clothes.

“My siblings and I always wish

to have three meals in a day with

some fruits, and a better life. But

sometimes, we sleep with empty

stomachs. During the winter, we

don’t have blankets and heating

stuff to warm our house,” she said.

Group: $1.3B in aid needed to help Afghan kids in 2021BY RAHIM FAIEZ

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — A wave

of Taliban attacks and violence has

killed dozens across Afghanistan,

even as talks are underway be-

tween the government and the in-

surgents in Qatar, officials said

Tuesday.

A statement from the defense

ministry said four army soldiers

were killed late Monday night in

Taliban attacks on checkpoints in

Kunduz province.

According to the ministry, 15 Ta-

liban fighters were also killed and

12 were wounded. The details were

impossible to independently veri-

fy as Kunduz is off limits to journal-

ists and the Taliban hold sway

across most of the province’s rural

areas.

Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a pro-

vincial council member in Kun-

duz, gave a significantly higher ca-

sualty toll. At least 25 members of

the security forces were killed by

the Taliban in separate attacks in

the Dasht-e-Archi district, includ-

ing 13 soldiers and four policemen,

he said.

At least eight other soldiers were

killed near Kunduz city, the pro-

vincial capital, he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah

Mujahid said the insurgents were

behind all the attacks. The Taliban

were able to seize weapons and

ammunition from the checkpoints,

he said.

Meanwhile, in southern Hel-

mand province, Abdul Zahir Ha-

qyar, administration chief in

Washir district, was shot and killed

by unknown gunmen on Monday

night, said Abdul Nabi Elham, the

provincial governor of Helmand.

Two of Haqyar’s bodyguards

were wounded in the shooting. No

one immediately claimed respon-

sibility for that attack.

Separately, in southern Uruz-

gan province, at least 10 people, in-

cluding women and children, were

wounded, when a sticky bomb

placed on a motorcycle exploded,

according to the provincial gover-

nor, Mohammad Omar Sherzad.

Aprivate car belonging to police

officers was the target of the explo-

sion, he said.

Islamic State has claimed re-

sponsibility for multiple attacks in

the capital of Kabul in recent

months, including on educational

institutions that killed 50 people,

most of them students. ISIS has al-

so claimed responsibility for rock-

et attacks in December targeting

the major U.S. base in Afghanis-

tan. There were no casualties re-

ported.

Taliban representatives and the

Afghan government earlier this

month resumed peace talks in Qa-

tar, the Gulf Arab state where the

insurgents maintain an office. The

stop-and-go talks are aimed at end-

ing decades of conflict. Frustration

and fear have grown over the re-

cent spike in violence, and both

sides blame one another.

There has also been growing

doubt lately over a U.S.-Taliban

deal brokered by the outgoing

Trump administration. That ac-

cord was signed last February. Un-

der the deal, an accelerated with-

drawal of U.S. troops ordered by

President Donald Trump means

that just 2,500 American soldiers

will still be in Afghanistan when

President-elect Joe Biden takes of-

fice Wednesday.

Afghan officials: Taliban attacks kill dozensBY TAMEEM AKHGAR

Associated Press

RAHMAT GUL/AP

An Afghan man sweeps blood at the site where gunmen fired in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday. 

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

WAR ON TERRORISM

KABUL, Afghanistan — An an-

gry mob ransacked a local radio

station in northern Afghanistan

last week after a mosque imam in-

cited the attackers, claiming loud

music played by the station had in-

terfered with his prayer service,

an international journalists group

said Tuesday.

The International Federation of

Journalists condemned the attack

last Friday in the city of Kunduz,

the capital of Kunduz province.

It quoted Mohsen Ahmad, di-

rector of the Zohra Radio that was

targeted in the attack, as saying

the mob had damaged station

equipment and forced it to halt

transmission for several hours. No

one was hurt in the attack.

“The safety situation for jour-

nalists in Afghanistan must be a

major priority for the Afghanistan

government,” urged the Brussels-

based IFJ.

The Afghan Independent Jour-

nalists’ Association said the same

mob tried to also attack two other

nearby radio stations but were

prevented from entering by po-

licemen who arrived at the scene.

Afghanistan has seen a wave of

attacks in recent months against

journalists, human rights activists

and civil society members. The in-

ternational press freedom group

Reporters Without Borders has

called the country one of the

world’s deadliest for journalists.

On Jan. 1, journalist and human

rights activist Bismillah Adil Ai-

maq was shot and killed by uni-

dentified gunmen on the road near

Feroz Koh, the capital of western

Ghor province. He was the fifth

journalist slain in attacks since

October.

Rahmatullah Nekzad, who

headed the journalists’ union in

eastern Ghazni province, was

killed in an attack by armed men

outside his home in late Decem-

ber. Nekzad was well known in the

area and had contributed to The

Associated Press since 2007. He

had previously worked for the Al

Jazeera satellite TV channel.

Afghanistan’s intelligence de-

partment claimed two perpetra-

tors in that attack were subse-

quently arrested and aired video

recordings of the two, with their

purported confessions to the slay-

ing and to being Taliban. Howev-

er, the Taliban denied involve-

ment in the killing, calling it a cow-

ardly act. Large swaths of Ghazni

province are under Taliban con-

trol.

Islamic State, blamed for a se-

ries of attacks on a range of targets

in Afghanistan in recent months,

claimed it had killed another Af-

ghan journalist in December.

Angry mob targets radio station in north Afghanistan, group saysAssociated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — The

Pentagon employs more than sev-

en contractors for every service

member in Afghanistan, figures

from a U.S. Central Command re-

port this week show.

More than 18,000 Defense De-

partment contractors remain in

Afghanistan, the report said, after

the Pentagon announced Friday it

had reduced its troop total in the

country to 2,500.

The contractor population de-

creased by about 4,300 from last

October, down about 20%. The

drawdown of U.S. troops over the

last year “drove reductions in re-

quirements for contracted sup-

port,” the report said.

About one service member de-

ployed for each contractor a dec-

ade ago, at the height of the U.S.

troop presence in Afghanistan.

The ratio grew as limits on troop

levels led to a reliance on contrac-

tor and temporary duty personnel,

a Congressional Research Service

paper in 2019 found.

Concerns about DOD contractor

use go back more than a decade. In

2008, Congress established the bi-

partisan Commission on Wartime

Contracting in Iraq and Afghanis-

tan to look into the issue.

The commission found in 2011

that the two wars led to an “un-

healthy over-reliance” on contrac-

tors, which often overwhelmed the

U.S. government’s ability to effec-

tively oversee or manage them, it

said.

About 4,700 of the contractors

are Afghans hired locally, but

nearly three-quarters come from

outside the country, including

about a third who are U.S. citizens,

the data in this week’s report show.

Many of the restare from develop-

ing countries such as Uganda and

Nepal.

Slightly less than half work in lo-

gistics, maintenance or base sup-

port, with 16% working as security

contractors, the report said. Only

1,575, mostly Americans and other

foreigners, are armed security

personnel.

Due to coronavirus-related trav-

el restrictions, some foreign con-

tractors were stuck in Afghanistan

for months without pay after their

jobs were cut, workers told Stars

and Stripes in July and August.

The backlog of contractors

awaiting repatriation was resolved

in December after meetings with

the State Department, the Penta-

gon said in the report.

“There are currently no repa-

triation challenges requiring

(State Department) support,” the

report stated.

US says over 18,000contractors remain inAfghanistan in report

BY J.P. LAWRENCE

Stars and Stripes

COREY VANDIVER/U.S. Army

Civilian contractors prepare to load a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle onto a flatbed trailer atBagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in July.

lawrence.jp@stripes.comTwitter: �@jplawrence3

STUTTGART, Germany —

U.S. Africa Command launched

its first airstrike against al-Qaida-

aligned militants in Somalia since

announcing days ago that it had

completed its withdrawal of

ground troops from the country.

AFRICOM said it bombed and

destroyed an al-Shabab com-

pound in southern Somalia on

Monday, which came after at-

tempts by the militants to target

Somalia’s military leaders.

“We will continue to support

our partners and disrupt al-Sha-

bab’s efforts,” Maj. Gen. Dagvin

Anderson, head of U.S. Special

Operations Command Africa and

leader of the task force that over-

saw the recent relocation of about

700 U.S. troops, said in a state-

ment.

AFRICOM said it fulfilled the

Pentagon directive to reposition

forces by Jan. 15 after several

weeks of operations that included

the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike

Group, the 15th Marine Expedi-

tionary Unit, and the naval sea

bases USS Makin Island and USS

Hershel “Woody” Williams.

AFRICOM hasn’t detailed ex-

actly where its forces formerly

based in Somalia will be moved.

But some are expected to go to

Djibouti and Kenya, two neigh-

boring countries with U.S. mili-

tary outposts used for conducting

cross-border operations.

The repositioning was complet-

ed without serious incident and

ahead of schedule, AFRICOM

commander Gen. Stephen

Townsend said.

“The fact there were no serious

injuries or significant loss of

equipment, is a testament to the

determination, professionalism

and skill of our U.S. service mem-

bers and Department of Defense

civilians,” he said in a statement.

Townsend was in Somalia over

the weekend and met with the

U.S. ambassador there, Don Ya-

mamoto, as well as Somali mil-

itary officials, to discuss efforts

aimed at countering al-Shabab.

AFRICOM regards the guerril-

la group as the largest and most

violent of al-Qaida’s franchises. It

“remains a serious threat to the

region and the U.S.,” Townsend

said.

Townsend also met with Ma-

rines and sailors aboard the Ma-

kin Island, which has been posi-

tioned off Somalia’s coast for

much of the withdrawal oper-

ation.

In recent years, the U.S. mil-

itary presence had quietly grown

in Somalia, where U.S. special

operations troops worked along-

side Somali forces in a long-run-

ning battle against militants.

During the past two years,

AFRICOM has carried out more

than 200 airstrikes in the country,

mostly directed at al-Shabab

fighters.

President Donald Trump or-

dered U.S. troops out of the coun-

try as part of a broader push to

reduce the number of forces in

conflict zones before President-

elect Joe Biden takes office.

In Afghanistan, U.S. troop lev-

els are now at 2,500, the lowest

number since the war’s earliest

months and down from about

13,000 one year ago.

The incoming Biden adminis-

tration has not yet said whether it

would consider returning forces

to either country.

AFRICOM airstrikes continue in Somalia BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

vandiver.john@stripes.comTwitter: @john_vandiver

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy —

Middle school students returned to

classrooms at Aviano for the first

time in two months on Tuesday,

leaving less than 200 Department

of Defense Education Activity stu-

dents who are required to learn

from home in Italy.

That number should shrink fur-

ther as a kindergarten class in Vi-

cenza transitions from virtual

learning next week and high school

students at Aviano go back to class-

es Feb. 1, DODEA-Europe spokes-

man Stephen Smith said.

The number of students staying

home varies by the day under quar-

antine protocols, and some fam-

ilies have elected to continue with

virtual learning. But all schools on

U.S. military bases in Naples, Sigo-

nella, Vicenza and Camp Darby

are open for in-person learning af-

ter varying lengths of closures due

to coronavirus concerns.

Alexander Revella is back with

his eighth grade classmates at

Aviano, and that’s good news for

his father, Master Sgt. Derek Rev-

ella.

Revella, first sergeant of the 31st

Maintenance Group, and his wife,

Kendra, both work full-time on

base. He said his son staying at

home “had the potential to be really

rough,” but that the arrangement

worked due to “creative schedul-

ing,” support from his leadership

and the willingness of teachers to

be more flexible.

Still, his son missed his friends.

“That social interaction is so im-

portant for later in life, how they

handle certain situations and deal

with people,” Revella said.

U.S. bases in Italy have generally

followed Italian rules on coronavi-

rus restrictions, which vary be-

tween regions.

Aviano, located in the Friuli Ve-

nezia Giulia region, kept its ele-

mentary school open but told older

students to learn from home in No-

vember after Italian authorities

shut down high schools across the

country.

The middle school never had to

shut down in-person instruction

under the Italian directive. But

Principal Ken Harvey told a virtual

town hall audience that logistical

issues meant that sixth, seventh

and eighth graders would also be

learning from home. Those issues

were worked out during the winter

break.

“It’s great to have kids back in

the places they belong,” Harvey

said Tuesday. “Schools are very

dull places without children.”

Most Italian high school stu-

dents are still learning remotely,

Italian news agency ANSA report-

ed Monday. It said that four regions

resumed in-class learning Mon-

day, joining three others that had

resumed a week earlier.

Friuli and Veneto — which in-

cludes U.S. Army Garrison Italy at

Vicenza — are both in the country’s

second tier for coronavirus restric-

tions. Sicily, where the Navy’s base

in Sigonella is located, is one of two

regions still under the most restric-

tive conditions. Campania and

Tuscany, home to the Navy’s Na-

ples sites and the Army’s Camp

Darby, respectively, are under the

lightest conditions.

Travel between regions is still

largely restricted through mid-

February under a national decree.

Italy reported 8,825 new corona-

virus cases Monday, with a total of

547,059 people now battling CO-

VID-19. More than 1.7 million peo-

ple are listed as recovered, while

more than 82,000 have died from

the virus since the pandemic was

first detected in Italy early last

year.

Almost all DODEAstudents in Italyback in classrooms

BY KENT HARRIS

Stars and Stripes

KENT HARRIS/Stars and Stripes

Middle school students at Aviano Air Base returned to classrooms Tuesday for the first time since theschool went virtual in November due to coronavirus concerns. High school students are scheduled toreturn Feb. 1.

harris.kent@stripes.comTwitter: @kharris4Stripes

“It’s great tohave kids back inthe places theybelong. Schoolsare very dullplaces withoutchildren.”

Ken Harvey

principal

up on a different version “that’s

been circulating in Ohio ... at least

as far back as September,” said

Dr. Dan Jones, a molecular pa-

thologist at Ohio State University

who announced that finding last

week.

“The important finding here is

that this is unlikely to be travel-re-

lated” and instead may reflect the

virus acquiring similar mutations

independently as more infections

occur, Jones said.

That also suggests that travel

restrictions might be ineffective,

Mina said.

Because the United States has

so many cases, “we can breed our

own variants that are just as bad or

worse” as those in other countries,

he said.

Treatment, vaccine,

reinfection risksSome lab tests suggest the vari-

ants identified in South Africa and

Brazil may be less susceptible to

antibody drugs or convalescent

plasma, antibody-rich blood from

COVID-19 survivors — both of

which help people fight off the vi-

rus.

na. “The best way to prevent mu-

tant strains from emerging is to

slow transmission.”

So far, vaccines seem to remain

effective, but there are signs that

some of the new mutations may

undermine tests for the virus and

reduce the effectiveness of anti-

body drugs as treatments.

“We’re in a race against time”

because the virus “may stumble

upon a mutation” that makes it

more dangerous, said Dr. Pardis

Sabeti, an evolutionary biologist at

the Broad Institute of MIT and

Harvard.

Younger people may be less

willing to wear masks, shun

crowds and take other steps to

avoid infection because the cur-

rent strain doesn’t seem to make

them very sick, but “in one muta-

tional change, it might,” she

warned. Sabeti documented a

change in the Ebola virus during

the 2014 outbreak that made it

much worse.

Mutations on the riseIt’s normal for viruses to ac-

quire small changes or mutations

in their genetic alphabet as they

reproduce. Ones that help the vi-

rus flourish give it a competitive

advantage and thus crowd out oth-

er versions.

In March, just a couple months

after the coronavirus was discov-

ered in China, a mutation called

D614G emerged that made it more

likely to spread.

It soon became the dominant

version in the world.

Now, after months of relative

calm, “we’ve started to see some

striking evolution” of the virus,

biologist Trevor Bedford of the

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Re-

search Center in Seattle wrote on

Twitter last week. “The fact that

we’ve observed three variants of

concern emerge since September

suggests that there are likely more

to come.”

One was first identified in the

United Kingdom and quickly be-

came dominant in parts of En-

gland. It has now been reported in

at least 30 countries, including the

United States.

Soon afterward, South Africa

and Brazil reported new variants,

and the main mutation in the ver-

sion identified in Britain turned

Government scientists are “ac-

tively looking” into that possibili-

ty, Dr. Janet Woodcock of the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration

told reporters Thursday.

The government is encouraging

development of multi-antibody

treatments rather than single-an-

tibody drugs to have more ways to

target the virus in case one proves

ineffective, she said.

Current vaccines induce broad

enough immune responses that

they should remain effective,

many scientists say.

Enough genetic change eventu-

ally may require tweaking the

vaccine formula, but “it’s proba-

bly going to be on the order of

years if we use the vaccine well

rather than months,” Dr. Andrew

Pavia of the University of Utah

said Thursday on a webcast host-

ed by the Infectious Diseases So-

ciety of America.

Health officials also worry that

if the virus changes enough, peo-

ple might get COVID-19 a second

time.

Reinfection currently is rare,

but Brazil already confirmed a

case in someone with a new varia-

nt who had been sickened with a

previous version several months

earlier.

What to do“We’re seeing a lot of variants,

viral diversity, because there’s a

lot of virus out there,” and reduc-

ing new infections is the best way

to curb it, said Dr. Adam Lauring,

an infectious diseases expert at

the University of Michigan in Ann

Arbor.

Loyce Pace, who heads the non-

profit Global Health Council and

is a member of President-elect Joe

Biden’s COVID-19 advisory

board, said the same precautions

scientists have been advising all

along “still work and they still

matter.”

“We still want people to be

masking up,” she said Thursday

on a webcast hosted by the Johns

Hopkins Bloomberg School of

Public Health.

“We still need people to limit

congregating with people outside

their household. We still need peo-

ple to be washing their hands and

really being vigilant about those

public health practices, especially

as these variants emerge,” she

added.

Challenge: Reinfection a possibility as virus mutatesFROM PAGE 1

VIRUS OUTBREAK

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

Thirty-one people affiliated with

U.S. Forces Korea tested positive

for the coronavirus after arriving

on the peninsula between Dec. 29

and Jan. 18, the command said in a

statement Tuesday.

The new cases were announced

just hours before a “shelter in

place” order for Camp Humphreys

– headquarters for USFK, Eighth

Army and the 2nd Infantry Divi-

sion – and Yongsan Garrison, 55

miles to the north in Seoul, was ex-

tended through Sunday.

Humphreys commander Col.

Mike Tremblay said in a video

message Friday that the order,

which took effect Saturday morn-

ing and was due to lapse just before

midnight Tuesday, stemmed from

a “very complex” case of contact

tracing related to a recent cluster

outbreak.

USFK spokesman Col. Lee Pe-

ters told Stars and Stripes by tele-

phone Tuesday that it involved a

person who split work between

Yongsan and Humphreys.

Humphreys, “with exception of

select units and individuals, will re-

sume limited operations, functions

and services” at midnight Wednes-

day, according to message posted

late Tuesday afternoon on USFK’s

Facebook page.

The peninsula will remain at

health protection condition Char-

lie, which signifies a substantial

The other 15 arrived on commer-

cial flights at Incheon Internation-

al Airport between Dec. 29 and Jan.

13, according to the USFK state-

ment.

Eight of those individuals tested

positive before entering quaran-

tine and 23 were positive on a test

required to exit quarantine, the

statement said.

All were transferred to an isola-

tion facility designated for con-

firmed coronavirus cases at Hum-

phreys, Osan and Kunsan Air Base.

None of the new arrivals have inter-

acted with anyone residing within

USFK installations or the local

community, the statement said.

USFK reported Sunday that

three more people in the U.S. mili-

tary community had become in-

fected with the coronavirus.

Two Department of Defense ci-

vilians working at Yongsan tested

positive on Saturday and Sunday

following direct contact with some-

one who recently also tested posi-

tive, the command sad in a state-

ment.

The spouse of a DOD employee

who tested positive on Jan. 13 and

has access to Yongsan tested posi-

tive Sunday, according to the state-

ment.

The Korea Disease Control and

Prevention Agency and USFK

health workers are conducting

contact tracing to determine

whether anyone else may have

been exposed to the individual, and

to identify and ensure all known on-

post and off-post facilities visited

are thoroughly cleaned, the state-

ment said.

infections during the pandemic

and 1,283 deaths.

Sixteen of the U.S. military’s 31

new cases were people who arrived

at Osan Air Base on government-

chartered flights from the United

States between Dec. 29 and Jan. 18.

risk of the virus spreading, the

message said. The command will

reassess that status on Feb. 2.

South Korea announced 386 new

coronavirus cases Tuesday morn-

ing that included 35 from abroad.

The country has recorded 73,115

USFK extends ‘shelter in place’ orderBY SETH ROBSON

AND YOO KYONG CHANG

Stars and Stripes

JORDAN GARNER/U.S. Air Force

Tech. Sgt. Alexisa Humphrey of the 8th Medical Group prepares to inject a dose of the Modernacoronavirus vaccine at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, last month. USFK reported Sunday that three morepeople in the U.S. military community had become infected with the coronavirus.

robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1 chang.kyong@stripes.com

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE,

Japan — A Defense Department

high school on Okinawa closed its

doors this week after three “mem-

bers of our Kubasaki High School

family” tested positive for the cor-

onavirus over the long holiday

weekend, principal James Strait

said in a Facebook post Monday.

“In accordance with public

health’s guidance, a negative CO-

VID test will be required for all

students to return to school on

Monday, Jan. 25,” he said in the

post, referring to COVID-19, the

respiratory disease caused by the

virus.

All students and staff will be

tested Thursday at the high

school, which is on the Marine

Corps’ Camp Foster and adminis-

tered by the Department of De-

fense Education Activity. More

information on the testing sched-

ule is available on Kubasaki’s

Facebook page.

Island-wide, Okinawa reported

219 new cases on Saturday and

Sunday, according to the latest

update on the island’s coronavirus

informational website posted

Sunday.

Across all Marine Corps bases

on the island, commissary bag-

ging services were suspended

Monday for at least seven days

“out of an abundance of caution

relating to recent spikes of CO-

VID-19 infections in Okinawa,”

Marine Corps Installations Pacif-

ic announced via Facebook on

Monday. Wait times for checkout

lines “may be affected,” accord-

ing to the post.

At Kadena Air Base on the is-

land, seven people tested positive

for the coronavirus since Friday,

according to official Facebook

posts on Friday and Tuesday.

Four of those cases were discov-

ered after patients developed

symptoms and three were close

contacts of earlier positive cases.

Japan-wide, 19,080 people test-

ed positive for the virus between

Friday and Monday, according to

the World Health Organization. In

Tokyo, 4,605 new cases were re-

ported during the same period,

according to the Tokyo Metropoli-

tan Government’s coronavirus in-

formation website.

About 38 miles south of central

Tokyo, Yokosuka Naval Base

closed all of its gyms Tuesday un-

til further notice after it was un-

able to trace the source of coro-

navirus infections among some

daily gym users, according to a

base Facebook post that day. The

base’s enlisted club closed Satur-

day after one staff member tested

positive.

Thirty-five people at Yokosuka,

which is home to the Navy’s 7th

Fleet, tested positive over the long

weekend, according to a base

statement Tuesday. Meanwhile,

40 patients recovered, marking

the first time the base reported a

decrease in total active cases this

month.

Yokosuka now has 153 active

coronavirus cases, down from 158

on Friday.

Naval Air Facility Atsugi, about

30 miles to the west, has had sev-

en new cases since Friday, bring-

ing the total number of active in-

fections to 24, base spokesman

Sam Samuelson told Stars and

Stripes by phone on Tuesday.

Three of the new cases were dis-

covered during testing to leave

quarantine and four were close

contacts.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwa-

kuni in western Japan also had

seven people test positive for the

virus since Friday, according to

the base’s Facebook page. Four of

those cases were close contacts,

while the others were discovered

after testing to exit quarantine.

About 225 miles west at Sasebo

Naval Base, four positive cases

were identified on Thursday and

Friday, according to a post on

base's Facebook page Tuesday.

Two tested positive after display-

ing symptoms and the other two

were their close contacts.

Base case numbers were accu-

rate as of 6 p.m. Tuesday in Japan.

DODEA shutters Okinawa high school after 3 test positiveBY CAITLIN DOORNBOS

Stars and Stripes

doornbos.caitlin@stripes.com Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos

AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes

A passenger waits in a line at Narita International Airport outsideTokyo on Friday. Across Japan, 19,080 people tested positive for thecoronavirus between Friday and Monday, according to the WorldHealth Organization. 

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP

LOS ANGELES — California is

closing in on 3 million coronavirus

cases as the state tries to smooth

the rocky rollout of vaccines dur-

ing a continuing spike in CO-

VID-19 deaths.

The state reported 432 deaths

on Sunday, a day after recording

the second-highest daily count of

669, according to the Department

of Public Health. California’s

death toll since the start of the

pandemic rose to 33,392, while to-

tal cases reached 2.94 million.

Hospitalizations and intensive

care unit admissions remained on

a slight downward trend, but offi-

cials have warned that could re-

verse when the full impact from

transmissions during Christmas

and New Year’s Eve gatherings is

felt.

“As case numbers continue to

rise in California, the total number

of individuals who will have seri-

ous outcomes will also increase,”

the health department said in a

statement Sunday.

There have been about 500

deaths and 40,000 new cases daily

for the past two weeks.

Lawmakers and public health

officials have said the surge won’t

be flattened without mass vacci-

nations, but California has trailed

the rest of the country when it

comes to inoculating its residents.

So far the state has vaccinated just

2,468 people per 100,000, a rate

that falls well below the national

average of about 3,300, according

to federal data cited Saturday by

the Sacramento Bee.

TexasDALLAS — Texas reported

more than 10,000 new cases of CO-

VID-19 on Monday and 46 more

deaths from the disease caused by

the coronavirus.

The number of Texans hospital-

ized with COVID-19 rose from

13,720 Sunday to 13,858 Monday.

Coronavirus hospitalizations re-

main near their record high and

intensive-care units in several re-

gions are at or near capacity, ac-

cording to the Texas Department

of State Health Services.

The department reported 10,110

more confirmed cases of the virus

Monday, as well as 695 probable

cases.

Over the last week, more than

17% of coronavirus tests have

come back positive in Texas, ac-

cording to data from Johns Hop-

kins University. The state has re-

corded more than 2 million cases

of the virus and more than 32,000

fatalities.

The actual number of cases is

believed to be far higher because

many people haven’t been tested

and some who get sick don’t show

symptoms.

More than 1 million Texans

have received a dose of a corona-

virus vaccine and more than

166,000 are fully vaccinated, ac-

cording to health officials.

IllinoisSPRINGFIELD — Illinois pub-

lic health officials reported 3,385

fresh cases of coronavirus illness

Monday, and 50 more deaths as

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administra-

tion eased social interaction re-

strictions in most parts of the

state.

Daily diagnoses of new cases of

COVID-19 remain well below to-

tals counted in November, the

worst month for infections since

the virus picked up speed in Illi-

nois in February. Illinois has

dodged expected surges in cases

following holiday time travel and

family celebrations.

Nonetheless, the entire state

had been under so-called Tier 3

mitigation rules until late last

week. The Illinois Department of

Public Health on Monday an-

nounced statewide health care

contracting to supplement exist-

ing hospital staff. That enabled

IDPH to loosen restrictions in

most areas of the state, signifi-

cantly to at least a level that allows

indoor dining to resume.

Only Region 4, which covers the

Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, and

Region 7, covering Will and Kan-

kakee counties just south of Chica-

go, remain in Tier 3.

MississippiJACKSON — More than 100,000

people in Mississippi have re-

ceived their first dose of the coro-

navirus vaccine, and officials are

taking further steps to administer

the state’s supply of shots more ef-

ficiently, Gov. Tate Reeves said

Monday.

“There is no higher priority and

we’re acting accordingly,” Reeves

told a news conference. “We’re

not where we need to be and we’ve

got a long way to go. With 100,000

Mississippians vaccinated, we’ve

got hundreds of thousands more to

do in the coming weeks and

months.”

Inoculation rates in Mississippi

have lagged far behind most of the

U.S., according to the federal Cen-

ters for Disease Control and Pre-

vention. But Reeves insisted Mon-

day that health officials are mak-

ing changes to speed things along.

The state’s website for making

vaccine appointments has been

upgraded to handle increased

traffic, and more people are an-

swering calls from those booking

by phone, he said.

Meanwhile, state officials are

working to free up more shots for

the general population aged 65

and older by getting several thou-

sand doses from nursing homes

that received more than they

need, Reeves said. If individual

providers don’t use at least 65% of

their weekly dose allocation, their

share of the following week’s sup-

ply will go to others in the state.

MinnesotaMINNEAPOLIS — A federal

judge has ordered a Florida com-

pany accused of selling counter-

feit N95 face masks with 3M’s

name on them to stop using the

Minnesota company’s trademarks

and representing itself as a dis-

tributor or authorized retailer for

3M.

3M sued Nationwide Source

Inc. in late December, accusing

the company of selling more than

10,000 of the counterfeit respira-

tors to Hennepin County Medical

Center in Minneapolis. The hospi-

tal allegedly paid more than six

times above 3M’s standard price

for the mask used by medical

workers and others to help protect

against the coronavirus.

U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina

M. Wright on Friday granted 3M’s

request for a preliminary injunc-

tion. Officials with Nationwide

Source, located in Delray Beach,

Fla., declined to comment, the

Star Tribune reported.

3M, based in Maplewood, has

tripled production of its N95 respi-

rators since the start of the pan-

demic. It also has investigated

over 10,000 cases of fraudulent

N95 sales, leading to 29 lawsuits

and numerous injunctions and re-

straining orders.

FloridaORLANDO — Looking to buy

an annual pass at Disneyland Re-

sort? You’re out of luck. The Cali-

fornia theme park resort said last

week that it’s ending its passhol-

der program.

Disneyland Resort in California

made the announcement last

week after it allowed county

health officials to use its parking

lot for a large-scale coronavirus

vaccination site.

California’s Disneyland closed

in March and has not reopened

since because coronavirus metri-

cs in the county where the park is

located have not declined to the

levels required by the state.

Existing passholders at the Cal-

ifornia parks will be given re-

funds, company officials said.

In Florida, Walt Disney World

reopened in July after nearly four

months with new rules in place to

help prevent the spread of CO-

VID-19, including mandatory

masks and social distancing. The

Florida resort implemented a mo-

ratorium on new annual passes

last summer, though it will honor

those from existing passholders.

Nebraska OMAHA — The number of peo-

ple hospitalized with the coronavi-

rus in Nebraska has dropped to its

lowest point in nearly three

months, according to state statis-

tics.

The Nebraska Department of

Health and Human Services’ on-

line virus tracker shows 429 peo-

ple were hospitalized Sunday with

COVID-19, the disease caused by

the virus. That’s the lowest num-

ber since Oct. 26, when 427 people

were hospitalized.

The number of new daily cases

jumped on Sunday, to 1.061 from

741 on Saturday and 672 on Fri-

day, but was still well below the re-

cord 3,440 cases recorded on Nov.

16. State officials have confirmed

181,978 cases and 1,837 deaths in

Nebraska since the pandemic be-

gan.

IowaDES MOINES — The number of

people hospitalized with the coro-

navirus in Iowa rose over a 24-

hour period this weekend, but re-

mained below the threshold of 500

that plagued the state since Octo-

ber.

The Iowa Department of Public

Health said 484 people were being

treated for COVID-19 in hospitals

on Sunday, up 10 from Saturday

but down from 505 on Friday. Sat-

urday’s number of 474 was the

first time since Oct. 18 that the

number of people hospitalized

was below 500.

The state reported 730 new

cases and two deaths Sunday to

give Iowa a total of 304,852 cases

and 4,323 deaths since the pan-

demic began. Over the two weeks,

Iowa has seen the number of cases

decrease from 938 new cases per

day on Jan. 3 to just more than 885

new cases per day on Sunday.

Missouri ST. LOUIS — More than 172,000

people in St. Louis County have

registered for the COVID-19 vac-

cine, but the the local health de-

partment so far has only received

975 doses, county Executive Sam

Page said Monday.

The county expected more dos-

es to arrive Tuesday but the num-

ber it will receive was unclear, the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Page also urged residents to be

honest about the information they

use to register for vaccinations,

saying some have falsely claimed

to be health care workers or

brought along family members

who aren’t eligible.

“This has not been a huge prob-

lem, but as the availability of the

vaccine increases, (this) ultimate-

ly slows down the process, ele-

vates tensions and deprives the

vaccine to our most vulnerable —

those most likely to have severe

outcomes if infected by the virus,”

he said.

A new phase of vaccinations be-

gan Monday in Missouri that al-

lows older people and those with

certain pre-existing conditions to

be vaccinated.

Missouri health officials on

Monday reported at least 11,983

COVID-19 cases in the past week.

That’s about 1,712 newly reported

cases per day.

California closes in

on 3 million cases

SARAH REINGEWIRTZ/AP

Camille Warren collects finger prick samples from Angela Jones and her 82­year­old mother, Jessie, ofCarson, Calif., for COVID­19 antibody tests at Southside Church of Christ in Los Angeles on Monday.

Associated Press

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Senate control and after having

won an election in which 74 mil-

lion people voted for his opponent.

And even if his administration ac-

complishes most of its top goals in

legislation or executive action,

those actions are subject to being

struck down by a Supreme Court

now controlled by a 6-3 conserva-

tive majority.

Even so, the effort is soon un-

derway. Washington is bracing for

dozens of consequential executive

actions starting Wednesday and

stretched over the first 10 days of

Biden’s administration, as well as

legislation that will begin working

its way through Congress on pan-

demic relief, immigration and

much more.

Has Biden promised more than

he can deliver? Not in his estima-

tion. He suggests he can accom-

plish even more than he promised.

He says he and his team will “do

our best to beat all the expecta-

tions you have for the country and

expectations we have for it.”

Some Democrats say Biden is

right to set great expectations

while realizing he’ll have to com-

promise, rather than starting with

smaller goals and having to scale

them back further.

“You can’t say to a nation that is

hungry, uncertain, in some places

afraid, whose economy has stalled

out ... that you had to slim down the

request of their government be-

cause you have a narrow govern-

ing margin,” said former Massa-

chusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Bi-

den’s onetime Democratic presi-

dential primary rival.

New presidents generally enjoy

a honeymoon period that helps

them in Congress, and Biden’s

prospects for getting one were im-

proved by Democratic victories

this month in two Georgia special

Senate elections. He may have

been helped, too, by a public back-

lash against the deadly, armed in-

surrection at the U.S. Capitol by

Trump supporters.

Biden’s advisers have acknowl-

edged they’ll have bitter fights

ahead. One approach they have in

mind is a familiar one in Washing-

ton — consolidating some big

ideas into what is known as omni-

bus legislation, so that lawmakers

who want popular measures

passed have to swallow more con-

troversial measures as well.

Another approach is to pursue

goals through executive orders.

Doing so skirts Congress altogeth-

er but leaves them more easily

challenged in court. Trump made

hefty use of executive orders for

some of his most contentious ac-

tions on border enforcement, the

environment and more, but feder-

al courts often got in the way.

Biden’s top priority is congres-

sional approval of a $1.9 trillion

coronavirus plan to administer

100 million vaccines by his 100th

day in office while also providing

$1,400 direct payments to Ameri-

cans to stimulate the virus-ham-

mered economy. That’s no slam

dunk, even though everyone likes

to get money from the govern-

ment.

Any such payment is likely to be

paired with measures many in

Congress oppose, perhaps his pro-

posed mandate for a $15 national

minimum wage, for example. And

Biden’s relief package will have to

clear a Senate consumed with ap-

proving his top Cabinet choices

and with conducting Trump’s po-

tential impeachment trial.

Nevertheless, the deluge is

coming.

On Day One alone, Biden has

promised to extend the pause on

federal student loan payments,

move to have the U.S. rejoin the

World Health Organization and

Paris climate accord and ask

Americans to commit to 100 days

of mask-wearing. He plans to use

executive actions to overturn the

Trump administration’s ban on

immigrants from several majori-

ty-Muslim countries and wipe out

corporate tax cuts where possible,

while doubling the levies U.S.

firms pay on foreign profits.

That same day, Biden has

pledged to create task forces on

homelessness and reuniting im-

migrant parents with children

separated at the U.S.-Mexico bor-

der. He’ll plan to send bills to Con-

gress seeking to mandate stricter

background checks for gun

buyers, scrap firearm manufac-

turers’ liability protections and

provide an eight-year path to citi-

zenship for an estimated 11 million

people living in the U.S. without

legal status.

The new president further

wants to relax limits immediately

on federal workers unionizing, re-

verse Trump’s rollback of about

100 public health and environ-

mental rules that the Obama ad-

ministration instituted and create

rules to limit corporate influence

on his administration and ensure

the Justice Department’s inde-

pendence.

He also pledged to have 100 vac-

cination centers supported by fed-

eral emergency management per-

sonnel up and running during his

first month in the White House.

Biden says he’ll use the Defense

Production Act to increase vac-

cine supplies and ensure the pan-

demic is under enough control af-

ter his first 100 days in office for

most public schools to reopen na-

tionwide. He’s also pledged to

have created a police oversight

commission to combat institution-

al racism by then.

Among other major initiatives

to be tackled quickly: rejoining the

U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, a $2 trillion

climate package to get the U.S. to

net-zero carbon emissions by

2050, a plan to spend $700 billion

boosting manufacturing and re-

search and development and

building on the Obama adminis-

tration’s health care law to include

a “public option.”

Perhaps obscured in that pa-

rade of promises, though, is the

fact that some of the 80 million-

plus voters who backed Biden

may have done so to oppose

Trump, not because they’re

thrilled with an ambitious Demo-

cratic agenda. The president-

elect’s victory may not have been

a mandate to pull a country that

emerged from the last election es-

sentially centrist so far to the left.

Republican strategist Matt

Mackowiak predicted early Re-

publican support for Biden’s coro-

navirus relief and economic stim-

ulus spending plans, but said that

may evaporate quickly if “they is-

sue a bunch of first-day, left-wing

executive orders.”

“You can’t be bipartisan with

one hand and left-wing with the

other,” Mackowiak said, “and

hope that Republicans don’t no-

tice.”

Biden had a front-row seat as

vice president in 2009, when Ba-

rack Obama took office, with

crowds jamming the National

Mall, and promised to transcend

partisan politics. His administra-

tion used larger congressional

majorities to oversee slow eco-

nomic growth after the 2008 finan-

cial crisis, and it passed the health

law Biden now seeks to expand.

But Obama failed to get major

legislation passed on climate

change, ethics or immigration. He

failed, too, to close the U.S. deten-

tion camp at Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba, which remains open to this

day.

Falling short on promises then

hasn’t made Biden more chas-

tened today. He acknowledges

that doing even a small portion of

what he wants will require run-

ning up huge deficits, but he ar-

gues the U.S. has an “economic

imperative” and “moral obliga-

tion” to do so.

Kelly Dietrich, founder of the

National Democratic Training

Committee and former party fun-

draiser, said the divisions foment-

ed by Trump could give Biden a

unique opportunity to push ahead

immediately and ignore conserva-

tive critics who “are going to com-

plain and cry and make stuff up”

and argue that socialists are “com-

ing to kick your puppy.”

Biden and his team would do

well to brush off anyone who

doesn’t think he can aim high, he

said.

“They should not be distracted

by people who think it’s disap-

pointing or it can’t happen,” Die-

trich said. “Overwhelm people

with action. No administration, af-

ter it’s over, says, ‘We accom-

plished too much in the first

hundred days.’”

Agenda: Biden has various pathways to achieving his goalsFROM PAGE 1

JEENAH MOON/AP

Preparations are made prior to a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President­elect JoeBiden and Vice President­elect Kamala Harris at the Capitol on Monday in Washington, D.C.

NATION

WASHINGTON — Senate Re-

publican leader Mitch McConnell

opened the Senate on Tuesday say-

ing the pro-Trump mob that

stormed the Capitol was “fed lies”

by the president and others in the

deadly riot to overturn Democrat

Joe Biden election.

McConnell's remarks are his

most severe and public rebuke of

outgoing President Donald

Trump. The Republican leader

vowed a “safe and successful” in-

auguration of Biden on Wednes-

day at the Capitol, which is under

extremely tight security.

“The mob was fed lies,” McCon-

nell said. “They were provoked by

the president and other powerful

people, and they tried to use fear

and violence to stop a specific pro-

ceeding of branch of the federal

government.”

McConnell said after Biden's in-

auguration on the Capitol's West

Front — what he noted former

President George H.W. Bush has

called “democracy's front porch”

— “We'll move forward.”

Three new Democratic sen-

ators-elect are set to be sworn into

office Wednesday shortly after Bi-

den's inauguration at the Capitol,

which is under extreme security

since the bloody pro-Trump riot.

The new senators’ arrival will give

the Democrats the most slim ma-

jority, a 50-50 divided Senate

chamber, with the new vice presi-

dent, Kamala Harris, swearing

them in and serving as an eventual

tie-breaking vote.

Senate Republican leader Mitch

McConnell and Senate Democrat-

ic leader Chuck Schumer are set to

confer Tuesday about the arrange-

ments ahead, according to a per-

son familiar with the planning and

granted anonymity to discuss it.

McConnell says Trump ‘fed lies’ to Capitol mob about Biden electionAssociated Press

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

WASHINGTON — President-

elect Joe Biden’s national security

Cabinet may be bare on Day One

of his presidency, but an inaugu-

ration eve spurt of Senate confir-

mation hearings suggests that

won’t be the case for long.

While the nominees to head the

State Department, the Pentagon,

Homeland Security and the intel-

ligence community are unlikely to

be confirmed by the time Biden

takes the oath of office at noon

Wednesday, some could be in

place within days.

The Senate typically confirms

some nominees, particularly the

secretaries of defense, on Inaugu-

ration Day, though raw feelings

about President Donald Trump

four years ago led to Democratic-

caused delays, except for Jim

Mattis at the Pentagon. This year,

the tension is heightened by

Trump’s impeachment and an ex-

traordinary military presence in

Washington because of fears of

extremist violence.

Putting his national security

team in place quickly is a high pri-

ority for Biden, not only because

of his hopes for reversing or mod-

ifying Trump administration pol-

icy shifts but also because of dip-

lomatic, military and intelligence

problems around the world that

may create challenges early in his

tenure.

The most controversial of the

group may be Lloyd Austin, the

recently retired Army general

whom Biden selected to lead the

Pentagon. Austin will need not on-

ly a favorable confirmation vote in

the Senate but also a waiver by

both the House and the Senate be-

cause he has been out of uniform

only four years.

The last time a new president

did not have his secretary of de-

fense confirmed by Inauguration

Day was in 1989. President Ge-

orge H.W. Bush’s nominee, John

Tower, had run into opposition

and ended up rejected by the Sen-

ate several weeks later.

Also up for confirmation are

Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s

nominee for secretary of the De-

partment of Homeland Security;

Biden confidant Antony Blinken

to lead the State Department; Av-

ril Haines to be the first woman to

serve as director of national intel-

ligence; and Janet Yellen as trea-

sury secretary, another first for a

woman.

Austin was testifying Tuesday

before the Senate Armed Services

Committee, but the panel will not

be in position to vote until he gets

the waiver. Republicans are ex-

pected to broadly support the

Austin nomination, as are Demo-

crats.

Biden’s emerging Cabinet

marks a return to a more tradi-

tional approach to governing, re-

lying on veteran policymakers

with deep expertise and strong re-

lationships in Washington and

global capitals. Austin is some-

thing of an exception in that only

twice in history has a recently re-

tired general served as defense

secretary — most recently Mattis.

Austin, who would be the first

Black secretary of defense, re-

tired from the military as a four-

star general in 2016. The law re-

quires a minimum seven-year

waiting period.

Some Democrats have already

said they will oppose a waiver.

They argue that granting it for two

administrations in a row makes

the exception more like a rule.

Even so, a favorable vote seems

likely.

The chairman of the House

Armed Services Committee, Rep.

Adam Smith, D-Wash., on Friday

introduced waiver legislation for

Austin.

Mayorkas, Biden’s nominee for

secretary of the Department of

Homeland Security, would be the

first Latino and first immigrant to

lead the agency. That’s notable

because DHS oversees border en-

forcement and the immigration

services agency in addition to mis-

sions that include overseeing cy-

bersecurity for critical infrastruc-

ture and civilian federal agencies.

Haines, a former CIA deputy di-

rector and former deputy national

security adviser in the Obama ad-

ministration, is expected to prom-

ise to keep politics out of the in-

telligence community, a depar-

ture from a Trump administration

that saw repeated pressure on in-

telligence officials to shape intelli-

gence to the Republican presi-

dent’s liking.

Yellen, the nominee for treasu-

ry secretary, is certain to be

quizzed by the Senate Finance

Committee about the details of Bi-

den’s proposed $1.9 trillion emer-

gency relief plan announced last

week.

Biden’s securitynominees faceSenate tests

Associated Press

CAROLYN KASTER/AP

President­elect Joe Biden, left, nominated Antony Blinken to head the State Department. Blinken, as wellas Biden's other national security nominees, face a series of confirmation hearings starting Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — President-

elect Joe Biden has tapped Penn-

sylvania Health Secretary Rachel

Levine to be his assistant secre-

tary of health, leaving her poised

to become the first openly trans-

gender federal official to be con-

firmed by the U.S. Senate.

A pediatrician and former

Pennsylvania physician general,

Levine was appointed to her cur-

rent post by Democratic Gov.

Tom Wolf in 2017, making her

one of the few transgender peo-

ple serving in elected or appoint-

ed positions nationwide. She won

past confirmation by the Repub-

lican-majority Pennsylvania Sen-

ate and has emerged as the pub-

lic face of the state’s response to

the coronavirus pandemic.

“Dr. Rachel Levine will bring

the steady leadership and essen-

tial expertise we need to get peo-

ple through this pandemic — no

matter their zip code, race, reli-

gion, sexual orientation, gender

identity, or disability — and meet

the public health needs of our

country in this critical moment

and beyond,” Biden said in a

statement. “She is a historic and

deeply qualified choice to help

lead our administration’s health

efforts.”

A graduate of Harvard and of

Tulane Medical School, Levine is

president of the Association of

State and Territorial Health Offi-

cials. She’s written in the past on

the opioid crisis, medical mari-

juana, adolescent medicine, eat-

ing disorders and LGBTQ med-

icine.

Biden and his transition team

have already begun negotiating

with members of Congress, pro-

moting speedy passage of the

president-elect’s $1.9 trillion plan

to bring the coronavirus, which

has killed nearly 400,000 people

in the United States, under con-

trol. It seeks to enlist federal

emergency personnel to run

mass vaccination centers and

provide 100 million immunization

shots in his administration’s first

100 days, while using government

spending to stimulate the pan-

demic-hammered economy.

Biden also says that, in one of

his first acts as president, he’ll

ask Americans to wear masks for

100 days to slow the virus’

spread.

Vice President-elect Kamala

Harris called Levine “a remarka-

ble public servant with the

knowledge and experience to

help us contain this pandemic,

and protect and improve the

health and well-being of the

American people.”

Levine joins Biden’s Health

and Human Services secretary

nominee Xavier Becerra, a Lati-

no politician who rose from hum-

ble beginnings to serve in Con-

gress and as California’s attorney

general.

Businessman Jeff Zients is Bi-

den’s coronavirus response coor-

dinator, while Biden picked in-

fectious-disease specialist Ro-

chelle Walensky to run the Cen-

ters for Disease Control and

Prevention, Vivek Murthy as sur-

geon general and Yale epidemiol-

ogist Marcella Nunez-Smith to

head a working group to ensure

fair and equitable distribution of

vaccines and treatments.

The government’s top infec-

tious disease expert, Dr. Anthony

Fauci, will also work closely with

the Biden administration.

A transition spokesperson also

said Tuesday that Dawn O’Con-

nell will serve as senior counselor

for coronavirus response to the

health and human services secre-

tary. O’Connell most recently

served as director of the Coalition

for Epidemic Preparedness Inno-

vations and was the senior coun-

selor and deputy chief of staff to

Health and Human Services Sec-

retary Sylvia Burwell during the

Obama administration.

Biden picks trans woman for assistant health secretaryAssociated Press

JOE HERMITT, THE (QUINCY, MASS.) PATRIOT LEDGER/AP

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine was selected byPresident­elect Joe Biden to be his assistant secretary of health.

NATION

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

NATION

COLTS NECK, N.J. — An Army

reservist from New Jersey who

works as a Navy contractor with a

“Secret” security clearance is fac-

ing federal charges in connection

with the riot at the U.S. Capitol

earlier this month, authorities

said.

A criminal complaint filed by a

special agent with the Naval Crim-

inal Investigative Service accuses

Timothy Hale-Cusanelli of unlaw-

fully entering the Capitol, disrupt-

ing government business, violent

entry and disorderly conduct as

well as demonstrating in a Capitol

building and obstructing law en-

forcement.

Authorities said the Colts Neck

resident is an Army reservist and

works as a contractor at Naval

Weapons Station Earle “where he

maintains a ‘Secret’ security

clearance and has access to a va-

riety of munitions,” according to

the criminal complaint.

Authorities allege that Hale-Cu-

sanelli told an informant that he

had entered the Capitol and

showed him cellphone videos de-

picting the defendant making “ha-

rassing and derogatory state-

ments” toward Capitol Police in-

side and outside the building. The

informant alleged that he is a

white supremacist and Nazi sym-

pathizer who posts online videos

with extreme political views, and

before the rally wrote, “Trust the

plan, it’s the final countdown.”

In a recorded conversation with

the informant, authorities allege,

Hale-Cusanelli admitted entering

the Capitol and encouraging the

mob to “advance” — giving voice

and hand signal directions. He

told the informant that with more

men, they could have taken over

the entire building, federal au-

thorities alleged.

Hale-Cusanelli also said he took

a flag and flagpole that he saw an-

other rioter throw “like a javelin”

at a Capitol Police officer, which

the defendant described as a

“murder weapon” and said he in-

tended to destroy or dispose of it

as soon as possible, authorities al-

lege.

Army reservist/Navy contractor gets charged in Capitol riotAssociated Press

Facing criticism that he was ac-

ceding to President Donald

Trump’s demand to produce citi-

zenship information at the ex-

pense of data quality, U.S. Census

Bureau director Steven Dilling-

ham said Monday that he planned

to resign with the change in presi-

dential administrations.

Dillingham said in a statement

that he would resign Wednesday,

the day Trump leaves the White

House and President-elect Joe Bi-

den takes office. Dillingham’s

term was supposed to be finished

at the end of the year.

The Census Bureau director’s

departure comes as the statistical

agency is crunching the numbers

for the 2020 census, which will be

used to determine how many con-

gressional seats and Electoral Col-

lege votes each state gets, as well

as the distribution of $1.5 trillion in

federal spending each year.

In his statement, Dillingham

said he had been considering re-

tiring earlier, but he had been per-

suaded at the time to stick around.

“But I must do now what I think

is best,” said Dillingham, 68. “Let

me make it clear that under other

circumstances, I would be honor-

ed to serve President-Elect Biden

just as I served the past five presi-

dents.”

A Census Bureau spokesman

said the agency’s chief operating

officer, Ron Jarmin, will assume

the director’s duties. Jarmin

served in the same role before Dil-

lingham became director two

years ago.

Last week, Democratic law-

makers called on Dillingham to

resign after a watchdog agency

said he had set a deadline that

pressured statisticians to produce

a report on the number of people

in the United States illegally.

A report by the Office of Inspec-

tor General said bureau workers

were under significant pressure

from two Trump political appoin-

tees to figure out who is in the U.S.

illegally using federal and state

administrative records, and Dil-

lingham had set a Friday deadline

for bureau statisticians to provide

him a technical report on the ef-

fort.

One whistleblower told the Of-

fice of Inspector General that the

work was “statistically indefensi-

ble” and others said they worried

its release would tarnish the Cen-

sus Bureau’s reputation. After the

release of the inspector general’s

report, Dillingham ordered a halt

to the efforts to produce data

showing the citizenship status of

every U.S. resident through ad-

ministrative records.

In Monday’s statement, Dilling-

ham said whistleblower concerns

stemmed from what appeared to

be misunderstandings about how

the data would be reviewed and

posted.

“There has been no suggestion

to me that the work described

above posed any potential viola-

tion of laws, rules or regulations,”

Dillingham said.

Leaders of several civil rights

groups last week called for Dil-

lingham’s resignation, and several

Democratic lawmakers followed

suit.

“Rather than ensure an accu-

rate count, Dr. Dillingham ap-

pears to have acceded repeatedly

to the Trump Administration’s

brazen efforts to politicize the

Census,” U.S. Rep. Carolyn Malo-

ney, chair of the House Commit-

tee on Oversight and Reform, said

last Friday.

Census Bureau director to resign amid criticism over dataBY MIKE SCHNEIDER

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President-

elect Joe Biden plans to unveil a

sweeping immigration bill on Day

One of his administration, hoping

to provide an eight-year path to ci-

tizenship for an estimated 11 mil-

lion people living in the United

States without legal status, a mas-

sive reversal from the Trump ad-

ministration’s harsh immigration

policies.

The legislation puts Biden on

track to deliver on a major cam-

paign promise important to Latino

voters and other immigrant com-

munities after four years of Presi-

dent Donald Trump’s restrictive

policies and mass deportations. It

provides one of the fastest path-

ways to citizenship for those living

without legal status of any measure

in recent years, but it fails to in-

clude the traditional trade-off of

enhanced border security favored

by many Republicans, putting pas-

sage in a narrowly divided Con-

gress in doubt.

Expected to run hundreds of

pages, the bill is set to be intro-

duced after Biden takes the oath of

office Wednesday, according to a

person familiar with the legislation

and granted anonymity to discuss

it.

As a candidate, Biden called

Trump’s actions on immigration

an “unrelenting assault” on Amer-

ican values and said he would “un-

do the damage” while continuing to

maintain border enforcement.

Under the legislation, those liv-

ing in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021,

without legal status would have a

five-year path to temporary legal

status, or a green card, if they pass

background checks, pay taxes and

fulfill other basic requirements.

From there, it’s a three-year path to

naturalization, if they decide to

pursue citizenship.

For some immigrants, the proc-

ess would be quicker. So-called

Dreamers, the young people who

arrived in the U.S. illegally as chil-

dren, as well as agricultural work-

ers and people under temporary

protective status, could qualify

more immediately for green cards

if they are working, are in school or

meet other requirements.

The bill is not as comprehensive

as the last major immigration over-

haul proposed when Biden was

vice president during the Obama

administration.

For example, it does not include

a robust border security element,

but rather calls for coming up with

new strategies. Nor does it create

any new guest worker or other visa

programs.

It does address some of the root

causes of migration from Central

America to the United States, and

provides grants for workforce de-

velopment and English language

learning.

Biden is expected to take swift

executive actions to reverse other

Trump immigration actions, in-

cluding an end to the prohibition on

arrivals from several predomin-

antly Muslim countries.

During the Democratic pri-

mary, Biden consistently named

immigration action as one of his

first-day priorities, pointing to the

range of executive powers he could

invoke to reverse Trump’s policies.

Biden allies and even some Re-

publicans have identified immi-

gration as a major issue where the

new administration could find

common ground with Senate Re-

publican Leader Mitch McConnell

and enough other GOP senators to

avoid the stalemate that has vexed

administrations of both parties for

decades.

That kind of major win — even if

it involves compromise — could be

critical as Biden looks for legisla-

tive victories in a closely divided

Congress, where Republicans are

certain to oppose other Biden pri-

orities that involve rolling back

some of the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts and

increasing federal spending.

Biden to propose 8-year US citizenship pathAssociated Press

EVAN VUCCI/AP

President­elect Joe Biden waves to reporters as he walks out of The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Mayor dog, goat raisemoney for a playground

VT FAIR HAVEN — A goat

and a dog who were

each elected mayor have helped

raise money to renovate a Ver-

mont community playground.

The oddball idea of pet mayor

elections to raise money to reha-

bilitate the playground and to help

get local kids civically involved

came from a local town manager.

Lincoln the goat, former honor-

ary mayor, helped raise about

$10,000 while the current mayor,

Murfee, a Cavalier King Charles

spaniel, has raised $20,000, Town

Manager Joe Gunter told the Rut-

land Herald. The town chipped in

another $20,000.

Ironically, the honorary mayor

is not welcome on the playground.

Murfee’s owner, Linda Barker

said there’s a “no dogs allowed”

sign.

“Murfee is going to take that up

with the town,” Barker said with a

chuckle. “He’s going to contest

that.”

Drunk driver arrested fordriving up Capitol steps

WI MADISON — Author-

ities said the actions of

an intoxicated man who drove his

vehicle up the stairs of the Wiscon-

sin Capitol grounds did not appear

to be politically motivated.

Police said Willie Burks, 44, of

Madison, drove up the exterior

steps on Martin Luther King Jr.

Boulevard and around the exte-

rior of the statehouse. He then left

the capitol grounds and drove

against traffic before parking his

vehicle.

Burks was arrested for his third

drunken driving offense and taken

to the Dane County Jail.

Park Service to burn bigdebris pile on island

GA CUMBERLAND IS-

LAND — The National

Park Service said coastal Georgia

residents shouldn’t be alarmed if

they soon see smoke rising from

Cumberland Island.

The agency that manages Geor-

gia’s largest barrier island is pre-

paring to burn a large pile of dried

vegetation that’s being cleared as

part of Cumberland Island’s fire

management plan. The Park Ser-

vice said in a news release that the

debris pile covers about 2 acres. It

plans to ignite the pile in the com-

ing weeks.

Man charged after serialvandalism in suburb

MO JENNINGS — A St.

Louis County man

was charged in vandalism that oc-

curred at more than a dozen busi-

nesses in Jennings, including

churches and nonprofits.

David Jackson, 40, was charged

with one count of first-degree

property damage.

The first incident was reported

after video captured someone

throwing bricks through the win-

dows of Noah’s Ark Church.

Police have investigated at least

15 other incidents in Jennings and

at least two in a nearby jurisdic-

tion, police spokesman Sgt. Benja-

min Granda said in a news release.

Earlier this month, police said

the suspect threw concrete

through windows or used a ham-

mer.

Police: Woman crashesstolen mail truck

NY NEW YORK — A wom-

an was arrested after

stealing a mail truck in Brooklyn

and crashing it into several parked

vehicles, police said.

Police said Martha Thaxton, 21,

took off in the unoccupied truck

down Fulton Street, crashing into

several vehicles.

Officers said she attempted to

flee the vehicle but was arrested

on several charges, including

grand larceny and reckless endan-

germent.

Bill wants popcorn to beofficial state snack

IN INDIANAPOLIS — A

state lawmaker wants his

colleagues to honor Indiana’s big

popcorn crop by making the grain

the state’s official snack.

Legislation sponsored by Re-

publican state Sen. Ron Grooms of

Jeffersonville would designate In-

diana-grown popcorn as the Hoo-

sier state’s official snack, adding it

to other state symbols such as the

state bird — the cardinal — and

the state insect, the firefly, The

Journal Gazette reported.

Grooms’ bill said Indiana ranks

second in the nation — behind Ne-

braska — in popcorn production,

with Hoosier farmers growing

nearly 500 million pounds of pop-

corn every year.

3 prison workers indictedin payroll scheme

MD BALTIMORE —

Three Maryland pris-

on system employees were

charged in a bribery and kickback

scheme involving unearned pay,

according to authorities.

Fiscal technician Shantil Carter

and correctional officers Okezie

Chidume and Gerald Leon Solo-

mon Jr. were indicted by a Balti-

more County grand jury on con-

spiracy, theft, bribery and other

charges.

Prosecutors said Carter was

paid by Chidume and Solomon to

alter their time cards so they could

be paid for hours they did not

work. They said Chidume was im-

properly paid almost $34,000

while Solomon received $27,000

for work he did not perform.

Baggage car’s trip to cost more than sold for

GA GAINESVILLE — Ex-

cess baggage: $10. Cost

to carry it home? A lot more.

For $10, a northeast Georgia

event venue is now the owner of a

railroad car that had belonged to

the city of Gainesville. The Chair

Factory was the only bidder on a

baggage car now located in Engine

209 Park, which hosts a retired

steam locomotive.

Gainesville City Manager

Bryan Lackey told WDUN-AM

that the city plans to accept the bid

and will allow The Chair Factory

to relocate the baggage car.

The city required the winning

bidder to remove the car, keep it

within the city limits, and include

it in a commercial development

accessible to the public.

Lackey said the business has re-

ceived a quote from a contractor of

$73,000 for the relocation.

Naked man electrocutedon tracks after fight

NY NEW YORK — A

naked man was electro-

cuted on subway tracks in Harlem

after he pushed another man onto

the tracks and fought with a third

man who tried to help, police said.

Police responding to a 911 call

found the naked 35-year-old man

unconscious with “severe trauma

throughout the body,” lying on the

electrified third rail of the train

tracks.

Police said the naked man had

pushed a 43-year-old man onto the

tracks. When a third man jumped

down to help, the 35-year-old man

followed and had started to fight

with him when he touched the

third rail and was killed.

The other two men were taken

to a hospital with non-life-threat-

ening injuries.

ANDREE KEHN, SUN JOURNAL (LEWISTON, MAINE)/AP

Cody Vincecruz, 15, works on his BMX bike ramp at his home in Auburn, Maine. He originally built the ramp last year and took advantage of thenice weather to make reinforcements. Vincecruz has been doing tricks on his BMX bike since he was 10 years old.

Ramping it up

THE CENSUS

$5M The amount set for bail for a Northern California man aftersheriff's deputies found a cache of weapons and explosives

at his home and business. Ian Benjamin Rogers, 44, was arrested after depu-ties searched his home and business in Napa, north of San Francisco, the San-ta Rosa Press Democrat reported. Between Rogers’ home and business, in-vestigators found five pipe bombs, several pounds of gunpowder, more than15,000 rounds of ammunition and approximately 8 to 10 illegal guns, out of astash that numbered more than 50, agency spokesman Henry Wofford said.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

WORLD

WARSAW, Poland — Extreme

cold has hit large parts of Europe,

with freezing temperatures crack-

ing railroad tracks in Poland, snow

blanketing the Turkish metropolis

of Istanbul and smog spiking as

more coal was being burned to gen-

erate heat.

In Switzerland, a skier who had

been buried by an avalanche over

the weekend died in a hospital of his

injuries, authorities said Monday.

The country had issued ava-

lanche warnings several days ear-

lier after heavy snowfall. Officials

said the skier and his two compan-

ions were buried by an avalanche

while skiing off marked trails in the

Gstaad area on Sunday. One man

freed himself from the snow and

then extricated one of the others,

but the third man could only be

found by rescue crews, who ar-

rived later.

Temperatures dropped to minus

18 Fahrenheit in some Polish areas

overnight, the coldest night in 11

years. Many trains were delayed

on Monday after tracks at two War-

saw railway stations cracked.

Hand-in-hand with the cold

came a spike in smog in Warsaw

and other parts of Poland, as the

cold prompted an increase in burn-

ing coal for heat. Air pollution lev-

els were so high in Warsaw that city

officials urged people to remain in-

doors.

In Istanbul, traffic was brought

to a halt by the layer of snow cover-

ing the city, with cars stalled or

skidding on the roads.

In Germany, fresh snow, slip-

pery roads and fallen trees led to

several car accidents on Sunday

and overnight, the dpa news agen-

cy reported. A driver died in south-

western Germany after his car shot

over a mound of snow.

Freezing temperatures bring Europe transportation woes, smogAssociated Press

VADO HONDO, Guatemala —

Guatemalan police and soldiers on

Monday broke up a group of hun-

dreds of migrants who had spent

two nights stuck at a roadblock on

a rural highway.

Some migrants threw rocks

while authorities launched tear

gas and pushed the migrants with

their riot shields back down the

highway. Migrants with children

were more gently prodded back

the way they had come.

The year’s first migrant caravan

had largely stalled two days before

President-elect Joe Biden’s inau-

guration. Biden has promised to

take a different approach to immi-

gration and even though immedi-

ate changes at the U.S. border are

not expected, it has created some

hope in Central America.

A steep mountain and tall wall

flanking the rural highway have

allowed Guatemalan authorities

to bottle up the group that had

numbered about 2,000 when it

pushed into Guatemala on Friday

night.

SANDRA SEBASTIAN/AP

Honduran migrants raise white flags as they are blocked by Guatemalan soldiers and police from advancingtoward the U.S. border, on the highway in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, on Monday.

Guatemala troops, police breakup caravan of weary migrants

Associated Press

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on

Tuesday brushed off calls from

U.S. and European officials to re-

lease opposition leader Alexei Na-

valny, who was arrested after he re-

turned to Russia from Germany

following treatment for nerve

agent poisoning, calling the situa-

tion with Navalny “an absolutely

internal matter.”

Statements have come from

around the globe condemning the

arrest and calling for the immedi-

ate release of Navalny, who blames

his poisoning on President Vladi-

mir Putin’s government. They add

to the existing tensions between

Russia and the West, with some Eu-

ropean Union nations suggesting

additional sanctions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry

Peskov told reporters Tuesday that

“we can’t and are not going to take

these statements into account.

“We are talking about a fact of

non-compliance with the Russian

law by a citizen of Russia. This is an

absolutely internal matter and we

will not allow anyone to interfere in

it and do not intend to listen to such

statements,” Peskov told report-

ers.

Navalny was detained at pass-

port control at Moscow’s Shereme-

tyevo airport after flying in Sunday

evening from Berlin, where he was

treated following the poisoning in

August. He was ordered to pre-trial

detention for 30 days Monday dur-

ing a court hearing that was hastily

set up at a police precinct where

Navalny was being held.

Russia’s prison service main-

tains that Navalny, Russia’s most

prominent opposition figure and

anti-corruption campaigner, vio-

lated the probation terms of his sus-

pended sentence on a 2014 money-

laundering conviction, which was

deemed “arbitrary” by the Eu-

ropean Court of Human Rights.

Kremlin rejectsWestern calls torelease Navalny

Associated Press

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

HSINCHU, Taiwan — Taiwanese troops

using tanks, mortars and small arms staged

a drill Tuesday aimed at repelling an attack

from China, which has increased its threats

to reclaim the island and its own displays of

military might.

“No matter what is happening around the

Taiwan Strait, our determination to guard

our homeland will never change,” said Maj.

Gen. Chen Chong-ji, director of the depart-

ment of political warfare, about the exercise

at Hukou Army Base south of the capital

Taipei.

Chen said the exercise was intended as a

show of Taiwan’s determination to maintain

peace between the sides through a show of

force.

The drills are also meant to reassure the

public that the military is maintaining its

guard ahead of next month’s Lunar New

Year festival, when many troops take leave.

Hukou base lies in Hsinchu county, a cen-

ter for Taiwan’s high-tech industries that

have thrived despite the constant threats of

invasion by China, which considers the self-

governing island democracy part of its own

territory to be conquered by force if neces-

sary.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has

sought to bolster the island’s defenses with

the purchase of billions of dollars in weap-

ons from key ally the United States, includ-

ing upgraded F-16 fighter jets, armed

drones, rocket systems and Harpoon mis-

siles capable of hitting both ships and land

targets. She has also boosted support for the

island’s indigenous arms industry, includ-

ing launching a program to build new sub-

marines to counter China’s ever-growing

naval capabilities.

Along with the world’s largest standing

military, numbering around 2 million mem-

bers, China has the largest navy, with ap-

proximately 350 vessels, including two air-

craft carriers and about 56 submarines. It

also possesses around 2,000 combat fighters

and bombers and 1,250 ground-launched

ballistic missiles, considered a key strategic

and psychological weapon against Taiwan.

Taiwan’s armed forces are a fraction of

that number, with much of its ground force

consisting of short-term conscripts, and its

fleet numbers only around 86 vessels,

roughly half of them missile boats for coast-

al patrol.

Taiwan military stages drill aimed at repelling potential China attackAssociated Press

mars Heidari, chief of ground

forces.

On Saturday, Iran’s paramili-

tary Revolutionary Guard con-

ducted a drill, launching anti-

warship ballistic missiles at a

simulated target at a distance of

some 1,120 miles in the Indian

Ocean, a day after the Guard’s

aerospace division launched sur-

face-to-surface ballistic missiles

and drones against “hypothetical

enemy bases” in the country’s

vast central desert.

Last Thursday, Iran’s navy

fired cruise missiles as part of a

naval drill in the Gulf of Oman,

under the surveillance of what

appeared to be a U.S. nuclear

submarine. Earlier last week, the

Guard’s affiliated forces carried

out a limited maneuver in the

Persian Gulf after a massive,

drones-only drill which took

place across half of the country

earlier in January.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s mili-

tary kicked off a ground forces

drill Tuesday along the coast of

the Gulf of Oman, state TV re-

ported, the latest in a series of

snap exercises that the country is

holding amid escalating tensions

over its nuclear program and

Washington’s pressure campaign

against Tehran.

According to the report, com-

mando units and airborne infan-

try were participating in the an-

nual exercise, along with fighter

jets, helicopters and military

transport aircraft. Iran’s National

Army chief Abdolrahim Mousavi

was overseeing the drill.

Iran has recently stepped up

military drills as part of a contin-

ued effort to pressure President-

elect Joe Biden over the nuclear

deal that President Donald

Trump pulled out of in 2018. Bi-

den has said that the United

States could rejoin the multina-

tional accord meant to contain

Iran’s nuclear program.

Later Tuesday, state TV aired

footage of parachuters, armored

vehicles and multiple launch

rocket systems fired during the

drill.

“The general goal of this drill is

to assess the offensive and pene-

trative power of the ground

forces against the enemy from

air, ground and sea,” said Kio-

Iran kicks off ground forces drill on Gulf of Oman coastAssociated Press

WORLD

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander

Caroline E. Miller, Europe Business Operations

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stripes.com

OPINION

Donald Trump is not the first

president to be hated by a large

segment of the American peo-

ple.

Far from it.

Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and

many other presidents were hated by a

large swath of the voting public when in of-

fice.

Franklin Roosevelt was well and truly

hated by a great many, especially prior to

World War II. He overcame with charm,

and grace and willpower.

And, he didn’t get bogged down.

Ronald Reagan, whose youthful hero was

Roosevelt, did the same. He was despised

and demeaned by much of the chattering

class and certainly all of the left. But he

knew his own mind and had great instincts,

one of the best of which was to not get en-

meshed in petty and personal conflicts.

And, like FDR, he used humor and grace

to overcome.

Richard Nixon was deeply reviled by

many, many Americans. There was nothing

he could do, even on single occasions — de-

tente with Russia; the opening to China — to

earn even grudging praise.

He did not overcome the hate. He hated

back. And he sunk into a reservoir of per-

sonal darkness and paranoia. The Nixon ha-

ters said that they were vindicated when

Nixon’s presidency and Nixon himself fell

apart: This is the guy, we knew he was all

along, they said.

But others wondered if the hate had

changed him. With fewer defeats and fewer

enemies, might he have gotten to be a better

man instead of a worse one?

One cannot help but wonder about

Trump: If he had been given a chance,

would he have gotten better instead of

worse?

A chance. To his followers, the vast ma-

jority of whom are peaceful and law abid-

ing, Trump was never given a chance to gov-

ern. The deep state and the major pillars of

the political culture, including most of the

press, went to work on sinking the Trump

presidency from the day of his election.

Of course, as with Nixon, many Trump

haters, and Never Trumpers (mostly solid

Republicans) will say: We were right all

along. The character flaws and ignorance of

our system and its norms, written and un-

written, were there for all to see.

But the question now is whether Joe Bi-

den will be given a chance.

Will the Republicans say, as Mitch

McConnell did of Barack Obama: Let’s fo-

cus on the undoing. Let’s sabotage every-

thing he does and make sure we win the

midterms and hold this guy to one term.

Will they engage in payback? If Trump

was illegitimate and impeachable even be-

fore Day 1 in office, why not the same for Bi-

den?

A chance, for the other guy, has always

been a hard sell. Liberals were appalled

when one of their icons, Sen. Eugene

McCarthy, said in early 1969, “We have to

give Nixon a chance, don’t we?”

And they were livid when Kennedy eggh-

ead Pat Moynihan joined Nixon’s adminis-

tration. He was called many names, and on-

ly grudgingly and gradually let back into the

good graces of the Democratic Party — be-

cause a lot of New Yorkers wanted to vote

for him.

But, yes, I think Republicans and Trump

supporters should give Joe Biden what their

guy didn’t get — a chance to govern; a

chance to succeed.

They should do this because that’s who

we want to be as a people and polity and

that’s what we need right now.

And it does not mean Trumpers should be

silenced or lose their free speech. But it does

mean that some goodwill and cooperation

on a few things (public health, infrastruc-

ture) would do the body politic great good.

I personally think that, in a weird and

ironic way, Trump, by fomenting a violent

riot and attack on Congress and the Capitol

and so discrediting himself and his party,

did Biden a favor. He gave traditional Re-

publicans, like Rob Portman and Mitt Rom-

ney, and Pat Toomey, and Liz Cheney, and

maybe even McConnell, a reason, and per-

haps a path, for moving forward together —

for the country.

I look at Joe Biden and see a person who,

having lived through many defeats, person-

al and political, and many battles, and many

personal attacks, became a better man. Ad-

versity has worked on him in the opposite

way that it worked on Nixon and Trump.

That’s a blessing for the nation. We ought

to take advantage of it.

Now President Biden will face another

great series of trials and a great number of

angry and blind adversaries chanting “re-

sist.”

Nixon had a famous and long enemies list.

Trump has a list that is longer, and constant-

ly amended. Joe Biden has no such list.

That, too, is a blessing.

We ought to give him a chance.

Giving Biden a chance is good for the countryBY KEITH C. BURRIS

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Keith C. Burris is editor, vice president and editorial director ofBlock Newspapers.

As an emergency room physician, I

was fortunate to receive my first

dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech CO-

VID-19 vaccine within days of its

approval. And for this I am grateful. But as

long as vaccines remain in short supply, I feel

an obligation to continue to engage in mea-

sures to protect those who stand further

down the immunization line: masking in

public, social distancing, not hosting large in-

door gatherings.

But sooner or later — by the autumn, if we

are fortunate — enough free vaccine will be

available for any Americans willing to roll up

their sleeves. That raises a question that

many in the vaccine line are beginning to ask

themselves: What ethical duties will we

have, if any, to those who refuse to be vacci-

nated?

This dilemma stems from an increasingly

likely scenario. Evidence suggests that both

the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines

will largely eliminate the risk of life-threat-

ening illness among recipients and that those

few who do become ill will suffer mild symp-

toms. At the same time, while the vaccines

may reduce transmission — the verdict is

still out — they will not lead to so-called “ster-

ilizing immunity”; in other words, even those

who are vaccinated may be able to spread le-

thal disease to those who are not.

If, as Dr. Anthony Fauci recently predict-

ed, 70% to 90% of Americans will have to be

immune for herd immunity to take effect,

COVID-19 may remain a threat to the unvac-

cinated for years. Meanwhile, vaccinated

Americans will want to get back to the busi-

ness of congregating in groups, hosting long-

delayed weddings and journeying gratui-

tously for leisure.

We will once again face a choice, individu-

ally and collectively, between saving lives

and preserving freedoms. Only, for many,

the tables will be turned. Individuals who re-

ject public health measures, including vac-

cines, in the name of liberty will soon face an

ongoing risk of fatal disease as those who are

vaccinated assert their own rights to gather

and travel. The only difference is that, unlike

with masks or social distancing, the unvacci-

nated will be able to protect themselves fully

with a shot that is both safe and free. In fact,

the willfully unvaccinated may continue to

threaten the health of the vaccinated by re-

quiring hospital space for COVID-19 care, as

well as health care resources that might be

spent otherwise, such as upon developing

cures for cancer.

Of course, some Americans may have

more understandable reasons for doubting

vaccination than others. African Americans,

for instance, may be hesitant to trust a public

health community that so recently treated

them as guinea pigs. Fortunately, by the time

the vaccine is fully available, tens of millions

of Americans will likely have been vaccinat-

ed safely. Waiting for additional evidence of

efficacy, as recently suggested by singer

Dionne Warwick, may not be ideal, but doing

so is far different from outright refusal.

A more complicated challenge are those

rare individuals who, for underlying medical

reasons, might not be able to tolerate vacci-

nation through no fault of their own. Society

has a duty to accommodate these individuals

in some way — but not by imposing drastic

restrictions on others until herd immunity is

achieved. By analogy, airlines often ban pea-

nuts on flights to protect passengers with se-

vere peanut allergies, but nobody has sug-

gested that peanuts be removed from store

shelves. How to protect these “unvaccinata-

bles,” to the degree they exist, will prove a

quandary, and might justify widespread

compulsory vaccination. Travel abroad may

also raise concerns about our duties in na-

tions where free vaccines are not fully avail-

able.

Some asks are easy — for example: Wear a

mask. Even those who are vaccinated may be

willing to do so indefinitely. In contrast, once

vaccines are fully available, those who ac-

cept them are likely going to refuse to post-

pone their family celebrations or curtail

their business endeavors any further. The

past 10 months have displayed how difficult it

is to generate solidarity in a country divided

not only by politics, but by values, science

and facts. In another 10 months, many vacci-

nated Americans may have a clear answer to

what they owe the unvaccinated: absolutely

nothing at all.

What do we owe those who refuse the vaccine?BY JACOB M. APPEL

Special to The Baltimore Sun

Jacob M. Appel is director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry atthe Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He isthe author of “Who Says You’re Dead?: Medical & EthicalDilemmas for the Curious & Concerned.”

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

ACROSS

1 Lure

5 That girl

8 Unwanted email

12 Prefix meaning

“all”

13 Pie — mode

14 Freshener scent

15 Pub tabs

17 — fever (ailed)

18 Soaks in

hot water

19 Saturn, for one

21 Body art,

for short

22 Vacillate

23 Use a straw

26 Physician’s

nickname

28 Jazz genre

31 Ella’s style

33 “Platoon” locale

35 Miami- — County

36 Ploys

38 Pen name

40 Gym unit

41 Follow

43 Arrest

45 Pass by

47 Scents

51 Sci-fi prefix

52 Hurdles for

lawyers

54 Blind part

55 Flamenco cheer

56 Paradise

57 Canal zones?

58 Bottom line

59 D.C. VIPs

DOWN

1 Short cuts

2 Latin 101 word

3 Concerning

4 Nepal’s neighbor

5 American fashion

designer

6 Right angle

7 Grating

8 Used an

atomizer

9 Spot for cocktails

and music

10 Actress

Hathaway

11 Vegetarian’s

no-no

16 Apple tablet

20 Arced tennis shot

23 Old map letters

24 Hosp. area

25 Buffet with ziti

and penne

27 Urban carrier

29 Poetic tribute

30 Zing

32 Oolong brewers

34 Mosque tower

37 Serena, to Venus

39 Give a darn

42 Simon of

Duran Duran

44 Cartons

45 Gaelic

46 “Damn Yankees”

vamp

48 Created

49 “So be it”

50 Taxpayer IDs

53 Hearty quaff

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

FACES

At age 22, poet Amanda Gor-

man, chosen to read at the inaugu-

ration of President-elect Joe Bi-

den, already has a history of writ-

ing for official occasions.

“I have kind of stumbled upon

this genre. It’s been something I

find a lot of emotional reward in,

writing something I can make

people feel touched by, even if it’s

just for a night,” Gorman said. The

Los Angeles resident has written

for everything from a July 4 cele-

bration featuring the Boston Pops

Orchestra to the inauguration at

Harvard University, her alma ma-

ter, of school president Larry Ba-

cow.

When she reads Wednesday,

she will be continuing a tradition

— for Democratic presidents —

that includes such celebrated po-

ets as Robert Frost and Maya An-

gelou. The latter’s “On the Pulse

of Morning,” written for the 1993

inauguration of President Bill

Clinton, went on to sell more than

1million copies when published in

book form. Recent readers in-

clude poets Elizabeth Alexander

and Richard Blanco, both of

whom Gorman has been in touch

with.

“The three of us are together in

mind, body and spirit,” she says.

Gorman is the youngest inaugu-

ral poet in memory, and she has

made news before. In 2014, she

was named the first Youth Poet

Laureate of Los Angeles, and

three years later she became the

country’s first National Youth Po-

et Laureate. She has appeared on

MTV; written a tribute to Black

athletes for Nike; and has a two-

book deal with Viking Children’s

Books. The first work, the picture

book “Change Sings,” comes out

this year.

Gorman says she was contacted

late last month by the Biden inau-

gural committee. She has known

numerous public figures, includ-

ing former Secretary of State Hill-

ary Rodham Clinton and former

first lady Michelle Obama, but

says she will be meeting the Bi-

dens for the first time. The Bidens,

apparently, have been aware of

her: Gorman says the inaugural

officials told her she had been rec-

ommended by the incoming first

lady, Jill Biden.

She is calling her inaugural po-

em “The Hill We Climb.” Gorman

says she was not given specific in-

structions on what to write, but

was encouraged to emphasize uni-

ty and hope over “denigrating

anyone” or declaring “ding, dong,

the witch is dead” over the depar-

ture of President Donald Trump.

The siege on the U.S. Capitol by

Trump supporters seeking to

overturn the election was a chal-

lenge for keeping a positive tone,

but also an inspiration. Gorman

says she has been given 5 minutes

to read, and before what she de-

scribed during an interview as

“the Confederate insurrection” of

Jan. 6 she had only written about

3½ minutes worth.

The final length runs to about 6

minutes.

“That day gave me a second

wave of energy to finish the po-

em,” says Gorman, adding that

she will not refer directly to Jan. 6,

but will “touch” upon it. She said

last week’s events did not upend

the poem she had been working on

because they didn’t surprise her.

“The poem isn’t blind,” she

says. “It isn’t turning your back to

the evidence of discord and divi-

sion.”

Gorman has rare status as a po-

et, and has dreams of other cere-

monies. She would love to read at

the 2028 Olympics, scheduled to

be held in Los Angeles, and in

2037 wouldn’t mind finding her-

self in an even more special posi-

tion at the presidential inaugura-

tion — as the new chief executive.

“I’m going to tell Biden that I’ll

be back,” she said with a laugh.

KELIA ANNE, SUN LITERARY ARTS/AP

Amanda Gorman poses for a photo in 2019. The country’s next inaugural poet is an old pro at ceremonialoccasions — even though she’s only 22.

Well versedBiden inauguration far from the first big event for 22-year-old poet Gorman

BY HILLEL ITALIE

Associated Press

R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country

singer Eric Church will join forces to sing

the national anthem at the Super Bowl,

where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will

perform “America the Beautiful.”

The performances will take place Feb. 7

at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa be-

fore the big game and halftime show star-

ring The Weeknd. It will air on CBS.

Deaf rapper and recording artist Warren

“WAWA” Snipe will perform “The Star-

Spangled Banner” and “America the Beau-

tiful” in American Sign Language. Emmy-

nominated musical director Adam Black-

stone will arrange and produce Church and

Sullivan’s rendition of the national anthem.

Sullivan rose to the top of the R&B charts

in 2008 with her debut single and album.

She’s earned 12 Grammy nominations and

written songs for Mary J. Blige, Jennifer

Hudson and Monica. Her new album,

“Heaux Tales,” debuted at No. 4 on this

week’s Billboard 200 albums chart.

Church, a 10-time Grammy nominee, re-

leased his debut album in 2006 and has

topped the country charts with songs like

“Drink In My Hand,” “Springsteen,” “Tal-

ladega” and “Record Year.” He’s released

multiple multiplatinum and platinum al-

bums and was named entertainer of the

year at last year’s Country Music Associ-

ation Awards.

H.E.R. won two Grammys in 2019 and has

earned critical acclaim for her live per-

formances, including her work as a guita-

rist. She’s won honors at the MTV Video

Music Awards, BET Awards and Soul Train

Music Awards and launched R&B hits such

as “Focus,” “Best Part,” “Slide,” “Damage”

and “B.S.” with Jhené Aiko.

Other news

NASCAR will attempt some normalcy

at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a

live pre-race concert — the first big per-

formance at a track during the pandemic —

featuring country music star Luke Combs.

Combs, who performed virtually for NAS-

CAR’s season finale in November, has not

done a live show since the COVID-19 pan-

demic began in March.

Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R. to sing at Super BowlAssociated Press

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

SCOREBOARD/MLB/NFL

PRO FOOTBALL

NFL playoffsWild-card Playoffs

Saturday, Jan. 9Buffalo 27, Indianapolis 24Los Angeles Rams 30, Seattle 20Tampa Bay 31, Washington 23

Sunday, Jan. 10Baltimore 20, Tennessee 13New Orleans 21, Chicago 9Cleveland 48 Pittsburgh 37

Divisional PlayoffsSaturday, Jan. 16

Green Bay 32, Los Angeles Rams 18Buffalo 17, Baltimore 3

Sunday, Jan. 17Kansas City 22, Cleveland 17Tampa Bay 30, New Orleans 20

Conference ChampionshipsSunday, Jan. 24

AFCBuffalo at Kansas City

NFCTampa Bay at Green Bay

Super BowlSunday, Feb. 7At Tampa, Fla.

AFC champion vs. NFC champion

AP Men’s Top 25The top 25 teams in The Associated

Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, recordsthrough Jan. 17, total points based on 25points for a first-place vote through onepoint for a 25th-place vote and previousranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Gonzaga (62) 14-0 1598 1

2. Baylor (2) 12-0 1538 2

3. Villanova 8-1 1445 3

4. Iowa 12-2 1420 5

5. Texas 11-2 1289 4

6. Tennessee 10-1 1242 10

7. Michigan 11-1 1197 7

8. Houston 11-1 1155 11

9. Kansas 10-3 1072 6

10. Wisconsin 11-3 939 9

11. Creighton 10-3 833 8

12. Texas Tech 11-4 792 15

13. Virginia 9-2 778 18

14. West Virginia 9-4 732 13

15. Ohio St. 11-3 631 21

16. Virginia Tech 11-2 536 20

17. Minnesota 11-4 507 23

18. Alabama 11-3 487 —

19. Missouri 8-2 462 17

20. Clemson 9-2 354 12

21. Oregon 9-2 235 22

22. Illinois 9-5 232 14

23. UConn 7-1 209 25

24. UCLA 11-2 195 —

25. Saint Louis 7-1 172 24

Others receiving votes: Louisville 155,Colorado 148, Oklahoma St. 119, Florida St.112, Southern Cal 74, Duke 43, Drake 42,LSU 20, Boise St. 15, Xavier 7, Belmont 5, Mi-chigan St. 3, Winthrop 3, Toledo 2, Utah St.1, Purdue 1.

Men’s Coaches PollFerris Mowers Top 25 Men’s Basketball

Coaches Poll with team’s records throughSunday, total points based on 25 for firstplace through one point for 25th, first-place votes received and ranking in lastweek’s poll:

Record Pts Prv

1. Gonzaga (28) 14-0 772 1

2. Baylor (3) 12-0 747 2

3. Villanova 8-1 708 3

4. Iowa 12-2 659 8

5. Texas 11-2 612 4

6. Tennessee 10-1 598 10

7. Michigan 11-1 587 5

8. Houston 11-1 550 1

9. Kansas 10-3 490 7

10. Wisconsin 11-3 424 9

11. Creighton 10-3 372 6

12. Virginia 9-2 362 22

13. Texas Tech 11-4 327 15

14. Virginia Tech 11-2 274 20

15. West Virginia 9-4 272 14

16. Alabama 11-3 264 24

17. Minnesota 11-4 257 19

18. Ohio State 11-3 234 —

19. Missouri 8-2 228 16

20. UCLA 11-2 210 21

21. Oregon 9-2 189 17

22. Clemson 9-2 154 12

23. Colorado 11-3 111 —

24. Illinois 9-5 110 13

25. Florida State 7-2 85 —

Dropped out: No. 18 Louisville (9-2); No.23 Duke (5-3); No. 24 Saint Louis (7-1).

Others receiving votes: Louisville (9-2)84; Connecticut (7-1) 82; Saint Louis (7-1)66; Southern California (11-2) 58; Oklaho-ma State (9-3) 53; Duke (5-3) 36; BoiseState (12-1) 28; Drake (13-0) 20; Xavier(10-2) 16; LSU (10-2) 14; Richmond (9-3) 9;Michigan State (8-4) 4; San Diego State(9-4) 3; Toledo (11-4) 2; Belmont (14-1) 2;Tulsa (8-4) 1; Rutgers (7-5) 1.

Monday’s men’s scores

EAST

La Salle 90, Saint Joseph’s 83St. John’s 74, UConn 70Towson 72, UNC-Wilmington 69

SOUTH

Alcorn St. 82, Ark.-Pine Bluff 48ETSU 92, VMI 81Florida St. 78, Louisville 65Samford 82, W. Carolina 78Southern U. 102, MVSU 61UNC-Greensboro 87, The Citadel 73

SOUTHWEST

Baylor 77, Kansas 69Prairie View 59, Grambling St. 50

FAR WEST

Sacramento St. 70, Idaho St. 65UNLV 53, New Mexico 46Wyoming 77, Air Force 58

Men’s Top 25 scheduleWednesday’s games

No. 5 Texas at Iowa St., ppd.No. 8 Houston vs. TulsaNo. 10 Wisconsin vs. NorthwesternNo. 11 Creighton vs. ProvidenceNo. 12 Texas Tech at TCUNo. 13 Virginia vs. NC State, ppd.

No. 16 Virginia Tech vs. Boston CollegeNo. 17 Minnesota vs. Nebraska, ppd.No. 20 Clemson at Georgia TechNo. 23 UConn vs. Xavier, ppd.No. 25 Saint Louis at UMass

Thursday’s gamesNo. 4 Iowa vs. IndianaNo. 24 UCLA at California

Friday’s gameNo. 7 Michigan at Purdue

Saturday’s gamesNo. 1 Gonzaga vs. PacificNo. 2 Baylor at Oklahoma St.No. 3 Villanova at ProvidenceNo. 5 Texas at TCUNo. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 19 MissouriNo. 8 Houston vs. CincinnatiNo. 9 Kansas at OklahomaNo. 10 Wisconsin vs. No. 15 Ohio St.No. 11 Creighton vs. No. 23 UConnNo. 12 Texas Tech vs. Iowa St.No. 13 Virginia vs. Georgia Tech, ppd.No. 14 West Virginia at Kansas St.No. 16 Virginia Tech vs. SyracuseNo. 17 Minnesota vs. MarylandNo. 18 Alabama vs. Mississippi St.No. 20 Clemson at Florida St.No. 21 Oregon vs. Oregon St.No. 22 Illinois at Michigan St.No. 24 UCLA at StanfordNo. 25 Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure

AP Women’s Top 25The top 25 teams in The Associated

Press’ women’s college basketball poll,with first-place votes in parentheses, re-cords through Jan. 17, total points basedon 25 points for a first-place vote throughone point for a 25th-place vote and previ-ous ranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Louisville (20) 12-0 710 2

2. NC State (5) 10-0 680 3

3. UConn (1) 7-0 659 4

4. South Carolina (2) 9-1 650 5

5. Stanford (1) 11-1 632 1

6. UCLA 8-2 545 8

7. Maryland 11-1 533 9

8. Texas A&M 13-1 515 7

9. Baylor 8-2 499 6

10. Arizona 10-2 474 11

11. Michigan 10-0 443 13

12. Kentucky 10-3 420 12

13. Oregon 9-3 378 10

14. South Florida 10-1 310 16

15. Arkansas 11-4 266 17

16. Indiana 8-3 226 18

17. Ohio St. 7-1 218 15

18. DePaul 8-3 217 19

19. Mississippi St. 8-4 198 14

20. Gonzaga 12-2 162 20

21. Northwestern 7-2 115 22

22. Georgia 12-1 113 —

23. Syracuse 6-1 111 24

24. Iowa St. 9-4 65 —

25. Tennessee 9-2 61 23

Others receiving votes: South Dakota St.52, Texas 49, Missouri St. 43, West Virginia34, Washington St 14, Alabama 10, Nebras-ka 9, Rice 6, Arizona St. 6, IUPUI 2.

Monday’s women’s scores

EAST

NJIT 62, Hartford 42SOUTH

Alcorn St. 72, Ark.-Pine Bluff 52South Carolina 104, Arkansas 82Southern U. 87, MVSU 60

MIDWEST

Iowa 87, Purdue 81LSU 66, Missouri 64

SOUTHWEST

Grambling St. 65, Prairie View 64Jackson St. 68, Texas Southern 44

FAR WEST

S. Utah 92, Rio Grande 64Wyoming 59, Air Force 46

Women’s Top 25 scheduleWednesday’s games

No. 9 Baylor at Oklahoma St.No. 14 South Florida at Wichita St.

Thursday’s gamesNo. 1 Louisville vs. No. 23 SyracuseNo. 2 NC State at Florida St.No. 3 UConn at No. 25 TennesseeNo. 4 South Carolina vs. No. 22 GeorgiaNo. 5 Stanford vs. No. 6 UCLANo. 7 Maryland vs. IowaNo. 10 Arizona vs. UtahNo. 11 Michigan at No. 17 Ohio St.No. 12 Kentucky at AuburnNo. 13 Oregon vs. Washington St.No. 16 Indiana at Michigan St.No. 18 DePaul at ButlerNO. 20 Gonzaga vs. San Diego, ppd.No. 21 Northwestern vs. IllinoisNo. 24 Iowa St. vs. Texas

Saturday’s gamesNo. 3 UConn at GeorgetownNo. 9 Baylor vs. OklahomaNo. 14 South Florida at East CarolinaNo. 15 Arkansas at LSUNo. 20 Gonzaga vs. BYUNo. 24 Iowa St. vs. Texas

Sunday’s gamesNo. 1 Louisville at Wake ForestNo. 2 NC State vs. Virginia TechNo. 4 South Carolina at LSUNo. 5 Stanford vs. Southern CalNo. 6 UCLA vs. California, ppd.No. 8 Texas A&M at MissouriNo. 10 Arizona vs. ColoradoNo. 11 Michigan vs. PurdueNo. 13 Oregon at WashingtonNo. 16 Indiana at No. 21 NorthwesternNo. 23 Syracuse at ClemsonNo. 25 Tennessee at Vanderbilt

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Monday’s scoresEAST

Boston U. 4, UMass 3, OTMIDWEST

North Dakota 5, Denver 1Omaha 3, Colorado College 2

DEALS

Monday's transactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Agreed to termswith RHP Thomas Eshelman on a minorleague contract.

BOSTON RED SOX — Traded INF C.J.Chatham to Philadelphia for player to benamed later or cash considerations.

National LeaguePHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Agreed to

terms with RHP Archie Bradley. Designat-ed RF Kyle Garlick for assignment.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed S ElijahBenton, WRs Ja'Marcus Bradley and Der-rick Willies, TEs Jordan Franks and KyleMarkway, CB A.J. Green, G Cordel Iwuag-wu, WB Kyle Lauletta, DE Cameron Mal-veaux, K Matt McCrane, LB Montrel Mean-der, C Javon Patterson, FB Johnny Stantonand T Alex Taylor to reserve/futures con-tracts.

LOS ANGELES RAMS — Signed DTs EricBanks and Marquise Copeland, TE KendallBlanton, DBs Donte Deayon and TyriqueMcGhee, G Jamil Demby, LS Colin Holba,WR J.J. Koski, K Austin MacGinnis, QBBryce Perkins, LB Christian Rozeboom, DLJonah Williams and P Brandon Wright toreserve/futures contracts.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — PromotedMike McDaniel to offensive coordinatorand DeMeco Ryans to defensive coordina-tor.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — DesignatedDT Vita Vea to return from injured reserve.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

BOSTON BRUINS — Activated Cs JackStudnicka and Trent Frederic from the taxisquad.

CALGARY FLAMES — Waived D MichaelStone.

DETROIT RED WINGS — Activated RW Mi-chael Rasmusssen from the taxi squad.

MONTREAL CANADIENS — Activated DAlexander Romanov from the taxi squad

NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Claimed G AaronDell off waivers from Toronto.

ST. LOUIS BLUES — Activated D Jake Wal-man from the taxi squad. Designated LWMacKenzie MacEachern for assignment.

SAN JOSE SHARKS — Activated C FredrikHandermark from the taxi squad.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS — Activated CAdam Brooks from the taxi squad.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS — Activated DNicolas Hague from the taxi squad.

WINNIPEG JETS — Activated LW KristianVesalainen and D Ville Heinola from thetaxi squad.

SOCCERMajor League Soccer

D.C. UNITED — Named Hernan Losadahead coach.

INTER MIAMI — Named Phil Neville headcoach and Chris Henderson chief soccerofficer and sporting director.

AP SPORTLIGHT

Jan. 20

1891 — The International YMCA inSpringfield, Mass. is the site of the first of-ficial basketball game. Peach basketswere used, but it wasn’t until 1905 thatsomeone removed the baskets’ bottoms.

1937 — Nels Stewart of the New YorkAmericans becomes the NHL’s all-timescorer with his 270th goal in a 4-0 victoryover the Montreal Canadiens.

1952 — George Mikan scores 61 points, acareer-high, to lead the Minneapolis Lak-ers to a 91-81 double-overtime victoryover the Rochester Royals.

1966 — Ted Williams, longtime star ofthe Boston Red Sox, is elected to the Base-ball Hall of Fame. Williams was a two timetriple crown winner, a two time MVP andthe last player to hit over .400 — despitelosing five prime years to service in theMarine Corps.

NEW YORK — New York Mets

general manager Jared Porter

was fired Tuesday after sending

graphic, uninvit-

ed text messages

and images to a

female reporter

in 2016 when he

was working for

the Chicago

Cubs in their

front office.

Mets owner

Steve Cohen said Porter was fired

Tuesday morning.

“We have terminated Jared

Porter this morning,” Cohen

wrote on Twitter. “In my initial

press conference I spoke about the

importance of integrity and I

meant it. There should be zero tol-

erance for this type of behavior.”

The accusations against Porter

were reported by ESPN on Mon-

day night.

Porter sent dozens of unanswer-

ed texts to the woman, including a

picture of “an erect, naked penis,”

according to the report. ESPN said

it obtained a copy of the text histo-

ry.

New York hired the 41-year-old

Porter last month. He agreed to a

four-year contract after spending

the past four seasons with the Ari-

zona Diamondbacks as senior vice

president and assistant general

manager.

The woman was not identified

in the report. ESPN said she re-

cently chose to come forward only

on condition of anonymity be-

cause she is afraid of backlash in

her home country.

ESPN said the woman was a for-

eign correspondent who had

moved to the United States to cov-

er Major League Baseball. She

met Porter in a Yankee Stadium

elevator in June 2016, and she said

they spoke briefly about interna-

tional baseball and exchanged

business cards. She told ESPN

that was the only time they ever

spoke.

After text exchanges that began

casually, Porter started compli-

menting her looks, inviting her to

meet him in different cities and

asking why she was ignoring him,

ESPN said.

After he sent her a lewd picture,

the woman ignored more than 60

messages from Porter before he

sent the last vulgar photo, accord-

ing to ESPN.

Mets fire GM

for lewd textsBY MIKE FITZPATRICK

Associated Press

Porter 

third-year player’s second-lowest

total in a game he started and fin-

ished.

As for the defense, Buffalo suc-

cessfully limited Patrick Ma-

homes to 225 yards passing, his

third-lowest total of the season,

and two touchdowns. The Bills

were instead trampled by rookie

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who fin-

ished with a season-best 161 yards

rushing.

McDermott defended his

team’s defensive approach by

calling it a “pick your poison”

choice between selling out to stop

Mahomes or Edwards-Helaire.

Though Allen led the way with a

three-touchdown outing in a play-

off-opening 27-24 win over Indi-

anapolis, the defense was the star

in a 17-3 win over Baltimore on

Saturday.

Aside from holding the Ravens

to their lowest scoring output in 12

years, including playoffs, the Bills

sealed the victory on cornerback

Taron Johnson’s NFL playoff re-

cord-matching 101-yard intercep-

tion return in the final minute of

the third quarter.

Most important, the Ravens’ dy-

namic QB Lamar Jackson was

held in check, going 14-for-24 for

162 yards with just 34 yards rush-

ing before being knocked out of

the game with a concussion on the

final play of the third quarter.

The Bills’ defense might have

finished 14th in the NFL in yards

allowed, after ranking among the

top three the previous two sea-

sons, but it remains a prideful

unit.

Defensive end Jerry Hughes

was thankful Buffalo had the late

playoff game on Saturday. That

way, he got an opportunity to

spend the early afternoon hearing

TV analysts dismiss Buffalo’s

chances of containing Jackson

and the Ravens’ NFL-best run-

ning attack.

“We took it as a challenge,” said

Hughes, who sacked Jackson

twice. “When we see the guys on

TV talking about how they don’t

play defense in Buffalo, we’re go-

ing to give up 30 points ... I think

we went out there and we played

like we had something to prove.”

Shot: Edwards-Helaire ranwild on Bills in first meetingFROM PAGE 24

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

NHL

ped 24 shots.

“They made a push,” Pitlick said. “I thought

we were still playing pretty well, but they made

a good push there and they got two goals. That

one was a little bit lucky, I thought. It is what it

is. We played a pretty good game overall.”

LAS VEGAS — A stickless Chandler Ste-

phenson was credited with the game-winning

goal, Robin Lehner made 30 saves and the Ve-

gas Golden Knights beat the Arizona Coyotes

4-2 on Monday night.

Not too long after the first of Reilly Smith’s

two goals tied it early in the third period, Vegas

defenseman Zach Whitecloud gathered a loose

puck from a faceoff in Arizona’s zone and fired

a shot off Stephenson’s back to give the Golden

Knights their first lead of the game.

“My back was to the play, I was trying to get

my stick back ... just right place, right time,”

Stephenson said. “One of those lucky ones

you’re thankful to get.”

Max Pacioretty also scored for the Golden

Knights, his third goal in three games.

Vegas has won two straight after trailing to

start the third period. The Golden Knights own

a 7-0 goal differential in the final period and

improved to 3-0-0 overall.

Tyler Pitlick and Nick Schmaltz scored for

the Coyotes. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper stop-

Arizona looked like the better team from the

outset, controlling the pace with more intensity

than Vegas, which struggled with sloppiness

throughout the first period.

Pitlick took advantage of Knights miscues

when he intercepted Mark Stone’s pass in the

Coyotes’ zone, skated the length of the ice and

beat Lehner with a wrist shot that went off the

crossbar and in to put Arizona on the board

with a short-handed goal. It was Pitlick’s first

goal and point as a member of the Coyotes after

spending last season with Philadelphia.

Still on the power play, Vegas got an addi-

tional boost with a 5-on-3 edge but couldn’t

solve Kuemper, who stopped four shots on the

entire power play. Kuemper, who began the

campaign as the only NHL netminder to have a

.920 save percentage or greater in each of the

last three seasons, stopped all eight of the

Knights’ shots he faced in the first period.

Vegas had two of its better chances in the

second period, both during a penalty kill. Wil-

liam Karlsson hit the left corner of the post on a

breakaway, and Tomas Nosek failed to find the

five-hole during a 2-on-0 break.

Stickless Stephenson scores winner for VegasBY W.G. RAMIREZ

Associated Press

JOHN LOCHER / AP

Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson,left, embraces left wing Max Pacioretty afterPacioretty scored against the Coyotes duringthe Knights’ 4­2 win at home Monday.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Semyon

Varlamov stopped 27 shots, Jean-

Gabriel Pageau scored with 4:09

remaining and the New York Is-

landers beat the Boston Bruins 1-0

in their home opener Monday.

Adam Pelech fired a shot from

the left point and Boston’s Patrice

Bergeron deflected the puck up in

the air. Pageau batted it past goa-

lie Tuukka Rask.

Varlamov, who missed Satur-

day’s game against the Rangers

after he took a puck off his neck in

pregame warmups, got his second

shutout in two starts this season.

He had 24 saves in a 4-0 win

against the Rangers last Thurs-

day.

Rask, who had beaten the Islan-

ders in seven of his last eight

starts against them, stopped 16

shots for the Bruins in the finale of

their season-opening three-game

trip.

Blues 5, Sharks 4: Jordan Ky-

rou got the tiebreaking goal mid-

way through the third period, Jus-

tin Faulk scored twice and St.

Louis rallied to beat visiting San

Jose.

Mike Hoffman scored his first

goal with the Blues and Brayden

Schenn also scored for St. Louis,

which beat the Sharks for the

fourth straight time on home ice.

Jordan Binnington made 22 saves.

Sabres 6, Flyers 1: Sam Rein-

hart and Curtis Lazar each scored

two goals to lead visiting Buffalo

past Philadelphia for its first win

of the season.

Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots

in a light night of work against a

Flyers team that had scored 11

goals as they won their first two

games. Nicolas Aube-Kubel

spoiled the shutout bid with 2:05

left.

Ducks 1, Wild 0: John Gibson

made 33 saves in his 20th career

shutout, and Nicolas Deslauriers

scored early in the third period of

host Anaheim’s victory over Min-

nesota.

After two scoreless periods

dominated by Gibson and Minne-

sota goalie Cam Talbot, Deslau-

riers converted a superb pass

from new Ducks defenseman Ke-

vin Shattenkirk for his first goal of

the season. Anaheim hung on to

earn its first win of the season

while winning its home opener for

the fifth consecutive year.

Canadiens 3, Oilers 1: Jake Al-

len made 25 saves in his first

game with his new team, Shea

Weber got his first goal of the sea-

son and Montreal won at Edmon-

ton.

Artturi Lehkonen and rookie

Alexander Romanov also scored

for the Canadiens.

Hurricanes 4, Predators 2: An-

drei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho

and Vincent Trocheck each had a

goal and an assist as Carolina won

at Nashville.

Blue Jackets 3, Red Wings 2:

Alexandre Texier and Pierre-Luc

Dubois scored 1:16 apart early in

the third period to give Columbus

a two-goal lead and it held on to

win at Detroit.

Flames 5, Canucks 2: Johnny

Gaudreau had a goal and an assist,

leading host Calgary over Van-

couver.

Maple Leafs 3, Jets 1: Mitch

Marner scored twice, John Ta-

vares also scored and Frederik

Andersen made 27 saves for host

Toronto in the first of 10 meetings

between the North Division rivals.

Islanders’ Varlamov stumps BruinsAssociated Press

JASON DECROW / AP

New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov saves a shot by the Boston Bruins’ David Krejci during theIslanders’ 1­0 win Monday in Uniondale, N.Y. Varlamov stopped 27 shots.

ROUNDUPScoreboard

East Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Washington 3 2 0 1 5 11 9

Philadelphia 3 2 1 0 4 12 11

N.Y. Islan-ders

3 2 1 0 4 5 5

New Jersey 2 1 0 1 3 4 4

Boston 3 1 1 1 3 4 5

N.Y. Rangers 2 1 1 0 2 5 4

Buffalo 3 1 2 0 2 11 9

Pittsburgh 3 1 2 0 2 9 14

Central Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Tampa Bay 2 2 0 0 4 10 3

Nashville 3 2 ` 0 4 10 7

Carolina 3 2 1 0 4 9 6

Florida 1 1 0 0 2 5 2

Detroit 3 1 2 0 2 6 8

Columbus 3 1 2 0 2 6 10

Dallas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chicago 3 0 3 0 0 5 15

West Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Vegas 3 3 0 0 6 11 5

St. Louis 3 2 1 0 4 9 13

Minnesota 3 2 1 0 4 8 7

Arizona 3 1 1 1 3 10 11

Anaheim 3 1 1 1 3 4 7

Colorado 2 1 1 0 2 9 4

Los Angeles 2 0 0 2 2 6 8

San Jose 3 1 2 0 2 11 13

North Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Toronto 4 3 1 0 6 14 12

Montreal 3 2 0 1 5 12 7

Calgary 3 2 0 1 5 11 6

Ottawa 2 1 1 0 2 7 6

Winnipeg 2 1 2 0 2 5 6

Edmonton 4 1 3 0 2 10 15

Vancouver 4 1 3 0 2 9 16

Note: Two points for a win, one point forovertime loss. The top four teams in eachdivision will qualify for playoffs under thisseason’s temporary realignment.

Sunday’s games

Pittsburgh 4, Washington 3, SOFlorida 5, Chicago 2Dallas at Tampa Bay, ppd

Monday’s games

Columbus 3, Detroit 2N.Y. Islanders 1, Boston 0Toronto 3, Winnipeg 1Buffalo 6, Philadelphia 1Carolina 4, Nashville 2St. Louis 5, San Jose 4Anaheim 1, Minnesota 0Montreal 3, Edmonton 1Calgary 5, Vancouver 2Vegas 4, Arizona 2

Tuesday’s games

New Jersey at N.Y. RangersBuffalo at PhiladelphiaDallas at Tampa Bay, ppd.Chicago at FloridaWashington at PittsburghWinnepeg at OttawaColumbus at DetroitCarolina at NashvilleColorado at Los Angeles

Wednesday’s games

Edmonton at TorontoSan Jose at St. LouisMinnesota at AnaheimMontreal at VancouverArizona at Vegas

ANDREW NELLES / AP

Carolina Hurricanes goaltenderJames Reimer defends the netagainst the Predators during thethird period of Monday’s game inNashville, Tenn.

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

NBA

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 8 4 .667 —

Philadelphia 9 5 .643 —

Brooklyn 9 6 .600 ½

New York 7 8 .467 2½

Toronto 5 8 .385 3½

Southeast Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 6 7 .462 —

Orlando 6 8 .429 ½

Charlotte 6 8 .429 ½

Miami 5 7 .417 ½

Washington 3 8 .273 2

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 9 5 .643 —

Indiana 8 5 .615 ½

Cleveland 6 7 .462 2½

Chicago 6 8 .429 3

Detroit 3 10 .231 5½

Western Conference

Southwest Division

W L Pct GB

San Antonio 8 6 .571 —

Memphis 7 6 .538 ½

Dallas 6 7 .462 1½

New Orleans 5 7 .417 2

Houston 4 8 .333 3

Northwest Division

W L Pct GB

Utah 9 4 .692 —

Portland 8 6 .571 1½

Oklahoma City 6 6 .500 2½

Denver 6 7 .462 3

Minnesota 3 9 .250 5½

Pacific Division

W L Pct GB

L.A. Lakers 11 4 .733 —

L.A. Clippers 10 4 .714 ½

Phoenix 7 5 .583 2½

Golden State 7 6 .538 3

Sacramento 5 9 .357 5½

Monday’s games

New York 91, Orlando 84Atlanta 108, Minnesota 97San Antonio 125, Portland 104Memphis 108, Phoenix 104Toronto 116, Dallas 93Brooklyn 125, Milwaukee 123Chicago 125, Houston 120Miami 113, Detroit 107Golden State 115, L.A. Lakers 113Cleveland at Washington, ppd.

Tuesday’s games

New Orleans at UtahOklahoma City at Denver

Wednesday’s games

Washington at Charlotte, ppd.Boston at PhiladelphiaBrooklyn at ClevelandDallas at IndianaDetroit at AtlantaMiami at TorontoOrlando at MinnesotaPhoenix at HoustonMemphis at PortlandSacramento at L.A. ClippersSan Antonio at Golden State

Thursday’s games

L.A. Lakers at MilwaukeeNew Orleans at UtahNew York at Golden State

MIAMI — The Washington

Wizards are now assured of going

at least 11 days between games,

after yet another postponement

while the team deals with CO-

VID-19 issues.

The Wizards’ game that was

scheduled to be played Wednes-

day in Charlotte is now off, the

NBA said Monday. That is the

14th postponement since Jan. 10

— and no team has had more

games called off than the Wiz-

ards.

Washington has seen five con-

secutive games pushed back, and

the earliest the Wizards will play

again is Friday at Milwaukee. The

Wizards revealed late last week

that six players were positive for

COVID-19 and three others were

ruled out because contact tracing

said they may have been exposed

to the virus.

Pushing the Wizards’ return

back appears to make sense for

multiple reasons, including the

fact that the team has been unable

to even practice. Some players re-

turned to the team facility this

weekend for individual work, but

what would have been a five-

game, eight-day road trip — had

the Charlotte game been played

as planned — seemed highly

problematic given the lack of

practice time.

Also Monday, the game in Mia-

mi between the Heat and the De-

troit Pistons was pushed back five

hours, with the league and teams

making that decision so additional

COVID-19 testing could be proc-

essed. The game was scheduled to

begin at 3 p.m. EST but was

pushed back to 8 p.m. and Heat

coach Erik Spoelstra said the rare

afternoon start, combined with

the extra time needed to process

additional tests, led to the delay.

“We have the saying: ‘Expect

the unexpected,’ ” Spoelstra said.

“It’s turned into ‘Expect the ex-

pected’ because basically, this is

our world right now. There are

unpredictable things that are hap-

pening virtually daily. And the

teams and players and staff that

can adapt the best to these condi-

tions, I think they have the best

chance of being stable and having

success.”

Denver announced that Mi-

chael Porter Jr. will miss a 10th

consecutive game because of vi-

rus protocols on Tuesday, when

the Nuggets face Oklahoma City.

Porter had a 30-point, 10-rebound

game on Dec. 29; he hasn’t played

since.

“He’s a big part of what we’re

trying to do here,” said Denver

coach Michael Malone, who is

hoping to have Porter back by the

end of the week.

The 14 postponements in a little

over a week have now involved 19

of the league’s 30 teams. One of

those matchups was to have taken

place on Monday’s Martin Luther

King Jr. Day schedule — Cleve-

land at Washington.

The NBA has added more test-

ing and stiffened protocols in re-

cent days with the hopes of get-

ting as many games in as possible.

“I give our guys a lot of credit,”

Malone said. “Every day the NBA

is coming out with new protocols.

We all have to get tested twice a

day. Players, on game days, I

think it’s three times a day. They

don’t want you leaving your

house. On the road, you’re not

leaving your hotel. These are real-

ly tough times and I give our play-

ers credit because they’re hand-

ling it as well as can be expected.”

Phoenix played Monday at

Memphis, ending a weeklong un-

planned break for the Suns. Phoe-

nix had three games postponed

because of virus-related issues,

which can include players dealing

with positive COVID-19 tests, in-

conclusive tests or having to quar-

antine because contact tracing in-

dicated they could have been ex-

posed to someone who tested posi-

tive.

There have been a total of 15

games called this season for coro-

navirus-related reasons so far. In

addition to the 14 in recent days,

the other was a planned Dec. 23

matchup between Oklahoma City

and Houston that was pushed

back because the Rockets did not

have enough available players.

Delaying the Heat-Pistons start

time did not affect Detroit’s travel

schedule. The team was already

planning to remain in Miami until

Tuesday.

Postponed games, when possi-

ble, will be made up in the second

half of the season, which will take

place from March 11 — the one-

year anniversary of last season

shutting down because of the pan-

demic — through May 16. The

league has not yet released that

half of the schedule and isn’t ex-

pected to do so until late February

at the earliest.

Players who test positive have

to undergo a battery of exams be-

fore being cleared to return to

play, such as cardiac tests. Those

ruled out by contact tracing have

been able, in most circumstances,

to return after a quarantine peri-

od provided they continue to test

negative for COVID-19.

Wizards still beinghindered by virusLatest postponement is team’s fifth straight; recent rash has involved 19 teams

BY TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press

Scoreboard

NEW YORK — James Harden

missed a jumper with a chance for

the lead, tracked down the re-

bound and fired it out to a wide-

open Kevin Durant.

Plays like that are why the

Brooklyn Nets will be such tough

opponents after reuniting the mul-

ti-time scoring champions. Even

when teams stop one superstar,

another might be there waiting.

“This is what they do. They wake

up, come to the game and they

score 30,” Giannis Antetokounm-

po said. “If you’re not aggressive

and you’re not locked in against

them, they’re going to score 50.”

Durant made the go-ahead

three-pointer with 36 seconds left,

Harden had 34 points and 12 as-

sists, and the Nets edged the Bucks

125-123 on Monday night. They are

2-0 since last week's acquisition of

Harden, who is averaging 33

points and 13 assists in his new uni-

form.

“We’re still trying to find our

way and we’ve still got room to im-

prove, but it’s a solid start,” Durant

said.

Durant finished with 30 points,

nine rebounds and six assists in a

game in which two of the East's

best went toe-to-toe right down to a

tense finish that ended when Khris

Middleton missed a potential win-

ning three-pointer.

Antetokounmpo had 34 points,

12 rebounds and seven assists.

Warriors 115, Lakers 113: Ste-

phen Curry scored 26 points, Kelly

Oubre Jr. added 23 and visiting

Golden State rallied from a 14-

point, fourth-quarter deficit to de-

feat the Lakers.

LeBron James had a chance to

win it at the end, but missed a

three-pointer at the buzzer as the

Lakers had their five-game win-

ning streak snapped.

Spurs 125, Trail Blazers 104:

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22

points, DeMar DeRozan had 20

points and 11 assists and visiting

San Antonio beat Portland.

Rudy Gay and Patty Mills came

off the bench for 21 points apiece as

the Spurs' reserves outscored Por-

tland's backups 59-24.

Damian Lillard led Portland

with 35 points.

Hawks 108, Timberwolves 97:

Clint Capela had 23 points and 15

rebounds, De’Andre Hunter

scored 25 and host Atlanta beat

Minnesota.

The Hawks, wearing black, tan

and white uniforms with “MLK”

across the chest to commemorate

the holiday honoring slain civil

rights leader Martin Luther King

Jr., snapped a two-game skid

Heat 113, Pistons 107: Bam

Adebayo had 28 points and 11 re-

bounds and short-handed host

Miami got its biggest comeback

win of the season, rallying from 19

down to beat Detroit and snap a

three-game slide.

Jerami Grant had 27 points for

Detroit, but his layup that could

have gotten the Pistons within

three was blocked by Adebayo

with 31 seconds left.

Knicks 91, Magic 84: RJ Bar-

rett had 22 points and 10 rebounds,

and Julius Randle added 21 points

and 17 rebounds to lead host New

York past Orlando.

Grizzlies 108, Suns 104: Ja

Morant had 17 points and 10 assists

and took a key charge late as host

Memphis beat Phoenix for its fifth

straight victory.

Deandre Ayton led the Suns

with 18 points and tied a season

high with 16 rebounds.

Raptors 116,  Mavericks  93:

Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and

Pascal Siakam had a big second

half, leading host Toronto over

Dallas.

Siakam scored 15 of his 19 points

in the second half as the Raptors

pulled away for their third straight

victory.

Bulls 125, Rockets 120: Zach

LaVine scored 33 points, and host

Chicago overcame a strong effort

by Victor Oladipo in his Houston

debut.

ADAM HUNGER / AP

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant shoots over Milwaukee Buckscenter Brook Lopez during the first half on Monday in New York.

ROUNDUP

Nets edge Bucksin East showdown

Associated Press

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

COLLEGE BASKETBALL/SPORTS BRIEFS

WACO, Texas — Jared Butler

hit a three-pointer on the first

shot of the game and No. 2 Baylor

jumped out to a big lead. The

standout guard kept scoring

points — and making plays when

No. 9 Kansas tried to get close

late.

Butler had a season-high 30

points and eight assists as the

Bears remained undefeated with

a 77-69 victory Monday night

over No. 9 Kansas, which has lost

consecutive Big 12 games for the

first time in nearly eight years.

“It’s a team that wins the game.

Me trying to do it all by myself,

it’s never worked out that way,”

Butler said, deferring some of the

credit. “To win the Big 12, we’re

going to need all 15 guys, we need

everybody, we need the staff. I

just make sure we play a team

game, and I think we’re unbeat-

able when we play that way.”

Baylor (13-0, 6-0 Big 12) led

throughout in a matchup of this

season’s preseason league favor-

ite and the team that has won or

shared 15 of the last 16 regular-

season titles. The first of Butler’s

seven three-pointers was part of

their opening 11-2 spurt, and they

led by as many as 16 in the first

half.

“They were real focused, like

we’ve been for every game,”

Bears coach Scott Drew said.

The Jayhawks (10-4, 4-3)

played for the first time since a

75-70 loss last Tuesday at Oklaho-

ma State before their scheduled

game Saturday was postponed

because of COVID-19 issues in Io-

wa State’s program.

Kansas was within 65-60 with

3:18 left after Jalen Wilson drove

the baseline for a slam that

capped an 8-0 run. Butler then hit

a three at the other end, and the

Jayhawks never got closer.

When Kansas had closed to 56-

51 midway though the second half

after a turnover by Butler led to a

dunk by Ochai Agbaji, Butler re-

sponded with a pass to Mark Vital

for a dunk. Butler then followed a

turnover by Agbaji with a three-

pointer.

Coach Bill Self’s team hadn’t

lost consecutive Big 12 games

since a three-game skid in Febru-

ary 2013 against Oklahoma State,

TCU and Oklahoma.

“I’m not leaving out of here

mad. I’m leaving out of here dis-

appointed, without question,” Self

said. “Certainly they were better

than us tonight.”

MaCio Teague added 13 points

and Davion Mitchell 10 for Bay-

lor. Vital had 10 rebounds, along

with an impressive block on what

would have been a breakaway

dunk for the Jayhawks.

Christian Braun had 14 of his 17

points for Kansas in the first half,

while Agbaji had 13 of his 16

points after halftime. Marcus

Garrett had nine points and eight

assists, but also had five turn-

overs.

St. John’s 74, No. 23 UConn

70: Posh Alexander scored 18

points to lead five Red Storm

players in double figures in a win

over the host Huskies.

Marcellus Earlington scored 15

points and Julian Champagnie,

the Big East’s leader scorer, had

10 of his 12 points in the second

half. Rasheem Dunn scored 11

points and Dylan Addae-Wusu

chipped in with 10 for St. John’s

(8-7, 3-6) which won for just the

second time in five games.

R.J. Cole scored 18 points and

Tyrese Martin had 14 for UConn

(7-2, 4-2), which played its third

consecutive game without lead-

ing scorer James Bouknight, who

is recovering from elbow surgery.

Wyoming  77,  Air  Force  58:

Xavier DuSell had 19 points off

the bench to carry the Cowboys to

a road win.

Kenny Foster had 13 points for

Wyoming (8-5, 2-4 Mountain

West Conference), which

snapped its four-game losing

streak. Nikc Jackson had 19

points for the Falcons (4-8, 2-6).

JERRY LARSON / AP

Baylor guard Jared Butler, left, shoots a three­point basket past Kansas guard Marcus Garrett. Butler hada season­high 30 points and eight assists in a 77­69 win Monday in Waco, Texas. 

Butler does it as No. 2Baylor tops No. 9 Kansas

Associated Press

TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Welcome back to the floor, Vil-

lanova.

The third-ranked Wildcats

have not played a game since

Dec. 23 because of positive CO-

VID-19 tests that ensnared coach

Jay Wright and several other Tier

1 program members. But after

having six games postponed fol-

lowing its win over Marquette,

Villanova is set to play twice this

week beginning with a game

against Seton Hall on Tuesday

night.

“Everybody has dealt with

this,” Wright said over the week-

end. “We know this week we are

playing Tuesday and Saturday

(against Providence). That is

about it. With Georgetown having

gone down now, the Big East is

looking at every option we can

possibly have to look at our sched-

ule going forward.”

The first pause for the Wildcats

(8-1, 3-0) came when they return-

ed from Christmas. They were

cleared to practice on Jan. 3, only

for another series of positive tests

to arrive the following day. They

weren’t allowed to practice again

until last Thursday, though recent

tests have been clear and their

games this week look promising.

“These guys impress me so

much with their resiliency,”

Wright said. “One of the things

we have learned going through

this quarantine is that the day the

positive tests hit you — and you

know what’s coming — those days

are just devastating. Sitting alone

in your room is horrifying. It real-

ly is.”

No. 3 Villanova finallygets back on the floor

BY DAVE SKRETTA

Associated Press

TOP 25 THIS WEEK

The Tennessee football pro-

gram is starting over yet again,

this time after coach Jeremy

Pruitt and nine others were fired

Monday for cause when an inter-

nal investigation found what the

university chancellor called “seri-

ous violations of NCAA rules.”

Chancellor Donde Plowman

said Pruitt was responsible for

overseeing the program. Tennes-

see has been conducting an inter-

nal investigation since a tip Nov.

13 about alleged recruiting viola-

tions.

Also fired were two assistants

and seven members of the recruit-

ing and support staff.

In other college football news:

Ohio State quarterback Jus-

tin Fields is forgoing his senior

season to enter the NFL Draft,

while Buckeyes wide receiver

Chris Olave is returning for his se-

nior year. The teammates an-

nounced their decisions Monday

on Twitter.

Irving rejoins Nets after

missing 7 gamesKyrie Irving rejoined the

Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, saying

he took a leave of absence because

he “just needed a pause.”

Irving practiced with the team

and could play Wednesday in Cle-

veland. He has missed the last sev-

en games, five while away from

the team and two more while re-

gaining his conditioning after he

was eligible to return.

Resting his head on his arms

folded in front of him while he

spoke during a Zoom interview,

Irving didn't give a clear reason

for his absence, saying he had a lot

of family and personal stuff going

on.

Padres land Musgrove

in three-team tradeThe San Diego Padres brought

right-hander Joe Musgrove to his

hometown team Tuesday, adding

yet another starting pitcher in a

seven-player trade involving the

Pittsburgh Pirates and New York

Mets.

The Padres, who believe they

can contend for the World Series

title, will send major league re-

liever David Bednar and three

prospects — outfielder Hudson

Head, left-hander Omar Cruz and

right-hander Drake Fellows — to

the Pirates. As part of the agree-

ment, the Padres will send left-

hander Joey Lucchesi to New

York, and the Pirates will receive

catcher Endy Rodríguez from the

Mets.

Falcons name Saints’

Fontenot as GM ATLANTA — The Atlanta Fal-

cons on Tuesday named Terry

Fontenot as general manager,

finding new leadership for the

team from within their division.

Fontenot spent 18 seasons with

NFC South rival New Orlean.

In other NFL news:

The NFL will not allow in-

person workouts for the scouting

combine due to health and safety

precautions because of CO-

VID-19.

Vols fire Pruitt for causeAssociated Press

BRIEFLY

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Quarterback Josh Al-

len spent the regular season leading the Bills to a

franchise record-matching 13 wins and their first

AFC East title in 25 years. Buffalo’s defense has done

its part the past two weeks in getting the team to its

first conference championship game appearance

since 1994.

Both units will need to be much sharper than in a

26-17 loss to Kansas City in Week 6 if the second-

seeded Bills (15-3) stand a chance of upending the

top-seeded and defending Super Bowl champion

Chiefs (15-2) in the AFC championship game on Sun-

day.

The outcome three months ago left Bills coach

Sean McDermott taking a sobering approach to cor-

recting what went wrong.

“Two good opponents, I know. But the minute los-

ing gets easy, that’s not a good deal,” McDermott said

following the loss, which came on the heels of a 42-16

defeat at Tennessee.

“We take it hard. There’s no moral victories,” he

added. “We’ve got to really take a good look at our

football team and be truthful with ourselves and say,

`What do we have to get corrected?’”

Buffalo’s offense finished with a season-low 206

yards, with Allen managing 122 yards passing — the

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, center, managed just 122 yards passingduring a 26­17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 19 in Orchard Park, N.Y.

PHOTOS BY JEFFREY T. BARNES / AP

ANALYSIS

Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill, left, breaks up a pass to the Bills’ JohnBrown during the first half.

Another shotBills need to be sharper this time

BY JOHN WAWROW

Associated Press

SEE SHOT ON PAGE 20

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, January 20, 2021

SPORTSTop-10 showdown

Butler, No. 2 Baylor put awayNo. 9 Kansas ›› College basketball, Page 23

Islanders’ Varlamov records 29th shutout ›› NHL, Page 21