Volume 80 Edition 29 ©SS 2021 THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

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FACES

Zack Snyder mixessocial commentaryinto zombie movie Page 18

MILITARY

NATO warns ofRussia’s behaviortoward UkrainePage 3

NHL

Rookies makingearly impact forteams in playoffsPage 24

Illinois Reserve unit found to have mishandled assault reports ›› Page 3

WASHINGTON — The United

States’ top health official called

Tuesday for a swift follow-up in-

vestigation into the coronavirus’

origins amid renewed questions

about whether the virus jumped

from an animal host into humans

in a naturally occurring event or

escaped from a lab in Wuhan, Chi-

na.

Health and Human Services

Secretary Xavier Becerra told an

annual ministe-

rial meeting of

the World

Health Organi-

zation that inter-

national experts

should be given

“the independ-

ence to fully as-

sess the source

of the virus and the early days of

the outbreak.”

Becerra’s remarks, which were

prerecorded, signaled that the Bi-

den administration would contin-

ue to press the WHO to expand its

investigation to determine the vi-

rus’s origins.

Additionally, Biden on Wednes-

day asked the intelligence com-

munity to redouble its efforts to

determine the virus’ origin. In a

statement, Biden said he has

asked for a report within 90 days

and hopes the intelligence com-

munity “will collect and analyze

information that could bring us

closer to a definitive conclusion.”

In his statement, Biden said a

report he received last month said

the intelligence community has

“coalesced around two likely sce-

narios” but has not reached a de-

finitive conclusion about whether

the virus emerged from human

Follow-upprobe intopandemic’sorigins sought

The Washington Post

Becerra

SEE PROBE ON PAGE 6

Sailors who have been fully vac-

cinated against COVID-19 can

now make some port calls, often

go mask-free and deploy without

quarantining beforehand, the Na-

vy has announced.

“With more than a year operat-

ing in the COVID environment,

we have gained significant exper-

tise in mitigating and preventing

the spread of COVID-19,” Vice

Adm. Phillip Sawyer, deputy chief

of naval operations for operations,

plans and strategy, said in a state-

ment. “Now with vaccines and

CDC scientific data, we are able to

relax many of the procedures we

put in place and still provide for

the health protection of the force.”

The rules apply to personnel on

ships, submarines and aircraft,

Sawyer wrote in a servicewide

message issued Monday. Fully

vaccinated personnel will be al-

lowed port calls in designated

“safe haven” ports, including in

Guam, Bahrain, Japan and Spain,

and use on-base gyms, commis-

saries and other services.

They can also go mask-free and

stop social distancing in most sit-

uations. Masks will still be re-

quired for medical and dental care

providers when treating patients,

on public transportation and for

MOLLY CRAWFORD/U.S. Navy

Sailors assigned to Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal return to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in April.

Navy relaxes COVID-19 rulesFully vaccinated sailors can now make some port calls and often go mask-free

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY

Stars and Stripes RELATED

US bases in Japanupdate restrictionsamid surge in virusPage 5

VIRUS OUTBREAK

SEE RULES ON PAGE 6

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

BRUSSELS — The European

Union took on vaccine producer

AstraZeneca in a Brussels court on

Wednesday with the urgent de-

mand that the company needs to

make an immediate delivery of CO-

VID-19 shots the bloc insists were

already due.

AstraZeneca’s contract signed

with the European Commission,

the EU’s executive arm, on behalf

of member states foresaw an initial

300 million doses for distribution

among all 27 countries, with an op-

tion for a further 100 million. The

doses were expected to be deliver-

ed throughout 2021. But only 30

million were sent during the first

quarter.

Deliveries have increased slight-

ly since then, but according to the

European Commission, the compa-

ny is set to provide only 70 million

doses in the second quarter. It had

promised 180 million.

EU lawyer Rafael Jafferali told

the court that the company now ex-

pects to deliver the total number of

doses by the end of December, but

he added that “with a six-month de-

lay, it’s obviously a failure.”

His main argument is that Astra-

Zeneca should have used produc-

tion sites in the bloc and the United

Kingdomfor EU supplies as part of

a“best reasonable effort” clause in

the contract.

While the bloc insists AstraZene-

ca has breached its contractual

obligations, the company says it

has fully complied with the agree-

ment, arguing that vaccines are dif-

ficult to manufacture and it made

its best effort to deliver on time.

Bahrain93/86

Baghdad104/73

Doha104/84

Kuwait City103/83

Riyadh105/72

Kandahar100/63

Kabul83/53

Djibouti92/82

THURSDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

62/42

Ramstein57/46

Stuttgart60/46

Lajes,Azores62/60

Rota71/60

Morón83/60 Sigonella

80/57

Naples71/57

Aviano/Vicenza65/51

Pápa66/47

Souda Bay72/68

Brussels61/46

Zagan59/50

DrawskoPomorskie

55/46

THURSDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa59/55

Guam84/82

Tokyo72/54

Okinawa82/79

Sasebo71/63

Iwakuni67/62

Seoul64/52

Osan66/53

Busan66/59

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

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

FRIDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports .................... 19-24

BUSINESS/WEATHER

Military rates

Euro costs (May 27) $1.19Dollar buys (May 27) 0.7966British pound (May 27) $1.38Japanese yen (May 27) 106.00South Korean won (May 27) 1,092.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.4129Canada (Dollar) 1.2110China (Yuan) 6.3930Denmark (Krone) 6.0807Egypt (Pound) 15.6753Euro .8177Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7624Hungary (Forint) 286.20Israel (Shekel) 3.2473Japan (Yen) 108.94Kuwait (Dinar) .3006

Norway (Krone) 8.3265

Philippines (Peso) 48.10Poland (Zloty) 3.68Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7503Singapore (Dollar) 1.3244

So. Korea (Won) 1,117.94Switzerland (Franc) .8962Thailand (Baht) 31.25Turkey (New Lira)  �8.4432

(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 0.0230­year bond 2.26

EXCHANGE RATESEU sues AstraZeneca over vaccine deliveries Associated Press

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

NATO has warned that Russia is

continuing with a “pattern of ag-

gressive behavior” toward Ukraine

by stationing large forces near

their border and restricting navi-

gation in the Black Sea.

Earlier this year, Russia de-

ployed more than 100,000 troops to

the border region, raising concerns

in the West that Moscow intended

to invade its neighbor with whom it

has been at odds since the seizure

in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimean Pen-

insula.

“While Russia has pulled back

some troops, tens of thousands re-

main in and around Ukraine, as

well as significant amounts of

weapons,” NATO Secretary-Gen-

eral Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday

during a visit to the alliance’s Brus-

sels headquarters by Estonian

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

Moscow continues to back east-

ern Ukrainian separatists in a war

that the United Nations estimates

has claimed thousands of lives.

In April, Moscow announced

that it was pulling back its forces

from the Ukrainian border, claim-

ing they had been conducting rou-

tine exercises. But it remains un-

clear how many troops and gear

were left behind during the with-

drawal.

Stoltenberg said Russia contin-

ues to restrict navigation in the

Black Sea, including near the

Kerch Strait, which has been a

flashpoint between Russian and

Ukrainian warships in recent

years.

Moscow announced last month it

will block all foreign naval vessels

from transiting the strait until Oc-

tober, saying it would be conduct-

ing land and sea exercises in the ar-

ea.

The decision was immediately

denounced by Washington and Ky-

iv. Ukraine described it as an esca-

lation of Russia’s efforts to destabil-

ize the nation because it would pre-

vent access to its ports in the Sea of

Azov, which is connected to the

Black Sea through the Kerch Strait.

Stoltenberg said NATO would

continue to support its partners in

the region, saying the Russian

moves were “part of a pattern of ag-

gressive actions, which raise seri-

ous concerns.”

The two leaders also sharply crit-

icized the detention Sunday of an

opposition journalist from Belarus

who was pulled off a Ryanair jet

that was diverted to Minsk, in what

Western leaders have called a case

of state-sponsored hijacking.

NATO warns of Russia’s Ukraine behaviorStars and Stripes

news@stripes.com �

MIKE ABRAMS/Russian defense ministry

Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet train during an exercise in thesea last month. 

gation makes clear that the Army is work-

ing to improve how it handles allegations of

sexual assault, but more must be done. In

Congress, we will continue to support pro-

grams that improve the military justice sys-

tem, increase training for command lead-

ers, and offer support for sexual assault and

harassment survivors. Service members

cannot be silenced or abandoned for seek-

ing justice and accountability. We look for-

ward to continuing to work with the Depart-

ment of Defense on this important issue,”

Durbin and Duckworth said in a prepared

statement.

The Reserve investigation focused main-

ly on the processes of the SHARP program

to find any gaps in reporting or information,

Mosser said. A redacted version of the 268-

page report was released publicly Tuesday.

“The investigation revealed numerous

shortfalls and found various individuals

and units improperly handled reports of

sexual assault and harassment,” Mosser

said.

A general officer and a dozen soldiers in

an Illinois-based Reserve unit face disci-

plinary action for mishandling sexual ha-

rassment and sexual assault reports while

not properly implementing a service pro-

gram to respond to such incidents, accord-

ing to an Army investigation released Tues-

day.

“We must ensure every member of the

Army Reserve team is valued and treated

with dignity and respect at all times,” said

Maj. Gen. Greg Mosser, deputy command-

er of the Army Reserve Command. “We’re

committed to eradicating these destructive

actions from our ranks as we work together

and move forward in a unified effort.”

In the wake of the investigation, the Army

Reserve Command has begun training and

educating its 190,000 soldiers and 11,000 ci-

vilian employees on proper procedures and

bystander intervention in cases of sexual

harassment and sexual assault, Mosser

said.

The 416th Theater Engineer Command,

headquartered in Durian, Ill., came under

scrutiny about 15 months ago when Amy

Braley Franck, a civilian hired as a victim

advocate, released documents to The Asso-

ciated Press that revealed at least two sex-

ual assault complaints were not sent to

criminal investigators, but were instead

dealt with internally — a violation of mili-

tary policy and federal law. The news re-

port outlined other allegations that the unit

was not following requirements for manag-

ing sex-crime cases nor was it properly im-

plementing the Army’s Sexual Harass-

ment/Assault Response and Prevention

Program, known commonly as SHARP.

Maj. Gen. Miyako N. Schanely, the unit’s

former commander, failed to properly im-

plement the SHARP program and received

a general officer memorandum of repri-

mand from Gen. Joseph M. Martin, the Ar-

my vice chief of staff. She was previously

suspended from command over the issue,

the Army said.

Martin also took administrative action

against two other senior leaders for their

performance failures, though the Army did

not reveal their rank or position in the ser-

vice.

Lt. Gen. Jody J. Daniels, commander of

Army Reserve Command, took administra-

tive action against 12 other officers, non-

commissioned officers, and Army civilians

based on the investigation. Three additional

civilian actions are still pending.

Mosser declined to name the ranks or po-

sitions of the 12 soldiers facing discipline or

the actions for which they were being held

responsible. Seven of the disciplined sol-

diers will receive general officer memoran-

dums of reprimand and the remaining five

will receive adverse counseling statements,

he said.

Following the AP’s reporting last year, Il-

linois Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick

Durbin, both Democrats, called on the Ar-

my to conduct the administration investiga-

tion, known as a 15-6. In a joint statement,

they said the pervasive problems of the unit

are “unacceptable” within the military.

“The Army Reserve’s completed investi-

Despite this finding, he said victims “re-

ceived all the support and care that they

needed in terms of medical support, legal

support [and] counseling support.”

“When I say that the victims themselves

were taken care of, it had to do with all those

other support needs outside of the process

of investigating the complaint,” Mosser

said. Those needs include emotional and

physical support.

The investigation also found the unit had

challenges in resourcing and properly com-

plying with SHARP program regulatory re-

quirements for several years, had failed to

monitor annual training requirements, had

multiple SHARP program staffing gaps,

and lacked effective procedures to hire cre-

dentialed, trained civilian program person-

nel, Mosser said.

However, Braley Franck, who first spoke

to the AP and has been on paid administra-

tive leave since November 2019, said she

does not believe it’s accurate to say that all

victims have received proper care. Some

are still awaiting financial reimbursements

such as medical pay or reimbursement for

traveling to case proceedings.

“I just don’t know what kind of shenani-

gans they’re trying to pull,” she said.

Spc. Sara Joachimstaler, a member of the

416th who reported being assaulted by a

sergeant, said the idea that she and other

victims were properly taken care of down-

plays her actual experience.

“They don’t take care of their victims at

all,” she said.

After Braley Franck was suspended, Joa-

chimstaler said she did not have a victim ad-

vocate until she was quoted saying so in a

news report. Then the newly appointed vic-

tim advocate told her that the case would be

dismissed if the soldier didn’t respond to

communication.

With her enlistment ending, the 25-year-

old said she does not think she will re-enlist.

“It’s degrading to your life,” Joachimstal-

er said. “Instead of doing your job, you’ve

got to work to defend yourself. You’ve got to

work not to get caught in someone’s lie.”

Ill. Reserve unit found to have mishandled assault reportsBY ROSE L. THAYER

Stars and Stripes

thayer.rose@stripes.com Twitter: @Rose_Lori 

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

Amy Braley Franck, a civilian victim advocate with the 416th Theater EngineerCommand, poses for a portrait with more than 800 pages from several sexual abusereports at her home in Oswego, Ill., in January 2020.

MILITARY

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

Frank Kendall, President Joe

Biden’s nominee for Air Force

secretary, told senators on Tues-

day that he was driven to return to

the Defense Department by con-

cerns over China’s improving bat-

tlefield technology.

Kendall, who served as the Pen-

tagon’s top weapons buyer under

former President Barack Obama,

listed ensuring the Air Force and

Space Force retained military ad-

vantage over any potential foe

among his top priorities, if con-

firmed. He recalled a “highly

classified” 2010 Pentagon meet-

ing in which he first learned of

China’s push to improve its mil-

itary capabilities in an eye-open-

ing effort “to defeat the ability of

the United States to project power

near China.”

“We have made progress

against these threats, and our ad-

versaries should never doubt the

United States, but there is still

much to be done,” Kendall told

the Senate Armed Services Com-

mittee. “My hope is that, if con-

firmed, I will be able to lead the

Department of the Air Force in

organizing, training and equip-

ping our nation’s aerospace forces

so that the United States can con-

tinue to deter, and if necessary,

fight and win against all adversar-

ies.”

Kendall, 72, testified in support

of his nomination before the Sen-

ate committee alongside Heidi

Shyu, Biden’s nominee for under-

secretary of defense for research

and engineering, and Susanna

Blume, the president’s nominee

for director for the Pentagon’s

Cost Assessment and Program

Evaluation Office. Like Kendall,

Shyu and Blume served in high-

level Pentagon positions during

Obama’s administration.

Senators on Tuesday appeared

poised to confirm all three, with

several praising their selections

by the Biden administration and

committing to support their nomi-

nations, including committee

chairman Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

“Previously, you [each have]

demonstrated the thoughtfulness,

and the integrity, and the commit-

ment that is essential to being a

part of the Department of De-

fense,” Reed said. “I look forward

to your confirmations.”

The committee also voted Tues-

day to advance Biden’s nominee

for Army secretary, Christine

Wormuth, to the full Senate for a

confirmation vote. If confirmed,

she would be the first woman to

serve as the Army’s top civilian.

Like Kendall, Wormuth in a

Senate Armed Services Commit-

tee hearing earlier this month list-

ed competition with power rivals

China and Russia and the Penta-

gon’s ongoing modernization ef-

forts among her top priorities.

Wormuth is also a veteran of the

Obama administration, serving

previously as the Pentagon’s civil-

ian policy chief among other De-

fense Department and National

Security Council jobs.

If confirmed, she would replace

acting Army Secretary John

Whitley, who has held that role

since Biden’s Jan. 20 inaugura-

tion. Kendall, if confirmed, would

become the 26th Air Force secre-

tary and replace acting Air Force

Secretary John P. Roth, who also

began that role Jan. 20.

Beyond competition with China

and Russia, Kendall said his other

top priority would be to take care

of his personnel, which includes

some 697,000 Air Force and Space

Force troops and civilian employ-

ees. He committed to working

with senators to improve on-post

housing and other quality-of-life

issues, including looking into

command climates throughout

the service.

He also endorsed the need for

change to the military’s approach

to solving its longstanding prob-

lems with high rates of sexual as-

sault and harassment in its ranks.

Kendall called efforts spearhead-

ed by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-

N.Y., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, to

remove military commanders

from the sexual assault prosecu-

tion process potentially “very

beneficial in this area.”

“Change is necessary,” Kendall

told Gillibrand. “Hopefully we

can move forward.”

Kendall also committed to

pushing back against across-the-

board cuts to defense spending,

which some liberal Democrats

have pressed Biden to propose.

Budget cuts have the potential to

derail a number of critical Air

Force modernization programs,

including the development of its

new nuclear bomber, the B-21

Raider. It could also slow the

fielding of advanced F-35 Joint

Strike Fighters, which despite

well-documented and expensive

problems, remains the “best tacti-

cal aircraft of its type in the world

and will be so for quite some

time,” Kendall said.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska,

said he was worried the Biden

White House would not follow the

2018 advice of a congressionally

mandated panel, the National De-

fense Strategy Commission,

which recommended the Penta-

gon’s budget increase 3% to 5%

annually to compete with China

and Russia, as the 2018 National

Defense Strategy prioritized.

“I can commit to you to fight for

the budget that’s necessary to ful-

fill the National Defense Strategy,

whatever that [number] may be,”

Kendall said. “So, if it’s 5% or it’s

10%, I will try to get the money

that is needed by the Department

of the Air Force, if I’m confirmed,

so that the Air Force can support

combatant commanders however

they need to carry out that strate-

gy.”

USAF secretary pick driven by China concernsBY COREY DICKSTEIN

Stars and Stripes

dickstein.corey@stripes.comTwitter: @CDicksteinDC

“Our adversaries shouldnever doubt the UnitedStates, but there is stillmuch to be done.”

Frank Kendall

Air Force secretary nominee

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, D-

Mont., unveiled a massive plan Tuesday

to extend disability benefits to veterans

of all eras who suffer the effects of toxic

exposure, with a partic-

ular focus on veterans

who served in overseas

conflicts since 1990.

The legislation, titled

the Comprehensive and

Overdue Support for

Troops of War Act of

2021, would create a fast

track to Department of

Veterans Affairs bene-

fits for veterans who served overseas

during the past 31 years and developed a

respiratory illness or cancer. It would au-

tomatically grant eligibility for VA health

care to about 3.5 million veterans of the

Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In addition, it

would reform the VA’s current process of

handling claims of toxic exposure.

The effort includes older veterans, too.

The bill calls for presumptive benefits

for Vietnam War veterans who have de-

veloped hypertension because of expo-

sure to chemical herbicides, as well as

veterans who served in Thailand, Laos,

Cambodia, Guam or American Samoa

during certain periods of the 1960s and

1970s and were potentially exposed to

herbicides.

“Decade after decade, our service

members have returned home from war

only to be met with a piecemeal process

as they try to cobble together health care

and disability benefits they’ve earned,”

Tester said on a phone call with report-

ers. “I’m proud to unveil my comprehen-

sive and overdue support.”

Tester is anticipating pushback on the

bill because of its cost, which remains un-

known but is likely significant. The Con-

gressional Budget Office, which provides

cost and economic information to Con-

gress, has not yet shared its cost estimate

for the legislation.

“I don’t know what this costs,” Tester

said. “But I’m going to tell you how I ap-

proach this: We have to make this thing

work financially. … We have an all-vol-

unteer military. If we expect people to

step up, we have to make sure we hold up

our end of the deal and ensure promises

are kept.”

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Commit-

tee, which Tester leads, was considering

Wednesday whether to advance the legis-

lation to the Senate floor for a vote.

Also Wednesday, the House Veterans’

Affairs Committee was planning to un-

veil its own bill directed at veterans suf-

fering from toxic exposure. The House

version, the Honoring our Promise to Ad-

dress Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021,

will be introduced during a ceremony

outside the Capitol building.

Comedian Jon Stewart is expected to

speak at the event. Stewart became a

fierce advocate for 9/11 responders who

developed illnesses from the toxic fumes

at the destroyed World Trade Center, and

he recently turned his attention to veter-

ans suffering from diseases caused by

exposure to burn pits and other toxic en-

vironments since the Gulf War.

The two bills are not identical, and

Tester said he’s willing to work with

House lawmakers to reconcile the differ-

ences. Lawmakers hope to pass a bill

through Congress by the end of the year.

“It’s a very high priority for me,” Test-

er said. “There are going to be times it’s

not going as fast as I want it to be. But I’ve

instructed my staff to push, push, push,

push, push, and they’re going to do it.”

Tester unveils huge plan for vets suffering from toxic exposureBY NIKKI WENTLING

Stars and Stripes

wentling.nikki@stripes.comTwitter: @nikkiwentling

Tester 

A U.S. Army soldier shot to

death last week in South East Lake,

Ala., fired first, so no criminal

charges will be filed in his slaying,

authorities said.

Birmingham police Tuesday

said they presented the findings of

their investigation to the Jefferson

County District Attorney’s Office,

which deemed the fatal shooting of

Sgt. Tavarius Hampton, 25, justi-

fiable. Hampton was stationed at

Fort Campbell, Ky., but his family

lives in Birmingham.

The shooting happened May 17

in the 7800 block of Sixth Avenue

South. Officers arrived to find

Hampton critically injured and

asked for a rush on the medics.

Hampton was taken to the hospital

where he was later pronounced

dead.

Birmingham Police Sgt. Rod

Mauldin said the investigation

showed Hampton was seen leav-

ing a bag on the porch of a resi-

dence when he was approached by

the occupants of the home. Police

have not said what was in the bag.

“It is reported both men ap-

proached the subject and gunfire

was exchanged, fatally wounding

the subject,’' Mauldin said. “Both

suspects were detained and ques-

tioned by detectives.”

On the morning following

Hampton’s death, before author-

ities had released his identity, his

family had posted on Facebook

that he had been missing since

Sunday.

He was the father of two chil-

dren, ages 1 and 2.

Alabama officials rule shooting death of Army sergeant as justifiableBY CAROL ROBINSON

al.com

MILITARY

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

WASHINGTON — Health care

coverage for National Guard

members and reservists would be

expanded under a bill introduced

Tuesday, as calls to make benefits

more equitable for these service

members is gaining traction in

Congress.

The bill from Reps. Andy Kim,

D-N.J., and Trent Kelly, R-Miss.,

would allow all National Guard

members and reservists to sign up

for TRICARE Reserve Select, a

premium-based health care plan,

without additional fees or copays.

Now, only those who are called

to active-duty status for more than

30 days are eligible for coverage.

The Healthcare for Our Troops

Act aims to expand access to affor-

dable health care for about

130,000 members, or 16% of the

Guard and Reserve, who lack pri-

vate health insurance.

Kelly served as a combat engi-

neer in the Mississippi Army Na-

tional Guard for 35 years before

his promotion to major general in

December.

The congressman said he has

been pushing for four years to

bring benefits and pay allowances

for Guard members more in line

with active-duty troops.

“It’s just not fair to ask them to

put their lives on the line and not

have the same coverage and same

benefits as their active counter-

parts,” Kelly said.

Kim said affordable care would

be one small way to repay service

members who kept him safe dur-

ing his time in Afghanistan where

he worked as a strategic adviser

before being elected to Congress.

Last year, National Guard sol-

diers and airmen logged more

than 10.9 million days of service to

support missions in response to

the coronavirus pandemic, ex-

treme weather events, and civil

protests and riots.

It was more than four times as

many days as Guard troops served

in 2019, according to recent com-

ments from Gen. Daniel Hokan-

son, the chief of the National

Guard Bureau.

Amid a year of unprecedented

levels of support from Guard

members, Hokanson has been vo-

cal on Capitol Hill about support

for expanded health care cover-

age for troops.

Lawmakers have also raised

alarm bells over gaps in medical

eligibility for service members

who go on-and-off duty orders in

less than a month.

Greater access to mental health

care or counseling for members

who do not have health insurance

could also decrease the number of

suicides in the National Guard, the

general said.

The number of deaths by sui-

cide in the National Guard rose

from 90 in 2019 to 118 at the end of

2020, according to the Defense

Department.

Bill would expand access to health care for Guard, ReserveBY SARAH CAMMARATA

Stars and Stripes

cammarata.sarah@stripes.comTwitter: @sarahjcamm

TOKYO — Japan’s latest coro-

navirus surge spurred U.S. mili-

tary bases to impose further trav-

el restrictions Wednesday as the

nation’s two largest metro areas

looked at extending their public

health emergencies.

Case numbers continued to fall

Wednesday in Tokyo and Osaka

prefectures, though Japan overall

recorded its highest one-day tally

of 4,176 new infections, according

to public broadcaster NHK.

The report said Tokyo and Osa-

ka are considering requests to the

national government that would

allow both prefectures to extend

emergency declarations that

were imposed April 12 and ex-

tended May 7. Six of Japan’s 47

prefectures were under a state of

emergency in April. That number

grew to 10 this month.

The U.S. military in Japan by 6

p.m. Wednesday had reported 10

new cases of COVID-19, the coro-

navirus respiratory disease, all at

Marine Corps bases on Okinawa.

Camp Foster has eight new pa-

tients and Camps Kinser and

Hansen each have one, according

to a Facebook post by Marine

Corps Installations Pacific.

Okinawa prefecture set another

one-day record for the third time

since Saturday and reported 302

new COVID-19 patients Wednes-

day, according to NHK.

Bases in Japan continue to up-

date their travel limits in prefec-

tures where coronavirus condi-

tions are changing and where

emergencies are underway.

Yokota Air Base in western To-

kyo, for example, permits non-

mission essential travel within Ai-

chi, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyo-

go, Hokkaido, Okayama, Hiroshi-

ma with approval by a squadron

commander or equivalent until

Monday and for leave in Okinawa

until June 20, according to a base

Facebook post Wednesday.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwa-

kuni put all prefectures under

emergencies off limits for leave

and liberty, according to its Face-

book page.

U.S. Army Japan divided emer-

gency prefectures into those of

significant risk and those of high

risk. Significant risk areas in-

clude the 23 central wards of To-

kyo and the prefectures of Aichi,

Hyogo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Oita

and Okayama. A colonel or equiv-

alent must sign off on leave re-

quests in those areas, the com-

mand announced Wednesday on

Facebook.

High risk areas include Fukuo-

ka, Osaka, Hokkaido and Okina-

wa prefectures, and travel there

requires the commanding gener-

al’s approval.

For all commands, basic pro-

hibitions remain in effect for

bars, adult entertainment venues

like nightclubs, dance and ka-

raoke clubs and similar business-

es.

Tokyo on Wednesday reported

van additional 743 people have

been infected with the coronavi-

rus, 23 fewer than the same day a

week ago, NHK reported. Neigh-

boring Kanagawa prefecture,

home to several U.S. military in-

stallations, reported 225 cases on

Wednesday, 44 fewer than a week

ago.

US bases updaterules as virussurges in Japan

BY JOSEPH DITZLER

Stars and Stripes

ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler

MILITARY

LAS VEGAS — Military and federal authorities

said Tuesday they were probing the cause of a

fighter jet crash that killed a civilian pilot but did

not injure anyone on the ground in a residential

area near Nellis Air Force Base.

The Dassault Mirage F-1 that crashed Monday

afternoon was owned and operated by Florida-

based Draken US, a military contractor providing

“adversary air support” during aerial war games

flown from Nellis into restricted air space over

central Nevada, a statement from the base said.

The pilot was Nicholas Hunter Hamilton, 43, of

Las Vegas, the Clark County coroner said. He was

the only person aboard the French aircraft, which

records show was built in 1982.

Hamilton graduated from the Air Force Acade-

my in 2000 and was a fighter pilot for 20 years,

including multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq,

the Reno Gazette Journal said. He retired from

the Air Force in March 2020 to fly for Draken In-

ternational.

In Las Vegas, homeowner Jose Villanueva told

the Las Vegas Review-Journal he escaped injury

when the jet slammed into his yard and his uncle’s

adjacent yard. Attempts by AP to reach Villanue-

va by telephone were not successful.

“It was a really, really, really, really strong

noise,” he told the newspaper.

The National Transportation Safety Board

joined military officials in the investigation.

Agency spokesman Eric Weiss said Tuesday it

was too early to report on a cause of the crash.

Preliminary findings will be released within

two weeks, Weiss said, and findings and a final

report could take up to two years.

Draken spokeswoman Christina Childs said the

company, based in Lakeland, Fla., was cooperat-

ing with federal, state and local authorities in-

cluding the NTSB.

Draken provides tactical aircraft, “adversarial

support, electronic attack or customized rotary

wing training,” and pilots including former U.S.

military personnel, for combat training at Nellis

and other sites.

“We train the next generation of fighter pilots

which is a crucial aspect of our national security,”

Childs said in an email.

She did not immediately respond to messages

about Hamilton's military history.

In August 2016, not far from Nellis, a Draken

pilot with more than two decades of experience

received minor injuries when he ejected before

the Douglas A-4K Skyhawk he was flying crashed

in the desert near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Investigators later said it appeared that debris

entered the engine of the Vietnam War-era attack

jet, causing a loss of power.

L.E. BASKOW, LAS VEGAS REVIEW­JOURNAL/ AP

Military personnel investigate a fighter jet crash near Nellis Air Force Base on Monday in Las Vegas. Acivilian pilot was killed in the crash.

Military, officials investigate fataljet crash in Las Vegas near base

Associated Press

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

Once deployed, ships avoided

most port calls. Some stayed at sea

for 10 months.

That followed the mass infec-

tion of some 1,200 sailors, includ-

ing one who died, on the aircraft

carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt

in March 2020.

The Navy is now seeing the mil-

itary’s highest vaccination rate

and the lowest number of CO-

VID-19 cases, Sawyer wrote. More

than 230,000 Navy and Marine

Corps personnel have been fully

immunized, he said.

“We must continue to pursue

full vaccination and apply best

health protection measures both

at home and at work to sustain and

improve upon this performance,”

Sawyer said.

Marines, who routinely deploy

those joining a crew underway, re-

gardless of immunization status.

Sailors diagnosed with CO-

VID-19 in the past three months

who have antibodies will also be

able to skip the 14-day quarantine

before deployments, the message

stated.

Unvaccinated sailors who don’t

have antibodies for COVID-19 will

still be required to comply with

previous quarantine and testing

protocols.

The pandemic was particularly

disruptive on ships and subma-

rines, where social distancing in

tight quarters is all but impossi-

ble. Crews had been required to

board ships early for quarantine

ahead of deployments, adding two

more weeks to time away.

on Navy ships, have been less will-

ing than sailors to get vaccinated.

Nearly 40% of the 123,000 Marines

who had the chance to receive the

vaccine by April had declined it,

USA Today reported, citing Pen-

tagon figures.

None of the fully immunized

sailors and Marines have been

hospitalized to date for COVID-19,

the Navy said, highlighting the op-

erational importance of wide-

spread vaccination.

“The science is pretty clear,

vaccinations are key to best pro-

tecting our sailors,” Sawyer said.

“The more sailors that are vacci-

nated, the better for them, their

families, the Navy and the nation.”

JOHN BELLINO/U.S. Navy

Seaman Jlyn Bautista administers a COVID­19 vaccine to Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Wingle aboardthe amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington in April.

Rules: Navy has highest vaccination rate in military

montgomery.nancy@stripes.comTwitter: @montgomerynance

FROM PAGE 1

contact with an animal or from a

lab accident.

As the coronavirus ravaged the

U.S. and much of the world last

year, an early theory was that it

emerged from a market in Wuhan

that sold meat from wild animals

raised in captivity and then swiftly

spread across the globe. Experts

in viral genome evolution deter-

mined that it almost certainly was

not engineered as a bioweapon be-

cause it has several naturally oc-

curring features and is closely re-

lated to a 2014 coronavirus that

came from a bat in a cave in China.

But they also said they could not

rule out that the virus may have

escaped from the Wuhan Institute

of Virology, a research lab that

studies coronaviruses.

While the lab leak theory was

initially dismissed as unlikely, re-

cent reports about the hospitaliza-

tion of Wuhan lab researchers in

November 2019 — weeks before

the virus was identified in that city

— have given it new traction. A

WHO-led team concluded in Feb-

ruary that a lab leak was extreme-

ly unlikely after visiting the Wu-

han facility, but some internation-

al scientists and researchers said

the findings were tainted by poli-

tics and called for further investi-

gation.

Hundreds of zoonotic viruses

jump from animals to humans and

cause all manner of diseases,

which is why scientists’ default as-

sumption was that the pandemic

was a naturally occurring event.

Many scientists who study zoonot-

ic diseases say it’s still the more

likely scenario. But in part be-

cause scientists have not yet iden-

tified the animal that may have

spread the virus to humans, the

Wuhan lab theory has gained

more credibility.

At a White House briefing Tues-

day, Anthony Fauci, the govern-

ment’s leading infectious disease

expert, said he believes it’s most

likely the virus originated from a

“natural occurrence.” But he said

a deeper probe is warranted.

At that same briefing, Andy Sla-

vitt, the White House senior advis-

er on the coronavirus response,

expressed frustration at barriers

imposed on international scien-

tists by the Chinese government.

“It is our position that we need

to get to the bottom of this, and we

need a completely transparent

process from China. We need the

WHO to assist in that matter. We

don’t feel like we have that now,”

Slavitt said. “That’s a critical pri-

ority for us.”

The United Nations agency had

released a joint report with Chi-

nese scientists in March after a

WHO-led mission spent four

weeks in Wuhan earlier this year.

But the U.S. and other nations

raised concerns about the limits

placed on that mission and called

on China to be more transparent.

The U.S. and other nations voiced

concern that “the international

expert study on the source of the

SARS-CoV-2 virus was signifi-

cantly delayed and lacked access

to complete, original data and

samples.”

The comments from Biden offi-

cials on Tuesday reiterate the ad-

ministration’s stance, but it re-

mains unclear whether or how

they might exert pressure on Chi-

na to be more transparent.

The Biden administration has

not retracted a statement by the

Office of the Director of National

Intelligence, released during the

Trump administration, that said

the intelligence community “con-

curs with the wide scientific con-

sensus that the COVID-19 virus

was not man-made or genetically

modified.” The statement said

that intelligence agencies would

continue to examine information

“to determine whether the out-

break began through contact with

infected animals, or if it was the

result of an accident at a laborato-

ry in Wuhan.”

Although the Trump adminis-

tration also sought answers on the

virus’s origins, some officials went

further, suggesting China inten-

tionally released or engineered

the virus. Trump’s former trade

adviser, Peter Navarro, was one of

the biggest proponents of that the-

ory and accused China of engi-

neering the virus as a bioweapon.

The Wall Street Journal report-

ed earlier this week that three re-

searchers from the Wuhan Insti-

tute of Virology lab became sick

enough in November 2019 that

they sought hospital care, renew-

ing interest in the lab origin theo-

ry.

The newspaper cited a U.S. in-

telligence report as the source and

noted that one person said the in-

formation came from an “interna-

tional partner,” who described it

as potentially significant but need-

ing further corroboration.

That echoed an earlier report

from the State Department,

which, in the final days of the

Trump administration, said “the

U.S. government has reason to be-

lieve that several researchers in-

side the [Wuhan Institute of Virol-

ogy] became sick in autumn

2019.”

The statement did not say pre-

cisely when the workers allegedly

fell ill, or how many became sick,

but noted that their symptoms

emerged “before the first identi-

fied case of the outbreak” and

were “consistent with both CO-

VID-19 and common seasonal ill-

nesses.”

Probe: Theory of lableak gaining traction FROM PAGE 1

VIRUS OUTBREAK

The company studied more than

3,700 12- to 17-year-olds. Prelimina-

ry findings showed the vaccine trig-

gered the same signs of immune

protection in kids as it does in

adults, and the same kind of tempo-

rary side effects such as sore arms,

headache and fatigue.

There were no COVID-19 diag-

noses in those given two doses of the

Moderna vaccine compared with

four cases among kids given dum-

my shots. In a press release, the

company also said the vaccine ap-

peared 93% effective two weeks af-

ter the first dose.

While children are far less likely

than adults to get seriously ill from

COVID-19, they represent about

14% of the nation’s coronavirus

Moderna said Tuesday that its

COVID-19 vaccine strongly pro-

tects kids as young as 12, a step that

could put the shot on track to be-

come the second option for that age

group in the United States.

With global vaccine supplies still

tight, much of the world is strug-

gling to vaccinate adults in the

quest to end the pandemic. But ear-

lier this month, the U.S. and Canada

authorized another vaccine — the

shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech

— to be used starting at age 12.

Moderna aims to be next in line,

saying it will submit its teen data to

the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-

tration and other global regulators

early next month.

cases. At least 316 have died in the

U.S. alone, according to a tally by

the American Academy of Pediat-

rics.

With plenty of vaccine supply in

the U.S., younger teens flocked to

get Pfizer’s shot in the days after

FDA opened it to them, part of a

push to get as many kids vaccinated

as possible before the next school

year.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have

begun testing in even younger chil-

dren, from age 11 down to 6-month-

old babies. This testing is more

complex: Teens receive the same

dose as adults, but researchers are

testing smaller doses in younger

children. Experts hope to see some

results in the fall.

Moderna: Vaccine works from age 12Associated Press

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

NATION

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former

Sen. John W. Warner, of Virginia, a

former Navy secretary, has died at

94.

Warner died Tuesday of heart

failure at home in

Alexandria, Va,

with his wife and

daughter at his

side, his longtime

chief of staff, Su-

san A. Magill,

said Wednesday.

“He was frail

but had a lot of

spirit and was involved until his last

days,” Magill said.

Warner was a centrist Republi-

can and a courtly figure whose mar-

riage to movie star Elizabeth Taylor

drew huge crowds when he was

elected to the Senate in 1978. Serv-

ing five terms before retiring from

the chamber 30 years later, he drew

support from moderates of both ma-

jor parties, establishing himself at

the center of American politics.

He was a key supporter of Presi-

dent George W. Bush’s declaration

of war in Iraq, and served for a time

as chairman of the Senate Armed

Services Committee. He had an in-

dependent streak that sometimes

angered more conservative GOP

leaders, but he was hugely popular

with Virginia voters.

Warner was the sixth of Taylor’s

seven husbands. The two were mar-

ried in 1976 and divorced in 1982.

Taylor wrote later that they re-

mained friends, but she “just

couldn’t bear the intense loneli-

ness” when he became engrossed in

his Senate duties.

The former secretary of the Navy,

a veteran of World War II and Ko-

rea, Warner devoted most of his ca-

reer to military matters.

Warner often defended the Bush

administration’s handling of the

war in Iraq, but he also showed a

willingness to buck the White

House.

After a 2007 trip to Iraq, Warner

called upon Bush to start bringing

troops home. He summoned top

Pentagon officials to hearings about

the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scan-

dal and the Iraq War.

Former senator, Navy secretary Warner dies at 94Associated Press

Warner

WASHINGTON — Senators la-

bored to find a path forward for

legislation creating a commission

on the Jan. 6 insurrection, debat-

ing potential changes in a long-

shot attempt to overcome growing

GOP opposition.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins

and Democratic Sen. Joe Man-

chin were leading the informal

talks Tuesday, according to two

people familiar with the effort.

The talks were focusing on two is-

sues that Republican senators

have cited for their opposition to

the House-passed legislation to

create the commission — ensur-

ing that the panel’s staff is evenly

split between the parties and that

its work does not spill over into

the midterm election year.

Collins and Manchin have trad-

ed potential changes to the bill

and have consulted with other

senators as part of the effort, ac-

cording to the two people and an-

other person with knowledge of

the negotiations. The three people

spoke on condition of anonymity

to discuss the private talks.

The House bill already at-

tempts to address those two is-

sues, requiring the Democratic-

appointed chair to consult with

Republicans when hiring staff,

and setting an end date of Dec. 31,

2021, for the commission to issue

its findings. And the commission-

ers would be evenly split between

the parties, with five Democrats

and five Republicans. But many

Republicans have still said they

don’t trust it will be a bipartisan

effort, threatening the chances of

a truly independent look at the vi-

olent attack on the Capitol by a

mob of former President Donald

Trump’s supporters.

Absent an agreement on chang-

es, Republicans are expected to

block the bill whenever Demo-

crats bring it up for a vote, poten-

tially as soon as this week. Only a

handful of GOP senators have in-

dicated they will vote for it, and

Democrats appear to be far short

of the 10 Republicans they need to

bypass a filibuster.

In a statement with Arizona

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a fellow

moderate Democrat, Manchin

said that the attack was “horrific”

and that the bipartisan commis-

sion is a “critical step.”

“We implore our Senate Re-

publican colleagues to work with

us to find a path forward on a

commission to examine the

events of January 6th,” the two

senators said.

BILL O’LEARY, THE WASHINGTON POST/AP

Sen. Joe Manchin, D­W.Va., listens as Sen. Susan Collins, R­Maine, on the monitor behind him, asks ques­tions during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Senators attempting to salvagelegislation on Jan. 6 commission

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Senate Re-

publicans revived negotiations

over President Joe Biden’s

sweeping investment plan, pre-

paring a $1 trillion infrastructure

proposal that would be funded

with COVID-19 relief money as a

counteroffer to the White House

ahead of a Memorial Day dead-

line toward a bipartisan deal.

The Republicans said Tuesday

that they would disclose details of

the new offer by Thursday,

sounding upbeat after both sides

had panned other offers.

At the White House, press sec-

retary Jen Psaki declined to ad-

dress the new plan but said, “We

expect this week to be a week of

progress.”

Talks over the infrastructure

investment are at a crossroads as

Biden reaches for a top legisla-

tive priority. The White House is

assessing whether the president

can strike a bipartisan deal with

Republicans on his American

Jobs Plan or whether he will try

to go it alone with Democrats if

no progress is made in the days

ahead.

Yet the administration and the

GOP senators remain far apart

over the size and scope of the in-

vestment needed to reboot the na-

tion’s roads, bridges and broad-

band — but also, as Biden sees it,

the child care centers and green

energy investments needed for a

21st-century economy. They also

can’t agree on how to pay for it.

The Republicans have uni-

formly rejected Biden’s plan to

pay for the investments by rais-

ing the corporate tax rate, from

21% to 28%. Instead, the GOP sen-

ators want to shift unspent CO-

VID-19 relief funds to infrastruc-

ture, which may be a nonstarter

for Democrats. Republicans also

want to rely on gas taxes, tolls

and other fees charged to drivers

to pay for the highways and other

infrastructure.

The Republicans said their

new proposal would be aligned

with what they discussed with Bi-

den in their first Oval Office

meeting almost two weeks ago.

“We are anxious to have a bi-

partisan agreement,” said Sen.

Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.,

who is leading the group of GOP

negotiators.

A GOP aide who spoke on con-

dition of anonymity to discuss the

private talks said the price tag

would be $1 trillion over eight

years, paid for by tapping funds

that have been allocated as part

of COVID-19 relief but not yet

spent. The aide said about $700

billion remains in unspent virus

aid.

Democrats on Capitol Hill

were quick to rebuff dipping into

coronavirus relief funds, partic-

ularly money that had been sent

to the states and local govern-

ments that now seems less urgent

as some jurisdictions reported

better-than-expected balance

sheets.

GOP senators ready$1T infrastructureresponse to Biden

Associated Press

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

NATION

NEW YORK — New York prosecutors

have convened a special grand jury to consid-

er evidence in a criminal investigation into

former President Donald Trump's business

dealings, a person familiar with the matter

told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The development signals that the Manhat-

tan district attorney’s office was moving to-

ward seeking charges as a result of its two-

year investigation, which included a lengthy

legal battle to obtain Trump’s tax records.

The person familiar with the matter was

not authorized to speak publicly and did so on

condition of anonymity. The news was first

reported by The Washington Post.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance

Jr. is conducting a wide-ranging investiga-

tion into a variety of matters such as hush-

money payments paid to women on Trump’s

behalf, property valuations and employee

compensation.

The Democratic prosecutor has been us-

ing an investigative grand jury through the

course of his probe to issue subpoenas and

obtain documents. That panel kept working

while other grand juries and court activities

were shut down because of the coronavirus

pandemic.

The investigation includes scrutiny of

Trump’s relationship with his lenders; a land

donation he made to qualify for an income tax

deduction; and tax write-offs his company

claimed on millions of dollars in consulting

fees it paid.

The new grand jury could eventually be

asked to consider returning indictments.

While working on that case, it also will be

hearing other matters. The Post reported

that the grand jury will meet three days a

week for six months.

Trump contends the investigation is a

“witch hunt.”

“This is purely political, and an affront to

the almost 75 million voters who supported

me in the Presidential Election, and it’s being

driven by highly partisan Democrat prose-

cutors," Trump said in a statement.

Vance’s office declined to comment.

The new grand jury is the latest sign of in-

creasing momentum in the criminal investi-

gation into the Republican ex-president and

his company, the Trump Organization.

Attorney General Letitia James said last

week that she assigned two lawyers to work

with Vance’s office on the probe after her civ-

il investigation into Trump evolved into a

criminal matter.

James, a Democrat, said her office also is

continuing its civil investigation into Trump.

She did not say what prompted her office to

expand its investigation into a criminal

probe.

NY seats new grand jury in Trump probeBY MICHAEL R. SISAK

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Republican

leaders forcefully condemned

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor

Greene on Tuesday, calling her

comments comparing COVID-19

safety measures such as mask-

wearing to the treatment of Jews

in Nazi Germany “appalling.”

“Marjorie is wrong, and her in-

tentional decision to compare the

horrors of the Holocaust with

wearing masks is appalling,”

House Republican leader Kevin

McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a

statement, which stopped short of

calling for Greene to face disci-

plinary measures. “The fact that

this needs to be stated today is

deeply troubling.”

Greene, a conservative fire-

brand from Georgia and ally of

former President Donald Trump,

has thrived on stirring controver-

sy, pushing conspiracy theories

and forcefully confronting her

colleagues since taking her seat in

the House in January. But, until

now, Republican leaders have

proven hesitant to criticize her

and refused to join with Demo-

crats earlier this year when they

voted to strip her of committee as-

signments.

Their rebuke Tuesday came af-

ter Greene made an appearance

on a conservative podcast, “The

Water Cooler with David Brody,”

released last Thursday. In her in-

terview, Greene excoriated safety

protocols adopted by House Dem-

ocrats, including a requirement

that masks be worn on the House

floor. She also called House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi “mentally

ill” and suggested that the rules

were comparable to the treatment

of Jews during the Holocaust.

“You know, we can look back in

a time and history where people

were told to wear a gold star. And

they were definitely treated like

second-class citizens, so much so

that they were put in trains and

taken to gas chambers in Nazi

Germany,” Greene said on the

podcast. “This is exactly the type

of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talk-

ing about.”

After her remarks sparked a

firestorm of online criticism,

Greene leaned in to the compari-

son further.

On Tuesday, she tweeted out a

news story about a grocery store

chain that plans to allow vaccinat-

ed employees to go maskless.

Those who do would have a logo

on their name tags indicating they

had been vaccinated.

“Vaccinated employees get a

vaccination logo just like the Na-

zi’s forced Jewish people to wear

a gold star,” Greene tweeted.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch

McConnell, R-Ky., called

Greene’s comments one of her

“frequent outbursts that are abso-

lutely outrageous and reprehensi-

ble.” Still, he said any disciplinary

action against her would have to

come from the House.

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New

York, the No. 3 House GOP lead-

er, said “equating mask wearing

and vaccines to the Holocaust”

minimized “the most significant

human atrocities ever commit-

ted.”

Democrats said Greene should

face more than just a public re-

buke.

Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill.,

proposed censuring Greene.

House Majority Leader Steny

Hoyer, D-Md., called on her to

“change her rhetoric and behav-

ior if she intends to remain a

Member of the House.” Pelosi,

who previously suggested that

Greene could face an ethics inqui-

ry, called her comments “so be-

yond reprehensible” that they

should have “no place in our

country.”

JABIN BOTSFORD / The Washington Post

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R­Ga., walks out after a vote May 13. Republican leaders have condemnedGreene comparing coronavirus safety requirements to the Holocaust.

GOP leaders condemnGreene over remarks

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Gunfire

erupted Wednesday at a railyard

in San Jose, and a sheriff’s spokes-

man said multiple people were

killed and wounded and that the

suspect was dead.

Santa Clara County sheriff’s

spokesman Deputy Russell Davis

said that he could not specify the

number of dead and wounded or

describe how the suspect died.

The shooting took place around

6:30 a.m. at a light rail facility next

door to the sheriff’s department

and across a freeway from the air-

port. The facility is a transit con-

trol center that stores trains and

has a maintenance yard.

Davis said he did not know the

type of weapon used or whether

the shooting happened indoors or

outdoors. He said the victims in-

clude Valley Transportation Au-

thority employees.

The VTA provides bus, light rail

and other transit services

throughout Santa Clara County,

the largest in the Bay Area and

home to Silicon Valley.

“A horrible tragedy has hap-

pened today, and our thoughts and

love go out to the VTA family,”

VTA Chairman Glenn Hendricks

told a news conference.

VTA trains were already out on

morning runs when the shooting

occurred. Light rail service was to

be suspended at noon and re-

placed with bus bridges, Hen-

dricks said.

Outside the scene, Michael

Hawkins told The Mercury News

that he was waiting for his mother,

Rochelle Hawkins, who had called

him from a co-worker’s phone to

assure him that she was safe.

When the shooting started, “she

got down with the rest of her cow-

orkers” and dropped her cell-

phone, Michael Hawkins told the

newspaper. Rochelle Hawkins did

not see the shooter, and she was

not sure how close she had been to

the attacker, her son said.

Officials: Multiple deaths, injuries in shooting at Calif. railyardAssociated Press

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

WASHINGTON — A majority of

Americans across racial and eth-

nic groups believe discrimination

has worsened in the last year

against Asian Americans, who be-

came the target of attacks after be-

ing unfairly blamed for the corona-

virus pandemic.

A poll from The Associated

Press-NORC Center for Public Af-

fairs Research finds 60% of Amer-

icans say discrimination against

Asian Americans has swelled com-

pared with a year ago, including

71% of Asian Americans, 66% of

Black Americans, 59% of white

Americans and 55% of Hispanic

Americans.

Nearly half of Americans be-

lieve Asian Americans encounter

“a great deal” or “quite a lot” of dis-

crimination in the United Statesto-

day. The poll also finds about 6 in 10

Americans say racism in the U.S. in

general is a “very” or “extremely”

serious problem. And a majority of

Asian Americans say they feel un-

safe in public because of their race.

Susan Lee, of Sacramento, Calif.,

said friends initiated conversa-

tions with her about racism as ran-

dom attacks on Asians became

more frequent, but the 72-year-old

Chinese American noted a key dif-

ference between friends who were

Asian and non-Asian.

“My non-Asian friends are prob-

ably more astonished that this is

occurring,” Lee said. “I think Chi-

nese or ‘Asians’ have always been

looked at as a positive asset. I think

they are puzzled by that situation.”

Barbara Canchola, 76, of El Pa-

so, Texas, said she would have an-

swered “not at all” if she had been

asked pre-pandemic if Asian

Americans face racism. Canchola,

who identifies as Hispanic, said

she associated anti-Asian discrimi-

nation as something way in the past

like Japanese American intern-

ment camps during World War II.

“I really wouldn’t think they are

facing any kind of discrimination

because I happen to think they’re

very well educated — most of them

— and they don’t face that much

scrutiny,” Canchola said. “Howev-

er, ever since the pandemic began

and it was a labeled a ‘China thing,’

that’s where it all began.”

She attributes her new outlook to

all the television coverage “where

the people are being assaulted on

the street out of the blue.”

Renee Tajima-Pena, an Asian

American Studies professor at the

University of California, Los An-

geles and co-producer of the PBS

docuseries “Asian Americans,”

isn’t surprised some people have

never thought of Asian Americans

as victims. The dominant narrative

has always been they are success-

ful, don’t speak up and, therefore,

encounter little racism.

“The model minority myth is

such a drug for Americans,” Taji-

ma-Pena said.

NAM Y. HUH/AP

A woman holds a sign and attends a rally to support stop AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) hateat the Logan Square Monument in Chicago in March.

More Americans feel anti-Asianhatred has risen over past year

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Ecologist

Rolf Peterson remembers driving

remote stretches of road in Michi-

gan’s Upper Peninsula and seeing

areas strewn with deer carcasses.

But that changed after gray

wolves arrived in the region from

Canada and Minnesota.

“When wolves moved in during

the 1990s and 2000s, the deer-ve-

hicle collisions went way down,”

said the Michigan Tech research-

er.

Recently, another team of scien-

tists has gathered data about road

collisions and wolf movements in

Wisconsin to quantify how the ar-

rival of wolves there affected the

frequency of deer-auto collisions.

They found it created what scien-

tists call “a landscape of fear.”

“In a pretty short period of time,

once wolves colonize a county,

deer vehicle collisions go down

about 24%,” said Dominic Parker,

a natural resources economist at

the University of Wisconsin, Ma-

dison and co-author of their new

study published Monday in the

journal Proceedings of the Nation-

al Academy of Sciences.

Both the thinning of the deer

population by wolves and behav-

ior changes in fearful deer are fac-

tors in the drop-off, Parker said.

“When you have a major preda-

tor around, it impacts how the

prey behave,” he said. “Wolves

use linear features of a landscape

as travel corridors, like roads,

pipelines and stream beds. Deer

learn this and can adapt by staying

away.”

Gray wolves, among the first

species protected under the En-

dangered Species Act in 1973,

were reintroduced to Yellowstone

National Park in 1995. But in other

regions of the United States, gray

wolves have dispersed naturally;

the population in the lower 48

states now totals about 5,500.

The new study said that the

presence of wolves, maligned by

ranchers whose livestock suffers

predation, can also save money by

indirectly reducing deer-vehicle

collisions. In 2008, a study for the

U.S. Department of Transporta-

tion estimated that those crashes

cost more than $8 billion annually.

“Most economic studies of

wolves have been negative, focus-

ing on livestock losses,” said Dave

Mech, a senior research scientist

for the U.S. Geological Survey in

Minnesota, who was not involved

in the new study and praised it.

“But wolves also reshape ecosys-

tems in many ways, although

that’s hard to measure econom-

ically.”

Some studies have looked at tou-

rism revenue generated by wolf-

watchers in Yellowstone, but that

money doesn’t flow directly to

communities living alongside

wolves, said Jennifer Raynor, a

natural resources economist at

Wesleyan University and a co-au-

thor of the new study.

“We wanted to look at other

ways the wolves impacted the re-

gion,” Raynor said. “These auto

collisions are happening, or not

happening, in rural areas, and so

are livestock damages.”

Peterson, who was not involved

in the research, also said, “If any-

thing, the researchers underesti-

mated the value of the deer-vehi-

cle crashes. The deeper dimen-

sion of these collision costs can in-

clude large medical bills and,

sometimes, human fatalities.”

The wolf study “adds to growing

awareness that scientists should

consider both the costs and the

benefits of having large carni-

vores on the landscape,” said

Adrian Treves, a University of

Wisconsin conservation biologist

not involved in the study.

Wolves scare deer and reduce auto collisions 24%, study saysBY CHRISTINA LARSON

Associated Press

As bad as last year’s record-

shattering fire season was, the

western United States starts

this year’s in even worse

shape.

The soil in the West is record

dry for this time of year. In

much of the region, plants that

fuel fires are also the driest

scientists have seen. The vege-

tation is primed to ignite, espe-

cially in the Southwest where

dead juniper trees are full of

flammable needles.

“It’s like having gasoline out

there,” said Brian Steinhardt,

forest fire zone manager for

Prescott and Coconino nation-

al forests in Arizona.

A climate change-fueled

megadrought of more than 20

years is making conditions that

lead to fire even more danger-

ous, scientists said. Rainfall in

the Rockies and farther west

was the second-lowest on re-

cord in April, according to the

National Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration.

“It means that the dice are

loaded toward a lot of forest

fire this year,” said Park Wil-

liams, a UCLA climate and fire

scientist, who calculated that

soil in the western half of the

nation is the driest it has been

since 1895. “This summer,

we’re going into fire season

with drier fuels than we were

at this time last year.”

In addition, the western

drought is deepening week by

week.

In late March, less than one-

third of California was suffer-

ing extreme or exceptional

drought. Now, more than 73%

is, according to the National

Drought Monitor, which is

based on precipitation, tem-

perature, soil moisture and

streamflow measurements. A

year ago, heading into the re-

cord-smashing 2020 fire year

when more than 4% of Califor-

nia burned, just 3% of the state

was in extreme or exceptional

drought.

But the outlook is worse

elsewhere.

“I think the Southwest is re-

ally primed for a bad fire sea-

son,” University of Utah fire

scientist Phil Dennison said.

That’s because last year’s nor-

mal monsoon season, which

brings much of the year’s rain-

fall, never showed up.

A year ago, none of Arizona,

Nevada and Utah was in ex-

treme or exceptional drought,

but now, more than 90% of

Utah, 86% of Arizona and 75%

of Nevada is in those highest

drought categories, according

to the drought monitor. New

Mexico jumped from 4% ex-

treme or exceptional drought a

year ago to more than 77%

now.

Western US fire

season starts drier

than record 2020Associated Press “It’s like having

gasoline outthere.”

Brian Steinhardt

Prescott and Coconino forest fire

zone manager

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS — A family-

friendly street festival, musical

performances and moments of si-

lence were held Tuesday to honor

George Floyd and mark the year

since he died at the hands of Min-

neapolis police, a death captured

on wrenching bystander video

that galvanized the racial justice

movement and continues to bring

calls for change.

Floyd’s sister Bridgett and oth-

er family members held a mo-

ment of silence at a “Celebration

of Life” event at a downtown Min-

neapolis park that included mu-

sic, food trucks, an inflatable

bouncy house and a vaccination

stand. A few miles away, at the

site of the intersection where

Floyd died, dozens of people

kneeled around a steel fist sculp-

ture for several minutes — sym-

bolizing the 9 minutes, 29 seconds

during which Floyd was pinned

down.

“It’s been a troubling year, a

long year,” Bridgett Floyd told the

crowd downtown. “But we made

it. ... The love is here. George is

here.”

Other members of Floyd’s fam-

ily met in Washington with Presi-

dent Joe Biden and Vice President

Kamala Harris, who urged Con-

gress to quickly pass a law in

Floyd’s name that would bring

changes to policing. A moment of

silence to honor Floyd was also

held in New York and a rally was

held in Los Angeles. Globally, a

rally took place in Germany and

Floyd’s death was marked by U.S.

embassies in Greece and Spain.

Hours before the Minneapolis

festivities, the intersection where

Floyd died was disrupted by gun-

fire.

Associated Press video from

38th Street and Chicago Avenue

— informally known as George

Floyd Square — showed people

running for cover as shots rang

out. Police said a man, who they

believe was injured in the shoot-

ing, went to a nearby hospital with

a gunshot wound. Police said he

was in critical condition but was

expected to survive. There were

no immediate arrests.

Philip Crowther, a reporter

working for AP Global Media Ser-

vices, which provides live video

coverage, reported hearing as

many as 30 gunshots about a block

from the intersection. Crowther

said a storefront window ap-

peared to have been broken by

gunshots.

“Very quickly things got back to

normal,” Crowther said. “People

here who spend a significant

amount of time, the organizers,

were running around asking,

‘Does anyone need a medic?’ ”

Like other major cities, Min-

neapolis has been struggling with

rising gun violence, a problem

made worse, in part, by many offi-

cers leaving the embattled force

since Floyd’s death. A 6-year-old

girl was fatally shot and two other

children wounded in recent

weeks. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob

Frey last week unveiled sweeping

public safety proposals aimed at

fixing the problem. Other groups

are pursuing a more radical re-

making of the police department.

The intersection of 38th and

Chicago has been barricaded

since soon after Floyd’s death. It

quickly turned into a memorial —

and also a challenging spot for the

city, with police officers not al-

ways welcome.

The square was transformed

Tuesday into an outdoor festival,

with food, children’s activities and

music. At times, people danced in

the street. Artwork and signs from

protests after Floyd’s death also

were on display. One group hosted

an open mic next to a greenhouse

that community members con-

structed earlier this year to house

flowers left by mourners. Nearby,

abrass band played for passersby.

The celebration also included a

candlelight vigil, capping several

days of marches, rallies and panel

discussions about his death and

confronting racial discrimination.

Xavier Simmons, 24, from Rac-

ine, Wis., chanted “Say his name!”

as people kneeled. Simmons said

he hopes people taking part in the

festivities will both honor Floyd’s

life and legacy and continue to

“uplift and empower this move-

ment.”

“We got the verdict that we

needed, but it’s never going to

change until we make a change,”

he said.

“Y’all keep doing the work, be-

cause y’all changing the world,”

Common, an award-winning rap-

per, actor and activist, told the

crowd of hundreds during a musi-

cal performance Tuesday night

prior to the vigil.

After Common left the stage

and day turned to night in George

Floyd Square, people placed can-

dles in every conceivable corner,

lighting up the area.

Earl Vaughn, 20, of Minneapo-

lis, attended the downtown event

and said despite its celebratory at-

mosphere, “For all this a Black

man had to die, so that’s really un-

fortunate.”

In New York City, elected offi-

cials, including Mayor Bill de Bla-

sio and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jef-

fries, joined the Rev. Al Sharpton

in kneeling for 9 minutes, 29 sec-

onds.

“As we took a knee, imagine

how long that was on a human be-

ing’s neck,” Sharpton said. “Never

switched knees, just dug in. It’s

time we correct policing in this

country.”

On Tuesday evening, activists

and demonstrators gathered with

some families of people who had

died in interactions with the New

York Police Department at Bar-

clays Center in Brooklyn. They

called for defunding the police,

holding officers accountable and

removing police officers from

schools. Following the rally, they

set off on a march through Brook-

lyn streets.

Several Floyd family members,

including his young daughter

Gianna, met with Biden and Har-

ris earlier Tuesday. Biden, who

previously pledged to continue

fighting for racial justice, said he

hopes the Senate can quickly pass

the George Floyd Justice in Polic-

ing Act and get it to his desk.

“We have to act,” he said of the

legislation that would ban choke-

holds and no-knock police raids,

as well as create a national regis-

try for officers disciplined for se-

rious misconduct.

Also on Tuesday, the White

House said that Biden would be

visiting Tulsa, Okla., on June 1 to

commemorate the 100th anniver-

sary of the 1921 massacre that

claimed up to hundreds of lives in

the city.

Floyd’s brother Philonise told

CNN he thinks about George “all

the time.”

“My sister called me at 12

o’clock last night and said, ‘This is

the day our brother left us,’ ” he

said, adding, “I think things have

changed. I think it is moving slow-

ly, but we are making progress.”

Separately, the Floyd family an-

nounced the launch of a fund that

will make grants to businesses

and community organizations in

the neighborhood, as well as

broader grants “encouraging the

success and growth of Black citi-

zens and community harmony.”

The money comes from $500,000

earmarked as part of the city’s $27

million civil settlement for the

Floyd family.

Rallies, momentsof silence honorFloyd a year later

Associated Press

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AP

The family of Daunte Wright, who was killed by a police officer in the Minneapolis suburb of BrooklynCenter last month, gathers on the one­year anniversary of George Floyd’s death Tuesday in Minneapolis.

NATION

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tues-

day denounced the deadly 2019

arrest of Ronald Greene as “re-

grettable,” criticizing the state

troopers who repeatedly

stunned, choked and punched the

Black motorist, and also chiding

officers who stood by but failed to

intervene.

“I wouldn’t have been dis-

turbed had I thought it was pro-

fessional, had I thought those of-

ficers had performed as they

should — they did not,” Edwards

told reporters at the state Capitol

in Baton Rouge, offering his most

extensive remarks yet on the con-

troversy.

“They don’t represent what we

aspire to in the state of Louisiana,

at the Louisiana State Police, es-

pecially once Mr. Greene was not

just in custody but was re-

strained,” he added of the troop-

ers involved. “They were not pro-

fessional. They did not conduct

themselves as a law enforcement

officer should, and quite frankly

I’m disappointed in officers who

were on the scene who didn’t in-

tervene as well. That evidences a

lack of professionalism also.”

The Democratic governor’s re-

marks came nearly a week after

The Associated Press began pub-

lishing previously unreleased

body-camera footage that

showed troopers converging on

Greene’s car outside Monroe,

La., after a high-speed chase, re-

peatedly jolting the 49-year-old

unarmed man with stun guns,

putting him in a chokehold,

punching him in the head and

dragging him by his ankle shack-

les.

“It is regrettable, it is unfortu-

nate,” Edwards said, adding, “we

have implemented a number of

changes with the goal of making

sure this does not happen again.”

Col. Lamar Davis, the state po-

lice superintendent, said last

week that the agency had limited

the use of chokeholds and stun

guns and installed new leader-

ship in the Monroe area after

Greene’s death.

La. governor criticizes police in deadly arrest of Black manAssociated Press

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Vegas chapel offers freenuptials for military

NV LAS VEGAS — A Las

Vegas chapel plans to

honor the military on Memorial

Day by offering a chance to say “I

do.”

KVVU-TV reported that the Lit-

tle Vegas Chapel is offering wed-

dings free of charge Monday for

active-duty officers.

The chapel is waiving the cost of

a $129 wedding package which in-

cludes a photographer, marriage

license and up to five guests. Sol-

diers can also apply a $129 credit

to another package.

Any interested officers must

show proof of their active military

status.

Parents criticize alteringyearbook photos

FL ST. JOHNS — Parents

and students are criti-

cizing teachers at a Florida high

school for digitally altering photos

in a yearbook in order to cover up

students whose clothes the school

officials deemed too immodest.

The St. Augustine Record

reported that 80 students at Bar-

tram Trail High School in north-

east Florida had their yearbook

photos altered without their con-

sent in order to cover up exposed

shoulders and low necklines.

The school’s yearbook coordi-

nator, who is a teacher, decided

that the photos were out of dress

code and did some of the editing,

said Christina Langston, school

district spokeswoman.

The school is offering yearbook

refunds to anyone who complains

about the changes and wants to

turn in their yearbook, the schools

spokeswoman said.

Woman bit by snake, falls off ladder

NC MOORESVILLE — A

North Carolina woman

is recovering from a fall off a lad-

der prompted by a surprise snake

bite.

Heatherly Noble was trimming

hedges outside the front door of

her Mooresville home when a

non-venomous black racer

emerged from the bush and bit

her, news outlets reported.

She said she didn’t realize what

caused the pain in her right hand

at first but looked down to see the

snake “rising up out of the bushes

like some sort of demon,” she told

the Winston-Salem Journal.

Footage from a home security

camera shows the snake lunged at

Noble again, causing her to fall to

avoid a second bite.

Attendant loses 2 teethin assault by passenger

TX DALLAS — A South-

west Airlines flight at-

tendant was assaulted by a pas-

senger and lost two teeth in the at-

tack, according to a union presi-

dent, who complained to the

airline’s CEO about unruly pas-

sengers.

“Unfortunately, this is just one

of many occurrences,” said the

union president, Lyn Montgom-

ery. She said there were 477 inci-

dents of “misconduct” by passen-

gers on Southwest planes between

April 8 and May 15.

“The passenger repeatedly ig-

nored standard inflight instruc-

tions and became verbally and

physically abusive upon landing,”

said Southwest spokesman Chris

Mainz. He said police were asked

to meet the plane when it arrived

in San Diego, and the passenger

was taken into custody.

Woman gets back thrownout $1M lottery ticket

MA SOUTHWICK — A

Massachusetts wom-

an who accidentally tossed out a $1

million lottery ticket eventually

collected her winnings thanks to

the kindness and honesty of the

owners of the store where she

bought it.

Lea Rose Fiega bought the $30

Diamond Millions scratch-off tick-

et in March at the Lucky Stop con-

venience store in Southwick near

where she works.

“I was in a hurry, on lunch break,

and just scratched it real quick,

and looked at it, and it didn’t look

like a winner, so I handed it over to

them to throw away,” she said.

“One evening, I was going

through the tickets from the trash

and found out that she didn’t

scratch the number,” Abhi Shah,

the son of the store’s owners told

WWLP-TV. “I scratched the num-

ber and it was $1 million under-

neath the ticket.”

Fiega is a regular customer, so

the family knew immediately who

had discarded it.

The store gets a $10,000 bonus

from the state lottery commission

for selling the winning ticket. Fiega

said she gave the family an addi-

tional reward. She’s saving the

rest for retirement.

Man banned from parksafter videos of misconduct

KS WICHITA — Someone

who posted videos on

TikTok showing a golf cart run-

ning over a sign on a Wichita golf

course and a person chasing geese

from a golf cart has been banned

from all of the city’s park facilities

for a year.

The city had asked on Twitter

for help identifying the culprit.

Within a couple hours, the city

said it had found the man with 150

followers on TikTok who posted

the videos after several people

identified him.

City officials didn’t identify the

offender publicly but they said he

would receive a notice about the

ban that extends to May 21, 2022.

The rules violations document-

ed on the social media site includ-

ed destroying parks department

property, disturbing wildlife and

possessing alcohol, according to

The Wichita Eagle.

2 pets rescued amidblaze at strip mall

MD SOLOMONS — Two

pets were saved from

a veterinary medical center when

a fire broke out at a southern Ma-

ryland strip mall, State Fire Mar-

shals said.

Firefighters dispatched for a

building fire found the strip mall

in Solomons ablaze. Fire depart-

ments from Calvert, St. Mary’s

and Charles counties responded

to bring the fire under control, of-

ficials said.

Solomons Veterinary Medical

Center was one of the businesses

affected by the fire.

Firefighters were able to rescue

two pets and no injuries were re-

ported, officials said.

Alligator hunting seasonto open in August

MS JACKSON — The

Mississippi Depart-

ment of Wildlife, Fisheries and

Parks announced the 2021 Public

Waters Alligator Hunting Season

will open Aug. 27 and run through

Sept. 6.

The application process for the

960 available permits will run

from June 1 through June 8,

WJTV-TV reported. Permits are

limited by a random drawing and

an electronic application is re-

quired.

The first drawing will take

place June 14. Any unpurchased

permits from the first drawing

will be entered in a second draw-

ing of remaining available appli-

cants.

JACOB FORD, ODESSA (TEXAS) AMERICAN/AP

University of Texas of the Permian Basin’s STEM Academy second grader William Woosley, 8, rolls a tire in a race against Izabella Phillips, 8,during an elementary school field day at UTPB Park in Odessa, Texas. Activities included a water relay, chicken toss, 50m dash and bounce house.

Big wheels keep on turning

THE CENSUS

160 The approximate number of pigs a truck was carrying when itoverturned in Virginia. According to Suffolk, Va., police, the

tractor-trailer was carrying 160 to 180 pigs and was the only vehicle involved inthe early morning accident. Police said the driver of the truck had minor injuriesand was cited at the scene for failure to maintain proper control. Police did notcomment on the condition of the pigs.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

WORLD

CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of

State Antony Blinken arrived in

Egypt on Wednesday as he

pressed ahead with a diplomatic

mission aimed at shoring up a

cease-fire that ended an 11-day

war between Israel and the Gaza

Strip’s ruling Hamas militant

group.

Blinken landed in Cairo a day af-

ter holding intensive talks with Is-

raeli and Palestinian leaders. In

Egypt, he met with President Ab-

del-Fattah el-Sissi and other top of-

ficials. Later he was to travel to

Jordan to meet with King Abdul-

lah II.

Blinken has vowed to “rally in-

ternational support” to rebuild the

destruction in hard-hit Gaza while

promising to make sure that no

none of the aid reaches Hamas. He

is instead trying to bolster Hamas’

rival, the internationally recog-

nized Palestinian Authority.

Blinken described Egypt and

Jordan as central players in trying

to bring calm to the region. Both

countries are key U.S. allies that

have peace agreements with Israel

and frequently serve as mediators

between Israel and the Palesti-

nians.

“Egypt played a critical role in

helping to broker the cease-fire

and Jordan has long been a voice

for peace and stability in the re-

gion,” he told reporters late Tues-

day.

Egypt maintains ties with Ha-

mas, but also enforces a tight

blockade on Gaza, along with Is-

rael, with a shared goal of prevent-

ing the Islamic group from arming.

Blinken has set modest goals for

the trip, his first official visit to the

Middle East as secretary of state.

The stop in Cairo, along with Presi-

dent Joe Biden’s phone talks with

el-Sissi while the cease-fire was

being negotiated last week, signal

a closer relationship between the

Biden administration and Egypt

after a cooler beginning, when it

expressed concern over el-Sissi’s

human rights record.

During talks with Israeli and

Palestinian leaders on Tuesday, he

made clear that the U.S. has no im-

mediate plans to pursue peace

talks between the sides, though he

expressed hope for creating a “bet-

ter environment” that might lead

to negotiations.

That could begin with the Gaza

reconstruction effort. The 11-day

war killed more than 250 people,

mostly Palestinians, and caused

heavy destruction in the impover-

ished coastal territory. Prelimina-

ry estimates have put the damage

in the hundreds of millions of dol-

lars.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-

general of the Arab League, said

U.S. commitment is critical for the

region.

Blinken arrives inEgypt to shore upGaza cease-fire

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Belarus’ au-

thoritarian president defended

Wednesday his decision to tell a pas-

senger jet to land in his country and

accused European leaders of wag-

ing a “hybrid war” to “strangle” his

nation by ordering up new sanctions

for diverting the flight and arresting

an opposition journalist who was

aboard.

Speaking before lawmakers and

top officials, President Alexander

Lukashenko maintained his conten-

tion that there was a bomb threat

against the Ryanair flight and called

it an “absolute lie” that a fighter jet

he scrambled was forcing the pas-

senger plane to land in Minsk. The

carrier has said its crew was in-

structed to land. The plane was

searched once on the ground, and no

bomb was found — but Raman Pra-

tasevich, a 26-year-old journalist

and activist, and his Russian girlf-

riend were detained.

“I acted in a lawful way, protect-

ing people in line with international

rules,” said 66-year-old Lukashen-

ko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet na-

tion with an iron fist for more than a

quarter-century, relentlessly sti-

fling dissent.

He doubled down on the idea that

there was a grave security risk, say-

ing the plane was flying not far away

from the Astravets nuclear power

plant and adding that he ordered air

defense systems on high alert. “I had

to protect people, I was thinking

about the country’s security,” he

said.

But European Union leaders have

denounced the move to divert the

plane — which was traveling be-

tween two EU countries and being

operated by an airline based in a

third — as an act of piracy. They

quickly agreed to ban Belarusian

airlines from using the airspace and

airports of the 27-nation bloc and

urged European airlines to avoid Be-

larus’ airspace. They agreed to draft

more sanctions on officials linked to

the diversion and ones targeting

businesses that are the main cash

earners for Lukashenko’s regime.

Lukashenko derided that re-

sponse.

“Our ill-wishers outside and in-

side the country have changed their

methods of attacking the state,” Lu-

kashenko said. “That’s why they

switched from organizing riots to

trying to strangle us.”

Belarusian leader defends diversion of flight that sparked furyAssociated Press

BAGHDAD — Clashes between

security forces and protesters left

one person dead and over a dozen

injured Tuesday after hundreds of

Iraqis took to the streets in Bagh-

dad to protest a rise in targeted

killings of prominent activists and

journalists.

Violence erupted near Tahrir

Square in the early evening fol-

lowing a largely peaceful demon-

stration. Iraqi security forces

fired tear gas and live rounds to

disperse the crowds and demon-

strators hurled stones at riot po-

lice, witnesses and Iraqi security

officials said.

One protester was shot and died

in a hospital and over a dozen were

injured, a security official and the

semi-official High Commission

for Human Rights said.

The security officials spoke on

condition of anonymity in line

with regulations.

The shooting began after secu-

rity forces first used tear gas to

disperse the crowds. The demon-

strators responded by throwing

stones, and on some occasions

bricks, at police, according to an

Associated Press videographer on

the scene.

Earlier, demonstrators gath-

ered in the square amid heavy se-

curity, among them protesters

from southern provinces includ-

ing Dhi Qar and Karbala. Ten-

sions there have mounted in re-

cent weeks over the increasingly

frequent targeted killings.

“Today’s protests took place be-

cause the weak government did

not keep its promises to bring the

murderers to justice,” said activist

Kamal Jaban at Tahrir Square.

Many waved Iraqi flags and

raised portraits of Ehab Wazni, a

prominent activist assassinated in

Karbala, among three targeted

killings this month alone. Protes-

ters had given the government two

weeks to hold his killers respon-

sible.

“The government did not deliv-

er, we had to march,” said Jaban.

HADI MIZBAN/AP

Security forces try to disperse anti­government protesters in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on Tuesday.

At least 1 is killed as protestersscuffle with Iraqi security forces

Associated Press

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

NEW DELHI — Heavy rain and

a high tide lashed parts of eastern

India and neighboring Bangla-

desh as a cyclone pushed ashore

Wednesday in an area where

more than 1.1 million people have

evacuated during a devastating

coronavirus surge.

Cyclone Yaas already had

caused two deaths and damaged

homes as heavy rains pounded

Odisha and West Bengal states be-

fore the storm began making land-

fall in the late morning.

The “very severe cyclonic

storm” is packing sustained winds

of up to 87 mph and gusts up to 97

mph, the India Meteorological De-

partment said. With the storm

now almost fully on land, winds

are expected to weaken by

Wednesday evening.

In Bangladesh, thousands of

people in 200 villages were ma-

rooned as their homes, shops and

farms were flooded by tidal surg-

es.

In southern Patuakhali district,

more than 20 villages in Rangabali

went underwater after two river

embankments were washed away,

said Mashfaqur Rahman, the ar-

ea’s top administrator. He said at

least 15,000 people had taken ref-

uge in cyclone shelters.

In India, television images

showed knee-deep water flooding

the beachfront and other areas of

Digha, a resort town in West Ben-

gal. Wind gusts whipped palm

trees back and forth, and over-

flowing water breached several

river banks.

West Bengal state’s top elected

official, Mamata Banerjee, told re-

porters that 20,000 mud huts and

temporary shelters for the poor

have been damaged along the

coast.

On Tuesday, a tornado snapped

electricity lines that electrocuted

two people and damaged 40

houses, Banerjee said.

More than 6.5 inches of rain fell

in Chandabali and Paradip re-

gions of Odisha state since Tues-

day, the meteorological depart-

ment said. Tidal waves of up to 13

feet were forecast.

Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar air-

ports were shut and train services

canceled. Fishing trawlers and

boats were told to take shelter.

The cyclone, coming amid a

coronavirus surge, complicates

India’s efforts to deal with both af-

ter another storm, Cyclone Tauk-

tae, hit India’s west coast last week

and killed more than 140 people.

Odisha’s chief minister, Naveen

Patnaik, appealed to people in

shelters to wear double masks and

maintain social distancing.

“We have to face both the chal-

lenges simultaneously,” Patnaik

said.

Thousands of emergency per-

sonnel have been deployed to help

with evacuations and rescue oper-

ations, said S.N. Pradhan, director

of India’s National Disaster Re-

sponse Force. The air force and

navy were also on standby.

A year ago, the most powerful

cyclone in more than a decade hit

eastern India and killed nearly 100

people.

“We haven’t been able to fix the

damage to our home from the last

cyclone. Now another cyclone is

coming, how will we stay here?”

said Samitri, who uses only one

name.

Cyclone lashes India, Bangladesh after 1.1M evacuatedAssociated Press

ASHIM PAUL/AP

A cow runs through high tide water at the Digha beach on the Bay of Bengal coast as Cyclone Yaasintensifies in West Bengal state, India, on Wednesday.

WORLD

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander

EDITORIAL

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stripes.com

OPINION

WASHINGTON

The skyjacking of a dissident jour-

nalist over Belarus on Sunday was a

brutal action with a simple mess-

age to opponents of dictatorial

President Alexander Lukashenko: We can get

you anywhere.

Are the thugs winning? Sometimes, it may

appear so, but I’d draw a different lesson from

Sunday’s forced landing of a Ryanair flight in

Minsk and the imprisonment there of journal-

ist Roman Protasevich. Even against such

outrageous intimidation, the barrier of fear is

breaking in Belarus. The thugs are getting

desperate. The opposition persists — and af-

ter Sunday’s crude assault, it may grow.

The European Union responded with tough

sanctions a day after the Ryanair plane was

forced down, beginning a process that will

probably block EU air travel to and from Be-

larus. The Belarusian dictator, derided by the

opposition as “the cockroach” after clinging

to power since 1994, is more isolated. Even

Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to

dislike him.

The persistent protests in Belarus get little

attention, but they’re inspiring. Dissident

blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky announced a

year ago that he planned to challenge Lukash-

enko in last August’s presidential elections.

When he was arrested two days later, his wife,

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, stepped up and ran

on her own.

Tikhanovskaya ran a rousing campaign

and claimed she won in August with 60% to

70% of the vote. Lukashenko, the perennial in-

cumbent, insisted he had triumphed by 80%

and promptly arrested all the members of the

coordination council the opposition had

formed to manage the transfer of power.

The protests began, tens of thousands in the

streets, waving the red-and-white banner of

the opposition. Huge crowds of Belarusian

patriots faced down the security forces,

chanting “Stop the cockroach!” Lukashenko

arrested an estimated 35,000 people.

The protests continued, but more carefully.

Displaying the opposition’s colors in the

streets could mean immediate arrest, so Bela-

rusians began hanging their laundry in red-

and-white patterns or wearing red-and-white

socks. Dissident journalist Ihar Losik had

been arrested in June 2020, but Protasevich

continued a blog called Nexta on the encrypt-

ed social media app Telegram. The KGB beat

and arrested people, but thejournalists and

their followers continued to share the truth.

That’s what led to Sunday’s appalling diver-

sion of the Ryanair jet and Protasevich’s ar-

rest when he landed. The autocratic rulers

couldn’t find any other way. It’s the same ba-

sic story as the October 2018 murder of dis-

sident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a

Washington Post contributing columnist, by a

hit team approved by Crown Prince Mo-

hammed bin Salman. Who appears desperate

and frightened in these attacks? It’s the thugs,

who can’t stop dissenters except by kidnap-

ping them.

Protasevich didn’t get on that flight from

Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, intend-

ing to be a martyr. He was a journalist living in

exile, traveling from one EU city to another.

But he was persisting in his job of running his

news channel, despite the wave of arrests

back home.

One American who has met with Protasev-

ich recently explained: “What I took away is

that he is committed to the integrity of the

journalistic profession. He’s willing to work in

the most dire situation. This isn’t just a hobby

for him. It’s a mission to provide information

direct to the people.”

The Russian response to the skyjacking

from Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria

Zakharova was cynical — but essential read-

ing. “It is shocking that the West calls the in-

cident in Belarusian airspace ‘shocking,’ ”

she wrote on Facebook. She cited the forced

landing in Austria in 2013 of a Bolivian jet

thought to be carrying NSA leaker Edward

Snowden. She could have mentioned other

cases where the U.S. tried to force down other

civilian flights that were believed to be carry-

ing terrorists.

There’s a battle taking place around the

world between autocratic leaders and young

activists who want the freedom to speak free-

ly. You can see it in Russia, China, Turkey,

Saudi Arabia, Egypt — and scores of other

countries, most definitely including Belarus.

The Biden administration sees this as a

fight to maintain a rules-based order, instead

of lawless thugocracy. But if it wants to lead

this campaign, the United States can’t be hyp-

ocritical. Every bad thing we do as a nation

gets copied by nations with fewer scruples.

America wages drone warfare against al-Qia-

da; Azerbaijan wages it against Armenian

fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh; America con-

ducts “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist

suspects; Saudi Arabia and Belarus kidnap or

murder dissenting journalists.

President Joe Biden wants to contest the

authoritarians without a new Cold War. He

will set the stage when he meets Putin on June

16 in Geneva. Diplomatic sources say he wise-

ly dispensed with some baggage last week by

quietly granting a 90-day waiver on sanctions

that otherwise would have been imposed

against German companies for violating a

ban on aiding Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline.

Better to keep the focus on our adversaries,

rather than picking a fight with Germany, a

faithful ally. Here’s a suggestion for Biden

when he meets Putin. Wear red and white

socks, as a reminder of which side he’s on.

The barrier of fear is breaking in BelarusBY DAVID IGNATIUS

Washington Post Writers Group

“Why all the fuss?”

That is how retired

U.S. Army Col. Ralph

Puckett reacted when

he learned he was to receive the Medal of

Honor for his extraordinary bravery and ef-

fectiveness in combat during the Korean

War. The modesty befits the man, and re-

flects his selflessness, a distinctive human

virtue.

Memorial Day is a fitting time to honor

him, along with the men and women in our

military who gave their lives. This special

day originated shortly after our Civil War as

Decoration Day.

From the beginning, parades have been

an important feature. From ancient times,

surviving warriors are viewed as closely as-

sociated with comrades who died.

Col. Puckett may not be a “household

name” across America, but he is a legend-

ary and inspirational figure within the U.S.

Army. His extraordinary career highlights

the strong dedication military service can

develop, in distinctive ways.

The Korean War began in late June 1950

when North Korean forces invaded South

Korea. U.S. President Harry Truman im-

mediately decided to support the United

Nations effort to defeat the invasion. Presi-

dent Dwight Eisenhower achieved an armi-

stice in July 1953.

In late 1950, enormous numbers of the

People’s Liberation Army of China inter-

vened. The offensive surprised U.N. com-

mander Gen. Douglas MacArthur and staff,

and serious reversals followed.

This was the situation on the ground

when young 1st Lt. Puckett, in command of

the Eighth Army Ranger Company, was or-

dered to occupy Hill 205. They secured the

strategically important high ground but

were under heavy fire, and cut off.

Puckett’s leadership proved vital. He re-

peatedly exposed himself to enemy fire in

order to survey terrain and protect his men.

The Rangers held the hill against five

massive human wave attacks. Puckett ulti-

mately ordered his men to retreat from

what had become an untenable position.

Badly wounded, he told his men to leave

him. They refused to do so. For his actions in

that battle, he received the Distinguished

Service Cross, which has now been upgrad-

ed to the Medal of Honor.

During the Vietnam War, Puckett again

served in combat in command. He dis-

played comparable courage and leader-

ship.

On May 21, President Joe Biden awarded

Puckett the Medal of Honor at a ceremony

at the White House. In attendance was

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who

was visiting Washington to meet with Bi-

den. This is the first time the leader of a for-

eign government has attended a Medal of

Honor ceremony.

Holding the ceremony during Moon’s vis-

it is admirable. That war forged the impor-

tant, enduring alliance between our two

peoples. The Korean War also transformed

the Cold War to a broadly global conflict.

As a very young man, Moon’s political ac-

tivism led to arrest and imprisonment. The

dictatorship of Park Chung-hee was merci-

less in punishing dissidence of any kind. Re-

flecting that experience, he decided to pur-

sue a career as a human rights lawyer.

This commitment to political activism

was balanced by dedication to military ser-

vice, going beyond what is required of

young men of military age in South Korea.

Moon also served in the Republic of Korea

(South Korea) Army. He joined the Special

Forces, and saw action in the DMZ (Demili-

tarized Zone) along the 38th Parallel that di-

vides North and South Korea.

South Korea maintained 50,000 troops in

South Vietnam during our long war there.

They reciprocated American help during

the Korean War.

Memorial Day is also an appropriate time

to reflect on the importance of those close

allies who aid us, in war and in peace.

Learn More: Ralph Puckett, “Ranger: A

Soldier’s Life.”

South Korea and the US: A hero’s exampleBY ARTHUR I. CYR

Special to Stars and Stripes

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at CarthageCollege and author of “After the Cold War — American ForeignPolicy, Europe and Asia.”

Thursday, May 27, 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 • Thursday, May 27, 2021

ACROSS

1 Buddy

4 Worry

8 Chumps

12 Somewhat (Suff.)

13 Move, in

Realtor-speak

14 Military group

15 Lab compound

17 Video-streaming

brand

18 Pub pint

19 Discovered

21 Lustrous

24 Dead heat

25 Citric beverage

26 Society new-

comer

28 “Speed-the-

Plow” playwright

32 Evergreens

34 — de plume

36 Entice

37 Follow

39 “Uh-huh”

41 Command

to Rover

42 Vigor

44 Small beard

46 Theater seat

feature

50 Gun lobby org.

51 Justice

Sotomayor’s garb

52 Migraine

56 Mosque leader

57 Teen’s woe

58 Attila, notably

59 Church area

60 Spinning sound

61 Conceit

DOWN

1 Karaoke prop,

for short

2 Fire sign?

3 Scam artists

4 Chum

5 Fun and games

6 Mideast airline

7 Apartment sign

8 Dreamlike

9 Shortly

10 Toll road

11 Poker variety

16 Roman 1051

20 Goal

21 Ump’s call

22 Tennis score

23 Longing

27 Lad

29 Steve Harvey

facial feature

30 One of HOMES

31 Head, to Henri

33 Paramount

35 Jo’s sister

38 Shoe width

40 Think about

43 “Hogwash!”

45 Notre Dame’s

Parseghian

46 Met melody

47 Easy win

48 Many corp.

recruits

49 Georgia or Cal

53 Blackbird

54 Embrace

55 Rock’s Brian

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

Thursday, May 27, 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 • Thursday, May 27, 2021

FACES

The elevator pitch for Zack Snyder’s “Army ofthe Dead” would read something like this: “28Days Later…” meets “Oceans 11.” But watch-

ing the film reveals more than a Las Vegas zombieheist thriller as layers of subtext emerge reflectingcurrent social issues.

Building a wall to contain people, detainmentcamps, quarantining those suspected of carrying thezombie virus, and political debate are just a few refer-ences that play a role in the story.

“I felt like to really do the genre correctly, socialcommentary is at its heart and at its roots,” said Snyd-er, who directed, co-wrote the screenplay and shot thefilm.

Known for his strong visual

style in blockbusters like “300”

and “Justice League,” it was a

zombie flick that Snyder cut his

teeth on as a director with the 2004

remake of “Dawn of the Dead.”

He credits the film’s original di-

rector, George A. Romero, with

using the undead to tell more than

just a scary story. “Romero really

took the zombie genre and made

great social commentary,” Snyder

said.

Romero’s 1968 cult classic

“Night of the Living Dead” — and

subsequent films in the series —

tackled a barrage of issues includ-

ing, racism, nuclear war and con-

sumerism.

In “Army of the Dead,” a wall

built around Las Vegas to contain

the zombie outbreak keeps that

tradition alive, mirroring the de-

bate over building a wall at the

U.S. southern border.

“We were building a wall. We

were creating these refugee

camps,” Snyder said. “We needed

to kind of use those things to hold

up a mirror to ourselves.”

Yet, the wall motif did not begin

as a political statement. Snyder

claims it was more a function of

the plot to keep the zombies in one

place until the social implications

emerged.

“Once you erect a giant wall

around a city, you really find your-

self referencing all kinds of laws

that have been created for all dif-

ferent reasons. And I think your

awareness of those things really is

important,” Snyder said.

For German actor Matthias

Schweighofer, that element of the

story touched a nerve.

“I was born behind a wall in the

east of Germany and the wall

came down and I always thought

as I traveled through the world, ‘I

don’t want a wall back in my life. I

don’t want any borders back,’” he

said.

In the film, the zombies are

“contained” in Las Vegas so the

military can drop a low-level nu-

clear bomb to rid the world of the

threat. A rich businessman,

played by Japanese actor Hiroyu-

ki Sanada, offers a team of merce-

naries a sizable fortune if they can

retrieve $200 million in a casino

vault.

Schweighofer plays a safe-

cracker alongside Omari Hard-

wicke. Other members of the team

who venture into the zombie-in-

fested quarantine zone include

“Narcos” actor Ana de la Reguera,

the multi-hyphenated Tig Notaro

and Dave Bautista.

Bautista called working on the

film the most fun he’d ever had on

any project, and he was equally

impressed with how Snyder ad-

dressed some of the issues we face

as a society.

The former WWE superstar

never thought much about the

zombie trope, until Snyder point-

ed out that they are people

stripped of their humanity “feed-

ing off of other human beings.”

“They just have no humanity

left. And I thought, ‘Man, that’s re-

ally terrifying.’ But also, like,

‘God, what a message. What a

metaphor,’” Bautista said.

But these are not your father’s

zombies. They’re faster, smarter

and organized, making the mis-

sion far more dangerous than

what you might see on “The Walk-

ing Dead.”

The film also stars Theo Rossi,

Huma Qureshi and Nora Arnezed-

er. While the zombies clearly rep-

resent a segment of society devoid

of humanity, it was the inclusive

nature of the team that made the

biggest impact for Bautista.

“If you really read into it, you’d

see a bunch of people who are

from all over the world of very dif-

ferent colors who are kind of

banding together just to survive,”

Bautista said.

“Army of the Dead,” in theaters

now, also is streaming on Netflix.

CHRIS PIZZELLO, INVISION/AP

Director Zack Snyder poses May 7 for a portrait on a virtual production stage featuring an apocalyptic LasVegas background to promote his new film “Army of the Dead” in El Segundo, Calif. 

Blending gore with metaphorZack Snyder mixes social commentaryinto zombie movie ‘Army of the Dead’

BY JOHN CARUCCI

Associated Press

Angelina Jolie criticized a judge

who is deciding on child custody in

her divorce with Brad Pitt, saying

in a court filing that the judge re-

fused to allow their children to tes-

tify.

Jolie, who has sought to disqual-

ify Judge John Ouderkirk from

the divorce case, said in the filing

Monday that he declined to hear

evidence she says is relevant to

the children’s safety and well-be-

ing before issuing a tentative rul-

ing. The documents don’t elabo-

rate on what that evidence may be.

“Judge Ouderkirk denied Ms.

Jolie a fair trial, improperly ex-

cluding her evidence relevant to

the children’s health, safety, and

welfare, evidence critical to mak-

ing her case,” according to the fil-

ing in California’s Second District

Court of Appeal.

Jolie sought a divorce in 2016,

days after a disagreement broke

out on private flight ferrying the

actors and their children from

France to Los Angeles. Pitt was

accused of being abusive toward

his then-15-year-old son during

the flight, but investigations by

child welfare officials and the FBI

were closed with no charges being

filed against the actor. Jolie’s at-

torney said at the time that she

sought a divorce “for the health of

the family.”

Jolie, 45, and Pitt, 57, were

among Hollywood’s most promi-

nent couples for 12 years. They

had been married for two years

when Jolie filed for divorce.

They were declared divorced in

April 2019, after their lawyers

asked for a judgment that allowed

a married couple to be declared

single while other issues re-

mained, including finances and

child custody.

Fox making news shows

available to streamFox News is now making Tuck-

er Carlson, Sean Hannity and Lau-

ra Ingraham available to watch 24

hours a day, seven days a week.

The company said Tuesday that

it will begin offering subscribers

to its streaming service — Fox Na-

tion — reruns of the three prime-

time programs on Fox News

Channel starting the day after

they air.

Although Fox Nation currently

offers audio-only versions of these

programs, this makes it the first

time the streaming service will of-

fer full Fox News television shows

on its platform. The shows will be-

come available starting June 2.

Other news■ The Nielsen company’s latest

rankings of popular television and

streaming shows have one thing in

common — “NCIS” at the top. The

CBS drama starring Mark Har-

mon as a Naval Criminal Investi-

gative Service special agent has

been on the air since 2003 and de-

fines unhip. Yet the 8.7 million

people who watched last Tues-

day’s episode was a bigger audi-

ence than anything else in prime-

time television last week, Nielsen

said. The company also measures

streaming audiences, although its

reports lag behind the television

ratings. Its most recent week

available was April 19-25, and an

estimated 890 million minutes of

“NCIS” reruns were streamed on

Netflix that week.

■ Disney’s iconic “Winnie the

Pooh”will travel from the forest to

find a home off-Broadway this fall.

“Winnie the Pooh: The New Musi-

cal Adaptation” opens Oct. 21 at

Time Square’s Theater Row.

Jolie criticizes judge for not letting children testify in custody caseAssociated Press

Jolie Pitt

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

SCOREBOARD/SPORTS BREIFS

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

New York 5 1 .833 —

Connecticut 5 1 .833 —

Chicago 2 2 .500 2

Atlanta 2 2 .500 2

Washington 2 3 .400 2½

Indiana 1 5 .167 4

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Seattle 4 1 .800 —

Las Vegas 2 2 .500 1½

Phoenix 2 2 .500 1½

Dallas 1 2 .333 2

Minnesota 0 3 .000 3

Los Angeles 0 2 .000 2½

Tuesday’s games

Washington 85, Indiana 69Atlanta 90, Chicago 83Seattle 90, Connecticut 87, OT

Wednesday’s games

Las Vegas at PhoenixThursday’s games

Dallas at AtlantaFriday’s games

Washington at ConnecticutLos Angeles at ChicagoMinnesota at SeattleIndiana at Las Vegas

PRO SOCCER

MLS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 4 1 2 14 10 7

Orlando City 3 0 3 12 7 2

Philadelphia 3 2 2 11 6 5

Nashville 2 0 4 10 7 4

Atlanta 2 1 3 9 7 5

NYCFC 2 2 2 8 11 6

CF Montréal 2 3 2 8 9 9

Columbus 2 2 2 8 5 5

Inter Miami CF 2 3 2 8 8 10

New York 2 4 0 6 8 9

D.C. United 2 5 0 6 5 11

Toronto FC 1 3 2 5 7 10

Chicago 1 4 1 4 4 10

Cincinnati 1 3 1 4 6 14

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 5 0 2 17 14 3

Sporting KC 4 2 1 13 12 8

LA Galaxy 4 2 0 12 10 11

Houston 3 2 2 11 9 9

Colorado 3 2 1 10 9 8

Portland 3 3 0 9 9 8

San Jose 3 4 0 9 11 11

Real Salt Lake 2 1 2 8 8 6

LAFC 2 2 2 8 7 7

Vancouver 2 4 1 7 6 9

Austin FC 2 4 0 6 5 8

Minnesota 2 4 0 6 5 10

FC Dallas 1 2 3 6 8 8

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday, May 22

Cincinnati 2, CF Montréal 1Portland 3, LA Galaxy 0Chicago 1, Miami 0Orlando City 1, Toronto FC 0Columbus 2, New York City FC 1New England 3, New York 1Real Salt Lake 2, FC Dallas 2, tieHouston 2, Vancouver 1Sporting Kansas City 3, San Jose 1Los Angeles FC 2, Colorado 1

Sunday, May 23

Atlanta 1, Seattle 1, tiePhiladelphia 1, D.C. United 0Nashville 1, Austin FC 0

Saturday’s games

CF Montréal at ChicagoOrlando City at New YorkNew England at CincinnatiToronto FC at ColumbusNashville at AtlantaNew York City FC at Los Angeles FCSan Jose at LA GalaxyD.C. United at MiamiHouston at Sporting Kansas CityFC Dallas at ColoradoMinnesota at Real Salt Lake

Sunday’s games

Portland at PhiladelphiaAustin FC at Seattle

TENNIS

Strasbourg InternationalTuesday

At Strasbourg, FrancePurse: Euro 189,708Surface: Red clayWomen’s Singles

Round of 32Jule Niemeier, Germany, def. Diane Par-

ry, France, 6-4, 6-3.Arantxa Rus, Netherlands, def. Jessica

Pegula (2), United States, 6-4, 6-4.Shelby Rogers (7), United States, def.

Christina McHale, United States, 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-5.

Harmony Tan, France, def. Alison vanUytvanck, Belgium, 6-4, 6-4.

Round of 16Bianca Andreescu (1), Canada, def. Ma-

ryna Zanevska, Belgium, 6-1, 6-4.Magda Linette (8), Poland, def. Alize Cor-

net, France, 7-6 (2), 3-0, ret.Women’s Doubles

Round of 16Renata Voracova, Czech Republic, and

Miyu Kato, Japan, def. Jessika Ponchet andEstelle Cascino, France, 6-3, 6-3.

Elixane Lechemia, France, and IngridNeel, United States, def. Sabrina Santama-ria and Kaitlyn Christian, U.S., 6-2, 6-0.

Zhang Shuai and Xu Yifan (4), China, def.Clara Burel and Diane Parry, France, 7-5,7-6 (4).

QuarterfinalsZhaoxuan Yang, China, and Makoto Ni-

nomiya, Japan, def. Latisha Chan and Hao-Ching Chan (2), Taiwan, 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.

to May 23. Signed OF Jorge Bonifacio to aminor league contract.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Recalled RHPCody Ponce from Indianapolis (Triple-AEast). Optioned RHP Kyle Keller to Indiana-polis.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Recalled 1BJohn Nogowski from Memphis (Triple-AEast). Placed CF Harrison Bader on the 10-day IL. Sent LHP Andrew Miller to Memphis(Triple-A East) on a rehab assignment.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — RecalledINF Luis Garcia from Rochester (Triple-AEast).

FOOTBALLNational Football League

NBA — Fined Dallas F Kristaps Porzings$50,000 for violating league rules.

ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed CB TayGowan and OLB Victor Dimukeje to fouryear contracts. Signed TE Ross Travis.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Signed OT AlexLeatherwood. Waived OT Kamaal Sey-mour.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed OLB Eler-son Smith.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed DT Wil-lie Henry. Waived LB Joe Bachie.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Signed RB Na-jee Harris and TE Pat Freiermuth to four-year contracts.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Signed OLBElerson Smith. Announced C Weston Rich-burg is retiring.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed TE CamSutton to a contract.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Re-signedWR Antonio Brown. Signed CB Dee Dela-ney.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM —Signed TE Ricky Seals-Jones.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

NHL — Fined Tampa Bay F Pat Maroon$3,879.31 for unsportsmanlike conductduring a May 24 game against Florida.Fined Tampa Bay D Ryan McDonagh $5,000for cross-checking Florida F MasonMarchment during a May 24 game againstFlorida.

COLORADO AVALANCHE — Assigned FTravis Barron to Utah (ECHL).

Tuesday's transactionsBASEBALL

American LeagueBOSTON RED SOX — Reinstated INF

Christian Arroyo from 10-day IL.CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Sent CF Adam

Engel to Charlotte (Triple-A East) on a re-hab assignment.

CLEVELAND INDIANS — Agreed to termswith RHP Kevin Herget on a minor leaguecontract.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Signed RHP JonOlczak to a minor league contract.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Activated SSAdalberto Mondesi from the 10-day IL.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Placed 2B D.J. Le-Mahieu on the paternity list.

TEXAS RANGERS — Placed RHP Kyle Gib-son on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 22.Placed RHP Hunter Wood on the 10-day IL,retroactive to May 23. Recalled LHP WesBenjamin and RHP Demarcus Evans fromRound Rock (Triple-A West).

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Recalled

RHP Jon Duplantier from Reno (Triple-AWest). Placed RHP Taylor Widener on the10-day IL, retroactive to May 24.

CHICAGO CUBS — Designated RHP JasonAdam for assignment. Placed 3B Matt Duf-fy on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 23.Selected the contract of 3B Patrick Wis-dom from Iowa (Triple-A East).

COLORADO ROCKIES — Activated LHPKyle Freeland from the 10-day IL. OptionedLHP Lucas Gilbreath to Albuquerque (Tri-ple-A West).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Claimed RFJake Hager off waivers from New YorkMets. Optioned RF Jake Hager and OF Ty-rone Taylor to Nashville (Triple-A East).Activated RHP Eric Yardley from 10-day IL.

NEW YORK METS — Activated RHP JacobdeGrom from the 10-day IL. Placed RHPJordan Yamamoto on the 10-day IL, retro-active tp May 24. Acquired OF Billy McKin-ney from Milwaukee in exchange for LHPPedro Quintana. Transfered RHP JordanYamamoto to the 60-day IL.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Activated CFRoman Quinn from the 10-day IL. Placed RFBryce Harper on the 10-day IL, retroactive

DEALS

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

NCAA Division I Super Regionals(Best-of-three; x-if necessary)

Host school is home team for Game 1;visiting school is home team for Game 2;coin flip determines home team for Game3

At Norman, Okla.Oklahoma vs. Washington

Friday: Oklahoma (48-2) vs. Washington(45-12)

Saturday: Oklahoma vs. Washingtonx-Sunday: Oklahoma vs. Washington

At Tuscaloosa, Ala.Alabama vs. Kentucky

Friday: Alabama (48-7) vs. Kentucky (43-14)

Saturday: Alabama vs. Kentuckyx-Sunday: Alabama vs. Kentucky

At Columbia, Mo.Missouri vs. James Madison

Friday: Missouri (41-15) vs. James Madi-son (37-1)

Saturday: Missouri vs. James Madisonx-Sunday: Missouri vs. James Madison

At Fayetteville, Ark.Arkansas vs. Arizona

Friday: Arkansas (43-9) vs. Arizona (39-13)

Saturday: Arkansas vs. Arizonax-Sunday: Arkansas vs. Arizona

At Stillwater, Okla.Oklahoma St. vs. Texas

Friday: Oklahoma St. (45-9) vs. Texas(42-12)

Saturday: Oklahoma St. vs. Texasx-Sunday: Oklahoma St. vs. Texas

At Baton RougeLSU vs. Florida St.

Friday: LSU (35-20) vs. Florida St. (42-10-1)

Saturday: LSU vs. Florida St.x-Sunday: LSU vs. Florida St.

At Gainesville, Fla.Florida vs. Georgia

Friday: Florida (45-9) vs. Georgia (32-21)Saturday: Florida vs. Georgiax-Sunday: Florida vs. Georgia

At Los AngelesUCLA vs. Virginia Tech

Friday: UCLA (44-4) vs. Virginia Tech (36-13)

Saturday: UCLA vs. Virginia Techx-Sunday: UCLA vs. Virginia Tech

COLLEGE BASEBALL

USA Today Coaches PollThe USA TODAY Sports Top 25 baseballpoll, with team's records through Sundayin parentheses, total points based on 25for first place through one point for 25th,ranking in last week's poll and first-placevotes received:

Record Pts Pvs

1. Arkansas (32) 42-10 800 1

2. Texas 40-13 746 3

3. Vanderbilt 39-13 736 2

4. Tennessee 42-14 695 4

5. Texas Tech 35-13 634 5

6. Mississippi State 40-13 621 6

7. Arizona 38-14 602 10

8. Notre Dame 29-10 577 9

9. Oregon 35-13 498 7

10. East Carolina 38-13 474 11

11. Mississippi 38-17 467 12

12. Stanford 31-13 452 15

13. Florida 35-19 427 8

14. TCU 36-16 360 13

15. UC Irvine 36-16 239 22

16. Southern Miss 35-17 230 17

17. NC State 28-15 215 24

18. Gonzaga 32-15 210 20

19. Charlotte 39-17 201 19

20. Louisiana Tech 36-16 200 14

21. Old Dominion 38-14 133 25

22. Florida State 29-21 111 16

23. Arizona State 32-17 110 —

24. South Carolina 33-20 106 18

25. Nebraska 29-11 104 —

Dropped out: No. 21 UCLA (32-18); No. 23Louisville (27-21).

Others receiving votes: Liberty (37-12)66; UCLA (32-18) 58; Miami (32-17) 55; Okla-homa State (32-16) 54; Georgia Tech (28-21) 34; Fairfield (35-1) 31; Louisville (27-21)19; UC Santa Barbara (35-18) 19; LSU (34-21) 17; Oregon State (33-20) 17; WrightState (32-11) 13; Michigan (26-15) 12; Dal-las Baptist (33-15) 11; Connecticut (30-16)9; Grand Canyon (36-19) 7; Maryland (26-15) 7; Virginia (27-22) 5; Campbell (33-14) 4;VCU (34-14) 4; Northeastern (32-9) 3; SanDiego (31-11) 2; Wofford (35-19) 2; CentralMichigan (36-16) 1; Indiana (24-16) 1; USCUpstate (37-14) 1.

AP SPORTLIGHT

May 27

1823 — A $20,000 match race betweenAmerican Eclipse (representing TheNorth) and Henry (representing TheSouth) is held at Union Course, Long Is-land, N.Y. American Eclipse wins in two-of-three heats, after his original jockey, Wil-liam Crafts, is replaced by Samuel Purdybefore the second heat. The race, wit-nessed by 60,000 spectators, is the first tohave been timed by split-second chro-nometers, which were imported for theevent.

1873 — Survivor is the winner of the firstPreakness Stakes.

1975 — The Philadelphia Flyers win theirsecond straight Stanley Cup with a 2-0 vic-tory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6.

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Fal-

cons began their offseason train-

ing program Tuesday without

longtime star receiver Julio Jones,

who apparently has no intention of

returning to a rebuilding team

that is still struggling to get under

the salary cap.

Rookie coach Arthur Smith was

tight-lipped about the Falcons’ op-

tions, but insisted that he doesn’t

begrudge Jones for making public

his desire to play elsewhere.

“We encourage our players to

speak for themselves,” Smith said

during an interview session dom-

inated by questions about Jones’

future. “We’ve had multiple pri-

vate conversations with our play-

ers. Those conversations will re-

main private on my end.”

After plenty of questions about

the seven-time Pro Bowler who,

along with Matt Ryan, has been

the face of the franchise for the

past decade, Jones brought the sit-

uation to a head in a brief inter-

view Monday with former NFL

star Shannon Sharpe.

“I’m outta there,” Jones told the

host of “Undisputed” on FS1.

When asked where he wants to

play, the 32-year-old replied,

“Right now, I wanna win.”

That seems unlikely with the

Falcons, who are coming off their

third straight losing season. Atlan-

ta fired coach Dan Quinn and gen-

eral manager Thomas Dimitroff

after an 0-5 start to a year that end-

ed at 4-12.

Smith and new general manag-

er Terry Fontenot have made it

clear that all options are on the ta-

ble as they attempt to rebuild the

roster and deal with troublesome

salary cap limitations, which

could be eased greatly by trading

Jones.

Japan newspaper calls

for Olympic cancellationTOKYO — Japan’s Asahi Shim-

bun newspaper on Wednesday

called for the Tokyo Olympics to

be canceled with the games set to

open in less than two months.

It is the first of Japan’s major

newspapers to make the move and

joins some regional newspapers

that have recently added to the

growing opposition to holding the

Olympics.

Coming out against the Olym-

pics could be significant since the

newspaper, like many in Japan, is

a sponsor of the postponed Tokyo

Games that are scheduled to open

on July 23. Asahi is typically liber-

al-leaning and often opposes the

ruling party led by Prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga.

“We cannot think it’s rational to

host the Olympics in the city this

summer,” the newspaper said in

its editorial under a headline that

read: “We Demand PM Suga De-

cide Cancellation.”

“Distrust and backlash against

the reckless national government,

Tokyo government and stakehold-

ers in the Olympics are nothing

but escalating,” the editorial add-

ed. “We demand Prime Minister

Suga to calmly evaluate the cir-

cumstances and decide the can-

cellation of the summer event.”

Asahi has a morning circulation

reported at 5.16 million, and 1.55

million for its evening edition. It is

second in circulation behind Yo-

miuri Shimbun, and subsequently

is the second largest circulating

newspaper in the world behind

Yomiuri.

Senior Bowl, NFL

to hold HBCU combineMOBILE, Ala. — The Senior

Bowl and the NFL will hold a pre-

draft combine for top prospects

from Historically Black College

and Universities next January.

The inaugural HBCU combine,

scheduled for Jan. 28-29 in 2022,

will be similar to the NFL combine

with interviews and on-field and

medical evaluations.

It will be held at the University

of South Alabama and feature se-

lect players from four HBCU con-

ferences — the Southwestern Ath-

letic Conference, the Mid-Eastern

Athletic Conference, the Southern

Intercollegiate Athletic Confer-

ence and the Central Intercolle-

giate Athletic Conference — and

other HBCU institutions.

The first scheduled HBCU com-

bine was postponed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

An HBCU Scouting Committee,

comprised of current and former

league executives, will evaluate

and select the participants. The

Senior Bowl will provide medical

and football personnel to collect

pre-draft information.

The game is scheduled for Feb.

5, 2022.

No HBCU players were drafted

in 2021, and the only one picked in

2020 went in the seventh round.

BRIEFLY

Falcons’ Smithtight-lipped aboutWR Jones’ future

Associated Press

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

NBA PLAYOFFS

Playoffs

Play­inPlay­in First RoundEastern Conference

Tuesday, May 18Indiana 144, Charlotte 117Boston 118, Washington 100

Western ConferenceWednesday, May 19

Memphis 100, San Antonio 96L.A. Lakers 103, Golden State 100

Play­in Second RoundEastern Conference

Thursday, May 20Washington 142, Indiana 115

Western ConferenceFriday, May 21

Memphis 117, Golden State 112 (OT)First Round

(Best­of­seven)x­if necessary

Eastern ConferencePhiladelphia 1,Washington 0

Philadelphia 125, Washington 118Wednesday: at PhiladelphiaSaturday: at Washington Monday: at Washington x­Wednesday, June 2: at Philadelphia x­Friday, June 4: at Washington x­Sunday, June 6: at Philadelphia 

Brooklyn 2, Boston 0Brooklyn 104, Boston 93Tuesday: �Brooklyn 130, Boston 108Friday: �at BostonSunday: �at Bostonx­Tuesday, June 1: at Brooklynx­Thursday, June 3: at Bostonx­Saturday, June 5: �at Brooklyn

Milwaukee 2, Miami 0Milwaukee 109, Miami 107 (OT)Milwaukee 132, Miami 98Thursday: �at MiamiSaturday: �at Miamix­Tuesday, June 1: �at Milwaukee x­Thursday, June 3: �at Miami x­Saturday, June 5: �at Milwaukee 

Atlanta 1, New York 0Atlanta 107, �New York 105Wednesday: �at New YorkFriday: at AtlantaSunday: at Atlantax­Wednesday, June 2: at New York x­Friday, June 4: at Atlantax­Sunday, June 6: at New York

Western ConferenceMemphis 1, Utah 0

Memphis 112, �Utah 109Wednesday: at UtahSaturday: at MemphisMonday: at Memphisx­Wednesday, June 2: at Utahx­Friday, June 4: at Memphisx­Sunday, June 6: at Utah

Phoenix 1, �L.A. Lakers 1Phoenix 99, L.A. Lakers 90Tuesday: L.A. Lakers 109, Phoenix 102Thursday: at L.A. LakersSunday: at L.A. LakersTuesday, June 1: at Phoenix x­Thursday, June 3: at L.A. Lakers x­Saturday, June 5: �at Phoenix 

Portland 1, Denver 1Portland 123, Denver 109Denver 128, Portland 109Thursday: at PortlandSaturday: at PortlandTuesday, June 1: at Denver x­Thursday, June 3: at Portland x­Saturday, June 5: at Denver 

Dallas 2, L.A. Clippers �0Dallas 113, �L.A. Clippers 103Tuesday: �Dallas 127, L.A. Clippers 121Friday: �at DallasSunday: �at Dallasx­Wednesday, June 2: �at L.A. Clippers x­Friday, June 4: �at Dallas x­Sunday, June 6: �at L.A. Clippers

ScoreboardNEW YORK — Brooklyn is

more than just its Big Three.

There’s also Joe Harris and his

threes.

Even if a team can contain Ke-

vin Durant, Kyrie Irving and

James Harden, it still has to stop

the NBA’s most accurate three-

point shooter.

That’s a lot of problems to solve,

and Harris understands why

teams don’t make him the priority.

“I think it’s just sort of, this is the

reality of the matter,” Harris said.

“I mean, we have three of the best

offensive players that really have

ever played.”

Harris tied a franchise playoff

record with seven three-pointers,

Durant scored 26 points and the

Nets routed the Boston Celtics 130-

108 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead

in their first-round playoff series.

Harris had a career playoff-high

25 points and Harden added 20 as

Brooklyn unleashed its lethal of-

fense after winning Game 1 large-

ly with defense.

“Different games it’s going to be

different guys,” Harden said. “To-

night it was Joe, next game, Game

3 it could be somebody else. So

we’re just all locked in, we’re all on

the same page and whatever it

takes to win, we’re willing to do.”

Game 3 is Friday in Boston,

where the Nets will attempt to

build on their first 2-0 lead in a se-

ries since they swept the New

York Knicks in the first round in

2004.

This one might be headed to-

ward the same result, with the Cel-

tics unable to do much scoring in

Game 1 or stop Brooklyn from do-

ing tons of it in Game 2.

“We’ve got to be way better,”

coach Brad Stevens said, listing a

number of defensive problems

Boston has to address.

“They exposed that because

they were really good, but I was

disappointed in how we played

versus the other night.”

Marcus Smart scored 19 points

and Kemba Walker had 17 for the

Celtics. Leading scorer Jayson Ta-

tum had only nine points on 3-

for-12 shooting before leaving af-

ter just 21 minutes when he was

poked in the right eye.

After the Nets scored just 16

points in the first quarter of Game

1, Harris had that by himself in the

opening quarter of this one while

going 4-for-4 behind the arc.

Brooklyn had started slowly in

Game 1 and in the only game its

Big Three played together late in

the regular season, and on Mon-

day coach Steve Nash said he

thought it might be a while before

his three stars could walk on the

court and be firing on all cylinders.

It was only a day later for Har-

ris, who led the NBA in three-point

percentage at 47.5% this season.

Harris made three straight

three-pointers to extend a three-

point lead to 25-13 and there was a

little gasp from the crowd when he

then stole the ball and dribbled

down on a breakaway, as if he

might pull up behind the arc. In-

stead, he went all the way for the

layup and a 14-point lead.

It was 40-26 after one period and

Harden made consecutive threes

to open the second.

Nets get 7 threesfrom Harris, routCeltics for 2-0 lead

BY BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

PHOENIX — The Los Angeles

Lakers were reeling late in the

fourth quarter on Tuesday night.

The Phoenix Suns had made a

big run, their home crowd was in

a frenzy and the defending NBA

champions were in danger of go-

ing down two games to none in

the first round.

LeBron James and Anthony

Davis weren’t about to let that

happen.

James made a turnaround 18-

foot jumper, Davis followed with

a three-pointer and the Lakers

held on for a hard-fought 109-102

win over the Suns in Game 2 of

the playoff series.

“This was a must win,” Davis

said. “We all came out with that

mindset and we were able to get

the job done.”

It was a big bounce-back game

for Los Angeles, and especially

Davis, who struggled in Game 1

and took personal responsibility

for the team’s 99-90 loss on Sun-

day. His crucial three-pointer

with 2:15 left on Tuesday put his

team up 98-92 and ended a late

Phoenix rally.

Davis made 18 of 21 free

throws and added 10 rebounds

and seven assists. James added

23 points and nine assists.

“Those are two of the top five

players in the NBA,” Lakers

coach Frank Vogel said. “We

have a formula where those guys

carry a big load, especially at

crunch time.”

James said he wasn’t sur-

prised Davis bounced back

quickly. He said the team made it

a point to get him involved as

much as possible.

“Get him the ball early, often

and always,” James said. “It’s

that simple.”

Game 3 is on Thursday in Los

Angeles and the team suddenly

has a lot of momentum.

“That’s what I came here for,”

James said. “To be able to play a

playoff game in front of the Lak-

ers faithful.”

Devin Booker led the Suns

with 31 points and made all 17 of

his free throws. DeAndre Ayton

had 22 points, 10 rebounds and

shot 11-for-13 from the field.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton dunks against Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis during thesecond half of the Lakers’ 109­102 win Tuesday in Phoenix in Game 2 of a first­round playoff series.

Davis, Lakers bounce backto beat Suns in Game 2

BY DAVID BRANDT

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A familiar

face sat behind the Dallas Maver-

icks’ bench. Dirk Nowitzki, who

led the franchise to its only cham-

pionship in 2011 during his 21 sea-

sons, came to see his old franchise

that hasn’t won a playoff series

since its title.

Led by Luka Doncic, this edition

is looking pretty good.

“I certainly believe him being

there tonight was a lucky charm

for us,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle

said.

Doncic scored 39 points, Tim

Hardaway Jr. added 28 and Dallas

again outshot the NBA’s best

three-point team in a 127-121 victo-

ry over the Los Angeles Clippers

on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead

in the first-round playoff series.

“We can’t rest,” Hardaway said.

“We know what they’re capable

of.”

Kristaps Porzingis added 20

points and Maxi Kleber had 13.

Hardaway hit a playoff career-

high six three-pointers and Doncic

had five as the fifth-seeded Mavs

were 18-for-34 from long-range.

They made 17 three-pointers in

winning Game 1 on Saturday.

“The mentality was, go out

there, play aggressive, have fun,”

Doncic said.

The fourth-seeded Clippers

were led by Kawhi Leonard, who

scored 30 of his 41 in the first half.

Doncic, Mavs go up 2-0 on ClippersBY BETH HARRIS

Associated Press

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP

Mavericks guard Luka Doncichad 39 points in his team’s winTuesday at Los Angeles.

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

NHL PLAYOFFS

First round

(Best-of-seven; x-if necessary)

Carolina 3, Nashville 2

Carolina 5, Nashville 2Carolina 3, Nashville 0Nashville 5, Carolina 4, 2OTNashville 4, Carolina 3, 2OTTuesday: Carolina 3, Nashville 2, OTThursday: Carolina at Nashvillex-Saturday: Nashville at Carolina

Tampa Bay 3, Florida 2

Tampa Bay 5, Florida 4Tampa Bay 3, Florida 1Florida 6, Tampa Bay 5, OTTampa Bay 6, Florida 2Florida 4, Tampa Bay 1Wednesday: Florida at Tampa Bayx-Friday: Tampa Bay at Florida

Boston 4, Washington 1

Washington 3, Boston 2, OTBoston 4, Washington 3, OTBoston 3, Washington 2, 2OTBoston 4, Washington 1Boston 3, Washington 1

N.Y. Islanders 3, Pittsburgh 2

N.Y. Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 3, OTPittsburgh 2, N.Y. Islanders 1Pittsburgh 5, N.Y. Islanders 4N.Y. Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 1N.Y. Islanders 3, Pittsburgh 2, 2OTWednesday: Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islandersx-Friday: N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh

Toronto 3, Montreal 1

Montreal 2, Toronto 1Toronto 5, Montreal 1Toronto 2, Montreal 1Tuesday: Toronto 4, Montreal 0Thursday: Montreal at Torontox-Saturday: Toronto at Montrealx-Monday: Montreal at Toronto

Winnipeg 4, Edmonton 0

Winnipeg 4, Edmonton 1Winnipeg 1, Edmonton 0, OTWinnipeg 5, Edmonton 4, OTWinnipeg 4, Edmonton 3, 3OT

Vegas 3, Minnesota 2

Minnesota 1, Vegas 0, OTVegas 3, Minnesota 1Vegas 5, Minnesota 2Vegas 4, Minnesota 0Minnesota 4, Vegas 2Wednesday: Vegas at Minnesotax-Friday: Minnesota at Vegas

Colorado 4, St. Louis 0

Colorado 4, St. Louis 1Colorado 6, St. Louis 3Colorado 5, St. Louis 1Colorado 5, St. Louis 2

ScoreboardMONTREAL — Alex Galcheny-

uk had plenty of memorable nights

inside the Bell Centre. His latest

standout performance pushed his

former team to the brink of playoff

elimination.

Galchenyuk set up two goals and

scored into the empty net against his

former team, Jack Campbell made

32 saves in his first playoff shutout,

and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat

the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on

Tuesday night for a 3-1 lead in their

first-round series.

“It’s the playoffs, man,” Galche-

nyuk said when asked if he still

speaks with anyone on the other

team. “You know what time it is

right now.

“There’s no friends.”

Galchenyuk was a healthy

scratch in Game 1 before coming in-

to the lineup when captain John Ta-

vares was injured in a scary colli-

sion.

“Whatever role our team asks

him to play, he comes in and does it

tremendously,” said Campbell. “It’s

not easy to come in and out of the li-

neup, but whenever he’s in, he’s giv-

en us a spark.”

Jason Spezza had a goal and an as-

sist and William Nylander and Joe

Thornton also scored for Toronto,

which can wrap up the best-of-sev-

en series at home Thursday in

Game 5. Alexander Kerfoot had

three assists.

“Scoring, defending, checking, all

the way through the lineup, the guys

dug down,” said Maple Leafs head

coach Sheldon Keefe. “A lot of great

efforts all the way.”

Carey Price stopped 24 shots for

Montreal. The Canadiens have

scored just four times in 12 periods

against Campbell in the first playoff

series between the teams since 1979.

“We’re playing against another

team,” Montreal head coach Do-

minique Ducharme said. “If we

were going 5-on-0, we’d go up and

down the ice the way we want.”

The Leafs, who won consecutive

postseason games in Montreal for

the first time since the 1967 Stanley

Cup Final on the heels of Monday’s

2-1 victory, haven’t advanced to the

second round since 2004.

Toronto is 11-1 all-time when lead-

ing a series 3-1 — a situation the Ma-

ple Leafs haven’t found themselves

in since 1987.

If the Canadiens can force a

Game 6 in Montreal on Saturday,

the Quebec government will allow

2,500 fans into the Bell Centre,

which would be the first NHL crowd

in Canada since the start of the CO-

VID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Leafs blank Habs,take 3-1 series lead

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Coach Rod Brind’Amour figured

the puck would eventually have to bounce the right

way for his Carolina Hurricanes.

Fittingly, his captain was ready when it did.

Jordan Staal scored off a rebound at 2:03 of overtime

to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 come-from-behind victory

over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, push-

ing Carolina to a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff se-

ries.

Staal was jostling for position just outside the crease

when Brett Pesce fired a shot toward Juuse Saros, who

made the stop and poked the puck forward. But Staal

batted it out of the air and past Saros into the net.

Staal gave a yell and immediately skated backward

with his arms outstretched until he reached the

boards, where his teammates mobbed him in front of a

roaring home crowd of 12,000.

“Not a whole lot of thoughts going through my mind

besides just wanting some bear hugs from the fellas,”

Staal said.

Staal’s score ended what was the third straight game

to go to extra time, with the Predators winning a pair of

grueling double-overtime contests in Games 3 and 4 in

the best-of-seven series. This one, however, moved the

Hurricanes within a win of closing it out and advancing

in the postseason.

They’ll get that chance on the road in Game 6 on

Thursday night.

Martin Necas scored twice for Carolina, which flirt-

ed with becoming the first team to lose on home ice in

the series. In addition to trailing midway through the

third period, it had a second-period goal disallowed af-

ter a Nashville challenge for goaltender interference.

“I think we got rewarded tonight,” Brind’Amour

said. “That’s the way I look at it. We finally got a

bounce, something that went our way that we really

haven’t had this series. So I think that was nice.”

Yakov Trenin scored twice to lead the Predators’ of-

fense. Saros finished with 34 saves after racking up 110

stops through the two double-overtime wins that knot-

ted the series at 2-2.

Once again, he repeatedly turned away clean looks

by the Hurricanes while his teammates clogged up

lanes to block shots or frustrate Carolina’s ability to get

traffic in front of Saros above the crease until Staal did

for the winner.

GERRY BROOME/AP

Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal, left, scores Tuesday against Nashville Predators goaltender JuuseSaros during overtime of Game 5 of the teams’ first­round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C. 

Hurricane warningStaal lifts Carolina in overtime of Game 5

BY AARON BEARD

Associated Press

Knight at 20 became the youngest goalie

to start an elimination game and allowed a

goal on the first shot he faced in his NHL

playoff debut Monday night. Then he stop-

ped the next 36 to keep the Panthers alive

against the Lightning.

“I just approached it like I did every other

hockey game,” Knight said. “I was a little

nervous, but then I just kind of thought and

remembered it’s just playing hockey and I

just tried to control what I can and just have

fun.”

Knight left little doubt he would start

again for Florida in another elimination

game Wednesday. The same goes for Ne-

and put up 12 points in 30 games, so his two

playoff goals haven’t been a surprise.

Confidence is oozing from Panthers roo-

kie forwards Owen Tippett and Mason

Marchment, who have combined for six

points. Florida would be out of the playoffs

if not for the duo and Knight.

There are other rookies playing well, too:

Colorado’s Alex Newhook, who played the

entire first-round sweep of St. Louis, and

Montreal’s Cole Caufield, who won the Ho-

bey Baker Award as the best college player

in the country and played well in Game 3

against Toronto.

me, greatness is about longevity,” Trotz

said. “Sidney Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin

and those guys have been really good play-

ers and elite players for a decade, and Ilya

hasn’t proved it yet in the league, but it’s a

good start.”

Kaprizov, the likely Calder Trophy win-

ner as rookie of the year, had a rough start to

the playoffs. The young Russian winger had

just one assist to show for Minnesota’s first

four games against Vegas before scoring a

big goal Monday to help the Wild stay alive.

The polar opposite to Kaprizov’s hype,

Colton has played an outsized role for the

Lightning compared to expectations. He

stepped in during the season amid injuries

deljkovic in net for the Hurricanes, despite

the 25-year-old starting just 23 games dur-

ing the season.

Stopping 142 of 153 Nashville shots for a

2.13 goals-against average and .928 save

percentage through four games was more

than enough for Nedeljkovic to stay in net.

Islanders coach Barry Trotz wouldn’t

think of taking Sorokin out after he stopped

48 of 50 Pittsburgh shots in a double-over-

time victory in Game 5, though veteran Se-

myon Varlamov carried the team at times

during the regular season. Trotz isn’t ready

to crown Sorokin yet, despite a 1.66 GAA

and .951 save percentage.

“He’s played well in this series, (but) to AP sports writer Pat Graham contributed to this report.

Puck: Rookie goaltender helps Panthers stave off eliminationFROM PAGE 24

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

NFL/MLB

CHICAGO — No arguing this:

Cowboy Joe is No. 1 on the chart.

Joe West set baseball’s umpir-

ing record when the Chicago

White Sox beat the St. Louis Car-

dinals 8-3 on Tuesday night. West

was behind the plate for his

5,376th regular-season game,

snapping a tie with Hall of Famer

Bill Klem.

West, who reached the majors

in 1976 and turns 69 on Oct. 31, got

his picture taken with his crew

before the game started. He also

posed for photos with managers

Tony La Russa of the White Sox

and Mike Shildt of the Cardinals.

After the lineup cards were ex-

changed, St. Louis pitcher Adam

Wainwright walked to the plate to

shake West’s hand.

West was visited by baseball

Commissioner Rob Manfred, for-

mer Commissioner Peter Ueber-

roth and White Sox owner Jerry

Reinsdorf. The ump’s supporters

in the crowd included country

music singer Emmylou Harris

and former NBA center Mark

Eaton, a conspicuous 7-foot-4 fig-

ure in the postgame picture with

West surrounded by an eclectic

group of connections from his

long career.

“It was tough to hold back a

tear or two, but Tom Hanks said

there is no crying in baseball, so

you can’t do it,” West said, refer-

ring to Hanks’ iconic line in the

movie “A League of Their Own.”

“It was a very nice thing,” he

said.

The White Sox recognized

West’s achievement on the score-

board, and then showed a video

with country music star Garth

Brooks and some of West’s for-

mer and current umpiring col-

leagues offering their congratu-

lations. The crowd responded

with mostly boos.

The San Diego Chicken mascot

was on hand, too, presenting West

with flowers during the game.

The colorful West is perhaps

the most famous umpire in major

league history, known for his

memorable run-ins with several

players and managers over the

years, to go along with at least one

executive. West said he will de-

cide at the end of the season if he

wants to keep working as an um-

pire.

He also fashions himself as a

country music singer and song-

writer, leading to the nicknames

“Cowboy Joe” and “Country

Joe.” The Oak Ridge Boys, mem-

bers of the Country Music Hall of

Fame and friends with West,

sung the national anthem before

his record-breaking game.

West began his big league ca-

reer at age 23, doing a handful of

games in the last month of the

1976 season. His first plate job in-

cluded Hall of Fame knuckleball-

er Phil Niekro throwing to young

Braves catcher Dale Murphy.

He has worked the World Se-

ries six times. He has 193 career

ejections — and West himself has

run afoul of Major League Base-

ball on occasion during his long

career.

During a 1990 brawl, West

body-slammed pitcher Dennis

Cook to the ground. After he was

thrown out by West during a 2018

game, White Sox shortstop Tim

Anderson said: “I don’t have

much to say about him. Everybo-

dy knows he’s terrible.”

Last year, West ejected Wash-

ington Nationals general manag-

er Mike Rizzo from an upstairs

suite in Atlanta for yelling and

complaining.

West was suspended for three

days without pay in 2017 after he

said in an interview that former

Texas Rangers third baseman

Adrián Beltré was baseball’s big-

gest complainer. West said he

was joking, and Beltré agreed.

He was awarded $500,000 last

month in a defamation suit

against former catcher Paul Lo

Duca. In his suit, among other

things, West contended Lo Duca

made false allegations that would

hurt his chances of being elected

to the Hall of Fame. There are

currently 10 umpires in the Hall.

West also has his share of fans.

La Russa called West “very con-

sistent.”

“It’s richly deserved, earned, to

hold the record,” said the 76-

year-old La Russa, a Hall of Fam-

er. “I mean you have Joe calling

the game, bases, but especially

behind the plate, you’re going to

get an outstanding major league

job.”

At the 2017 All-Star Game,

slugger Nelson Cruz came to the

plate, pulled out his phone and

had catcher Yadier Molina take a

picture of Cruz and plate umpire

West. Asked why, Cruz said:

“He’s a legend, you know?”

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST / AP

Umpire Joe West, second from right, broke the record for most regular­season games called by a majorleague umpire with No. 5,376 on Tuesday when the St. Louis Cardinals played at the Chicago White Sox.

West breaks MLB umpiringrecord with 5,376th game

BY JAY COHEN

Associated Presss 5,376Regular-season games umpired by JoeWest, which tops the MLB list.1. Joe West — 5,376 (NL, 1976—1999;MLB, 2002—present)2. Bill Klem — 5,375 (NL, 1905—1941)3. Bruce Froemming — 5,163 (NL,1971—1999; ML, 2000—2007)

Source: MLB.com

Packers quarterback Aaron

Rodgers’ teammates say the

MVP’s uncertain status won’t dis-

tract them in their offseason

preparations.

Rodgers hasn’t been present

for organized team activities this

week following an ESPN report

last month that he doesn’t want to

return to Green Bay. Rodgers

was noncommittal about his fu-

ture in an ESPN interview Mon-

day night.

“I don’t think it’s going to be

that much of a distraction,” de-

fensive tackle Kenny Clark said

Tuesday. “We’ve got to control

what we can control as a team,

and we’ve just to come out, prac-

tice, handle business and play

ball. You know, we’ve got to leave

that situation to the organization

and Aaron.”

Rodgers wasn’t the only nota-

ble Packer missing from Tues-

day’s OTA session. Most of his re-

ceivers also weren’t there, in-

cluding All-Pro Davante Adams.

Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur

said he didn’t know whether it

might have been a coordinated ef-

fort by the receivers to stay away.

“I’ve had individual conversa-

tions with each guy, but never

once has that come up,” LaFleur

said.

The NFL Players’ Association

has advised players against at-

tending voluntary workouts

while citing the risks inherent

amid the pandemic.

Although Rodgers wasn’t

around, he still dominated dis-

cussions as Packers players

spoke to reporters Tuesday.

Many of the questions focused on

the issues Rodgers addressed in

the interview that ESPN aired

Monday night.

“Love the coaching staff, love

my teammates, love the fan base

in Green Bay,” Rodgers said in

the interview. “An incredible 16

years. It’s just kind of about a phi-

losophy and maybe forgetting

that it is about the people that

make the thing go. It’s about char-

acter, it’s about culture, it’s about

doing things the right way.

“A lot of this was put in motion

last year and the wrench was just

kind of thrown into it when I won

MVP and played the way I played

last year. This is just kind of, I

think, a spill-out of all that. But it

is about the people, and that’s the

most important thing.”

Rodgers went on to reference

Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi,

Bart Starr, Brett Favre, Reggie

White and Mike Holmgren while

talking about how “Green Bay

has always been about the peo-

ple.”

LaFleur declined to comment

on the issues Rodgers addressed

while reiterating his hopes to

have the three-time MVP back

this fall. General manager Brian

Gutekunst has said he has no

plans to trade Rodgers, who has

three years remaining on his con-

tract.

Safety Adrian Amos was cau-

tiously optimistic that Rodgers

will remain with the Packers.

“I haven’t heard him say any-

thing other than that, so I expect

him to be (back),” Amos said.

“But like I said, I’m not going to go

home and cry if something else

happens. I’m just playing it day

by day. But of course, you want

one of the greatest, if not the

greatest, quarterback ever on

your team. You want him out

here. But everybody has to go

about their business. I’m not go-

ing to knock anybody for getting

what they feel like they deserve.”

Packers suggestRodgers situationisn’t a distraction

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

Associated Press

JEFFREY PHELPS / AP

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and most of hisreceivers were missing from the team’s voluntary workout Tuesday.

Thursday, May 27, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Tampa Bay 30 20 .600 _

Boston 29 20 .592 ½

New York 28 20 .583 1

Toronto 24 23 .511 4½

Baltimore 17 31 .354 12

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 28 19 .596 _

Cleveland 26 20 .565 1½

Kansas City 23 23 .500 4½

Minnesota 19 29 .396 9½

Detroit 18 30 .375 10½

West Division

W L Pct GB

Oakland 28 22 .560 _

Houston 26 22 .542 1

Seattle 23 26 .469 4½

Texas 22 28 .440 6

Los Angeles 21 27 .438 6

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

New York 22 20 .524 _

Atlanta 24 24 .500 1

Philadelphia 24 25 .490 1½

Miami 23 25 .479 2

Washington 20 24 .455 3

Central Division

W L Pct GB

St. Louis 26 22 .542 _

Chicago 25 22 .532 ½

Milwaukee 24 24 .500 2

Cincinnati 21 25 .457 4

Pittsburgh 18 29 .383 7½

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Diego 31 18 .633 _

Los Angeles 30 18 .625 ½

San Francisco 29 19 .604 1½

Colorado 19 30 .388 12

Arizona 18 31 .367 13

Tuesday’s games

Kansas City 2, Tampa Bay 1Cleveland 4, Detroit 1Toronto 6, N.Y. Yankees 2Atlanta 3, Boston 1Minnesota 7, Baltimore 4Chicago White Sox 8, St. Louis 3L.A. Dodgers 9, Houston 2L.A. Angels 11, Texas 5Seattle 4, Oakland 3Philadelphia 2, Miami 0Chicago Cubs 4, Pittsburgh 3Cincinnati 2, Washington 1N.Y. Mets 3, Colorado 1San Diego 7, Milwaukee 1San Francisco 8, Arizona 0

Wednesday’s games

Baltimore at MinnesotaSt. Louis at Chicago White SoxSeattle at OaklandTexas at L.A. AngelsToronto at N.Y. YankeesAtlanta at BostonCleveland at DetroitKansas City at Tampa BayL.A. Dodgers at HoustonChicago Cubs at PittsburghPhiladelphia at MiamiCincinnati at WashingtonColorado at N.Y. MetsSan Diego at MilwaukeeSan Francisco at Arizona

Thursday’s games

Cleveland (Bieber 4-3) at Detroit (Boyd2-5)

Kansas City (Singer 2-3) at Tampa Bay(McClanahan 1-0)

Toronto (Ray 2-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Mont-gomery 2-1)

Baltimore (Zimmermann 2-3) at ChicagoWhite Sox (Cease 2-1)

L.A. Angels (Ohtani 1-0) at Oakland (Bas-sitt 4-2)

Texas (TBD) at Seattle (Flexen 4-2)Colorado (Senzatela 1-4) at N.Y. Mets

(TBD)Philadelphia (Howard 0-1) at Miami (Ló-

pez 1-3)Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 4-4) at Pitts-

burgh (Anderson 3-4)San Diego (Weathers 2-1) at Milwaukee

(Houser 3-5)Cincinnati (Gray 0-3) at Washington

(Strasburg 1-1)St. Louis (Martínez 3-4) at Arizona (Fran-

koff 0-1)San Francisco (Wood 5-1) at L.A. Dodg-

ers (TBD)

MLB calendarJune 2-3 — Owners meeting, New York.July 11-13 — Amateur draft, Denver.July 13 — All-Star Game, Denver.July 25 — Hall of Fame induction, Coo-

perstown, N.Y.

Scoreboard

CHICAGO — Lucas Giolito beatJack Flaherty  in a major  leaguematchup  of  former  high  schoolteammates,  leading  the  ChicagoWhite Sox to an 8­3 defeat of thesloppy St. Louis Cardinals. 

The  Harvard­Westlake  Highreunion also had a little history be­hind  the  plate,  with  Joe  Westworking a record 5,376th regular­season game, snapping a tie withHall of Fame umpire Bill Klem. 

Giolito (4­4) pitched six inningsof  two­run  ball  in  his  secondstraight win, easily getting the bet­ter of a shaky Flaherty hurt by an­other poor defensive performanceby the Cardinals. 

Flaherty (8­1), leading the ma­jors in wins, lasted just 32⁄�3 inningsin his shortest outing of the season. 

José Abreu homered and drovein four runs for the White Sox, whoearned their second straight winsince they were swept by the Yan­kees over the weekend. Liam Hen­driks entered with the bases load­ed in the ninth and struck out theside for his 10th save. 

St. Louis committed a  season­high three errors in its fourth lossin five games. 

Royals 2, Rays 1: Tampa Bay’s11­game winning streak came toan end when Brad Keller pitchedseven strong innings and SalvadorPerez hit a tiebreaking RBI singleto give visiting Kansas City a vic­tory. 

Rich Hill  struck out a career­high 13 for the Rays. Tampa Bay’swinning  streak  was  the  second­longest in club history, one shy ofthe record set in 2004 by the then­Devil Rays managed by Lou Pi­niella. 

Dodgers 9, Astros 2: ClaytonKershaw pitched into  the eighthinning  in  his  first  game  againstHouston since the 2017 World Se­ries, and Justin Turner hit a two­run  homer  for  visiting  Los  An­geles. 

Kershaw  (7­3)  allowed  a  runand  four  hits  in  72⁄�3 innings  andChris Taylor drove in two runs asthe  Dodgers  got  their  eighthstraight victory. 

Mets 3, Rockies 1: Jacob de­Grom struck out nine in a success­ful return from the injured list andTomás  Nido  hit  a  tiebreakinghomer to send depleted New Yorkpast visiting Colorado. 

Back from a bout with tightnesson his right side, deGrom gave uponly Ryan McMahon’s solo homerin  five  innings  of  three­hit  ball.The  two­time  Cy  Young  Awardwinner walked none and was re­moved after 63 pitches. 

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2: Steven

Matz returned to New York with

his finest outing in two years, Vla­

dimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major

league­leading 16th home run and

Toronto earned a road win. 

Corey Kluber (4­3), making his

first start after pitching a no­hitter

for New York, had his outing cut

short by shoulder tightness. The

team said the two­time Cy Young

Award winner will have an MRI. 

Angels 11, Rangers 5: Shohei

Ohtani hit his 15th homer during a

six­run  burst,  Andrew  Heaney

(2­3)  got  his  first  win  in  eight

weeks and Los Angeles beat visit­

ing Texas. 

Ohtani  scorched  a  cutter  by

Brett de Geus down the right­field

line for a three­run shot to give the

Angels a 9­1 lead in the fourth in­

ning. The ball had a 117 mph exit

velocity off Ohtani’s bat — the har­

dest­hit homer by an Angels play­

er since MLB Statcast started in

2015. 

Padres 7, Brewers 1: Joe Mus­

grove  and  three  relievers  com­

bined on a two­hitter and visiting

San Diego got to Milwaukee ace

Corbin Burnes by matching a sea­

son high with six stolen bases. 

The Padres ran like crazy on a

night when Burnes (2­4) was un­

characteristically wild and scored

four runs against the right­hander

in  six  innings,  spiking  his  ERA

from  1.79  to  2.33.  Burnes,  who

opened the season with a record

58 strikeouts before walking any­

one, issued three free passes, hit a

batter and threw a wild pitch.

Cubs 4, Pirates 3: Chicago’s

Joc Pederson hit two home runs

and  Jake  Arrieta  won  at  Pitts­

burgh for the third time this sea­

son. 

Arrieta (5­4) went five innings

and  gave  up  three  runs  —  two

earned — on five hits with seven

strikeouts  and  one  walk.  Four

Cubs relievers combined for four

scoreless innings, with Craig Kim­

brel working the ninth for his 10th

save. The bullpen has allowed on­

ly one unearned run over its last

292⁄�3 innings.

Braves 3, Red Sox 1:  Pablo

Sandoval had three hits in his first

game at Fenway Park since his di­

sastrous tenure with Boston, and

Charlie  Morton  pitched  out  of

early trouble to lead Atlanta.

Sandoval, who was released in

2017  midway  through  the  five­

year,  $95  million  contract  he

signed  with  the  Red  Sox,  was

booed for every at­bat. But he re­

sponded with singles  in his  first

three plate appearances before he

grounded out meekly  to  third  to

start the eighth.

Mariners 4,  Athletics 3:  J.P.

Crawford had three hits and Seat­

tle center fielder Kyle Lewis made

a magnificent  catch  to  save  two

possible runs in a win at Oakland.

Paul Sewald (2­0) pitched two

innings of relief for the win. An­

thony Misiewicz recorded two key

outs  in  the  eighth  before  Rafael

Montero finished for his sixth save

after putting runners on the cor­

ners.

Indians 4, Tigers 1: Aaron Civ­

ale dominated Detroit again, tak­

ing a shutout into the ninth inning

in Cleveland’s road victory. 

Civale  (7­1)  improved  to  6­0

with a 2.19 ERA in seven career

starts against the Tigers, includ­

ing three wins this season. He al­

lowed one run, six hits and a walk

in eight­plus innings.

Reds 2, Nationals 1: Eugenio

Suarez  homered  off  Washington

ace Max Scherzer (4­3) in his first

career start as a leadoff hitter, Tyl­

er Mahle allowed three hits in 51⁄�3

scoreless  innings and Cincinnati

won on the road.

Phillies 2, Marlins 0: Vince Ve­

lasquez pitched three­hit ball for

six innings, Rhys Hoskins home­

red and Philadelphia won at Mia­

mi. 

Twins  7,  Orioles  4:  Rob  Ref­

snyder  homered  and  doubled

twice, Jorge Polanco also home­

red and host Minnesota gave Bal­

timore its eighth straight loss. 

Giants  8,  Diamondbacks  0:

Evan Longoria had three hits, in­

cluding  a  three­run  homer,  and

drove  in four runs, Kevin Gaus­

man  struck  out  nine  in  five  in­

nings, and San Francisco won at

Arizona to break a three­game los­

ing streak.

White Sox rout sloppy CardinalsGiolito outduels Flahertyin matchup of formerhigh school teammates

Associated Press

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

The Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu, center, umpire Joe West and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaher­ty watch Abreu’s two­run home run during an 8­3 win Tuesday by the White Sox in Chicago.

ROUNDUP

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, May 27, 2021

SPORTSLakers bounce back

Davis helps Los Angeles even serieswith Phoenix ›› NBA playoffs, Page 20

For all the talk about how much playoff ex-

perience goes into winning the Stanley

Cup and the guys with gray in their

beards who have been there before, roo-

kies are stealing the show early in this NHL postseason.

Three rookie goaltenders have won a game, the de-

fending Stanley Cup champions are getting major pro-

duction from a rookie forward and the likely rookie of

the year has found his groove after a rocky start.

From New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin,

Carolina’s Alex Nedeljkovic and Florida’s Spencer

Knight making saves to Tampa Bay’s Ross Colton and

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov scoring goals, the first round

is proving to be something of a rookie

showcase.

“I think it’s a little bit in your mental

makeup,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper

said. “I’ve seen guys that are 28, 29 not be

able to make some plays that 20- and 21-

year-olds have been able to make, and it’s

just having that mental makeup of calm-

ing everything down.”

Sixteen of the 27 rookie skaters who have appeared in the

playoffs have at least one point, but the calm confidence is

coming from the rookie goaltenders who have been playing

like veterans.

Carolina Hurricanes goaltenderAlex Nedeljkovic blocks a shotby Nashville Predators center

Nick Cousins during Game 4 oftheir first­round playoff series.

MARK HUMPHREY/AP

Beginner’s puckBY STEPHEN WHYNO

Associated Press

Tampa Bay Lightning rookieleft wing Ross Colton

CHRIS O’MEARA/AP

Packers: Rodgers ordeal not a distraction ›› NFL, Page 22

Rookies impacting NHL playoffs

Kaprizov 

SEE PUCK ON PAGE 21