page 3 page 12 packers believe rodgers more than brady’s

Volume 79 Edition 198B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

MILITARY

Top Fort HoodNCO clearedand reinstatedPage 3

MILITARY

US service membersin Afghanistan gettingCOVID-19 vaccinationsPage 3

MUSIC

Spector’s legacyis one of artistry,arrogance, abuse2

Packers believe Rodgers more than Brady’s match ›› Page 24

WASHINGTON — Newly confirmed

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will have

to contend not only with a world of security

threats and a massive military bureaucra-

cy, but also with a challenge that hits clos-

er to home: rooting

out racism and extre-

mism in the ranks.

Austin took office

Friday as the first

Black defense chief,

in the wake of the

deadly insurrection at

the U.S. Capitol,

where retired and

current military

members were among

the rioters touting far-

right conspiracies.

The retired four-star Army general told

senators this week that the Pentagon’s job

is to “keep America safe from our enemies.

But we can’t do that if some of those ene-

mies lie within our own ranks.”

Ridding the military of racists isn’t his

Personalchallenge

ALEX BRANDON/AP

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives at the Pentagon as the first Black defense chief on Friday in Washington.

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

For 1st Black Pentagon chief,racism hits close to home

“I don’t thinkthat this is athing that youcan put aBand-Aid onand fix andleave alone.”

Lloyd Austin

Defense Secretary

SEE PERSONAL ON PAGE 5

WASHINGTON — Opening ar-

guments in the Senate impeach-

ment trial for Donald Trump over

the Capitol riot will begin the week

of Feb. 8, the first time a former

president will face such charges

after leaving office.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck

Schumer announced the schedule

Friday evening after reaching an

agreement with Republicans, who

had pushed for a delay to give

Trump a chance to organize his le-

gal team and prepare a defense on

the sole charge of incitement of in-

surrection.

The February start date also al-

lows the Senate more time to con-

firm President Joe Biden’s Cabi-

net nominations and consider his

proposed $1.9 trillion COVID re-

lief package — top priorities of the

new White House agenda that

could become stalled during trial

proceedings.

“We all want to put this awful

chapter in our nation’s history be-

hind us,” Schumer said about the

deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege by a

mob of pro-Trump supporters.

“But healing and unity will only

come if there is truth and account-

ability. And that is what this trial

will provide.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

will send the article of impeach-

ment late Monday, with senators

sworn in as jurors Tuesday. But

opening arguments will move to

February.

Trump’s impeachment trial

would be the first of a U.S. presi-

Trump impeachment trial to begin week of Feb. 8BY MARY CLARE JALONICK

AND LISA MASCARO

Associated Press

Biden facesstark choice oneconomic aidPage 6

SEE TRIAL ON PAGE 5

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, January 24, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

as Wall Street tapped the brakes

on its recent record-setting rally

Friday with a mixed finish for the

major stock indexes, though the

S&P 500 still ended the week with

its third weekly gain in four.

The benchmark index fell 0.3%,

snapping a three-day winning

streak, but notched a 1.9% gain for

the week. The Nasdaq eked out an-

other record high. So did the Rus-

sell 2000 index, which traders

have been favoring amid expecta-

tions of stronger economic growth

later this year.

The uneven finish for U.S. stock

indexes followed a slide in global

markets that began in Asia amid

worries about resurgent coronavi-

rus cases in China and weak eco-

nomic data from Europe. In the

United States, disappointing earn-

ings reports from IBM and some

other companies gave cover for in-

vestors to sell and book profits af-

ter big recent gains.

“The big picture is, it’s still a

pretty friendly environment for

stocks,” said David Lefkowitz,

head of Americas equities at UBS

Global Wealth Management. ”The

pandemic will wind down, you’ll

see a surge in corporate profits

this year and the Fed made very

clear they’re not going to take the

punch bowl away anytime soon."

The S&P 500 slipped 11.60

points to 3,841.47. The Dow Jones

Industrial Average dropped

179.03 points, or 0.6%, to

30,996.98. The Nasdaq inched up

12.15 points, or 0.1%, to 13,543.06.

The Russell 2000 added 27.34

points, or 1.3%, to 2,168.76.

Mixed finish on Wall Street as rally pausesAssociated Press

Bahrain68/58

Baghdad62/35

Doha74/58

Kuwait City65/42

Riyadh69/45

Kandahar53/23

Kabul54/25

Djibouti83/74

SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

38/27

Ramstein36/28

Stuttgart36/29

Lajes,Azores64/61

Rota62/57

Morón60/52 Sigonella

63/46

Naples56/47

Aviano/Vicenza50/33

Pápa43/30

Souda Bay65/52

Brussels38/30

Zagan37/31

DrawskoPomorskie 33/28

SUNDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa48/21

Guam83/75

Tokyo51/35

Okinawa72/60

Sasebo61/44

Iwakuni57/41

Seoul52/35

Osan55/34

Busan55/46

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

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

MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Books .......................... 17Comics .........................15Crossword ................... 15Music .......................... 12Opinion ........................ 18Sports .................... 19-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Jan. 25) $1.19Dollar buys (Jan. 25) 0.8013British pound (Jan. 25) $1.33Japanese yen (Jan. 25) 101.00South Korean won (Jan. 25) 1074.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 1.3661Canada (Dollar) 1.2692 China(Yuan) 6.4829Denmark (Krone) 6.1110Egypt (Pound) 15.7297 Euro 0.8214Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7522 Hungary (Forint) 293.77 Israel (Shekel) 3.2748Japan (Yen) 103.79Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3029

Norway (Krone) 8.4650

Philippines (Peso) 48.06Poland (Zloty) 3.73Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7511Singapore (Dollar) 1.3270

So. Korea (Won) 1106.19Switzerlnd (Franc) 0.8850Thailand (Baht) 30.00Turkey (NewLira) 7.3924

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

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate �0.093month bill 0.0930year bond 1.87

EXCHANGE RATES

Sunday, January 24, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

AUSTIN, Texas — The senior

enlisted soldier at Fort Hood was

cleared by an investigation into

allegations that he used unprofes-

sional language and he was rein-

stated to his role as the command

sergeant major of III Corps and

Fort Hood, Army officials an-

nounced Friday.

The investigation into the be-

havior of Command Sgt. Maj. Ar-

thur “Cliff” Burgoyne began last

month after he allegedly spoke to

subordinates in a manner that

wasn’t appropriate of a corps-lev-

el noncommissioned officer. Ar-

my Forces Command, known as

FORSCOM, completed its inves-

tigation Friday and determined

“Burgoyne’s language was not

unprofessional, and he did not

exhibit counterproductive lead-

ership.”

“Putting people first includes

holding our leaders to a high

standard,” said Gen. Michael

Garrett, commander of FOR-

SCOM. “Command Sgt. Maj. Bur-

goyne is a tough

leader who

cares about ev-

ery soldier in

his formation. I

have faith in his

leadership, and

I know his sol-

diers are his top

priority.”

The suspension was a tempo-

rary removal and not punitive in

nature, FORSCOM said.

Lt. Gen. Pat White, command-

er of III Corps and Fort Hood,

said Burgoyne “cares deeply

about soldiers” and about up-

holding Army standards.

“He maintains my full trust

and confidence,” White said.

The investigation into Bur-

goyne’s behavior was unrelated

to a number of ongoing investiga-

tions at the base sparked by the

disappearance and death of Spc.

Vanessa Guillen, who was killed

April 22 by a fellow soldier.

Burgoyne arrived at Fort Hood

in July after serving as the senior

NCO of the 82nd Airborne Divi-

sion at Fort Bragg, N.C. He has

deployed three times each to Iraq

and Afghanistan, according to his

official biography.

Burgoyne entered the Army in

September 1986 with the Louisia-

na National Guard and became

active duty at Fort Hood in De-

cember 1992. His awards include

two Legions of Merit, three

Bronze Star medals and a Ranger

tab.

Fort Hood’s top NCO reinstated to positionBY ROSE L. THAYER

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @Rose_Lori

Burgoyne

break of the virus in Operating

Base Fenty, near the city of Jalala-

bad, led to a majority of the rough-

ly 300 Ugandan guards there test-

ing positive for the coronavirus

last summer.

Coronavirus-related travel re-

strictions also left some foreign

contractors stuck on U.S. bases for

months without pay, workers told

Stars and Stripes in July and Au-

gust. The issue of contractors

awaiting repatriation was resolv-

ed in December, the Pentagon

said in a report this week.

The Moderna vaccine provided

KABUL, Afghanistan — The

U.S. military began vaccinating

personnel in Afghanistan against

COVID-19 this week.

Doses of the Moderna vaccine

arrived in theater Jan. 17 and in-

oculation began the next day, U.S.

Forces – Afghanistan said in a

statement Friday.

The vaccine was given to people

who have jobs with increased like-

lihood of contracting COVID-19

and to people with conditions that

place them at high risk should

they contract the virus, the state-

ment said.

U.S. Forces in Afghanistan will

continue to mandate social dis-

tancing and mask wearing for the

roughly 2,500 troops and more

than 18,000 contractors in the

country.

“Our goal, as supplies become

more readily available, is to vacci-

nate all US servicemembers, civil-

ians and contractors in Afghanis-

tan who are willing to receive the

vaccine,” the statement said.

U.S. officials declined to discuss

how many troops in Afghanistan

have tested positive for the coro-

navirus, citing a Pentagon direc-

tive to stop announcing local case

figures.

The military overall has had 17

service members die from coro-

navirus and more than 130,000

contract the virus, according to

the Pentagon. An additional 54

contractors and 145 Department

of Defense civilians also died from

COVID-19, DOD said.

Over the last year, the coronavi-

rus pandemic halted face-to-face

advising between the U.S. and

their Afghan partners. An out-

by Central Command to troops in

Afghanistan is one of two ap-

proved for emergency use by the

U.S. Food and Drug Administra-

tion in mid-December.

The plan is for overseas installa-

tions to receive the Moderna vac-

cine while troops stationed in

America will get the Pfizer vac-

cine, Chief of Naval Operations

Adm. Mike Gilday said in Decem-

ber before a Senate Armed Servic-

es Committee subpanel.

COVID-19 vaccination underway for US military in AfghanistanBY J.P. LAWRENCE

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @jplawrence3

MILITARY

The Army’s Fort Wainwright in

Alaska will close the base’s shop-

pette two hours earlier each night

starting Monday with an aim to

decrease drunken driving and

other “harmful acts.”

The FWA Shoppette at the Fair-

banks base will close at 10 p.m. in-

stead of midnight, though the gas

pumps will remain open 24 hours

a day, said Lt. Col. Catina Barnes,

a spokeswoman for U.S. Army

Alaska.

The earlier closing time comes

a week after Joint Base Elmen-

dorf-Richardson in Anchorage

banned the sale of alcohol on the

installation between the hours of

10 p.m. to 5 a.m. A spokesman for

the joint base told military.com

last week that banning late-night

sales was an “effective strategy”

at reducing the risk of suicide,

among other possible harms.

During the past four months,

the Wainwright shoppette has av-

eraged about $300 in alcohol sales

each night between 10 p.m. and

midnight, Barnes said.

Studies have shown a link be-

tween late-night alcohol sales and

“a significant increase in drunken

driving, vehicle crashes, vehicle

crash fatalities and other harmful

acts,” she said. Studies have also

found extended hours for alcohol

sales “increased assaults result-

ing in hospitalization,” Barnes

said.

In a study published in the jour-

nal Public Health Research and

Practice in 2016, researchers con-

cluded the “evidence of effective-

ness is strong enough to consider

restrictions on late trading hours

for bars and hotels as a key ap-

proach to reducing late-night vio-

lence.”

The researchers reviewed 21

previous studies undertaken from

2005 to 2015 in Australia, Norway,

Canada, Great Britain and the

United States and most concluded

reduced sales hours at night low-

ered rates of alcohol-related vio-

lence.

The Army in recent years has

been grappling with issues of

quality of life for soldiers in Alas-

ka.

In response to the death of five

soldiers due to suicide in 2018 and

2019, the Army conducted a study

searching for root causes, finding

multiple risk factors that included

issues of pain, sleeplessness and

relationships.

In early 2020, the Army

launched a series of improve-

ments aimed at reducing the risk

of suicide, including improved ac-

cess to mental health counseling,

access to healthier foods and bet-

ter fitness facilities.

Alaska Army basemoves to reducealcohol-related ills

BY WYATT OLSON

Stars and Stripes

JOHN PENNEL/U.S. Army

Soldiers and Marines at Fort Wainwright prepare to load into Chinook helicopters in Februaryfor a missionin support of the Arctic Edge exercise.

[email protected] Twitter: @WyattWOlson


MILITARY

Several thousand National

Guard troops could remain in

Washington, D.C., to bolster secu-

rity through mid-March under a

plan that the National Guard Bu-

reau is developing with federal

law enforcement officials, a

Guard spokeswoman said Friday.

Up to 7,000 National Guard

troops could remain in D.C.

through March 12, said Nahaku

McFadden, a spokeswoman for

the National Guard Bureau. The

troops would come from volun-

teers among the about 25,600

forces rushed into the nation’s

capital in recent weeks to secure

the city for President Joe Biden’s

inauguration on Wednesday, two

weeks after the Jan. 6 attack on the

U.S. Capitol.

The plan to extend some troops’

deployments comes at the request

of federal law enforcement offi-

cials, including the Secret Service,

which led to planning for inaugu-

ration-related security, officials

said. The intent to extend deploy-

ments beyond the end of January,

as initially planned, comes as offi-

cials fear the potential for more vi-

olence in the wake of the storming

of the Capitol by a mob of former

President Donald Trump’s sup-

porters. Five people died, includ-

ing one Capitol police officer, in

the melee.

McFadden said troops deployed

to Washington would not be re-

quired to remain in D.C. Those

who volunteer to support the long-

er operation will have their initial

31-day mobilizations orders mod-

ified.

The nearly 26,000 Guard troops

sent into D.C. ahead of Biden’s in-

auguration came from all 50 states

and four U.S. territories, McFad-

den said. Guard troops — some

armed at the Capitol — faced no

security incidents during the in-

auguration nor at any other time

since Jan. 6, she said.

Troops were spread across the

city, with some manning traffic

checkpoints and others standing

watch around the Capitol com-

plex, the National Mall and the

White House. Most remained in

place through Friday, officials

said.

About 15,000 of those troops

were slated to begin returning

home this weekend, Guard offi-

cials said Thursday.

The extensions also come amid

some controversy. Images of

Guard troops sleeping in a park-

ing structure circulated online af-

ter they were removed from areas

that they had been using to take

rest breaks while working 12-hour

shifts. Troops have since been al-

lowed back indoors “within con-

gressional buildings, including

the U.S. Capitol” to take their on-

duty breaks, Air Force Maj. Mat-

thew Murphy, a National Guard

spokesman, said in a statement is-

sued Friday.

The Wall Street Journal also re-

ported Friday that some 200 Na-

tional Guard troops deployed for

inauguration support had tested

positive for the coronavirus in re-

cent days.

McFadden and other National

Guard officials declined to con-

firm the report, citing Pentagon

policy, which restricts officials

from publicly reporting specifics

about coronavirus outbreaks as an

operational security measure.

Guard forces were screened for

symptoms of the coronavirus be-

fore deploying to D.C., but not all

were tested, McFadden said, in

part because of the short time-

frame to send forces into Wash-

ington.

“We are ensuring we are follow-

ing [coronavirus] protocols per

the [national Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention] guide-

lines,” she said.

National Guard may stay in DC into MarchBY COREY DICKSTEIN

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

AUSTIN, Texas — States will

receive full reimbursement from

the federal government for using

National Guard troops in efforts to

combat the coronavirus pandemic

through an executive order signed

by President Joe Biden.

The policy change is just one of

several ways that the Biden ad-

ministration began to pivot from

former President Donald Trump’s

approach to the pandemic. Since

August, states only received 75%

reimbursement for using troops

on federally approved missions to

beat back the virus.

The order also allows reim-

bursement for emergency suppli-

es and the personnel and equip-

ment needed to create vaccination

centers, White House Press Sec-

retary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

The National Governors Associ-

ation, which brings together the

leaders of all 55 states, territories,

and commonwealths, has sought

full reimbursement since August

and applauded the policy change.

“Waiving cost-share require-

ments allows states to be more

nimble in responding to rapidly

changing needs while easing the

fiscal burdens they continue to

face during the pandemic,” said

James Nash, a spokesman for the

association.

As of Friday, more than 22,600

National Guard troops were de-

ployed across the country on coro-

navirus-specific missions, accord-

ing to the National Guard Bureau.

Some of the coronavirus mis-

sions have included working in

food banks, manning testing sites,

helping process unemployment

benefits and distributing personal

protective equipment. Troops also

now help states administer the

coronavirus vaccine through mo-

bile clinics for specific locations

such as nursing homes and mas-

sive drive-thru operations.

To be eligible for reimburse-

ment, the Federal Emergency

Management Agency must ap-

prove the use of National Guard

for missions. Guard members

then serve in a status known as Ti-

tle 32, which allows governors to

remain in control of troops though

funding for them comes from the

federal government. The status

provides Guard troops with addi-

tional federal benefits and pay,

such as education and health care

benefits, a housing allowance, and

benefits associated with retire-

ment.

States to be repaidfor Guard memberuse in virus fight

BY ROSE L. THAYER

Stars and Stripes

JESSICA HILL/AP

National Guard members wait tocheckin vehicles Monday atConnecticut's largest COVID19Vaccination DriveThrough Clinicin East Hartford.

[email protected]: @Rose_Lori

WASHINGTON — New first la-

dy Jill Biden took an unan-

nounced detour to the U.S. Capi-

tol on Friday to deliver baskets of

chocolate chip cookies to National

Guard members, thanking them

“for keeping me and my family

safe” during President Joe Bi-

den’s inauguration.

“I just want to say thank you

from President Biden and the

whole, the entire Biden family,”

she told a group of Guard mem-

bers at the Capitol. “The White

House baked you some chocolate

chip cookies,” she said, before

joking that she couldn’t say she

had baked them herself.

Joe Biden was sworn into office

on Wednesday, exactly two weeks

after Donald Trump supporters

rioted at the Capitol in a futile at-

tempt to keep Congress from cer-

tifying Biden as the winner of No-

vember’s presidential election.

Extensive security measures

were then taken for the inaugu-

ration, which went off without any

major incidents.

Jill Biden told the group that

her late son, Beau, was a Dela-

ware Army National Guard mem-

ber who spent a year deployed in

Iraq in 2008-09. Beau Biden died

of brain cancer in 2015 at the age

of 46.

“So I’m a National Guard

mom,” she said, adding that the

baskets were a “small thank you”

for leaving their home states and

coming to the nation’s capital.

President Biden offered his

thanks to the chief of the National

Guard Bureau in a phone call Fri-

day.

“I truly appreciate all that you

do,” the first lady said. “The Na-

tional Guard will always hold a

special place in the heart of all the

Bidens.”

Jill Biden’s unannounced troop

visit came after her first public

outing as first lady.

She highlighted services for

cancer patients at Whitman-

Walker Health, a Washington in-

stitution with a history of serving

HIV/AIDS patients and the

LGBTQ community. The clinic

receives federal money to help

provide primary care services in

underserved areas.

JACQUELYN MARTIN, POOL/AP

First lady Jill Biden greets members of the National Guard with chocolate chip cookies Friday at the U.S.Capitol in Washington.

First lady thanks National Guardtroops with chocolate chip cookies

Associated Press


only priority. Austin, who was

confirmed in a 93-2 vote, has

made clear that accelerating de-

livery of coronavirus vaccines

will get his early attention.

But the racism issue is person-

al. At Tuesday’s confirmation

hearing, he explained why.

In 1995, when then-Lt. Col.

Austin was serving with the 82nd

Airborne Division at Fort Bragg,

N.C., three white soldiers, de-

scribed as self-styled skinheads,

were arrested in the murder of a

Black couple who was walking

down the street. Investigators

concluded the two were targeted

because of their race.

The killing triggered an inter-

nal investigation, and all told, 22

soldiers were linked to skinhead

and other similar groups or found

to hold extremist views. They in-

cluded 17 who were considered

white supremacists or separa-

tists.

“We woke up one day and dis-

covered that we had extremist

elements in our ranks,” Austin

told the Senate Armed Services

Committee. “And they did bad

things that we certainly held

them accountable for. But we dis-

covered that the signs for that ac-

tivity were there all along. We

just didn’t know what to look for

or what to pay attention to.”

Austin is not the first secretary

to grapple with the problem. Rac-

ism has long been an undercur-

rent in the military. While leaders

insist only a small minority hold

extremist views, there have been

persistent incidents of racial ha-

tred and, more subtly, a history of

implicit bias in what is a predom-

inantly white institution.

A recent Air Force inspector

general report found that Black

service members in the Air Force

are far more likely to be investi-

gated, arrested, face disciplinary

actions and be discharged for

misconduct.

Based on 2018 data, roughly

two-thirds of the military’s enlist-

ed corps is white and about 17% is

Black, but the minority percent-

age declines as rank increases.

The U.S. population overall is

about three-quarters white and

13% Black, according to Census

Bureau statistics.

Over the past year, Pentagon

leaders have struggled to make

changes, hampered by opposition

from then-President Donald

Trump. It took months for the de-

partment to effectively ban the

Confederate flag last year, and

Pentagon officials left to Con-

gress the matter of renaming mil-

itary bases that honor Confeder-

ate leaders. Trump rejected re-

naming the bases and defended

flying the flag.

Senators peppered Austin with

questions about extremism in the

ranks and his plans to deal with it.

The hearing was held two weeks

after lawmakers fled the deadly

insurrection at the Capitol, in

which many of the rioters es-

poused separatist or extremist

views.

“It’s clear that we are at a crisis

point,” said Sen. Tammy Duck-

worth, D-Ill., saying leaders must

root out extremism and reaffirm

core military values.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., pressed

Austin on the actions he will take.

“Disunity is probably the most

destructive force in terms of our

ability to defend ourselves,”

Kaine said. “If we’re divided

against one another, how can we

defend the nation?”

Austin, who broke racial bar-

riers throughout his four decades

in the Army, said military leaders

must set the right example to dis-

courage and eliminate extremist

behavior. They must get to know

their troops, and look for signs of

extremism or other problems, he

said.

But Austin — the first Black

man to serve as head of U.S. Cen-

tral Command and the first to be

the Army’s vice chief of staff —

also knows that much of the solu-

tion must come from within the

military services and lower-rank-

ing commanders. They must en-

sure their troops are trained and

aware of the prohibitions.

“Most of us were embarrassed

that we didn’t know what to look

for and we didn’t really under-

stand that by being engaged more

with your people on these types of

issues can pay big dividends,” he

said, recalling the 82nd Airborne

problems. “I don’t think that you

can ever take your hand off the

steering wheel here.”

But he also cautioned that there

won’t be an easy solution, adding,

“I don’t think that this is a thing

that you can put a Band-Aid on

and fix and leave alone. I think

that training needs to go on, rou-

tinely.”

Austin gained confirmation af-

ter clearing a legal hurdle prohib-

iting anyone from serving as de-

fense chief until they have been

out of the military for seven

years. Austin retired less than

five years ago, but the House and

Senate quickly approved the

needed waiver, and President Joe

Biden signed it Friday.

Soon afterward, Austin strode

into the Pentagon, his afternoon

already filled with calls and brief-

ings, including a meeting with

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chair-

man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He held a broader video confer-

ence on COVID-19 with all top de-

fense and military leaders, and

his first call to an international

leader was with NATO Secretary

General Jens Stoltenberg.

Austin, 67, is a 1975 graduate of

the U.S. Military Academy at

West Point. He helped lead the

invasion into Iraq in 2003, and

eight years later was the top U.S.

commander there, overseeing the

full American troop withdrawal.

After serving as vice chief of the

Army, Austin headed Central

Command, where he oversaw the

reinsertion of U.S. troops to Iraq

to beat back Islamic State mili-

tants.

He describes himself as the son

of a postal worker and a home-

maker from Thomasville, Ga.,

who will speak his mind to Con-

gress and to Biden.

Personal: Austingrapples with racismFROM PAGE 1

ALEX BRANDON/AP

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, greets Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley as hearrives at the Pentagon on Friday in Washington.

dent no longer in office, an under-

taking that his Senate Republican

allies argue is pointless, and po-

tentially even unconstitutional.

Democrats say they have to hold

Trump to account, even as they

pursue Biden’s legislative priori-

ties, because of the gravity of what

took place — a violent attack on

the U.S. Congress aimed at over-

turning an election.

If Trump is convicted, the Sen-

ate could vote to bar him from

holding office ever again, poten-

tially upending his chances for a

political comeback.

The urgency for Democrats to

hold Trump responsible was com-

plicated by the need to put Biden’s

government in place and start

quick work on his coronavirus aid

package. “The more time we have

to get up and running ... the bet-

ter,” Biden said Friday in brief

comments to reporters.

Republicans were eager to de-

lay the trial, putting distance be-

tween the shocking events of the

siege and the votes that will test

their loyalty to the former presi-

dent who still commands voters’

attention.

Negotiations between Schumer

and Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell were complicat-

ed, as the two are also in talks over

a power-sharing agreement for

the Senate, which is split 50-50 but

in Democratic control because

Vice President Kamala Harris

serves as a tie-breaking vote.

McConnell had proposed delay-

ing the start and welcomed the

agreement.

“Republicans set out to ensure

the Senate’s next steps will re-

spect former President Trump’s

rights and due process, the institu-

tion of the Senate, and the office of

the presidency,” said McConnell

spokesman Doug Andres. “That

goal has been achieved.”

Pelosi said Friday the nine

House impeachment managers,

or prosecutors, are “ready to be-

gin to make their case” against

Trump. Trump’s team will have

had the same amount of time since

the House impeachment vote to

prepare, Pelosi said.

Democrats say they can move

quickly through the trial, poten-

tially with no witnesses, because

lawmakers experienced the insur-

rection first-hand.

One of the managers, California

Rep. Ted Lieu, said Friday that

Democrats would rather be work-

ing on policy right now, but “we

can’t just ignore” what happened

on Jan. 6.

“This was an attack on our Capi-

tol by a violent mob,” Lieu said in

an interview with The Associated

Press. “It was an attack on our na-

tion instigated by our commander

in chief. We have to address that

and make sure it never happens

again.”

Trump, who told his supporters

to “fight like hell” just before they

invaded the Capitol two weeks ago

and interrupted the electoral vote

count, is still assembling his legal

team.

White House press secretary

Jen Psaki on Friday deferred to

Congress on timing for the trial

and would not say whether Biden

thinks Trump should be convict-

ed. But she said lawmakers can si-

multaneously discuss and have

hearings on Biden’s coronavirus

relief package.

“We don’t think it can be de-

layed or it can wait, so they’re go-

ing to have to find a path forward,”

Psaki said of the virus aid. “He’s

confident they can do that.”

Democrats would need the sup-

port of at least 17 Republicans to

convict Trump, a high bar. While

most Republican senators con-

demned Trump’s actions that day,

far fewer appear to be ready to

convict. A handful of Senate Re-

publicans have indicated they are

open — but not committed — to

conviction.

Trial: Democrats expect to be able to move quickly through processFROM PAGE 1

NATION


NATION

WASHINGTON — It’s taken

only days for Democrats gauging

how far President Joe Biden’s

bold immigration proposal can go

in Congress to acknowledge that

if anything emerges, it will likely

be significantly more modest.

As they brace to tackle a politi-

cally flammable issue that’s re-

sisted major congressional action

since the 1980s, Democrats are

using words like “aspirational” to

describe Biden’s plan and “hercu-

lean” to express the effort they’ll

need to prevail.

A similar message came from

the White House Friday when

press secretary Jen Psaki said the

new administration hopes Biden’s

plan will be “the base” of immi-

gration discussions in Congress.

Democrats’ cautious tones under-

scored the fragile road they face

on a paramount issue for their mi-

nority voters, progressives and

activists.

Even long-time immigration

proponents advocating an all-out

fight concede they may have to

settle for less than total victory.

Paving a path to citizenship for all

11 million immigrants in the U.S.

illegally — the centerpiece of Bi-

den’s plan — is “the stake at the

summit of the mountain,” Frank

Sharry, executive director of the

pro-immigration group Ameri-

ca’s Voice, said in an interview.

“If there are ways to advance to-

ward that summit by building vic-

tories and momentum, we’re go-

ing to look at them.”

The citizenship process in Bi-

den’s plan would take as little as

three years for some people, eight

years for others. The proposal

would make it easier for certain

workers to stay in the U.S. tempo-

rarily or permanently, provide

development aid to Central

American nations in hopes of re-

ducing immigration and move to-

ward bolstering border screening

technology.

No. 2 Senate Democratic leader

Richard Durbin of Illinois said in

an interview this week that the li-

keliest package to emerge would

create a path to citizenship for so-

called Dreamers. They are immi-

grants who’ve lived in the U.S.

most of their lives after being

brought here illegally as children.

“We understand the political

reality of a 50-50 Senate, that any

changes in immigration will re-

quire cooperation between the

parties,” said Durbin, who is on

track to become Senate Judiciary

Committee chairman. He said

legislation produced by the Sen-

ate likely “will not reach the same

levels” as Biden’s proposal.

The Senate is split evenly be-

tween the two parties, with Vice

President Kamala Harris tipping

the chamber in Democrats’ favor

with her tie-breaking vote. Even

so, major legislation requires 60

votes to overcome filibusters, or

endless procedural delays, in or-

der to pass. That means 10 Re-

publicans would have to join all

50 Democrats to enact an immi-

gration measure, a tall order.

“Passing immigration reform

through the Senate, particularly,

is a herculean task,” said Sen. Bob

Menendez, D-N.J., who will also

play a lead role in the battle.

Many Republicans agree with

Durbin’s assessment.

“I think the space in a 50-50

Senate will be some kind of DA-

CA deal,” said Sen. Lindsey Gra-

ham, R-S.C., who’s worked with

Democrats on past immigration

efforts. “I just think comprehen-

sive immigration is going to be a

tough sale given this environ-

ment.”

Dems reining inexpectations forimmigration bill

BY ALAN FRAM

Associated Press

MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer takes the elevator in the U.S. Capitol, on Friday.

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s ambitious

opening bid, his $1.9 trillion American Res-

cue economic package, will test the new

president’s relationship with Congress and

force a crucial choice between his policy vi-

sion and a desire for bipartisan unity.

Biden became president this week with

the pandemic having already forced Con-

gress to approve $4 trillion in aid, including

$900 billion just last month. And those ef-

forts have politically exhausted Republican

lawmakers, particularly conservatives who

are panning the new proposal as an expen-

sive, unworkable liberal wish-list.

Yet, Democrats, now with control of the

House, Senate and White House, want the

new president to deliver ever more sweep-

ing aid and economic change.

On Friday, Biden took a few beginning

steps, signing executive orders at the White

House. But he also declared a need to do

much more and quickly, saying that even

with decisive action the nation is unlikely to

stop the pandemic in the next several

months and well over 600,000 could die.

“The bottom line is this: We are in a na-

tional emergency. We need to act like we’re

in a national emergency,” he said. “So we

got to move with everything we got. We’ve

got to do it together. I don’t believe Demo-

crats or Republicans are going hungry and

losing jobs, I believe, Americans are going

hungry and losing jobs.”

The limits of what Biden can achieve on

his own without Congress was evident in the

pair of executive orders he signed Friday.

The orders would increase food aid, protect

job seekers on unemployment, make it eas-

ier to obtain government aid and clear a

path for federal workers and contractors to

get a $15 hourly minimum wage.

Brian Deese, director of the White House

National Economic Council, called the or-

ders a “critical lifeline,” rather than a sub-

stitute for the larger aid package that he

said must be passed quickly.

All of this leaves Biden with a decision

that his team has avoided publicly address-

ing, which is the trade-off ahead for the new

president. He can try to appease Republi-

cans, particularly those in the Senate whose

votes will be needed for bipartisan passage,

by sacrificing some of his agenda. Or, he

can try to pass as much of his proposal as

possible on a party-line basis.

Well aware of all that, Biden is a seasoned

veteran of Capitol Hill deal-making and has

assembled a White House staff already

working privately with lawmakers and

their aides to test the bounds of bipartisan-

ship.

On Sunday, Deese, will meet privately

with a bipartisan group of 16 senators, most-

ly centrists, who were among those instru-

mental in crafting and delivering the most

recent round of COVID aid.

The ability to win over that coalition, led

by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe

Manchin, D-W.Va., will be central to any

path, a test-run for working with Congress

on a bipartisan basis.

“Any new COVID relief package must be

focused on the public health and economic

crisis at hand,” Collins said in a Friday

statement.

She said she looks forward to hearing

more about “the administration’s specific

proposals to assist with vaccine distribu-

tion, help keep our families and communi-

ties safe, and combat this virus so our coun-

try can return to normal.”

The Biden team’s approach could set the

tenor for the rest of his presidency, showing

whether he can provide the partisan heal-

ing that he called for in Wednesday’s inau-

gural address and whether the narrowly

split Senate will prove a trusted partner or a

roadblock to the White House agenda.

“The ball will be in Biden’s court to de-

cide how much he is going to insist on and at

what cost,” said William Galston, a senior

fellow at the Brookings Institution. “As the

old saw goes, you never get a second chance

to make a first impression.”

Biden faced with choice of bipartisanship or full relief billAssociated Press

EVAN VUCCI/AP

President Joe Biden signs executive orders on the economy in the State Dining Room ofthe White House, on Friday.


NATION

LOS ANGLES — The Los An-

geles County Sheriff’s Depart-

ment is under investigation for po-

tential civil rights violations as

state officials determine whether

deputies have engaged in a pat-

tern or practice of unconstitution-

al policing, California Attorney

General Xavier Becerra an-

nounced Friday.

The nation’s largest sheriff’s de-

partment, with nearly 18,000 dep-

uties and civilian staff, has been

roiled by allegations in recent

months regarding fatal shootings,

excessive force, deputy gangs, re-

taliation and other misconduct.

Community activists have orga-

nized protests calling for inde-

pendent investigations as Sheriff

Alex Villanueva has repeatedly

resisted the Board of Supervisors’

attempts at oversight even as a

county-appointed watchdog

group called for his resignation.

While Becerra would not identi-

fy any specific incidents, the attor-

ney general urged Los Angeles

County residents to report poten-

tial abuses to his office. Though

Becerra stressed that the probe is

civil in nature and not a criminal

investigation, he said his investi-

gators had reviewed enough re-

ports and evidence to reach a

point where “we

believed it was

necessary to

move forward”

with a formal re-

view.

“As opposed to

a criminal inves-

tigation into an

individual incident or incidents, a

pattern or practice investigation

typically works to identify and, as

appropriate, ultimately address

potentially systemic violations of

the constitutional rights of the

community at large by a law en-

forcement agency,” the state De-

partment of Justice said in a state-

ment.

Villanueva pledged transparen-

cy with the state and said his de-

partment regularly requests for

the Department of Justice to mon-

itor its investigations.

“Our Department may finally

have an impartial, objective as-

sessment of our operations, and

recommendations on any areas

we can improve our service to the

community,” he said in a state-

ment.

The agency’s controversies are

not limited to Villanueva, who was

elected in 2018 and unseated the

then-incumbent sheriff Jim

McDonnell. In 2017, former sher-

iff Lee Baca was sentenced to

three years in federal prison for a

scheme to hinder an investigation

into the department’s scandal-rid-

den jail system.

Becerra said his investigators

will not be hampered by the sher-

iff’s terms. They will be able to

look into a system of potential

abuses going back years to see if

the practices conformed with law

under previous department lead-

ers, he said. Becerra is President

Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the

U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. A new state at-

torney general would not affect

the state’s investigation, he said.

State probes LA County Sheriff’s DepartmentAssociated Press

Villanueva

WASHINGTON — The heads of

three federally funded interna-

tional broadcasters were abruptly

fired late Friday as the Biden ad-

ministration completed a house-

cleaning of Donald Trump-ap-

pointees at the U.S. Agency for

Global Media.

Two officials familiar with the

changes said the acting chief of the

USAGM summarily dismissed the

directors of Radio Free Europe/

Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia

and the Middle East Broadcasting

Networks just a month after they

had been named to the posts.

The changes came a day after

the director of the Voice of Amer-

ica and his deputy were removed

and the chief of the Office of Cuba

Broadcasting stepped down. The

firings follow the forced resigna-

tion of former President Donald

Trump’s handpicked choice to

lead USAGM only two hours after

Joe Biden took office on Wednes-

day. Trump’s USAGM chief Mi-

chael Pack had been accused by

Democrats and others of trying to

turn VOA and its sister networks

into pro-Trump propaganda ma-

chines. Pack had appointed all of

those who were fired on Thursday

and Friday to their posts only in

December.

The two officials said the acting

CEO of USAGM, Kelu Chao, had

fired Middle East Broadcasting

Network director Victoria Coates,

Radio Free Asia chief Stephen

Yates and Radio Free Europe

head Ted Lipien in a swift series of

moves late Friday. It was not im-

mediately clear if any of those re-

moved would try to contest their

dismissals.

The White House appointed

Chao, a three-decade VOA veter-

an journalist, to be the agency’s in-

terim chief executive on Wednes-

day shortly after demanding

Pack’s resignation. Chao did not

respond to phone calls seeking

comment about her actions. The

two officials familiar with the dis-

missals were not authorized to

publicly discuss personnel mat-

ters and spoke on condition of ano-

nymity.

Coates, Yates and Lipien, along

with former VOA director Robert

Reilly and former Cuba broad-

casting chief Jeffrey Shapiro were

all prominent conservatives cho-

sen by Pack to shake up what

Trump and other Republicans be-

lieved was biased leadership in

taxpayer-funded media outlets.

Reilly and his deputy Elizabeth

Robbins were removed just a

week after coming under harsh

criticism for demoting a VOA

White House correspondent who

had tried to ask former Secretary

of State Mike Pompeo a question

after a town hall event.

Pack had created a furor when

he took over USAGM last year and

fired the boards of all the outlets

under his control along with the

leadership of the individual

broadcast networks. The actions

were criticized as threatening the

broadcasters’ prized editorial in-

dependence and raised fears that

Pack, a conservative filmmaker

and former associate of Trump’s

onetime political strategist Steve

Bannon, intended to turn venera-

ble U.S. media outlets into pro-

Trump propaganda machines.

Biden had been expected to

make major changes to the agen-

cy’s structure and management,

and Pack’s immediate dismissal

on inauguration day signaled that

those would be coming sooner

rather than later. Pack had not

been required to submit his resig-

nation as his three-year position

was created by Congress and not

limited by the length of a particu-

lar administration.

VOA was founded during World

War II and its congressional char-

ter requires it to present inde-

pendent news and information.

Trump appointees firedfrom US media agency

Associated Press

PHOENIX — A Las Vegas-

based tour bus heading to the

Grand Canyon rolled over in

northwestern Arizona on Friday,

killing one person and critically

injuring two others, authorities

said.

A spokeswoman for the Mohave

County Sheriff's Office said the

cause of the Friday afternoon

wreck was not yet known, but a

fire official who responded said

speed appeared to be a factor. No

other vehicles were involved.

“It was a heavily damaged bus.

He slid down the road quite a

ways, so there was a lot of wreck-

age,” said Lake Mohave Ranchos

Fire District Chief Tim Bonney.

“Just to put it in perspective, on a

scale of zero to 10, an eight.”

None of the passengers was

ejected from the vehicle but they

were all in shock, Bonney said.

“A lot of them were saying the

bus driver was driving at a high

rate of speed,” he said.

A photo from the sheriff's office

showed the bus on its side on a

road that curves through Joshua

trees with no snow or rain in the

remote area.

There were 48 people on the

bus, including the driver, author-

ities said. After the crash, 44 peo-

ple were sent to Kingman Region-

al Medical Center, including two

flown by medical helicopter, spo-

keswoman Teri Williams said. All

the others were treated for minor

injuries, she said.

Two people were critically in-

jured, said Mohave County sher-

iff's spokeswoman Anita Morten-

sen.

The bus was heading to Grand

Canyon West, about 2½ hours

from Las Vegas and outside the

boundaries of Grand Canyon Na-

tional Park. The tourist destina-

tion sits on the Hualapai reserva-

tion and is best known for the Sky-

walk, a glass bridge that juts out 70

feet from the canyon walls and

gives visitors a view of the Colora-

do River 4,000 feet below.

Before the pandemic, about 1

million people a year visited

Grand Canyon West, mostly

through tours booked out of Las

Vegas. The Hualapai reservation

includes 108 miles of the Grand

Canyon’s western rim.

In addition to the Skywalk, the

tribe has helicopter tours on its

land, horseback rides, a historic

guano mine and a one-day white-

water rafting trip on the Colorado

River. Rafters who are on trips

through the Grand Canyon also

can get on and off the river on the

reservation.

AP

A Las Vegasbased tour bus that rolled over is seen in northwestern Arizona on Friday.

Bus heading to Grand Canyonrolls over; 1 dead, 2 critical

Associated Press


NATION

PHOENIX— Legal sales of rec-

reational marijuana in Arizona

started on Friday, a once-unthink-

able step in the former conserva-

tive stronghold that joins 14 other

states that have broadly legalized

pot.

The state Health Services De-

partment on Friday announced it

had approved 86 licenses in nine

of the state's 15 counties under

provisions of the marijuana legal-

ization measure passed by voters

in November. Most of the licenses

went to existing medical marijua-

na dispensaries that can start sell-

ing pot right away.

“It’s an exciting step for those

that want to participate in that

program,” said Dr. Cara Christ,

Arizona’s state health director, on

Friday.

Under the terms of Proposition

207, people 21 and older can grow

their own plants and legally pos-

sess up to an ounce of marijuana

or a smaller quantity of “concen-

trates” such as hashish. Posses-

sion of between 1 ounce and 2.5

ounces is a petty offense carrying

a maximum $300 fine.

The march toward decriminal-

ization in the Sun Belt state was

long. Approval of the legalization

measure came four years after

Arizona voters narrowly defeated

a similar proposal, although med-

ical marijuana has been legal in

the state since 2010.

The initiative faced stiff opposi-

tion from Republican Gov. Doug

Ducey and GOP leaders in the

state Legislature, but 60% of the

state's voters in the November

election approved it.

The vote on marijuana reflected

larger trends at play during the

historic election that saw Demo-

crat Joe Biden flip the longtime

Republican state where political

giants include five-term conser-

vative senator Barry Goldwater

and the late GOP Sen. John

McCain.

Changing demographics, in-

cluding a fast-growing Latino pop-

ulation and a flood of new resi-

dents, have made the state frien-

dlier to Democrats.

The recreational pot measure

was backed by advocates for the

legal marijuana industry and

criminal justice reform advocates

who argued that the state's harsh

marijuana laws were out of step

with the nation. Arizona was the

only state in the country that still

allowed a felony charge for first-

time possession of small amounts

of marijuana, although most cases

were prosecuted as lower-level

misdemeanors.

Arizona prosecutors dropped

thousands of marijuana posses-

sion cases after the measure was

approved. Possession in the state

technically became legal when the

election results were certified on

Nov. 30 but there was no autho-

rized way to purchase it without a

medical marijuana card.

Legal sales ofrecreational potstart in Arizona

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — One win-

ning ticket was sold in Michigan

for the $1 billion Mega Millions

jackpot, making it the third-large-

st lottery prize in U.S. history.

The winning numbers drawn

Friday are: 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a

Mega Ball of 24. The winning tick-

et was purchased at a Kroger store

in Novi, Mich. — a city about 8

miles northwest of Detroit — ac-

cording to the Michigan Lottery

website.

The Mega Millions top prize had

been growing since Sept. 15, when

a winning ticket was sold in Wis-

consin. The lottery's next estimat-

ed jackpot is $20 million.

Friday night's drawing comes

two days after a ticket sold in Ma-

ryland matched all six numbers

drawn and won a $731.1 million

Powerball jackpot.

Only two lottery prizes in the

U.S. have been larger than Fri-

day's jackpot. Three tickets for a

$1.586 billion Powerball jackpot

were sold in January 2016, and one

winning ticket sold for a $1.537 bil-

lion Mega Millions jackpot in Octo-

ber 2018.

The jackpot figures refer to

amounts if a winner opts for an an-

nuity, paid in 30 annual install-

ments. Most winners choose a

cash prize, which for the Mega

Millions jackpot is $739.6 million.

The odds of winning a Mega Mil-

lions jackpot are incredibly steep

at one in 302.5 million.

The game is played in 45 states

as well as Washington, D.C., and

the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Winning ticket of 3rd largestlottery prize ever sold in Mich.

Associated Press

When COVID-19 first swarmed

the United States, one health in-

surer called some customers with

a question: Do you have enough to

eat?

Oscar Health wanted to know if

people had adequate food for the

next couple weeks and how they

planned to stay stocked up while

hunkering down at home.

“We’ve seen time and again, the

lack of good and nutritional food

causes members to get readmit-

ted” to hospitals, Oscar executive

Ananth Lalithakumar said.

Food has become a bigger focus

for health insurers as they look to

expand their coverage beyond

just the care that happens in a doc-

tor’s office. More plans are paying

for temporary meal deliveries and

some are teaching people how to

cook and eat healthier foods.

Benefits experts say insurers

and policymakers are growing

used to treating food as a form of

medicine that can help patients

reduce blood sugar or blood pres-

sure levels and stay out of expen-

sive hospitals.

“People are finally getting com-

fortable with the idea that every-

body saves money when you pre-

vent certain things from happen-

ing or somebody’s condition from

worsening,” said Andrew Shea, a

senior vice president with the on-

line insurance broker eHealth.

This push is still relatively small

and happening mostly with gov-

ernment-funded programs like

Medicaid or Medicare Advantage,

the privately run versions of the

government’s health program for

people who are 65 or older or have

disabilities. But some employers

that offer coverage to their work-

ers also are growing interested.

Medicaid programs in several

states are testing or developing

food coverage. Next year, Medi-

care will start testing meal pro-

gram vouchers for patients with

malnutrition as part of a broader

look at improving care and reduc-

ing costs.

Nearly 7 million people were

enrolled last year in a Medicare

Advantage plan that offered some

sort of meal benefit, according to

research from the consulting firm

Avalere Health. That’s more than

double the total from 2018.

Insurers commonly cover tem-

porary meal deliveries so patients

have something to eat when they

return from the hospital. And for

several years now, many also have

paid for meals tailored to patients

with conditions such as diabetes.

But now insurers and other bill

payers are taking a more nuanced

approach. This comes as the coro-

navirus pandemic sends millions

of Americans to seek help from

food banks or neighborhood food

pantries.

Oscar Health, for instance,

found that nearly 3 out of 10 of its

Medicare Advantage customers

had food supply problems at the

start of the pandemic, so it ar-

ranged temporary grocery deliv-

eries from a local store at no cost to

the recipient.

The Medicare Advantage spe-

cialist Humana started giving

some customers with low incomes

debit cards with either $25 or $50

on them to help buy healthy food.

The insurer also is testing meal

deliveries in the second half of the

month.

That’s when money from gov-

ernment food programs can run

low. Research shows that diabetes

patients wind up making more

emergency room visits then, said

Humana executive Dr. Andrew

Renda.

“It may be because they’re still

taking their medications, but they

don’t have enough food. And so

their blood sugar goes crazy and

then they end up in the hospital,”

he said.

David Berwick of Somerville,

Mass. credits a meal delivery pro-

gram with improving his blood

sugar, and he wishes he could stay

on it. The 64-year-old has diabetes

and started the program last year

at the suggestion of his doctor. The

Medicaid program MassHealth

covered it.

Berwick said the nonprofit

Community Servings gave him

weekly deliveries of dry cereal

and premade meals for him to re-

heat.

These programs typically last a

few weeks or months and often fo-

cus on customers with a medical

condition or low incomes who

have a hard time getting nutritious

food. But they aren’t limited to

those groups.

Researchers expect coverage of

food as a form of medicine to grow

as insurers and employers learn

more about which programs work

best. Patients with low incomes

may need help first with getting

access to nutritional food. People

with employer-sponsored cover-

age might need to focus more on

how to use their diet to manage

diabetes or improve their overall

health.

CHARLES KRUPA/AP

Chef Jermaine Wall stacks containers of soups at Community Servings, which prepares and deliversscratchmade, medically tailored meals to people with critical or chronic illnesses on Jan. 12, in theJamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.

Insurers add food to coveragemenu as way to improve health

BY TOM MURPHY

Associated Press


VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cali-

fornia Gov. Gavin Newsom has

from the start said his coronavirus

policy decisions would be driven

by data shared with the public to

provide maximum transparency.

But with the state starting to

emerge from its worst surge, his

administration won’t disclose key

information that will help deter-

mine when his latest stay-at-home

order is lifted.

State health officials said they

rely on a very complex set of mea-

surements that would confuse and

potentially mislead the public if

they were made public.

Dr. Lee Riley, chairman of the

University of California, Berkeley

School of Public Health infectious

disease division, disagreed.

“There is more uncertainty cre-

ated by NOT releasing the data

that only the state has access to,”

he said in an email. Its release

would allow outside experts to as-

sess its value for projecting trends

and the resulting decisions on lift-

ing restrictions, he wrote.

Newsom, a Democrat, imposed

the nation’s first statewide shut-

down in March. His administra-

tion developed reopening plans

that included benchmarks for vi-

rus data such as per capita infec-

tion rates that counties needed to

meet to relax restrictions.

It released data models state of-

ficials use to project whether in-

fections, hospitalizations and

deaths are likely to rise or fall.

As cases surged after Thanks-

giving, Newsom tore up his play-

book. Rather than a county-by-

county approach, he created five

regions and established a single

measurement — ICU capacity —

as the determination for whether a

region was placed under a stay-at-

home order.

In short order, four regions —

about 98% of the state’s population

— were under the restrictions af-

ter their capacity fell below the

15% threshold. A map updated

daily tracks each region’s capaci-

ty.

At the start of last week, no re-

gions appeared likely to have the

stay-at-home order lifted soon be-

cause their capacity was well be-

low 15%. But within a day, the state

announced it was lifting the order

for the 13-county Greater Sacra-

mento area.

Suddenly, outdoor dining and

worship services were OK again,

hair and nail salons and other

businesses could reopen, and re-

tailers were allowed more shop-

pers inside.

Local officials and businesses

were caught off guard. State offi-

cials did not describe their reason-

ing other than to say it was based

on a projection for ICU capacity.

State health officials relied on a

complex formula to project that

while the Sacramento region’s in-

tensive care capacity was below

10%, it would climb above 15%

within four weeks. On Friday, it

was 9%, roughly the same as when

the order was lifted.

“What happened to the 15%?

What was that all about?” asked

Dr. George Rutherford, an epide-

miologist and infectious-diseases

control expert at University of

California, San Francisco. “I was

surprised. I assume they know

something I don’t know.”

State officials projected future

capacity using a combination of

models. “At the moment the pro-

jections are not being shared pub-

licly,” Department of Public

Health spokeswoman Ali Bay said

in an email to The Associated

Press.

ConnecticutHARTFORD — COVID-19-re-

lated hospitalizations in Connecti-

cut continued to decrease Friday

as a growing number of people

have received their first dose of

the vaccine.

There were 1,058 people hospi-

talized, a decrease of 11 since

Thursday. Hartford County has

the largest number of patients,

with 325. It was followed by 308 in

New Haven County and 250 in

Fairfield County.

Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont

called the state’s recent trend of

declining hospitalizations “ex-

traordinarily good news” during a

media briefing on Thursday.

“We’re watching the metrics

carefully,” he said, “but we are

continuing to make progress, I

think, every day.”

According to data through Jan.

21 from Johns Hopkins Universi-

ty, the rolling average number of

daily new cases has decreased by

399.7, a decrease of 16.4% over the

past two weeks.

IllinoisSPRINGFIELD — Illinois Gov.

J.B. Pritzker announced Friday

that the state’s COVID-19 vaccina-

tion program would expand next

week to include the second tier of

priority recipients.

More than 616,000 first doses of

the two-round vaccine have been

administered, although inocula-

tions for a priority population —

residents of long-term care facil-

ities — lag behind, Pritzker said

during a briefing in Chicago on the

coronavirus pandemic. Pritzker

said while shots for the first phase

continue, officials will sign up for

the next lot, referred to as Phase 1b.

The state is closely following

vaccine-priority recommenda-

tions of a committee of the federal

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Vaccinations in Illinois have

been slowly rolling out for three

weeks while the pandemic contin-

ues. Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state

public health director, reported

7,042 fresh cases of coronavirus

illness Friday, the highest single-

day number in two weeks.

NevadaRENO — A rural Nevada

church wants the U.S. Supreme

Court to weigh in on a legal battle

over the government’s authority

to limit the size of religious gather-

ings amid the COVID-19 pandem-

ic even after the church won an

appeals court ruling that found

Nevada’s restrictions unconstitu-

tional.

Attorneys general from 19 other

states recently joined the Calvary

Chapel Dayton Valley near Reno

in urging the Supreme Court to

rule on the merits of the Nevada

case to help bring uniformity to

various standards courts across

the country have used to balance

the interests of public safety and

freedom of religion.

“This petition is the court’s last

opportunity to issue a merits opin-

ion this term settling how lower

courts analyze the interplay be-

tween COVID-19 emergency or-

ders and free-exercise rights,”

lawyers for the church wrote in

their latest court filings on Thurs-

day.

They want the Supreme Court

to “clarify for all that the First

Amendment does not allow gov-

ernment officials to use COVID-19

as an excuse to treat churches and

their worshippers worse than sec-

ular establishments and their pa-

trons.”

In a 5-4 decision in June, the Su-

preme Court refused Calvary

Chapel’s request for an emergen-

cy injunction blocking enforce-

ment of Nevada’s attendance limit

at houses of worship.

But the 9th Circuit Court of Ap-

peals in San Francisco ruled in fa-

vor of the church last month, find-

ing it was unconstitutional for Ne-

vada to treat casinos and other

businesses more favorably than

churches.

OklahomaOKLAHOMA CITY — Oklaho-

ma is seeing promising declines in

the number of people testing posi-

tive and being hospitalized with

the coronavirus, but the state’s

death count continues to climb,

state health officials said Friday.

Because it can take several

weeks to confirm a death was

caused by COVID-19, the disease

caused by the virus, many of the

deaths reported this week are the

result of a spike in cases that were

reported after Thanksgiving and

into the Christmas holidays, State

Epidemiologist Dr. Jared Taylor

said.

“Given that lag in reporting, I

anticipate we will continue to see

these higher death tolls for prob-

ably a week or longer,” Taylor

said.

The Oklahoma State Depart-

ment of Health reported 47 addi-

tional COVID-related deaths on

Friday and nearly 3,000 new

cases, bringing the statewide

death toll to 3,187 and the total

number of confirmed cases in the

state to nearly 366,000.

TexasAUSTIN — A raging coronavi-

rus outbreak in Laredo, now one of

the biggest hotspots in the U.S., is

leading to hundreds of new cases a

day around the border city as Tex-

as again reported more than 400

new COVID-19 deaths Friday.

The more than 8,900 new cases

reported in Webb County, which

includes Laredo, over the past two

weeks is one of the highest per-

capita outbreaks in the country,

according to data from John Hop-

kins University. Gov. Greg Abbott

announced Friday that more med-

ical personnel and equipment

would be sent to Laredo, where

roughly half of all hospital beds

are occupied by patients with CO-

VID-19 — the highest rate of any-

where in the state.

Overall hospitalizations in Tex-

as continued showing potential

signs of stabilizing, but the rising

toll of new deaths continued to be

the worst since the pandemic be-

gan. More than 1,200 new deaths

have been reported in the past

three days alone as January is al-

ready set to go down as the dead-

liest month of the pandemic in

Texas.

WashingtonSEATTLE — A suburban Seat-

tle man who advertised a sup-

posed COVID-19 “vaccine” he

said he created in his personal lab,

was arrested Thursday by federal

authorities.

Johnny T. Stine, 56, faces a mis-

demeanor charge of introducing

misbranded drugs into interstate

commerce in that case and could

face up to one year in prison if con-

victed, KUOW reported. It wasn’t

immediately known if he has a

lawyer to comment on his case.

In March 2020, Stine advertised

injections of the supposed vaccine

for $400 on his personal Facebook

page, according to Brian T. Mo-

ran, the U.S. Attorney for the

Western District of Washington.

Stine wrote on Facebook that it

wasn’t the first time he had “cross-

ed some major lines,” adding that

he had also created “personalized

tumor vaccines for people who

wish to actually fight for their life

with legitimate tools, knowledge,

and skills that I’ve acquired over

the years.”

He also faces charges related to

peddling those untested drugs,

Moran said.

California keepskey virus data outof public sight

JAE C. HONG / AP

A medical staff members walk among traffic cones at a mass COVID19 vaccination site set up in theparking lot of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., on Friday.

Associated Press


WORLD

MOSCOW — Protests erupted in cities

across Russia on Saturday to demand the

release of opposition leader Alexei Naval-

ny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe.

Police arrested more than 2,100 people,

some of whom took to the streets in temper-

atures as frigid -58 Fahrenheit.

In Moscow, thousands of demonstrators

filled Pushkin Square in the city center,

where clashes with police broke out and

demonstrators were roughly dragged off

by helmeted riot officers to police buses

and detention trucks, some beaten with ba-

tons.

Navalny’s wife Yulia was among those

arrested.

Police eventually pushed demonstrators

out of the square. Thousands then re-

grouped along a wide boulevard about a

half-mile away, many of them throwing

snowballs at the police.

The protests stretched across Russia’s

vast territory, from the island city of Yuzh-

no-Sakhalinsk north of Japan and the east-

ern Siberian city of Yakutsk, where tem-

peratures plunged far below zero, to Rus-

sia’s more populous European cities.

The range demonstrated how Navalny

and his anti-corruption campaign have

built an extensive network of support de-

spite official government repression and

being routinely ignored by state media.

“The situation is getting worse and

worse, it’s total lawlessness," said Andrei

Gorkyov, a protester in Moscow. "And if we

stay silent, it will go on forever.”

The OVD-Info group that monitors politi-

cal arrests said at least 795 people were de-

tained in Moscow and more than 300 at an-

other large demonstration in St. Peters-

burg. Overall, it said 2,131 people had been

arrested in some 90 cities.

Undeterred, Navalny's supporters called

for protests again next weekend.

Navalny was arrested on Jan. 17 when he

returned to Moscow from Germany, where

he had spent five months recovering from a

severe nerve-agent poisoning that he

blames on the Kremlin and which Russian

authorities deny. Authorities say his stay in

Germany violated terms of a suspended

sentence in a 2014 criminal conviction,

while Navalny says the conviction was for

made-up charges.

The 44-year-old activist is well known

nationally for his reports on the corruption

that has flourished under President Vladi-

mir Putin’s government.

His wide support puts the Kremlin in a

strategic bind — risking more protests and

criticism from the West if it keeps him in

custody but apparently unwilling to back

down by letting him go free.

Navalny faces a court hearing in early

February to determine whether his sen-

tence in the criminal case for fraud and

money-laundering — which Navalny says

was politically motivated — is converted to

3½ years behind bars.

Moscow police arrested three top Naval-

ny associates Thursday, two of whom were

later jailed for periods of nine and 10 days.

Navalny fell into a coma while aboard a

domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on

Aug. 20. He was transferred from a hospi-

tal in Siberia to a Berlin hospital two days

later. Labs in Germany, France and Swe-

den, and tests by the Organization for the

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, estab-

lished that he was exposed to the Soviet-era

Novichok nerve agent.

Russian authorities insisted that the doc-

tors who treated Navalny in Siberia before

he was airlifted to Germany found no trac-

es of poison and have challenged German

officials to provide proof of his poisoning.

Russia refused to open a full-fledged crimi-

nal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that

Navalny was poisoned.

Protests erupt across Russia over NavalnyAssociated Press

PAVEL GOLOVKIN/AP

Police detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader AlexeiNavalny in Moscow on Saturday.

HONG KONG — Thousands of

Hong Kong residents were locked

down in their homes Saturday in

an unprecedented move to contain

aworsening coronavirus outbreak

in the city.

Authorities said in a statement

that an area comprising 16 build-

ings in the city's Yau Tsim Mong

district would be locked down un-

til all residents were tested. Resi-

dents would not be allowed to

leave their homes until they re-

ceived their test results to prevent

cross-infection.

“Persons subject to compulsory

testing are required to stay in their

premises until all such persons

identified in the area have under-

gone testing and the test results

are mostly ascertained,” the gov-

ernment statement said.

The restrictions, which were

announced at 4 a.m. in Hong

Kong, were expected to end with-

in 48 hours, the government said.

Hong Kong has been grappling

to contain a fresh wave of the coro-

navirus since November. Over

4,300 cases have been recorded in

the last two months, making up

nearly 40% of the city’s total.

Coronavirus cases in Yau Tsim

Mong district represent about half

of infections in the past week.

Approximately 3,000 people in

Yau Tsim Mong had taken tests

for the coronavirus thus far, ac-

cording to the Hong Kong govern-

ment, joining the thousands of oth-

ers around the crowded city of 7.5

million who have been tested in

recent days.

Police guarded access points to

the working-class neighborhood

of old buildings and subdivided

flats and arrested a 47-year-old

man after he allegedly attacked an

officer. The man had reportedly

been told he would have to be test-

ed after coming into the restricted

area and would not be allowed to

leave until he could show a nega-

tive test result.

Sewage testing in the area

picked up more concentrated

traces of the virus, prompting con-

cerns that poorly built plumbing

systems and a lack of ventilation in

subdivided units may present a

possible path for the virus to

spread.

Hong Kong has previously

avoided lockdowns in the city dur-

ing the pandemic, with leader

Carrie Lam stating in July last

year that authorities will avoid

taking such “extreme measures”

unless it had no other choice.

Hong Kong has seen a total of

9,929 infections in the city, with

168 deaths recorded as of Friday.

Thousands in Hong Kong districtlocked down for COVID-19 testing

Associated Press

VINCENT YU/AP

A police officer stands guard at the Yau Ma Tei area, in Hong Kong,Saturday. Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked downSaturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreakin the city, authorities said.

LONDON— Four people-smug-

glers convicted of killing 39 people

from Vietnam who died in the back

of a container truck as it was ship-

ped to England were sentenced

Friday to between 13 and 27 years

in prison.

The victims, between the ages of

15 and 44, were found in October

2019 inside a refrigerated contain-

er that had traveled by ferry from

Belgium to the eastern England

port of Purfleet. The migrants had

paid people-smugglers thousands

of dollars to take them on risky

journeys to what they hoped would

be better lives abroad.

Instead, judge Nigel Sweeney

said, “all died in what must have

been an excruciatingly painful

death” by suffocation in the air-

tight container.

The judge sentenced Romanian

mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 43, de-

scribed by prosecutors as the

smuggling ringleader, to 27 years.

Northern Irish truck driver Ea-

monn Harrison, 24, who drove the

container to the Belgian port of

Zeebrugge, received an 18-year

sentence.

Trucker Maurice Robinson, 26,

who picked the container up in En-

gland, was sentenced to 13 years

and 4 months in prison, while haul-

age company boss Ronan Hughes,

41, was jailed for 20 years.

Nica and Harrison were con-

victed last month after a 10-week

trial. Hughes and Robinson had

pleaded guilty to people-smug-

gling and manslaughter.

Three other members of the

gang received shorter sentences.

Prosecutors said all the suspects

were part of a gang that charged

about $17,000 per person to trans-

port migrants in trailers through

the Channel Tunnel or by boat.

Sweeney said it was “a sophisti-

cated, long running, and profit-

able” criminal conspiracy.

Jurors heard harrowing evi-

dence about the final hours of the

victims, who tried to call Viet-

nam’s emergency number to sum-

mon help as air in the container

ran out. When they couldn't get a

mobile phone signal, some record-

ed goodbye messages to their fam-

ilies.

The trapped migrants — who in-

cluded a bricklayer, a restaurant

worker, a nail bar technician, a

budding beautician and a univer-

sity graduate — used a metal pole

to try to punch through the roof of

the refrigerated container, but on-

ly managed to dent it.

Detective Chief Inspector Da-

niel Stoten, the senior investigat-

ing officer on the case, said the vic-

tims “left behind families, memo-

ries, and homes, in the pursuit of a

false promise of something bet-

ter.” “Instead they died, in an un-

imaginable way, because of the ut-

ter greed of these criminals,” he

said.

People-smugglers sentencedfor deaths of 39 in container

Associated Press


AMERICAN ROUNDUP

City council OKs law forhome delivery of alcohol

NV LAS VEGAS— Las Ve-

gas city residents will

be able to dial for drink deliveries

at home under a new law ap-

proved by the City Council.

The measure lets restaurants

and convenience stores deliver al-

cohol through third-party servic-

es. It was cast as a boost for busi-

nesses struggling with coronavi-

rus pandemic restrictions.

The bill requires stores and res-

taurants to have licenses to sell al-

coholic beverages for off-premise

consumption and an ancillary li-

cense, and for third-party services

to obtain a new $4,000 delivery li-

cense.

Officials uncover plot tosmuggle tobacco into jail

WA BELLINGHAM — A

man was arrested af-

ter corrections deputies reported-

ly uncovered a plot to smuggle to-

bacco to inmates inside the What-

com County Jail.

Steven Lee Dodson, 42, was

booked into the jail on suspicion of

third-degree introducing contra-

band and driving with a suspend-

ed license.

Deputies first learned about the

contraband smuggling plot Jan.

14, according to a news release

from the Whatcom County Sher-

iff's Office. They monitored nine

phone calls made from inmate Co-

dy Lee Wilson, 32, to an unknown

person outside the jail.

During the calls, details about

when and where the accomplice

would meet Wilson’s connection

and details about how it would be

smuggled into the jail were dis-

cussed, officials said.

Confederate statuedamaged, nose missing

LA LAFAYETTE— A mon-

ument of Confederate

Gen. Alfred Mouton in Louisiana

was damaged, with several holes

punctured from its head to jaw

and half of its nose taken off and

missing.

The monument is owned by the

city and there have been efforts to

get it moved. But The United

Daughters of the Confederacy,

which erected the monument in

1922, opposes that and is claiming

in court the city does not have the

rights to move the statue.

Gen. Mouton, who was born in

1829 in Opelousas, was the son of

former Louisiana Gov. Alexandre

Mouton. He, along with his father,

helped train a “Vigilante Commit-

tee” who whipped and lynched

Black people in Lafayette Parish,

the Daily Advertiser newspaper

said.

Teen accused of stealingnearly $1M from Kroger

GA DULUTH — A subur-

ban Atlanta teenager

was arrested on charges that he

defrauded a supermarket where

he worked of nearly $1 million

over a two-week period.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitu-

tion reported that Tre Brown, 19,

was arrested by Gwinnett County

police on charges of felony theft.

Gwinnett County police spokes-

man Cpl. Collin Flynn said Brown

stole more than $980,000 over two

weeks in December and January

by fabricating more than 40 re-

turns for non-existent items.

Police said Brown used the sto-

len money to buy two cars, clothes,

guns and shoes.

Fisherman rescued fromsunken vessel off coast

NC ELIZABETH CITY—

Coast Guard officials

said a man was rescued from his

sunken fishing vessel of the North

Carolina coast.

Officials said the man was res-

cued with the help of a good Sa-

maritan about 20 miles southwest

of Kitty Hawk.

Officials said watch standers at

Coast Guard Sector North Caroli-

na received the initial report from

the father-in-law of a man whose

18-foot boat sunk at the mouth of

Alligator River. At the time of the

call, the man was on the bow of his

sunken vessel.

Coast Guard crews from Eliza-

beth City responded to the inci-

dent, including an aircrew that di-

rected a nearby vessel to the loca-

tion of the sunken boat. The other

vessel’s crew were able to bring

the man aboard and transfer him

to emergency medical personnel.

High-speed interstatepursuit leads to arrest

SD CHANCELLOR — An

Iowa man was behind

bars in South Dakota after a pur-

suit that crossed state lines and re-

ached speeds of more than 100

mph.

The incident started when dep-

uties with the Lyon County Sher-

iff’s Office in Iowa started pursu-

ing a stolen vehicle . The pursuit

entered Lincoln County when the

South Dakota deputies there were

asked to take over.

It lasted for several miles in Lin-

coln County with speeds reaching

110 mph, authorities said. The pur-

suit ended when a Highway Patrol

trooper stopped the vehicle west

of Chancellor.

The man, 25, from Spencer was

arrested on tentative charges in-

cluding possession of stolen prop-

erty and drunken driving.

1st female mayor to servein city's 160-year history

UT ST. GEORGE— For the

first time since the city

of St. George was founded in 1861,

a woman will serve as mayor.

City councilwoman Michele

Randall was appointed mayor of

St. George in a four-to-one vote ,

the Spectrum newspaper report-

ed.

She will serve the 11 months re-

maining in the term of mayor Jon

Pike, who stepped down Jan. 4 to

run the Utah Insurance Depart-

ment under newly-elected Gov.

Spencer Cox.

Randall intends to run for a full

four-year term in the upcoming

municipal election in November.

6 Canada geese shot,dumped along river

ID BOISE — Idaho Fish and

Game said officers found

six Canada geese dumped along

the Snake River on Jan. 16. These

birds were dumped in the same

spot that nine other geese were

found in late December, CBS2

News reported.

Both times officers found the

birds completely intact with no

meat taken off.

“This is a blatant case of wasting

game, which is very disturbing,

especially if this is the same indi-

vidual or individuals who are re-

sponsible,” said Senior Conserva-

tion Officer Aaron Andruska

Man accused of threatsto police arrested

MN ST. PAUL — A Min-

nesota man who al-

legedly bragged about planning to

kill a police officer at a pro-Trump

rally in St. Paul was accused in

federal court of trying to sell an

undercover agent a sawed-off

shotgun.

A federal complaint stated that

Dayton Sauke, 22, of Owatonna,

had been offering to sell illegal

firearms on Snapchat for months

and he posted about plans to kill a

law enforcement officer at a

Trump event. Sauke told agents he

sold 120 firearms last year, the

complaint said.

Sauke is charged with one count

of possession of an unregistered

short-barreled shotgun.

DARYN SLOVER, (LEWISTON, MAINE) SUN JOURNAL/ AP

Todd Gustaitis of Otisfield, Maine, looks for traffic as his dog sled team crosses Station Road in Hebron, Maine. Gustaitis, a musher forUltimate Dog Sledding out of Oxford, Maine, had just finished a 12mile run for three passengers from Connecticut. Sled dog musher MatthewBlack said the dogs pulled the madeinMaine sled along the Interconnected Trail System 89.

Mush through the slush

THE CENSUS

70K The approximate number of chickens that recently died as afire swept through several buildings at A&L Farms in Berks

County, Pa. A fire official told WFMZ-TV two buildings were burned to theground and an egg house sustained partial damage. This was the third fire atthe farm in recent years. A fire in 2019 claimed the lives of more than 37,000chickens and a fire in 2015 destroyed an empty barn. A fire marshal is expectedto investigate the cause of the latest blaze.

From the Associated Press


MUSIC

Pick a classic Phil Spec-

tor production. It ac-

tually doesn’t matter

which. The opening

eight bars of the Ronettes’ 1963

smash “Be My Baby” are among

the catchiest in American song, a

thump, thump-thump, splash

rhythm that rockets into outer

space with sizzling shakers and

snares that boom like shotguns.

When Ronnie Spector’s soaring

voice swoops in to steal the thun-

der, the combined eruption is

undeniably thrilling.

Or take “Strange Love,” the

Darlene Love-propelled gem that

opens with a frolicking school-

yard melody before turning into

a galloping riot of string- and

percussion-driven weirdness as

Love sings of a creeper whose

brand of affection is so concern-

ing that she “can’t take it, can’t

take it no more.” The entirety of

“A Christmas Gift to You,” Spec-

tor’s canonic holiday album, is a

rush of joyous girl-group energy.

“River Deep, Mountain High” —

my, oh my.

Record producer, songwriter

and studio auteur, Spector —

who died Jan. 16 at age 81 in a

Northern California hospital of

complications from COVID-19 —

was one of the most influential

musical creators of the 20th

century. It’s right there in the

groves, every clack of clave,

doo-wop wail, stealthy saxophone

run, chorale explosion, jangle of

bells and rat-a-tat percussion

breakdown. Among the first

American hitmaker-producers of

the record era to combine his

sonic ideas and single-minded

drive to become a chart-busting

one-stop shop, Spector laid the

foundation for auteur-producers

such as Rick Rubin, Dr. Dre,

Timbaland and Mike Will Made

It.

Equal parts composer, maes-

tro, producer, director and im-

presario, Spector helmed his

sessions at Gold Star Studios in

Hollywood with vocalists the

Ronettes, Crystals, Gene Pitney,

the Righteous Bros. and others

on songs including “To Know

Him Is to Love Him,” “He’s a

Rebel,” “Unchained Melody,”

“Walking in the Rain” and “And

Then He Kissed Me” as if each

record were preordained.

The result was a string of

breathtakingly deep hits that

helped guide the trajectory of the

1960s and beyond. Although his

reign on the charts only lasted

half a decade, echoes of Spector’s

famed “wall of sound” produc-

tion technique can be heard in

the work of Bruce Springsteen,

the Beach Boys, Katy Perry,

Beck and Best Coast.

And, and, and: Spector was a

murderer. A pistol-wielding

kidnapper and career violent

abuser who was convicted of the

2003 killing of Lana Clarkson.

These truths exist side by side,

which is why I hesitantly raised

my hand to write about Spector’s

work as a producer and the pow-

er he unleashed on the world

from a storefront recording stu-

dio on Santa Monica Boulevard

in Hollywood. To write about his

creations is not to eclipse his

killing of Clarkson, the details of

which are easily accessible. Ter-

rible people have made great art,

a notion that writer Fran Lebo-

witz discusses in her new Netflix

series, “Pretend It’s a City.”

Asked whether there were any

writers she won’t read, Lebowitz

replied by citing novelist Henry

Roth, who she explained “was

discovered to have had sex with

his sister. And it was horrible,

but no, it wouldn’t keep me from

reading him.”

She added, “Of course, you

can’t read someone in the same

way.”

Like most, I stopped being able

to listen to Spector’s music the

same way the moment he was

arrested for Clarkson’s murder.

But that doesn’t diminish the

glory of the Crystals’ “Da Doo

Ron Ron,” the Paris Sisters’ “I

Love How You Love Me,” the

Treasures’ “Hold Me Tight” or

Spector’s harrowing production

on the Righteous Brothers’ mas-

sive “You’ve Lost That Lovin’

Feeling.”

“Working with Phil Spector

was working with the best,” Ron-

nie Spector, Spector’s ex-wife

and most enduring collaborator,

wrote in a statement after his

death. “So much to love about

those days. Falling in love was

like a fairytale. The magical

music we made was inspired by

our love.” The namesake of the

Ronettes tempered her statement

by calling him “a brilliant pro-

ducer, but a lousy husband.”

At peak success in the early

1960s, Spector described his

three-minute pop gems as “little

symphonies for the kids,” and the

moment was right for them. A

generation of teenagers was

transforming boom-time Amer-

ica — and the Billboard charts —

and the scrawny Spector mani-

fested their desires. The best of

his singles were so propellant

that they upended pop music in

the pre-Beatles 1960s by deliver-

ing action, swing and excitement

to stagnant pop charts then

weighted down by Pat Boone-

style pablum.

Growing up just south of Mel-

rose and Fairfax, the son of a

single mom and a father who

died by suicide when Spector

was a boy, the prime orchestrator

of teenage love and angst lived

just a 10-minute cruise to down-

town Hollywood, where dozens of

recording studios and labels

operated. He got his first profes-

sional music lessons around the

corner from Wallich’s Music City

at Sunset and Vine. Some days

after school he would race home

to turn on the radio and practice

guitar along with KGFJ disc

jockey Hunter Hancock.

A shy kid, he landed his 1958

debut single, “To Know Him Is to

Love Him” by the Teddy Bears,

at No. 1 when he was 18 and just

out of Fairfax High School.

As he matured, Spector’s aural

signature — huge, echoed per-

cussion, prominent string ar-

rangements and charismatic,

pitch-perfect Black belters —

became immediately identifiable.

Some of the earliest singles by

the Beatles and Rolling Stones

reek of Spector’s influence, and

his production style remains an

archetype. It didn’t always over-

whelm; Pitney’s “Every Little

Breath I Take” and the Righ-

teous Brothers’ “Unchained

Melody” were more contained,

but still bursting at the seams.

He knew talent when he heard it:

Session players on Spector’s

classic hits included Sonny Bono,

Leon Russell, Glen Campbell,

bassist Carol Kaye and drummer

Earl Palmer.

As the puppet master, Spector

was a hands-on operator. A mil-

lionaire by the time he hit 23, he

booked studio time, conferred

with writers and directed studio

engineers. He accomplished a lot

in pre-production, spending

entire days, for example, getting

the percussion properly ampli-

fied in one of the studio’s four

echo chambers, working with

pounders including Bono and

Palmer on woodblocks, casta-

nets, bells, tom-toms, timpani

and congas.

If you want to get technical, the

so-called Wall of Sound was

actually angled back, like a rising

wave just before a surfer catches

it. With dozens of musicians

arranged by timbre and tone and

surrounded by strategically

placed microphones, Spector and

engineer and unsung hero Larry

Levine captured the sound of the

room, the instrumental reso-

nance and, somehow, the emo-

tional heart of the record. An

engineering classicist, Spector

famously rejected the burgeon-

ing hi-fidelity stereophonic ad-

vances in sound reproduction.

His motto: “Back to mono.”

Before takes, Spector was

known to roam the room coach-

ANDRES VICTORERO/TNS

Phil Spector was a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, but his murder conviction in the 2003 killing of actressLana Clarkson changed the groundbreaking producer’s already complicated legacy.

COMMENTARYBY RANDALL ROBERTS

Los Angeles Times

Listening to Phil Spector: A three-minute thrill ride, then a reckoning with evil

SEE SPECTOR ON PAGE 13


Aaron FrazerIntroducing...

(Dead Oceans/Easy Eye Sound)

This year is going to be fine.

How can we be so sure? It’s start-

ing with the release of Aaron

Frazer’s debut solo album. One

spin and you’ll be spellbound,

swaying — and smiling.

Frazer, the drummer and co-lead singer for Durand

Jones & The Indications, has teamed up with Dan Auerbach

of The Black Keys for the electric, falsetto-fueled and soulful

12-track “Introducing...”

Auerbach has empowered Frazer to more deeply explore

funk, soul, doo-wop, fuzzy guitars and blues, creating an old-

new and deeply satisfying sound, from the horn- and Wur-

litzer-led “If I Got It (Your Love Brought It)” to the torch

song “Leanin’ On Your Everlasting Love.”

With vibes of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye and

an irresistible bass line — and wait, a flute? — “Bad

News” is tremendous, satisfying both your finger-

snapping and soul needs. There’s even a moment in it

when Frazier simply abandons his falsetto for a split

second, thrillingly.

Auerbach’s clout is evident, as when legendary song-

writer L. Russell Brown, who wrote hits for falsetto

star Frankie Valli, helped write “You Don’t Wanna Be

My Baby,” the album’s glorious opening track. Another

standout is “Over You,” a pulsating jewel built on an

addictive drum beat and chunky bass.

“Ride With Me” — co-written and featuring Mem-

phis Boys keyboardist Bobby Wood — uses a train

metaphor (”Children can you hear it/Can you hear

that whistle blowing?”) to signal change is coming,

recalling The O’Jays’ “Love Train.”

Frazer drums and sings throughout and his more

famous co-writer plays guitar and sings backup as

they make revival soul worthy of Motown and Stax.

It is music to dance to, drive to, cook to, celebrate

friendships to — 2021 starting with the coolest of

highs.

— Mark Kennedy

Associated Press

Alysse Gafkjen

ing musicians as if he were Quentin Ta-

rantino prepping actors before an action

sequence. As the late producer and musi-

cian Jack Nitzsche recalled to writer Har-

vey Kubernik when directing guitarists,

Spector “would whisper in their ears,

‘Dumb — don’t do anything. Just play

eighth notes.’ It was hard for any of the

guitarists to breathe or stretch out on the

records.”

Critics bemoaned so much sound, which

stretched the capacities of AM radio at the

time and prompted some to complain of

his productions’ expressionistic chaos.

Spector acknowledged the so-called “muz-

ziness,” but his ears registered it other-

wise, saying that the onslaught “adds up to

musical guts. There’s gotta be guts in

music. Make it too sharp and you lose out.

You can call it cloudy if you like, but I just

call it the guts of the music.”

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson was

mesmerized by Spector’s onslaught. In the

years before Wilson produced “Pet

Sounds” using Spector’s techniques, Wil-

son would drop by Gold Star to observe

sessions. Wilson has said that the Crystals’

1962 smash “He’s Sure the Boy I Love”

“opened up a door of creativity for me like

you wouldn’t believe. Some people say

drugs can open that door. But Phil Spector

opened it for me.” Wilson later added that

Spector’s work led him “to design the

experience to be a record rather than just

a song.”

“He’s a Rebel,” written by Spector col-

laborator Pitney, tapped generational

angst, hormonal hunger and a baritone-

blaring brass run to advance a song about

a Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance. “Da

Doo Ron Ron” starts on a Monday when

our heroine meets Bill, continues when he

walks her home and ends later that night

after a little da-doo-ron-ron. “You never

close your eyes anymore when I kiss your

lips, and there’s no tenderness like before

in your fingertips” sings the Righteous

Brothers’ Bill Medley to open “You’ve

Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Measure by

measure the tension builds as the singer

lays out his heartbreaking evidence. When

the chorus arrives, Spector scores it as if

the world’s imploding.

“In those songs, the storyline was as

clear as clear could ever be,” recalled the

late Leonard Cohen, upon whom Spector

famously pulled a gun during one noto-

rious session. “The images were very

expressive — they spoke to us all. Spec-

tor’s real greatness is his ability to induce

those incredible little moments of poi-

gnant longing in us.”

The bridge on “Then He Kissed Me” —

the moment of lip-locking impact, which

singer Dolores “LaLa” Brooks belts with

exuberance — swirls with strings that

somehow capture the hormone-in-a-bottle

rush of falling in love. Spector’s produc-

tion of the King-Goffin song “He Hit Me

(It Felt Like a Kiss)” powers the upsetting

song with a sorrowful menace.

For Spector, the hits didn’t keep coming.

By the time the Beatles invited him to

work on “Let It Be” with them, the pro-

ducer hadn’t had a major hit in years, and

was stinging from the failure of Ike and

Tina Turner’s roaring take in “River

Deep, Mountain High” to make a sales

dent. The Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston

compared Spector in those periods to “a

little boy who does something really cute

and gets applauded for that, and so he

starts figuring out how to get the applause

back, but then it’s not quite as cute again. I

think Phil started believing his own legend

and press.”

The Ramones hired him to produce

their fourth album, “End of the Century.”

It didn’t go well, according to Dee Dee

Ramone. “I like beauty to be instant. Not

to be labored over, I don’t like music to be

a hustle. I think we can just go into a stu-

dio and do it and not be frustrated. Phil

seemed to be frustrated with us.”

Ramone added that Spector “wasn’t the

most friendly guy I’ve ever met. He tried

to be friendly but then he had his guns on

him and he wouldn’t let me out of his

house for a couple of days.”

Spector’s arrogance hobbled many an

artist, not least of which was his ex-wife

Ronnie, who once told British music mag-

azine NME that he “was always telling me

that I was nothing, that it was his produc-

tion and his writing that made me and

that, without him, I wouldn’t make it

again.”

He also proved unwilling to change with

the times. A rigid aesthete who demanded

subservience in the studio, he bemoaned

the rise of the Laurel Canyon folk scene,

and steadfastly refused to let his Southern

California upbringing seep into his sound.

“They thought Gold Star was in New

York,” Spector told Kubernik, adding that

his techniques were “hardly typical Cali-

fornia stuff. There are no four-part harmo-

nies on my records. Maybe 32-part harmo-

nies.”

He concluded his point with a dig at

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: “Anybody

laid-back in this room, get the f— out of

here!”

Spector: Producer’s legacy included artistry, arrogance and abuseFROM PAGE 12

MUSIC REVIEWS

Moon TaxiSilver Dream (BMG)

Moon Taxi have a

new album with a

dozen songs, but you

may be forgiven for

losing track of them.

One unmemorable,

formulaic tune bleeding into another leaves

the listener underwhelmed by the effect. Has

it been 20 minutes, really? How many bland

songs have been offered?

But perhaps “Silver Dream” — the Nash-

ville alt-rockers’ sixth full-length album — is

not intended for music lovers. The band has

already sold the single “One Step Away” to

ESPN’s SEC Network for coverage of college

football.

That deal is just the latest in which deep-

pocketed brands have snapped up Moon Taxi

music — Maker’s Mark, Jeep, Microsoft

Surface Pro, BMW and McDonald’s. Is this

the real silver dream of the title?

We are witnessing the natural effect when

a band loses the last of its edge, lured into

writing mainstream fluff. They even have a

song on the new album called “Take the Edge

Off.” It’s all the musical equivalent of the

gradual bleaching of coral.

After the sadly underwhelming — sonical-

ly, we mean, clearly not monetarily — album

“Let the Record Play” in 2018, there was a

glimmer of hope in 2019 that the band had

righted its course with the terrific song

“Restless.” But that was a false dawn.

Moon Taxi just doubled down on mediocre,

dad jeans alt-rock and are now so distant

from their brilliant 2012 album “Cabaret”

that it’s too far for a taxi to drive. “It’s a long

walk back from yesterday,” lead singer and

guitarist Trevor Terndrup seems to acknowl-

edge on the new album.

So let’s just call them what they really are

right now: jingle writers.

— Mark Kennedy

Associated Press


Thanks to a proliferating

number of streaming

networks, TV shows

aren’t exactly in short

supply these days. But amid the

flashy new thrillers and slow-

burn sagas, it can be comforting

to return to the old stalwarts:

network sitcoms and dramas.

In fact, a new Nielsen analysis

suggests many viewers did just

that last year, as broadcast hits

including “The Office,” “Crimi-

nal Minds” and the still-airing

“Grey’s Anatomy” topped the

research company’s ranking of

2020’s most-streamed shows.

Nielsen cites those shows as

garnering more viewership than

any other title (including original

series and movies), based on its

content ratings for Netflix, Hulu,

Disney Plus and Amazon Prime.

Below, we’ve compiled a wide-

ranging list of our favorite broad-

cast gems available to stream on,

and beyond, those platforms.

‘Law and Order: SVU’

(1999)Few shows reflect our social

and cultural evolution the way

SVU does — after all, it’s the

longest-running (non-animated)

show on prime time. It’s also

iconic: Taylor Swift literally has

a cat named after its main char-

acter Olivia Benson (Mariska

Hargitay) of the New York Police

Department’s Special Victims

Unit. If you’re up for a serious

USA Network-style marathon,

start at the beginning with Detec-

tives Benson and Stabler (that’s

Elliot Stabler, played by Chris-

topher Meloni) and work your

way through to Season 22, which

now follows Captain Olivia Ben-

son and will soon feature Sta-

bler’s return.

You can also choose episodes

by guest star, of which there are

a seemingly infinite amount,

including memorable turns by

Martin Short, Cynthia Nixon,

Robin Williams and Ann-Mar-

gret, to name a few. (Streaming

on Hulu)

‘The Office’ (2005) The beloved and oft-quoted

workplace comedy was already a

perennial hit on Netflix before

moving over to NBC’s Peacock

earlier this year. But the series

became especially popular —

and resonant — amid a global

pandemic that unexpectedly took

many people away from their

offices and colleagues.

The show’s real-time appeal

goes beyond its meme-worthy

humor, as Washington Post Asso-

ciate Opinions Editor Autumn

Brewington recently mused:

“Losing oneself in Dunder Mif-

flin is a way of coping with pan-

demic isolation.” (Streaming on

Peacock)

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (2005) Before “Scandal” and “Bridge-

rton,” Shonda Rhimes gave us

this drama about the heavily

intersected lives and careers of

the beautiful, brooding and occa-

sionally insufferable doctors at a

Seattle teaching hospital. We

haven’t quite been the same

since. The series is currently in

its 17th season, so settle in,

McStreamy. (Seasons 1-16

streaming on Netflix; Season 17

streaming on Hulu)

If you’re in the mood for a

snarkier medical drama, try

“House” on Peacock or Amazon

Prime.

‘Cheers’ (1982) The TV equivalent of going

where everybody knows your

name. The classic NBC sitcom

features a memorable ensemble

cast: Ted Danson, Woody Har-

relson (whose character replaced

the late Nicholas Colasanto’s

beloved Coach), Bebe Neuwirth,

George Wendt and, uh, Kirstie

Alley — long before she had a

Twitter account. (Streaming on

Hulu, CBS All Access and Pea-

cock)

You likewise can’t go wrong

with the spinoff “Frasier,” avail-

able on CBS All Access, which

follows Dr. Frasier Crane (Kel-

sey Grammer) and features some

of the best TV banter we’ve ever

heard.

‘New Girl’ (2011) This roommate comedy, which

aired for seven seasons on Fox, is

funny, sweet and once featured a

cameo by Prince. And while it

wasn’t known for its social com-

mentary during its time on air,

fans have pointed out a few plot-

lines that evoke current events.

(Streaming on Netflix)

‘Lucifer’ (2016) Though this devilishly funny

comedy landed on Nielsen’s list

of most-streamed original series,

we’re including it here because it

began on Fox. The show’s trajec-

tory alone — from being can-

celed by Fox after 3 seasons to

enjoying a lively and well-re-

viewed revival on Netflix —

highlights its passionate fan base.


‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’

(2013) Like “Lucifer,” “Brooklyn

Nine-Nine” was canceled by Fox

— following its fifth season —

due to lackluster ratings. Dis-

appointed fans lobbied for its

resurrection, prompting NBC to

bring the goofy Jake Peralta

(Andy Samberg), stalwart Cap-

tain Raymond Holt (Andre

Braugher) and their colleagues

back to our TV screens. The

eighth season of the series will

premiere on NBC later this

month. (Streaming on Hulu)

‘Girlfriends’ (2000) Fans rejoiced when Netflix

announced a slate of classic

Black sitcoms — including Mara

Brock Akil’s treasured series

about four Black women naviga-

ting their late 20s and early 30s

while living in Los Angeles —

were coming to the platform last

year. (Streaming on Netflix)

‘This Is Us’ (2016)Dan Fogelman’s tender family

drama, now in its fifth season on

NBC, follows the triumphs and

struggles of the Pearson family

across generations, while poi-

gnantly exploring issues that

affect all of us — most recently

the pandemic and protests

against racial injustice. (Stream-

ing on Hulu)

‘Black-ish’ (2014)Over the course of seven sea-

sons, Kenya Barris’ ABC sitcom

— about a multigenerational and

wealthy Black family — has

masterfully balanced its humor

with moving and nuanced explo-

rations of issues ranging from

police brutality to colorism.

(Streaming on Hulu)

‘The O.C.’ (2003)

Josh Schwartz’s teen drama is

iconic for many reasons: Seth

(Adam Brody), Summer (Rachel

Bilson), Peter Gallagher’s eye-

brows (which apparently could

have been Jon Hamm’s?!) and,

yes, Ryan (Ben McKenzie) and

Marissa (Mischa Barton).

(Streaming on HBO Max)

‘Jane the Virgin’ (2014) This dramedy was inspired by

a telenovela — roots the CW

series playfully wove into its

DNA with standard evil twin

appearances, love triangles and

that-character’s-not-dead-after-

all reveals. But it was always

more than its twists and turns.

The true heart of the story is

the bond Jane (Gina Rodriguez)

shares with her mother Xiomara

(Andrea Navedo) and grand-

mother Alba (Ivonne Coll), three

generations of Latinas who al-

ways had each other’s backs.


‘The Fresh Prince of

Bel-Air’ (1990) Will Smith’s breakout, which

aired for six seasons on NBC,

was one of the most exciting

additions to streaming last year.

For all of its hilarious moments,

the sitcom was just as skilled at

delivering poignant scenes that

we still remember by heart.

(Streaming on HBO Max)

‘Parks and Recreation’

(2009) Amid questionable pandemic-

focused entertainment efforts

from celebrities last year, this

delightful Amy Poehler-led com-

edy resurfaced with a pitch-

perfect reunion special that

made us remember why we love

Pawnee, Ind., so much. (Stream-

ing on Peacock)

‘The Good Place’ (2016) Eleanor (Kristen Bell), a self-

proclaimed Arizona dirtbag, dies

and unexpectedly ends up a

place that looks a lot like heaven

in this comedy from “Parks and

Rec” co-creator Michael Schur.

Danson, of “Cheers” fame, plays

the afterlife architect who helps

Eleanor (and several other arriv-

als) navigate her new surreality.

The thoughtful comedy ended

last year after four seasons, so

you can binge and get the an-

swers to the universe in one fell

swoop. (Streaming on Netflix)

NBC/TNS

Kristen Bell and William Jackson Harper are two of the stars of “The Good Place,” streaming on Netflix.

Nostalgic forold-fashionednetwork TV?

Here are 15 great broadcast shows, ready to streamBY BETHONIE BUTLER

The Washington Post

NBC

Mariska Hargitay has starred for 22 years on “Law and Order: SVU.”

NBC/TNS

Phillis Smith and Steve Carell are among the cast of “The Office.”

TELEVISION


CROSSWORD AND COMICS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

OH, FOURPEAT’S SAKE!BY ALEX BAJCZ / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

52 Actor/TV host Joel55 To take this,

paradoxically, might signify taking a stand

56 Wedding exchange57 The D-backs, on

scoreboards58 Quack doctor’s

offering59 London neighborhood

west of Covent Garden

62 Most expensive block64 Kirghizia or

Byelorussia: Abbr.67 Quick hit69 Word in the

Declaration of Independence but not the Constitution

70 ____ Rachel Wood of ‘‘Westworld’’

71 ‘‘Can’t you ____?’’72 Post-interruption

question75 Plant used in making

biofuel77 ____ Schomburg,

Harlem Renaissance figure

78 Haiti’s ____ de la Tortue

79 Like some coffee and sprains

82 Heedless86 ‘‘Fantabulous!’’87 First ruler of a united

Hawaii91 Boot attachment92 ____ Pre√ 94 Loan option, briefly95 Like a narrow

baseball win

96 Fixture whose name translates to ‘‘small horse’’

99 Result of the ’64 Clay/Liston fight

101 Hitting the ground heavily

103 Relatively light foundry product

108 Wash. neighbor109 Lavishes affection

(on)110 Super-quality111 ‘‘This one’s all

mine!’’113 Like about 97 percent

of U.S. land117 Óscar ____, 1987

Peace Nobelist from Costa Rica

118 Potful in some Italian kitchens

121 Given (to)122 Stock-exchange

worker123 Makes Don nod?124 Things that can be

closed with a zip 125 Brains126 Least spicy

DOWN

1 Trashes2 ____ shield3 Bombeck who wrote

‘‘At Wit’s End’’4 Participates in a mosh

pit5 Los Angeles port

district6 Sea urchin, at a sushi

bar7 Took another take8 Isaac’s firstborn

9 Meditation sounds10 Click the circular

arrow button, say11 Aids for sleepyheads12 Top part of an I.R.S.

form13 Red morning sky, to

sailors14 Part of an Italian sub15 Some pricey

handbags16 Things Wyoming and

Nevada lack17 Guy who hosts

‘‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’’

18 Overnighting option20 It’s been performed

more than 1,000 times at the Met

23 Kan. neighbor30 Title for a lady32 Be outta sight?33 Alice in Chains genre34 Atlanta hoopster35 Repeated word in

Hozier’s 2014 hit ‘‘Take Me to Church’’

36 Base of an arch37 Video call annoyance42 Falling-out43 Mammal’s head and

heart?44 ‘‘Pokémon’’ cartoon

genre46 High-ranking47 Chutzpah49 Call to mind50 Like Parmesan and

pecorino51 ‘‘You do it ____ will’’53 Stick (to)54 That guy60 Cheri of old ‘‘S.N.L.’’

61 ‘‘With what frequency?’’

62 ‘‘The Masque of the Red Death’’ writer

63 Duck

64 Tries for a fly

65 Film character who says ‘‘That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do’’

66 Payback

68 Christensen of ‘‘Parenthood’’

69 Grammy winner Stefani

73 Classic work by Karel Capek

74 Whitney for whom a Connecticut museum is named

76 Certain security officer

79 Prez No. 3480 Quick pick-me-up?81 Send forth83 Atmospheric prefix84 Ostracize85 Be left undecided88 Watered-down rum

89 Common lecture length

90 Giant in fairy tales?

93 Queen Anne’s royal family

97 ‘‘Let me clarify . . . ’’

98 Trashes

99 Yellow-brick-road traveler

100 Folds and stretches

102 Backpacker’s lodging

103 Make lemonade from lemons, so to speak

104 Peter of ‘‘Casablanca’’

105 ‘‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’’ co-star

106 Wood stain has a strong one

107 Tiny ____112 Hurtful remark114 Ploy115 Pocket rockets, in

poker116 In the event that119 Symbol on a Junction

Ahead sign120 Future zygotes

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

120291

423222

82726252

3323130392

938373635343

7464544434241404

45352515059484

85756555

3626160695

1707968676665646

6757473727

584838281808978777

0998887868

5949392919

20110100199897969

801701601501401301

611511411311211111011901

021911811711

321221121

621521421

Alex Bajcz, of Morris Plains, N.J., is an assistant professor of biology and environmental science at Drew University. He studies how and why plants produce fruits — he says he’s one of the few biologists who get to eat his research. The name Bajcz is Hungarian. Since that’s difficult for American tongues, his family pronounces it ‘‘badges.’’ This is Alex’s sixth Times crossword and second Sunday. — W.S.

ACROSS

1 What a deadline increases

9 Dental brand

14 Neaten (up)

19 Jet routes

20 First name in flying history

21 ‘‘____ the Doughnut,’’ children’s book series

22 Classic saying originated by John Donne

24 Like oxfords, but not slippers

25 Really put one’s foot down

26 Shaded

27 ____ O’s (breakfast cereal)

28 Love, love, love

29 Population grouping, informally

31 Aid for making a tiki-bar cocktail

34 Isn’t attending solo, say

38 Bouncer’s requests, for short

39 Beethoven title woman (whose identity is unknown)

40 Supreme Egyptian deity

41 Standing on the street

44 Carpenter ____

45 Pin number?

48 ‘‘Glad to have you back, dear!’’

GUNSTON STREET

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

RESULTS FOR ABOVE PUZZLE

PRESSUREORALBSPIFF

AIRLANESAMELIAARNIE

NOMANISANISLANDLACED

STAMPHUEDOREOADORE

DEMOBAHAMAMAMAMIX

HASADATEIDSELISE

AMONRACREDANTTEN

WELCOMEHOMEHONMCHALE

KNEEVOWSARIELIXIR

SOHOPRIMETIMETV

SSRTOKEGODEVANSEE

WHEREWEREWEALGA

ARTUROILEICEDRASH

TERRIFKINGKAMEHAMEHA

SKITSAREFIONERUN

BIDETTKOTHUDDING

ALUMINUMINGOTOREG

DOTESAONEDIBSRURAL

ARIASROMATOMATOSAUCE

PRONETRADERREVERSES

TENTSSENSEBLANDEST


GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY

In a cavernous warehouse near the Oakland

Coliseum, a 3D printer extrudes a secret

blend of minerals and plastic polymer that’s

hardened into a heavy stone-like form under

ultraviolet light.

The end result of that alchemy? A move-in-ready,

robot-made modular home from technology startup

Mighty Buildings.

Backed by $30 million in venture capital, Mighty

Buildings is following a classic Bay Area startup

recipe: use technology to address a big problem and

— it hopes — disrupt an existing industry. The

company claims it will be able to make homes fas-

ter, cheaper and greener than traditional builders

and help solve a persistent housing crisis in the Bay

Area and beyond.

“We are revolutionizing an industry by introduc-

ing more efficient materials and more efficient

technology that isn’t tailored to certain designs,”

said chief operating officer Alexey Dubov, an engi-

neer who co-founded the company in 2017 with

physicists Slava Solonitsyn, the CEO, and chief

technical officer Dmitry Starodubtsev.

But while housing experts see promise in the

technology and the product, they say serious hur-

dles must be overcome if Mighty Buildings is to

gain traction in the market and make a dent in the

housing crisis. Beyond the sheer scale of the prob-

lem — state officials estimate that California needs

nearly 2 million more homes by 2025 — Mighty

Buildings is seeking to disrupt a development proc-

ess notorious for slow-moving bureaucracy and

resistance to change.

For now, the outer shells of Mighty Buildings’

studios and small one- to two-bedroom homes are

30 percent 3D printed — and can be milled by the

firm’s giant robots to resemble bricks or stonework

— but the company expects that the larger homes

that it plans to start installing this year will be 60

percent to 80 percent 3D printed.

While the startup’s goal is to print any kind of

building to an architect or designer’s specifications,

including multi-family structures and office build-

ings, Mighty Buildings is presently focused on

small “accessory dwelling units” that can be in-

stalled as second houses and used by homeowners

who may rent them out.

In the Bay Area, accessory dwelling units or

ADUs, also known as tiny houses or in-law units,

have been hailed as a partial solution to the housing

crisis. Issi Romem, an economist and fellow at the

Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Ber-

keley, estimated in late 2019 that if 1 in 10 Bay Area

lots with a single-family residence had an ADU, the

region’s housing stock could grow by nearly 20

percent over the next two decades. The Bay Area

Council is pushing to ease regulations and lower

fees for development and installation of tiny homes.

Mighty Buildings focuses its marketing on a

“turn-key” package that includes permits, founda-

tion and a building, along with on-site installation or

assembly. A 350-square-foot one-bathroom Mighty

Mod unit dropped by crane onto a property costs

$183,750 while a two- to three-bedroom and one- to

two-bathroom Mighty House ranging from 864 to

1,440 square feet starts at $287,500 and is assem-

bled on site.

Mighty Buildings wants to address the housing

crisis by adding its ADUs to a region’s housing

stock, but also, by 2022, through multiple-residence

buildings up to five stories tall.

Stanford University professor of engineering and

design Barry Katz believes that in the push to bring

3D printing into mainstream home construction,

“Lots of people will try, most of them will fail, and

some of them may engineer the real breakthrough.”

The Bay Area’s pressing housing shortage, coupled

with the popularity of ADUs, may boost Mighty

Buildings’ fortunes, Katz said. But housing, he said,

“has been one of the most resistant areas to experi-

mental technologies.”

Terner Center researcher Tyler Puller also tem-

pers the potential promise he sees in the company’s

plans with some skepticism. He believes ADUs can

make “a dent” in the housing shortage and that

multi-story housing could do even more. But he’s

not sure 3D construction is the answer. “I just don’t

fully understand the appeal, other than it’s flashy

and exciting,” he said.

Plus, Mighty Buildings’ relatively high prices for

ADUs don’t appear to reflect reduced labor costs,

and the plastic in the firm’s printing mixture may

put it out of step with the market’s movement away

from petroleum products, Puller said. The cost of a

traditionally built small ADU, Puller said, averages

about $150,000, which is in line with a $400-per-

square-foot cost formula used by The Bay Area

Council.

ANDA CHU, BAY AREA NEWS GROUP/TNS

Mighty Buildings Chief Operating Officer Alexey Dubov poses for a photograph at their facility on Dec. 22in Oakland, Calif. The venture capitalfunded startup hopes to address the housing crisis by making 3Dprinted home components from plastic polymer and minerals.

Meeting a basic needBay Area company thinks 3D printing can ease housing woes

BY ETHAN BARON

The Mercury News

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BOOKS

In “Kamala’s Way,” Dan

Morain takes readers back

to an arresting moment

from June 2019. At a Mo-

veOn forum, as California’s

junior U.S. senator and presi-

dential hopeful Kamala Harris

settled in for an interview, a

man barreled onto the stage,

yanking the microphone from

her hands. The moderator, Ka-

rine Jean Pierre, rushed to place

herself between Harris and the

assailant, who towered over

them, his intentions unknown.

Moments after the intruder was

led away with the help of Har-

ris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, the

candidate called for a new mic

and went back to fielding ques-

tions.

The election season was full of

jaw-dropping moments that

eclipsed this confrontation. But

Morain returns

to it and offers

a telling snap-

shot of Harris.

He portrays her

as a confident,

seasoned public

figure, whose

success rests

upon the intim-

ate loyalties of

others and whose candidacy

could not avoid being symbolic.

Witnessing those harrowing

seconds, some flashed back to

the 1968 assassination of Martin

Luther King Jr., while others

saw the ubiquitous threat of

21st-century gun violence.

Americans had no precedent for

a scene in which harm might

come to a woman of color — the

daughter of Jamaican and Indi-

an immigrants — while she

campaigned for the highest

office in the land.

For readers eager to under-

stand how Harris became some-

one who could hold her own on

a national stage, Morain charts

her route. His premise is that

there was nothing predictable

about the journey of a daughter

of immigrants, a Howard Uni-

versity alum and a Hastings

College of Law graduate from

local prosecutor to vice presi-

dent-elect. He stresses that it

does no justice to Harris’ story

to label her a “female Obama.”

Morain gives readers the public

Harris on her own terms: a

leader who rose to power in the

crowded terrain of California

politics. Though Berkeley was

her girlhood home, Harris was

not a politician who came up

from the grassroots. Instead,

beginning with her career as a

prosecutor in Alameda County,

home to Oakland, Harris com-

mitted herself to public service,

working in the trenches of the

justice system for those she

termed the “voiceless and vul-

nerable.” It is a perspective that

continues to frame her work to

this day.

But principles alone did not

take Harris beyond the seedy

courthouses of the East Bay.

Her rise from local prosecutor

to district attorney of San Fran-

cisco, attorney general of Cali-

fornia, U.S. senator and finally

vice president took three dec-

ades. Building relationships,

Morain explains, was key. Early

on, Harris was an intimate of

her state’s unrivaled Black pow-

er broker, lawmaker Willie

Brown, who showed her Cali-

fornia’s political underbelly and

its ropes. Along the way he

boosted Harris’ statewide visibil-

ity. Harris’ sister, Maya, who

headed the American Civil Lib-

erties Union of Northern Cali-

fornia, and her husband, Tony

West, associate attorney general

under President Barack Obama,

have served as her steadfast

confidants and strategists.

In 2007, Harris was a surro-

gate for Obama during his presi-

dential run, and her star was

rising. She jockeyed with Gavin

Newsom as the two ascended in

California politics; Newsom won

the governorship, and Harris

moved from attorney general to

the Senate. She parlayed her

roots in the Democratic strong-

hold of the Bay Area into alli-

ances with East Coast figures

such as Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.)

and the late Delaware attorney

general Beau Biden.

While some observers, in-

cluding those on San Francisco’s

society pages, have focused on

Harris’ style, Morain, a former

longtime reporter and editor for

the Los Angeles Times and the

Sacramento Bee, keeps the spot-

light on her achievements. After

becoming California’s attorney

general in 2011, Harris earned a

voice on issues that had national

resonance: the death penalty,

marriage equality, gun control,

the mortgage crisis, for-profit

colleges, reproductive rights and

human trafficking.

Here, Morain is admiring of

Harris and forgives her for the

policy compromises that still

attract criticism. In 2008, as San

Francisco’s district attorney,

Harris aimed to curb truancy

with a stick: prosecuting parents

whose children failed to attend

school. Though she had built her

public career as a death penalty

opponent, in 2014 Attorney Gen-

eral Harris fended off a consti-

tutional challenge to California’s

death penalty. Morain explains

that Kamala’s way meant she

balanced her principles against

her political ambitions. She

assessed matters through the

lens of the larger public issue.

In the case of prosecuting par-

ents for their children’s truancy,

she sought to enforce a child’s

right to an education. On the

death penalty, she sided with the

need for a balance of powers

that ensures that courts settle

constitutional questions. But her

approach still riles detractors

who brand Harris a public offi-

cial too steeped in a law-and-

order model of justice.

Morain relies on insights he

gathered in his time covering

California politics, bolstered by

interviews with Harris’ col-

leagues through the years, giv-

ing the book the feel of an in-

sider’s tale. But without access

to the vice president-elect or her

family, Morain cannot get to the

inner Kamala Harris.

Curiously, “Kamala’s Way”

provides little on how racism

and sexism shaped Harris’ path.

In his effort to explain her char-

acter, Morain comes very close

to trading in old, pernicious

stereotypes about Black women,

though perhaps unwittingly so.

In his telling, Harris sometimes

comes across as a Jezebel who

callously exploited intimacies,

even one with a married public

figure; a Mammy who, though

she had no children, readily

mothered others; an angry Black

woman wielding a sharp tongue

and sharper wit; or an ambi-

tiously talented professional who

knew that to get ahead she had

“to be twice as good as them to

get half of what they have,” as

Olivia Pope’s father told her in

the television show “Scandal.”

While chronicling Harris’

climb, “Kamala’s Way” also has

one eye trained on the present.

It is, after all, a book that seeks

to explain how Harris and

America both got to this historic

moment: the election of the first

woman, first African American

and first Asian American as vice

president.

It is likely that Harris’ most

intimate revelations will remain

with her, at least until she pens

her own memoir after leaving

office. In the meantime, this

story about how she ran the

gantlet of American politics will

leave readers admiring Harris

for how she has not only sur-

vived but thrived.

Path to thevice presidency

Author says ‘Kamala’s Way’ refers to how shebalanced principles against political ambitions

BY MARTHA S. JONES

Special to The Washington Post

SUSAN WALSH/AP

Harris, shown Jan. 7, made history Wednesday when she became thenation’s first Black, South Asian and female vice president.

Los Angeles poet Amanda

Gorman delivered a stirring

poem at the inauguration

Wednesday titled “The Hill We

Climb,” a piece she said she

wrote with the intention of repre-

senting as many Americans as

possible.

In doing so, Gorman, 22, be-

came the youngest inaugural

poet and nearly stole the show,

drawing immediate praise on

social media for her poise and

lyricism.

An excerpt of Gorman’s poem,

courtesy of NPR:

“We’ve seen a force that would

shatter our nation rather than

share it,

would destroy our country if it

meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly

succeeded.

But while democracy can be

periodically delayed,

it can never be permanently

defeated.

In this truth, in this faith, we

trust.

For while we have our eyes on

the future,

history has its eyes on us.”

“My hope is that my poem will

represent a moment of unity for

our country,” she told Washing-

ton Post book critic Ron Charles

last week, “that with my words

I’ll be able to speak to a new

chapter and era for our nation.”

That she did, with a beautifully

delivered poem full of alliteration

and internal rhyme. One would

never guess that a few years ago,

Gorman was struggling with a

speech impediment. As she told

The Lily last year, writing was a

means of self-expression when

she found herself unable to ver-

balize her thoughts. Music

helped her overcome her impedi-

ment, which included difficulty

pronouncing the letter R.

“My favorite thing to practice

was the song ‘Aaron Burr, Sir,’

from ‘Hamilton’ because it is

jam-packed with R’s. And I said,

‘if I can keep up with Leslie in

this track, then I am on my way

to being able to say this R in a

poem,’” she told CBS News.

Gorman tweeted that she in-

cluded two references to “Hamil-

ton” in “The Hill We Climb.” She

also paid homage to a previous

inaugural poet. When Oprah

tweeted her congratulations,

Gorman replied: “I would be

nowhere without the women

whose footsteps I dance in. While

reciting my poem, I wore a ring

with a caged bird — a gift from

@Oprah ... to symbolize Maya

Angelou, a previous inaugural

poet. Here’s to the women who

have climbed my hills before.”

Inaugurationpoet hopes toinspire unity

BY AMY B. WANG

The Washington Post


Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

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OPINION

WASHINGTON

Immigration, a wit has said, is the sin-

cerest form of flattery. This dispirited

nation needs some of that, so Presi-

dent Joe Biden has wisely made immi-

gration reform his initial legislative propos-

al.

The nation also needs a healthy opposition

party, and the impending immigration de-

bate will give the Republican Party an early

opportunity to rehabilitate its reputation by

adopting policies unlike those of Biden’s

predecessor, who propelled his ascent to the

presidency by stoking anxieties about immi-

gration. Congressional Republicans will

have to choose between aligning with the

animosity of constituents who misunder-

stand how this nation has prospered by assi-

milating 100 million immigrants, or with the

generosity of the United States’ majority.

David J. Bier and Alex Nowrasteh of the

Cato Institute report that, for the first time in

Gallup’s 55 years of polling on the subject,

“more Americans support increasing immi-

gration than decreasing it.” Support for de-

creasing it has plummeted from 50% in 2009

to 28% today. Last year, 77% called immigra-

tion “a good thing,” and a similar majority to-

day favor a path to citizenship for “dream-

ers,” those who were under 16 when brought

here before 2007 by parents who were not

lawful residents.

About 40% of unauthorized immigrants

came not through porous borders but on vi-

sas they overstayed. Of the approximately 11

million (down from 12.3 million in 2007),

62% have lived here at least 10 years, 21% at

least 20 years. Of the more than 5 million

children under age 18 living with at least one

unauthorized immigrant parent, more than

4 million, having been born here, are citi-

zens. The 11 million are not going home.

They are home. And Americans’ decency

would prevent the police measures neces-

sary to extract them from their communi-

ties.

Biden’s predecessor said “our country is

full,” although there are 145 countries and

territories with greater population densi-

ties. Two-thirds of Americans live in cities

that occupy 3.5% of the land. In 80% of Amer-

ica’s counties, the number of prime-age

workers (25-54) declined between 2007 and

2017. As a candidate, Biden proposed “a new

visa category to allow cities and counties to

petition for higher levels of immigrants” for

economic reasons.

Bier and Nowrasteh report that America’s

per capita immigration rate today is “as

close to zero as it has ever been.” The nation

now has a declining birth rate and an aging

population that is retiring, at a rate of 10,000 a

day, into Social Security and Medicare sys-

tems that are unsustainable without a work-

force replenished by immigrants. Further-

more, a steady influx of them will enable the

U.S. economy to regain, late in this century,

its place as the world’s largest economy as

China’s workforce shrinks, a debilitating

echo of the 1980-2016 one-child policy.

The debate about immigration that Biden

is reigniting, and especially his proposed

path to citizenship for the 11 million, impli-

cates the nation’s understanding of itself.

And it will roil a dark current of 21st-century

politics, concerning which some 19th-centu-

ry history is germane.

The years 1845-1855 produced the largest

single-decade increase in the foreign-born

percentage of the U.S. population. Three

million immigrants arrived in a nation

whose population was 23 million — the

equivalent of 42 million arriving between

2000 and 2010, when 14 million actually did.

In 1858, when Abraham Lincoln said that

half the Americans then living were born

elsewhere, immigrants were one-third of

the approximately 9,400 residents of Spring-

field, Ill.

Seven years later, Lincoln was buried

there after a nation-saving Civil War victory

that had been substantially aided by immi-

grant soldiers. “There are those damned

green flags again,” said Confederate Gen.

George Pickett as he watched an Irish unit

prepare to attack. Ireland’s potato famine

helped to doom the Confederacy. Recruiting

posters were printed in foreign languages,

and the 1862 Homestead Act was publicized

around the world to attract immigrants,

800,000 of whom came during the war. His-

torian Jay Sexton in “A Nation Forged by

Crisis” says about 25% of Union soldiers and

40% of seamen were foreign-born. Union of-

ficials cast the war as an episode in a larger

struggle for republican government, here

and elsewhere, thereby, Sexton says, “de-

coupling the idea of the nation from Anglo-

Saxon Protestantism.”

Today, anti-immigration sentiment is dis-

proportionately concentrated among recent

Republican voters who are timid national-

ists dismayed by the decoupling of the nation

from their conceptions of it. Strangely, they

fear that the United States cannot be itself if

it is as welcoming to immigrants as it was

when they were making the United States

the success that it is.

Immigrants helped preserve the UnionBY GEORGE F. WILL

Washington Post Writers Group

“We must end this uncivil

war,” declared Presi-

dent Joe Biden in the

best moment of a fine

inaugural address. May it be true not just

inside the Capitol and the White House, but

across every table in every home and res-

taurant, in every city council chamber, and

on every floor of every state legislature.

May it especially be true across social

media, on Twitter and Facebook, and —

dare we hope? — in the reader comments.

(OK, maybe not, but we press on.)

A test of the new president’s core appeal

for civility is upon us: the debate about

comprehensive immigration reform.

We have twice been around this course

before. Efforts were made to produce such

a measure in both 2006 and 2013. It is easy

to confuse the various “gangs” and coali-

tions that swirled around proposals in the

House and Senate both times. Both Presi-

dent George W. Bush and President Barack

Obama supported an effort, and even the

early months of the President Donald

Trump era saw some negotiations on the

subject. All failed.

All were marked by drawn, and very

sharp, rhetorical swords. That’s because

each side has a “nonnegotiable” that the

other side refused to recognize.

For a critical mass of Republicans, the

issue is simply put: No wall, no deal.

For a critical mass of Democrats, the is-

sue is simply put: No path to citizenship, no

deal.

Those are the two requirements for any

reform package. That’s the reality. The

length of the wall is up for negotiation —

some of the southern border is impassable

by any means — but not its size and shape.

Speed bumps won’t cut it.

A path to citizenship is the must-have for

Democrats. There are between 11 million

and 20 million people in the country with-

out legal status. Democrats (and many Re-

publicans) want a process by which these

immigrants can first become eligible for le-

gal status and then seek citizenship unless

they have been convicted of a violent of-

fense. Details abound here, but the must-

have is the clear path.

The new president has sketched out a

proposal. It rejects any additional wall. It

demands an eight-year path to citizenship.

I asked The New York Times’ chief White

House correspondent, Peter Baker, if the

president’s framework was an opening bid

or a bottom line. “If it’s a bottom line,” Bak-

er replied, “then it will not go through.”

Can each side compromise and concede

on the must-have of the other and get to

work? It would make sense. It would make

a wonderful bipartisan effort. And it would

demonstrate that compromise on thorny is-

sues is indeed possible.

It would benefit the tens of millions of

American citizens who are connected by

family, friendship and work to undocu-

mented immigrants and would benefit the

immigrants as well. It would be good poli-

tics because it is good policy. But only if the

border is secured in a way that projects cer-

tainty that entry to the United States is dri-

ven by law, not coyotes and cartels.

Republican opponents will rightly point

to the inevitable “magnet effect” of any

path to citizenship, arguing that it will only

encourage people to come to the United

States without permission or overstay their

visas in hope of obtaining legal status. But

this can be worked out in a comprehensive

bargain that addresses both sides’ con-

cerns. A completed wall, continued re-

sourcing of the Border Patrol, and in-

creased security at ports and tracking of vi-

sa-holders would send a different message.

Technology has improved. The sieve can be

closed.

Eight years will seem radically short to

people who have come in via legal process-

es that can last twice as long. Theirs is a

complaint based on the injustice of their

circumstance and can only be met by an

argument about the common good.

If each must-have is conceded by the oth-

er side, this third time could be indeed be

the charm. Perhaps the conversation could

be conducted in a fact-based, rhetorically

subdued tone marked by deliberation and

give and take, not performance-art politics.

If the new president were to signal his

was an opening bid and not a take-it-or-

leave-it offer, that would be an action fitted

to his fine words.

Respect each side’s must-have: Citizenship path, wallBY HUGH HEWITT

Special to The Washington Post

Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio show on theSalem Network and is a political analyst for NBC, president ofthe Nixon Foundation and a professor of law at ChapmanUniversity.


SCOREBOARD/SPORTS BRIEFS

PRO FOOTBALL

NFL playoffsWild-card Playoffs

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

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

Divisional PlayoffsSaturday, Jan. 16

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

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

Conference ChampionshipsSunday, Jan. 24

AFCBuffalo at Kansas City

NFCTampa Bay at Green Bay

Super BowlSunday, Feb. 7At Tampa, Fla.

AFC champion vs. NFC champion �

NFL injury reportNEW YORK — The National Football

League injury report, as provided by theleague (DNP: did not practice; LIMITED:limited participation; FULL: Full participation):

SUNDAYBUFFALO BILLS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

— BILLS: QUESTIONABLE: DT Vernon Butler(quadricep), WR Gabriel Davis (ankle).LIMITED: QB Jake Fromm (not injury related). FULL: K Tyler Bass (hand), WR ColeBeasley (knee), WR Stefon Diggs(oblique), LB Tremaine Edmunds (hamstring), DT Quinton Jefferson (ankle), DE Darryl Johnson (knee). CHIEFS: OUT: LB WillieGay (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: RB Le'VeonBell (knee), CB Bashaud Breeland (concussion, shoulder), RB Clyde EdwardsHelaire(ankle, hip), CB Rashad Fenton (foot), WRSammy Watkins (calf). LIMITED: CB Bashaud Breeland (concussion, shoulder), RBClyde EdwardsHelaire (ankle, hip), CBRashad Fenton (foot), QB Patrick Mahomes (concussion, toe), WR Sammy Watkins (calf).

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at GREEN BAYPACKERS — BUCCANEERS: OUT: WR Antonio Brown (knee) QUESTIONABLE: S Antoine Winfield (ankle). DNP: LB JasonPierrePaul (knee, not injury related), DTNdamukong Suh (not injury related). LIMITED: WR Mike Evans (knee), WR ChrisGodwin (quadricep). FULL: RB RonaldJones (quadricep, finger), DT JeremiahLedbetter (calf), G Ali Marpet (pectoral),CB Sean MurphyBunting (quadricep, ankle), S Jordan Whitehead (knee). PACK-ERS: OUT: DE Kingsley Keke (concussion).QUESTIONABLE: CB Kevin King (back).LIMITED: LB Krys Barnes (thumb), K MasonCrosby (shoulder), RB A.J. Dillon (quadricep), WR Allen Lazard (wrist, back), S WillRedmond (knee), LB Za'Darius Smith(thumb), WR Equanimeous St. Brown(knee, ankle), G Rick Wagner (knee), RB Jamaal Williams (ankle). FULL: TE MarcedesLewis (knee).

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Friday’s men’s scores

EAST

CCSU 65, Mount St. Mary’s 64 Merrimack 76, Fairleigh Dickinson 71 N. Kentucky 81, Robert Morris 76 Niagara 59, Quinnipiac 56 Rider 76, Marist 64 Sacred Heart 82, St. Francis (Pa.) 70 St. Peter’s 68, Siena 62

SOUTH

Appalachian St. 80, Georgia St. 71 Coastal Carolina 90, Troy 81 FAU 66, Charlotte 53, OT Florida Gulf Coast 79, Lipscomb 69 Georgia Southern 84, South Alabama 75,

OT LouisianaLafayette 81, Arkansas St. 68 Marshall 79, FIU 66 North Alabama 82, Jacksonville 81, OT North Florida 69, Kennesaw St. 54 Texas St. 57, LouisianaMonroe 47 UAB 78, Rice 68

MIDWEST

Bellarmine 67, Stetson 62 Cleveland St. 64, Milwaukee 53 Green Bay 77, Fort Wayne 59 Ill.Chicago 67, Youngstown St. 66 Michigan 70, Purdue 53 N. Dakota St. 70, Denver 58 Oakland 86, Detroit 81 S. Dakota St. 92, North Dakota 73 South Dakota 65, W. Illinois 60 Wright St. 95, IUPUI 65

SOUTHWEST

UALR 66, TexasArlington 59 UTEP 82, Louisiana Tech 74 UTSA 70, Southern Miss. 64

FAR WEST

CS Bakersfield 47, UC Riverside 45 Cal St.Fullerton 83, Hawaii 67 Grand Canyon 77, Dixie St. 74 San Diego St. 98, Air Force 61 UC Irvine 68, Cal Poly 49 UC San Diego 89, UC Davis 69 UC Santa Barbara 105, CS Northridge 58 Wyoming 71, Nevada 64 Friday’s women’s scores �

EAST

FIU 75, Marshall 60 Fordham 68, St. Bonaventure 49 La Salle 60, George Washington 45 Marist 66, Niagara 60, OT Quinnipiac 72, Rider 50 Robert Morris 50, Wright St. 43

SOUTH

Appalachian St. 71, Georgia St. 68 Campbell 57, Charleston Southern 35 GardnerWebb 62, SCUpstate 52 Hampton 51, Winthrop 42 High Point 75, Presbyterian 52 Middle Tennessee 75, W. Kentucky 65 South Alabama 59, Georgia Southern 58 Southern Miss. 88, UTSA 64 Troy 104, Coastal Carolina 59 UNCAsheville 84, Radford 80 UNCGreensboro 56, ETSU 53 UTEP 61, Louisiana Tech 58

MIDWEST

Denver 62, N. Dakota St. 60 Green Bay 71, Cleveland St. 62 Illinois St. 2, Evansville 0 Loyola of Chicago 71, Bradley 66 Milwaukee 74, IUPUI 66 Missouri St. 73, Drake 72 N. Iowa 95, Indiana St. 69 Oakland 58, Fort Wayne 49 S. Dakota St. 81, North Dakota 52 South Dakota 73, W. Illinois 56 UMass 78, Saint Louis 62 Youngstown St. 88, Ill.Chicago 78

SOUTHWEST

LouisianaLafayette 67, Arkansas St. 65,OT

Texas State 74, LouisianaMonroe 52 TexasArlington 55, UALR 50

FAR WEST

Arizona 66, Utah 54 Arizona St. 51, Colorado 47 California Baptist 93, Chicago St. 52 Colorado St. 88, Utah St. 73 Nevada 60, Wyoming 52Oregon 58, Washington St. 50 San Diego St. 59, Air Force 54 Seattle 86, Tarleton State 54 UC Davis 80, UC San Diego 62 UC Irvine 63, Cal Poly 52UC Riverside 64, CS Bakersfield 56 UCLA 70, Stanford 66

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Friday’s scores

EAST

Army 4, Holy Cross 1Boston U. 3, Maine 2, OTMerrimack 5, New Hampshire 2Providence 0, UMass 0, OT (Providence

wins shootout 10)Quinnipiac 1, Clarkson 1, OT (Quinnipiac

wins shootout 21)UConn 3, Boston College 3, OT (UConn

wins shootout 20)

MIDWEST

Bemidji St. 3, Bowling Green 1Michigan 3, Notre Dame 1Minnesota 10, Arizona St. 2Penn St. 5, Wisconsin 4St. Cloud St. 3, Miami 2

AP SPORTLIGHT

Jan. 24

1939 — Eddie Collins, Wee Willie Keelerand George Sisler are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1981 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders scores his 50th goal in the 50th gameof the season in a 73 victory over the Quebec Nordiques.

1982 — Ray Wersching kicks a SuperBowl recordtying four field goals to helpthe San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 2621.

1986 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders scores his 1,000th career point withan assist in a 75 victory over the TorontoMaple Leafs.

1990 — WinstonSalem State basketballcoach Clarence “Big House” Gaines winshis 800th career game, 7970 over Livingstone.

1999 — David Duval shoots a magic number — a round of 59 that matches the bestscore in PGA Tour history. Duval surgesfrom seven strokes off the pace for a onestroke victory over Steve Pate in the BobHope Chrysler Classic.

DEALS

Friday's transactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Named TonyPena Jr. assistant coach, Terry Bradshawhitting coach, Carl Eldred pitching coach,Rusty Kumntz first base coach, Pedro Grifol bench coach, John Mabry major leaguecoach, Vance Wilson third base coach, Rafael Belliard special assistant to the general manager and Dannon Hollins minorleague coach.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Agreed to termswith LHP J.A. Happ on a oneyear contract.

SEATTLE MARINERS — Agreed to termswith INF Starlin Aguilar, OFs Juan Cruz andVictor Labrada to oneyear contracts.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS �— Traded RHP Hector Perez to Cincinnati in exchange for aplayer to be named or cash considerations.

National LeaguePITTSBURGH PIRATES — Named ChristianMarrero assistant hitting coach and MikeRabelo field coordinator.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ATLANTA FALCONS — Announced offensive coach Dirk Koetter to retire.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Signed WR DeonCain to a reserve/futures contract. NamedRob Ryan inside linebacker coach and Anthony Weaver run game coordinator/defensive line coach.

BUFFALO BILLS — Signed K Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed WR RyanSwitzer to a oneyear contract.

DETROIT LIONS — Signed K MatthewWright to a reserve/futures contract.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Signed DBKeith Washington Jr. to a reserve/futurescontract.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Announced TEVance McDonald to retire.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Activated TVita Vea from injured reserve. Waived OLEarl Watford.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM —Named Martin Mayhew general manager.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

ARIZONA COYOTES — Named Steve Potvin head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners, John Slaney continues as assistantcoach and Jay Varady will join Coyotescoaching staff. Recalled D Victor Soderstrom from the minor league taxi squad.Designate D Jordan for assignment to taxisquad.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS — Recalled LWBrandon Hagel from minor league taxisquad. Designate LW Brandon Pirri for assignment to taxi squad.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — DesignatedRW Emil Bemstrom for assignment to taxisquad. Recalled LW Nathan Gerbe fromthe minor league taxi squad.

DETROIT RED WINGS — Recalled LW Givani Smith from the minor league taxisquad.

EDMONTON OILERS — Assigned G OlivierRodrigue to Bakersfield (AHL). DesignatedLW Joakim Nygard for assignment to taxisquad.

FLORIDA PANTHERS — Waived C Jonathan Ang.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Recalled DPierreOlivier Joseph from the minorleague taxi squad.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Recalled CBrian Pinho from the minor league taxisquad.

WINNIPEG JETS — Placed Fs Patrik Laineand Nate Thompson on injured reserve.Promoted D Dylan DeMelo to the activeroster.

SOCCERMajor League Soccer

AUSTIN FC — Signed F Kekua Manneh.LA GALAXY — Signed D Marcus Ferkra

nus.LOS ANGELES FC — Acquired D Jesus Da

vid Murillo on a permanent transfer forColombian, Deportivo Independiente Medellin.

NASHVILLE SC — Announced D MiguelNazarit was loaned to Colombian, Independiente Santa Fe.

ORLANDO CITY SC — Acquired G Brandon Austin on a sixmonth loan with an option for another sixmonths from Tottenham Hotspur (EPL) pending receipt of hisITC.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS — Announced F Jordan Morris was loaned to Swansea City(ECL) through 202021 season.

National Women's Soccer LeagueORLANDO PRIDE — Signed D Phoebe

McClemon to a twoyear contract.COLLEGE

SOUTH CAROLINA — Named Greg Adkinsoffensive line coach and Jimmy Lindsey asdefensive line coach.

The American ExpressPGA Tour

FridayAt PGA WestLa Quia, Calif.

Purse: $6.7 millionStadium Course

Yardage:; 7,147; Par:; 72Nicklaus Tournament Course

Yardage:; 7,181; Par:; 72Second Round

Sungjae Im 68-65—133 -11 Nick Taylor 68-66—134 -10 Tony Finau 68-66—134 -10 Abraham Ancer 69-65—134 -10 Si Woo Kim 66-68—134 -10 Brandon Hagy 64-70—134 -10 Emiliano Grillo 69-66—135 -9Francesco Molinari 69-66—135 -9Doug Ghim 67-68—135 -9 John Huh 68-68—136 -8 Brendan Steele 68-68—136 -8Max Homa 66-70—136 -8 Andrew Putnam 67-69—136 -8

Diamond Resorts

Tournament of ChampionsLPGA Tour

FridayAt Four Season Golf and Sports Club

Lake Buena Vista, Fla.Purse: $1.2 million


Danielle Kang 64-65—129 -13 Nelly Korda 65-66—131 -11 In Gee Chun 68-65—133 -9

Mitsubishi Electric Championship

at HualalaiChampions Tour

FridayKa’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii

Purse: $1.8 millionHualalai Golf Course


Jerry Kelly 64-67—131 -13 Darren Clarke 63-68—131 -13

GOLF

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After

Pierre-Luc Dubois was benched

for lack of effort two days ago, the

Columbus Blue Jackets on Satur-

day traded the unhappy star cen-

ter to the Winnipeg Jets for Patrik

Laine and Jack Roslovic.

Dubois, Columbus’ top-line cen-

ter, made it clear when he signed a

two-year contract before the sea-

son that he wanted a change of

scenery. Laine, an All-Star winger

also had been asking for a trade.

Columbus general manager

Jarmo Kekalainen said the deal

had been in the works and wasn’t

hastened by the rift between Du-

bois and Blue Jackets coach John

Tortorella, who benched the 22-

year-old star for loafing in Thurs-

day’s loss to Tampa Bay.

Dubois is a dynamic center

whom the Blue Jackets hoped

would be one of their building

blocks. But he declined to sign a

long-term deal and let it be known

he wanted to play elsewhere.

After leading the team in scor-

ing with 49 points last season, Du-

bois had one goal and no assists in

the first five games of 2021.

Laine, a 22-year-old Finnish

winger, has scored 36, 44, 30 and

28 goals in each of his four NHL

seasons but has grown into a bet-

ter all-around player in the proc-

ess. Roslovic, a 23-year-old center

who grew up in Columbus, has 26

goals and 41 assists in 180 career

games.

The trade included signing Ros-

lovic, a unsigned restricted free

agent, to a two-year, $3.8 million

contract through the 2021-22 sea-

son.

The Jets will also get a third-

round pick in the 2022 draft.

Laine has 140 goals, 110 assists

and 250 points in 306 games with

the Jets, who failed to sign him to a

long-term contract and settled on

a one-year deal worth $6.75 mil-

lion.

Im shoots 65 to lead

American Express LA QUINTA, Calif. — Although

Sungjae Im hasn't been on the

PGA Tour for very long, the 22-

year-old South Korean already

feels awfully comfortable on the

generous desert courses at The

American Express.

So do plenty of other pros, and

that's why the leaderboard is so

crowded heading to the weekend.

Im shot a 7-under 65 on Friday

at The American Express to take a

one-stroke lead over first-round

leader Brandon Hagy and four

others.

Hagy was in position to join Im

at 11 under, but he bogeyed his fi-

nal hole with a tee shot into the

fairway bunker to finish his 70.

Canada's Nick Taylor (66),

South Korea's Si Woo Kim (68),

Tony Finau (66) and Mexico's

Abraham Ancer (65) also were 10

under. Emiliano Grillo (66), Fran-

cesco Molinari (66) and Doug

Ghim (68) were two shots off the

lead, and eight more were at 8 un-

der.

In other golf news:

Danielle Kang managed to

steal some of the spotlight from

the Korda sisters on Thursday as

the LPGA Tour opened its 71st

season with a winners-only field at

the Diamond Resorts Tournament

of Champions.

Kang opened the year with a bo-

gey-free, 7-under 64 for a one-shot

lead over Jessica Korda and Nelly

Korda, along with defending

champion Gaby Lopez, at Four

Seasons Golf and Sports Club Or-

lando in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Kang is coming off a two-win

season last year that was short-

ened by the COVID-19 pandemic,

winning back-to-back in Ohio

when the LPGA resumed after a

five-month shutdown.

Kang, No. 5 in the women’s

world ranking, had to quarantine

twice in recent weeks after being

exposed to COVID-19 and did not

arrive into Orlando until late Mon-

day night. She tested negative six

times before getting the go-ahead

to play.

Goggia wins another

downhill, Johnson thirdCRANS-MONTANA, Switzer-

land — Olympic champion Sofia

Goggia won the World Cup down-

hill race and emerging American

star Breezy Johnson was third —

yet again — on Friday.

The two downhill standouts of

this season have now shared a po-

dium in all four of the marquee

speed races so far.

Goggia raced through swirling

winds at Crans-Montana to seal

her third straight downhill win

0.20 seconds ahead of Ester Le-

decka, who is an Olympic cham-

pion in Alpine skiing and snow-

boarding.

American rival Johnson ex-

tended her streak of placing third

in each downhill after entering the

season without a podium finish in

her World Cup career.

Johnson, who turned 25 this

week, laughed and held up three

fingers after seeing she was in

third place yet again, 0.57 behind

the winner.

BRIEFLY

Jackets, Jets swapdisgruntled players

Associated Press


NHL

East Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Washington 5 3 0 2 8 19 17

Philadelphia 5 3 1 1 7 19 16

N.Y. Islan-ders

4 3 1 0 6 9 6

Pittsburgh 5 3 2 0 6 18 21

New Jersey 4 2 1 1 5 9 11

Boston 4 2 1 1 5 9 9

N.Y. Rangers 4 1 2 1 3 11 12

Buffalo 5 1 3 1 3 14 16

Central Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Tampa Bay 3 3 0 0 6 13 5

Florida 2 2 0 0 4 10 6

Carolina 3 2 1 0 4 9 6

Nashville 4 2 2 0 4 10 14

Detroit 5 2 3 0 4 10 14

Columbus 5 1 2 2 4 10 16

Chicago 5 1 3 1 3 13 21

Dallas 1 1 0 0 2 7 0

West Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Vegas 5 4 1 0 8 18 12

Minnesota 5 4 1 0 8 15 10

Colorado 5 3 2 0 6 17 12

St. Louis 4 2 1 1 5 10 15

Arizona 5 2 2 1 5 17 18

Los Angeles 4 1 1 2 4 12 13

Anaheim 5 1 2 2 4 8 13

San Jose 5 2 3 0 4 14 18

North Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Montreal 5 3 0 2 8 24 16

Toronto 6 4 2 0 8 19 17

Winnipeg 4 3 1 0 6 13 10

Calgary 3 2 0 1 5 11 6

Edmonton 6 2 4 0 4 15 20

Vancouver 6 2 4 0 4 18 28

Ottawa 4 1 2 1 3 11 14

Thursday’s games

Winnipeg 4, Ottawa 1Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2, OTN.Y. Islanders 4, New Jersey 1Boston 5, Philadelphia 4, SOMontreal 7, Vancouver 3Los Angeles 4, Colorado 2Florida at Carolina, ppd.

Friday’s games

Toronto 4, Edmonton 2Pittsburgh 4, N.Y. Rangers 3, SOWashington 4, Buffalo 3, SOChicago 4, Detroit 1Minnesota 4, San Jose 1Dallas 7, Nashville 0Arizona 5, Vegas 2Colorado 3, Anaheim 2, OT

Saturday’s games

Florida at Carolina, ppd.Tampa Bay at ColumbusMontreal at VancouverPhiladelphia at BostonLos Angeles at St. LouisOttawa at Winnipeg

Sunday’s games

Detroit at ChicagoBuffalo at WashingtonToronto at CalgaryVegas at ArizonaN.Y. Islanders at New JerseyN.Y. Rangers at PittsburghColorado at AnaheimLos Angeles at St. LouisNashville at DallasSan Jose at MinnesotaEdmonton at Winnipeg

Monday’s game

Ottawa at Vancouver

Scoreboard

JIM MONE/AP

Minnesota’s Kevin Fiala scoredand emptynet goal in Friday’s41 victory over San Jose.

DALLAS — Anton Khudobin

stared upward before Dallas' de-

layed season opener, watching as

the Stars' Western Conference

championship banner was un-

veiled high above the ice.

The goalie then stopped 34 shots

in his first season-opening start,

and Dallas scored five power-play

goals in a 7-0 win over the Nash-

ville Predators on Friday night.

“First game, it was emotional at

the start,” said Khudobin, who lat-

er heard his name chanted by the

4,214 fans in attendance for what

was his 100th career regular-sea-

son win and ninth shutout. “Unbe-

lievable. ... That was a special mo-

ment.”

Joe Pavelski had two goals and

two assists and Alexander Radu-

lov also scored twice for the Stars,

who had a scoreless first period.

Joel Kiviranta had a goal and an as-

sist.

Five of Dallas’ goals came in the

second, including three on the

power play and an unassisted

short-handed wrist shot by Esa

Lindell.

“Too many easy shots got

through and they made some nice

tip plays, credit to them in that sit-

uation when they made them,”

Nashville coach John Hynes said.

“We were a little out of sorts in

that first period, which was to be

expected, but we played through

it, and Doby made the big saves,”

Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “It

was the power play that got us go-

ing in the second ... 5-on-3, and

then get another quick one. That

gave everyone a huge boost.”

The Stars were the last NHL

team to open the season after their

first four games, all scheduled on

the road, were postponed because

17 players tested positive for CO-

VID-19 during the abbreviated

training camp. Only veteran for-

ward Blake Comeau was unavaila-

ble for the first game because of

COVID protocols, though the

league doesn't specify the exact

reason.

Nashville (2-2) played for the

first time since Monday, a day be-

fore its second of back-to-back

games against Carolina was post-

poned because of virus issues for

the Hurricanes.

“The scoreboard looks bad. At

the end of the day, we got zero

points, that's all that matters,”

Predators forward Filip Forsberg

said.

Dallas was at home for the first

time in 318 days, since a 4-2 loss to

the New York Rangers on March

10 that was its sixth loss in a row.

When the season resumed months

later with the playoffs in the NHL

bubble in Edmonton, the Stars re-

ached their first Stanley Cup Final

since 2000 before losing in Game 6

against Tampa Bay.

The fans in attendance were

spread out in an arena where the

normal hockey capacity is 18,532.

The NBA's Dallas Mavericks are

playing their home games at

American Airlines Center without

fans.

Khudobin had never started a

playoff game before going 14-10

last summer when Ben Bishop was

unavailable because of a torn me-

niscus in his knee. Bishop is still re-

habbing from offseason surgery.

Stars open season with routBY STEPHEN HAWKINS

Associated Press

TONY GUTIERREZ/AP

Stars right wing Denis Gurianov scores against Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros during thesecond period of Friday's game in Dallas. The Stars won 70 in their delayed season opener.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Conor Garland had a

goal and an assist, Darcy Kuemper stopped 29

shots and Arizona handed Vegas its first loss of

the season, 5-2 on Friday night.

The Coyotes bounced back from a drubbing

two nights earlier in Vegas with one of their

best games of the early season.

Arizona's Nick Schmaltz scored for the third

straight game and had an assist. Christian Dvo-

rak also had a goal and an assist. Derick Bras-

sard scored his first of the season and Jordan

Oesterle closed it out with an empty-net goal.

Penguins 4, Rangers 3 (SO): Kris Letang

scored in the final round of a shootout to lift

host Pittsburgh to the victory.

Letang ripped a backhand over Igor Shester-

kin to put the Penguins in front. Tristan Jarry

collected his first win of the season when he

stuffed New York’s Tony DeAngelo moments

later.

Bryan Rust and Jared McCann collected

their first goals of the season for Pittsburgh,

which has won three straight following an 0-2

start. Teddy Blueger also scored, and Jarry fin-

ished with 31 saves.

Capitals 4, Sabres 3 (SO): Jakub Vrana had

a goal and an assist, Vitek Vanecek made 24

saves through overtime and short-handed

Washington beat visiting Buffalo.

Nicklas Backstrom and Nic Dowd also

scored for the Capitals, who won the first of

four games they must play without captain

Alex Ovechkin, center Evgeny Kuznetsov, de-

fenseman Dmitry Orlov and goaltender Ilya

Samsonov because of pandemic protocols.

Avalanche 3, Ducks 2 (OT):Gabriel Landes-

kog scored 1:38 into overtime, Mikko Rantanen

extended his goal-scoring streak to four

games, and visiting Colorado topped Anaheim.

Landeskog was initially stopped by Anaheim

goalie John Gibson on a breakaway, but he got

his own rebound and converted a wraparound

for his third goal of the season.

Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 1: Patrick Kane

had a goal and an assist, and host Chicago

earned its first win of the season.

Andrew Shaw, Calvin de Haan and Mattias

Janmark also scored for Chicago in its home

opener after beginning the season with a four-

game trip. Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat

each had two assists.

Wild 4, Sharks 1: Zach Parise scored his

first goal of the season to break a second-period

tie, sending host Minnesota to the victory.

Joel Eriksson Ek had an early goal for the

Wild against former teammate Devan Dub-

nyk, who made 25 saves for the Sharks on the

Minnesota ice he called home for the previous

six years. Kevin Fiala and Jordan Greenway

added empty-netters for the Wild (4-1-0) in

their home opener.

Maple Leafs 4, Oilers 2: John Tavares

broke a tie on a power play midway through the

third period, helping host Toronto to the win.

Toronto played without Auston Matthews

and Joe Thornton. Coach Sheldon Keefe said

before the game Matthews is day to day with

“upper-body soreness” following a 3-1 loss to

the Oilers on Wednesday night, while Thorn-

ton will miss at least four weeks after fractur-

ing a rib in that game.

ROUNDUP

Coyotes hand Knights their first lossAssociated Press


NBA/COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

W L Pct GB

Philadelphia 11 5 .688 —

Boston 8 6 .571 2

Brooklyn 9 8 .529 2½

New York 8 9 .471 3½

Toronto 6 9 .400 4½

Southeast Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 8 7 .533 —

Orlando 7 9 .438 1½

Miami 6 8 .429 1½

Charlotte 6 9 .400 2

Washington 3 8 .273 3

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Indiana 9 6 .600 —

Milwaukee 9 6 .600 —

Cleveland 8 7 .533 1

Chicago 7 8 .467 2

Detroit 3 12 .200 6

Western Conference

Southwest Division

W L Pct GB

Memphis 7 6 .538 —

Dallas 8 7 .533 —

San Antonio 8 8 .500 ½

New Orleans 5 9 .357 2½

Houston 5 9 .357 2½

Northwest Division

W L Pct GB

Utah 11 4 .733 —

Portland 8 6 .571 2½

Denver 8 7 .533 3

Oklahoma City 6 8 .429 4½

Minnesota 3 11 .214 7½

Pacific Division

W L Pct GB

L.A. Clippers 12 4 .750 —

L.A. Lakers 12 4 .750 —

Phoenix 8 6 .571 3

Golden State 8 7 .533 3½

Sacramento 6 10 .375 6

Thursday’s games

L.A. Lakers 113, Milwaukee 106 New York 119, Golden State 104 Utah 129, New Orleans 118

Friday’s games

Chicago 123, Charlotte 110 Houston 103, Detroit 102 Indiana 120, Orlando 118, OT Toronto 101, Miami 81 Cleveland 125, Brooklyn 113 Philadelphia 122, Boston 110 Atlanta 116, Minnesota 98 Dallas 122, San Antonio 117 L.A. Clippers 120, Oklahoma City 106 Denver 130, Phoenix 126, OT Sacramento 103, New York 94 Washington at Milwaukee, ppd Memphis at Portland, ppd

Saturday’s games

Miami at Brooklyn New Orleans at Minnesota Philadelphia at Detroit Denver at Phoenix Golden State at Utah Houston at Dallas L.A. Lakers at Chicago

Sunday’s games

Toronto at Indiana Oklahoma City at L.A. Clippers Charlotte at Orlando Cleveland at Boston Atlanta at Milwaukee Sacramento at Memphis, ppd Washington at San Antonio New York at Portland

Monday’s games

Charlotte at Orlando Philadelphia at Detroit Toronto at Indiana Miami at Brooklyn L.A. Lakers at Cleveland Sacramento at Memphis, ppd Denver at Dallas Boston at Chicago San Antonio at New Orleans Minnesota at Golden State Oklahoma City at Portland

Leaders

Scoring

G FG FT PTS AVG

Beal, WAS 10 121 83 349 34.9

Durant, BKN 12 125 91 375 31.3

Rebounds

G OFF DEF TOT AVG

Drummond, CLE 13 54 142 196 15.1

Capela, ATL 12 52 118 170 14.2

NBA scoreboard

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Em-

biid had 38 points and 11 rebounds,

Tobias Harris scored 23 points

and the Philadelphia 76ers beat

the Boston Celtics 122-110 on Fri-

day night.

Seth Curry returned to the Six-

ers’ starting lineup following a

seven-game absence because of a

positive COVID-19 test and scored

15 points.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics

with 42 points and nine rebounds,

and Marcus Smart had 20 points.

Embiid followed a 42-point out-

ing in a win over Boston on

Wednesday night with another

fantastic effort. He made 14 of 15

from the free-throw line — a near-

flawless retort after some mild

criticism from Smart.

Smart said Embiid “flails and

gets the calls” after the All-Star

center went to the line 21 times in

his 42-point game. The Celtics

shot just 20 free throws in that loss

and none in the fourth quarter.

Cavaliers 125, Nets 113:Collin

Sexton had 25 points and nine as-

sists, Andre Drummond added 19

points and 16 rebounds and Cleve-

land beat visiting Brooklyn for the

second time in three days.

Nets superstar forward Kevin

Durant was held out as a precau-

tionary measure as he continues

his comeback from right Achilles

tendon surgery.

Kyrie Irving scored 38 points,

and James Harden had 19 points

and 11 assists for Brooklyn, which

lost 147-135 in double-overtime to

the Cavaliers in the debut of its

high-scoring trio on Wednesday.

Nuggets 130, Suns 126 (OT):

Nikola Jokic scored 31 points, Ga-

ry Harris added 19 and Denver

rallied to force overtime before

beating host Phoenix.

Denver won for the third time in

four games to improve to 8-7 this

season.

Devin Booker led the Suns with

31 points but took a hard fall late in

overtime and didn’t play the final

few possessions. Phoenix’s of-

fense looked out of synch without

its leading scorer on the floor and

didn’t score a field goal after he

left.

Rockets 103, Pistons 102: Je-

rami Grant’s driving layup on the

final play came too late, and visit-

ing Houston held on to beat De-

troit.

Down one with 3.4 seconds re-

maining, the Pistons inbounded to

Grant, who faked a handoff to

Blake Griffin and then drove

down the right side of the lane.

Time clearly ran out before he laid

the ball in, but he was also bumped

by Houston’s P.J. Tucker. Replays

showed that contact also came af-

ter time expired, and after a re-

view, the game ended.

Pacers 120, Magic 118 (OT):Malcolm Brogdon hit a three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left inovertime, lifting host Indiana pastOrlando.

Evan Fournier’s three-point at-tempt bounced off the rim at thebuzzer for Orlando.

Brogdon led the Pacers with 23points. Jeremy Lamb and MylesTurner each scored 22 points, andDomantas Sabonis had 18.

Clippers 120, Thunder 106:Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points,Paul George added 29 and Los An-geles beat visiting Oklahoma Cityfor its sixth straight victory.

Serge Ibaka had 17 points and 11rebounds to help the Clippers im-prove to 12-4, tying the Lakers forthe NBA’s best record.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ledthe Thunder with 30 points.

Hawks 116, Timberwolves 98:Trae Young scored a season-high43 points, Clint Capela had 13points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocksand Atlanta beat host Minnesota.

Minnesota has lost four straightand 11 of its last 12 after startingthe season 2-0.

Mavericks 122, Spurs 117:Luka Doncic had 36 points, 11 as-sists and nine rebounds and visit-

ing Dallas withstood a late rally tobeat San Antonio.

Dallas won its second straightafter a three-game losing streak.San Antonio is 2-5 at home.

Raptors 101, Heat 81: At Tam-pa, Fla., Norman Powell scored 23points, OG Anunoby added 21 andToronto recovered to beat Miamiafter blowing a 21-point lead.

Pascal Siakam had 15 points and14 rebounds for the Raptors. Theynever trailed on their way toavenging a loss to the Heat onWednesday night.

Bulls 123, Hornets 110: ZachLaVine continued his strong playwith 25 points and nine assists,leading Chicago past host Char-lotte for its third straight victory.

Lauri Markkanen added 23points, and Coby White had 18points and eight assists.

Kings 103, Knicks 94: Harri-son Barnes had 21 points, eight re-bounds and seven assists, and Sac-ramento overcame a cold shootingspell late in the fourth quarter tohold off visiting New York and enda four-game losing streak.

De’Aaron Fox added 22 pointsand seven assists for Sacramento,which had lost nine of its previous11.

CHRIS SZAGOLA/AP

76ers center Joel Embiid dunks in front of the Boston Celtics’ DanielTheis (27) during the first half of Friday’s game in Philadelphia.Embiid finished with 38 points in the 76ers’ 122110 win.

Embiid leads 76ers past CelticsAssociated Press

ROUNDUP

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —

Michigan coach Juwan Howard

put the emphasis on defense from

the first time his entire team prac-

ticed this season.

It paid big dividends Friday

night.

On a night Isaiah Livers

matched his season high with 22

points and Eli Brooks added 11, the

seventh-ranked Wolverines used

a staunch defense to pull away

from Purdue 70-53.

“They all did a great job. It was

not easy because Trevion (Wil-

liams) is one of the best bigs in this

conference and also one of the best

in the country,” Howard said

when asked specifically about Mi-

chigan’s post play. “I know tomor-

row they’re going to wake up sore

because they earned it. This was

an old-school, Big Ten type of

game. The Big Ten has always

been a physical conference and to-

night’s game was really about

physicality.”

By winning their fifth straight in

the series, the Wolverines (13-1,

8-1 Big Ten) maintained their

stranglehold on the conference

lead.

But this one came with some

trepidation after Purdue’s top

three-point shooter, Sasha Stefa-

novic, tested positive for CO-

VID-19. A second test Wednesday

confirmed the initial result.

Boilermakers coach Matt Pain-

ter explained that the team’s pro-

tocols required Stefanovic to wear

a mask on their bus trip and plane

ride back from Ohio State earlier

this week and that the senior

guard was not around anyone else

after he returned to campus. No

other players tested positive and

after Howard said he spoke with

his players individually, the game

was played.

MICHAEL CONROY/AP

Michigan guard Eli Brooksshoots in front of Purdue guardBrandon Newman on Friday inWest Lafayette, Ind. TheWolverines won 7053.

Wolverines

shut down

Boilermakers

BY MICHAEL MAROT

Associated Press


KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Two years ago, the Kansas

City Chiefs were coming

off an AFC champion-

ship heartbreak against

the New England Patriots that

rested largely on the shoulders of

their defense, which couldn’t stop

Tom Brady and Co. in overtime.

Not enough talent? Maybe. Not

enough playmakers? Absolutely.

Chiefs general manager Brett

Veach and coach Andy Reid knew

they needed to rectify the problem

or risk squandering the best years

of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

So they hired Steve Spagnuolo to

coordinate the defense, traded for

elite pass rusher Frank Clark,

drafted wisely and — perhaps

most importantly — outbid the

Texans for safety Tyrann Math-

ieu.

The Honey Badger has made

that $42 million, three-year deal

look like a bargain.

After helping the Chiefs win

their first Super Bowl in five dec-

ades last season, Mathieu has fol-

lowed up with what can only be de-

scribed as the best season of his ca-

reer. He has seven interceptions,

including one in last week’s divi-

sional-round win over Cleveland,

and has become the biggest play-

maker on a defense that suddenly

seems underappreciated.

“He’s a great player,” said Bills

coach Sean McDermott, whose of-

fense gets the next crack at the

Honey Badger in the AFC cham-

pionship game Sunday. “Watched

his career unfold at LSU and the

different places he’s been — he

brings a lot of energy and juice to

their team, and their defense in

this case.”

The numbers alone are impres-

sive. Mathieu has picked off five

passes in the past seven games,

and he returned one for a touch-

down against New England earlier

this season. Quarterback ratings

plummet when they throw in his

direction, and his versatility is evi-

dent in the fact that he has tackles-

for-loss in three of his past five

games.

No wonder he was voted an All-

Pro for the second straight year

and the third time in his career.

“Just the energy he brings, what

he’s saying to guys on the sideline

or in the huddle — they trust him,”

Spagnuolo said. “They believe in

him. The guy is a winner. He’s

made plays for us, and when you

get enough guys like that you have

a unit.”

It’s hard to find another guy like

Mathieu, though, with his unique

ability to wreak havoc from his

“robber” position. He bounces

around the field like a pinball, both

before the snap and after, putting

constant pressure on opposing

quarterbacks to make sure they

know where he is on any given

play.

On a quarter of snaps this sea-

son, he’s lined up in the deep safety

spot. In about a third, he’s lined up

in the box to provide run support.

On almost 40% of snaps, he has

lined up in the slot, essentially be-

coming an extra cornerback.

In other words, Spagnuolo is us-

ing Mathieu in ways he’s never

used another player in 40 years in

coaching.

“I hadn’t thought about it until

you just said that,” Spagnuolo said,

“but I’d probably say yes, that we

have gone a little more beyond, be-

cause there are some things that

we do with him now that I don’t re-

call us doing in prior places.

“First and foremost, him from

the chin to the hairline, you’re talk-

ing about an intelligent football

player that loves it. You know that

if you feed something to Tyrann,

he’s going to get it and he’s going to

know why,” Spagnuolo said. “We

lay out all of these plans and you go

from Monday to Saturday and into

Sunday, but things change so

quick on game day. The one thing

about Tyrann is you can go over to

him and say, ‘Let’s tweak this or do

that.’ He knows exactly why and

he does it.”

He gets everybody else to do it,

too. The middle linebacker may

call the defensive plays — for the

Chiefs, that’s Anthony Hitchens —

but Mathieu is often the one mak-

ing sure everybody knows what is

going on.

Then he takes care of his own

business.

“I think any position on the field

allows you the chance to make

plays,” Mathieu said. “It’s all

about staying committed.

“Early in the season I wasn’t

making those plays,” he contin-

ued, “and as a high competitor

you can get out of it thinking none

of those plays is ever going to

come to you. For me, it’s just

about staying involved, staying

committed to what my coaches

want me doing.”

BRETT DUKE/AP

Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Tyrann Mathieu is in the midst of thebest season of his career. He has seven interceptions, including onein last week’s divisionalround win over Cleveland, and is the biggestplaymaker on a defense that suddenly seems underappreciated.

BargainBadger

BY DAVE SKRETTA

Associated Press

Mathieu signingkeeps paying offfor Kansas City

NFL PLAYOFFS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ten

years after firing Sean McDer-

mott as his defensive coordinator,

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy

Reid will stare across the field in-

side Arrowhead Stadium on Sun-

day and see his protégé trying to

spoil his hopes of a Super Bowl re-

peat.

Funny thing: Even after firing

him, Reid suspected deep down

that McDermott was destined for

big things.

“Very organized, very smart

and very tough,” he explained this

week. “He came from a coaching

family — his dad was a heck of a

coach. Sean just kind of picked up

right from there. Very solid, very

good.”

In fact, downright exceptional.

McDermott has the long-suffer-

ing Buffalo Bills playing in their

first AFC championship game

since beating Kansas City on Jan.

23, 1994, when they advanced to

their fourth straight Super Bowl.

They have won 11 of their past 12

games since losing to the Chiefs in

Week 6, beating the Colts in the

wild-card round and the Ravens in

last week’s divisional round.

“He deserves coach of the year,

man. He’s taken a franchise there,

both he and his general manager,

have put this thing together with

some bold moves and production

now,” Reid said.

“I think he’s done a tremendous

job. What a great thing for the NFL

and for Buffalo. They love football

in Buffalo and he’s really done a

nice job with that whole pro-

gram.”

Not surprisingly, the job

McDermott has done with the

Bills neatly parallels the job Reid

has done in Kansas City.

Both took over downtrodden or-

ganizations and quickly built them

into juggernauts. Both have bright

young quarterbacks in the Bills’

Josh Allen and the Chiefs’ Patrick

Mahomes. Both have surrounded

them with playmakers, such as the

Bills’ Stefon Diggs and the Chiefs’

Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. And

both have built defenses to not on-

ly complement two of the best of-

fenses in the NFL, but capable of

clinching wins under pressure, as

each did last weekend.

Mahomes, who was knocked out

of last week’s game against Cleve-

land with a concussion, took first-

team reps all week. He was finally

cleared to play by team doctors

and an independent neurologist

on Friday.

“You have to take it day by day. I

think that’s the biggest thing,” Ma-

homes said. “You can only control

what you can control.”

Chiefs cornerback Bashaud

Breeland, who also sustained a

concussion last Sunday, practiced

this week while awaiting clearance

from doctors. Running back Le’V-

eon Bell was held out Thursday

and Friday with a swollen knee.

On the flip side, Clyde Edwards-

Helaire is expected to play for the

first time since a high-ankle

sprain in Week 15 and Sammy

Watkins could be back from a calf

injury that he sustained the fol-

lowing week.

Star struck: Though the Bills

would love to have Star Lotulelei

enjoy this playoff run with them,

cornerback Tre’Davious White

and several teammates continued

backing the starting defensive

tackle’s decision to opt out be-

cause of COVID-19 concerns.

“You can’t make a wrong deci-

sion in this thing,” said White, who

contemplated opting out before

signing a $70 million, four-year

extension in September and earn-

ing second-team All-Pro honors.

“Obviously he chose his family

over a game and the things that he

had going on. I don’t think that he’s

necessarily missing out on any-

thing.”

Bills’ rise under McDermottno surprise to Chiefs’ Reid

BY DAVE SKRETTA

Associated Press

CHARLES KRUPA/AP

Bills head coach Sean McDermott has Buffalo playing in its first AFCchampionship game since beating Kansas City on Jan. 23, 1994,when they advanced to their fourth straight Super Bowl.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW


NFL PLAYOFFS

For as much as Tom Bra-

dy and Aaron Rodgers

have accomplished in

their Hall of Fame-cali-

ber careers, they’ve rarely faced

off on the field.

Never have they met with so

much at stake.

When Rodgers’ Green Bay

Packers (14-3) host Brady’s Tam-

pa Bay Buccaneers (13-5) in the

NFC championship game Sunday,

it will be just the fourth time

they’ve squared off as starting

quarterbacks, and first in the play-

offs.

“I remember when I heard the

news about him coming to the

NFC, I thought this was a real pos-

sibility,” Rodgers said. “I’m excit-

ed about the opportunity to play

against him one more time.”

The Bucs trounced the Packers

38-10 in Tampa on Oct. 18. They

met two other times during Bra-

dy’s tenure in New England, with

the Packers winning 26-21 at

Green Bay in 2014 and the Patriots

winning 31-17 in Foxborough four

years later.

Both understand all eyes will be

on them Sunday.

Kurt Warner, the Hall of Fame

quarterback and NFL Network

analyst, said that’s just human na-

ture.

“When I played, I always knew

who was on the other sideline,”

Warner said. “I always said when

I went into these matchups, at the

end of the day, I know if we’re go-

ing to win this game, I’ve got to

outperform that guy. I’ve got to be

better than the quarterback on the

other side.”

Brady, 43, has helped the Bucs

earn a franchise-record seven

straight road wins. A win at Lam-

beau Field clinches their first Su-

per Bowl berth since their 2002

championship season.

“This is one of the coolest stadi-

ums in the league to play in,” Bra-

dy said. “I know they’re excited,

we’ll be excited, and it will make

for a great football game.”

Brady is trying to join Warner,

Peyton Manning and Craig Mor-

ton as the only quarterbacks to

lead two separate franchises to a

Super Bowl. He already won six

Super Bowls and played in nine to-

tal with the Patriots.

Green Bay is making its fourth

NFC championship game appear-

ance in the past seven seasons, but

Rodgers hasn’t reached a Super

Bowl since leading the Packers to

a title in the 2010 season.

Warner said the postseason

weighs heavily on where players

stack up in history.

“That’s why Tom is the GOAT

(greatest of all time),” Warner

said. “It’s why Joe Montana is up

there and guys who’ve been there

numerous times — the John El-

ways — and everyone else kind of

gets knocked down a notch. Even

though they’ve been great in the

regular season, there’s a combina-

tion of the two that I think weighs

heavily.”

Simply put, Rodgers needs this

victory more than Brady.

“He plays in one Super Bowl, I

think there will be something

about that that just doesn’t sit right

with anybody,” Warner said. “It

doesn’t sit right with any of us who

love this game and know how

great he’s been. It just doesn’t

seem to fit.”

This may be the best remaining

chance for the 37-year-old Rodg-

ers at that elusive second Super

Bowl berth.

“It’s been a while since he was

last a world champion,” CBS

Sports analyst and 2002 NFL MVP

Rich Gannon said. “I think that

would certainly cement his legacy

as one of the greatest to ever play

the game in my opinion. Not that

he needs it, but I’m just telling you

that’s probably how he’s wired.”

JEFF HAYNES/AP

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady get his face mask grabbed by Green Bay Packers linebacker RashanGary during their on Oct. 18 in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers won 3810.

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

Game’s QBs have nevermet with stakes so high

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

Associated Press DID YOU KNOW?

When Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay

Packers (14-3) host Tom Brady’s

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-5) in

the NFC championship game Sun-

day, it will be just the fourth time

they’ve squared off as starting

quarterbacks, and first in the play-

offs. The Bucs trounced the Packers

38-10 in Tampa on Oct. 18. They

met two other times during Brady’s

tenure in New England, with the

Packers winning 26-21 at Green

Bay in 2014 and the Patriots win-

ning 31-17 in Foxborough four years

later.

SOURCE: Associated Press

many Super Bowls are won.”

Rodgers’ brilliant season has in-

cluded just one outright dud. It oc-

curred the previous time these

two teams met.

Green Bay led Tampa Bay 10-0

early in the second quarter back

on Oct. 18 until Jamel Dean scored

on a 32-yard interception return.

Rodgers’ next pass was picked off

by Mike Edwards and returned 38

yards to the Green Bay 2-yard

line, setting up another touch-

down.

After the Packers lost 38-10,

Rodgers called the performance a

wakeup call and kick in the rear

for an offense that had moved the

ball virtually at will up to that

point.

The Packers haven’t been held

below 22 points since. They’ll be

chasing their eighth consecutive

victory when the Packers (14-3)

host the Bucs (13-5) on Sunday.

“We’ve been playing the right

way, and I feel like the way we’ve

been winning has been better than

early in the season,” Rodgers said.

“We’ve been playing a lot better

on both sides of the ball.”

The performance at Tampa Bay

was out of character for someone

who protects the ball so well.

Rodgers completed 45.7% of his

passes for 160 yards with two in-

terceptions and no touchdowns

that day. In the Packers’ other 16

games, he has completed 71.9% of

his passes for 4,435 yards with 50

touchdowns and three intercep-

tions.

He has been picked off just five

times in 562 pass attempts this

season (526 in the regular season,

36 in a playoff victory over the Los

Angeles Rams). His only other

multi-interception game over the

past three seasons came when he

was picked off twice in last year’s

NFC championship game loss at

San Francisco.

“When you throw five intercep-

tions and throw the ball 526 times,

that’s amazing,” said Rich Gan-

non, a former NFL quarterback

who now works for CBS Sports.

“You’re going to get the ball

tipped, deflected. Balls are going

to go through the hands of a re-

ceiver. Something bad going’s to

happen. Yet he’s thrown five

picks. I think in the last three

years, he’s thrown 11 picks. Think

about that. You throw 38 touch-

down passes and 11 picks in a sea-

son, you’d think that’s pretty good.

Eleven picks in three years.

“He’s been the best in the last

decade at ball security. There’s no

one who’s been better.”

This marks Rodgers’ fourth

NFC championship game appear-

ance over the past seven years. All

of Rodgers’ previous starts in the

NFC championship games came

on the road.

Green Bay has finished the reg-

ular season 13-3 each of the past

two years, but looks far more im-

posing this time around.

“A lot of people didn’t think

we’d be back here after last sea-

son,” Rodgers said. “We got a lot of

interesting comments last year

about us being the worst 13-3 team

that people had seen. Not the same

type of comments this year. Obvi-

ously we’re clicking a lot better on

offense.”

This may represent the 37-year-

old Rodgers’ best chance to get

back to another Super Bowl,

though he says he isn’t dwelling on

his future with so much at stake

right now.

“I hope there’s more opportuni-

ties, but I don’t know,” Rodgers

said. “I mean, I really don’t. That

stuff is out of my control. My fu-

ture is a beautiful mystery, I think.

The present is such a gift to be able

to stay in the moment and to have

gratitude for being in this situa-

tion again, and being with the guys

and having fans in our stadium

and maybe snow in an NFC cham-

pionship game. I’m going to enjoy

these moments for sure, and just

not worry about what happens

down the line.”

Greats: Rodgers’ onlydud was against TampaFROM PAGE 24

MATT LUDTKE/AP

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws the ball to fans afterscoring on a 1yard run against the Los Angeles Rams last weekend ina divisional playoff last weekend in Green Bay, Wis.


SPORTSCrucial piece of the puzzle

Chiefs' acquisition of Mathieu payinghuge dividends ›› NFL playoffs, Page 22

Stars hammer Predators in delayed season opener ›› NHL, Page 20

Aaron Rodgers’ Green

Bay Packers team-

mates understand

what this NFC

championship game

means to the All-Pro quarter-

back’s legacy.

Rodgers has delivered the kind

of season that puts him in conten-

tion for a third MVP honor, which

would match the total won by

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarter-

back Tom Brady.

The Super Bowl count between

the two NFC championship game

quarterbacks is more one-sided.

Brady won six Super Bowl titles

and appeared in nine overall while

starring for the New England Pa-

triots. Rodgers led the Packers to a

Super Bowl crown in the 2010 sea-

son, but hasn’t brought them back

since.

“You look at Brady and every-

body wants to make that compari-

son forever, but it’s basically turn-

ed into a quarterback stat: Super

Bowls,” Packers All-Pro wide re-

ceiver Davante Adams said.

“If that’s what it’s going to be,

then obviously we’re going to put

as much as we can on ourselves to

try to help him get there and, ulti-

mately, relieve him of the Super

Bowls being a thing that hinder

him from being the GOAT (great-

est of all time). In my mind, he’s

the GOAT, regardless of how

JEFFREY PHELPS, ABOVE, AND JEFF HAYNES, RIGHT/AP

Above: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks to throw on the run during last weekend's divisionalplayoff against the Los Angeles Rams a in Green Bay, Wis. Right: Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive endNdamukong Suh talks to Rodgers (during the second half of their game on Oct. 18, 2020, in Tampa, Fla.

NFL PLAYOFFS

Comparingtwo greatsPackers believe Rodgersstacks up against Brady

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

Associated Press “In my mind,he’s the GOAT(greatest of alltime), regardlessof how manySuper Bowls arewon.”

Packers WR Davante Adams

on quarterback Aaron Rodgers

SEE GREATS ON PAGE 23

page 3 page 12 packers believe rodgers more than brady’s

Documents