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NEW YORK — Police went

door to door in search of more pos-

sible victims and drew up lists of

the missing as the death toll rose to

49 on Friday in the catastrophic

flooding set off across the North-

east by the remnants of Hurricane

Ida.

The disaster underscored with

heartbreaking clarity how vulner-

able the U.S. is to the extreme

weather that climate change is

bringing.

More than three days after the

hurricane blew ashore in Louisia-

na, the storm’s rainy remains hit

the Northeast with surprising fury

on Wednesday and Thursday,

submerging cars, swamping sub-

way stations and basement apart-

ments and drowning scores of

people in five states.

It overwhelmed urban drainage

systems never meant to handle so

much rain in such a short time — 3

inches in just an hour in New York.

Commuter train service north

of New York City remained sus-

pended or severely curtailed. In

the Hudson Valley, train tracks

were covered in several feet of

mud. New York’s subways were

running with delays or not at all.

In Philadelphia, part of the

crosstown Vine Street Express-

way remained under water as peo-

ple in neighborhoods along the

swollen Schuylkill River started

cleaning up and assessing the

damage.

President Joe Biden approved

emergency declarations for New

York and New Jersey.

The death toll was highest in

New Jersey, where at least 25 peo-

Police looking for missing in wake of catastrophic Ida floodingBY MIKE CATALINI

AND MICHAEL R. SISAK

Associated Press

SEE IDA ON PAGE 7

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Ma-

rine Corps leaders have their eyes

on the kind of combat that a war

against an adversary such as Chi-

na or Russia could bring, and they

are training their troops to be pre-

pared for that fight by building

better-thinking, more well-round-

ed infantrymen capable of operat-

ing in small units with little over-

sight.

The Corps wants to create in-

fantrymen who will arrive at their

first duty station with the critical

and creative thinking skills of Ma-

rines several years into their ca-

reer, instead of the robot-like, trig-

ger-pullers that some have ac-

cused the service of producing in

its longstanding entry-level infan-

try course, Marine officials said

last week.

At Camp Lejeune, N.C., the

Corps’ School of Infantry-East is

attempting to make those chang-

es, experimenting with a new ini-

tial infantry training program that

lasts longer, includes more face-

to-face time with instructors, and

challenges green infantrymen on

more difficult skills, said Col. Da-

vid Emmel, the school’s com-

mander.

“The Marine Corps is going

through very large changes … and

we are one element of that within

the larger service’s efforts,” Em-

mel told reporters Aug. 27 at

Camp Lejeune, as the first group

of 194 Marines neared completion

of the School of Infantry-East’s

first attempt of the new training

program, known as the Infantry

Marine Course. “That’s making a

A Marine infantry student at Camp Lejeune, N.C., practices settingup an ambush Aug. 27 as part of a pilot program meant todrastically change the way the Corps trains its infantrymen.

COREY DICKSTEIN/Stars and Stripes

CHANGINGCOURSEMarine Corps revamps infantry school to producecritical thinking and more advanced infantrymen

BY COREY DICKSTEIN

Stars and Stripes

SEE COURSE ON PAGE 4

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, September 4, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

DETROIT — The global short-

age of computer chips is getting

worse, forcing automakers to

temporarily close factories in-

cluding those that build popular

pickup trucks.

General Motors announced

Thursday that it would pause pro-

duction at eight of its 15 North

American assembly plants during

the next two weeks, including two

that make the company’s top-sell-

ing Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

Ford will stop making pickups

at its Kansas City Assembly Plant

for the next two weeks. Shifts will

be cut at two more truck plants in

Dearborn, Mich., and Louisville,

Ky.

The cuts will compound an al-

ready short supply of cars, trucks

and SUVs on dealer lots nation-

wide that have pushed prices to

record levels. Automakers report-

ed that U.S. dealers had just un-

der a million new vehicles on

their lots in August, 72% lower

than the 3.58 million in August of

2019.

Industry analysts say the delta

variant of the novel coronavirus

has hit employees at chip facto-

ries in southeast Asia hard, forc-

ing some plants to close. That’s

worsened a chip shortage that

was starting to improve earlier in

the summer.

“Now the prospects for new

sales for the rest of the year con-

tinue to dim with the reality that

tight inventory will last well into

2022,” said Kevin Roberts, direc-

tor of industry insights for Cargu-

rus.com.

GM, Ford halt some production due to chip shortage Associated Press

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Saturday, September 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

institutions.

Brown, a retired Army aviator and judge

advocate general, believes U.S. military

commanders already have inherent author-

ity to ban extremism to the degree that it is,

by its nature, a threat to military order and

discipline. His measure is intended to clar-

ify the terms of that authority, aides said.

The amendment does not create a new

crime in the Uniform Code of Military Jus-

tice but would alter the law to explicitly au-

thorize commanders to root out — be it in

recruits or those currently serving — any-

one who advocates hatred based on bigotry

or puts it into violent practice.

The measure would not mandate moni-

toring of social media but would authorize

the services to use an online post advocat-

ing supremacist views as cause for dis-

charge.

Brown also argues that nothing in the bill

would shortchange due process protections

for servicemembers.

Even beyond the attack on the Capitol,

troubling signs have appeared recently of a

small but festering problem in the ranks.

The director of national intelligence said

in March that violent extremists pose “a

WASHINGTON — House Democrats

want the new National Defense Authoriza-

tion Act to make plain that armed services

personnel and recruits are not allowed to

advocate or take part in extremist activities

or belong to extremist groups.

But the debate over what extremism

means and how such a prohibition would be

enforced is expected to be fierce — starting

at Wednesday’s House Armed Services

Committee markup of the fiscal 2022 bill.

Maryland Democrat Anthony G. Brown

plans to file an amendment at the markup

that would make explicit a military com-

mander’s authority to bar or expel people

who espouse or act on extremist beliefs or

are members of such groups. The amend-

ment also says that the military can use so-

cial media posts as evidence of extremist

views that could lead to so-called separa-

tion from service.

“An individual who engages in extremist

activities or is a member of an extremist or-

ganization may not serve as a member of

the armed forces,” states a draft of the

amendment.

Brown would leave it to the secretary of

Defense to define extremist activities. A

Pentagon Countering Extremism Working

Group is reportedly already at work on that

question.

Brown told CQ Roll Call in a statement

that he recognizes that extremists form a ti-

ny fraction of the U.S. military, but he be-

lieves it is a growing peril.

“Racism, white supremacy, antisemi-

tism, discrimination, and other extremist

beliefs are not in line with the values of our

armed services and have no place in our

ranks,” Brown said.

Brown’s amendment would set up a Pen-

tagon Office of Countering Extremism to

track reports of such behavior across the

Defense Department’s uniformed and ci-

vilian ranks. The office would share data on

the problem with other federal agencies

and would produce an annual report to Con-

gress. The amendment would empower the

military services to train personnel and

recruiters in identifying and avoiding ex-

tremism.

The amendment is a response to recent

data indicating that extremists — ranging

from white supremacists to criminal gangs

— represent a small but seemingly growing

and increasingly dangerous portion of the

U.S. military. The fact that some 20% of the

rioters in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol re-

portedly had ties to the military has cata-

lyzed these concerns.

But Republicans have regularly pushed

back against most attempts to crush extre-

mism in the ranks and are expected to do so

again. The GOP critics generally say Dem-

ocrats are exaggerating the extent of the

problem. Republicans say they are con-

cerned too that what constitutes extremist

activity is not clearly defined. And they

worry that servicemembers’ privacy and

their rights to due process could be threat-

ened.

Brown’s extremism amendment is not

the only NDAA proposal that will stir a ra-

cially charged, partisan debate.

One of the highest-temperature debates

could come when Republicans offer one or

more amendments seeking to restrict the

Pentagon from teaching so-called critical

race theory, an academic approach to reex-

amining how racial bias is encoded in social

heightened threat to the homeland.”

Moreover, the Army Criminal Investiga-

tion Command, in a report last year, found a

66% increase in gang or domestic extremist

activity from the previous year, Brown

said.

A 2019 survey found more than one third

of all active-duty servicemembers had wit-

nessed instances of white nationalism or

ideologically driven racism in their units.

The Pentagon has been working on this

issue for many months.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III re-

quired in February that all military com-

manders take time over a two-month period

to discuss extremism. And he set up the

Countering Extremism Working Group to

study the issue.

In April, Austin ordered the review of

how best to define extremism. He also man-

dated updating security questionnaires to

more accurately determine recruits’ back-

grounds on the issue. And he required new

training for retiring personnel who may

face recruitment efforts from extremist

groups.

In 2020, after protests over the killing of

George Floyd, the department convened a

task force to take a closer look at military

efforts to become more racially diverse.

One of the group’s recommendations, bur-

ied in its voluminous report, was to make

extremist violence punishable under the

military’s code of justice.

The House’s fiscal 2021 NDAA included

language by California Democrat Jackie

Speier that would have done just that. But

senators, fearing a veto by President Do-

nald Trump over the issue, diluted that

mandate in the final measure, Speier said

earlier this year.

The fiscal 2021 NDAA instead created a

new deputy inspector general to oversee di-

versity and anti-extremism efforts.

Brown’s bill would require the director of

the proposed Office of Countering Extre-

mism to coordinate with the deputy inspec-

tor general.

The Senate’s fiscal 2022 NDAA would

again defer definitive action on the matter.

It would merely require the Defense secre-

tary to report to Congress on whether and

how to potentially make violent extremism

a crime under the military code.

House panel to debate banning extremism in the ranksBY JOHN M. DONNELLY

CQ-Roll Call

SUSAN WALSH/AP

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon inWashington on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Defense

Secretary Lloyd Austin has

agreed to restart 16 defense advi-

sory boards, after halting activity

by all the panels in February and

essentially purging a number of

members who were appointed in

the final days of the Trump admin-

istration.

Pentagon spokesman John Kir-

by said a sweeping review of all

the boards is complete, and Austin

has begun taking action on some of

the recommendations from the

study. The 16 boards being rein-

stated so far include many of the

more prominent panels, including

the Defense policy, business, sci-

ence and health boards.

Members are being named to

the panels, and Kirby said that

recommendations for other

boards to resume operations are

still under consideration. More

announcements will be made in

coming weeks.

During the last two months of

his tenure, former acting Defense

Secretary Christopher Miller re-

moved a number of longtime

members from several defense

policy, health, science and busi-

ness boards and replaced many

with loyalists of former President

Donald Trump.

After taking office, Austin in

early February, ordered a review

and said hundreds of Pentagon ad-

visory board members had to re-

sign, including more than 30 of

Miller’s last-minute replace-

ments. At the time, officials said

that Austin’s decision to suspend

the boards and study the issue was

driven by the frenetic activity of

Miller to remove dozens of board

members and replace them in

such a short amount of time be-

tween Trump’s election loss and

the inauguration of President Joe

Biden.

The review was designed to as-

sess whether each board provides

value and make sure its focus

aligns with U.S. strategic priori-

ties and the National Defense

Strategy. And all committee mem-

bers whose appointment comes

from the defense secretary were

ordered to resign by Feb. 16.

Of the 42 advisory panels listed

in Austin’s initial memo, 31 had

their members removed, six were

part of the review but their mem-

bers were retained, and five oth-

ers had either no members or had

concluded their business. Among

the 31 were some of the depart-

ment’s most well known boards,

including those with purview over

defense policy, science, health, in-

novation, Arlington National

Cemetery and women in the mil-

itary.

All together there were more

than 600 members on the 42

boards, but defense officials we-

ren’t able to say exactly how many

had to resign. They said it was

“hundreds.”

The 16 that will be able to begin

again are: Defense Business

Board, Defense Policy Board, De-

fense Health Board, Defense

Board of Actuaries, Medicare-Eli-

gible Board of Advisors, Defense

Science Board, Defense Advisory

Committee on Investigation, Pros-

ecution, and Defense of Sexual As-

sault in the Armed Forces, Uni-

form Formulary Beneficiary Ad-

visory Panel, Inland Waterways

Users Board, Defense Depart-

ment Wage Committee, Board on

Coastal Engineering Research,

Marine Corps University Board of

Visitors, Department of the Air

Force Scientific Advisory Board,

U.S. Strategic Command Strategic

Advisory Group, Army Science

Board and the Defense Advisory

Committee on Women in the Ser-

vices.

Pentagon is restarting 16 advisory boards BY LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

MILITARY


more lethal, smarter, more elite

Marine infantryman — Marines

with a strong moral foundation,

who are grounded in the Marine

Corps ethos, who possess the skill

and the will to succeed in the fu-

ture operational environment.

And, as part of that, the critical

thinking which allows him [or

her] to be adaptive in that environ-

ment.”

Those changes have been dri-

ven by the vision of Marine com-

mandant Gen. David Berger —

who, since becoming the top Ma-

rine in 2019, has instituted an

overhaul of the service aimed

largely at checking Chinese power

in the Indo-Pacific region, where

he believes his troops will need to

work more closely with the Navy

and in smaller units to compete

with China’s forces. As comman-

dant, Berger has axed the Ma-

rines’ tank units, urged Congress

to shrink its force size and in-

structed units to prepare its

youngest Marines to make tough

battlefield decisions without a

higher command’s input.

At Camp Lejeune, Marine in-

structors are preparing some of

the Corps’ newest infantrymen for

just that operating environment in

the Infantry Marine Course pilot

program, which expands initial

infantry training from nine weeks

to 14 weeks. It marks the second

use of the new program, which be-

gan with a course at the Marine’s

School of Infantry-West at Camp

Pendleton, Calif.

The new course puts new Ma-

rines in the field for about nine

weeks, practicing critical infantry

skills, fighting each other in force-

on-force battles, and training

them on advanced weapons to

which those who have completed

traditional Marine initial infantry

training have not been exposed.

But the most critical change to

the course is how instructors work

with their students, Emmel and

other officials said.

The new model pairs a single

combat instructor — an experi-

enced infantry noncommissioned

officer trained to teach new Ma-

rines — with a squad of 14 Ma-

rines, who the instructor is

charged with overseeing, teaching

and mentoring throughout the en-

tire course. For decades, instruc-

tors taught Marines in infantry

school in large groups, 80 to 200-

plus at a time, officials said.

Sgt. Jonathon Ritter, a combat

instructor in charge of one of the

Infantry Marine Course squads,

said he has gotten to know his trai-

nees much better during the pilot

course than when he has taught in

previous iterations of initial infan-

try training.

The one-on-one time allows him

to better understand how his stu-

dents learn, what they respond to

and how they react to challenges.

His young Marines have ad-

vanced quicker than those he has

taught in the traditional class, he

said.

“Their development is actually

exceeding a lot of our expecta-

tions,” Ritter said. “I took them

from Day 1 where they couldn’t do

any infantry skills, and then now

to see them on the live-fire ranges,

being able to execute, use their

weapons for the right target with-

out any [instructor] supervision —

that’s extremely rewarding.

“A lot of the stuff they’re learn-

ing now is stuff that Marines [who

are] traditionally one or two years

into the fleet learn, and here we

have them learning this stuff at en-

try level training. That’s huge.”

An ambush

A blast from a Claymore mine

shot a cloud of smoke billowing

dozens of feet into the air. From

positions concealed by trees just

beyond the mine’s reach, 14 young

Marines opened fire with M27 ri-

fles and M240B machine guns.

In minutes, the smoke cleared

and the firing ceased. The enemy

— robotic targets outfitted in cam-

ouflage — had been defeated. For

the squad of freshly minted Ma-

rines about 12 weeks into the new

Infantry Marine Course, the brief

live-fire operation was the culmi-

nation of a week focused on sharp-

ening the planning and tactical

skills that go into executing an

age-old combat tactic — an am-

bush.

For those leading the Marines, it

was verification of the new efforts.

The squads each planned their

ambushes on their own without

their instructors’ input after

spending the week learning the

tactics that go into planning an

ambush and practicing without

live ammunition, said Marine

Capt. David Allen, the command-

er of the School of Infantry’s Echo

Company, which is conducting the

pilot course. Combat instructors

then tagged along as the squads

conducted their ambushes, offer-

ing the occasional pointer, but al-

lowing the Marines to make — and

hopefully — learn from their own

mistakes, Allen said.

One squad after another on Aug.

27 ran through the exercise on the

sandy, wooded training grounds.

Some groups executed near-per-

fect ambushes, Allen said. Others

struggled.

In at least one iteration, a Ma-

rine’s M240B machine gun

jammed, likely because it had not

been cleaned well enough before

the attack, his instructor said. In

another, Marines set their mine

off too early, failing to injure any

enemy targets. In another am-

bush, some of the Marines set

themselves up in positions where

they were ultimately unable to see

the enemy targets as they entered

the “kill box,” another instructor

said.

Despite the shortcomings, none

of the Marines were chewed out.

Combat instructors rarely yelled,

except over the roar of gunfire.

Young Marines held their heads

high, as their instructors went

Course: New training puts instructors with smaller groupsFROM PAGE 1

PHOTOS BY COREY DICKSTEIN/Stars and Stripes

Marine infantry students at Camp Lejeune, N.C., practice setting up an ambush, as their instructor looks on. The livefire training on Aug. 27was part of their 12th week of initial infantry training and part of a program meant to drastically change the way the Corps trains its infantrymen.

A Marine infantry student places a claymore mine during training atCamp Lejeune.

SEE COURSE ON PAGE 5

A Marine infantry student practices setting up an ambush duringlivefire training event.

MILITARY


over what they had done right and

wrong just minutes after complet-

ing the mission. The Marines

asked questions, and they pre-

pared to run ambushes again.

“They’re more willing to ap-

proach you, ask a question, more

willing to engage in the training

and just learn,” said Sgt. Govan

Walcott, a combat instructor lead-

ing one of the 14-man squads in the

pilot. “We’re not yelling. We’re

here to instruct, to teach and then

let them learn it their way and

then go out and execute what it is

that we’re trying to teach.”

‘Not just idiots’Traditionally, a new Marine in-

fantryman — a boot, in Marine

slang — will arrive at his or her

first station with an elementary

understanding of infantry tactics

and spend the next two or more

years learning how to actually op-

erate from unit leaders, Walcott

said.

The pilot program is designed to

provide boot Marines to the Corps’

infantry battalions nearly ready to

fight on the first day.

“We’re speeding up the time-

line,” said Emmel, the School of

Infantry-East commander.

For the instructors, it takes a

shift in mindset. Walcott, who en-

listed in 2015, said his instructors

at the School of Infantry-East

would tell him exactly what to do

and when to do it. In the pilot pro-

gram, instructors explain to stu-

dents an outcome they want out of

ascenario and let the new Marines

find their own paths to that result.

“We’re looking at it like, hey,

these are not just idiots, you know.

These are individuals who can ac-

tually think and operate on their

own and operate as a unit,” Wal-

cott said. “So it’s — I’m going to

give you this knowledge. Let me

see how you apply it. And, the way

you apply it actually might be

somewhat of a different train of

thought than I would have had. It

might even work better.”

Walcott and other instructors

said the pilot course was proving

beneficial to the new Marines.

He said he believed the Corps

should adopt the training, which

Corps brass will consider later

this year after running at least two

more pilot courses, one each at

Camp Pendleton and Camp Le-

jeune.

Unlike infantry Marines who

graduate traditional initial infan-

try training, those who complete

the pilot program will have

learned to shoot Javelin anti-tank

missiles, fire machine guns, and

use other weapons that new rifle-

men usually would not be trained

to do.

The decision to incorporate

more advanced weapons than just

the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle

comes as the Corps considers

merging all infantry jobs into a

single military occupational spe-

cialty. That decision is yet to be

made, a Marine spokesman said

Tuesday.

Training Marines to use multi-

ple weapons systems is a major

advantage on the battlefield, Wal-

cott said, adding he had never

been exposed to some of the weap-

ons, including the Javelin before

becoming an instructor.

“These guys are definitely more

trained up, so it wouldn’t take as

long to spin them up” at their first

unit, he said. “And, then these

guys are going to bring skills to the

fleet that are not there right now.”

The pilot model is also more de-

manding on the instructors, Wal-

cott and Ritter admitted. Their

days often last from sun up to sun

down and occasionally well into

the night, they said. Nonetheless,

they said those challenges were

worthwhile.

An influx of new instructors

would also be needed to adopt the

Infantry Marine Course pilot pro-

gram as the Corps’ initial infantry

training program, officials said.

Emmel said the East Coast and

West Coast infantry schools were

working with Marine headquar-

ters to determine how large a

cadre was possible, but he de-

clined to provide a specific num-

ber of additional instructors he

would require.

Those figures could change as

the pilot course is adjusted based

on feedback from the first two it-

erations, he added. Even the num-

ber of weeks could be changed.

Nonetheless, Emmel and other

School of Infantry officials en-

dorsed the pilot program as send-

ing the Corps in the right direction

for the future.

“We’re giving the fleet more le-

thal Marines,” Emmel said.

Course: Infantry Marines learn to use more advanced weaponsFROM PAGE 4

PHOTOS BY COREY DICKSTEIN/Stars and Stripes

Marine infantry students listen to their combat instructor’s feedback after conducting an ambush during training at Camp Lejeune, N.C., onAug. 27.

Marine infantry students at Camp Lejeune practice setting up an ambush in a livefire training event.

In the trial program, instructorsexplain a scenario's desiredoutcome and let students findtheir own paths to that result.

“Their development is actuallyexceeding a lot of ourexpectations.”

Sgt. Jonathon Ritter

combat instructor

[email protected]: @CDicksteinDC

MILITARY


KABUL, Afghanistan — A small

group of Afghan women protested

near the presidential palace in Ka-

bul on Friday, demanding equal

rights from the Taliban as Afghan-

istan’s new rulers work on form-

ing a government and seeking in-

ternational recognition.

The Taliban captured most of

the country in a matter of days last

month and celebrated the depar-

ture of the last U.S. forces after 20

years of war. Now they face the ur-

gent challenge of governing a war-

ravaged country that is heavily re-

liant on international aid.

The Taliban have promised an

inclusive government and a more

moderate form of Islamic rule

than when they last ruled the

country from 1996 to 2001. But

many Afghans, especially women,

are deeply skeptical and fear a

rollback of rights gained over the

last two decades.

The protest in Kabul was the

second women’s protest in as

many days, with the other held in

the western city of Herat. Around

20 women with microphones gath-

ered under the watchful eyes of

Taliban gunmen, who allowed the

demonstration to proceed.

The women demanded access

to education, the right to return to

work and a role in governing the

country. “Freedom is our motto. It

makes us proud,” read one of their

signs.

A Taliban fighter ventured into

the crowd at one point, but wit-

nesses said he was angry at the by-

standers who had stopped to

watch the demonstration and not

the protesters themselves.

The Taliban have said women

will be able to continue their edu-

cation and work outside the home,

rights denied to women when the

militants were last in power. But

the Taliban have also vowed to im-

pose Sharia, or Islamic law, with-

out providing specifics.

Interpretations of Islamic law

vary widely across the Muslim

world, with more moderate

strains predominating. The Tali-

ban’s earlier rule was shaped by

Afghanistan’s unique tribal tradi-

tions, under which women are not

to be seen in public. Those cus-

toms endure, especially in the

countryside, even during 20 years

of Western-backed governments.

A potentially more pressing

concern for the Taliban is the

economy, which is mired in crisis.

Civil servants haven’t been paid

for months, ATM’s have been shut

down and banks are limiting with-

drawals to $200 per week, causing

large crowds to form outside

them. Aid groups have warned of

widespread hunger amid a severe

drought.

The Taliban said Western

Union, which halted service after

the militants entered Kabul last

month, will resume transfers,

which may help Afghans to re-

ceive cash from relatives living

abroad. But most of Afghanistan’s

foreign reserves are held abroad

and frozen while Western nations

consider how to engage with the

Taliban, putting pressure on the

local currency.

There was no immediate com-

ment from Western Union on the

resumption of service.

The Taliban say they want good

relations with all countries, even

the United States, and have held a

string of meetings with foreign en-

voys in recent days in the Gulf na-

tion of Qatar, where they have

long maintained a political office.

Western nations are expected to

demand the Taliban live up to

their promises to form an inclu-

sive government and prevent Af-

ghanistan from being a haven for

terrorist groups. They may also

press the Taliban on women’s

rights, though that could be a har-

der sell for the group’s hard-line

base, which is steeped in Afghan-

istan’s deeply conservative, tribal

culture.

Ahmadullah Muttaqi, a spokes-

man for the Taliban’s cultural

commission, said a senior official

from the United Arab Emirates

flew into Kabul’s international

airport on Friday to meet with Ta-

liban officials, without naming

him. Afghanistan’s TOLO TV re-

ported that the aircraft was also

carrying 60 tons of food and med-

ical aid.

Sher Mohammad Stanikzai, a

senior Taliban official based in

Qatar, recently met with British

and German delegations, accord-

ing to the Taliban, which said an-

other official, Abdul Salam Hana-

fi, had a phone call with Chinese

deputy foreign minister Wu Jiang-

hao.

Most Western embassies were

evacuated and shuttered in the

days after the Taliban rolled into

Kabul on Aug. 15. The Taliban

have urged diplomats to return.

Taliban political leaders have

gone on TV to say the world has

nothing to fear from them. But

many Afghans, as well as Western

nations that spent two decades

fighting the group, remain deeply

skeptical.

Afghan womendemand rightsas Taliban rule

BY KATHY GANNON

Associated Press

PHOTOS BY WALI SABAWOON/AP

Women gather to demand their rights under Taliban rule during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday.

Women gather to demand their rights under the Taliban rule during aprotest in Kabul, Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden and first

lady Jill Biden met with wounded

service members on Thursday at

Walter Reed National Medical

Center, where some of the Amer-

icans hurt in last week’s suicide

bombing in Afghanistan are be-

ing treated.

Thirteen U.S. service members

were killed in the Aug. 26 attack

by ISIS-K outside the Kabul air-

port, where the U.S. had been

evacuating its citizens and Af-

ghan allies after the capital fell to

the Taliban. The U.S. launched its

first retaliatory drone strike the

next day.

The bodies of the service mem-

bers were flown to Dover Air

Force Base in Delaware. On Sun-

day, Biden attended what is

known as a dignified transfer cer-

emony at the base and also met

with relatives of the dead.

A Navy corpsman, an Army

staff sergeant, and 11 Marines as

well as dozens of Afghans were

killed in the suicide bombing at

the airport’s Abbey Gate. An ad-

ditional 18 U.S. service members

were wounded.

The president said last week

had “some sense” of the loss the

families felt, pointing out that his

son, Beau Biden, had served in

the Army in Iraq before dying of

brain cancer.

”You get this feeling like you’re

being sucked into a black hole in

the middle of your chest; there’s

no way out,” Biden said. “My

heart aches for you.”

Biden is deeply familiar with

Walter Reed, having spent time

there as a patient in the 1980s af-

ter suffering a brain aneurysm.

He also kept watch over his son

there during his battle with can-

cer.

Biden visits wounded service members at Walter Reed

SUSAN WALSH/AP

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave Walter ReedNational Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Thursday, aftervisiting with injured troops.

BY JENNIFER EPSTEIN

Bloomberg News

AFGHANISTAN


ple perished. Most drowned after

their vehicles were caught in flash

floods.

At least six people were still

missing in New Jersey, Gov. Phil

Murphy said.

Floodwaters and a falling tree

also took lives in Maryland, Penn-

sylvania, Connecticut and New

York. In New York City, 11 people

died when they were unable to es-

cape rising water in their low-ly-

ing apartments.

After the storm, fires broke out

in several New Jersey homes and

businesses that were largely inac-

cessible to firefighters because of

the floodwaters. Authorities said

they suspect gas leaks triggered

by the flooding fed the blazes.

The search for possible victims

was not over.

“I don’t have an exact answer

regarding how many people are

actually missing, but we are going

to continue to work hard through-

out the day, throughout the eve-

ning to make sure we identify ev-

eryone’s location,” Rodney Harri-

son, New York City police chief of

department, said Thursday.

In Wilmington, Delaware,

crews rescued more than 200 peo-

ple after the Brandywine River re-

ached record levels, swamping

roads, bridges and homes. No ma-

jor injuries or deaths were report-

ed.

Elsewhere, work continued on

hauling away ruined cars, clear-

ing mud and other debris from

streets and restoring transit ser-

vice.

In Philadelphia, crews worked

seven large pumps to drain the

flooded expressway, with officials

giving no estimate on when the

heavily trafficked interstate

would fully reopen. An inch-thick

layer of muck was left behind in

the portions that were drying out.

Leaders in some states pledged

to examine whether anything

could be done to prevent a catas-

trophe like this from happening

again.

New Jersey and New York have

both spent billions of dollars im-

proving flood defenses after Su-

perstorm Sandy hit in 2012, but

much of that work was focused

primarily on protecting communi-

ties from seawater, not rain.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul

said Thursday the region needs to

turn its attention to storm systems

unprepared to handle a future of

more frequent flash flooding be-

cause of climate change.

“One thing I want to make clear:

We’re not treating this as if it’s not

going to happen again for 500

years,” she said.

Ida: Hochul says region should prepare for future FROM PAGE 1

EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AP

Floodwaters cover Route 206 as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ida in Somerville, N.J., Thursday.

NEW ORLEANS — Power

should be restored to almost all of

New Orleans by Wednesday, 10

days after Hurricane Ida de-

stroyed the electric gird, tearing

down poles, transformers and

even a massive steel transmission

tower and leaving more than 1 mil-

lion customers in Louisiana with-

out power.

Not every customer will have

power back in the city, utility En-

tergy said in a statement Friday.

Customers with damage where

power enters their home will need

to fix it themselves, and there

could be some smaller areas that

take longer.

And there still is no concrete

promise of when the lights will

come back on in the parishes east

and south of New Orleans, which

were battered for hours by winds

of 100 mph or more, Entergy said.

The company asked for pa-

tience, acknowledging the heat

and misery in Ida’s aftermath. En-

tergy said more than 25,000 work-

ers from 40 states are fixing the

14,000 damaged poles, 2,223 bro-

ken transformers and 155 de-

stroyed transmission structures.

“Please know that thousands of

employees and contractors are

currently in the field working day

and night to restore power. We will

continue working until every com-

munity is restored,” said Rod

West, a group president for utility

operations.

Ida’s agonizing aftermath took

another grim turn Thursday as

Louisiana officials announced an

investigation into the deaths of

four nursing home residents who

had been evacuated to a ware-

house ahead of the severe weath-

er.

The nursing home residents

who died were among hundreds

from seven nursing homes taken

to the warehouse in Independ-

ence, where conditions became

unhealthy and unsafe after the

hurricane struck on Sunday, state

health officials said. A coroner

classified three of the deaths as

storm-related.

Health officials received re-

ports of people lying on mattresses

on the floor, not being fed or

changed and not being socially

distanced to prevent the spread of

the coronavirus, which is current-

ly ravaging the state, Louisiana

Department of Health spokesper-

son Aly Neel said. When a large

team of state health inspectors

showed up on Tuesday to investi-

gate the warehouse, the owner of

the nursing homes demanded that

they leave immediately, Neel said.

Neel identified the owner as Bob

Dean. Dean did not immediately

respond Thursday to a telephone

message left by The Associated

Press at a number listed for him.

Most of New Orleansto get power backby next Wednesday

Associated Press

NATION

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. —

Fire crews took advantage of de-

creasing winds to battle a California

wildfire near popular Lake Tahoe

and were even able to allow some

people back to their homes but dry

weather and a weekend warming

trend meant the battle was far from

over.

The Caldor Fire remained only a

few miles from South Lake Tahoe,

which was emptied of 22,000 resi-

dents days ago, along with casinos

and shops across the state line in

Nevada.

The wind-driven fire that began

Aug. 14 had raged through densely

forested, craggy areas and still

threatened more than 30,000

homes, businesses and other build-

ings ranging from cabins to ski re-

sorts.

But there was optimism and pro-

gress as winds eased on the fire’s

western flank while in the north-

east, despite gusty ridgetop winds,

firefighters with bulldozers and

shovels were steadily hacking out

fire lines or burning away vegeta-

tion to box in the flames before they

reached Tahoe.

“In the valleys we’re doing plenty

of work,” fire information officer

Marco Rodriguez said. “The crews

are working and they’re doing con-

trolled fires … to try to make those

containment lines a little bit stron-

ger.”

Residents who were forced to

flee South Lake Tahoe earlier this

week remained evacuated along

with people across the state line in

Douglas County, Nev.

The resort can easily accommo-

date 100,000 people on a busy week-

end but on Thursday, just before the

Labor Day weekend, it was eerily

empty.

Yet after days of flames threaten-

ing to engulf the resort at any mo-

ment, any respite was welcome.

“I feel like we are truly the luck-

iest community in the entire world

right now. I’m so incredibly happy,”

said Mayor Tamara Wallace, who

evacuated to Truckee, Calif.

“It’s finally a chance to take a

breath,” said Clive Savacool, chief

of South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue.

“It’s a breath full of smoke. None-

theless, I think we’re all breathing a

little bit easier and we feel like

we’re making some progress.”

Russ Crupi, who two days ago

was arranging sprinklers around

his mobile home park in South Lake

Tahoe just miles from the fire line,

had turned off the water for now,

feeling confident his neighborhood

was no longer under threat. The

nearby mountains, cloaked in

smoke for most of the week, had be-

come visible.

“I’m just happy they stopped it. It

looked close,” he said.

Farther west, evacuation orders

were lifted or downgraded to warn-

ings in several areas of El Dorado

County.

Friday’s forecast called for light-

er winds but also extremely dry

daytime weather, with a warming

trend through the weekend as high

pressure builds over the West, fire

officials said.

Calmer winds aid firefighters inCalifornia but hot weekend looms

BY SAM METZ

AND JANIE HAR

Associated Press

JAE C. HONG/AP

A firefighter pauses briefly with a water hose while monitoring a spotfire from the Caldor Fire near South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Thursday.


NATION

The COVID-19 pandemic has

created a nurse staffing crisis that

is forcing many U.S. hospitals to

pay top dollar to get the help they

need to handle the crush of pa-

tients this summer.

The problem, health leaders

say, is twofold: Nurses are quitting

or retiring, exhausted or demoral-

ized by the crisis. And many are

leaving for lucrative temporary

jobs with traveling-nurse agen-

cies that can pay $5,000 or more a

week.

It’s gotten to the point where

doctors are saying, “Maybe I

should quit being a doctor and go

be a nurse,” said Dr. Phillip Coule,

chief medical officer at Georgia’s

Augusta University Medical Cen-

ter, which has on occasion seen 20

to 30 resignations in a week from

nurses taking traveling jobs.

“And then we have to pay pre-

mium rates to get staff from anoth-

er state to come to our state,”

Coule said.

The average pay for a traveling

nurse has soared from roughly

$1,000 to $2,000 per week before

the pandemic to $3,000 to $5,000

now, said Sophia Morris, a vice

president at San Diego-based

health care staffing firm Aya

Healthcare. She said Aya has

48,000 openings for traveling

nurses to fill.

The explosion in pay has made

it hard on hospitals without deep

enough pockets.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly la-

mented recently that the state’s

hospitals risk being outbid for

nurses by other states that pay a

“fortune.” She said Wednesday

that several hospitals, including

one in Topeka, had open beds but

no nurses to staff them.

In Kansas City, Mo., Truman

Medical Centers has lost about 10

nurses to travel jobs in recent days

and is looking for travelers to re-

place them, said CEO Charlie

Shields.

He said it is hard to compete

with the travel agencies, which

are charging hospitals $165 to $170

an hour per nurse. He said the

agencies take a big cut of that, but

he estimated that nurses are still

clearing $70 to $90 an hour, which

is two to three times what the hos-

pital pays its staff nurses.

“I think clearly people are tak-

ing advantage of the demand that

is out there,” Shields said. “I hate

to use ‘gouged’ as a description,

but we are clearly paying a premi-

um and allowing people to have

fairly high profit margins.”

In Texas, more than 6,000 travel

nurses have flooded the state to

help with the surge through a

state-supported program. But on

the same day that 19 of them went

to work at a hospital in the north-

ern part of the state, 20 other nurs-

es at the same place gave notice

that they would be leaving for a

traveling contract, said Carrie

Kroll, a vice president at the Texas

Hospital Association.

“The nurses who haven’t left,

who have stayed with their facil-

ities, they are seeing these other

people come in now who are mak-

ing more money. It provides a

tense working environment,”

Kroll said.

The pandemic was in its early

stages when Kim Davis, 36, decid-

ed to quit her job at an Arkansas

hospital and become a travel

nurse. She said she has roughly

doubled her income in the 14

months that she has been treating

patients in intensive care units in

Phoenix; San Bernardino, Califor-

nia; and Tampa, Fla.

Davis said many of her col-

leagues are following the same

path.

“They’re leaving to go travel be-

cause why would you do the same

job for half the pay?” she said. “If

they’re going to risk their lives,

they should be compensated.”

US hospitalshit with nursestaffing crisis

Associated Press

KYLE GREEN/AP

Registered nurse Jack Kingsley attends to a COVID19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit at St.Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Centrist

Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday

that Congress should take a “stra-

tegic pause” on more spending,

warning that he does not support

President Joe Biden’s plans for a

sweeping $3.5 trillion effort to re-

build and reshape the economy.

The West Virginia Democrat’s

pointed opposition was stronger

than his past statements and taps

into a grab-bag of arguments over

inflation, national security and

other concerns to deny Biden and

his party a crucial vote on the

emerging package. The timing of

his comments comes as lawmak-

ers are laboring behind the scenes

to draft the legislation ahead of

this month’s deadlines.

“Instead of rushing to spend

trillions on new government pro-

grams and additional stimulus

funding, Congress should hit a

strategic pause on the budget-rec-

onciliation legislation,” Manchin

wrote in an op-ed published in the

Wall Street Journal.

“I, for one, won’t support a $3.5

trillion bill, or anywhere near that

level of additional spending, with-

out greater clarity about why Con-

gress chooses to ignore the serious

effects inflation and debt have on

existing government programs.”

Democrats have no votes to

spare as they labor to helm Bi-

den’s big “build back better”

agenda to passage in the narrowly

divided Congress, where they

have the majority in the 50-50 Sen-

ate because of the tie-breaking

vote of Vice President Kamala

Harris.

Manchin has long been a hold-

out against the topline amount,

$3.5 trillion, even though he voted

last month to approve a budget

resolution that set the figure.

Manchin

seeks halt

on Biden

$3.5T billAssociated Press Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Repub-

lican states that have passed in-

creasingly tough abortion restric-

tions only to see them blocked by

the federal courts have a new

template in an unusually written

Texas law that represents the

most far-reaching curb on abor-

tions in nearly half a century.

On Thursday, Republican law-

makers in at least half a dozen

states said they planned to intro-

duce bills using the Texas law as a

model, hoping it provides a path-

way to enacting the kind of abor-

tion crackdown they have sought

for years.

In Mississippi, Republican

state Sen. Chris McDaniel said he

would “absolutely” consider fil-

ing legislation to match the Texas

law after a sharply divided U.S.

Supreme Court let it stand.

“I think most conservative

states in the South will look at this

inaction by the court and will see

that as perhaps a chance to move

on that issue,” he said.

The Texas law, which took ef-

fect Wednesday, prohibits abor-

tions once medical professionals

can detect cardiac activity, usual-

ly around six weeks and before

many women know they’re preg-

nant. While a dozen states have

tried to enact bans early in preg-

nancy, those laws have been

blocked by courts.

Texas may have found an end-

run around the federal courts by

enacting an unusual enforcement

scheme that authorizes private ci-

tizens to file lawsuits in state

court against abortion providers

and anyone involved in aiding an

abortion, including someone who

drives a woman to a clinic. The

law includes a minimum award of

$10,000 for a successful lawsuit,

but does not have government of-

ficials criminally enforce the law.

In addition to Mississippi, GOP

lawmakers and abortion oppo-

nents in at least five other Repub-

lican-controlled states — Arkan-

sas, Florida, Indiana, North Da-

kota and South Dakota — said

they were considering pushing

bills similar to the Texas law and

its citizen-enforcement provi-

sion.

“Even though you may have

pro-life legislators, you do not al-

ways have pro-life bureaucrats

who are willing to do enforcement

inspections,” said Indiana state

Sen. Liz Brown, a Republican

who has been the sponsor of sev-

eral anti-abortion bills adopted in

recent years.

Democrats also anticipated the

Supreme Court’s new conserva-

tive majority overturning Roe, al-

though they fear a ruling striking

it down would leave old state laws

outlawing abortions in effect.

“Reproductive freedom in our

state is built on case law,” said

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a

Democrat, as he pushed for state

lawmakers to enact a bill that

would enshrine access to abor-

tions.

“All of that case law is in turn

built on the Supreme Court’s de-

cision on Roe v. Wade. If the foun-

dation of that series of case laws is

impacted, impaired, taken away,

the entire reality in our state falls

like a house of cards, which is why

we need to, as soon as possible,

put this protection into statute.”

GOP-led states see Texas lawas model to restrict abortions

Associated Press


NATION

WASHINGTON — America’s

employers added just 235,000

jobs in August, a surprisingly

weak gain after two months of ro-

bust hiring at a time when the

delta variant’s spread has dis-

couraged some people from fly-

ing, shopping and eating out.

The unemployment rate drop-

ped to 5.2% from 5.4% in July.

The August job gains the gov-

ernment reported Friday fell far

short of the roughly 940,000 that

employers had added in each of

the previous two months, when

widespread vaccinations allowed

the economy to fully reopen from

pandemic restrictions. Still, the

number of job openings remains

at record levels, and hiring is ex-

pected to stay solid in the coming

months.

With COVID cases having

spiked in July and August, Amer-

icans have been buying fewer

plane tickets and reducing hotel

stays. Restaurant dining, after

having fully recovered in late

June, has declined to about 10%

below pre-pandemic levels.

Some live shows, including the

remaining concerts on country

star Garth Brooks’ tour, have

been canceled. Businesses are

delaying their returns to offices,

threatening the survival of some

downtown restaurants, coffee

shops and dry cleaners.

Supply shortages have also fed

an inflation surge, with consumer

prices having jumped in July by

the most in three decades, ac-

cording to the Fed’s preferred

measure. Rising inflation pres-

sures have contributed, in turn, to

a sharp drop in consumer confi-

dence.

Yet there are signs that many

companies are still looking to

hire, particularly those that are

not in public-facing service in-

dustries like restaurants and

bars. The job listings website In-

deed says the number of availa-

ble jobs grew in August, led by

such sectors as information tech-

nology and finance, in which

many employees can work from

home.

Walmart announced this week

that it will hire 20,000 people to

expand its supply chain and on-

line shopping operations, includ-

ing jobs for order fillers, drivers

and managers. Amazon said

Wednesday that it is looking to fill

40,000 jobs in the U.S., mostly

technology and hourly positions.

And Fidelity Investments said

Tuesday that it is adding 9,000

more jobs, including in customer

service and IT.

Hiring slows to235K jobs after2 strong monthsBY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

Associated Press

U.S. traffic deaths in the first

quarter of 2021 rose by 10.5% over

last year, even as driving has de-

clined, the government’s road

safety agency reported Thursday.

The National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration estimated

that 8,730 people died in motor ve-

hicle traffic crashes from January

through March, compared with

the 7,900 fatalities from the same

period in 2020.

The increase in traffic fatalities

is a continuation of a trend that

started in 2020. In June, the

NHTSA reported that traffic

deaths rose 7% last year to 38,680,

the most since 2007. That increase

came even as the number of miles

traveled by vehicles fell 13% from

2019 due to the coronavirus pan-

demic.

The NHTSA said drivers con-

tinue to exhibit risky behavior on

the roads, including speeding, not

wearing seat belts and driving un-

der the influence of drugs or alco-

hol.

Preliminary data from the Fed-

eral Highway Administration

shows that vehicle miles traveled

fell 2.1% — roughly 14.9 billion

miles — in the first three months

of 2021. The agency estimates that

there were 1.26 deaths per 100 mil-

lion vehicle miles traveled in the

first quarter this year, compared

to a rate of 1.12 deaths for the same

period in 2020.

Neither the data from 2020 nor

2021 is final.

SHAFKAT ANOWAR/AP

Traffic flows along the Interstate 90 highway in Chicago March 31. The government’s road safety agencyreported Thursday that traffic deaths in the first quarter of 2021 rose by 10.5% over last year.

NHTSA: Traffic deaths riseagain as drivers take risks

Associated Press

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. — The oper-

ator of a limousine company was

spared prison time Thursday in a

2018 crash that killed 20 people

when catastrophic brake failure

sent a stretch limo full of birthday

revelers hurtling down a hill in up-

state New York.

Loved ones of the dead excoriat-

ed Nauman Hussain, 31, as he sat

quietly at the defense table during

a hearing that was held in a high

school gymnasium to provide for

social distancing among the many

relatives, friends and media mem-

bers attending.

Hussain, who operated Prestige

Limousine, had originally been

charged with 20 counts each of

criminally negligent homicide and

second-degree manslaughter in

what was the deadliest U.S. trans-

portation disaster in a decade.

But under an agreement for

Hussain to plead guilty only to the

homicide counts and spare fam-

ilies the uncertainties and emo-

tional toll of a trial, he faces five

years of probation and 1,000 hours

of community service. His case

had been de-

layed by the cor-

onavirus pan-

demic.

As Judge Ge-

orge Bartlett III

prepared to ac-

cept the agree-

ment, loved ones

of the victims

took turns talk-

ing of lives cut short, the holes left

in their own and their frustration

that the operator would avoid time

behind bars.

“Every day I try to wrap my

head around this impossible situa-

tion,” said Sheila McGarvey,

whose 30-year-old son Shane

McGowan and his wife, Erin, were

passengers. “I hate every day

without him.”

She wished, she said, that a frac-

tion of any money Hussain spent

on lawyers would have been spent

to fix the limo’s brakes.

Hussain was accused of putting

the victims in a death trap.

“My son, my baby boy, was

killed in a limo while trying to be

safe,” said Beth Muldoon, the

mother of Adam Jackson, 34, who

was killed along with his wife, Abi-

gail King Jackson.

The couple, who with the others

had rented the limo to avoid drink-

ing and driving, had two small chil-

dren. Muldoon lamented the holi-

days and life milestones the par-

ents will miss.

One spectator left the hearing,

cursing and shouting, “He killed

20 people,” before apologizing to

the judge on her way out.

Hussain sat quietly as parents

talked about their smothering

grief and anger. Defense attorney

Joseph Tacopina said his client ac-

cepts responsibility for his actions

and cried as the relatives spoke.

Hussain did not answer report-

ers’ questions after the court pro-

ceeding.

Under the deal, Hussain will be

formally sentenced after an inter-

im probation of two years. The

judge noted that Hussain’s guilty

plea could be used to buoy any law-

suits.

On Oct. 6, 2018, Axel Steenburg

of Amsterdam, 30 miles west of Al-

bany, rented the 2001 Ford Excur-

sion limousine for the 30th birth-

day of his new wife, Amy. The par-

ty group, ranging in age from 24 to

34, included Axel’s brother, Amy’s

three sisters and two of their hus-

bands, and close friends.

En route to Brewery Omme-

gang, south of Cooperstown, the li-

mo’s brakes failed on a downhill

stretch of state Route 30 in Schoha-

rie, west of Albany. The vehicle

blew through a stop sign at a T-in-

tersection at over 100 mph and

crashed into a small ravine near a

popular country store.

Seventeen family members and

friends were killed, along with the

driver and two bystanders outside

the store.

Schoharie County District At-

torney Susan Mallery’s office has

said Hussain allowed passengers

to ride in the limo despite having

received “multiple notices of vio-

lations” from the state and having

been told repairs were inadequate.

State police said the vehicle should

have been taken out of service be-

cause of brake problems identified

in an inspection a month before the

crash.

But complications were high-

lighted in the plea agreement.

In a separate report last fall, the

National Transportation Safety

Board concluded that while the

crash was likely caused by Pres-

tige Limousine’s “egregious disre-

gard for safety” that resulted in

brake failure, ineffective state

oversight contributed.

Lee Kindlon, an attorney for

Hussain, has said his client tried to

maintain the limousine and relied

on what he was told by state offi-

cials and a repair shop that in-

spected it.

Limo operator avoids prison time in crash that killed 20 Associated Press

Hussain


SANGEH, Indonesia — De-

prived of their preferred food

source — the bananas, peanuts

and other goodies brought in by

tourists now kept away by the cor-

onavirus — hungry monkeys on

the resort island of Bali have tak-

en to raiding villagers’ homes in

their search for something tasty.

Villagers in Sangeh say the

gray long-tailed macaques have

been venturing out from a sanctu-

ary about 500 yards away to hang

out on their roofs and await the

right time to swoop down and

snatch a snack.

Worried that the sporadic sor-

ties will escalate into an all-out

monkey assault on the village,

residents have been taking fruit,

peanuts and other food to the San-

geh Monkey Forest to try to pla-

cate the primates.

“We are afraid that the hungry

monkeys will turn wild and vi-

cious,” villager Saskara Gustu

Alit said.

About 600 of the macaques live

in the forest sanctuary, swinging

from the tall nutmeg trees and

leaping about the famous Pura

Bukit Sari temple, and are consid-

ered sacred.

In normal times the protected

jungle area in the southeast of the

Indonesian island is popular

among local residents for wed-

ding photos, as well as among in-

ternational visitors. The relative-

ly tame monkeys can be easily

coaxed to sit on a shoulder or lap

for a peanut or two.

Ordinarily, tourism is the main

source of income for Bali’s 4 mil-

lion residents, who welcomed

more than 5 million foreign vis-

itors annually before the pandem-

ic.

The Sangeh Monkey Forest

typically had about 6,000 visitors

a month, but as the pandemic

spread last year and international

travel dropped off dramatically,

that number dropped to about

500.

Since July, when Indonesia

banned all foreign travelers to the

island and shut the sanctuary to

local residents as well, there has

been nobody.

Not only has that meant nobody

bringing in extra food for the

monkeys, the sanctuary has also

lost out on its admission fees and

is running low on money to pur-

chase food for them, said oper-

ations manager Made Mohon.

The donations from villagers

have helped, but they are also

feeling the economic pinch and

are gradually giving less and less,

he said.

“This prolonged pandemic is

beyond our expectations,” Made

Mohon said, “Food for monkeys

has become a problem.”

The macaque is an omnivore

and can eat a variety of animals

and plants found in the jungle, but

those in the Sangeh Monkey For-

est have had enough contact with

humans over the years that they

seem to prefer other things.

FIRDIA LISNAWATI/AP

A worker feeds macaques during a feeding time at Sangeh Monkey Forest in Sangeh, Bali Island,Indonesia, on Wednesday.

With no tourist handouts, hungryBali monkeys steal from villages

Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand

— New Zealand authorities were

so worried about an extremist in-

spired by the Islamic State they

were following him around-the-

clock and were able to shoot and

kill him within 60 seconds of him

unleashing a frenzied knife attack

that wounded six people Friday at

an Auckland supermarket.

Three of the shoppers were tak-

en to Auckland hospitals in critical

condition, police said. Another

was in serious condition, while

two more were in moderate condi-

tion.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

said the incident was a terror at-

tack. She said the man was a Sri

Lankan national who was inspired

by ISIS and was well known to the

nation’s security agencies.

Ardern said she had been per-

sonally briefed on the man in the

past but there had been no legal

reason for him to be detained.

“Had he done something that

would have allowed us to put him

into prison, he would have been in

prison,” Ardern said.

The attack unfolded at about

2:40 p.m. at a Countdown super-

market in New Zealand’s largest

city.

Police Commissioner Andrew

Coster said a police surveillance

team and a specialist tactics group

had followed the man from his

home in the suburb of Glen Eden

to the supermarket in New Lynn.

But while they had grave ongo-

ing concerns about the man, they

had no particular reason to think

he was planning an attack on Fri-

day, Coster said. The man ap-

peared to be going into the store to

do his grocery shopping.

“He entered the store, as he had

done before. He obtained a knife

from within the store,” Coster

said. “Surveillance teams were as

close as they possibly could be to

monitor his activity.”

Witnesses said the man shouted

“Allahu akbar” — meaning God is

great — and started stabbing ran-

dom shoppers, sending people

running and screaming.

Coster said that when the com-

motion started, two police from

the special tactics group rushed

over. He said the man charged at

the officers with the knife and so

they shot and killed him.

One bystander video taken from

inside the supermarket records

the sound of 10 shots being fired in

rapid succession.

Coster said there would be

questions about whether police

could have reacted even quicker.

He said that the man was very

aware of the constant surveillance

and they needed to be some dis-

tance from him for it to be effec-

tive.

Ardern said the attack was vio-

lent and senseless, and she was

sorry it had happened.

“What happened today was de-

spicable. It was hateful. It was

wrong,” Ardern said. “It was car-

ried out by an individual. Not a

faith, not a culture, not an ethnic-

ity. But an individual person who

is gripped by ideology that is not

supported here by anyone or any

community.”

Ardern said the man had first

moved to New Zealand in 2011 and

had been monitored by security

agencies since 2016.

‘Terrorist’ killedafter stabbing 6in New Zealand

BY NICK PERRY

Associated Press

WORLD

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Brit-

ish national admitted Thursday

evening in a federal courtroom

near the nation’s capital that he

played a leadership role in an Is-

lamic State scheme to torture,

hold for ransom and eventually

behead American hostages.

Alexanda Amon Kotey, 37,

pleaded guilty to all eight counts

against him at a plea hearing in

U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

The charges include hostage-tak-

ing resulting in death and provid-

ing material support to ISIS from

2012 through 2015.

He admitted guilt in connection

with the deaths of four American

hostages — journalist James Fo-

ley, journalist

Steven Sotloff

and aid workers

Peter Kassig and

Kayla Mueller —

as well as Eu-

ropean and Ja-

panese nationals

who also were

held captive.

Kotey is one of four ISIS mem-

bers who were dubbed “the Beat-

les” by their captives because of

their British accents. He and an-

other man, El Shafee Elsheikh,

were brought to the U.S. last year

to face charges after the U.S. as-

sured Britain that neither man

would face the death penalty.

Elsheikh is still scheduled to go

on trial in January. A third Beatle,

Mohammed Emwazi, also known

as “Jihadi John,” was killed in a

2015 drone strike. A fourth mem-

ber is serving a prison sentence in

Turkey.

The plea deal sets a mandatory

minimum sentence of life without

parole. After 15 years, though, he

would be eligible to be trans-

ferred to the United Kingdom to

face any possible charges there.

In the plea deal, he admits that

life is an appropriate sentence in

the United Kingdom as well. If he

were to receive a sentence of less

than life there, the deal requires

that he serve the rest of his life

sentence, either in the United

Kingdom if that country will do

so, or be transferred back to the

U.S. to serve the life term.

The deal also requires him to

cooperate with authorities and

answer questions about his time

in the Islamic State group. He

would not, though, be required to

testify at Elsheikh’s trial.

The deal also requires him to

meet with victims’ families if they

request it.

Family members of all four vic-

tims attended Thursday’s hearing

and stood outside the courthouse

afterward with prosecutors. They

will have an opportunity to speak

at Kotey’s formal sentencing on

March 4.

James Foley’s mother, Diane,

said she was grateful for the con-

viction and praised prosecutors

for obtaining a detailed account of

Kotey’s culpability.

“This accountability is essen-

tial if our country wants to dis-

courage hostage-taking,” she

said. Diane Foley also called on

the U.S. government to prioritize

the return of all Americans being

held abroad.

British national pleads guilty to role in ISIS beheadingsAssociated Press

Kotey


AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Drone operators warnedahead of air show

ME BRUNSWICK — The

Great State of Maine

Air Show this weekend will fea-

ture aerial acrobats, all manner of

vintage and modern planes, and

the Navy’s flight demonstration

team. But drones are not welcome.

The Brunswick Police Depart-

ment said drones and other air-

craft are not allowed within 5

miles of the Brunswick Executive

Airport effective Thursday and

through the show’s completion on

Sunday.

“The FBI has been working di-

rectly with Brunswick PD in plan-

ning the security/safety for the Air

Show and stated that they will

prosecute those that choose to not

follow the no-fly restriction,” said

Police Chief Scott Stewart.

Drones are typically used by the

public to get aerial footage and

photographs, and are controlled

remotely by their operators. The

flight ban also applies to conven-

tional aircraft.

Authorities raid pet storecalled ‘shop of horrors’

KY BURNSIDE — Police

and members of the

Humane Society have removed

150 neglected animals from a pet

shop in southern Kentucky.

Local authorities in Pulaski

County, including the Burnside

Police Department, served a

search warrant on the pet shop,

Tim’s Reptiles and Exotics, on

Wednesday morning. A media re-

lease from the Humane Society of

Kentucky said dozens of “snakes,

lizards, turtles, rabbits, guinea

pigs, hamsters, gerbils and fish

were found living in filthy, poor

conditions.”

Todd Blevins, Kentucky direc-

tor for the Humane Society, called

the store a “shop of horrors.”

The pet shop owner was

charged with 19 counts of animal

cruelty, according to the Humane

Society.

Roadside flower photossought for calendar

WV CHARLESTON —

The West Virginia De-

partment of Environmental Pro-

tection is planning its 2022 wild-

flower calendar and says there’s a

week left to send in photo submis-

sions.

Photos must show flowers

growing along a road, with the

road prominently visible in the

photo. Flowers may be natural

growth or in a Division of High-

ways wildflower bed, but photos of

cultivated species in arranged

beds don’t qualify, the Depart-

ment of Environmental Protec-

tion said in a news release.

Photos must have been taken in

West Virginia and no more than

three per person submitted, each

as an 8-by-10-inch color print in

landscape orientation, with a

high-resolution digital copy on a

CD or flash drive.

Bad batteries, illness:School year starts rocky

MI BALDWIN — The

school year is off to a

slow start in a western Michigan

district due to power outages,

faulty batteries and students with

flu-like symptoms.

The Baldwin district, 70 miles

north of Grand Rapids in Lake

County, called off classes for

Wednesday and Thursday and

told students to return Sept. 7.

Schools were already closed Fri-

day ahead of the holiday weekend.

“The state requires that we

have 75% of attendance across the

entire district,” interim Superin-

tendent J. Mark Parsons told

9and10news.com. “We were not

making that threshold.”

Most flu-like symptoms were in

the elementary school. Parsons

canceled classes on two days last

week, too.

Online learning is not an imme-

diate option. The batteries used in

internet hot spots were recalled.

Gray wolf spotted in areafor 1st time in decades

CA BAKERSFIELD — A

gray wolf was spotted

in Kern County earlier this year,

the farthest south the species has

traveled since being reintroduced

in California after going extinct,

wildlife officials said.

The collared gray wolf was cap-

tured on a trail camera drinking

from a water trough on private

property back on May 15, but offi-

cials received the footage last

week, the California Department

of Fish and Wildlife said in a state-

ment Saturday.

It is possible the wolf could be

OR-93, a young male wolf that en-

tered California from Oregon in

January. The animal was spotted

in San Luis Obispo County on

April 5, when his collar stopped

transmitting, they said.

OR-93 dispersed from the

White River pack in northern Ore-

gon, officials said.

School locked down afterparent’s fit over masks

FL SARASOTA — A Flor-

ida elementary school

was placed in a temporary, limited

lockdown after a parent threat-

ened to leave his job and confront

an assistant principal for telling

his children they couldn’t come to

school without being masked.

Christopher Kivlin was met by

police officers Tuesday outside

Ashton Elementary School in Sa-

rasota. No charges were filed but

he was ordered not to come back

to the school without calling first

and getting permission.

An incident report said Kivlin

showed up to campus saying the

school was violating the law by not

allowing his children to attend

school.

Kivlin told television station

WFLA that he had no intention of

hurting anyone but just wanted to

talk to a school official.

He apologized for scaring any-

one and said “it was just emotions

built up.”

“I found out after the fact that

the school had to go into lockdown,

I was like, ‘That’s horrible,’ ” Kiv-

lin said. “I feel like I might have

scared other parents.”

Department gets mentalhealth program funds

WV CHARLESTON —

The West Virginia De-

partment of Education’s program

to increase mental health aware-

ness among youth and train school

staff to respond has received a $1.8

million grant from the federal gov-

ernment.

The award was announced

Tuesday by U.S. Sens. Joe Man-

chin and Shelley Moore Capito of

West Virginia.

Project AWARE, or Advancing

Wellness and Resiliency in Edu-

cation, also works to train school

teachers and employees to detect

and respond to mental health is-

sues and connect young people af-

fected by behavioral health issues

with needed services, Manchin

and Capito said in a news release.

The award comes from the U.S.

Department of Health and Hu-

man Services Substance Abuse

and Mental Health Services Ad-

ministration.

Crews pull people fromflooded apartments

MD ROCKVILLE — Af-

ter the remnants of

Hurricane Ida dumped heavy

rains in Maryland, rescue crews

pulled people from flooded base-

ment units in apartment buildings

and two people remained unac-

counted for Wednesday morning,

officials said.

Montgomery County Fire Chief

Scott Goldstein said the water had

almost reached the ceiling when

crews arrived at the apartments in

Rockville, news outlets reported.

“In many years I have not seen

circumstances like this,” Gold-

stein said.

About 200 people from 60 apart-

ments are displaced because of

the flooding, Goldstein said. Two

people were unaccounted for

Wednesday morning, he said.

Once rescues were complete, the

focus turned to pumping out water

so crews could search the apart-

ments, he said.

GILLIAN JONES, THE BIRKSHIRE EAGLE/AP

Vera de Jong, left, walks along Main Street in Williamstown, Mass. with her umbrella, while Valerie Krall wears a raincoat as she walks her twodogs Harrie and Llewey around the corner at Cole Avenue on Wednesday.

Wet walk

THE CENSUS

$50M The amount the University of Massachusetts has re-ceived as a gift from a pair of alumni, the largest gift of

any kind in system history, school officials announced Wednesday. The giftfrom Robert J. and Donna Manning will be spread among the system’s fivecampuses, with $15 million earmarked to endow the UMass Boston nursingprogram, which will become the Robert and Donna Manning College of Nurs-ing and Health Sciences.

From The Associated Press


VIDEO GAMES

If you want to enjoy thetrue Deathloop experience,don’t read previews aboutthe game. Seriously. Stopright now.

Here’s the thing: Death-loop’s defining activity isnot the elimination of eightboss-type characters, orbreaking the time loop inwhich the protagonist istrapped. The game’s coreexperience is about discov-ery — and not just plotpoints. It starts with dis-covering simply how toplay the game.

Deathloop is a uniquegame. It reminded me, allat once, of Fallout, Hitman,Returnal, the movie “Me-mento” and the TV series“Lost.” But when you pickup a Fallout title, for exam-ple, you mostly know whatyou’re going to get and howto play. Deathloop, by con-trast, asks you to play byits rules, which are fairlyunique. And so, to explainhow the game works is tospoil one of Deathloop’smost enjoyable aspects:just learning its distinctivemechanics.

So, if you want to fullyimmerse yourself in thestory of this game, stopreading. Have a nice day.Go outside. Read a book.Do literally anything asidefrom scrolling down andreading more. You canthank me later.

Doing so, we’re told, will break the loop.

You progress in the game every time

Colt discovers a new lead, information

critical to breaking the loop, the game’s

principle quest. Colt can gather info on

other things as well, including weaponry

and slabs, which are objects that grant

characters special abilities like teleporta-

tion, invisibility and rewinding the game

to before Colt dies. Colt’s weapons and

movement abilities can be upgraded

through the use of trinkets, which look like

shiny credit cards and are scattered

around Blackreef.

The information you uncover while

combing through the game’s four main

maps (the slummy urban residential area

of Updaam; the remote outpost of Fris-

tad’s Rock; the coastline of Karl’s Bay; and

the hulking central hub of the Complex)

endures beyond the resetting of the time

loop. The retention of your findings about

Blackreef, the time loop, the Visonaries

and Colt’s role in all of it gives Deathloop a

more satisfying sense of progress than

Returnal, the PS5 bullet-hell roguelike

that released earlier this year. Additional-

ly, there’s a way for Colt to retain his gear

after the loop resets, which is achievable

fairly early in the game.

The dialogue is witty and entertaining,

with the banter between Julianna and Colt

particularly enjoyable. And the game

delivers more than a few early-game plot

twists.

Mechanically, though, the game played

a little stiff at times. The gun play is more

Fallout than Call of Duty, which is fine in

AI gunfights but might yield some frustra-

tion for first-person shooter fans going

head-to-head against a human-controlled

Julianna. There were also a few glitches in

the early hours. More than once, the game

lagged for a few seconds — an unusual

feeling on the PS5.

Deathloop isn’t the easiest game to

grasp due to its originality, and its early

hours are certainly a learning process. But

so far, it’s been an enjoyable series of

lessons, well integrated with how the pro-

tagonist acts and feels, bringing the player

right into the story. It will be nice, after

the game releases Sept. 14, to see how that

story ends.

Platforms: PlayStation 5; PC

Online: bethesda.net/en/game/death-

loop

Julianna in an online version where

they’re tasked with killing another player

who is completing the game as Colt. We

haven’t seen this in action yet; it could

either be very cool or very troll-y.

The learning process begins on the

aforementioned beach, where Colt stum-

bles ahead guided by the map’s design and

floating words that appear to be visual

reminders from Colt’s runs during previ-

ous loops. But are the words actually from

Colt’s memory, or something else? Should

you trust them? The paranoia sets in and

wreaks havoc on your decision-making.

Here’s how that manifests in gameplay:

Knowing that my progress would be lost

upon death, and knowing that there was a

time limit in which I had to complete my

assignment of killing all eight bosses, in

my early hours with the game I would

often beeline to the objective, retrieve the

information I needed to progress the

game’s plot and return to the safety of my

home base in the island’s tunnels, which

acts as a checkpoint. Forget looting, forget

exploring — time was of the essence.

There are a lot of prompts in the game

spelling out the game’s mechanics and

how certain items or weapons work, as

well as delivering a ton of information (too

much for my liking). But the first prompt I

can recall that referenced time indicated

that I had two choices: to return to the

tunnels or stay and explore the current

map. What it didn’t make clear was that

when you’re exploring the map, time es-

sentially stands still.

Each day is broken into four stages of

the day: morning, noon, afternoon and

nighttime. Each time you return to the

tunnels, time advances to the next stage.

For example, if you explore the urban

map of Updaam at noon, it will stay

“noon” the entire time you’re there no

matter how long you spend exploring.

When you leave to return to your home

base in Blackreef’s tunnels, the game

moves to the next time frame, so noon

becomes afternoon. After completing a

stage at nighttime, the loop resets and you

find yourself back on the beach.

Knowing this, you can better plan your

runs, organizing them in a way so that you

can find the bosses in specific places in

specific times and line up the dominoes, so

to speak, for your final mission of offing

them all.

Without spoil-

ers, we can share

that so far — and

we played about

five hours of the

game — Death-

loop is an origi-

nal, witty and

stylized thinking-

person’s shooter

from Bethesda

and Arkane

Studios. But if you really want to know

more about Deathloop’s mechanics and

what the game’s early hours are like, read

on.

Are you sure about this?

Really? You’re still here? OK. I guess I

don’t blame you: Arkane’s Deathloop is

one of just a few PlayStation 5 exclusives

to hit the market in 2021 and is, as such,

one of the year’s most anticipated titles.

Below, I’ll go over what I’ve learned

without spoiling any plot details.

Deathloop’s early hours (which I still

think you shouldn’t read)

The game’s protagonist, Colt, wakes up

on a beach complaining of a wicked han-

gover and knowing absolutely zilch. He

doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t

know how he got there. He doesn’t know

why he feels hungover. He doesn’t even

know his own name. Deathloop sends

players on a search for answers as basic as

the main character’s identity and as com-

plex as the workings of the space-time

continuum.

Eventually you’ll figure out your ulti-

mate task (breaking the time loop) and

head off to explore the island of Blackreef.

Rather than one big, open world, Black-

reef is divided into four main explorable

areas, each filled with crash-test-dummy-

looking foot soldiers, called Eternalists,

who are tasked with killing you on sight.

There are also eight bosses, called Vision-

aries, who preside over the island and are

likewise not fond of your desire to break

the time loop.

Among the bosses is Julianna, Colt’s foil,

who has a nasty habit of popping up out of

nowhere and trying to kill Colt. And she’s

better than the average bot because — and

this is one of the cooler aspects of the

game — players can choose to play as

Secret toDeathloop:discoveryWarning to future players:Stop reading if you’d liketo save best part of game

BY MIKE HUME

The Washington Post

Arkane Studios photos

The world of Deathloop is filled with crashtestdummylike foot soldiers called Eternalists who are tasked with killing players on sight.


TRAVEL

“You want a drink,

sir?”

The passen-

ger looked up at

the male flight attendant, then

slurred a request for five more

drinks. The flight attendant re-

fused, causing the drunk traveler

to become irate.

He lunged out of his seat to-

ward the flight attendant, then an

air marshal appeared, pummel-

ing the unruly passenger. The

man’s hands were now cuffed

behind his back.

This was just a drill. The drunk

passenger was from the Federal

Air Marshal Service. But the

dangerous behavior flight crews

are dealing with in the skies

today is very real.

In a nondescript office building

near LaGuardia Airport in

Queens, N.Y., a group of real

flight attendants watched the

drill in a fake airplane, beginning

their four-hour self-defense

training run by the Transporta-

tion Security Administration.

TSA has offered these classes

across the country free of charge

to flight crews since 2004, but

they seem more relevant than

ever.

As air travel began to rebound

from its pandemic rock-bottom,

so has bad passenger behavior.

The Federal Aviation Adminis-

tration has received nearly 4,000

reports of unruly passengers in

2021, an uptick from the 146 total

reports received in 2019.

“This is the most dangerous

and uncertain time in our entire

history,” said Sara Nelson, in-

ternational president of the Asso-

ciation of Flight Attendants-

CWA.

Nelson says the pandemic has

wreaked havoc on the profession

for myriad reasons, from the fear

of contracting coronavirus to the

logistic issues of returning to an

industry operating with a staffing

shortage.

“Flight attendants are working

longer days with shorter nights,

wearing masks for 14, 15 hours a

day ... having a harder time get-

ting nutrition throughout the day

and charged with keeping every-

one safe on the plane,” Nelson

said. “Those are just the basics.”

While most flights get from A

to B without incident, the new

stressors are driving flight at-

tendants to seek out TSA’s volun-

tary self-defense training.

“I just wanted to make sure

that I’m prepared for anything

that could happen,” says Katie, a

flight attendant attending the

training at the Federal Air Mar-

shal Service (F.A.M.S.) New

York field office. So she could

speak freely, she asked that her

last name and employer to be

kept private.

During her 17 years working in

the industry, Katie was always

interested in enrolling in the

class, but because it only takes

place at a handful of locations

across the country, it was diffi-

cult to find the right free time in

her travel schedule.

During the pandemic, the

monthly four-hour classes were

put on hiatus until July of this

year. When Katie got an email

announcing class openings in the

New York area, she jumped at

the opportunity to attend.

“I’ve been involved in situa-

tions before,” she said. “And we

have de-escalation scenarios that

we try to run through to the best

of our abilities, but sometimes it

just gets to a level that we need a

little extra defense training,” she

said.

After watching the pretend

scenarios in the simulated air-

plane, the flight attendants were

taken to a room with a padded

mat floor to learn how to phys-

ically and mentally prepare

themselves for aggressive-pas-

senger interactions.

The instructors demonstrated

how to stand, move and approach

an attacker, as well as fight or

defend themselves with their

hands, elbows, palms, knees, feet

and shins. Some techniques are

standard, like a punch to the face.

Others are new, like raking an

attacker’s face with your nails.

The flight attendants wince at the

mention of gouging an attacker’s

eyes.

“Remember, this guy is attack-

ing you,” the air marshal said,

encouraging the class to keep

their warrior mind-set.

Katie and the other flight at-

tendants practiced their new

techniques on the air marshals,

punching bags and B.O.B.s, or

“Body Opponent Bags,” life-size

dummies.

“I want you to strike through

him,” an air marshal told Katie’s

group of flight attendants while

demonstrating a palm heel strike

to a B.O.B. “I want you to take his

head off.”

PHOTOS BY MONICA RODMAN/The Washington Post

Federal Air Marshals reenact a scene involving an unruly passenger. While this was only a reenactment, incidents in which flight crews have to handle dangerous behavior frompassengers have been on the rise this year. Some crews are taking selfdefense classes to learn how to handle dangerous behavior.

Fight and flightSelf-defense courses teach air crewshow to handle unruly plane passengers

BY NATALIE B. COMPTON

The Washington Post

Katie, a flight attendant, gets ready to practice some punches on the bag during a selfdefense class.

SEE SELFDEFENSE ON PAGE 15


Cramped seats, mask requirements

and surly service aren’t the worst

part of international airline travel.

No, it’s that awful feeling when they

turn on the cabin lights in the middle of the

night and try to serve you breakfast before

landing. Fortunately, there are some new

tricks for fighting jet lag.

Jet lag is a sleep disorder that affects peo-

ple crossing several time zones quickly. It

leaves your body’s internal clock, better

known as your circadian rhythm, out of sync

with the local time zone.

Christopher Lee, author of the book “Jet

Lag,” says a disrupted circadian rhythm is

becoming a more common problem — and

not just because of air travel.

“One way of thinking about jet lag is that it

is part of a broader pattern of technological

innovation and time acceleration in the pre-

sent,” says Lee, an associate professor of

history at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.

There are some new services aimed at

combating jet lag, ranging from hotel pro-

grams to smartphone apps. But the best way

to avoid nodding off on your first day of vaca-

tion is to take some common-sense steps

beforehand.

Jet lag leaves me feeling as if I’ve gotten

half a night’s sleep each night for an entire

week. I once flew from New York to London

and scheduled an interview for 8 a.m. the

next day. About five minutes into the meet-

ing, I dozed off. I had to reschedule the in-

terview for the following afternoon. I return-

ed to my room and tried, in vain, to sleep it

off.

Pamela Losey used to commute across the

Atlantic frequently. She says she thinks of the

red-eye to London as a missed night’s sleep.

“I once nodded off very briefly during a

client meeting,” says Losey, a garden design-

er from Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. “But when

they learned that I basically flew 24 hours

just to be there, they were very kind.”

Hotels are trying to help. The Hoshinoya

Tokyo hotel has a deep-breathing spa re-

gimen for people who arrive in Japan feeling

a little disoriented. It also offers a three-day

regimen of body-warming herb treatments

and open-air baths to help you get acclimated

to the 13-hour time difference between Japan

and the East Coast. The hotel adjusts the

humidity and brightness of your room to ease

the transition, and a massage therapist shows

you deep-breathing techniques to help you

sleep.

In late 2019, Four Seasons Hotels and Re-

sorts began collaborating with celebrity train-

er Harley Pasternak to create an anti-jet lag

exercise routine for its hotels. The series of

exercises, called Jet Lag Rescue, is meant to

restore guests’ circadian balance. It includes

simple activities to raise your heart rate and

engage your glutes, quads, hamstrings and

calves, as well as a restorative sequence of

stretches to ease aching muscles.

Of course, there’s also an app for jet lag.

It’s called Timeshifter ($24.99 a year), and it

allows you to create a personalized plan to

avoid jet lag based on variables such as your

sleep pattern and itinerary. You can even

factor melatonin supplements into your re-

gimen. The Minnesota-based business travel

agency CWT announced last year a deal to

distribute Timeshifter to all of its clients, so if

you work for a large company with a man-

aged business travel program, you might

already have access to Timeshifter at no

extra cost.

There are new preventive measures for jet

lag, too. Steven Lamm, medical director of

NYU Langone Health’s Preston Robert Tisch

Center for Men’s Health, says a study pub-

lished in 2018 showed that supplementing

with the natural antioxidant Pycnogenol (a

French maritime pine bark extract) reduced

the duration and severity of jet lag symptoms.

“This research showed that supplementing

with Pycnogenol actually reduced the dura-

tion of time individuals felt jet lagged by

nearly 50 percent and improved feelings of

fatigue, visual impairment and inability to

sleep,” Lamm says.

Tried-and-true ways of warding off jet lag

include melatonin supplements (which help

regulate the circadian rhythm) and prescrip-

tion sleeping pills. I used melatonin on a trip

to Africa a few years ago and had almost no

jet lag.

On a recent flight from San Francisco to

Lisbon, I tried a more natural approach. I

bought a bag of pistachios, which are loaded

with melatonin, and ate a handful every hour.

I know it sounds, well, nuts, but my jet lag

was minimal. It took me about two days to

adjust to the eight-hour time difference.

If you go with a sedative, be mindful of the

side effects. Always consult a physician be-

fore taking pills before a flight — and, as you

would on the ground, avoid combining them

with alcohol.

One of the best weapons against jet lag is

common sense. The bone-dry aircraft cabin

can dehydrate you quickly; drink lots of wa-

ter. Don’t sit in your seat for nine straight

hours; get up and move around. And, for the

sake of yourself and the travelers around you,

stay away from alcohol. The “free” wine

that’s served in business class has a cost.

When I was younger, I suffered from days of

disrupted sleep after having a drink too many

on a transatlantic flight.

Josephine Arendt, a professor emeritus at

the University of Surrey in England, has

proposed a potential defense against jet lag: a

wearable sensor that measures light expo-

sure and tells the wearer when to take mela-

tonin.

Cindy Geyer, medical director at Canyon

Ranch Lenox, a wellness resort in Lenox,

Mass., says this approach shows some prom-

ise. In fact, aspects of Arendt’s research have

already been incorporated into the Timeshift-

er app.

“But, as of now, there’s no current treat-

ment yet available that can instantly shift our

body’s circadian rhythm to a new time zone,”

Geyer says.

iStock

Gettingin syncHotel programs, smartphone apps take aim at jet lag

BY CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

Special to The Washington Post

TRAVEL

Judith, another flight attendant

in attendance who requested to

keep her last name and employer

private, believes unruly pas-

sengers have been an issue for

the airline industry for years. It

is not just the pandemic trigger-

ing the latest violence.

“I think it’s the many layers of

stress,” said Judith, who has

been a flight attendant for nearly

a decade. “There is the stress of

getting to the airport, the stress

of going through the security,

stress of getting up early, stress

of traveling, stress of family,

traveling with family.”

Stephanie Metzger, a super-

visory air marshal in charge who

was on-site for the training, said

a big part of the class is to build

self-confidence, as well as give

flight crews critical self-defense

lessons. The right mind-set is

essential for carrying out the

defenses.

“This is important training for

flight attendants because it pre-

pares them with the basic skills

that are needed for them to be

able to address unruly passen-

gers on board aircraft,” Metzger

said.

Nelson agrees. Taking the class

one time is not enough to turn

flight attendants into self-defense

experts, and it is not going to

solve the issue of violence on

planes, but “it gives just some

basic maneuvers to help better

protect yourself from getting

hurt,” she said.

The flight attendants finished

the class sweating and tired.

Despite the serious nature of the

course, they ended on a high

note, laughing and swapping

contact information with the air

marshals who encouraged them

to return to the class whenever

they would like.

Katie hopes she will be able to

take refresher courses to keep

her new skills fresh in her mind

going forward.

“I hope that it doesn’t get to the

physical level, but more and

more these days it has been sort

of getting to the physical level,”

she said. “I think it’s really im-

portant to make sure that you’re

prepared for that as well.”

Judith, who had never taken

self-defense or martial arts class-

es before her TSA experience,

found the training rewarding,

albeit conflicting.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody. I

never want to use these tech-

niques on a real person,” she

said. “But it was surprisingly fun

and very gratifying to see how a

little technique can really do big

changes.”

Self-defense:Classes buildself-confidence,teach basic skillsFROM PAGE 14


HEALTH & FITNESS

On Feb. 28, David

Campbell woke up

with a terrible case of

vertigo.

“I couldn’t open my eyes with-

out the room and all of the ob-

jects around me just spinning

violently,” he said. “Any slight

movement of my head massively

exacerbated the symptoms.”

Campbell, a 58-year-old re-

tired pharma director, couldn’t

walk. He had intense nausea. He

called a family member, who

carried him down the steps of his

Northern Liberties, Pa., home

and took him to Penn Presby-

terian Medical Center’s emer-

gency department.

An electrocardiogram and a

CT scan found nothing life-

threatening. Over the course of a

day and night in the department,

he got medicines that helped the

nausea and dizziness, but he was

still sick enough that, under nor-

mal circumstances, he would

have been admitted to the hospi-

tal. Instead, he entered a clinical

trial supported by Penn Med-

icine and Independence Blue

Cross that was testing an alterna-

tive to hospitalization: going

home.

As part of the Practical Al-

ternative to Hospitalization

(PATH) program, Campbell got

extra support from a team head-

ed by emergency physician Aus-

tin Kilaru. A nurse practitioner

called him every day to discuss

his symptoms, explain vertigo

and answer his questions. The

program coordinated follow-up

care with his primary care doc-

tor.

Campbell was understandably

worried about his disturbing

symptoms. He didn’t trust him-

self to decide whether he needed

to go back to the hospital. He felt

vulnerable, disoriented. The

nurse calmed him.

“I’ve not needed someone in

the past to help me manage car-

ing for myself,” he said.

After a few days, Campbell felt

better. He emerged a fan of the

experimental approach.

“It was phenomenal,” he said.

“I would imagine that, without it,

the outcome would have been

several unnecessary trips to the

ER on my part.” That, he said,

would have added cost to the

health system and inconvenience

for him.

Kilaru, who has a masters in

health policy, initially hoped to

prevent emergency department

visits entirely by sending home

health nurses or paramedics to

the homes of sick people. That

proved difficult, because those

patients still needed lab and

imaging tests that were difficult

to deliver at home.

He changed his focus to help-

ing emergency patients avoid

hospitalization. In 2018, a quarter

of patients admitted to the hospi-

tal through Penn Presbyterian’s

emergency department stayed

for two days or less, a sign that

some had problems that could be

managed elsewhere.

Working with Penn’s Center

for Health Care Innovation, Kila-

ru and his team developed a

program that would identify

patients who could safely go

home and coordinate the person-

alized support they would need

for about a week once they got

there. That included nursing

care, lab work, transportation,

medication refills and physical

therapy.

Extra support has become

common after hospitalized pa-

tients are discharged, Kilaru

said, but he believes Penn’s

emergency department program

is unique.

Two pilot tests of PATH were

successful. Results of one of

them, which involved 30 patients,

were published in April in the

journal Healthcare. The most

common diagnoses for participa-

ting patients were chest pain,

heart failure and high blood

sugar, the study found. Research-

ers estimated that the program

reduced time in the emergency

department for those patients by

8.2 hours and prevented hospital

inpatient stays averaging 2.3

days. Four participants returned

to the emergency department

within the next 30 days.

Kilaru’s team did a larger

randomized trial with 72 patients

this year. Results are still being

analyzed, and Kilaru said he

could not discuss them in detail

before they are published in a

medical journal.

“Our results look very promis-

ing,” he said. The program itself

is on hiatus now while the eval-

uation is underway.

Patients with COVID-19 were

not included in the trial, but Penn

had a similar program for those

who sought help for infection in

the emergency department.

COVID-19 was not on Kilaru’s

radar when PATH was con-

ceived. Even before the pandem-

ic, occupancy at Penn Presby-

terian was often high, making it

important to use available space

wisely and increase outpatient

capacity. COVID-19 surges have

only emphasized the importance

of reserving hospital beds for

patients who really need them.

Independence Blue Cross

chose to give Penn a grant to test

PATH after hearing about it

during a competitive pitch day,

said Rodrigo Cerdá, an internist

who is vice president of clinical

care transformation at the in-

surer. His program seeks to

improve health care value, which

it defines as a combination of

quality, patient experience, equi-

ty and cost.

“PATH was clearly one of the

ones that has the most potential,”

he said.

Patients generally prefer to

receive care at home, he said,

and COVID-19 has pushed health

providers to improve efficiency.

“COVID helps us sometimes to

move faster because of being

really careful with hospital ca-

pacity,” he said.

Cerdá said PATH’s results look

“encouraging” so far. If that

continues, IBC will figure out

how it can change the way it pays

for care at home to encourage

wider use of the concept.

IBC is also interested in “hos-

pital at home” models, which

provide more complicated care

at home. It is in discussions with

providers, but no one is trying it

yet.

Cerdá’s program this year

gave five Clinical Care Innova-

tion Grants of about $200,000

each to study ideas ranging from

enhanced primary care treat-

ment for chronic kidney disease

to automated text messaging for

cancer patients on complicated,

at-home chemotherapy re-

gimens.

Kilaru said that both physi-

cians and patients accepted the

idea that some could go home.

“Patients loved it,” he said.

“The consistent thing that amaz-

es me is that patients really do

want to be at home.”

Leslie Meeks, who was also

part of the recent trial of PATH,

went to Penn Presbyterian in

early February with extreme

gastric distress. Meeks, who

would say only that she is in her

“golden years,” has had short

stays in the hospital before.

“You don’t get a lot of rest in

the hospital, because there’s a lot

of things going on all the time,”

she said. “… It’s just not very

quiet and calming.”

She got IV fluids and medica-

tions at home after she was stabi-

lized at the emergency depart-

ment. A nurse called every day.

Meeks called once with a ques-

tion. Her roommate was there to

help her.

She thought it was a good ex-

perience. At the hospital, she

said, “it’s always busy. At home,

you get more rest and you start

feeling better.”

HEATHER KHALIFA, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

Austin Kilaru, an emergency physician at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, led research on whethersome emergency department patients who would normally be admitted could safely recover at home.

No place like home to rest and heal

Penn Medicine tests home-care program to help potential ERpatients sick enough to be hospitalized avoid being admitted

BY STACEY BURLING

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The most common diagnoses for participating patientswere chest pain, heart failure and high blood sugar, thestudy found. Researchers estimated that the programreduced time in the emergency department for those

patients by 8.2 hours and prevented hospital inpatientstays averaging 2.3 days. Four participants returned tothe emergency department within the next 30 days.

results of one PATH pilot test with 30 patients published in the journal Healthcare in April


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OPINION

Amid the anger and finger-pointing

at the end of America’s flawed 20-

year mission in Afghanistan, it’s

easy to conclude that it was all a

failure from start to finish. While I broadly

agree that the effort failed overall — due to

mistakes the U.S. made in training the Af-

ghan army, the Taliban’s nimble perform-

ance at the end, Pakistan’s support for the

Taliban and Afghan leadership failures —

certain positive outcomes are worth remem-

bering.

Obviously, for 20 years we prevented an-

other devastating attack on the U.S. from the

ungoverned wilderness of Afghanistan. And

after a 10-year manhunt, we killed Osama bin

Laden. But there were also other, more sub-

tle successes.

The most important of these is literacy.

When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, most of

the population couldn’t read, especially girls

and women, who had been denied the bene-

fits of even primary school education. NATO

struggled to train the Afghan army, because

the soldiers couldn’t read maintenance

manuals, understand the wording on a map

or communicate in writing on command and

control networks. In 2009, as the supreme al-

lied commander of NATO, I found myself of-

ten complaining in planning sessions about

how illiteracy made our job difficult.

At one meeting, Ambassador Richard Hol-

brooke, who at the time was a presidential

envoy to both Afghanistan and Pakistan, lost

patience with my complaining. “Hey Admi-

ral,” he said, “stop whining and teach them to

read.”

So we did. The basic literacy program we

created, working with various humanitarian

organizations, became foundational to the

NATO training mission. Nongovernmental

organizations were also teaching reading,

under our protection, in villages, districts

and provinces around the country. Eventual-

ly, we instructed hundreds of thousands of

Afghan recruits in the basics of reading, and

our efforts contributed to a significant im-

provement in literacy in the country. It may

be the most lasting thing we did to help Af-

ghanistan.

The U.S. military also helped advance the

rights of girls and women. Several genera-

tions of female Afghans were provided edu-

cation, medical care, the ability to work out-

side the home and other opportunities —

leading to profound shifts in Afghan culture,

especially in the bigger population centers.

Will these changes survive the return of the

Taliban? It’s hard to say. The world has yet to

see the real policy direction of “Taliban 2.0.”

But I’d bet on at least an improvement over

2001. And if the Taliban leaders of today are

serious about entering the international sys-

tem, accessing the global financial networks,

and gaining diplomatic recognition from

most countries, they will have to show some

progress in this key area.

A third success in Afghanistan was the

military’s learning to rise above the frustra-

tions of coalition warfare and work cooper-

atively with other countries. At the time I led

NATO operations in Afghanistan, more than

50 countries had troops on the ground, rang-

ing in numbers from the massive U.S. pres-

ence to a small detachment from tiny Lux-

embourg. Troops from Central America,

Mongolia and New Zealand fought bravely

and well.

The situation was far from perfect, and

many countries restricted how NATO could

use their forces. But most militaries were en-

gaged in true combat operations, and their

soldiers fought and died alongside ours.

Some countries had more combat deaths per

capita than the U.S. had. Of the roughly 2,000

letters of condolence I signed over four years

to the families of NATO troops killed in ac-

tion, about 700 went to non-American servi-

cemen and women. Special operations in

particular was a multinational effort, as was

intelligence gathering. The lessons we

learned in Afghanistan about coalition oper-

ations will be part of U.S. military doctrine

for decades to come.

Measured against all that the U.S. got

wrong, perhaps these achievements provide

small comfort. In retrospect, it’s clear we

built the wrong kind of Afghan army, under-

estimated the Taliban and overestimated Af-

ghan leadership. We overshot the goal on at-

tempting to build a new Afghan nation, failed

to prevent cross-border sanctuaries for the

enemies of that effort, and staged a messy

and humiliating final exit. Even so, the U.S.

military has learned some things that will

prepare it to face the next foreign crisis.

US military got some things right in AfghanistanBY JAMES STAVRIDIS

Bloomberg Opinion

Bloomberg Opinion columnist James Stavridis is a retired U.S.Navy admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO,and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacyat Tufts University. He is also chair of the board of the Rocke-feller Foundation and vice chairman of Global Affairs at theCarlyle Group. This column does not necessarily reflect theopinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Illinois Democrats on Monday released

their proposed new legislative district

maps. They are a textbook-perfect ex-

ample of why partisan gerrymandering

is a cancer eating away at our democracy.

Every gerrymander employs the same two

tactics: dividing opposing party voters into di-

gestible districts, and packing them together

to create supermajority enclaves so that they

waste votes on a seat they would never lose.

The new Illinois maps use these techniques so

masterfully that they would make any practi-

tioner of the dark redistricting arts proud.

Consider state House maps in the Chicago

area. Democratic map wizards take thin slices

of heavily Democratic precincts in the city

and string them out, one on top of the other, to

drown marginally Republican territory in the

suburbs. This slicing is so obscene that elec-

tion guru Sean Trende dubbed it “the bacon-

mander.” That’s not a tasty dish for disenfran-

chised GOP voters.

Democrats also eagerly packed partisans of

both parties into safe seats. House seat 96, for

example, takes Democratic parts of Spring-

field and strings them together with similar

regions of Decatur to create a safe blue seat

where none should exist. Republicans in

neighboring rural areas are meanwhile

packed into GOP vote sinks such as House

District 116.

The new map is so brazen that progressive

elections analyst Drew Savicki found it would

create up to 85 districts expected to be Demo-

cratic in the 118-seat state House, even though

only 69 Democrats would be elected in a map

that fairly reflected the proportional strength

of each party. So while Democrats would nat-

urally win a majority because they dominate

the state, the Democratic plan would net them

nearly 80% of the seats from less than 60% of

the votes.

It’s true that Republicans also pass egre-

gious gerrymanders that use all the same

techniques. I focus on the Illinois Democratic

plan because it is the first plan to be finished

after data from the 2020 Census was fully re-

leased in August, and because it demonstrates

that no party has a lock on political virtue. Con-

servative election analyst Dan McLaughlin

has found that Democrats have received a

larger share of U.S. House seats than their

share of votes cast in every one of their major-

ities going back to 1938. Some of that is be-

cause of voting patterns in the Deep South, or

the tendency for majorities to win more than a

proportional number of seats in the winner-

takes-all, single-member district system used

in the United States. Some, however, is be-

cause Democrats have amplified their power

through gerrymandering for so long that it be-

came mere background noise. Widespread

Republican abuse of the system is a relatively

recent occurrence.

Stopping gerrymandering is something de-

mocracy needs but will be hard to accomplish.

Many advocates of good governance want

courts to step in, but that’s inherently prob-

lematic. There’s no obvious objective stan-

dard that courts could use to judge whether a

map is fair, as there is with official population

counts that empower the Supreme Court’s

“one person, one vote” standard. A local can-

didate’s popularity, or whether both parties

decide to target a particular district, can have

a great effect on an election’s results, render-

ing any simple comparison of vote share to

seats gained dubious.

There’s also a problem with politicization of

the courts themselves. Nineteen states elect

their Supreme Court justices, six in partisan

votes. Another 19 states subject justices to re-

tention elections to stay on the court. It should

be no surprise, then, that Democrats worked

to elect majorities to the state Supreme Courts

of Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the

2010s, and that those majorities then conve-

niently ruled that GOP-passed district maps

were unconstitutional partisan gerryman-

ders. In most states, getting the courts in-

volved in redistricting simply shifts partisan

game-playing to another forum.

The obvious solution is for both parties to

agree to disarm. At the federal level, that

would require passage of a law mandating

some type of nonpartisan commission to draw

congressional district lines. That idea is one

provision of H.R. 1., the Democrats’ election

law bill. Democrats would probably need to

agree to forestall implementation of that law

until after the 2030 Census to have any chance

of getting Republican support, but that might

be worth it. Alternatively, both parties could

agree to pass a constitutional amendment re-

moving congressional and perhaps even state

legislative redistricting from state legisla-

tures, and installing them in a special, biparti-

san body.

Every other major democracy that elects

representatives via districts uses nonpartisan

entities to draw the lines. For the sake of our

democracy, the U.S. should do so, too.

Dems denounce gerrymandering, then offer this map?BY HENRY OLSEN

Special to The Washington Post

Henry Olsen is a Washington Post columnist and a senior fellowat the Ethics and Public Policy Center.


ACROSS

1 Pizzazz

6 Guitarist Havens

12 Henner of “Taxi”

13 Quantity

14 Wunderkind

15 Zipper substitute

16 Toni Morrison

novel

17 Monogram pt.

19 Understanding

20 Green gem

22 Canine cry

24 Rug cleaner,

briefly

27 TV host Mike

29 Opera set

in Egypt

32 1981 hit song

by Journey

35 Poet Teasdale

36 Faxed

37 Stanley Cup org.

38 Refusals

40 Queens

stadium name

42 Vintage

44 Small pie

46 Dazzle

50 Unemotional

52 Bistro,

for one

54 “That makes

me happy!”

55 Peaceful

56 Without difficulty

57 Dweebs

DOWN

1 Honolulu’s isle

2 Pitcher Hershiser

3 Rapper Nicki

4 Mideast org.

5 Cigar holders

6 Sitarist Shankar

7 “— man who

wasn’t there”

8 Gen.’s underling

9 Tom Sawyer’s pal

10 Concerning

11 Harrow rival

12 AWOL pursuers

18 Annual

celebration

21 Lob’s path

23 Tatter

24 Beetle and

Rabbit, briefly

25 “Eureka!”

26 Deep-fried franks

28 Genius

30 Homer’s cry

31 Piercing tool

33 — Paulo, Brazil

34 Ultimate

39 Filch

41 Perfume

compound

42 Tot’s scrape

43 — Linda, Calif.

45 Opie’s dad

47 Look after

48 “Topaz” author

49 The Big Apple,

briefly

51 Roman 551

53 “— you serious?”

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem


SCOREBOARD

Thursday’s transactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BOSTON RED SOX — Claimed 3B TaylorMott off waivers from Colorado.

CLEVELAND INDIANS — Optioned C Gianpaul Gonzalez to Columbus (TripleAEast). Selected the contract of C Ryan Lavarnway from Columbus.

SEATTLE MARINERS — Sent RHP JimmyYacabonis outright to Tacoma (TripleAWest). Sent RHP Diego Castillo to ArizonaComplex League (ACL) on a rehab assignment.

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Placed RHP ChrisMazza on the COVID19 related IL.

TEXAS RANGERS — Sent RHP SpencerHoward to Round Rock (TripleA West) ona rehab assignment.

National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES — Recalled LHP Sean

Newcomb from Gwinnett (TripleA East).Placed RHP Chris Martin on the 10day IL.

CINCINNATI REDS — Optioned RHP R.J.Alaniz to Louisville (TripleA East). SentRHP Art Warren to Louisville on a rehab assignment.

COLORADO ROCKIES — Sent CF Yonathan Daza to Albuquerque (TripleA West)on a rehab assignment.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Selected thecontract of LHP Andrew Vasquez from Oklahoma City (TripleA West). OptionedRHP Ryan Meisinger to Oklahoma City.Transferred LHP Scott Alexander from the10day IL to the 60day IL.

MIAMI MARLINS — Returned INF LewinDiaz to Jacksonville (TripleA East). Designated RHP Austin Pratt for assignment.Reinstated RHP Paul Campbell, LHP TrevorRogers and INF Joe Panik from the 10dayIL.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Placed LHPBrett Anderson on the 10day IL. RecalledRHP Alec Bettinger from Nashville (TripleA East).

NEW YORK METS — Claimed LHP BradHand off waivers from Toronto. Designated RHP Geoff Hartlieb for assignment. Recalled RHP Yennsy Diaz from Syracuse(TripleA East). Optioned OF Khalil Lee toSyracuse. Sent RHP Jake Reed and INF JoseMartinez to Syracuse on a rehab assignment.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Sent RHPVince Velasquez to Lehigh Valley (TripleAEast) on a rehab assignment.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Recalled LFPhillip Evans from Indianapolis (TripleAEast). Optioned RHP Max Kranick to Indianapolis.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Sent RHP Dakota Hudson to Springfield (DoubleA Central) on a rehab assignment.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Placed 2BWilmer Flores on the 10day IL Recalled SSMaurico Dubon from Sacramento (TripleA West).

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

MIAMI HEAT — Signed G Marcus Garrettto a twoway contract.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS — Activated OLJustin Pugh from the reserve/COVID19list. Placed DL Jordan Phillips on injuredreserve. Waived LB Jamell GarciaWilliams with an injury settlement.

ATLANTA FALCONS — Claimed OL ColbyGassett off waivers from Cleveland.Signed RB Wayne Gallman. Released RBQadree Ollison. Signed LS Josh Harris.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Resigned OLBPernell McPhee. Signed TE Eric Tomlinson.

BUFFALO BILLS — Signed TE Kahale Warring to the practice squad. Signed LS ReidFerguson.

CAROLINA PANTHERS — Signed WR Aaron Parker to the practice squad. ClaimedRB Royce Freeman off waivers from Denver. Waived RB Trenton Cannon. SignedQB James Morgan to the practice squad.

CHICAGO BEARS — Signed CB ArtieBurns and DB Marqui Christian.

CINCINNATI BENGALS — Resigned WRMike Thomas. Placed DE Khalid Kareem oninjured reserve.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed DB TimHarris, G David Moore, K Chris Naggar andT Jordan Steckler to the practice squad.Signed DE Joe Jackson.

DALLAS COWBOYS — Signed LS JakeMcQuaide. Signed TE Ian Bunting to thepractice squad.

DENVER BRONCOS — Signed DT ShamarStephen and OT Cameron Fleming.

DETROIT LIONS — Resigned TE DarrenFells and S Dean Marlowe. Placed QB TimBoyle and DE Da’Shawn Hand on injuredreserve. Signed OLB Jessie Lemonier, QBSteven Montez, CB Parnell Motley, TEsJared Pinkney and Shane Zylstra to thepractice squad. Released OLB Rashod Berry, NT Miles Brown, TE Alize Mack and RBDedrick Mills from the practice squad.

GREEN BAY PACKERS — Signed LS Steven Wirtel to the practice squad. ReleasedDL Willington Previlon.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed LB Joe Thomas. Placed DB A.J. Moore Jr. on the reserve/COVID19 list.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed WR KekeCoutee to the practice squad. Activated CRyan Kelly, WR Zach Pascal and QB CarsonWentz from the reserve/CIVID19 list.Placed QB San Ehlinger, WRs T.Y. Hiltonand Dezmon Patmon on injured reserve.Waived TE Noah Togiai with an injury settlement.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Signed TEMatt Sokol and QB Kyle Lauletta to thepractice squad.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Resigned TE Derek Carrier and DB Dallin Leavitt. SignedOL Jermaine Eluemunor. Signed DB MadreHarper to the practice squad. Placed LBsNicholas Morrow, Javin White, DB KeisanNixon and RB Jalen Richard on injured reserve. Waived LB Asmar Bilal with an injury settlement.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Waived OTTyree St. Louis and DT Chris Okoye with injury settlements. Signed WR AustinProehl.

LOS ANGELES RAMS — Signed G JaredHocker.

MIAMI DOLPHINS — Signed OT KionSmith to the practice squad. Signed DB Tino Ellis and DE Jason Strowbridge to thepractice squad.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed QB SeanMannion and WR Triston Jackson to thepractice squad. Signed P Jordan Berry. Released P Britton Colquitt. Signed LS Andrew DePaola and DE Everson Griffen.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Placed WRN’Keal Harry on injured reserve. Signed QBGarrett Gilbert, FB Ben Mason and LB Jahlani Tavai to the practice squad. ClaimedRB/WR malcolm Perry off waivers fromMiami.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed OL MattSkura and TE Chris Myarick to the practicesquad. Waived CB Montre Hartage, TECole Hikutini and WR Alex Bachman withinjury settlements. Signed LS Casey Kreiter and WR C.J. Board.

NEW YORK JETS — Resigned DE JabariZuniga to the practice squad. Signed TEsRyan Griffin and Daniel Brown

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed DTHassan Ridgeway. Placed T/G Jack Driscoll, TE Tyree Jackson and CB Josiah Scotton injured reserve. Signed TE Nick Eubanks, WR KeeSean Johnson and DT Marvin Wilson to the practice squad. AcquiredDB Andre Chachere via waivers.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Signed OG B.J.Finney, CB Arthur Maulet and OT RashaadCoward.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Released LBMychal Kendricks from injured reservewith a settlemnt. Signed C Jake Brendeland DB Dontae Johnson.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed QB JakeLuton. Signed CB Mike Jackson to the practice squad.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Activated KRyan Succop from the reserve/COVID19list. Placed G John Molchon on injured reserve. Signed RB Darwin Thompson, S Andrew Adams, OLB Ladarius Hamilton, WRJaydon Mickens and DB Troy Warner tothe practice squad.

TENNESSEE TITANS — Signed DL AmaniBledsoe and QB Matt Berkley to the practice squad. Waived TE Luke Stocker.Placed RB Darrynton Evans, WR MarcusJohnson and OL Daniel Munyer on injuredreserve. Activated LB Nick Dzubnar fromthe reserve/COVID19 list.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM —Waived OT Rick Leonard with an injury settlement. Signed OLB David Mayo.

SOCCERMajor League Soccer

MLS — Fined Toronto FC F Noble Okelloan undisclosed amount for failure to leavethe field in a timely manner in a match onAugust 27 against CF Montreal.

National Women’s Soccer LeagueNWSL — Fined Angel City FC for signing a

player prior to the full execution of theplayer’s agreement and for ignoring aleague directive regarding the announcement.

DEALSPRO SOCCER

MLS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 15 4 4 49 44 28

Orlando City 9 4 8 35 30 24

Nashville 8 2 11 35 34 20

NYCFC 10 6 4 34 36 19

Philadelphia 8 6 8 32 28 23

CF Montréal 8 7 7 31 30 27

D.C. United 9 10 3 30 35 32

Columbus 7 9 6 27 25 29

Atlanta 6 7 9 27 25 28

Chicago 6 11 5 23 24 33

Inter Miami CF 6 9 5 23 21 31

New York 6 10 4 22 23 25

Cincinnati 3 9 8 17 21 37

Toronto FC 3 13 6 15 26 47

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 12 4 6 42 35 19

Sporting KC 11 4 7 40 37 22

Colorado 11 4 5 38 30 20

LA Galaxy 11 8 3 36 35 35

Minnesota 8 6 7 31 24 24

Portland 8 10 3 27 29 39

Real Salt Lake 7 8 6 27 31 27

Vancouver 6 7 8 26 27 31

San Jose 6 7 8 26 24 29

FC Dallas 6 9 7 25 30 33

LAFC 6 9 6 24 28 31

Austin FC 5 12 4 19 20 29

Houston 3 9 10 19 24 34

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s games

New York City FC at Nashville New England at Philadelphia Portland at Houston Sporting Kansas City at Los Angeles FC

Saturday’s games

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

Friday, Sept. 10

Orlando City at Atlanta Portland at Vancouver

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Portland 10 4 2 32 24 11

North Carolina 8 4 4 28 22 9

Reign FC 9 7 1 28 23 18

Orlando 6 5 6 24 20 19

Chicago 7 7 3 24 19 22

Washington 6 5 5 23 19 18

Gotham FC 5 5 6 21 17 15

Houston 6 7 3 21 18 21

Louisville 4 8 4 16 13 23

Kansas City 2 11 4 10 9 28

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Wednesday, Sept. 1

Reign FC 1, Houston 0 Saturday’s games

Chicago at Gotham FC Reign FC at Louisville Washington at Portland

Sunday’s games

Houston at OrlandoNorth Carolina at Kansas City

Thursday’s scoresEAST

American International 14, Millersville 9Buffalo 69, Wagner 7California (Pa.) 23, Fairmont St. 14Delaware 34, Maine 24East Stroudsburg 35, Pace 14New Hampshire 27, Stony Brook 21Seton Hill 16, Wheeling Jesuit 14Walsh 27, West Liberty 6

SOUTHAlbany St. (Ga.) 24, Mississippi College 0Appalachian St. 33, East Carolina 19Austin Peay 30, Chattanooga 20Chowan 30, Mars Hill 24, OTCoastal Carolina 52, The Citadel 14Delta St. 48, Bethel (Tenn.) 14FIU 48, LIU 10Frostburg St. 20, Kentucky Wesleyan 13Kennesaw St. 35, Reinhardt 25Mercer 69, Point (Ga.) 0Murray St. 35, MVSU 0NC State 45, South Florida 0Samford 52, Tennessee Tech 14Tennessee 38, Bowling Green 6UCF 36, Boise St. 31W. Kentucky 59, UT Martin 21West Georgia 45, CarsonNewman 7Wingate 30, Shaw 7

MIDWESTAngelo St. 40, Lindenwood (Mo.) 20Ball St. 31, W. Illinois 21Bemidji St. 24, Sioux Falls 16Capital 41, Defiance 7Cent. Oklahoma 24, Missouri Western 20Drake 45, WV Wesleyan 3E. Texas Baptist 37, Wis.Platteville 31Ferris St. 54, Findlay 14Gannon 28, Northwood (Mich.) 21, OTLakeland 28, Illinois College 18Minn. St. (Moorhead) 33, SW Minnesota

21Minnesota St. 40, Northern St. 34, OTNW Missouri St. 15, Fort Hays St. 7Neb.Kearney 38, Missouri Southern 0Ohio St. 45, Minnesota 31Pittsburg St. 35, Cent. Missouri 16S. Illinois 47, SE Missouri 21S.D. Mines 34, Missouri S&T 31Shepherd 35, Ohio Dominican 30Slippery Rock 24, Wayne St. (Mich.) 21Trine 52, Manchester 14Washburn 76, Lincoln (Mo.) 12Wayne St. (Neb.) 34, Mary 27Winona St. 47, Concordia (St.P.) 6Youngstown St. 44, Incarnate Word 41,

OTSOUTHWEST

Ark.Monticello 30, S. Nazarene 23Henderson St. 31, SW Oklahoma 13Lamar 47, 3Ouachita Baptist 38, Oklahoma Baptist 31S. Arkansas 32, NW Oklahoma 13SE Oklahoma 38, Arkansas Tech 20UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17

FAR WESTArizona St. 41, S. Utah 14Black Hills St. 30, Dickinson St. 24Cent. Washington 66, E. New Mexico 24Colorado Mesa 40, William Jewell 3Colorado Mines 42, W. Oregon 3E. Washington 35, UNLV 33, OTNew Mexico 27, Houston Baptist 17Sam Houston St. 42, N. Arizona 16Texas A&M Commerce 12, CSUPueblo 6Utah 40, Weber St. 17West Texas A&M 73, Texas College 0

ScheduleSaturday’s games

EASTHoly Cross (00) at Uconn (01)Colgate (00) at Boston College (00)Villanova (00) at Lehigh (00)Marist (00) at Georgetown (00)St. Anselm (00) at Merrimack (00)West Virginia (00) at Maryland (00)Marshall (00) at Navy (00)Towson (00) at Morgan St. (00)Umass (00) at Pittsburgh (00)Bowie St. (00) at Delaware St. (00)Bucknell (00) at Sacred Heart (00)

Bryant (00) at Rhode Island (00)SOUTH

LouisianaMonroe (00) at Kentucky (00)Army (00) at Georgia St. (00)West Florida (00) at McNeese St. (00)Davidson (00) at VMI (00)NC A&T (00) at Furman (00)Howard (00) at Richmond (00)Wofford (00) at Elon (00)Alabama (00) vs. Miami (00) at AtlantaSt. Andrews (00) at Presbyterian (00)Louisiana Tech (00) at Mississippi St.

(00)GardnerWebb (00) at Georgia South

ern (00)Morehead St. (00) at James Madison

(00)E. Kentucky (00) at W. Carolina (00)Virginia Union (00) at Hampton (00)Miles (00) at Alabama St. (00)Campbell (00) at Liberty (00)Warner University (00) at Stetson (00)Akron (00) at Auburn (00)Monmouth (NJ) (00) at Middle Tennes

see (00)Nicholls (00) at Memphis (00)Southern U. (00) at Troy (00)North Alabama (00) at SE Louisiana

(00)E. Illinois (01) at South Carolina (00)SC State (00) at Alabama A&M (00)N. Illinois (00) at Georgia Tech (00)FAU (00) at Florida (00)Georgia (00) vs. Clemson (00) at Char

lotte, N.C.William & Mary (00) at Virginia (00)ETSU (00) at Vanderbilt (00)Southern Miss. (00) at South Alabama

(00)MIDWEST

Stanford (00) vs. Kansas St. (00) at Arlington, Texas

W. Michigan (00) at Michigan (00)Fordham (00) at Nebraska (01)Robert Morris (00) at Dayton (00)Penn St. (00) at Wisconsin (00)St. Francis (Ill.) (00) at St. Thomas

(Minn.) (00)Albany (NY) (00) at N. Dakota St. (00)Miami (Ohio) (00) at Cincinnati (00)Indiana (00) at Iowa (00)Cent. Michigan (00) at Missouri (00)N. Iowa (00) at Iowa St. (00)Valparaiso (00) at Indiana Wesleyan

(00)Syracuse (00) at Ohio (00)Oregon St. (00) at Purdue (00)Norfolk St. (00) at Toledo (00)UTSA (00) at Illinois (10)Butler (00) at Illinois St. (00)

SOUTHWESTRice (00) at Arkansas (00)LouisianaLafayette (00) at Texas (00)Tulane (00) at Oklahoma �(00)Missouri St. (00) at Oklahoma St. (00)Lane (00) at Ark.Pine Bluff (00)Tarleton St. (00) at Stephen F. Austin

(00)Texas Tech (00) at Houston (00)Baylor (00) at Texas State (00)Cent. Arkansas (00) at Arkansas St. (00)Abilene Christian (00) at SMU (00)Northwestern St. (00) at North Texas

(00)Kent St. (00) at Texas A&M (00)Prairie View (00) at Texas Southern

(00)Duquesne (00) at TCU (00)BethuneCookman (00) at UTEP (10)

FAR WESTFresno St. (10) at Oregon (00)Lafayette (00) at Air Force (00)North Dakota (00) at Idaho St. (00)Montana St. (00) at Wyoming (00)Simon Fraser (00) at Idaho (00)Cal Poly (00) at San Diego (00)San Jose St. (10) at Southern Cal (00)Montana (00) at Washington (00)LSU (00) at UCLA (10)Sacramento St. (00) at Dixie St. (00)New Mexico St. (01) at San Diego St. (00)Nevada (00) at California (00)BYU (00) vs. Arizona (00) at Las VegasUtah St. (00) at Washington St. (00)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

U.S. OpenThursday

At USTA Billie Jean King National TennisCenter

New YorkSurface: Hardcourt outdoor

Men’s SinglesSecond Round

Reilly Opelka (22), United States, def. Lorenzo Musetti, Italy, 76 (1), 75, 64.

Alexander Zverev (4), Germany, def. Albert RamosVinolas, Spain, 61, 60, 63.

Nikoloz Basilashvili, Georgia, def. Maxime Cressy, United States, 76 (3), 63, 75.

Ilya Ivashka, Belarus, def. Vasek Pospisil, Canada, 63, 64, 76 (5).

Oscar Otte, Germany, def. Denis Kudla,United States, 64, 64, 62.

Matteo Berrettini (6), Italy, def. CorentinMoutet, France, 76 (2), 46, 64, 63.

Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. Hubert Hurkacz (10), Poland, 26, 64, 64, 76 (6).

Lloyd Harris, South Africa, def. ErnestoEscobedo, United States, 64, 64, 62.

Gael Monfils (17), France, def. SteveJohnson, United States, 75, 46, 64, 64.

Aslan Karatsev (21), Russia, def. JordanThompson, Australia, 36, 36, 75, 76 (9),61.

Jannik Sinner (13), Italy, def. ZacharySvajda, United States, 63, 76 (2), 67 (6),64.

Kei Nishikori, Japan, def. MackenzieMcDonald, United States, 76 (3), 63, 67(5), 26, 63.

Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. TallonGriekspoor, Netherlands, 62, 63, 62.

Jack Sock, United States, def. AlexanderBublik (31), Kazakhstan, 76 (3), 67 (2), 64,46, 63.

Jenson Brooksby, United States, def.Taylor Fritz, United States, 67 (7), 76 (10),

75, 62.Denis Shapovalov (7), Canada, def. Ro

berto Carballes Baena, Spain, 76 (7), 63,60.

Women’s SinglesSecond Round

Belinda Bencic (11), Switzerland, def.Martina Trevisan, Italy, 63, 61.

Varvara Gracheva, Russia, def. PaulaBadosa (24), Spain, 64, 64.

Anett Kontaveit (28), Estonia, def. JilTeichmann, Switzerland, 64, 61.

Maria Sakkari (17), Greece, def. KaterinaSiniakova, Czech Republic, 64, 62.

Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, def. HsiehSuwei, Taiwan, 61, 63.

Emma Raducanu, Britain, def. ZhangShuai, China, 62, 64.

Ashleigh Barty (1), Australia, def. ClaraTauson, Denmark, 61, 75.

Iga Swiatek (7), Poland, def. Fiona Ferro,France, 36, 76 (3), 60.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (14), Russia,def. AnnaKarolina Schmiedlova, Slovakia, 62, 57, 62.

Petra Kvitova (10), Czech Republic, def.Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, 76 (4),62.

Greet Minnen, Belgium, def. LiudmilaSamsonova, Russia, 64, 64.

Jessica Pegula (23), United States, def.Misaki Doi, Japan, 63, 62.

Angelique Kerber (16), Germany, def.Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine, 63, 62.

Shelby Rogers, United States, def. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, 75, 62.

Bianca Andreescu (6), Canada, def. Lauren Davis, United States, 64, 64.

Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, def. PetraMartic (30), Croatia, 76 (6), 64.

Karolina Pliskova (4), Czech Republic,def. Amanda Anisimova, United States,75, 67 (5), 76 (7).

TENNIS

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

xConnecticut 21 6 .778 —

Chicago 14 14 .500 7½

Washington 10 16 .385 10½

New York 11 18 .379 11

Indiana 6 19 .240 14

Atlanta 6 20 .231 14½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

xLas Vegas 20 7 .741 —

xSeattle 19 10 .655 2

xMinnesota 17 9 .654 2½

xPhoenix 16 10 .615 3½

Dallas 12 15 .444 8

Los Angeles 10 18 .357 10½

Thursday’s games

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

Friday’s games

No games scheduledSaturday’s games

Phoenix at IndianaWashington at Minnesota

Sunday’s games

Las Vegas at ChicagoAtlanta at Dallas

GOLF

Tour ChampionshipPGA TourThursday

At East Lake Golf ClubAtlanta, Ga.

Yardage: 7,346; Par: 70Purse: $46 Million

First RoundPatrick Cantlay 34-33—67 -13Jon Rahm 34-31—65 -11Harris English 34-32—66 -8Bryson DeChambeau 36-33—69 -8Viktor Hovland 31-35—66 -7Cameron Smith 32-36—68 -7Justin Thomas 36-31—67 -7Kevin Na 34-32—66 -6Tony Finau 38-34—72 -6Billy Horschel 33-32—65 -5Brooks Koepka 32-35—67 -5Jason Kokrak 33-34—67 -5Dustin Johnson 35-33—68 -5Louis Oosthuizen 35-33—68 -5Jordan Spieth 34-35—69 -5

AP SPORTLIGHT

Sept. 4

1932 — Olin Dutra defeats Frank Walsh inthe final round 4 and 3 to win the PGAChampionship.

1951 — Frank Sedgman becomes thefirst Australian to win the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Associationchampionships, beating Victor Seixas inthree sets. Sixteenyearold MaureenConnolly wins the first of three consecutive women’s titles, beating Shirley Fry inthree sets.

1983 — Lynn Dickey of Green Bay completes 27 of 31 passes, including 18straight, for 333 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Packers in a 4138 overtime victory over Houston.

1992 — Jimmy Connors loses to IvanLendl 36, 63, 62, 60 in his record 115thand final U.S. Open singles match.

1994 — Fu Mingxia of China becomes thefirst woman to win consecutive highboardworld diving titles, beating countrywoman Chi Bin in Rome.

2010 — DeMarco Murray’s careerbest218 yards rushing leads Oklahoma to a 3124 victory for the Sooners’ 800th win.


MLB/SOCCER

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Tampa Bay 84 50 .627 _

New York 77 56 .579 6½

Boston 77 59 .566 8

Toronto 70 62 .530 13

Baltimore 41 91 .311 42

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 78 56 .582 _

Cleveland 67 64 .511 9½

Detroit 63 72 .467 15½

Kansas City 59 74 .444 18½

Minnesota 58 75 .436 19½

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 78 55 .586 _

Oakland 74 60 .552 4½

Seattle 72 62 .537 6½

Los Angeles 66 68 .493 12½

Texas 47 86 .353 31

National League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 71 62 .534 _

Philadelphia 69 64 .519 2

New York 66 67 .496 5

Washington 55 77 .417 15½

Miami 55 79 .410 16½

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 82 53 .607 _

Cincinnati 72 63 .533 10

St. Louis 68 64 .515 12½

Chicago 60 75 .444 22

Pittsburgh 48 86 .358 33½

West Division

W L Pct GB

Los Angeles 85 49 .634 _

San Francisco 85 49 .634 _

San Diego 71 63 .530 14

Colorado 61 73 .455 24

Arizona 45 90 .333 40½

Thursday’s games

Oakland 8, Detroit 6 Boston 4, Tampa Bay 0 Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2 Philadelphia 7, Washington 6 San Francisco 5, Milwaukee 1 N.Y. Mets 4, Miami 3 Atlanta 6, Colorado 5 Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 5, 11 innings

Friday’s games

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

Saturday’s games

Baltimore (Ellis 1-0) at N.Y. Yankees(Montgomery 5-5)

Oakland (Blackburn 0-1) at Toronto(Berríos 9-7)

Minnesota (Albers 1-0) at Tampa Bay(Archer 0-1)

Cleveland (Morgan 2-6) at Boston(Houck 0-3)

Chicago White Sox (López 3-1) at KansasCity (Hernández 4-1)

Texas (Allard 3-11) at L.A. Angels (Sua-rez 5-7)

N.Y. Mets (Stroman 9-12) at Washington(Fedde 6-9)

Pittsburgh (TBD) at Chicago Cubs (Hen-dricks 14-6)

N.Y. Mets (Megill 2-3) at Washington(TBD)

Philadelphia (Suárez 6-4) at Miami (Rog-ers 7-6)

Detroit (Boyd 3-7) at Cincinnati (Mahle10-5)

St. Louis (Kim 6-6) at Milwaukee (Houser7-6)

Atlanta (Anderson 6-5) at Colorado(Márquez 11-10)

Seattle (Gonzales 6-5) at Arizona (TBD) Houston (Valdez 9-4) at San Diego (Mus-

grove 9-8) L.A. Dodgers (Urías 15-3) at San Francis-

co (TBD)

CalendarDec. 1 — Collective bargaining agree-

ment expires, 11:59 p.m. EST.Dec. 6-9 — Winter meetings, Lake Buena

Vista, Fla.Dec. 8 — Winter meeting draft, Lake Bue-

na Vista, Fla.

MLB scoreboard

SAN FRANCISCO — Thairo Es-

trada hit a three-run homer dur-

ing San Francisco’s four-run

eighth inning, and the Giants beat

the Brewers 5-1 on Thursday to

avoid a four-game sweep.

A day after falling out of first

place for the first time since May

30, the Giants (85-49) moved into a

tie atop the NL West with the idle

Los Angeles Dodgers. Austin Slat-

er also connected, and Logan

Webb pitched seven sparkling in-

nings.

San Francisco had dropped four

in a row.

Milwaukee (82-53) wasted a

terrific performance by Eric

Lauer, who tossed seven innings

of three-hit ball. The NL Central

leaders had won four in a row.

Darin Ruf put the Giants ahead

to stay with a two-out RBI double

off Devin Williams (7-2) in the

eighth. Estrada followed with a

drive to left for his fourth homer.

Red Sox 4, Rays 0: Eduardo

Rodriguez (11-7) pitched four-hit

ball into the seventh inning, and

visiting Boston earned a split in its

four-game series against AL East-

leading Tampa Bay.

Bobby Dalbec drove in two runs

for Boston, which has a two-game

lead over Oakland in the race for

the second AL wild card.

Braves 6, Rockies 5: Adam

Duvall hit a two-run homer in his

team’s three-run fifth inning, and

visiting Atlanta overcame a grand

slam by Charlie Blackmon to beat

Colorado.

Jorge Soler also homered and

Austin Riley had a two-run double

for Atlanta, which stayed two

games ahead of Philadelphia in

the NL East.

Phillies 7, Nationals 6: Andrew

McCutchen drove in four runs and

visiting Philadelphia erased a six-

run deficit on its way to a three-

game series sweep of Washington.

The Phillies overcame a disap-

pointing start from Aaron Nola

and rallied against the Nationals’

bullpen for their sixth consecutive

win. Philadelphia pulled within

two games of idle Cincinnati in the

race for the second NL wild card.

Mets 4, Marlins 3: Dominic

Smith broke a seventh-inning tie

with a pinch-hit RBI single, send-

ing host New York past Miami.

Athletics 8, Tigers 6: Jed Lowrie

hit a three-run homer in the first

inning for the first of visiting Oak-

land’s eight two-out runs against

Detroit’s Matt Manning.

Indians 4, Royals 2: Triston

McKenzie (4-5) pitched six effec-

tive innings in his return from the

injured list, leading visiting Cleve-

land past Kansas City.

Cleveland has won 11 straight

games against the Royals, the

longest winning streak over Kan-

sas City in club history.

Cubs 6, Pirates 5 (11): Sergio

Alcántara scampered home when

second baseman Wilmer Difo

mishandled a popup in the 11th in-

ning, and host Chicago beat Pitts-

burgh for its third straight win.

MLB ROUNDUP

Estrada helps Giants halt skidAssociated Press

JEFF CHIU/AP

The Giants’ Thairo Estrada watches his threerun home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during theeighth inning of Thursday’s game in San Francisco. The Giants won 51 to avoid a fourgame sweep.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

— American players and the en-

tire U.S. soccer community waited

1,424 days for this moment. Nei-

ther a triumph nor another tum-

ble, the night showed problems

mixed among promise.

“First reaction is disappointed,”

defender Tim Ream said after a

0-0 draw at El Salvador on Thurs-

day night in the opener of pan-

demic-delayed World Cup quali-

fying.

At the type of Central American

stadium that repeatedly has sty-

mied the Americans, fireworks

started during El Salvador’s na-

tional anthem and lasted into the

fifth minute. That energized an al-

ready boisterous crowd of about

29,000 that started filling Monu-

mental Estadio Cuscatlán, Central

America’s largest stadium, about

8½ hours before kickoff.

American starters averaged 23

years, 282 days, the fourth-young-

est in a qualifier in the modern

era. Twelve Americans, included

nine starters, made their qualify-

ing debuts.

Right back DeAndre Yedlin,

who started in the infamous 2-1

loss at Trinidad and Tobago in Oc-

tober 2017 that ended a streak of

seven straight World Cup appear-

ances, and Ream, a central de-

fender who was on the bench in

Couva that night, were the only

holdovers.

In his first qualifier as Ameri-

can coach, Gregg Berhalter didn’t

have star attacker Christian Pulis-

ic (regaining fitness after testing

positive for COVID-19) and goal-

keeper Zack Steffen (back

spasms).

Goalkeeper Matt Turner, who

debuted in January, made a key

stop when he was tested, diving to

stop Eriq Zavaleta’s header from

Marvin Monterroza’s corner kick

in the 57th.

“I thought the fight was good,”

Berhalter said. “The intention to

win the game was good, but we’ve

got to get better.”

US, El Salvador battle to scoreless drawBY RONALD BLUM

Associated Press

MOISES CASTILLO/AP

The United States’ Tyler Adams, center, and El Salvador’s MelvinCartagena fight for the ball during a World Cup qualifying matchThursday in San Salvador, El Salvador.


SPORTS BRIEFS/US OPEN

NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic

missed an overhead along the way

to getting broken for the only time

Thursday night and stared at a

man in the Arthur Ashe Stadium

stands who made noise during the

point.

After breaking right back in the

next game of his second-round vic-

tory at the U.S. Open, Djokovic

glared in that direction again, as if

to say, “How you like me now?”

Miffed as the distractions persist-

ed, he later spoke to the chair um-

pire about what’s considered a no-

no in tennis.

That, then, is pretty much what

provided some intrigue and inter-

est in this one, because the ultimate

outcome — a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory

for Djokovic over Tallon Grieks-

poor — seemed fairly obvious after

all of about 15 minutes. Or maybe

even before the No. 1-ranked Djo-

kovic and his 121st-ranked oppo-

nent stepped on court on a cool,

breezy evening.

“That guy, for some reason, was

calling, raising the sound and kind

of screaming just before I would hit

my smash, which was a big point.

Before that, he would do it a few

times. After that, again,” Djokovic

said. “That wasn’t nice. That’s all. I

don’t mind the noise. Don’t get me

wrong. I think it’s important for the

entertainment, for the crowds, the

music. I get it. But if someone does

it over and over again ... he knows

why he’s doing it. The guy that I

pointed out, he knew exactly what

he was doing, and that’s all.”

If that bothered Djokovic, his

shot-making and serving boosted

his mood as he took another step to-

ward completing the first calen-

dar-year Grand Slam in men’s ten-

nis since 1969 and claiming a 21st

major championship to eclipse the

mark he shares with Roger Feder-

er and Rafael Nadal.

“All in all very good, very good.

I’m very pleased with the level of

my tennis,” Djokovic said. “All is

going in the right direction.”

About the only problems No. 1

Ash Barty and other top women en-

countered earlier Thursday came

in the delays trying to get to Flush-

ing Meadows in the aftermath of

Hurricane Ida’s remnants blowing

through the Northeast a night earli-

er.

Barty, a two-time major cham-

pion including at Wimbledon in Ju-

ly, three-time Grand Slam champ

Angelique Kerber, Tokyo Olympic

gold medalist Belinda Bencic, dou-

ble Wimbledon title winner Petra

Kvitova and other seeded women

including No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyu-

chenkova, No. 17 Maria Sakkari,

No. 23 Jessica Pegula and No. 28

Anett Kontaveit all won in two sets

during the afternoon to reach the

third round.

At night, 2019 U.S. Open cham-

pion Bianca Andreescu improved

her tournament record to 9-0 by

defeating Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-4.

Among the men’s winners were

Summer Games gold medalist and

2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexan-

der Zverev, 2021 Wimbledon final-

ist Matteo Berrettini, No. 17 Gael

Monfils and No. 22 seed Reilly

Opelka of the U.S. But No. 10 Hub-

ert Hurkacz, a Wimbledon semifi-

nalist, lost to Andreas Seppi of Ita-

ly, and No. 31 Alexander Bublik

was beaten by American wild-card

recipient Jack Sock 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2),

6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Another U.S. man who got a wild

card, 20-year-old Jenson Brooks-

by, won an all-Californian match-

up against Taylor Fritz 6-7 (7), 7-6

(10), 7-5, 6-2.

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns a shot to the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor during the second round ofthe US Open on Thursday in New York. Djokovic won in straight sets to advance to the third round.

Djokovic stays on trackfor calendar-year Slam

BY HOWARD FENDRICH

Associated Press

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, the2019 U.S. Open champion,improved her tournament recordto 90 by defeating Lauren Davis.

The NHL is set to return to the

Olympics in Beijing this winter af-

ter reaching an agreement with

international officials, though the

league and players have the op-

portunity to withdraw if pandemic

circumstances warrant.

The NHL, its players’ union, the

International Olympic Committee

and the International Ice Hockey

Federation struck a deal Friday

that will put the best players in the

world back on sports’ biggest

stage in February after they

skipped the 2018 Pyeongchang

Games.

“It was not easy, but we did it,”

IIHF president Rene Fasel told

The Associated Press by phone.

“I’m really, really happy. When

you see the last was 2014, and they

would wait until 2026, so you have

12 years in between — that means

we have a generation of hockey

players that would not be able to

play in the Olympics.”

Even after the NHL and players

agreed to Olympic participation

as part of a long-term extension of

the collective bargaining agree-

ment last summer, the coronavi-

rus pandemic and related costs

threatened to shelve that possibil-

ity. Instead, the sides were able to

figure it out, allowing for the

league or players to withdraw if

virus circumstances change for

the worse or there’s an outbreak

during the season.

As long as that does not happen,

NHL players will compete in the

Olympic men’s hockey tourna-

ment for the sixth time in seven

chances dating to 1998.

In other NHL news:

■ The NHL plans to punish un-

vaccinated players more harshly

if they test positive for the corona-

virus as part of new protocols for

the upcoming season.

Teams will be able to suspend

unvaccinated players without pay

if they cannot participate in hock-

ey activities as part of the proto-

cols, according to a person with

knowledge of the new rules. The

person spoke to The Associated

Press on condition of anonymity

Friday because the protocols had

not been announced.

Fully vaccinated players will

have any COVID-19 positives

treated as hockey injuries and still

be paid. Coaches and other team

staff who closely interact with

players are required to be fully

vaccinated.

Female Mexican boxer

dies five days after fightMONTREAL — A female Mex-

ican boxer died Thursday, five

days after being injured in a Mon-

treal ring.

Groupe Yvon Michel, the orga-

nizer of the boxing event, said

Thursday that 18-year-old Jea-

nette Zacarias Zapata died from

injuries sustained in a bout with

Marie-Pier Houle on Saturday

night at IGA stadium.

Zapata suffered a series of pow-

er punches in the corner of the

ring and, after a solid uppercut,

the Mexican seemed stunned near

the end of the fourth round. A final

right hook caused Zapata’s mouth-

guard to fly out and left her unable

to return to her corner after the

bell rang.

Zapata, who appeared to con-

vulse while still standing, was

joined by her partner and trainer

Jovanni Martinez, who quickly

laid her down in the ring. The on-

site medical team rushed to her

side and she was immobilized on a

stretcher before being rushed to a

hospital by ambulance.

Cubs’ Ross, Hoyer test

positive for COVID-19CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs

manager David Ross and presi-

dent of baseball operations Jed

Hoyer have tested positive for CO-

VID-19.

A spokesman for the team said

Ross and Hoyer are feeling fine

and quarantining. Both of them

are vaccinated.

Bench coach Andy Green will

run the team while Ross is away,

beginning with Friday afternoon’s

game against the Pittsburgh Pi-

rates. There was no word on any

players being unavailable.

The Cubs are among a handful

of big league teams that have

failed to reach the 85% vaccina-

tion threshold required for the re-

laxation of Major League Base-

ball’s COVID-19 protocols.

Cantlay starts with lead,

keeps his distanceATLANTA — Patrick Cantlay

met his goal in the first round of

the Tour Championship on Thurs-

day, and it had nothing to do with

the score on his card or the size of

his lead.

As the top seed in the FedEx

Cup, he started with a two-shot

lead over Tony Finau before even

hitting a shot. He finished the

warm, breezy day at East Lake at

3-under 67 with a two-shot lead

over Jon Rahm.

Only four players had a better

score, so it was a good day regard-

less of the format that allows play-

er to start at various points under

par depending on their FedEx

Cup position.

Five shots behind were Bryson

DeChambeau and Harris English.

BRIEFLY

NHL players to playin Beijing Olympics

Associated Press


COLLEGE FOOTBALL

“I think he understands it,”

Mullen said Monday. “You look at

his playing time and experience

throughout the years. Everybody

says this will be his first time play-

ing the first play of the game, but

to say he hasn’t played in a lot of

big moments in a lot of different

games, big difference.”

Mullen made it clear that the of-

fense won’t be watered down or

scaled back with Jones at the

helm. Jones helped create the

game plan and will have the free-

dom to audible or scramble on any

play. The sky-high expectation is

Jones will be able to improvise

like no other quarterback in Flor-

ida lore, too.

“We’ll just throw the whole

thing at him and let him go,” Mul-

len said.

Mullen has raised some eye-

brows with some of his claims re-

garding Jones, especially the one

about Jones being able to make

throws that Trask could only

dream about.

“He’s got a cannon for an arm,”

Mullen said.

Teammates have delivered

equally glowing praise.

“I don’t like to call Emory a dual

threat because most people like

see Emory break and see him

run,” running back Dameon

Pierce said. “I call Emory a mo-

bile pocket passer because this

guy, he can launch that ball.

“That’s probably the most un-

derrated aspect of his game. He

can launch the ball! He wants to

throw the ball first. He only runs

when there’s absolutely nothing

there or pressure comes and he’s

got to get out the pocket. I feel like

Emory brings a lot to the table this

year.”

His best attribute might be pa-

tience. After all, Jones never com-

plained or caused a scene during

his time on the bench — three

years in which the NCAA transfer

portal exploded in popularity.

He could have moved on and

gotten on the field sooner. He

could have already started some-

where else. Instead, he stuck it

out. Now, the payoff could be sig-

nificant.

Even though the Gators lost two

first-round draft picks, dynamic

tight end Kyle Pitts and elusive re-

ceiver Kadarius Toney, they seem

to have enough talent to be a title

contender in the Eastern Division.

A lot of that will depend on

Jones’ development. And his time

comes with a twist: Jones waited

so long and now might have to

share the spotlight with redshirt

freshman Anthony Richardson,

who’s bigger, faster and quite pos-

sibly a better NFL prospect.

“Coach Mullen definitely uses

his offense around the quarter-

back,” Jones said. “Whatever

type, style quarterback you are,

he’s going to make it happen. For

me, just a different skill set. I feel I

can do anything on the field.”

Shine: Expectationssky-high for QB JonesFROM PAGE 24

LYNNE SLADKY/AP

Florida head coach Dan Mullen hasn’t scaled back the playbook forquarterback Emory Jones, who will have the freedom to audible orscramble on any play the Gators call this season.

“I call Emory (Jones)a mobile pocketpasser because thisguy, he can launchthat ball.”

Dameon Pierce

Florida running back

No team has lost its opening

game and reached the Bowl

Championship Series title game or

the College Football Playoff.

Something to keep in mind

when watching No. 3 Clemson

play No. 5 Georgia in the biggest

game of the opening weekend of

the season.

Tigers-Bulldogs is one of five

games matching teams in the AP

Top 25 on Saturday, the center-

piece of a long Labor Day week-

end of college football.

The Big Ten decided to em-

brace early season conference

games this year like never before,

and the result is two ranked

matchups (No. 17 Indiana at No. 18

Iowa and No. 19 Penn State at No.

12 Wisconsin) plus both of last sea-

son’s division winners (No. 4 Ohio

State and Northwestern) opening

up.

There are also a plethora of in-

triguing games with neither team

ranked such as Texas Tech vs.

Houston, West Virginia at Mary-

land and Louisville-Mississippi on

Monday night.

New starting quarterbacks will

debut at powerhouse programs

such as No. 1 Alabama, Ohio State,

No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 9 Notre

Dame.

Let the fun begin!

Best gameGeorgia vs. Clemson in Char

lotte, N.C.: Sometimes the game

with the highest-ranked teams is

not the best game. This is not one

of those times.

Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart has

been stacking top-three recruiting

classes in recent years to keep up

with Alabama — but Georgia

hasn’t had Tide-level success.

Is this the season for a break-

through, with USC transfer JT Da-

niels now healthy and established

at quarterback?

Meanwhile, Clemson’s new

starter at quarterback, D.J. Uiaga-

lelei, gave everyone a glimpse at

his high ceiling in two starts last

season replacing Trevor Law-

rence.

Realistically, the 60th meeting

between the schools — first since

2014 — should not be a CFP elim-

ination game, but history suggests

the loser is in a bind.

Hesiman watchBryce Young, QB, Alabama:

Young played some mop-up duty

last year, throwing 22 passes, but

the former five-star recruit is still

mostly an unwrapped present.

The Crimson Tide unleash him

against No. 14 Miami in Atlanta.

Despite the inexperience, Young

is already one of the betting favor-

ites to win the Heisman Trophy,

according to FanDuel.

Exploding out of the gate with a

big game against a ranked oppo-

nent would quickly help validate

the hype around a player that gets

compared to Heisman Trophy

winner and Arizona Cardinals

quarterback Kyler Murray.

Numbers to know113: No. 17 Indiana’s record in

its last 14 Big Ten games. That’s

the best stretch of 14 games in the

history of the program.

13: Consecutive games in

which Wisconsin’s defense has

forced at least one turnover, the

longest streak in the Big Ten.

Penn State’s Sean Clifford tied for

the Big Ten lead with nine inter-

ceptions thrown last season.

214: Combined record the last

two seasons for No. 23 Louisiana-

Lafayette, which opens at No. 21

Texas. It’s the first game for new

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian

and it comes against a team that

beat a ranked Big 12 school (Iowa

State) last year.

3411: No. 15 Southern Califor-

nia’s record against current mem-

bers of the Mountain West. The

Trojans open Saturday against de-

fending Mountain West champion

San Jose State, which is 0-4

against USC.

376: Nebraska’s sellout streak

after a donor bought up the re-

maining tickets for the Cornhusk-

ers’ game Saturday against Ford-

ham, an FCS school from New

York. The streak dates to 1962, but

if the Huskers continue to struggle

— they opened the season with a

loss at Illinois in Week 0 — Ne-

braska might have to continue to

rely on the generosity of boosters

to keep its record streak rolling.

Hot seatCan opening weekend be a

must-win? No, not really.

However, after taking a pay cut

after last year’s losing season, it

would certainly help Michigan

coach Jim Harbaugh to take care

of business in a drama-free way

against Mid-American Confer-

ence contender Western Michi-

gan at the Big House.

JOSH MORGAN/AP

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei finally has the national spotlight to himself when he leads the No. 3Tigers against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte, N.C.

Clemson-Georgia biggestgame of opening weekend

BY RALPH D. RUSSO

Associated Press

WEEKEND PREVIEW


COLLEGE FOOTBALL

MINNEAPOLIS — C.J. Stroud’s

mind was not right as he sparred

with first-game jitters, feeling

“kind of all over the place” in his

debut as Ohio State’s starting

quarterback.

Playing for the Buckeyes comes

with plenty of pressure. It also

brings plenty of help.

Stroud passed for 294 yards and

four touchdowns, and the fourth-

ranked Buckeyes kept coach Ryan

Day unbeaten in Big Ten play with

a 45-31 victory over Minnesota on

a rainy Thursday night.

Ohio State trailed at halftime

(14-10) for the first time in a regu-

lar-season game under Day, but

time in the locker room was all

Stroud needed to settle in. He

passed for 246 yards in the second

half.

“Everybody was encouraging

me, telling me I can do it. My team-

mates all have belief in me,” said

Stroud, who went 13-for-22 with

one interception.

Said Day, who is 24-2 overall

and 16-0 in conference games

starting his third full year on the

job: “We weren’t going to play it

close to the vest. That’s not how we

do it here.”

The Buckeyes flashed their five-

star speed with two 70-plus-yard

scores in the opener, one early on a

run off right end by Miyan Wil-

liams and one late on a third-down

screen to true freshman TreVeyon

Henderson.

Chris Olave had touchdown

catches of 38 and 61 yards, and

Garrett Wilson scored on a 56-

yard reception that gave Ohio

State the lead for good at 24-21

midway through the third quarter.

Less than three minutes later,

Haskell Garrett grabbed a fumble

from a strip-sack that Zach Harri-

son delivered on Tanner Morgan

and ran it in for a 32-yard touch-

down.

More painful for the Gophers

than their fade down the stretch

was the loss of star running back

Mo Ibrahim, who hurt his lower

left leg late in the third quarter and

left the field in a walking boot.

The second team preseason As-

sociated Press All-American had

30 carries for 163 yards and two

scores, both giving the Gophers

the lead and the first one after Te-

rell Smith intercepted an off-tar-

get pass by Stroud that hit Olave’s

hand.

The Gophers were probably

never going to have a better oppor-

tunity to topple the mighty Buck-

eyes than this, fielding one of the

most experienced teams in the

country at home — and at night —

to open the season against a new-

bie quarterback.

With fans allowed back in the

seats at what’s now called Hun-

tington Bank Stadium, after the vi-

rus emptied them out for an abbre-

viated 2020 schedule, Minnesota

enjoyed its third straight sellout

dating to the Penn State and Wis-

consin games in November 2019.

Already a time-of-possession

team, the Gophers needed to play

keep-away more than ever to

make this a game. They were ten-

tative at times but bold at others,

including a fourth-and-1 play from

deep in their own territory when

Ibrahim ripped off a 56-yard run.

That set up a touchdown throw

by Morgan to Texas A&M transfer

Dylan Wright, who had five catch-

es for 57 yards.

No. 4 Ohio State outlasts

Minnesota in Stroud’s debut

BRUCE KLUCKHOHN/AP

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud throws a touchdown pass againstMinnesota during the third quarter of Thursday’s game inMinneapolis. Ohio State won 4531.

BY DAVE CAMPBELL

Associated Press DID YOU KNOW?

The Buckeyes have won 12 straight

games over the Gophers and 28 of

29 since their last loss at Minnesota

in 1981. The Gophers last won in

2000, at Ohio Stadium.

SOURCE: Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Charlie

Brewer threw for 233 yards and

two touchdowns in his Utah debut

to help the No. 24 Utes beat Weber

State 40-17 on Thursday night.

Dalton Kincaid caught four pas-

ses for 75 yards and two touch-

downs in the opener for both

teams. Tavion Thomas ran for 107

yards and two touchdowns on 12

carries in his Utah debut.

Brewer beat out Cameron Ris-

ing for the starting quarterback

job in camp and did not disap-

point. He was crisp on many

throws and gave Utah a legitimate

passing attack it lacked at times

last season.

“I thought he was very poised in

the pocket,” Utah coach Kyle

Whittingham said. “He did a nice

job keeping his eyes downfield.

He was accurate. ... Did a good job

of running the offense.”

Bronson Barron threw for 213

yards and a touchdown for Weber

State, but the Wildcats had just 57

yards rushing.

“We did not do a good enough

job of getting yards on the first

down which put us in too many

third-and-longs,” Weber State

coach Jay Hill said.

Weber State took a 7-3 lead

when Rashid Shaheed cut to the

edge and returned a kickoff 100

yards untouched. He tied an FCS

record with his sixth kickoff re-

turn for a touchdown.

The teams then retreated to the

locker rooms with 8:26 left in the

first quarter because of a lightning

delay that lasted 90 minutes.

Utah marched down the field

quickly after play resumed. The

Utes covered 75 yards in five

plays, culminating in a 17-yard

pass from Brewer to Kincaid, to go

back ahead 10-7. Brewer complet-

ed four passes on the drive, includ-

ing three in a row to get Utah into

the red zone.

Devin Lloyd snagged a tipped

ball at the Weber State 31 to set up

a 12-yard touchdown run from

Thomas that extended Utah’s lead

to 19-7 in the second quarter.

Lloyd had 12 tackles, a forced

fumble and a sack to go along with

that interception.

“We had been in worse situa-

tions I felt like and came back,”

Utes cornerback Clark Phillips III

said. “That was just a stumbling

block we were excited to attack.”

No. 22 Coastal Carolina 52,

The Citadel 14: At Conway, S.C.,

Grayson McCall threw for 262

yards and a touchdown and the

Chanticleers scored on their first

seven possessions against the

Bulldogs.

Coast Carolina was among the

biggest surprises last season, go-

ing 11-1 and winning the Sun Belt

Conference’s East Division after

being picked last in the preseason.

McCall, last year’s Sun Belt of-

fensive player of the year, direct-

ed an efficient, dynamic offense

that scored touchdowns the first

four times it had the ball. After a

field goal to close the opening half,

the Chants scored TDs on their

first two series of the third quar-

ter.

McCall completed 16 of 19 pas-

ses before coming out early in the

third quarter. Reese White had

scoring runs of 4 and 16 yards, be-

fore McCall, the 6-foot-3, 210-

pound sophomore, connected with

Javion Heiligh on a 30-yard scor-

ing pass to make it 28-0.

Heiligh had six catches for 133

yards, and Shermari Jones also

had two touchdowns and ran for

100 yards.

No. 25 Arizona State 41,

Southern Utah 14: Darien Butler

had two interceptions and the Sun

Devils used their punishing run-

ning game to overcome some slop-

py moments in their season open-

er.

Arizona State was a bit rusty to

start a season of high expecta-

tions, committing numerous mis-

cues on special teams and 13 pe-

nalties for 135 yards.

The Sun Devils still proved to be

too much for the FCS Thunder-

birds (0-2), forcing four turnovers

and running for six touchdowns to

win their 22nd straight home

opener.

RICK BOWMER/AP

Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid catches a pass as Weber State safetyPreston Smith defends on Thursday in Salt Lake City.

No. 24 Utah pulls away to beat Weber StateAssociated Press

TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Emory Jones first landed on Dan Mul-

len’s recruiting radar seven years

ago.

Jones was a high school freshman

in LaGrange, Ga., and Mullen was scouring the

country for another spread quarterback at Mis-

sissippi State. Ideally, Mullen wanted to find

the next Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton

or Dak Prescott.

Mullen could see Jones’ raw talent: a big, ac-

curate arm and game-breaking mobility. Ev-

erything else, Mullen figured, could be taught.

They bonded quickly, and when Mullen took

over in Gainesville three years later, he asked

Jones to join him.

Jones obliged and became Mullen’s first

hand-picked quarterback to sign with the Ga-

tors.

Now, after waiting three years behind Fe-

leipe Franks and then Kyle Trask, Jones finally

gets his chance when No. 13 Florida opens the

season against Florida Atlantic on Saturday

night.

“It has been hard, but it’s all been for a rea-

son,” Jones said. “That’s what I’ve realized over

the past years. I have been playing a little bit, so

that keeps me going. I’ve just been watching the

guys in front of me do their best and watching

how they move and how they operate and it’s

definitely just helping me.”

While Trask set school and Southeastern

Conference records and became a Heisman

Trophy finalist in 2020, Jones served as a

change-of-pace option.

Jones completed 18 of 32 passes for 221 yards

last year, with two touchdowns and an intercep-

tion. He also ran for 217 yards and two scores.

He was at his best against Oklahoma in the Cot-

ton Bowl, where he threw for 86 yards and ran

for 60 more and a score.

But this, no doubt, will be different.

Florida’s Emory Jones (5) firstlanded on coach Dan Mullen’srecruiting radar seven yearsago. Jones was a high schoolfreshman in LaGrange, Ga.,and Mullen was scouring thecountry for another spreadquarterback at MississippiState. When Mullen took overin Gainesville three years later,he asked Jones to join him.

RON JENKINS/AP

QB Jones finallygetting his chance at Florida

BY MARK LONG

Associated Press

SEE SHINE ON PAGE 22

Shinetime

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

INSIDE

No. 4 Ohio State rallies pastMinnesota in opener Page 23

PREVIEW

Clemson-Georgia showdown centerpiece of longLabor Day weekend of college football Page 22

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, September 4, 2021

SPORTS

Top-seeded Djokovic rolls into third round at US Open ›› Page 21

‘We’ve got to get better’United States, El Salvador battle to drawin World Cup qualifier ›› Soccer, Page 20

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