FACES

Pixar’s ‘Luca’ drawson director’s childhoodfascinations in GenoaPage 18

A registered nurse fills syringes with Pfizer vaccines at a COVID-19 vaccinationclinic on June 3 in Bellingham, Wash.

ELAINE THOMPSON/AP

Medical workers and the young were

most hesitant to be vaccinated against the

coronavirus during the early stages of the

vaccine rollout, primarily over concerns of

short- and long-term side effects, a study

that surveyed personnel at an Air Force

base found.

Researchers analyzed responses from

816 people — uniformed, retirees and civil-

ian contractors — associated with Wright-

Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio about

their likelihood of getting vaccinated, ac-

cording to the study published June 12 in

the journal Military Medicine.

The voluntary survey began in Novem-

ber, a month before the Food and Drug Ad-

ministration issued its first emergency use

authorization for a vaccine. The survey con-

cluded in February.

“In a setting where COVID-19 vaccina-

tion is not mandatory, we found that the ma-

jority of individuals working at a military

[base] would accept the COVID-19 vaccina-

tion if offered; however, nearly one-quarter

of our respondents would not,” the study

Study: Side effectskepticism led tovaccine hesitancy

BY WYATT OLSON

Stars and Stripes

SEE STUDY ON PAGE 6

“We maintain a robust force posture in theregion appropriate to the threat.”

Cmdr. Jessica L. McNulty

Pentagon spokesperson

The U.S. is cutting air defense

systems and force levels in the

Middle East as the Biden admin-

istration realigns its military pos-

ture to focus on countering China

and Russia.

Cmdr. Jessica L. McNulty, a

Pentagon spokesperson, con-

firmed the plans but would not

provide specific details, after the

Wall Street Journal reported Fri-

day that eight Patriot antimissile

batteries were being withdrawn

from countries including Iraq,

Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

A Terminal High Altitude Area

Defense system, or THAAD, was

also being pulled from Saudi Ara-

bia, and fighter jet squadrons

were being reduced, unnamed

administration officials told the

newspaper. Troops were also be-

ing reduced in Iraq, where the

U.S. already cut its presence in

half to 2,500 early this year, the

report said.

“The Secretary of Defense di-

rected the Commander of U.S.

Central Command to remove

from the region this summer cer-

tain forces and capabilities, pri-

marily air defense assets,”

McNulty said in an email to Stars

and Stripes on Saturday. “Some

of these assets returned to the

United States for much needed

maintenance and repair. Some of

them will be deployed to other re-

gions.”

The Pentagon is focused on

making sure the high-demand as-

sets are ready in case of a con-

United States to reorient military posturePentagon orders drawdown of air defense systems, troops from Middle East to put focus on China, Russia

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

SEE POSTURE ON PAGE 4

Volume 80 Edition 46 ©SS 2021 MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

MILITARY

Marine couplehonored forrescuing hikers Page 3

MILITARY

Former Afghanpresident Karzai:‘forever war’ failedPage 4

Bucks top Nets, advance to Eastern Conference finals ›› NBA playoffs, Page 24

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

SEATTLE — Boeing’s newest

version of the 737 Max jetliner

completed its first test flight Fri-

day in a move that the company

hopes will signal improving for-

tunes for its most important plane.

A few hundred employees

watched the plane take off from

Renton, Wash. As is typical for a

first test flight of a new plane, the

only people on board were the two

pilots, Jennifer Henderson and

Jim Webb.

The pilots flew for about 2 ½

hours over Washington state and

did a touch-and-go maneuver at

an airport near Moses Lake,

Wash., before returning to land at

Boeing Field in Seattle, about 7

miles from where they left.

The Max 10 is a slightly larger

version of Max jets that are al-

ready flying. It is designed to seat

up to 230 passengers and compete

with the A321neo from European

rival Airbus.

Chicago-based Boeing expects

to begin delivering Max 10s to air-

lines in 2023.

Max jets get better fuel mileage

than previous versions of Boeing’s

venerable 737. Airlines began us-

ing the plane in 2017, but Max 8

and Max 9 planes were grounded

worldwide for nearly two years af-

ter crashes in October 2018 and

March 2019 killed a total of 346

people.

U.S. regulators cleared the way

for Max jets to resume flying late

last year after Boeing made

changes, including overhauling

flight-control software that played

a role in the crashes.

Boeing’s newest Max makes first test flightAssociated Press

Bahrain88/84

Baghdad106/72

Doha107/80

Kuwait City106/83

Riyadh107/80

Kandahar99/61

Kabul83/73

Djibouti102/84

MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

53/50

Ramstein77/66

Stuttgart80/66

Lajes,Azores66/63

Rota69/62

Morón78/57 Sigonella

99/64

Naples84/70

Aviano/Vicenza86/66

Pápa93/73

Souda Bay77/69

Brussels68/63

Zagan87/68

DrawskoPomorskie

85/68

MONDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa65/60

Guam83/80

Tokyo74/66

Okinawa79/76

Sasebo76/67

Iwakuni72/67

Seoul77/61

Osan78/61

Busan70/65

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

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

TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

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

Military rates

Euro costs (June 21) $1.16Dollar buys (June 21) 0.8181British pound (June 21) $1.35Japanese yen (June 21) 108.00South Korean won (June 21) 1,103.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3769Britain (Pound) 1.3818Canada (Dollar) 1.2426China (Yuan) 6.4531Denmark (Krone) 6.2640Egypt (Pound) 15.6644Euro 0.8423Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7629Hungary (Forint) 299.76Israel (Shekel) 3.2787Japan (Yen) 110.16Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3013

Norway (Krone) 8.6693

Philippines (Peso) 48.51Poland (Zloty) 3.83Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7502Singapore (Dollar) 1.3443

South Korea (Won) 1,135.07Switzerland (Franc) 0.9218Thailand (Baht) 31.49Turkey (New Lira)  �8.7332

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

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate  �0.093­month bill 0.0430­year bond 2.03

EXCHANGE RATES

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

MILITARY

The Marine Corps honored a

dual military couple who helped

rescue more than a dozen people

stranded when a flash flood

struck a riverside hiking trail to a

scenic waterfall on Okinawa last

year.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald

Thomas, 42, and Master Sgt. Sara

Thomas, 44, were awarded the

Navy and Marine Corps Com-

mendation Medal on Tuesday at

Camp Courtney. Both are as-

signed to the III Marine Expedi-

tionary Force on Okinawa.

“The whole mentality for me

was never leave anyone behind,”

Ronald Thomas told Stars and

Stripes during a phone interview

Friday.

On Sept. 13, 2020, the couple

and their son were trekking with

friends toward Ta-Taki Falls on a

1 ½-mile out-and-back trail in Ku-

nigami, according to a Marine

Corps statement. The trail runs

alongside the Henan River and in-

cludes rope climbs and paths that

wind in and around the water.

“It was raining off and on the

previous day, but it was sunny

when we initially went out,” Tho-

mas said in the interview.

Once they reached the water-

fall, he noticed the weather start-

ing to change and suggested they

head back.

“As we were getting the kids

out of the water the rain picked up

right away and the waterfall

picked up immediately, making it

tough for us to advance back,” he

said.

Minutes later, the fast-rising

river along the trail turned muddy

and began rushing with a danger-

ous force, the Marine statement

said.

“I’m about 6-foot-4 and the wa-

ter was up to my shoulders,” Tho-

mas told Stars and Stripes.

The group made a path through

the riverbank’s steep hillside, ac-

cording to the Marine statement.

After getting to a safe spot, they

helped more than a dozen people,

including Japanese residents and

fellow service members, trapped

on the other side by using a rope

found on a fence to guide every-

one across the rushing water.

“We found a small section

where the current was still really

bad but not impossible,” Cpl. Ce-

lest Stanwood of the 1st Marine

Aircraft Wing, who was among

those stranded, said in the state-

ment.

“So we crossed with the rope,”

she said. “Once across, other

adults staggered themselves

around the rope to make it easier

for people to cross. We continued

this method a few times down the

path and picked up people strand-

ed on the river banks as we went.”

There was no trail to go down

because the current was so quick,

Sara Thomas told Stars and

Stripes.

“We were making our own path

on the side of the mountain,” she

said. “At any moment, any one of

us could have fell. It was muddy,

the rocks were slippery and the

rope was no thicker than a pinky.”

The group finally made it to

safety after hours of trekking and

helping one another through the

raging waters, according to the

Marine statement.

“When faced with this chal-

lenge we didn’t know the other

service members on the hike, but

by the end we had a better under-

standing of each other,” Sara Tho-

mas said. “The camaraderie of

our service played a larger role in

our success that day.”

Marine couplehonored forflood rescue

BY JONATHAN SNYDER

Stars and Stripes

snyder.jonathan@stripes.com Twitter: @Jon_E_Snyder

U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. service members and their families help one another across a raging river during a flash flood atTa­Taki Falls, Okinawa, on Sept. 13, 2020.

NATALIE GREENWOOD/U.S. Marine Corps

Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Thomas and his wife, Master Sgt. SaraThomas, receive the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal atCamp Courtney, Okinawa, on Tuesday.

A U.S. Navy oiler last week rescued four

Somali men who’d been stranded at sea for

days off the Horn of Africa after their fish-

ing boat had a mechanical failure.

Sailors of an embarked security intelli-

gence team and merchant mariners of the

Military Sealift Command’s USNS Patux-

ent, a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway re-

plenishment oiler, rescued the men in the

Gulf of Aden, the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet

said in a statement Friday.

The Somalis’ small fishing vessel was fly-

ing the international distress flag after

drifting for 12 days and was taking on water,

the statement said. The crew had been with-

out food and water for several days, the Na-

vy said in captions on photos published on-

line. They were given food, water and a

medical screening once they were aboard

the Patuxent.

It’s the second time in about a week that

the oiler’s crew rescued stranded sailors in

the Gulf of Aden. On June 9, the Patuxent

steamed at maximum speed to aid the 15-

member crew of the Falcon Line, a cargo

ship registered in the African nation of Ga-

bon that was taking on water, arriving be-

fore it completely sank.

“I am extremely proud of them,” Navy

Capt. Michael O’Driscoll, commander of

Task Force 53, said of the oiler’s crew after

the Somali fishermen were rescued

Wednesday. “I think this perfectly high-

lights the value of a sustained maritime

presence alongside our regional and coali-

tion partners.”

The 1974 International Convention for

the Safety of Life at Sea obligates all mari-

ners to provide assistance to those in dis-

tress at sea, 5th Fleet said. While it wasn’t

immediately clear how many rescues the

fleet’s ships have conducted in recent years,

the command reported at least two rescues

in 2020 and another two in 2019.

The four Somali fishermen were trans-

ferred Thursday from the Patuxent to two

boats from the U.S. Navy’s Camp Lemon-

nier, Djibouti-based Maritime Expedition-

ary Security Squadron Eleven, or

MSRON-11, and then to the Djibouti coast

guard patrol boat Damerjog, which took

them back to shore in Djibouti City.

The Damerjog and MSRON-11 also took

part in the rescue of the Falcon Line mari-

ners.

For 2nd time in week, Navy rescues sailors off AfricaBY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

JACOB SIPPEL/U.S. Navy

U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Benjamin Lehrfeld, right, and members of the Djibouti CoastGuard help four Somali fishermen switch boats Thursday.

garland.chad@stripes.comTwitter: @chadgarland

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

MILITARY

KABUL, Afghanistan — Af-

ghanistan’s former president

said Sunday the United States

came to his country to fight extre-

mism and bring stability to his

war-tortured nation and is leav-

ing nearly 20 years later having

failed at both.

In an interview with The Asso-

ciated Press just weeks before the

last U.S. and NATO troops leave

Afghanistan, ending their ‘forev-

er war,’ Hamid Karzai said extre-

mism is at its “highest point” and

the departing troops are leaving

behind a disaster.

“The international community

came here 20 years ago with this

clear objective of fighting extre-

mism and bringing stability ... but

extremism is at the highest point

today. So they have failed,” he

said.

Their legacy is a war-ravaged

nation in “total disgrace and di-

saster.”

“We recognize as Afghans all

our failures, but what about the

bigger forces and powers who

came here for exactly that pur-

pose? Where are they leaving us

now?” he asked and answered:

“In total disgrace and disaster.”

Still, Karzai, who had a con-

flicted relationship with the Unit-

ed States during his 13-year rule,

wanted the troops to leave, saying

Afghans were united behind an

overwhelming desire for peace

and needed now to take respon-

sibility for their future.

“We will be better off without

their military presence,” he said.

“I think we should defend our

own country and look after our

own lives. ... Their presence (has

given us) what we have now. ...

We don’t want to continue with

this misery and indignity that we

are facing. It is better for Afghan-

istan that they leave.”

In April, when President Joe

Biden announced the final with-

drawal of the remaining 2,500-

3,500 troops, he said America was

leaving having achieved its goals.

Al-Qaida had been greatly dimin-

ished and bin Laden was dead.

America no longer needed boots

on the ground to fight the terrorist

threats that might emanate from

Afghanistan, he said.

Former Afghanpresident: USfailed mission

BY KATHY GANNON

Associated Press

RAHMAT GUL/AP

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives an interview to theAssociated Press at his house, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.

Spc. Austin Hawk’s family

knew he was counting the days

until his military contract was up.

So when an Army chaplain in a

crisp dress uniform arrived at his

grandmother’s door in Southern

California last June, she thought

he was bringing some kind of

farewell commendation.

The chaplain carried a differ-

ent message. Hawk, 21, a soldier

stationed in Georgia, had been

killed, she was told — not in com-

bat or in an accident but stabbed

to death in his own barracks room

on Fort Stewart.

The alleged assailant, the fam-

ily would later learn, was a for-

mer soldier from Hawk’s platoon

who had walked uncontested

through an unmanned installation

gate to carry out what prosecutors

have said was a conspiracy to “si-

lence” Hawk for reporting mis-

conduct.

“I was devastated,” Sandra

Hodge, Hawk’s grandmother,

said in an interview. “It left a

huge, huge hole in our lives. And

I’ll never get that filled.”

That episode, a year ago this

week, has heaped confusion on

top of the family’s grief: How

could a soldier who was a witness

to alleged crimes be killed on a

military base by a man who walk-

ed in off the street?

The killing at Fort Stewart

prompted a review of base securi-

ty and the installation of an 8-foot

fence and razor wire at the gate

that the suspect allegedly en-

tered, the Army said. The review

uncovered two other perimeter

security concerns that have been

addressed, an official said. But

the Army has not yet initiated an

investigation of command deci-

sions that may have disclosed

Hawk’s role as a witness to drug

use in his unit or the security is-

sues at the facility.

“I believe the Army is culpable

in his murder,” said his mother,

Julie Hawk.

In a statement, the Army said it

relies on numerous measures to

protect its sprawling installations,

including security personnel,

electronic surveillance and natu-

ral terrain. Maj. Gen. Antonio

Aguto, the commander of the

Third Infantry Division, based at

Fort Stewart, oversees “contin-

uous” security evaluations.

“At the time the suspect alleg-

edly trespassed onto Fort Stewart,

the installation was in compliance

with regulations and policies con-

cerning the installation’s physical

security measures,” Lt. Col. Lind-

sey Elder, a division spokeswo-

man, said in the statement.

Family ofslain soldierlooking foranswers

BY ALEX HORTON

The Washington Post

tingency, she said. Citing coordination with

regional partners and operational security

concerns, she said the Pentagon would not

provide details on locations, dispositions or

timelines of the withdrawals.

But officials told the Journal the reductions

began earlier this month and are mostly com-

ing from Saudi Arabia. Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin informed Saudi Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman of the drawdown in a

June 2 phone call, officials told the paper.

“The decision was made in close coordina-

tion with host nations and with a clear eye on

preserving our ability to meet our security

commitments,” McNulty said.

The realignment of forces comes as the U.S.

continues to wind down its two-decade war in

Afghanistan and seeks to shift its military fo-

cus from counterinsurgency to competing

powerful rivals, mainly China.

Some Patriot systems, fighter squadrons

and thousands of added troops were ordered

to the region under the Trump administration

in late 2019, after Iran-backed Houthi mili-

tants attacked a Saudi oil field.

More batteries and troops were sent in Ja-

nuary 2020, after Iran fired ballistic missiles

on al-Asad Air Base and a compound in north-

ern Erbil where U.S. troops were housed.

Days earlier a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad

had killed a top Iranian military leader, Maj.

Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran ratchet-

ed up following Washington’s withdrawal

from an Obama-era international nuclear

agreement with Tehran, and as the Trump ad-

ministration sought to pressure Iran into rene-

gotiating it.

But Pentagon officials see a diminished

threat from Tehran as the Biden administra-

tion focuses on negotiating a U.S. reentry into

the 2015 pact, the Wall Street Journal report-

ed. The latest drawdown follows the removal

of at least three Patriot systems earlier this

year.

Former defense officials told the Journal

that the circumstances have changed since

the U.S. decided to increase its defenses in the

region.

“To the extent that Saudi Arabia has im-

proved its own defensive capabilities and the

United States seeks to resolve tensions with

Iran using diplomatic tools, this decision

makes sense,” said Kathryn Wheelbarger, for-

mer acting assistant secretary of defense dur-

ing the Trump administration and a fellow at

the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Meanwhile, Iran-backed militias continue

to pose a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq, where

they have been blamed for dozens of rocket

attacks targeting bases housing American

troops and contractors. In recent months, the

militias appear to have shifted to using small,

low-flying drones armed with explosives in

both Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The Patriot batteries capable of shooting

down ballistic missiles do not provide defens-

es against the small rockets or drones, but

counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems,

or C-RAMs, deployed to protect the antimis-

sile systems are capable of shooting down

what have typically been barrages of Katy-

usha rockets fired from makeshift truck or

ground launchers.

McNulty did not respond to a question about

whether the C-RAMs would remain in place in

Iraq, or what the U.S. is doing to bolster its

defenses against the small drones.

Earlier in the week, however, the Marine

Corps showcased its Marine Air Defense In-

tegrated System, or MADIS, a vehicle-mount-

ed low-altitude air defense system with coun-

ter-drone capabilities, deployed to Saudi Ara-

bia, where the service’s F/A-18D Hornets

have been flying out of Prince Sultan Air Base

in recent weeks.

Also last week, the Army said the 4th In-

fantry Division became its first unit to under-

go home-station training on countering small

drones before deploying to CENTCOM. That

included familiarization with the Mobile-Low,

Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Inte-

grated Defeat System, or M-LIDS, which is

similar to the MADIS.

The service will also send five-person teams

of mobile trainers to be stationed in the region,

the Army said in a Monday statement.

The Pentagon is confident its drawdown

won’t negatively impact national security in-

terests in the region, where the U.S. commit-

ment is evident from its range of partnership

activities, such as intelligence sharing, securi-

ty assistance and foreign military sales,

McNulty told Stars and Stripes.

The remaining ground, air and naval foot-

print in the region, including tens of thousands

of troops, is also significant, she said.

“We maintain a robust force posture in the

region appropriate to the threat,” she said.

“We also retain the flexibility to rapidly flow

forces back into the Middle East as conditions

warrant.”

Posture: US looks to shift military focus to competing rivalsFROM PAGE 1

garland.chad@stripes.comTwitter: @chadgarland �

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

MILITARY

Staff Sgt. Oscar Gamboa’s days

as a professional cabaret dancer

are behind him, but he still occa-

sionally turns on his music in his

Florida recruiting office and cuts

a rug.

It’s been over a decade since he

performed at the popular Coco

Bongo Show & Disco cabaret in

Cancun, Mexico, on the way from

his hometown of Havana, Cuba, to

becoming an American soldier.

“We did mambo, salsa, samba,”

Gamboa said in an Army state-

ment recently. “There were plen-

ty of others. Like Michael Jackson

choreography, Madonna choreog-

raphy. We used to do ballet, too.”

Gamboa had joined a dance

company in Havana in 1998, when

he was 12 years old, and did ball-

room dancing and swimming bal-

let as a professional there, the Ar-

my statement said.

He also met his wife, Claudia,

through dancing. A Cuban native

living in Florida after coming to

the U.S. as a 3-year-old, she’d re-

turned to Havana as a teen to learn

to dance for her quinceanera, a

traditional rite of passage for 15-

year-old Latina girls.

Gamboa was her instructor for

more than a month, then her part-

ner, or galan, when they and six

other couples danced at a celebra-

tion in Havana in July 2007. They

married in January 2011.

In 2009, Gamboa's father had

been living in Cancun since 2006

and did the paperwork to get Gam-

boa from Cuba to Mexico, where

he did a five-month stint at the Co-

co Bongo before he shimmied to

Reynosa, Mexico, in July 2009. He

crossed McAllen, Texas, on Inde-

pendence Day that year and took a

28-hour bus ride to Florida.

In Jacksonville, Fla., Claudia's

father gave him a job at his truck-

ing company, where he drove 18-

wheelers around the country until

2011, the year he joined the Army.

He marked 10 years in the service

June 20 and plans to serve another

decade.

“Ever since I got to the United

States, I always had the desire to

serve,” he said. “This country

gave me so much. It was the least I

could do to pay back.”

After joining as a chemical, bi-

ological, radiological and nuclear

specialist, he became a licensed

practical nurse in 2014 and then a

recruiter in late 2020.

The Miami resident became a

U.S. citizen in 2012. He’s now in

charge of the Orlando Physicians

Recruiting Station and a father of

three.

“My wife never let me dance

again (professionally) when I got

to the States,” the Army statement

quoted him saying with a laugh.

He also laughed about how he

was 165 pounds as a ballroom

dancer, but now tips the scales at

220. But he’s proud of what he’s

done since trading dance shoes for

combat boots.

“It has been a lot of great experi-

ences,” he said. “The Army gave

me the opportunity to become who

I am. It gave me a career. It gave

me a profession.”

Former cabaret dancernow US Army recruiter

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

garland.chad@stripes.comTwitter: @chadgarland

Staff Sgt. Oscar Gamboa

ERIC SCHULTZ/U.S. Army

Oscar Gamboa joined a dance company in his native Havana, Cuba, in1998 when he was 12 and danced professionally for 10 years.

TOKYO — A member of the

Japan Ground Self-Defense

Force was bitten in the chest by a

bear on Friday morning as it

breached the main gate of Camp

Okadama in Hokkaido, a JGSDF

spokesman said.

The soldier, who was guarding

the gate when the bear ap-

proached at about 7:50 a.m., suf-

fered minor injuries to his chest,

the spokesman said. It’s custom-

ary in Japan for some govern-

ment officials to speak to the

media on condition of anonymi-

ty.

The bear left the base, which is

in the city of Sapporo, at about

8:15 a.m., the spokesman said,

adding that the animal did not

cause any damage or affect base

operations.

A local hunters group shot and

killed the bear just after 11 a.m.

northeast of Okadama Airport,

which is adjacent to Camp Oka-

dama, the spokesman said.

The bear, which was between

5 feet and 6 ½ feet tall, had at-

tacked and injured other people

before entering the base, ac-

cording to the Asahi newspaper.

Those victims include a 40-

year-old man who suffered seri-

ous injuries, including a broken

chest bone, in an attack in a resi-

dential area, the newspaper re-

ported. A woman in her 80s and a

man in his 70s received minor

injuries.

The bear was first spotted in a

residential area at about 3:30

a.m., according to Jiji Press.

It had also entered the

grounds of Okadama Airport, in-

cluding the runway, temporarily

shutting down the runway and

canceling some flights, accord-

ing to the Asahi report.

Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting

A bear attacks a Japan Ground Self­Defense Force member outside Camp Okadama, Hokkaido, on Friday. 

Bear bites Japanesesoldier while breachinggate of Hokkaido base

BY HANA KUSUMOTO

Stars and Stripes

kusumoto.hana@stripes.comTwitter: @HanaKusumoto

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

KAISERSLAUTERN — Fully

vaccinated Americans can once

again travel to Germany to visit

friends, family and tourist destina-

tions, after a travel ban imposed

more than a year ago was lifted

Sunday.

“In view of falling infections in

several (non-EU) countries, the

federal government will allow en-

try for all purposes including tou-

rism,” the German Interior Minis-

try said Friday on its website.

Travelers from the United States

or any of the other seven countries,

regions and territories allowed into

Germany again must have been

fully vaccinated against the coro-

navirus at least 14 days before ar-

rival, Interior Ministry spokeswo-

man Alina Vick told Stars and

Stripes.

The vaccine must be one that has

been authorized for use by Germa-

ny’s medical regulator, the Paul

Ehrlich Institute — either the Mod-

erna, Pfizer or AstraZeneca vac-

cines, all of which require two

shots, or the single-dose Johnson &

Johnson vaccine.

Germany also considers a per-

son to be fully vaccinated if they

have had one dose of the AstraZe-

neca shot, followed by either the

Pfizer or Moderna shot, the Paul

Ehrlich Institute says on its web-

site.

Vick said fully vaccinated travel-

ers from the U.S. still have to pro-

vide a negative PCR or antigen test

and fill in an online registration

form, but Americans who entered

Germany in recent weeks have

said they were only asked for their

passport and CDC vaccination cer-

tificate.

The new rules took effect at mid-

night Sunday, according to Vick.

Travelers from Taiwan, Hong

Kong, Macau, Albania, Serbia,

North Macedonia and Lebanon are

also covered by the rule change.

Germany last year closed its bor-

ders to all Americans not traveling

on official business as coronavirus

infections soared in the U.S.

Last week, it dropped the U.S.

from a list of countries considered

risk areas for the coronavirus, as a

mass vaccination campaign that

began in January helped drive

down the incidence of the virus in

the country.

Germany to reopen to vaccinated AmericansBY KARIN ZEITVOGEL

Stars and Stripes

zeitvogel.karin@stripes.comTwitter: @Stripes.Zeit

KARIN ZEITVOGEL/Stars and Stripes

Travelers head to departure gates at Denver International Airport in Colorado.

TAIPEI — The United States

sent 2.5 million doses of the Mod-

erna COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan

on Sunday, tripling an earlier

pledge in a donation with both pub-

lic health and geopolitical mean-

ing.

The shipment arrived on a Chi-

na Airlines cargo plane that left

Memphis the previous day. Tai-

wan’s health minister, Chen Shih-

chung, and Brent Christensen, the

top U.S. official in Taiwan, were

among those who welcomed the

plane on the tarmac at the airport

outside of the capital, Taipei.

“The donation reflects our com-

mitment to Taiwan as a trusted

friend, and a member of the inter-

national family of democracies,”

the American Institute in Taiwan,

the de facto U.S. Embassy, wrote

on its Facebook page.

Taiwan, which had been rela-

tively unscathed by the virus, has

been caught off guard by a surge in

new cases since May and is now

scrambling to get vaccines. It has

ordered 5.05 million doses directly

from Moderna but so far received

only 390,000, including a second

shipment that arrived Friday.

The U.S. donation also signals its

support for Taiwan in the face of

growing pressure from China,

which claims the self-governing

island off its east coast as its terri-

tory. The U.S. does not have formal

diplomatic ties with Taiwan under

what is known as the one-China

policy, but is legally bound by its

own laws to ensure that Taiwan

can defend itself.

The U.S. promised 750,000 vac-

cine doses for Taiwan earlier this

month, sending Sen. Tammy

Duckworth and two of her Senate

colleagues to the island aboard a

military transport plane to make

the announcement. Taiwan’s

President Tsai Ing-wen said the

U.S. had decided to increase the

donation through efforts on both

sides over the past two weeks.

In a Facebook post, Tsai joined

the U.S. in drawing attention to

their shared democratic systems.

China, which has been ruled sin-

gle-handedly by the Communist

Party since 1949, says Taiwan

must eventually come under its

control and reserves the right to

use force if necessary.

“Whether it is for regional peace

and stability or the virus that is a

common human adversary, we

will continue to uphold common

ideas and work together,” Tsai

wrote in Chinese.

US sends 2.5M vaccine doses to Taiwan, tripling pledgeAssociated Press

said.

That rate of hesitancy generally

matched what other researchers

were finding in civilian popula-

tions, the study said.

The researchers believe the

findings remain relevant even as

the vaccination effort is in its sev-

enth month.

“Much of the concern was re-

garding short- and long-term ef-

fects of the vaccine, and as more

companies produce COVID-19

vaccines, there will be ongoing

questions related to the safety of

the vaccines,” Andrew Berglund,

one of the study’s nine authors and

a critical-care physician at the

Wright-Patterson Medical Cen-

ter, said in an email to Stars and

Stripes. “Future vaccines de-

signed to prevent COVID-19 or

other viruses will likely face simi-

lar concerns from the general

population in regards to the safety

and side effect profile.”

Berglund said the research

team did not have “concrete data”

to determine how prevalent those

early attitudes remain today.

“Based on my interactions with

patients, there is still concern

about long term side effects, but

possibly some decreased concern

regarding short term side ef-

fects,” he said.

As of Wednesday, roughly 84%

of sailors, Marines, soldiers and

airmen in the U.S. armed forces

had been either partially or fully

vaccinated, according to Defense

Department statistics.

Study participants were asked

their age, occupation and whether

they would accept a COVID-19

vaccine if offered it. They were

then given a list of possible con-

cerns about the new vaccine, in-

cluding short- and long-term side

effects, misinformation on the

vaccines, effectiveness, pain asso-

ciated with its administration,

possibility of recipient becoming

ill or infected with the coronavi-

rus, and issues involving pregnan-

cy or breastfeeding.

Participants could check as

many concerns as they had. Those

who were vaccine hesitant

showed significantly greater con-

cern about short- and long-term

side effects, the vaccine’s effec-

tiveness and whether the shot

would make them feel sick.

The vaccine-hesitant group was

younger, with a median age of

about 39, as compared to the

median age of 46 for the group that

did not feel vaccine reluctant.

Looked at another way, 38% of

participants ages 30 and younger

were vaccine hesitant compared

to the 18% expressing hesitancy

who were older than 30.

Respondents in the medical

field were also far more likely to

be hesitant than non-medical par-

ticipants.

“Vaccine hesitancy among

medical professionals is alarming,

since this group experiences CO-

VID-19 in their work environment

and is familiar with the associated

morbidity and mortality,” the re-

searchers said.

The study had some significant

limitations.

The survey took place at a single

Air Force base, so generalizing the

findings to other military bases

and services “should be done with

caution,” the study said.

In addition, only about 10% of

the base’s pool of roughly 8,000

possible respondents took the sur-

vey, and those who did were self-

selected rather than being chosen

randomly by the researchers.

Nevertheless, the researchers

concluded that the findings are of

particular importance “where re-

fusal to vaccinate is likely to im-

pact the ability of active-duty mil-

itary personnel to perform their

duties and may negatively impact

overall mission readiness.”

Study: Skepticism remains months after start of vaccination effort

olson.wyatt@stripes.comTwitter: @WyattWOlson

FROM PAGE 1

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

Barbara and Christine Colucci

long to remove their masks and

kiss their 102-year-old mother,

who has dementia and is in a nurs-

ing home in Rochester, N.Y. They

would love to have more than two

people in her room at a time so

that relatives can be there, too.

“We don’t know how much

longer she’s going to be alive,”

Christine Colucci said, “so it’s

like, please, give us this last

chance with her in her final

months on this earth to have that

interaction.”

Pandemic restrictions are fall-

ing away almost everywhere —

except inside many of America’s

nursing homes. Rules designed to

protect the nation’s most vulner-

able from COVID-19 are still be-

ing enforced even though 75% of

nursing home residents are now

vaccinated and infections and

deaths have plummeted.

Frustration has set in as fam-

ilies around the country visit their

moms and, this Father’s Day

weekend, their dads. Hugs and

kisses are still discouraged or

banned in some nursing homes.

Residents are dining in relative

isolation and playing bingo and

doing crafts at a distance. Visits

are limited and must be kept

short, and are cut off entirely if

someone tests positive for the cor-

onavirus.

Family members and advo-

cates question the need for such

restrictions at this stage of the

pandemic, when the risk is com-

paratively low. They say the mea-

sures are now just prolonging ol-

der people’s isolation and acceler-

ating their mental and physical

decline.

“They have protected them to

death,” said Denise Gracely,

whose 80-year-old mother, Mar-

ian Rauenzahn, lives in a nursing

home in Topton, Pa.

Rauenzahn had COVID-19 and

then lost part of a leg to gangrene,

but Gracely said what she strug-

gled with the most was enforced

solitude, going from six-day-a-

week visits to none at all.

Rauenzahn’s daughters eventu-

ally won the right to see her once a

week, and the nursing home now

says it plans to relax the rules on

visits for all residents in late June.

But it has not been not enough, as

far as Gracely is concerned.

“I believe it’s progressed her

dementia,” Gracely said. “She’s

very lonely. She wants out of there

so bad.”

Pennsylvania’s long-term care

ombudsman has received hun-

dreds of complaints about visiting

rules this year. Kim Shetler, a da-

ta specialist in the ombudsman’s

office, said some nursing homes’

COVID-19 restrictions go beyond

what state and federal guidelines

require. Administrators have

been doing what they feel is nec-

essary to keep people safe, she

said, but families are understan-

dably upset.

“We’ve done our darndest to

advocate for folks to get those vis-

itation rights,” she said. “It’s their

home. They should have that right

to come and go and have the vis-

itors that they choose.”

MATT SLOCUM/AP

Angela Ermold, right, and her sister, Denise Gracely, hold a photo of their mother, Marian Rauenzahn, onThursday in Fleetwood, Pa.

Elder-care virus rules under fireBY MICHAEL RUBINKAM

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO — Anti-

government protesters took to

the streets in more than a score

of cities across Brazil on Satur-

day as the nation’s confirmed

death toll from COVID-19

soared past half a million — a

tragedy many critics blame on

President Jair Bolsonaro’s at-

tempt to minimize the disease.

Thousands gathered in down-

town Rio de Janeiro waving

flags with slogans such as “Get

out Bolsonaro. Government of

hunger and unemployment.”

“Brazil is experiencing a

great setback. The country was

an exemplary country for vacci-

nation in the world. We have

widely recognized institutions,

but today we are in a sad situa-

tion,” said Isabela Gouljor, a 20-

year-old student who joined the

protest in Rio.

Other marchers hoisted post-

ers reading: “500 thousand

deaths. It’s his fault,” alluding

to Bolsonaro.

Similar marches took place in

at least 22 or Brazil’s 26 states,

as well as in the Federal Dis-

trict, Brasilia. They were pro-

moted by left-wing opposition

parties who have been heart-

ened by Bolsonaro’s declining

poll ratings with next year’s

presidential race looming.

“Get out Bolsonaro, genoci-

dal,” yelled Rio demonstrators,

some of them wearing t-shirts

or masks with the image of for-

mer leftist President Luiz In-

acio Lula da Silva — who leads

Bolsonaro in some polls.

In São Paulo, protesters drop-

ped red balloons as a tribute to

the victims of the virus

Bolsonaro’s supporters have

taken more often to the streets

over the past month, in large

part because many agree with

his dismissal of restrictions

meant to stifle the coronavirus

and anger that lockdown mea-

sures have hurt businesses.

Critics say such messages, as

well as Bolsonaro’s promotion

of disproven treatments such as

hydroxychloroquine, have con-

tributed to the soaring death toll

and a sluggish vaccine cam-

paign that has fully inoculated

less than 12% of the population.

The country of some 213 million

people is registering nearly

100,000 new infections and

2,000 deaths a day.

“For the leftists, putting their

followers in the streets is a way

of wearing Bolsonaro down for

the election,” said Leandro Con-

sentino, a political science pro-

fessor at Insper, a university in

São Paulo. “But at the same

time, they are contradicting

themselves and losing the dis-

course of maintaining health

care, because they are causing

the same agglomerations as

Bolsonaro.”

Saturday’s marches came

about a week after Bolsonaro

led a massive motorcycle pa-

rade of supporters in São Paulo,

though his allies and foes differ

dramatically on the size of that

event.

“Bolsonaro needs to show that

he maintains significant sup-

port to give a message of

strength to those who are inves-

tigating the actions of his gov-

ernment in Congress,” Consen-

tino said.

Brazil tops 500Kdeaths; protestscontinue to riseBY MARCELO SILVA DE SOUSA

Associated Press

LONDON — Thousands of heavy metal

fans were camping, singing — and even

moshing — on Saturday at Britain’s first

full music festival since the start of the

coronavirus pandemic.

The three-day Download Festival, tak-

ing place at Donington Park in central En-

gland, is one of a series of test events to see

whether mass gatherings can resume

without triggering outbreaks of CO-

VID-19.

About 10,000 fans, a tenth of the festiv-

al’s pre-pandemic attendance, secured

tickets to watch more than 40 U.K.-based

bands including Frank Carter & The

Rattlesnakes, Enter Shikari and Bullet for

My Valentine.

Attendees all took COVID-19 tests be-

fore the event, and they don’t have to wear

masks or follow social distancing rules

during the festival.

Promoter Andy Copping said there was

a “real sense of euphoria” at the event,

which ran through Sunday, despite the

wet weather lashing much of the United

Kingdom after several weeks of warm

sunshine.

“It wouldn’t be Download unless there

was a bit of rain,” he said.

Concertgoer Alexander Milas said rain

and mud would not mar the event.

“In a way it makes it better,” he said. “It

is amazing how that brings people togeth-

er. The sheer misery and joy of being

around a lot of like-minded, really won-

derful people. I feel like it is perfect be-

cause it’s like ‘Weather be damned, we are

going to have a great time.’”

Britain has recorded almost 128,000

coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Eu-

rope. The government has delayed the lift-

ing of remaining social and economic re-

strictions for four weeks from the planned

June 21 date amid a rise in cases driven by

the highly contagious delta variant first

identified in India.

Health officials are aiming to give ev-

eryone 18 and over in the U.K. a first dose

of vaccine by July 19, and to have every-

one over 50 fully vaccinated with both

doses.

All mass events in Britain were can-

celed in March 2020 when the country en-

tered the first of three lockdowns. Crowds

are starting to return to performances and

sporting events as part of the pilot pro-

gram, with capacity limits being in-

creased despite a nationwide surge in in-

fections.

A Euro 2020 soccer semifinal and the

tournament final at Wembley Stadium in

July will be played in front of about 40,000

fans, about half capacity. The government

plans to allow full-capacity crowds of

15,000 to watch the women’s and men’s

Wimbledon tennis finals on July 10 and 11.

Metal fans mosh at 1st UK live music festival since pandemicBY JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

ATLANTA — Tropical Depres-

sion Claudette claimed 12 lives in

Alabama as the storm swept

across the southeastern U.S.,

causing flash flooding and spur-

ring tornadoes that destroyed doz-

ens of homes.

Ten people, including nine chil-

dren, were killed Saturday in a 15-

vehicle crash about 35 miles south

of Montgomery on Interstate 65,

according to Butler County Coro-

ner Wayne Garlock.

He said the vehicles likely hy-

droplaned on wet roads, with eight

children, ages 4 to 17, killed in a

van belonging to a youth ranch op-

erated by the Alabama Sheriffs

Association for abused or neglect-

ed children. A man and a 9-month-

old baby died in a separate vehi-

cle. Multiple people were also in-

jured.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old man

and a 3-year-old boy were killed

when a tree fell on their house just

outside the Tuscaloosa city limits

Saturday, Capt. Marty Sellers of

the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes

Unit told The Tuscaloosa News.

The deaths occurred as drench-

ing rains pelted northern Alaba-

ma and Georgia late Saturday. As

much as 12 inches of rain was re-

ported earlier from Claudette

along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The eight girls killed in the van

were returning to a youth ranch

operated by the Alabama Sheriffs

Association near Camp Hill,

northeast of Montgomery, from a

week at the beach in Gulf Shores,

youth ranches CEO Michael

Smith told The Associated Press.

He said the director of the Talla-

poosa County ranch survived the

crash and was hospitalized in

Montgomery. At least one of the

dead was a child of the director,

Smith said.

“This is the worst tragedy I’ve

been a part of in my life,” said

Smith, who was driving Sunday to

Camp Hill to talk to the remaining

residents, who had returned from

Gulf Shores in a separate van and

did not see the wreck.

“Words cannot explain what I

saw,” Smith said of the accident

site, which he visited Saturday.

“We love these girls like they’re

our own children.”

Garlock said the location of the

wreck is “notorious” for hydro-

planing, as the northbound high-

way curves down a hill to a small

creek. Traffic on that stretch of

I-65 is usually filled with vacation-

ers driving to and from Gulf of

Mexico beaches on summer

weekends.

“Butler County has had one of

the most terrible traffic acci-

dents,” county Sheriff Danny

Bond wrote on Facebook, adding:

“I believe is the worst ever in our

county.”

The Tallapoosa County school

system said counselors would be

available Sunday at Reeltown

High School, where some of the

ranch residents were students.

Smith said the ranch, which is

Christian-based, would likely

have a memorial service later,

asking for prayers as he began to

cry.

Storm likelycause of deadlycrash in Alabama

Associated Press

ALICIA JOSSEY/AP

Debris covers the street Saturday in East Brewton, Ala. Authorities in Alabama say a suspected tornadospurred by Tropical Storm Claudette demolished or badly damaged at least 50 homes in the small town. 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space-

walking astronauts equipped the Inter-

national Space Station with the first in a

series of powerful new solar panels Sun-

day, overcoming suit problems and oth-

er obstacles with muscle and persist-

ence.

It took two spacewalks for French as-

tronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA as-

tronaut Shane Kimbrough to install and

unfurl the panel to its full 63 foot length.

The solar wing unrolled like a red car-

pet once the final set of bolts was re-

leased, relying solely on pent-up ener-

gy. The slow but steady extension took

10 minutes, with station cameras pro-

viding live TV views.

“It is beautiful,” Pesquet called out.

“Well done, both of you,” Mission

Control replied once the operation was

complete. “That was great to see.”

The astronauts started Sunday’s

spacewalk picking up where they left off

Wednesday, when a string of problems

prevented them from unrolling the

high-tech solar panel.

“Remember: You are butterflies with

biceps today,” astronaut Megan McAr-

thur radioed from inside.

After pushing and tugging, the space-

walkers managed to unfold and align the

solar panel so both halves were now end

to end, resembling a roll of paper tow-

els. Their shout of “Woo-hoo!” was met

with applause in Mission Control.

The two had to wait until they were

back on the night side of Earth — and

the station’s old solar panels were no

longer soaking up sunlight and generat-

ing power — before making the final

power connections. Otherwise, they

could be shocked.

While awaiting darkness, the camera-

and-light assembly on Kimbrough’s hel-

met came loose, even though he’d

switched to a different suit to avoid the

trouble he encountered last time. Pes-

quet did his best to secure it with wire

ties, as the minutes ticked by. His effort

paid off, and the final step — the actual

unfurling — went off without a hitch.

Spacewalking astronauts install new solar panelAssociated Press

WASHINGTON — As ransom-

ware attacks surge, the FBI is dou-

bling down on its guidance to af-

fected businesses: Don’t pay the

cybercriminals. But the U.S. gov-

ernment also offers a little-noticed

incentive for those who do pay:

The ransoms may be tax deducti-

ble.

The IRS offers no formal guid-

ance on ransomware payments,

but multiple tax experts inter-

viewed by The Associated Press

said deductions are usually al-

lowed under law and established

guidance. It’s a “silver lining” to

ransomware victims, as some tax

lawyers and accountants put it.

But those looking to discourage

payments are less sanguine. They

fear the deduction is a potentially

problematic incentive that could

entice businesses to pay ransoms

against the advice of law enforce-

ment. At a minimum, they say, the

deductibility sends a discordant

message to businesses under du-

ress.

“It seems a little incongruous to

me,” said New York Rep. John

Katko, the top Republican on the

House Committee on Homeland

Security.

Deductibility is a piece of a big-

ger quandary stemming from the

rise in ransomware attacks, in

which cybercriminals scramble

computer data and demand pay-

ment for unlocking the files. The

government doesn’t want pay-

ments that fund criminal gangs

and could encourage more at-

tacks. But failing to pay can have

devastating consequences for

businesses and potentially for the

economy overall.

Aransomware attack on Coloni-

al Pipeline last month led to gas

shortages in parts of the United

States. The company, which trans-

ports about 45% of fuel consumed

on the East Coast, paid a ransom of

75 bitcoin — then valued at rough-

ly $4.4 million. An attack on JBS

SA, the world’s largest meat proc-

essing company, threatened to

disrupt food supplies. The compa-

ny said it had paid the equivalent

of $11 million to hackers who

broke into its computer system.

Ransomware has become a

multibillion-dollar business, and

the average payment was more

than $310,000 last year, up 171%

from 2019, according to Palo Alto

Networks.

The companies that pay ran-

somware demands directly are

well within their rights to claim a

deduction, tax experts said. To be

tax deductible, business expenses

should be considered ordinary

and necessary. Companies have

long been able to deduct losses

from more traditional crimes,

such as robbery or embezzlement,

and experts say ransomware pay-

ments are usually valid, too.

“I would counsel a client to take

a deduction for it,” says Scott Har-

ty, a corporate tax attorney with

Alston & Bird. “It fits the defini-

tion of an ordinary and necessary

expense.”

Ransom payments made to cybercriminals may be tax deductibleAssociated Press

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

NATION

WILTON MANORS, Fla. — A

driver slammed into spectators

Saturday evening at the start of a

Pride parade in South Florida,

killing one man and seriously in-

juring another, authorities said.

Some witnesses said the crash

appeared to be an intentional act,

but Fort Lauderdale Police Detec-

tive Ali Adamson told reporters

that authorities were investigat-

ing all possibilities.

The collision happened during

the Wilton Manors Stonewall

Pride Parade. Wilton Manors is

just north of Fort Lauderdale.

The driver and the victims were

a part of the Fort Lauderdale Gay

Men’s Chorus family, according to

a statement reported by news out-

lets from the group’s president,

Justin Knight.

“To my knowledge, it was an ac-

cident. This was not an attack on

the LGBTQ community,” Knight

said in the statement. “We antici-

pate more details to follow and ask

for the community’s love and sup-

port.”

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean

Trantalis said a driver of a pickup

truck suddenly accelerated when

he was told he was next in the pa-

rade, crashing into the victims, ac-

cording to WSVN-TV.

In the immediate aftermath of

the crash, Trantalis said he be-

lieved the crash was “deliberate.”

Police said the driver was taken

into custody, but it was unclear

whether he had been charged.

Photos and video from the scene

showed Democratic U.S. Rep.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz in

tears while in a convertible at the

parade.

In a statement Saturday night,

Wasserman Schultz said she was

safe but “deeply shaken and dev-

astated that a life was lost.”

“I am so heartbroken by what

took place at this celebration,” she

said. “May the memory of the life

lost be for a blessing.”

Spectator Christina Currie told

the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

that she was with her family at the

start of the parade.

“All of a sudden there was a loud

revving of a truck and a crash

through a fence,” Currie said. “It

was definitely an intentional act

right across the lanes of traffic.”

Wilton Manors police tweeted

Saturday night that the public is

not in danger.

“Though authorities are still

gathering information, we know

two individuals marching to cele-

brate inclusion and equality were

struck by a vehicle,” Broward

County Sheriff Gregory Tony said

in a statement.

“This tragedy took place within

feet of me and my (Broward Sher-

iff’s Office) team, and we are dev-

astated having witnessed this hor-

rific incident.”

June is Pride Month, commem-

orating the June 1969 police raid

targeting gay patrons at the Stone-

wall Inn in New York that led to an

uprising of LGBTQ Americans

and served as a catalyst for the gay

rights movement.

Driver crashesinto Fla. Prideparade crowd

Associated Press

CHRIS DAY, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN­SENTINEL/AP

A truck drove into a crowd of people during The Stonewall PrideParade and Street Festival in Wilton Manors, Fla., on Saturday.

SHOW LOW, Ariz. — A driver

in a pickup truck plowed into bicy-

clists during a community road

race in Arizona on Saturday, crit-

ically injuring several riders be-

fore police chased the driver and

shot him outside a nearby hard-

ware store, authorities said.

Six people were taken to a hos-

pital in critical condition after the

crash in the mountain town of

Show Low, about a three-hour

drive northeast of Phoenix, police

said. Helmets, shoes and crum-

pled and broken bicycles were

strewn across the street after the

crash, and a tire was wedged into

the grill of the truck, which had

damage to its top and sides and a

bullet hole in a window.

Two other people went to a hos-

pital themselves, city spokeswo-

man Grace Payne said, and one of

the severely injured was later

flown by medical helicopter to a

Phoenix-area hospital.

The suspect, a 35-year-old man,

was also hospitalized in critical

but stable condition.

“We don’t know the motiva-

tion,” Payne told The Associated

Press. “We know he fled the

scene.”

Police said a Ford pickup truck

struck the bicyclists about 7:25

a.m. in downtown Show Low dur-

ing the annual 58-mile Bike the

Bluff race, then fled. Officers pur-

sued the driver and tried to stop

him before he was shot, author-

ities said.

Payne said the driver did not

comply when officers tried to ar-

rest him, but the circumstances of

the shooting were not immediate-

ly released. Neither were the iden-

tities of the suspect and victims.

Officials said the race had 270

participants.

“Our community is shocked at

this incident and our hearts and

prayers are with the injured and

their families at this time,” police

spokeswoman Kristine Sleighter

said in a statement.

Rhe Navajo County sheriff’s of-

fice and the Arizona Department

of Public Safety were helping in-

vestigate. U.S. 60, the main street

in the town tucked in the White

Mountains, was closed in the area.

JIM HEADLEY/AP

Police said a driver in a pickup truck plowed into bicyclists competing in a community road race in Arizonaon Saturday, critically injuring several riders.

Driver hits cyclists in Ariz.race, critically injuring 6

Associated Press

COOS BAY, Ore. — A man

sought in the killings of three

people after a hit-and-run crash

near a casino and a shooting at a

marijuana dispensary in a small

Oregon city was still at large Sat-

urday.

The suspect, who was consid-

ered armed and dangerous, was

not found after a manhunt Fri-

day, Coos County District Attor-

ney Paul Frasier said.

The Oregonian/OregonLive

reported that the man is suspect-

ed of killing a person and steal-

ing their truck before running

over two people Friday near a

casino in the coastal city of

North Bend, leaving one of them

dead.

He’s then accused of shooting

and killing someone inside a

cannabis shop in the city about

220 miles southwest of Portland.

Frasier identified the person

fatally struck at an RV park at

the Mill Casino as 74-year-old

Anthony Oyster.

His wife, 73-year-old Linda

Oyster, was also hit and was in

critical condition at a hospital

Saturday. They are a couple

from Florida, Frasier said.

The prosecutor said 47-year-

old Coos Bay resident Jennifer

L. Davidson was fatally shot at

the marijuana dispensary.

Authorities have not been able

to notify the family of the third

person who was killed, so their

name has not been released.

Officials also “have not been

able to identify the name and

other pertinent information of

the suspect in this case,” Frasier

said in a news release.

Authorities found the stolen

truck Friday near the small

community of Noti, on a highway

north of where the wave of vio-

lence took place.

The truck had been set ablaze,

Frasier said.

Lane County sheriff’s depu-

ties and Oregon State Police

troopers searched unsuccess-

fully for the man in the woods,

and residents were asked to stay

inside.

Police seek man suspected of marijuanadispensary shooting, hit-and-run crash

Associated Press

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Teen’s message in bottlegets reply from Portugal

VT ROYALTON — A Ver-

mont teen’s message in

a bottle that traveled over 2,000

miles to the Azores, a small Portu-

guese archipelago, has received a

response back.

Sean Smith, now 16, sent out a

message in a bottle in 2018 on

Thanksgiving day with his family

in Rhode Island, the Valley News

reported.

Smith left an email address on a

note in case the bottle was ever

found.

Three years later, the message

was found by Boston-born Portu-

guese teen Christian Santos. San-

tos said he often picks up trash

floating in the water out of respect

for the environment. He fished out

the Powerade bottle and followed

the instructions to message the

email address, the newspaper

said.

Forgetting that he even sent out

the bottle as a child, Smith also for-

got the email password. Smith dis-

covered that Santos found his bot-

tle through a post on Facebook

made by Christian’s mom, Molly

Santos.

The teens met over Zoom for the

first time, the newspaper said.

Guards fired after womandragged down bar stairs

DC WASHINGTON —

The owners of a Wash-

ington, D.C., bar said they are in-

vestigating an incident in which

security guards were seen drag-

ging a Black woman down a stair-

case and throwing her out of the

bar.

Nellie’s Sports Bar’s owners al-

so said on Facebook that they have

“terminated, with immediate ef-

fect, the independent security

vendor hired to protect our guests

during Pride Week.”

Video posted on social media

showed a bouncer dragging the

woman — identified by local

media as Keisha Young, 22 —

down the stairs as observers

scream, “Oh my God!” Some pa-

trons are then seen fighting with

the guards.

“No matter what behavior oc-

curred prior, nothing warrants

mistreating, and disrespecting,

one of our guests,” the owners

said.

Man with machete killedanother at grow house

FL TAMPA — A Florida

man was convicted of

killing a man with a machete after

he and others broke into a mari-

juana grow house, prosecutors

said in a press release.

A judge in Hillsborough County

sentenced Yuniel Sentmanat-

Gonzalez, 41, to life in prison after

a jury convicted him of first-de-

gree felony murder, burglary of a

dwelling and attempted robbery.

The victim was operating a

marijuana grow house inside his

Brandon home when Sentmanat-

Gonzalez and five others wearing

masks shattered a sliding glass

door and rushed into the house in

2015. The victim fought back and

pulled the mask off one of the at-

tackers while pushing them out of

the house.

Couple wins their secondlarge lottery prize

ID BOISE — A southwest-

ern Idaho couple who

won $50,000 playing the Idaho

Lottery last spring defied the odds

by winning an additional $200,000

this month.

Idaho Lottery officials said

Diane Chavez and her husband

won the latest prize after purchas-

ing a ticket in Nampa, where they

live.

Lottery officials said the chanc-

es of winning the $200,000 prize

with the Scratch ticket are one in

169,208.

Semitrailer overturns,spills milk along freeway

MI HOLLAND TOWN-

SHIP — Milk spilled

from an overturned semitrailer

shut down traffic for several hours

along part of a freeway in western

Michigan.

The truck’s driver drifted from

the roadway of Interstate 196 in

Holland Township before over-

turning, according to the Ottawa

County sheriff’s office.

Another tanker from the truck-

ing company was called in to

pump the remaining milk from the

semitrailer. A county hazardous

materials team assisted cleaning

the milk from the roadway.

The sheriff’s office did not re-

port how much milk was hauled or

how much spilled.

Man faked kidnapping toscam grandparents

NC GREENVILLE — A

man faked his kidnap-

ping to get ransom money out of

his grandparents to pay off a drug

dealer, a North Carolina sheriff’s

office said.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office

said in a news release that depu-

ties received a call from a person

who said his grandson had been

kidnapped and that his abductors

demanded a ransom.

According to the news release,

Jeremy Nichols, 34, of Grimes-

land, returned to his grandpar-

ents' home unharmed, after which

detectives determined the kidnap-

ping was a hoax created by Ni-

chols and a drug dealer to get the

grandfather to pay off a debt.

The sheriff’s office charged Ni-

chols with extortion and conspir-

acy to obtain property by false

pretense.

School investigatesantisemitism in yearbook

MA SEEKONK — A Mas-

sachusetts middle

school is investigating after anti-

semitic imagery and other inap-

propriate words and drawings

were found drawn in student year-

books, schools officials said.

The eighth-grade students at

Hurley Middle School in Seekonk

“drew anti-Semitic imagery, a

racist slur, and inappropriate

drawings of a sexual nature, in

multiple yearbooks during the

school’s annual yearbook signing

event,” district Superintendent

Rich Drolet wrote in a letter to

parents, WPRI and WJAR report-

ed.

Although the inappropriate lan-

guage and imagery was found in

about 20 yearbooks, all were con-

fiscated and police were in-

formed.

“We are taking this issue very

seriously and any students found

to be involved in this incident will

face appropriate disciplinary ac-

tions within the district,” Drolet

wrote. “It is our goal to create an

inclusive and accepting commu-

nity of schools in Seekonk, and this

type of behavior goes against our

core values.”

State is first to make allprison phone calls free

CT HARTFORD — Con-

necticut became the

first state to make all prison phone

calls free, addressing one of the

biggest emotional and financial

burdens faced by incarcerated

men and women and their fam-

ilies as they try to stay in touch.

The state has a prison contract

with phone vendor Securus Tech-

nologies, which charges up to $5

for a 15-minute call. Those are

some of the highest phone rates in

the country.

The bill was signed into law by

Gov. Ned Lamont and could go in-

to effect as early as next month,

supporters said. It allows incar-

cerated men, women and juve-

niles a minimum of 90 minutes a

day of free calls.

“We’re on the right side of histo-

ry,” said Democratic Rep. Josh El-

liott, one of the supporters of the

legislation. “Corporations can no

longer be allowed to exploit the

love between incarcerated people

and their families — not in our

state, not on our watch.”

PAM PANCHAK, PITTSBURGH POST­GAZETTE/AP

Dave D’Incau pauses to wave to a passerby while creating a painting of the house on the corner of Center Street and Woodworth Avenue in histown of Wilkinsburg, Pa. He has been working on the painting, a gift for a friend, for a few days at the corner.

Art imitating life

THE CENSUS

63 The approximate number of golf carts a Minnesota man ischarged with stealing. An FBI affidavit filed in North Dakota

said the man is suspected of stealing at least 63 carts in at least seven states,including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin in recentyears. KVRR reported the man was arrested June 11 in Georgia while trying tosteal golf carts in a city there.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO — Two

brothers from San Francisco say

they have set a record for the long-

est highline ever walked in both

Yosemite National Park and Cali-

fornia, the San Francisco Chroni-

cle reported.

Earlier this month, they and a

group of friends spent nearly a

week stringing a single, 2,800-

foot-long line from Taft Point west

across a series of gulleys that

plunge 1,600 feet.

Moises and Daniel Monterru-

bio, brothers who are training to

be rope-access technicians, had

been thinking about crossing that

void for a year.

“Every time we’d go out there,

we’d think about that line,” Moises

Monterrubio, 26, told the Chroni-

cle.

Highlining is high-altitude

slacklining, in which a narrow

strip of strong, nylon webbing —

usually an inch wide and a few

millimeters thick — is strung be-

tween two anchor points and

serves as a kind of balance beam.

Completing a line means care-

fully heel-toeing from one end to

the other while wearing a waist-

harness that links to a 3-inch steel

ring around the webbing. In a fall,

walkers remain attached, but they

have to haul themselves back up to

balance or shimmy back to an an-

chor point while dangling upside

down.

The sport in the past decade has

flourished into a culture of ath-

letes, gear brands and sponsor-

ships.

Over the course of six days ear-

lier this month, the Monterrubios

used the help of 18 friends and fel-

low highliners to navigate their

webbing through and across the

landscape — hiking lines up from

the valley floor, rappelling down

from the cliffs above and maneu-

vering through countless tree

branches.

Eventually, they had their an-

chors: a set of granite boulders at

Taft Point and an old, thick tree

trunk at the other outcropping.

“It was pretty intense and dan-

gerous. But we made it happen,”

Monterrubio said.

The group received permission

from national park staffers in ad-

vance, he said.

The longest line walked in Yose-

mite had been a 954-footer ex-

tending from Taft Point to an an-

chor east.

The new line was almost three

times that length.

It all came together at sunset

June 10: The line was set, the

brothers were ready and the hon-

or was theirs.

Daniel, 23, walked the line first

and fell three or four times in the

wind but made it across. Then

Moises, also falling twice but

catching himself on the line above

the craggy landscape.

Yosemitesite ofrecordhighline

Associated Press

SCOTT OLLER/AP

Highliner Daniel Monterrubiowalks the 2,800­foot­long lineoff Taft Point above YosemiteValley June 12 in Yosemite, Calif.

NATION

Parades, picnics and lessons in

history marked Juneteenth cele-

brations Saturday in the U.S., a day

that carried even more signifi-

cance after Congress and Presi-

dent Joe Biden created a federal

holiday to commemorate the end

of slavery.

A new national holiday was “re-

ally awesome. It’s starting to rec-

ognize the African American ex-

perience,” said Detroit artist Hub-

ert Massey, 63. “But we still have a

long way to go.”

In Detroit, which is 80% Black,

students from University Prep Art

& Design High School dodged rain

to repaint Massey’s block-long

message, “Power to the People,”

which was created last year on

downtown Woodward Avenue.

The “o” in “Power” was a red fist

in memory of George Floyd and

other victims of excessive force by

police, Massey said.

“We did the original,” said Oli-

via Jones, 15, leaning on a long

paint roller. “It’s important that we

return and share that same ener-

gy.”

Juneteenth commemorates

June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers

brought the news of freedom to en-

slaved Black people in Galveston,

Texas, two months after the Con-

federacy had surrendered. It was

about 2½ years after the Emanci-

pation Proclamation freed slaves

in Southern states.

Biden on Thursday signed a bill

creating Juneteenth National In-

dependence Day. Since June 19

fell on a Saturday, the government

observed the holiday Friday. At

least nine states have designated it

in law as an official paid state holi-

day, all but one acting after Floyd,

aBlack man, was killed last year in

Minneapolis.

In Galveston, the birthplace of

the holiday, celebrations included

the dedication of a 5,000-square-

foot mural titled “Absolute Equal-

ity.” Opal Lee, 94, who was at Bi-

den’s side when he signed the bill,

returned to Fort Worth, Texas, to

lead a 2.5-mile walk symbolizing

the 2½ years it took for slaves in

Texas to find out they’d been freed.

Officials in Bristol, R.I., un-

veiled a marker that describes the

seaport’s role in the slave trade.

The marker was placed at the Lin-

den Place Museum, a mansion

built by Gen. George DeWolf, who

was a slave trader. The Rhode Is-

land Slave History Medallion or-

ganization raises public aware-

ness about the state’s role in slav-

ery.

Food, live music, games and po-

etry readings were on the agenda

at a park in Kansas City, Mo., at an

event organized by Black Rain-

bow, a relatively new group advo-

cating for oppressed people.

“Given the last year of trauma,

brutality and grief that the Black

community suffered on a daily ba-

sis, it is essential to our survival

that we make moments for joy, for

love and for celebrating our resil-

ience,” said co-founder Ryan Sor-

rell.

Hundreds of people gathered

for a free concert in New York’s

Times Square organized by The

Broadway League, the trade group

for the Broadway entertainment

industry.

AJuneteenth parade was held in

Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb

that is using tax revenue from

marijuana sales to offer housing

grants to Black residents for past

discrimination and the lingering

effects of slavery.

New York civil rights activist

the Rev. Al Sharpton offered a

tough message during a speech at

his National Action Network, say-

ing Senate Republicans who voted

unanimously to make Juneteenth

a federal holiday should also sup-

port Democratic bills that change

voting laws and make it easier to

crack down on rogue police offi-

cers.

“The celebration of Juneteenth

is not a party. ... The way to deal

with Juneteenth now is to deal with

where race is in 2021,” Sharpton

said.

Juneteenth, recalling end ofslavery, is marked across US

Associated Press

DREW PERINE/AP

Tacoma resident Patricia Slater does her best to keep up with Sophia Bajinya, 16, who pulled her from theaudience to participate in a traditional Ghanian dance Saturday at Wright Park, in Tacoma, Wash.

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

WORLD

US student found dead inRussia, suspect arrested

MOSCOW — Russian news re-

ports said searchers on Saturday

found the body of an American

student who went missing several

days earlier and that a man has

been arrested on suspicion of

murder.

The body of Catherine Serou,

34, was found in a wooded area

near the city of Bor, 250 miles east

of Moscow, the reports said.

Local news reports said Serou

was last seen on Tuesday after get-

ting into a car. Her mother, Beccy

Serou, of Vicksburg, Miss., told

NPR that her daughter had last

texted her: “In a car with a strang-

er. I hope I’m not being abducted.”

Russia’s Investigative Commit-

tee said in a statement that a wom-

an’s body was found in Bor and

that a suspect with a record of se-

rious crimes had been arrested,

but did not give names. The cause

of death was not specified.

Catherine Serou moved from

California to Russia in 2019 to

study law at a university in Nizhny

Novgorod, a major city adjacent to

Bor, news reports said.

The Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia — Aus-

tralia’s suppression of information

seen as pivotal to a free and open

media is at the center of accusa-

tions that the country has become

one of the world’s most secretive

democracies.

Last week, a former Australian

spy was convicted over his uncon-

firmed role as a whistleblower

who revealed an espionage oper-

ation against the government of

East Timor.

It’s the latest high-profile case in

anational system in which secrecy

laws, some dating back to the colo-

nial era, are routinely used to sup-

press information. Police have al-

so threatened to charge journalists

who exposed war crime allega-

tions against Australian special

forces in Afghanistan, or bureau-

crats’ plan to allow an intelligence

agency to spy on Australian citi-

zens.

Australians don’t even know the

name of the former spy convicted

Friday. The Canberra court regis-

try listed him as “Witness K.”

Kspent the two-day hearing in a

box constructed from black

screens to hide his identity. The

public and media were sent out of

the courtroom when classified evi-

dence was discussed, which was

about half the time.

The only sign that anyone was

actually inside the box was when a

voice said “guilty” after K was

asked how he pleaded.

The Australian government has

refused to comment on allegations

that K led an Australian Secret In-

telligence Service operation that

bugged government offices in the

East Timorese capital in 2004, dur-

ing negotiations on the sharing of

oil and gas revenue from the

seabed that separates the two

countries.

There was no evidence heard in

open court of a bugging operation,

which media reported was con-

ducted under the guise of a foreign

aid program.

K was given a three-month sus-

pended sentence. If he’d been sent

to prison, there were court orders

designed to conceal his former es-

pionage career by restricting what

he could tell friends and associates

to explain his predicament.

Andrew Wilkie, a former gov-

ernment intelligence analyst

whistleblower who’s now an inde-

pendent federal lawmaker, is a vo-

cal critic of national security being

used as an excuse to pander to par-

anoia and shield embarrassment.

Wilkie opposed the prosecution

of K and his former lawyer Ber-

nard Collaery. Collaery is fighting

a charge that he conspired with K

to reveal secrets to East Timor,

and wants his trial to be open.

“I am in no doubt that one of the

reasons for the secrecy around the

K and Collaery matter is the enor-

mous political embarrassment

that we were spying on one of the

poorest countries in the world to

get an upper hand in a business ne-

gotiation,” Wilkie said.

Australia accused of excessive secrecyAssociated Press

ROD MCGUIRK/AP

Demonstrators hold a banner during a protest outside ParliamentHouse on Thursday in Canberra, Australia, against the prosecution oflawyer Bernard Collaery.

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

Lt. Col. Michael Kerschbaum, Pacific commander

Michael Ryan, Pacific chief of staff

EDITORIAL

Terry Leonard, Editorleonard.terry@stripes.com

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Sean Moores, Managing Editor for Presentationmoores.sean@stripes.com

Joe Gromelski, Managing Editor for Digitalgromelski.joe@stripes.com

BUREAU STAFF

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stripes.com

OPINION

Abipartisan group of senators has

proposed indexing the gas tax to

inflation. That would be an im-

provement over the current sys-

tem, but it wouldn’t fix the structural prob-

lems with the gas tax. What the U.S. needs to

do is adopt a vehicle-miles-traveled tax —

and create the technological infrastructure

for much more efficient transportation sys-

tem.

The federal gas tax hasn’t been raised

since 1993, and as a result its real value has

been cut in half, requiring Congress to regu-

larly top-up the Highway Trust Fund. The

gas tax was supposed to steadily fill the

fund’s accounts, allowing Congress to allo-

cate the money to new capital projects. The

idea was for the heaviest users of the high-

ways to bear most of the cost of their con-

struction.

It hasn’t worked out that way. The Con-

gressional Budget Office currently projects

that the highway account will run a cumula-

tive deficit of $113 billion between now and

2030. Two factors led Congress to the cur-

rent predicament.

First, since President George H.W.

Bush’s defeat in 1992, Republicans have in-

creasingly signed on to the idea that net tax-

es should never be raised. Democrats,

meanwhile, say that they should only be

raised on the rich.

Second, the popularity of SUVs in the

1990s and early 2000s drove gasoline con-

sumption up faster than vehicle miles dri-

ven. So for the same level of highway usage,

the federal government collected more

money. That trend reversed itself in the

mid-2000s, sending revenues into steady de-

cline even as highway construction costs

continued to rise.

The first of these problems would be

solved by indexing the gas tax to inflation.

The tax would rise automatically without

Congress having to take politically difficult

votes every few years.

The second problem, however, will only

accelerate as Americans increasingly adopt

hybrid and electric vehicles. The federal

government estimates that gasoline con-

sumption will decline 20% by 2050 — and

that’s a conservative guess.

The most effective way to combat this

would be with a VMT tax. The tax would act

as a sort of continuous toll, charging a car’s

owner for each highway segment they drive.

The primary concern with such systems is

privacy. Setting up toll booths along every

stretch of interstate would be inefficient and

provide a huge enforcement challenge. An

alternative would be to track the vehicle us-

ing GPS and then transmit that data to a cen-

tral database for billing.

That might sound dystopian, especially if

the database were operated and owned by

the government. Yet most Americans don’t

think twice about carrying cellphones that

allow Apple or Google to continuously log

their location. If car owners were allowed to

choose their billing provider, that would

provide an extra layer of insulation.

Most people would probably sign on to a

major tech platform that provided all the

equipment necessary for tracking for free.

Those who wanted more privacy could opt

for niche providers with automatic data de-

letion procedures and an army of lawyers

designed to thwart any potential subpoena.

This type of arrangement would allow

states and even municipalities to raise funds

based on actual road usage. In particular, it

could allow for automatic congestion pric-

ing on crowded highways or within the cen-

tral business district. It could even allow for

variable-rate street parking or for retailers

to rent their parking spaces to non-custom-

ers. This type of constant metering is one

way to deal with the endless congestion and

constant search for parking that plague

many urban areas.

No matter what the solution, however, the

U.S. has to move on from its antiquated sys-

tem of financing transportation infrastruc-

ture. Indexing the gasoline tax to inflation is

better than nothing — but if Congress really

wants to tackle the problem, it needs to seri-

ously explore a national VMT tax.

Don’t increase the gas tax, replace itBY KARL W. SMITH

Bloomberg Opinion

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He wasformerly vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundationand assistant professor of economics at the University of NorthCarolina. He is also co-founder of the economics blog ModeledBehavior. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinionof the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

It’s the flipside of the rise of sports in-

fluencers.

When Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged

off some Coca-Cola at a press confer-

ence for the UEFA European Football

Championship last week, it coincided with a

sell-off in shares of The Coca-Cola Co.

The incident shows how individual star

power, amplified by huge social media fol-

lowings, can upend partnerships that com-

panies have struck with teams and events.

Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of

UEFA Euro 2020 (the games were post-

poned from last year), alongside brewer

Heineken, as well as Just Eat Takeaway-

.com, Qatar Airways, Tiktok and Chinese

electronics group Vivo. Data provider

SportBusiness estimates that sponsors pay

about $36 million to align themselves with

the tournament.

Even though the company doesn’t spon-

sor the footballer himself, it was directly af-

fected by his actions. The Portuguese cap-

tain — and all-time top scorer in European

Championship history — pushed a couple of

Coca-Cola bottles away from himself and

held up some water before declaring

“agua.” It was as though he was encouraging

people to drink the latter instead, and that

was enough to make investors nervous

about the soda maker’s prospects.

For the past five to 10 years, companies

have pivoted away from teams and toward

individuals, such as Ronaldo, who has a deal

with Nike. Coca-Cola was prudent in spend-

ing its marketing bucks on a global event

with multiple games and players as opposed

to any one star — this should have spread its

risks. But the sheer clout of influencers to-

day means that companies even on their pe-

riphery can’t escape the perils that come

with them.

If there’s any one person to blame for this,

it’s Kim Kardashian. The reality star and en-

trepreneur helped spawn the influencer in-

dustry, where sports figures, pop stars and

those with a flair for fashion or cosmetics

rack up millions of fans who are keen to buy

what they wear or use.

Adidas is a case in point. It has cut back on

the number of sports teams it sponsors, in-

stead focusing its marketing spend on the

likes of individual star players, such as Paul

Pogba and Lionel Messi. In its broader

sportwear and lifestyle business, it has a

longstanding partnership with rapper Ka-

nye West and most recently added Beyonc-

e’s Ivy Park sports fashion range to its stable.

Rival Nike has a long history of courting

top individual sportspeople, most famously

on the basketball court through its partner-

ship with Michael Jordan. Today it counts

LeBron James in the sport, as well as Ney-

mar in soccer, and Serena Williams and

Naomi Osaka in tennis. Although it’s recent-

ly picked up some team apparel sponsorship

deals, according to Bloomberg Intelligenc-

e’s Poonam Goyal, Nike has remained com-

mitted to its celebrity ambassadors to con-

nect with consumers and boost its visibility.

The most obvious risks to this approach

are that the stars misbehave or decamp to

another sponsor. That happened most re-

cently when gymnastics star Simone Biles

left Nike for Gap’s athleisure division Athle-

ta. But celebrities’ influence and social

media reach — Ronaldo has 300 million fol-

lowers — extend well beyond the companies

that endorse them. They have implications

for groups that simply come into their orbit

too.

Sponsors do tolerate individual players’

preferences. For example, some object to

being associated with alcohol and gambling.

Pogba, who is a practicing Muslim, on Tues-

day removed a bottle of Heineken from the

press conference held after he was named

Man of the Match following France’s win

against Germany. (It was non-alcoholic but

this may not have been obvious to the play-

er.) Heineken shares rose 1.4% on Wednes-

day.

But Ronaldo’s snub seems to fall into a dif-

ferent category, even though the player is

known for a strict diet and fitness regime

that has kept him playing at the age of 36, the

twilight zone for most football careers.

That’s a worrying sign for consumer goods

groups.

National football associations generally

make players adhere to certain require-

ments, such as attending press conferences

and wearing the correct kit. But there are no

rules that govern this particular scenario

with Coca-Cola. The Portuguese football as-

sociation that Ronaldo belongs to will prob-

ably be reminded of its players’ responsibil-

ities. But disciplinary action looks unlikely.

Even so, what would a fine do to a rich and

powerful soccer player, aside from inflame

the situation further?

While social media has ripped up the rule-

book on corporate sponsorships, and com-

panies must navigate the new world of Insta-

gram and TikTok, Coca-Cola can hope that

at least one thing has endured: There is no

such thing as bad publicity.

‘Bottlegate’ shows the limit of sports influencersBY ANDREA FELSTED

Bloomberg Opinion

Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering theconsumer and retail industries. She previously worked at theFinancial Times. This column does not necessarily reflect theopinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

ACROSS

1 Spumante source

5 “O Sole —”

8 Throat clearer

12 Uses as a

platform

14 Lap dog,

for short

15 Sweet white wine

16 Raw materials

17 Knock

18 Asian temple

20 Bar twist

23 Drill

24 Stew veggies

25 Cup holders

28 Devious

29 Lake flock

30 — Lingus

32 Fried quickly

34 Monster

35 First-place medal

36 Shoe blemish

37 Write illegibly

40 Droid

41 Panache

42 Wursts

47 Kite flier’s need

48 Comes apart

49 Part of N.B.

50 Zing

51 “Legally

Blonde”

role

DOWN

1 Ninny

2 Depot (Abbr.)

3 Greek cross

4 Preambles

5 Car sticker no.

6 Charged bit

7 Candy box

weight

8 Orbit point

9 Protagonist

10 Scratched (out)

11 Small plateau

13 Campus VIP

19 Story lines

20 Vinyl records

21 Morays

22 Poet Angelou

23 Sounded

sheepish?

25 Distends

26 Pasta sauce

brand

27 Lowly

worker

29 Pack cargo

31 Ump

33 Kampala’s land

34 Do to do

36 Slugger

Sammy

37 Darned

38 Advertising

award

39 Harangue

40 Baby-feeding

finale

43 Chemical suffix

44 Solidify

45 Right angle

46 Away from NNW

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Carp

e D

iem

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

o

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

FACES

For director and storyboard artist En-

rico Casarosa, part of the fun of devel-

oping ideas at Pixar, where he has

worked since 2012, is figuring out

how to blend the personal with the fantastical.

Like his Oscar-nominated short film “La Lu-

na,” Casarosa’s debut feature, “Luca,” draws

on his childhood in Genoa, a port city on the

Italian Riviera, as well as the director’s memo-

ries of his childhood best friend. The more

whimsical element of the film — sea monsters

— grew from Casarosa’s fascination with

changelings.

“There’s so many changelings in folklore,”

he said during a recent video call. “I love Japa-

nese folklore — there’s the foxes that can

[transform to] look like humans, and the tanu-

ki. There’s the selkies in Ireland. In Italy,” he

continued, “there’s an old legend of Colapesce,

about a boy that stays so much in the water, he

becomes half fish.”

In “Luca,” the sea monsters live in their own

underwater farming community, hidden away

from humans. To them, the creatures above the

surface, with their boats and nets, are the

(land) monsters. But 13-year-old Luca (Jacob

Tremblay) is still very curious. He befriends

Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea mon-

ster who pushes him out of the water for the

first time. Above the surface, the two change

until they look just like humans.

Sea monsters that can transform into hu-

mans are perfect for a coming-of-age story. On

top of the literal physical changes that come

with adolescence, there are plenty of feelings

around identity and keeping personal secrets

— and, of course, the often overwhelming de-

sire to just fit in.

“I thought, ‘Oh, what an interesting possibil-

ity here in conveying some secret that we have

and this oddness that we feel as kids,’” said Ca-

sarosa. “During those difficult years of finding

yourself, you do feel ‘Whose body is this?’,

even.”

In developing the look of these sea creatures,

character art director Deanna Marsigliese

started at the beginning, with Carta Marina,

Olaus Magnus’ famous 16th-century map of

Northern Europe.

There are “lots of medieval depictions of sea

monsters in folklore, but you can’t just stop

there,” said Marsigliese. “We wanted to design

something unique that maybe this audience

has never seen before. In order to do that, you

need to look outside of the obvious.”

These non-obvious references include Japa-

nese block prints, scientific illustrations and a

lot of folk art from around the world. But even

more important than developing a unique look,

Marsigliese said, was staying true to the fact

that, no matter how fierce and dangerous they

might seem, sea monsters have always been

considered decorative.

“When we went to Italy, we would see [sea

monsters] mosaicked into the floor,” she said.

“We’d see them carved into fountains — al-

ways as a decorative element. So it was really

important to me that they stay beautiful. That’s

why we have all of the irregular scaling and the

curlicues in the tails and the iridescence.”

“Luca,” with its vibrant blues and greens, is

inspired by the deep waters off the Ligurian

coast. But the blurred beauty of the back-

ground also conveys the limits of Luca’s under-

sea world, foreshadowing his journey to see

more of the larger world.

Character designs also take cues from the

story: Luca’s large eyes and smoother fins re-

flect his gentleness and curiosity; his grand-

mother’s long, curly tail shows how the sea

monsters age, growing to look more like the

iconic images in the antique maps.

“All of these story notes and character notes

help us to better choose shapes and color and

line, because whoever these characters are,

our job is to find the visual representations,”

said Marsigliese. “Before any of the dialogue is

even spoken, your hope, as a character design-

er, is that the audience is going to see that char-

acter and already understand who they’re

looking at.”

Of course, the sea monster characters like

Luca and Alberto have two forms — sea mon-

ster and human — which, in terms of 3DCG, is

the same as having two separate characters.

The transformation, which Casarosa describes

as “a sleight of hand,” was tricky.

“One had to turn into the other without it be-

ing creepy,” said Marsigliese. “Because we

had scales, we had retracting tails, we had a

finger that splits into two — done the wrong

way, we move away from cuteness and lyri-

cism. So we had to work really hard to make

sure we maintained that really playful, char-

ming quality.”

Casarosa explained that the goal was to craft

a transformation that felt more like an element

of natural adaptation than instant magic.

“Almost like they learned to hide in plain

sight over the centuries,” he said. “And we

knew that we wanted the water to really be the

factor that would make it happen in both direc-

tions.”

The team studied hue- and shape-changing

cephalopods like squid and octopus, watching

closeups of their chromatophores, or pigment-

containing cells, to see natural camouflage in

action. Ultimately they landed on a process

that involved the movement of the sea mon-

sters’ scales disappearing/reappearing and a

pattern for the change of color.

DISNEY-PIXAR PHOTOS

“Luca” animators were inspired by folklore about creatures who could change shape, and art created from myths about sea monsters.

Bringing sea monsters to lifeThe whimsical element of the film ‘Luca’ grew from director andstoryboard artist Enrico Casarosa’s fascination with changelings

The vibrant blues and greens in “Luca” wereinspired by the waters off the Ligurian coast. 

BY TRACY BROWN

Los Angeles Times

Disney celebrated this year’s

Juneteenth with a new EP about

the Black experience featuring

actor and activist Yara Shahidi,

Chlöe Bailey of Chloe x Halle and

rapper YBN Cordae, who is donat-

ing his proceeds to students at-

tending historically Black colleg-

es and universities.

“Music for the

Movement Vol-

ume III – Liber-

ated,” which

came out June

18, is the third

volume in Dis-

ney’s four-part

series of EPs

honoring Black

lives and social

justice under a

joint venture be-

tween Disney

Music Group

and The Unde-

feated, ESPN’s

platform for ex-

ploring the inter-

sections of race,

sports and cul-

ture.

Shahidi deliv-

ers the original

spoken word

track “To Be A

Black Girl” on

the EP, while

Bailey covers Ni-

na Simone’s

“Feeling Good.”

Cordae and Common join forces

for “What’s Life,” and Cordae

agreed to donate his proceeds

from the album release to fund

scholarships for students from un-

derrepresented communities at-

tending HBCUs. Disney Dream-

ers Academy and The Undefeated

are matching his donation.

“Music for the Movement Vol-

ume III – Liberated” also features

songs by R&B singer Lucky Daye

and jazz saxophonist Kamasi

Washington.

Disney’s first volume called “I

Can’t Breathe/Music for the

Movement” was released last Oc-

tober and featured songs by Rap-

sody, Bilal, Robert Glasper, Ter-

race Martin, Alex Isley, Jensen

McRae and Keedron Bryant.

“Black History Always — Music

for the Movement Vol. 2” was re-

leased in February and included

songs by Tinashe, Freddie Gibbs,

Tobe Nwigwe, Brent Faiyaz and

Infinity Song.

Other news

■ Frank Bonner, who played a

brash salesman with an affection

for polyester plaid suits on the TV

comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,”

has died. He was 79. Bonner died

June 16 at his home in Laguna Ni-

guel, Calif., from complications of

Lewy body dementia. “WKRP in

Cincinnati” aired from 1978-82.

New Disney EPhonors Blackexperience

Associated Press

Cordae 

Bailey

Shahidi 

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

SCOREBOARD/SPORTS BRIEFS

PRO SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 6 1 2 20 14 9

Orlando City 4 1 3 15 11 6

Philadelphia 4 2 2 14 9 5

Columbus 4 2 2 14 9 6

New York 4 4 0 12 12 10

D.C. United 4 5 0 12 9 11

NYCFC 3 3 2 11 15 10

CF Montréal 3 3 2 11 10 9

Nashville 2 1 5 11 9 8

Atlanta 2 1 4 10 9 7

Inter Miami CF 2 5 2 8 8 14

Toronto FC 1 5 2 5 10 15

Chicago 1 6 1 4 4 13

Cincinnati 1 5 1 4 6 17

Western Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 6 0 3 21 16 4

Sporting KC 5 3 2 17 17 13

Colorado 5 2 1 16 14 8

LA Galaxy 5 3 0 15 12 13

Portland 4 4 0 12 11 12

Real Salt Lake 3 1 3 12 12 8

Houston 3 3 3 12 12 13

San Jose 3 5 1 10 11 12

Los Angeles 2 3 3 9 9 10

Austin FC 2 4 3 9 6 9

Minnesota 2 4 2 8 7 12

Vancouver 2 5 1 7 7 12

FC Dallas 1 3 4 7 9 12

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s games

New York 2, Nashville 0 Real Salt Lake 3, Vancouver 1

Saturday’s games

Columbus 2, Chicago 0 Colorado 2, Cincinnati 0 Orlando City 3, Toronto FC 2 New England 3, New York City FC 2 D.C. United 1, Miami 0 Minnesota 1, FC Dallas 1, tie San Jose 0, Austin FC 0, tie Seattle 2, LA Galaxy 1 Portland 2, Sporting Kansas City 1 Houston 1, Los Angeles FC 1, tie

Sunday’s game

Philadelphia at Atlanta

Tuesday’s game

San Jose at Orlando City

Wednesday’s games

New York at New England Columbus at Philadelphia Atlanta at New York City FC Austin FC at Minnesota Cincinnati at Chicago D.C. United at CF Montréal Colorado at Sporting Kansas City Portland at Houston Toronto FC at Nashville Real Salt Lake at Seattle FC Dallas at Los Angeles FC LA Galaxy at Vancouver

Friday, June 25

Orlando City at Miami

Saturday, June 26

Los Angeles FC at Sporting Kansas City Cincinnati at Toronto FC Houston at Real Salt Lake Philadelphia at Chicago CF Montréal at Nashville Vancouver at Seattle LA Galaxy at San Jose Minnesota at Portland

Sunday, June 27

New York at Atlanta D.C. United at New York City FC Columbus at Austin FC New England at FC Dallas

Thursday, July 1

Portland at Austin FC

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Orlando 3 0 2 11 7 4

Portland 3 2 0 9 11 4

Washington 2 1 3 9 6 6

Chicago 2 2 2 8 5 8

North Carolina 2 2 1 7 8 4

Gotham FC 2 1 1 7 2 1

Houston 2 2 1 7 6 6

Reign FC 1 3 1 4 3 5

Louisville 1 2 1 4 2 8

Kansas City 0 3 2 2 2 6

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday’s games

North Carolina 2, Reign FC 1 Washington 1, Chicago 1, tie

Sunday’s games

Houston at Louisville Kansas City at Portland Gotham FC at Orlando

Tuesday’s game

Chicago at Reign FC

AUTO RACING

Tennessee Lottery 250NASCAR-Xfinity Series

SaturdayAt Nashville Superspeedway

Lebanon, Tenn.Lap length: 1.33 miles

(Start position in parentheses)1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 189 laps, 0

points.2. (11) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 189, 50.3. (3) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 189, 48.4. (22) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 189, 40.5. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 189, 36.6. (7) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 189, 40.7. (6) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 189, 33.8. (10) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 189, 30.9. (15) Austin Hill, Toyota, 189, 0.10. (20) Riley Herbst, Ford, 189, 27.11. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 189,

26.12. (21) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 189,

31.13. (4) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 189, 40.14. (14) Will Rodgers, Toyota, 189, 23.15. (17) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 189, 0.16. (13) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 189, 21.17. (29) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 189, 20.18. (28) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 189, 19.19. (12) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 189, 20.20. (19) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet,

189, 17.21. (26) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 189, 16.22. (31) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 189, 15.23. (18) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 188, 14.24. (34) David Starr, Toyota, 187, 13.25. (32) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 187, 12.26. (36) Natalie Decker, Chevrolet, 187,

11.27. (35) Jesse Little, Toyota, 187, 10.28. (27) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet,

187, 9.29. (25) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, acci-

dent, 182, 8.30. (30) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 177, 0.31. (8) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 165, 7.32. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, accident,

160, 18.33. (9) Jade Buford, Chevrolet, accident,

153, 4.34. (33) Joe Graf Jr, Chevrolet, accident,

152, 3.35. (16) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet,

brakes, 140, 2.36. (24) Stefan Parsons, Ford, accident,

69, 1.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 107.115mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 20 minutes, 48seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.110 seconds.Caution Flags: 8 for 46 laps.Lead Changes: 12 among 5 drivers.Lap Leaders: K.Busch 0; A.Cindric 1-53;

K.Busch 54-74; D.Hemric 75; K.Busch 76-93;N.Gragson 94-95; K.Busch 96-150; J.All-gaier 151-159; K.Busch 160-178; J.Allgaier179; K.Busch 180-186; J.Allgaier 187;K.Busch 188-189

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led,Laps Led): K.Busch, 6 times for 122 laps;A.Cindric, 1 time for 53 laps; J.Allgaier, 3times for 11 laps; N.Gragson, 1 time for 2laps; D.Hemric, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: A.Cindric, 3; A.Allmendinger, 2;J.Allgaier, 2; T.Gibbs, 2; J.Burton, 1; M.Snid-er, 1; J.Berry, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. A.Cindric, 628; 2. A.All-mendinger, 538; 3. D.Hemric, 528; 4. H.Bur-ton, 501; 5. J.Allgaier, 489; 6. J.Burton, 457; 7.J.Haley, 455; 8. B.Jones, 424; 9. N.Gragson,391; 10. M.Annett, 388; 11. J.Clements, 383;12. B.Brown, 335; 13. R.Herbst, 333; 14.M.Snider, 332; 15. J.Berry, 317; 16. R.Sieg,291.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be at-tained in a race.

The formula combines the following cat-egories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes,Average Running Position While on LeadLap, Average Speed Under Green, FastestLap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

TENNIS

Bett1 Open Saturday

At Am Rothenbaum Rot-Weiss TennisClubBerlin

Purse: Euro 456,073Surface: Grass

Women’s SinglesSemifinals

Belinda Bencic (5), Switzerland, def. Al-ize Cornet, France, 7-5, 6-4.

Liudmila Samsonova, Russia, def. Victo-ria Azarenka (7), Belarus, 6-4, 6-2.

Women’s DoublesSemifinals

Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka(4), Belarus, def. Sharon Fichman, Canada,and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6.

Fever-Tree ChampionshipsSaturday

At The Queen’s ClubLondon

Purse: Euro 1,290,135Surface: GrassMen’s Singles

SemifinalsMatteo Berrettini (1), Italy, def. Alex de

Minaur (4), Australia, 6-4, 6-4.Cameron Norrie, Britain, def. Denis Sha-

povalov (2), Canada, 7-5, 6-3. Men’s Doubles

SemifinalsNicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herb-

ert (4), France, def. Philipp Oswald, Aus-tria, and Marcus Daniell (7), New Zealand,6-4, 3-6, 11-9.

Birmingham Classic

SaturdayAt Edgbaston Priory Club

Birmingham, Great BritainPurse: $235,238Surface: Grass

Women’s SinglesQuarterfinals

Ons Jabeur (2), Tunisia, def. AnastasiaPotapova, Russia, 6-4, 6-0.

Heather Watson, Britain, def. DonnaVekic (3), Croatia, 6-4, 6-2.

CoCo Vandeweghe, United States, def.Marie Bouzkova (8), Czech Republic, 6-4,6-4.

Daria Kasatkina (4), Russia, def. TerezaMartincova, Czech Republic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.

Women’s SinglesSemifinals

Ons Jabeur (2), Tunisia, def. HeatherWatson, Britain, 6-3, 6-3.

Daria Kasatkina (4), Russia, def. CoCoVandeweghe, United States, 6-2, 6-4.

Women’s DoublesSemifinals

Lucie Hradecka and Marie Bouzkova,Czech Republic, def. Lyudmyla Kichenok,Ukraine, and Makoto Ninomiya, Japan, 7-5,6-3.

Ons Jabeur, Tunisia, and Ellen Perez,Australia, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, andElise Mertens (1), Belgium, 3-6, 7-5, 10-3.

NOVENTI Open

SaturdayAt Gerry Weber Stadium

Halle, GermanyPurse: Euro 1,318,605

Surface: GrassMen’s Singles

SemifinalsAndrey Rublev (4), Russia, def. Nikoloz

Basilashvili, Georgia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.Ugo Humbert, France, def. Felix Auger-

Aliassime, Canada, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5).Men’s Doubles

SemifinalsHubert Hurkacz, Poland, and Felix Au-

ger-Aliassime, Canada, def. Michael Ven-us, New Zealand, and Tim Puetz (5), Ger-many, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

NCAA College World SeriesAt TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

Omaha, Neb.

(Double Elimination; x-if necessary)Saturday’s games

Game 1 - N.C. State 10, No. 9 Stanford 4Game 2 - No. 4 Vanderbilt 7, No. 5 Arizona

6, 12 inningsSunday’s games

Game 3 - No. 3 Tennessee vs. VirginiaGame 4 - Texas vs. No. 7 Mississippi St.

Monday’s gamesGame 5 - No. 9 Stanford vs. No. 5 ArizonaGame 6 - N.C. State vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt

Tuesday’s gamesGame 7 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loserGame 8 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 win-

nerWednesday’s game

Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loserThursday’s game

Game 10 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 los-er

Friday, June 25Game 11 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 win-

nerGame 12 - Game 8 winner vs. Game 10

winnerSaturday, June 26

x-Game 13, TBDx-Game 14, TBD

Championship Series(Best-of-3)

Monday, June 28: TBDTuesday, June 29: TBDx-Wednesday, June 30: TBD

Saturday’s TransactionsBASEBALL

American LeagueDETROIT TIGERS — Sent CF Derek Hill on

a rehab assignment to Lakeland (Low-ASoutheast). Placed INF Niko Goodrum onthe 10-day IL. Recalled INF Isaac Paredesfrom Toledo (Triple-A East).

HOUSTON ASTROS — Optioned RHPFrancis Martes to Sugar Land (Triple-AWest).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Recalled RHPJaime Barria from Salt Lake (Triple-AWest). Optioned 2B Kean Wong to SaltLake.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Optioned 1B Wil-lians Astudillo to St. Paul (Triple-A East).Reinstated CF Byron Buxton from the 10-day IL.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Recalled CFSkye Bolt from Las Vegas (Triple-A East).Place RF Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day IL,retroactive to June 16.

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Optioned 2B MikeBrosseau to Durham (Triple-A East). Re-called RHP Drew Rasmussen from Dur-ham.

TEXAS RANGERS — Sent LHP Hyeon-JongYang outright to Round Rock (Triple-AWest). Sent OF David Dahl to Round Rockon a rehab assignment.

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Agreed to

terms with RHP Jake Faria on a majorleague contract. Designated 3B IldemaroVargas for assignment.

ATLANTA BRAVES — Optioned RHP Ja-cob Webb to Gwinnett (Triple-A East).

CINCINNATI REDS — Transferred 3B MikeMoustakas from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Selected the contract of LHP JoshOsich from Louisville (Triple-A East) andagreed to terms on a major league con-tract. Optioned RHP Ashton Goudeau toLouisville.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Sent RHPNate Jones outright to Oklahoma City (Tri-ple-A West).

MIAMI MARLINS — Designated 3B DevenMarrero for assignment. Selected the con-tract of SS Luis Marte from Jacksonville(Triple-A East) and agreed to terms on amajor league contract.

NEW YORK METS — Recalled RHP Yenn-sy Diaz from Syracuse (Triple-A East).Traded RHP Jacob Barnes to Toronto forRHP Troy Miller. Reinstated OF Albert Al-mora Jr. from the 10-day IL. Placed LHPJoey Lucchesi on the 10-day IL.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Recalled CRafael Marchan from Lehigh Valley (TripleA East). Selected the contract of CF MattVierling from Lehigh Valley and agreed toterms on a major league contract. PlacedC Andrew Knapp on the 7-day concussionlist. Placed LF Matt Joyce on the 10-day IL.Agreed to terms with OF Charles Tilsonfrom Long Island (Atlantic League) on aminor league contract.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Placed RHP PierceJohnson on the 10-day IL, retroactive toJune 18. Sent RHP Sam McWilliams out-right to El Paso (Triple-A West). Selectedthe contract of LHP Daniel Camarena fromEl Paso and agreed to terms on a majorleague contract.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Agreed toterms with RHP Akeel Morris on a minorleague contract. Sent OFs Darin Ruf andAlex Dickerson to Sacramento on a rehabassignment.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — RecalledRHP Ryne Harper from Rochester (Triple-AEast). Agreed to terms with RHP Kyle Hin-ton on a minor league contract.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Re-signed FShane Gersich to a one-year, two-waycontract.

DEALS

GOLF

Meijer Championship

LPGA TourSaturday

At Blythefield ClubGrand Rapids, Mich.Purse: $2.3 million

Yardage: 6,556; Par: 72a-amateur

Third RoundNelly Korda 68-66-62—196 -20Leona Maguire 65-64-70—199 -17Madelene Sagstrom 68-67-65—200 -16Su Oh 67-65-69—201 -15Georgia Hall 68-69-65—202 -14Charley Hull 65-70-67—202 -14Mina Harigae 68-66-68—202 -14Anna Nordqvist 67-67-68—202 -14Jennifer Kupcho 68-68-67—203 -13Sarah Schmelzel 67-69-67—203 -13Brittany Altomare 68-66-69—203 -13Jessica Korda 68-69-67—204 -12Lauren Stephenson 65-72-67—204 -12Lexi Thompson 68-68-68—204 -12Inbee Park 68-68-68—204 -12In Gee Chun 68-67-69—204 -12Moriya Jutanugarn 68-67-69—204 -12Chella Choi 67-68-69—204 -12Lizette Salas 68-66-70—204 -12Lindy Duncan 68-65-71—204 -12Ssu-Chia Cheng 70-67-68—205 -11Austin Ernst 69-68-68—205 -11Ally Ewing 68-69-68—205 -11

Associated Press

Busch races to 100thXfinity Series victory

Kyle Busch raced to his 100th

career Xfinity Series victory Sat-

urday at Nashville Superspeed-

way, where he won for the fourth

time.

Busch won in the Xfinity Series

in 2009 and the Truck Series in

2010 and 2011, but the track closed

the year he won his last race. The

speedway reopened this weekend

and will host its first Cup race Sun-

day.

Busch led seven times for 123

laps and beat Justin Allgaier in

overtime for his third victory in

three Xfinity races this season.

His 100th win in his 360th career

start is a nearly 28% winning per-

centage.

“I remember growing up as a

kid watching Mark Martin win ev-

ery week and wondering, ‘Can

anybody beat this guy?’ And that

was 49 wins,” Busch said. “So I

just can’t fathom, right now my-

self, what 100 really means. It’s

certainly something I will look

back on once all is said and done

and I’m in a rocking chair some-

where.”

Embiid fined $35,000 inaltercation with Collins

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel

Embiid was fined $35,000 by the

NBA for escalating an on-court al-

tercation in Game 6 of the Eastern

Conference Semifinals against At-

lanta.

Embiid fell on top of John Col-

lins on the court in Game 6. Collins

then shoved Embiid before both

rose to their feet. Embiid had his

arms stretched out wide with Col-

lins’ hands around his neck as both

walked off the court under the

basket.

Officials reviewed the alterca-

tion and called technical fouls on

each player with no free throws

awarded. The NBA said Sunday

Embiid also failed to comply with

an NBA Security interview follow-

ing the incident.

Atlanta Hawks forward Bruno

Fernando was suspended for Sun-

day’s Game 7 for leaving the

bench area during the spat.

Berrettini serves way toQueen’s Club victory

Big-serving Matteo Berrettini

dropped a set for the first time at

the Queen’s Club tournament be-

fore going on to beat Britain’s

Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in

Sunday’s final.

The 25-year-old Berrettini be-

came the first newcomer to tri-

umph at Queen’s since Boris

Becker in 1985. Becker went on to

win Wimbledon in the same year.

“It’s been an unbelievable week

and to think of Boris Becker’s

name and my name is crazy,” Ber-

rettini said.

BRIEFLY

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Connecticut 8 5 .615 —

Chicago 7 7 .500 1½

Washington 6 6 .500 1½

New York 6 6 .500 1½

Atlanta 5 7 .417 2½

Indiana 1 14 .067 8

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Seattle 12 2 .857 —

Las Vegas 10 3 .769 1½

Phoenix 6 7 .462 5½

Dallas 6 7 .462 5½

Los Angeles 5 6 .455 5½

Minnesota 5 7 .417 6

Saturday’s games

Chicago 91, Connecticut 81Washington 82, Indiana 77Dallas 95, Minnesota 77

Sunday’s games

New York at Los Angeles

Monday’s games

No games scheduled.

Tuesday’s games

Chicago at New YorkDallas at ConnecticutWashington at Seattle

Wednesday’s games

Minnesota at Atlanta

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

U.S. OPEN/SWIMMING

SaturdayAt Torrey Pines Golf Course

San Diego, Calif.Purse: $12.5 million

Yardage: 7,686; Par: 71Third Round

Mackenzie Hughes 73-67-68—208 -5Louis Oosthuizen 67-71-70—208 -5Russell Henley 67-70-71—208 -5Rory McIlroy 70-73-67—210 -3Bryson DeChambeau 73-69-68—210 -3Scottie Scheffler 72-69-70—211 -2Jon Rahm 69-70-72—211 -2Matthew Wolff 70-68-73—211 -2Dustin Johnson 71-73-68—212 -1Collin Morikawa 75-67-70—212 -1Christiaan Bezuidenhout 72-70-70—212 -1Xander Schauffele 69-71-72—212 -1Kevin Streelman 71-69-72—212 -1Paul Casey 71-75-67—213 EIan Poulter 74-71-68—213 EFrancesco Molinari 68-76-69—213 ESungjae Im 72-72-69—213 EBrooks Koepka 69-73-71—213 EJustin Thomas 73-69-71—213 EHarris English 72-70-71—213 EJordan Spieth 77-69-68—214 +1Martin Kaymer 77-68-69—214 +1Chris Baker 74-71-69—214 +1Lanto Griffin 76-69-69—214 +1Brian Harman 72-71-71—214 +1Lee Westwood 71-72-71—214 +1Guido Migliozzi 71-70-73—214 +1Richard Bland 70-67-77—214 +1Joaquin Niemann 75-69-71—215 +2Daniel Berger 71-72-72—215 +2Si Woo Kim 71-75-70—216 +3J.T. Poston 72-73-71—216 +3Patrick Cantlay 70-75-71—216 +3Adam Scott 70-75-71—216 +3Charl Schwartzel 71-74-71—216 +3Robert MacIntyre 71-73-72—216 +3Chez Reavie 76-68-72—216 +3Rikuya Hoshino 69-74-73—216 +3Branden Grace 72-70-74—216 +3Bubba Watson 72-67-77—216 +3Dylan Frittelli 73-72-72—217 +4Matt Fitzpatrick 70-75-72—217 +4Dylan Wu 70-73-74—217 +4Adam Hadwin 70-72-75—217 +4Kevin Kisner 73-73-72—218 +5Shane Lowry 72-74-72—218 +5Edoardo Molinari 70-76-72—218 +5Gary Woodland 74-71-73—218 +5Sergio Garcia 71-74-73—218 +5Rafa Cabrera Bello 68-76-74—218 +5Jhonattan Vegas 75-69-74—218 +5Charley Hoffman 72-71-75—218 +5Patrick Rodgers 70-71-77—218 +5Akshay Bhatia 73-73-73—219 +6Troy Merritt 75-71-73—219 +6Wade Ormsby 72-74-73—219 +6Tommy Fleetwood 72-73-74—219 +6Patrick Reed 72-73-74—219 +6Hideki Matsuyama 69-76-74—219 +6Stewart Cink 73-72-74—219 +6Marc Leishman 74-70-75—219 +6Tom Hoge 72-71-76—219 +6Rick Lamb 71-75-74—220 +7Taylor Montgomery 70-76-74—220 +7Greyson Sigg 71-74-75—220 +7Phil Mickelson 75-69-76—220 +7Kyle Westmoreland 71-73-78—222 +9Matt Jones 72-71-79—222 +9Jimmy Walker 74-72-77—223 +10Fabián Gómez 70-76-78—224 +11Wilco Nienaber 72-74-80—226 +13

U.S. Open scores

when it quickly became clear no one could

beat her.

“It’s challenging,” she said of being so far

ahead of the field. “Sometimes I feel like I’m

going faster than I am.”

Ledecky finished more than 10 seconds

off her world-record performance at the

Rio Olympics.

“It was a fine swim,” she said. “I thought

I’d be a lot better than that given how good

my prelim swim felt.”

Fifteen-year-old Katie Grimes outraced

veteran Haley Anderson for the second spot

at the Olympics, knocking more than 11 sec-

onds off her personal best to touch second in

8:20.36.

Anderson, who already made the Olym-

pic team in marathon swimming, just mis-

sed out on a race at the pool. She finished

15-hundredths of a second behind the

youngster after a race covering 16 laps.

OMAHA, Neb. — America’s biggest

swimming stars shined brightly on the

next-to-last night of the Olympic trials.

Their only complaint? Both wanted to go a

bit faster Saturday.

Caeleb Dressel added another event to

his Tokyo program, powering to a dominat-

ing victory in the 100-meter butterfly.

Katie Ledecky blew away the field in the

800 freestyle, winning by more than 5 sec-

onds in a race where the battle for second

provided the only drama.

Ledecky locked up her fourth individual

race at the Olympics with a time of 8 min-

utes, 14.62 seconds, adding to her victories

in the 200, 400 and 1,500 free.

Leading right from the start, Ledecky

was essentially racing herself. She started

out under world-record pace but tailed off

“Speechless,” said Grimes, who races for

a club in Nevada. “I wasn’t expecting that. I

just wanted to finish it. I’m so honored to be

in this meet, to be going to Tokyo.”

In an interesting twist, Grimes is the

same age as Ledecky was when she won her

first Olympic gold with a surprising victory

in the 800 free at the 2012 London Olympics.

“To be able to be on the team with her,”

Grimes said, “is gonna be awesome.”

As with Ledecky, no one was even close to

Dressel as he finished the fly in 49.87 — just

off his world record of 49.50 set two years

ago at the world championships in Gwang-

ju, South Korea.

No world records have been set through

the first seven days of the U.S. trials. Dres-

sel thought he had a shot in the fly.

“I would’ve liked to have been faster to

put on a little bit of a show for the crowd,” he

said.

Dressel, Ledecky keep winning at swim trialsBY PAUL NEWBERRY

Associated Press

JEFF ROBERSON/AP

Caeleb Dressel reacts after winning themen’s 100 butterfly at the U.S. OlympicSwim Trials on Saturday, in Omaha, Neb. 

SAN DIEGO — The eagle putts looked famil-

iar for a Saturday at Torrey Pines in June, even

with Tiger Woods nowhere in sight.

Mackenzie Hughes watched his 60-foot ea-

gle putt from the back of the green to the front

on the par-5 13th slide into the cup. Louis Oos-

thuizen could only hope his 50-foot eagle putt

on the 18th found the center of the cup, and it

kissed off the pin and disappeared.

Woods made eagle putts from one end of the

green to the other on the 13th and 18th holes in

2008 that set the stage for a Sunday filled with

anticipation.

Suddenly, this U.S. Open has that familiar

feel.

Amajor that for two days had the sleepy, chill

vibe of San Diego now has an urgency for Oos-

thuizen and Rory McIlroy trying to end long

droughts, hope for newcomers like Hughes and

Russell Henley, a half-dozen other possibilities

that include Bryson DeChambeau and Jon

Rahm.

“It’s a golf course where anything can hap-

pen,” said Oosthuizen, in the mix at a major for

the second straight time. “It’s just a tough, old-

fashioned golf course. You’re going to have

nerves. You’re going to feel it. It’s about how

you’re going to handle it.”

Hughes added a final birdie for a 3-under 68

and was the first to get to 5-under 208. Oosthui-

zen made a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th and

ended his round of 70 with the 50-foot eagle on

the 18th to join him.

They were tied with Russell Henley, who had

a two-shot lead early on the back nine and ap-

peared to be hanging on for dear life at the end.

He went from the bunker to the rough to the

bunker on the easiest hole at Torrey Pines and

had to make an 8-foot par putt for a 71.

McIlroy (67) and DeChambeau (68) were

two shots behind.

McIlroy has gone seven years without a ma-

jor, a drought accentuated by rarely even hav-

ing decent chances. DeChambeau can get the

last laugh in his beef with Brooks Koepka by

joining him as a back-to-back U.S. Open cham-

pion.

“I thought like two 68s over the weekend

from where I was after Friday was going to

have a good chance,” said McIlroy, who started

the third round six shots behind. “I’ve done the

first part of that job. Now it’s up to me tomorrow

to go out and try to play a similar round of golf.”

Woods is recovering from his February car

crash that badly injured his legs and is not back

at Torrey Pines. In his absence, the broadcast

used every opportunity to relive memories of

his two eagles that gave him the 54-hole lead.

It took two players to do that this time, but it

was equally spectacular.

“I know Tiger’s was further right, but half-

way there, I loved it,” Hughes said. “The

charge that goes through your body when the

ball goes in the hole and the crowd erupts is

why we play. It gives me goosebumps now

thinking about it.”

And he’ll have plenty of nerves Sunday play-

ing in the final group with Oosthuizen, who has

had five runner-up finishes in the majors — two

in playoffs — since winning the 2010 British

Open at St. Andrews.

The eagle lands at Torrey PinesOosthuizen, Hughes both eagle toshare share of lead with Henley

BY DOUG FERGUSON

Associated Press

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP

Louis Oosthuizen, of South Africa, reacts to making eagle on No. 18 during the third round ofthe U.S. Open Golf Championship, Saturday, at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.

“It’s a golf coursewhere anything canhappen.”

Louis Oosthuizen

On the setup at Torey Pines

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

NHL PLAYOFFS/TRACK AND FIELD

EUGENE, Ore. — Whether

watching from Jamaica, Japan or

the U.S. it was hard to miss that

shock of flowing, orange hair that

came streaking across the finish

line first in Eugene on Saturday

night.

It belongs to Sha’Carri Richard-

son. And after the eye-opening

show she put on at Olympic trials

— blowing away the field in the

100-meter semis in a wind-aided

10.64 seconds, then again in the fi-

nal in 10.86 — she figures to grab

her fair share of attention next

month in Tokyo.

With her performance, the 21-

year-old out of LSU picked up a

spot in the Olympics and a nation-

al title while also setting up a pos-

sible showdown with the Jamai-

can world champion, Shelly-Ann

Fraser-Pryce, who is well-known

for her colorful hairstyles, too.

“It’s loud and encouraging and,

honestly, dangerous,” Richardson

said when asked why she chose

the color orange for her big night.

“Knowing I’m coming to one of the

biggest meets there is, if you’re go-

ing to out there and be the best,

you need to look the best.”

Richardson said crossing the

finish line first was only the sec-

ond-best feeling of the night. The

best came afterward, when she

climbed halfway up the stands at

Hayward Field and shared a long

hug with her grandmother, Betty

Harp, who’s also known in the

family as “Big Momma.”

“To be able to have her here at

the biggest meet in my life, and to

cross the finish line and run up the

steps to hug her knowing I’m an

Olympian, actually that’s proba-

bly better than winning the race,”

Richardson said.

But that performance — it was

pretty special, too.

An over-the-limit tailwind in the

semis prevented the 10.64 from

becoming official and leaving Ri-

chardson only 0.01 behind Fraser-

Pryce’s top time of 2021. The

world record of 10.49 was set by

Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988.

“She carries such a firecrack-

er,” said Richardson’s training

partner, Justin Gatlin. “She’s ca-

pable of running 10.6. I’ve seen her

at practice, and she’s capable of

running 10.5, actually. She can

definitely shock the world.”

In the final, Richardson over-

came a slow start to pass her train-

ing partner Javianne Oliver, a 60-

meter indoor specialist who start-

ed in the lane next to her. Richard-

son beat Oliver by three body

lengths and 0.13 seconds. Teahna

Daniels finished third.

The race for the three men’s

Olympic spots in their crowded

100 could be the best battle of the

meet. They ran their qualifying

heat Saturday, and all the “big”

names made it through. That now

includes Fred Kerley, whose main

distance is the 400 but who made

the 100 more interesting when, on

the heels of a 9.91 earlier this sea-

son, he decided to be a short

sprinter for this Olympic cycle.

He made it through his heat,

and now Gatlin (the former Olym-

pic and world champion) and

Trayvon Bromell (this year’s

world leader at 9.77), and star-in-

the-making Noah Lyles, whose

chances are more secure in the

200, have something to worry

about as they approach Sunday’s

finals.

Or maybe not.

“Everything is in preparation

for the 200 as far as I’m con-

cerned,” said Lyles, the world

champion at 200 meters, in his

strongest indicator yet of where

his mind really rests for this meet.

In Saturday’s only other final,

Valarie Allman won the discus

throw to make her first Olympic

team, while in the women’s 400

semis, Allyson Felix stayed on

track to make her fifth by qualify-

ing for Sunday’s final.

CHARLIE RIEDEL/AP

Sha’Carri Richardson of LSU celebrates after winning the women’s100­meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday inEugene, Ore.

Red hot: Richardson

rules in 100 at trialsBY EDDIE PELLS

Associated Press

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — With goa-

lie Semyon Varlamov out of posi-

tion in the closing seconds, New

York defenseman Ryan Pulock

knew he needed to get in the way of

Ryan McDonagh’s shot at the open

net. It was the biggest play in the

Islanders’ latest series-tying

Game 4 win.

Matt Martin capped a three-goal

second period, Pulock made a div-

ing stop and New York held on to

beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2

Saturday night to even their Stan-

ley Cup semifinal series at two

games apiece.

Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal

also scored, and Cal Clutterbuck

and Adam Pelech each had two as-

sists. Semyon Varlamov finished

with 28 saves to help the Islanders

win a Game 4 to tie a series after

dropping the previous game at

home for the third time this post-

season.

But Pulock made the biggest

save with the game on the line.

McDonagh had the puck on the

left side in the waning seconds,

spun around to get away from

Brock Nelson and drew Varlamov

forward before sending the puck

at the open net. But Pulock’s dive

kept the puck out and preserved

the win.

“McDonagh got a puck walking

down and Varly came out and

challenged,” Pulock said. “He

made a heck of a play with the

spin-o-rama, the net was open and

I just tried to make myself big and

take it away and I was able to get it.

“Obviously you hear the sound,

the clock go and all the boys jump

on you. It’s a good feeling.”

Pulock drew plenty of praise

from his teammates.

“That’s a special play,” Bailey

said. “Patience to just stick with it.

It was a great play by him, a game-

saving play, obviously. Huge.”

Barzal agreed, adding: “I think

everybody’s breath got taken away

when that puck was coming. I

thought it was going in and then

just a miraculous play by Pulley.

I’m not going to be forgetting that

one.”

Brayden Point had a goal for the

seventh straight game, and Tyler

Johnson also scored for the de-

fending champion Lightning. An-

drei Vasilevskiy finished with 27

saves.

“These guys have given it their

all for whatever it’s been now, a

month and change (in the play-

offs),” Tampa Bay coach Jon

Cooper said. “Sometimes you lay

an egg and we laid one in the sec-

ond period.”

Game 5 is Monday night in Tam-

pa, Fla., with Game 6 back at Nas-

sau Coliseum on Wednesday night.

The Lightning pulled Vasilev-

skiy for an extra skater with about

1:50 left, but he returned to the ice

38 seconds later when Victor Hed-

man was called for tripping Clut-

terbuck to give New York a power

play.

Point got Tampa Bay on the

scoreboard 3:45 into the third as he

brought the puck up the right side

and beat Varlamov with a shot

from nearly 50 feet out. It was

Point’s league-best 12th of the

postseason and tied Claude Le-

mieux (1997), Joe Sakic (1996),

Mario Lemieux (1996), Pat LaFon-

taine (1992) and Mario Lemieux

(1991) for the longest streak in the

last 30 years.

Johnson made it 3-2 nearly 3

minutes later as he got the puck in

the corner, skated around one Is-

landers player, moved toward the

net and beat Varlamov up high on

the right side with teammate Ross

Colton and Pulock screening the

goalie.

“They’re a heck of a team, so

they’re going to have their push,”

Barzal said.

JIM MCISAAC/AP

New York Islanders left wing Matt Martin (17) celebrates after scoring a second­period goal against TampaBay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during his team’s 3­2 win Saturday in Uniondale, N.Y.

Martin, Pulock help Islesdraw even with LightningNew York takes 3-2 win over Tampa Bay as Martin scores the go-ahead goal

BY VIN A. CHERWOO

Associated Press

Semifinals

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

Montreal 2, Vegas 1

Vegas 4, Montreal 1Montreal 3, Vegas 2Montreal 3, Vegas 2, OTSunday: at MontrealTuesday: at Vegasx-Thursday: at Montrealx-Saturday, June 26: at Vegas

Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Islanders 2

N.Y. Islanders 2, Tampa Bay 1Tampa Bay 4, N.Y. Islanders 2Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Islanders 1Saturday: N.Y. Islanders 3, Tampa Bay 2Monday: at Tampa BayWednesday: at N.Y. Islandersx-Friday, June 25: at Tampa Bay

Scoreboard

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 43 28 .606 _

Tampa Bay 43 29 .597 ½

New York 37 33 .529 5½

Toronto 34 35 .493 8

Baltimore 23 47 .329 19½

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 43 28 .606 _

Cleveland 38 30 .559 3½

Kansas City 31 38 .449 11

Minnesota 29 41 .414 13½

Detroit 29 42 .408 14

West Division

W L Pct GB

Oakland 44 28 .611 _

Houston 42 28 .600 1

Seattle 37 36 .507 7½

Los Angeles 36 35 .507 7½

Texas 25 45 .357 18

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

New York 36 28 .563 _

Philadelphia 34 34 .500 4

Atlanta 32 35 .478 5½

Washington 32 36 .471 6

Miami 31 39 .443 8

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 39 32 .549 _

Milwaukee 39 32 .549 _

Cincinnati 35 34 .507 3

St. Louis 35 35 .500 3½

Pittsburgh 25 44 .362 13

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 45 26 .634 _

Los Angeles 43 27 .614 1½

San Diego 41 32 .562 5

Colorado 30 42 .417 15½

Arizona 20 52 .278 25½

Saturday’s games

N.Y. Yankees 7, Oakland 5Minnesota 3, Texas 2Boston 7, Kansas City 1Toronto 10, Baltimore 7Pittsburgh 6, Cleveland 3Houston 7, Chicago White Sox 3L.A. Angels 8, Detroit 3Seattle 6, Tampa Bay 5, 10 inningsN.Y. Mets 5, Washington 1, 7 innings, 1st

gameWashington 6, N.Y. Mets 2, 7 innings, 2nd

gameMiami 11, Chicago Cubs 1Philadelphia 13, San Francisco 6San Diego 7, Cincinnati 5Milwaukee 6, Colorado 5L.A. Dodgers 9, Arizona 3St. Louis at Atlanta, ppd.

Sunday’s games

Cleveland at PittsburghOakland at N.Y. YankeesToronto at BaltimoreBoston at Kansas CityChicago White Sox at HoustonMinnesota at TexasDetroit at L.A. AngelsTampa Bay at SeattleN.Y. Mets at WashingtonSt. Louis at AtlantaMiami at Chicago CubsMilwaukee at ColoradoPhiladelphia at San FranciscoCincinnati at San DiegoL.A. Dodgers at ArizonaSt. Louis at Atlanta

Monday’s games

Houston (Odorizzi 1-3) at Baltimore(Akin 0-2)

Cleveland (Civale 10-2) at Chicago Cubs(Alzolay 4-5)

Oakland (Montas 7-6) at Texas (Gibson4-0)

Cincinnati (Mahle 7-2) at Minnesota(Happ 3-3)

Atlanta (Anderson 4-3) at N.Y. Mets (de-Grom 6-2).

Atlanta (TBD) at N.Y. Mets (TBD), 8:10p.m.

Milwaukee (Anderson 2-4) at Arizona(Kelly 2-7)

L.A. Dodgers (Urías 9-2) at San Diego(Darvish 6-2)

Tuesday’s games

Cincinnati at MinnesotaChicago White Sox at PittsburghHouston at BaltimoreKansas City at N.Y. YankeesBoston at Tampa BaySt. Louis at DetroitToronto at MiamiCleveland at Chicago CubsOakland at TexasSan Francisco at L.A. AngelsColorado at SeattleWashington at PhiladelphiaAtlanta at N.Y. MetsMilwaukee at ArizonaL.A. Dodgers at San Diego

Scoreboard

NEW YORK — Gio Urshela stayed in the

game despite a shard of a broken bat hitting his

right eye in the second inning and hit a go-

ahead homer eighth as the New York Yankees

rallied from a three-run deficit in a 7-5 victory

Saturday that stopped the Oakland Athletics’

seven-game winning streak.

Aroldis Chapman struck out Matt Chapman

on a 103.4 mph pitch to strand two runners in

the ninth for his 15th save.

Urshela singled in New York’s first run in

the fourth and put the Yankees ahead 5-4 in the

eighth when he lifted a 98.6 mph fastball from

Jesús Luzardo (2-4) into the netting above

Monument Park in center. DJ LeMahieu add-

ed a two-run single against Sergio Romo.

Chad Green (2-4) struck out the side in the

eighth.

Padres 7, Reds 5: Rookie Kim Ha-seong hit

a tiebreaking, two-run home run with two outs

in the eighth — three innings after he replaced

injured star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. —

and San Diego beat visiting Cincinnati.

Phillies 13, Giants 6: Rhys Hoskins broke

out a 2-for-40 slump with a pair of home runs

and a career-best six RBIs, leading Philadel-

phia to a win at San Francisco.

Marlins 11, Cubs 1: Adam Duvall homered

twice for the second straight game, and Pablo

López (3-4) pitched one-hit ball over seven in-

nings in a win at Chicago.

Mets 5­2, Nationals 1­6: Jon Lester pitched

shutout ball into the seventh inning to gain his

first win for Washington, Kyle Schwarber

backed him with four RBIs on a pair of home

runs and the host Nationals split a doublehead-

er with New York.

In the opener, Francisco Lindor homered in

the first on a sinker from Joe Ross, singled in

the third on a changeup for a 3-0 lead and

homered in the fifth on a slider for his 12th mul-

ti-homer game.

Twins 3, Rangers 2: Max Kepler scored the

go-ahead run on a second consecutive wild

pitch from Texas reliever John King (5-5) in

the seventh inning, and Minnesota won on the

road.

Pirates 6,  Indians 3: Michael Perez and

Bryan Reynolds hit three-run home runs dur-

ing the seventh inning and host Pittsburgh ral-

lied past Cleveland.

Blue Jays 10, Orioles 7: Vladimir Guerrero

Jr. hit his major-league leading 23rd homer

and capped a ninth-inning rally with a go-

ahead, two-run double as Toronto won at Balti-

more to end a five-game skid.

Red Sox 7, Royals 1: Light-hitting Bobby

Dalbec hit a two-run homer and had three

RBIs, finishing a double short of a cycle, and

J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer in Boston’s

win at Kansas City.

Astros 7, White Sox 3:Rookie Robel Garcia

tied a career high with three RBIs, Carlos Cor-

rea homered and host Houston beat Lance

Lynn and Chicago.

Angels 8, Tigers 3: Shohei Ohtani homered

for the fourth time in five games and matched

his high for homers in a season as Los Angeles

beat Detroit for its sixth straight home win.

Brewers 6, Rockies 5: Willy Adames had

four hits, including a go-ahead two-run home

run in the top of the ninth inning, and Milwau-

kee rallied to win at Colorado.

Mariners 6, Rays 5  (10): J.P. Crawford

scored the winning run on Mitch Haniger’s

10th-inning single and hit a grand slam to lift

host Seattle over Tampa Bay.

Urshela takes shard in eye, hits Yanks’ go-ahead HR

JOHN MINCHILLO/AP

New York Yankees’ Gio Urshela runs thebases after hitting a go­ahead solo home runoff Oakland Athletics relief pitcher JesusLuzardo in the Yankees’ 7­5 win Saturday.

Associated Press

ROUNDUP

PHOENIX — Will Smith has

been behind the plate for plenty of

Walker Buehler’s starts dating

back to their minor league days. It

doesn’t take the Dodgers catcher

long to know if Buehler’s got the

good stuff.

Within a few pitches on Satur-

day night, Smith was sold: This

was going to be fun.

“I’m glad he’s on our side,”

Smith said. “And I don’t have to

face him.”

Buehler had another masterful

mound performance, taking a no-

hitter into the eighth inning as Los

Angeles beat the skidding Arizona

Diamondbacks 9-3.

The 26-year-old right-hander

cruised through the Diamond-

backs’ order, walking two, hitting

a batter and striking out a season-

best 11. He was pulled with one out

in the eighth after giving up sin-

gles to David Peralta and Nick

Ahmed.

“Felt like I had some gas left in

the tank,” Buehler said. “But two

good pieces of hitting and I’m out

of there.”

Buehler (7-0) breezed through

the seventh, striking out Eduardo

Escobar and Christian Walker be-

fore getting Stephen Vogt to

ground out. Peralta got a pitch up

in the zone to start the eighth and

lined a clean single into center.

Buehler got a big hand from a siz-

able contingent of Dodgers’ fans at

Chase Field in Phoenix.

“Man, I wanted that no-hitter,”

Los Angeles manager Dave Ro-

berts said. “Everyone wanted it.

The fastball velocity was his best

in quite some time. He was work-

ing all quadrants.”

Buehler hasn’t been beaten in

his past 23 starts, which tied a

franchise record. Kirby Higbe set

the mark in 1946.

Arizona has lost a franchise-re-

cord 16 straight and dropped 39 of

its past 44 games. The Diamond-

backs have the worst record in the

major leagues at 20-52.

Buehler takes no-hitter into 8thDodgers knock off D-backsbehind 11-strikeout effort

BY BOB HUHN

Associated Press

RICK SCUTERI/AP

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler threw a two­hitter over eight innings while walking two bat­ters, hitting a batter and throwing eight strikeouts in a 9­3 defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Monday, June 21, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES/NBA PLAYOFFS

urday night in the first Game 7 togo  overtime  since  2006.  Anteto­kounmpo had 40 points and 13 re­bounds,  and  Khris  Middletonmade the tiebreaking shot with 40seconds left in OT. 

The  third­seeded  Bucks  ad­vanced to the Eastern Conferencefinals for the second time in threeyears. They will play either top­seeded Philadelphia or No. 5 At­lanta  in  a  series  that  startsWednesday. 

“We’re  definitely  proud  ofwhere we are. We put a lot of workin  to  get  to  this  point,”  centerBrook Lopez said. “But, you know,our goal this season at the begin­ning of the season wasn’t just tomake it to the Eastern Conferencefinals. Obviously we want to win achampionship.” 

The Bucks blew a 2­0 lead lasttime they got to the conference fi­nals,  losing  four  straight  to  theeventual NBA champion TorontoRaptors in 2019. 

They overcame that deficit thistime, turning the series around af­ter dropping Game 2 by 39 pointsand pulling out a deciding gamethat turned into a thriller. 

“It’s just been a heck of a se­ries,”  coach  Mike  Budenholzersaid. “You put so much emotionand so much energy and time in it.For this group to be rewarded witha huge win in a Game 7 in over­time, it’s just a great group. Youfeel great for the group, great forthe players.” 

Antetokounmpo  tied  KareemAbdul­Jabbar’s franchise playoffrecord with five straight games of30  points  and  10  rebounds.  Hecapped it off by becoming the firstplayer in NBA history with at least40 points, 10 boards and five as­sists in a Game 7 victory. 

The Bucks had the best recordin  the  league  last  season  butcouldn’t  get  out  of  the  secondround. They acquired Jrue Holi­day  before  this  season  to  teamwith Antetokounmpo and Middle­ton, their two All­Stars, and built a

team that was better prepared forthe postseason. 

Milwaukee is unbeaten at homein the postseason and would playthere to start the next round if At­lanta  wins  Sunday.  But  even  ifthey are on the road, the Bucks areconfident in their chances. 

They overcame Kevin Durant’s48 points in Game 7 and are readyfor whoever comes next. 

“To be able to finally get overthe  hump  against  him  is  prettynice.  I’m  excited,”  forward  P.J.Tucker  said.  “We’re  just  gettingstarted, though. We’ve got a lot ofwork to do.” 

Reach: Bucks now eightwins from championshipFROM PAGE 24

Conference semifinals

(Best­of­seven)Eastern Conference

Milwaukee 4, Brooklyn 3Brooklyn 115, Milwaukee 107Brooklyn 125, Milwaukee 86Milwaukee 86, Brooklyn 83Milwaukee 107, Brooklyn 96Brooklyn 114, Milwaukee 108Milwaukee 104, Brooklyn 89Saturday: Milwaukee 115, Brooklyn 111

Atlanta 3, Philadelphia 3Atlanta 128, Philadelphia, 124Philadelphia 118, Atlanta 102Philadelphia 127, Atlanta 111Atlanta 103, Philadelphia 100June 16: Atlanta 109, Philadelphia 106Philadelphia 104, Atlanta 99Sunday: at Philadelphia

Western ConferencePhoenix 4, Denver 0

Phoenix 122, Denver 105Phoenix 123, Denver 98Phoenix 116, Denver 102Phoenix 125, Denver 118

L.A. Clippers 4, Utah 2Utah 112, L.A. Clippers 109Utah 117, L.A. Clippers 111L.A. Clippers 132, Utah 106L.A. Clippers 118, Utah 104L.A. Clippers 110, Utah 111L.A. Clippers 131, Utah 119

Conference finals

(Best­of­seven)x­if necessary

Eastern �ConferenceWednesday: PHI/ATL vs. MilwaukeeFriday: PHI/ATL vs. MilwaukeeSunday, June 27: PHI/ATL vs. MilwaukeeTuesday, June 29: PHI/ATL vs. Milwaukeex­Thursday, July 1:PHI/ATL vs. Milwaukeex­Saturday, July 3: PHI/ATL vs. Milwaukeex­Monday, July 5: PHI/ATL vs. Milwaukee

Western �ConferenceSunday: at PhoenixTuesday: at PhoenixThursday: at L.A. ClippersSaturday, June 26: at L.A. Clippersx­Monday, June 28: at Phoenixx­Wednesday, June 30: at L.A. Clippersx­Friday, July 2: at Phoenix

NBA scoreboard

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo drives past the Brooklyn Nets’Joe Harris on Saturday in New York. Antetokounmpo had 40 pointsand 13 rebounds in the Bucks’ 115­111 overtime victory.

OMAHA,  Neb.  —  Vanderbilt

made  it  to Omaha with a young

team, one almost entirely differ­

ent from the one that won the na­

tional championship here in 2019.

It was one of the Commodores’

old hands, though, who got them

off to a winning start at the College

World Series this year. 

Jayson  Gonzalez  singled

through the infield with the bases

loaded in the bottom of the 12th in­

ning, giving Vandy a 7­6 win over

Arizona on Saturday night. 

Gonzalez grounded a 1­2 pitch

beyond  diving  shortstop  Nik

McClaughry’s  glove  to  end  the

first  extra­inning  game  at  the

CWS since 2014. It lasted 4 hours,

51 minutes, making it the fourth­

longest game in CWS history. 

“It’s a dream come true to be

here, to be in the situation,” said

Gonzalez, one of Vandy’s three se­

niors. “We’ve all worked so hard to

get to this moment, so it’s a pretty

special moment.” 

Arizona’s Vince Vannelle (5­3)

worked out of a bases­loaded sit­

uation in the bottom of the 11th, but

the Commodores (46­15) wouldn’t

be denied in the 12th.

Isaiah Thomas led off with an

infield single and Parker Noland

bunted for a hit before Vannelle

walked Javier Vaz. Gonzalez then

came through for the second time

in  the game. He had hit a  tying

home run in the fourth inning. 

“Any time you win a game like

that ... it wasn’t easy, it was long,

and I think it gives you a certain

amount  of  confidence,  as  it

should,” Vandy coach Tim Corbin

said. 

Chris McElvain (5­1) held Ari­

zona (45­17) scoreless in the top of

the 12th after Donta Williams dou­

bled to the wall leading off, getting

a flyout and two strikeouts. 

The game marked the roughest

postseason  start  for  Vanderbilt

star Kumar Rocker. 

Rocker, projected to be a top­10

pick in the Major League Baseball

draft next month, gave up three

runs  in  the  first  inning and was

pulled after Ryan Holgate’s two­

run  homer  in  the  sixth  put  the

Wildcats up 5­3. 

The 2019 CWS Most Outstand­

ing Player entered the game hav­

ing  won  all  six  of  his  previous

NCAA Tournament starts, allow­

ing three runs in 422⁄�3 innings. 

North Carolina State 10, Stan­

ford 4: At  Omaha,  Neb.,  Jonny

Butler homered and drove in a ca­

reer­high five runs, Reid Johnston

pitched six strong innings and the

Wolfpack  opened  the  College

World Series with a 10­4 victory

over the Cardinal on Saturday. 

North  Carolina  State  (36­18),

which knocked out No. 1 national

seed Arkansas in the super region­

als last week, continued its post­

season roll in the first CWS game

since  2019.  The  2020  event  was

canceled due to the pandemic. 

The Wolfpack got out  to a 2­0

lead in the first inning on Butler’s

homer to right off Pac­12 pitcher

of the year Brendan Beck. After

Devonte Brown barely cleared the

fence in right­center in the fourth

to give NC State at least two home­

rs in 17 of its last 21 games, But­

ler’s two­run single made it 6­0.

Butler  led  a  Wolfpack  offense

that finished with 12 hits, includ­

ing five for extra bases, and cap­

italized on Stanford’s three errors. 

“He’s a model of consistency in

everything  he  does,”  NC  State

coach  Elliott  Avent  said.  “Some

guys like that fly under the radar.

It’s hard for Jonny Butler to fly un­

der the radar.”

PHOTOS BY REBECCA S. GRATZ/AP

Vanderbilt’s Jayson Gonzalez, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a two­run home run againstArizona in the fifth inning during a College World Series game, Saturday, in Omaha, Neb.

Gonzalez’s hit in 12thlifts Vandy past Arizona

North Carolina State’s J.T. Jarrettcelebrates scoring on JonnyButler’s RBI double against Stan­ford in the fourth inning Saturday.

Associated Press

ROUNDUP

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, June 21, 2021

SPORTSEye-catching effort

Richardson puts on show in 100Mat Olympic trials ›› Track & field, Page 21

Islanders edge Lightning to even series ›› NHL playoffs, Page 21

Once they could finally get off the court, the MilwaukeeBucks feasted their eyes on a welcome sight in thelocker room.

The No. 8 on their board signified the number of vic-tories remaining to win a championship, following a sweep ofMiami followed by a survival against Brooklyn.

“I’m really happy for what we got done. I’mreally happy we were able to write 8 on theboard. But the job is not done,” Giannis

Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to keep believing in ourselves. We’ve got to keep

playing good basketball and take it game by game. The job is notdone. We’re halfway through.”

They got there by edging the Nets 115-111 in Brooklyn on Sat-

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, right, celebrates withPat Connaughton after beating the Brooklyn Nets 115­111 in overtime

of Game 7 of their second­round series on Saturday in New York.

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

BY BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

SEE REACH ON PAGE 23

NBA PLAYOFFS

Bucks reach Eastern Conference finals after outlasting Nets in OT

Halfway there