Volume 80 Edition 117 ©SS 2021 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

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MILITARY

Danish pop star hopesDNA will lead to fathershe feels is Vietnam vetPage 6

FACES

Stones roll on, pay tribute to late drummerPage 14

NFL

Inconsistency hasbeen the norm in SeptemberPage 24

Unusual amount of debate, political intrigue surrounds Milley ›› Page 4

BLACKSTONE, Va. — Mayor Billy Cole-

burn finished his burger, pulled out his cell-

phone and braced himself for the 24 Facebook

notifications and slew of unread messages

waiting for him.

“Let’s see how bad they are,” he said, sitting

in a booth at the Brew House on Main Street, in

the town of roughly 3,600 people in rural south-

ern Virginia.

The rumors seemed to be evolving each day,

ever since an international humanitarian crisis

made its way across the world and landed in

Blackstone’s backyard. Just over a mile from

the town limits, past a thick tree line and be-

hind the heavily guarded gates of Fort Pickett,

there were now more Afghan evacuees than

Blackstone residents.

Roughly 5,900 men, women and children

PHOTOS BY JULIA RENDLEMAN/For The Washington Post

Mayor Billy Coleburn walks down Main Street in Blackstone, Va. Coleburn been dealing with division and misinformation in Blackstone,population 3,600, since the arrival of roughly 5,900 Afghan evacuees at nearby Fort Pickett.

Unsettled on

Main Street

Thousands of Afghans arrived at a National Guard base in rural Virginia, leading to dissension in the community

BY MEAGAN FLYNN

The Washington Post

Coleburn displays some of the messages he’sreceived from community members about theAfghan evacuees housed at Fort Pickett. SEE UNSETTLED ON PAGE 3

Recent raids by the U.S.-led

coalition battling Islamic State in

Syria resulted in the killing or cap-

ture of several people affiliated

with the terrorist group, officials

said.

The raids and other recent oper-

ations highlight the ongoing fight-

ing by the international coalition

in Syria, even as U.S. officials seek

to emphasize a shift to noncombat

support in neighboring Iraq.

In a raid over the weekend, coa-

lition forces killed three ISIS ter-

rorists and detained two associ-

ates, Operation Inherent Resolve

spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto

said Sunday on social media. A

couple of days earlier, the coali-

tion captured one known ISIS ter-

rorist and two associates in east-

ern Syria, Marotto said in an earli-

er post.

Hundreds of U.S. troops remain

deployed to help the Syrian De-

fense Forces battle ISIS. Marotto

said the coalition also provided re-

connaissance support during

raids in the eastern city of Raqqa

ISAIAH J SCOTT/U.S. Army

A soldier from the 256th InfantryBrigade Combat Team conductsreconnaissance Aug. 9 in Syria.

US-led coalitionsays raid killed 3 ISIS militants

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

SYRIA

SEE RAID ON PAGE 4

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

BERLIN — Voters in Berlin

backed a controversial proposal for

the Berlin city government to take

over about 240,000 apartments

worth billions from corporate own-

ers to curb sharply rising rents in

the German capital.

The count of Sunday’s referen-

dum showed that 56.4% of voters

were in favor of the expropriation

measure, while 39% were opposed,

German news agency dpa reported

on Monday.

The nonbinding referendum

forces the Berlin city government

to consider expropriating big, cor-

porate landlords in a radical move

to cool one of Germany’s hottest re-

al estate markets, where rents have

become unaffordable for many

residents in recent years.

The proposal would affect about

15% of rented apartments in Berlin.

The representatives of the initia-

tive known as Expropriate

Deutsche Wohnen & Co, which has

lobbied for the measure since 2019,

welcomed the result on Monday

and said they would put pressure

on the coalition talks for Berlin’s

government to implement the mea-

sure.

“We will neither accept delaying

strategies nor other attempts to

stop the proposal,” Kalle Kunkel

from the initiative told German

news agency dpa. “We will not let

go until the public ownership of the

housing coporations has been im-

plemented.”

Whether the referendum will be

implemented will be up to the Ber-

lin government which was elected

on Sunday.

Berliners in favor of measure to seize 240K flatsAssociated Press

Bahrain95/84

Baghdad101/70

Doha95/83

Kuwait City103/75

Riyadh97/71

Kandahar98/62

Kabul82/58

Djibouti98/86

TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

65/48

Ramstein65/46

Stuttgart64/54

Lajes,Azores73/69

Rota76/63

Morón86/59 Sigonella

86/68

Naples85/65

Aviano/Vicenza80/62

Pápa73/50

Souda Bay85/66

Brussels65/53

Zagan66/56

DrawskoPomorskie

58/52

TUESDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa70/57

Guam85/78

Tokyo79/64

Okinawa90/77

Sasebo86/71

Iwakuni83/68

Seoul70/59

Osan71/63

Busan80/71

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

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

WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 14Opinion ........................ 15Sports .................... 17-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Sept. 28) $1.14Dollar buys (Sept. 28) 0.8325British pound (Sept. 28) $1.33Japanese yen (Sept. 28) 108.00South Korean won (Sept. 28) 1,146.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.3719Canada (Dollar) 1.2647China (Yuan) 6.4591Denmark (Krone) 6.3543Egypt (Pound) 15.7202Euro .8546Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7841Hungary (Forint) 306.28Israel (Shekel) 3.2025Japan (Yen) 110.85Kuwait (Dinar) .3012

Norway (Krone) 8.5955

Philippines (Peso) 51.13Poland (Zloty) 3.93Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7513Singapore (Dollar) 1.3531

South Korea (Won) 1,179.94Switzerland (Franc) .9264Thailand (Baht) 33.57Turkey (New Lira) 8.8337

(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger-many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur-chasing 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 dollars-to-pound, and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.)

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75Federal funds market rate 0.093-month bill 0.0330-year bond 1.99

EXCHANGE RATES

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

who had escaped the chaos and

the Taliban in Kabul were now

sleeping on cots in barracks and

tractor trailers at the Virginia Na-

tional Guard installation, one of

three military bases in Virginia

where Afghans are being tempo-

rarily housed before being reset-

tled in communities across the

United States. The makeshift vil-

lage was largely invisible to any-

one beyond the gates of the mili-

tary base — as were the Afghans

within it. They were nowhere to be

seen in Blackstone, but somehow

seemed to be everywhere too, as

their arrival transfixed the com-

munity.

Coleburn watched as his town

seemed to crack into two Ameri-

cas: one, welcoming the evacuees

with floods of donations and com-

passion; the other, apprehensive

and suspicious, believing the

mere presence of the foreigners

posed a threat to the town’s safety.

The recent arrest of one Afghan

evacuee at Fort Pickett on charges

of grand larceny, after he was ac-

cused of stealing a car on base, had

only inflamed their suspicions.

Coleburn slid open the first un-

read message.

“A cryptic message is circulat-

ing about several escapees that

have homemade weapons,” one

woman warned the mayor.

The second message, more spe-

cific: “Have you heard about the

60 escaped refugees? They are

headed to Blackstone to rob, rape

and whatever they are planning.”

That woman added: “Or is this a

wild rumor?”

Coleburn sighed, puzzled.

“Where did she get that number

from?”

Split opinionsColeburn, who is also owner and

editor of the town’s newspaper,

the Courier-Record, says the pa-

per broke the news in late August

that Blackstone’s own Fort Pickett

would likely be called on by the

federal government to host thou-

sands of Afghans.

Now the front page of his weekly

newspaper was splashed with a

bold red headline, “AFGHAN

NUMBERS RISE,” beside a mug

shot of the arrested Afghan man,

and its pages had become a sound-

ing board for the community’s

split opinions on welcoming their

new neighbors.

“What’s wrong with this pic-

ture?!” wrote Sam Mordan, a resi-

dent of neighboring Kembridge,

in a letter to the editor Sept. 15.

“The US can’t take care of its own

homeless and veterans, but can

bring in tens of thousands of Af-

ghans and give them everything.”

The bottom-left corner on the

next page sounded a different

note: “Want To Help The Afghan

Evacuees?” read an ad from

Blackstone Baptist Church.

In the basement at Blackstone

Baptist, Pastor Ted Fuson had set

aside space for the dozens of hy-

giene kits that residents had been

dropping off. As far as he could

tell, politics and rumors hadn’t

had any impact on the town’s ea-

gerness to help.

“Some people were scared to

death they’d be terrorists — all it

takes is one person to say it. But

that’s just not Blackstone. It just

isn’t,” said Fuson, a cowboy-boot-

wearing 78-year-old. “It’s your

typical small town of people who

care about each other.”

Blackstone, a diverse communi-

ty where roughly half the resi-

dents are Black, is also in a deeply

conservative area, with a big pro-

military and veteran population.

Men and women in army-green

fatigues from Fort Pickett can of-

ten be seen walking along a pris-

tinely kept Main Street, passing

recently remodeled storefronts.

As he walks to the Brew House for

lunch, Coleburn picks up a stray

chewing gum wrapper on the side-

walk and throws it in a trash can.

“Drives me crazy,” he says.

The town, he says, has taken im-

mense pride in being the home of

Fort Pickett, Blackstone’s major

employer. So when he heard some

complaints after the base was se-

lected as a housing location for Af-

ghan evacuees, “I said, folks, you

can’t sit here and say, ‘We love

Fort Pickett’ — and then all of a

sudden we get a mission and go,

‘Oh hell no, we don’t want that.’ ”

Still, to Coleburn, Pickett did

seem a bit of an unlikely place to

bring thousands of evacuees with

critical needs, many arriving with

little else than the clothes they

were wearing.

“This is in a rural area with not a

lot of infrastructure, nearest hos-

pital is 35 miles away,” Coleburn

said — and, as an added challenge

— “a bunch of people are wide-

eyed and watching Fox News.

Ain’t a lot of MSNBC ‘Morning

Joe’ fans around here.”

So there were a lot of people

watching, Coleburn said, when

Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., went

on Laura Ingraham’s show on

Sept. 8 and claimed he had heard

that Afghans were ordering Ubers

and freely leaving Fort Pickett —

leading to an avalanche of con-

cerns from Blackstone residents,

which they routed to the mayor,

who went on Facebook Live to as-

sure residents he would look into

it. Something he now found him-

self doing almost every day.

“Every time someone sees

somebody that’s not a Caucasian

male, they’re like, ‘I saw one at

Food Lion,’ ” Coleburn said be-

tween bites of his burger. “I’m

like, ‘Folks, they’re with the gov-

ernment. They’re not evacuees

shopping at Food Lion.’ ”

Behind the bar at the Brew

House, James D. Harvey said he

had heard the negative murmur-

ing in town. But his instinct was to

be “a humanitarian first.” As a

Black man in the South, he said, he

felt for the Afghans and what they

would have to face as they tried to

acclimate to new lives in America

—“the prejudice,” he said, “as any

minority in America would.”

“I don’t think not one person

here would want to switch shoes

with any of the refugees — they

talk that talk but won’t walk that

walk,” said Harvey.

Still, Harvey said he could un-

derstand why some small-busi-

ness owners who have struggled

during the pandemic could see the

federal government giving money

to the Afghans to help them start

new lives, and feel a sense of frus-

tration.

One was the owner of Farmers

Cafe on Main Street, Al Moore.

His restaurant had barely sur-

vived through the pandemic,

Moore said, hanging on with the

help of federal COVID-19 relief.

Now, he grumbled, taxpayers

were helping people from a for-

eign country when people right

here in his own community need-

ed help.

“We don’t owe them a damn

thing,” Moore, 71, said of the Af-

ghan evacuees, standing outside

his restaurant beside a black ban-

ner hanging in the window that

said, “We Will Never Forget.”

The timing of the Afghans’ ar-

rival around the 20th anniversary

of 9/11 had Moore particularly up-

set. Instead of honoring the mili-

tary and first responders, he be-

lieved, “we bring the ones here

who blew up the twin towers.”

(None of the 9/11 hijackers were

Afghans.)

Since the Afghans’ arrival,

Moore had found himself feeling

afraid even to be walking around

Blackstone, and some nights

found himself wondering if an in-

vasion was possible.

“I keep a pistol on me all the

time,” he said, “because you don’t

know what’s going to happen.”

‘The right thing to do’Rebecca Freeze, an Iraq com-

bat veteran who lives 10 miles east

of Blackstone in an unincorporat-

ed community called Darvills —

“a suburb of Blackstone,” she

jokes — had been to Fort Pickett

and had seen what was happening

in Blackstone. And what she wit-

nessed had, at least on one occa-

sion, brought her to tears.

A friend of Freeze’s thought to

start a Facebook page to pool do-

nations and volunteers to help

their new neighbors, but she ini-

tially got “some kickback from

people who knew her that wasn’t

positive,” Freeze said. “So I told

her, well let me start the Facebook

page — because after 27 years in

the Army, let ’em come. As a fe-

male combat veteran I can get

PMS and PTSD at the same time.”

So she started the Facebook

page — Helping Afghans in South-

ern VA — and instead of any nega-

tive reactions she got a rush of ea-

ger volunteers, turning the page

into a mosaic of unique contribu-

tions. A local artist used proceeds

from artwork he sold to buy soccer

balls for Afghan kids. A chiroprac-

tor’s office started collecting toys.

Renee and David Cannon, the

owners of a clothing store on Main

Street that had gone out of busi-

ness, donated the store’s remain-

ing, culturally appropriate mer-

chandise to the Afghans.

Renee Cannon, 65, said her fa-

ther, Adren Quest Hance Sr.,

sponsored two young Vietnamese

refugees — and later, the refu-

gees’ other family members — to

come live with them in their small

town in Hanover County after the

Vietnam War, helping them find

jobs and learn English and build

new lives. When thousands of Af-

ghans began arriving at Fort Pick-

ett, she wanted to live up to what

he had taught her.

“It just seemed like the right

thing to do,” she said. She connect-

ed with Freeze about how to get all

the clothing over to Pickett, and

soon a truckload of volunteers

showed up at the store to help lug

it all away.

Lately, Freeze had been

camped out at Crenshaw United

Methodist Church — or, in mili-

tary parlance, Forward Operating

Base Crenshaw United Methodist.

The church basement had been

transformed into quasi-barracks

for about a dozen rotating volun-

teers from Team Rubicon, a veter-

an-led nonprofit contracted with

the Defense Department to lead

donation distribution inside Fort

Pickett. Many had driven or flown

in from North Carolina and Penn-

sylvania and Connecticut, among

other places, while a few like

Freeze were from the region.

Each day, the volunteers sifted

and sorted through the hundreds

of boxes of clothing and toys and

toiletries in a warehouse on base

— many mailed in from all over,

many pooled by area churches

like Blackstone Baptist and Spring

Hill Baptist, which that Thursday

evening was hosting its latest do-

nation drive.

Spring Hill’s pastor, the Rev.

Travis Warren, said he could un-

derstand some of the mixed feel-

ings in Blackstone about Fort

Pickett’s mission — he experi-

enced them himself at first. His

son fought in Afghanistan from

2019 to 2020, and during his tour

two soldiers in his son’s unit were

killed in an attack by a man wear-

ing an Afghan soldier’s uniform.

The arrival of so many Afghans

who aided the United States in the

war effort brought those painful

memories to the surface.

“But then, I would ask myself

this question: What would Jesus

do?” said Warren, a doctor of di-

vinity. “And in spite of what hap-

pened, Jesus would still take care

of the need. So I felt like as a

church, that’s what we would do.”

On the first Sunday in Septem-

ber, he appealed to his congrega-

tion from the pulpit in Spring

Hill’s sanctuary. “One of the

things I want you to think about:

Imagine yourself having to leave

everything that you own and pos-

sess, and go to a foreign land that

you’ve never been to before with

nothing but what you have on your

back. Would you not want some-

one, anyone, to offer a helping

hand to you?

“Well, I’ll tell you, Spring Hill,

you stepped up to the plate.”

The pastor called up Freeze

who, wearing her Team Rubicon

T-shirt, had come to thank the con-

gregation for its recent deluge of

charity. At least initially, the oper-

ation at Fort Pickett was bare-

bones, and they had run out of

clothes to distribute to the eva-

cuees. She called Spring Hill’s di-

rector of outreach, Shirverne

Griffin, about 9 p.m. a couple days

earlier and asked: “How quickly

can we deliver clothes?”

Quickly, it turned out.

“I kept saying, I’m not gonna

cry, I’m not gonna cry, but I think I

got to,” Freeze said to the church,

“because it’s such an emotional

time out there because you see

such need, and then when we re-

ach out to the community, we see

such love. Somebody said that

compassion is God’s love in work

boots.”

Warren leaned over to hand her

a box of tissues.

Fighting fear with factsAt the same time volunteers

were gathering in Spring Hill’s

basement for the donation drive,

Coleburn was firing up Facebook

Live. By then fears of “60 escaped

refugees” had been percolating

for hours on social media, and

now, citing his federal source at

Pickett, the mayor had some an-

swers.

“The rumor is completely

false,” he assured Blackstone resi-

dents. “Completely false.”

The apprehension was starting

to wear on him — “now I’m one of

those people who can’t sleep,” he

said — but he knew that the only

way to calm fears was to deliver

facts.

So the day after the Ingraham

segment aired, and not long after

the grand larceny arrest on base,

Coleburn and the town manager,

Philip Vannoorbeeck, joined Rep.

Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., on a

tour of Fort Pickett, eager to bring

back some answers for the sur-

rounding community. No unau-

thorized people have been leaving

the base, and those who are able to

leave have completed health and

security screenings and were con-

firmed to be U.S. citizens or legal

Unsettled: Presence of refugees brings mixed reactionsFROM PAGE 1

SEE FEAR ON PAGE 4

AFGHANISTAN

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

permanent residents, Spanberger

said she learned. She added the

base’s medical unit is equipped to

handle urgent care, reducing the

impact on local hospitals.

Spokespeople for the depart-

ments of Defense and Homeland

Security — which declined to

make officials available for in-

terviews or provide access to

Fort Pickett or to Afghans on the

base — said in a statement that

evacuees have gone through “a

multi-layer screening and vet-

ting process” performed by fed-

eral law enforcement and coun-

terterrorism professionals be-

fore arriving at Fort Pickett.

They include Special Immigrant

Visa holders who aided in the

war effort, their families and oth-

ers on humanitarian parole

whose lives were endangered by

the Taliban.

They undergo “additional in-

spection” in the United States,

along with coronavirus testing

and a slate of mandatory vac-

cines.

The Afghan man accused of

stealing the car has been jailed,

and is awaiting possible deporta-

tion. But DHS said that was an

isolated incident at Fort Pickett;

“allegations of widespread crim-

inal mischief, attempted escape,

or other concerning behavior are

unfounded,” the agency said in a

statement addressing the rumors

in Blackstone.

It’s unclear how long the mis-

sion might continue at Fort Pick-

ett — DHS could not give an esti-

mate on the average length of

stay for the evacuees, saying it

will vary by individual depend-

ing on the length of time for vac-

cines to take effect; work permits

to be completed; and on the ca-

pacity of resettlement agencies

to relocate the Afghans to new

homes.

During his visit to the base, Co-

leburn said his main complaint

was the litter there, which he

raised with the general in

charge, while lobbying for in-

creased security to assuage the

town’s concerns. Mostly, he said,

they just witnessed “people wait-

ing in long lines for those basic,

mundane human needs” —

roughly two-thirds of them wom-

en and small children. There

were prayer tents functioning as

mosques. Tea tents for socializ-

ing. Kids kicked around a soccer

ball, and hung pictures on the

walls scrawled in crayon of im-

perfect American flags.

Difficult mission

Around dusk Thursday eve-

ning, Team Rubicon returned to

Crenshaw Methodist from a day

of sifting and sorting, and gath-

ered beneath the outdoor pavilion

for their nightly meeting.

“OK, everyone, circle up!” the

team’s incident commander, Lau-

ra Block, shouted to the group,

and one by one, the volunteers de-

livered a report on the day’s work.

“Some of y’all are headed

home,” Block said, as some volun-

teers’ rotation came to an end.

“And post-op drop, it’s a real

thing. So keep your eyes open,

and if you start to feel sad, give

somebody a call.”

The mission at Fort Pickett had

been beautiful but hard to see,

Block said afterward, and it could

take a toll. Some potty-trained

children seemed to regress, may-

be due to trauma, Block said, and

now they needed pull-ups again.

Many of the Afghan families did

not want to use the communal

washers and dryers on base, ret-

icent to let go, even for an hour, of

what few belongings they had,

and so they hung their laundry

from clotheslines by the bar-

racks.

But the image that most often

followed her back to her green cot

at night was of Afghan families

sitting on blankets in the grass

passing the time, the kids smiling

and waving as Block — with

“HAPPY” written across her T-

shirt where her name was sup-

posed to be — tried to hide the

lump in her throat.

“It’s almost like they’re on an

island,” she said, waiting to come

ashore the mainland to new lives

beyond the gates.

Fear: Fort Pickett mission takes toll as mayorworks to maintain safety of Afghans and localsFROM PAGE 3

WASHINGTON — Army Gen.

Mark Milley has been the target

of more political intrigue and de-

bate in two years as chairman of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff than any

of his recent predecessors were

in four. One after another, politi-

cal firestorms have ignited

around him — unusual for an offi-

cer who by law is a whisperer to

presidents and by custom is care-

ful to stay above the political fray.

From racial injustice and do-

mestic extremism to nuclear

weapons and the fitness of Do-

nald Trump as commander in

chief, Milley has become entan-

gled in politically charged issues,

regularly thrusting him into the

news headlines.

Milley is expected to face tough

questioning on those and other is-

sues when he testifies with De-

fense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a

Senate hearing Tuesday and a

House panel Wednesday. The

hearings originally were meant

to focus on the Afghanistan with-

drawal and the chaotic evacua-

tion from Kabul airport last

month.

But since then, Milley has

come under fire from Republi-

cans for his portrayal in a new

book as having taken unusual —

some say illegal — steps to guard

against Trump potentially start-

ing a war with China or Iran or or-

dering an unprovoked nuclear at-

tack in the final months of his

presidency. Milley was reported

to have agreed with House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s assertion

in a January phone call that

Trump was “crazy.”

Even during Milley’s swing

through Europe last week, head-

lines dogged him and reporters

quizzed him. Mostly he batted

questions away or buried them in

detailed historical precedent.

Burly and square-jawed, with a

bushy slash of eyebrows over of-

ten mischievous eyes, Milley is

quick with a quip and frequently

a curse. His oversize personality,

born of Irish roots in Boston, be-

lies a sharp intellect and a pen-

chant for digging deep into mili-

tary history. The Princeton-edu-

cated Milley often meets simple

questions with a deep dive into

history and will expound upon

the context and concepts of war.

So as he faced accusations of

disloyalty for what the book “Per-

il,” by Bob Woodward and Robert

Costa, reported as assurances to a

Chinese general that he would

warn him of a U.S. attack, Milley

gripped his identity as a soldier

who answers to civilian leaders.

He declined to make his case in

the media, instead telling report-

ers that he will lay out his an-

swers directly to Congress.

“I think it’s best that I reserve

my comments on the record until

I do that in front of the lawmakers

who have the lawful responsibil-

ity to oversee the U.S. military,”

Milley said. “I’ll go into any level

of detail Congress wants to go in-

to.”

While some in Congress have

charged that he overstepped his

authority, President Joe Biden

has stood by him.

Loren Thompson, a longtime

observer of the U.S. defense es-

tablishment as chief operating of-

ficer of the nonprofit Lexington

Institute, says Milley is a victim

of Washington’s extreme parti-

sanship and perhaps of his own

efforts to shape his public image.

“His views and descriptions of

his behavior behind closed doors,

pop up too frequently in tell-all

books like the Woodward and

Costa book,” Thompson said. “So

perhaps Milley has taken a more

active approach to trying to shape

his image, and that has not served

him well.”

Milley under more scrutiny than others

CAROLINE BREHMAN, POOL/AP

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley testifiesbefore a Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington, on June 17.

Associated Press

MILITARY

on Sunday.

The combat operations come on

the heels of President Joe Biden’s

remark last week at the United

Nations General Assembly that

the U.S. is not at war “for the first

time in 20 years.”

Officials were working to pro-

vide further details in response to

a query Monday, Marotto said in a

message to Stars and Stripes, but

further information wasn’t availa-

ble by press time.

The alliance and its SDF part-

ners are seeking to prevent ISIS

from reconstituting more than two

years after it was ousted from its

last territorial stronghold.

The weekend assault appears to

have taken place in Deir al-Zour

province. The London-based Syr-

ian Observatory for Human

Rights war monitoring group re-

ported that coalition and partner

forces had targeted a house with

ISIS-affiliated members holed up

inside Sunday.

Over loudspeakers, coalition

forces called for the occupants to

hand themselves over, reported

the observatory, which maintains

a network of on-the-ground sourc-

es. Instead, fighting broke out, and

the coalition withdrew after ar-

resting the occupants and burning

the house, it said.

Elsewhere in the province Sun-

day, a coalition helicopter

launched a fatal airstrike against a

trio of insurgents who had been

spotted near an SDF commando

checkpoint, according to the ob-

servatory.

ISIS carried out 20 attacks last

month, killing 15 civilians and se-

curity personnel from the Eu-

phrates River city of Deir al-Zour

to the town of Qamishli on the

northeastern border with Turkey,

the SDF said Sunday.

Pictures shared Sunday by the

SDF show Bradley Fighting Vehi-

cles flying the U.S. flag doing a se-

curity patrol in the city of al-Hasa-

kah, which the observatory said

was the first of its kind. The SDF

said it had detained three ISIS cell

members in that city during an op-

eration with coalition ground sup-

port about a week ago.

Three simultaneous operations

Sunday in the city of Raqqa’s east,

west and south led to the arrest of

three ISIS cell leaders who had

hidden and transported fighters

responsible for planning and car-

rying out assassinations in the re-

gion, the SDF said.

Meanwhile, military officials is-

sued a statement last week em-

phasizing the “noncombat relat-

ed” mission that the U.S. Army’s

1st Stryker Brigade Combat

Team, 4th Infantry Division as-

sumed at a ceremony in northern

Iraq, noting that the U.S. forces

did not deploy with their Stryker

vehicles.

Raid: Coalition works toprevent resurgence of ISISFROM PAGE 1

garland.chad@stripes.com

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

MILITARY

Soldiers reenlisting in the Army

will soon have a one-year window

before their contracts expire to do

so, instead of 15 months, the service

said.

Soldiers also will be able to apply

for indefinite contracts earlier in

their careers as part of changes to

the Army’s retention program that

take effect Friday.

The shorter reenlistment window

makes it “simple for soldiers, lead-

ers and families to understand

when they are 365 days from their

[expiration-term of service],” Sgt.

Maj. Tobey Whitney, the Army’s se-

nior career counselor, said in a

statement Thursday.

The vast majority of soldiers al-

ready wait somewhere between

eight and 11 months before the end

of their contracts to reenlist, Whit-

ney added.

The new rules will also require

soldiers who wish to extend their

contracts without fully reenlisting

to do so for a minimum of 18 months.

Soldiers are currently allowed to ex-

tend for a minimum of 12 months.

The 18-month minimum should

provide more predictability for

units, soldiers and their families, the

Army said.

Another change beginning Fri-

day will allow soldiers ranked E-6 or

above with a decade or more of ac-

tive service to be eligible for the Ca-

reer Status Program. This provides

mid-career soldiers indefinite-

length contracts, but has historical-

ly required a minimum of 12 years

of service.

“We found through collected data

that staff sergeant and above with

more than 10 years of service were

required to reenlist at least twice to

make it to retirement,” Whitney

said in the statement. “That doesn’t

seem like a logical solution to keep

Soldiers in the Army.”

The change will not alter any of

the Army’s voluntary separation

policies, Whitney said.

Army to shrink reenlistment window to 1 yearBY PHILLIP WALTER WELLMAN

Stars and Stripes

AALIYAH CRAVEN/U.S. Army

Spc. Manuel Leiva, right, raises his right hand and recites the oath of enlistment administered by Chaplain(Capt.) Philibert Meyor, during a ceremony at Irbil, Iraq, last month. The Army is reducing soldiers’reenlistment window from 15 months before the end of the contract to 12 months. 

wellman.phillip@stripes.comTwitter: @pwwellman

About two weeks ago, Navy vet-

eran Kenny Jary, 79, spent a day

mourning the demise of his aged

mobility scooter. It had been his

only means of getting out and

about from his Minnesota home

near St. Paul due to his chronic ob-

structive pulmonary disease.

“I met some beautiful people on

this scooter by traveling around —

the coffee shop, Veteran’s Park,”

Jary said in one of a series of Tik-

Tok videos posted in recent weeks

by Amanda Kline, a neighbor and

friend of the veteran. The videos

have garnered the channel —

@PatrioticKenny — more than a

million followers and tens of mil-

lions of views.

A repairman gave Jary the bad

news that his American flag-

adorned scooter, which he’d been

riding around on since 2003, was

beyond repair because parts for

such an old model were no longer

available.

The viral videos led to an out-

pouring of generosity by viewers

that will not only buy two new

scooters for Jary — a portable one

and a “fancy” one — but 10 more

for other veterans in need of such

wheels.

As of Sunday, donors had con-

tributed more than $110,000 to the

GoFundMe account “Patriotic

Kenny Needs a Ride” – far sur-

passing the original goal of $5,000.

The flood of donations prompted

Jary and Kline to use the extra

funds to give 10 free scooters to oth-

er veterans in need.

Veterans can be nominated by

filling out and submitting a form

posted at https://

forms.gle/8QFd74PCLJfjBnF87.

The deadline is Friday, Oct. 1.

Kline, who makes educational

videos for deaf children, had be-

gun posting TikToks of Jary a few

months ago. Those early videos

show Jary learning American Sign

Language to better communicate

with a deaf buddy.

“Pictures don’t do Kenny jus-

tice,” Kline told Stars and Stripes

in a phone interview Friday. “He

needs full video,” she said with a

laugh.

Kline and others could not get

hold of him early this month, but

the next day Jary came out of se-

clusion and sat for a video lament-

ing the end of his scooter.

Countless viewers messaged

her that she should set up a Go-

FundMe page for a new scooter,

which she did. “I thought maybe if

we're lucky, we'll get, like, a $100

discount from a company that

makes scooters,” she said.

But a flurry of donations came

in, and Kline posted videos of Jary

reacting as she informed him of the

ever-increasing amounts.

Wearing a hat bearing the name

and logo of the USS Okinawa — the

amphibious assault ship he served

aboard as a helicopter refueler in

the early 1960s — Jary alternates

between giddy laughter and tears.

In a video posted Sept. 15 that has

been viewed more than 10 million

times, Kline tells the veteran that

“people who don’t know you but

love you” had donated $5,000 for a

new scooter, and Jary’s face fills

with astonishment.

“No, you’re kidding,” he says

and begins crying.

“That is so wonderful,” he con-

tinues. “I’m sorry for being emo-

tional, but I can’t help it. That is the

nicest gift I’ve had all my life, and

then some.” The father of three

then quickly added: “Outside of

having my kids, you know.”

In a video posted Sept. 18, Kline

asks him to guess how much do-

nors have contributed. He ven-

tures a guess of $10,000. When she

tells him it is nearly five times that

much, he breaks down in quiet

sobs, then composes himself.

“Forty-five thousand dollars?!

That’s like winning the lottery!” he

says.

Jary told his neighbor that he

didn’t think it was right for him to

simply keep all the leftover dona-

tions, and when Kline came up

with the idea of using the extra

money for other veterans, he en-

thusiastically agreed, Kline said.

It seems to have been an astute

decision.

As of Friday, Jary had received

600 nominations for veterans

needing a scooter, Kline said.

Broken-down mobility scooter propels Navyvet to TikTok fame, tests limits of generosity

BY WYATT OLSON

Stars and Stripes

Amanda Kline

Navy veteran Kenny Jary, 79, and neighbor Amanda Kline readcomments posted to @PatrioticKenny, a TikTok account she runs forhim. Kline created an online presence for Jary to help him get a newmobility scooter after a repairman told Jary his scooter can’t be fixed.

olson.wyatt@stripes.comTwitter: @WyattWOlson

U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air

Forces Africa has a new command

chief.

Chief Master Sgt. Benjamin W.

Hedden succeeded Chief Master

Sgt. Brion P. Blais earlier this month

as the USAFE-AFAFRICA com-

mand chief master sergeant, ac-

cording to an Air Force statement.

Blais was named the senior enlist-

ed leader for NA-

TO Allied Com-

mand Transfor-

mation, the state-

ment said.

In his new role,

Hedden serves as

the senior enlist-

ed adviser to the

USAFE-AFA-

FRICA commander on issues af-

fecting operations, training and

readiness, as well as health, morale,

welfare and discipline, the Air Force

said. He had been the command

chief for the 15th Air Force at Shaw

Air Force Base, S.C.

Hedden joined the Air Force 26

years ago as an aerospace ground

equipment airman. He previously

was a military training instructor at

Lackland Air Force Base in San An-

tonio, according to the Air Force.

USAFE-AFAFRICA has more

than 32,000 active duty, civilian, re-

serve and National Guard personnel

assigned to eight wings and 88 geo-

graphically separated units respon-

sible for operations in 104 countries.

Hedden now inkey post forairmen inEurope, Africa

Stars and Stripes

Hedden

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

MILITARY

A Danish musician hopes she is

close, after searching more than

30 years, to learning the identity of

her father, whom she believes

may be an American veteran of

the Vietnam War.

Zindy Laursen, 50, is known in

Denmark as just Zindy. She bides

her time awaiting the results of a

DNA profile, she recently told

Stars and Stripes in a video inter-

view, by writing songs and prepar-

ing for the day she performs again

at post-pandemic concerts and

music festivals.

After years of unsuccessful

searches, Zindy enlisted the help

of an amateur genealogist to find

her father, whom she believes,

based on her mother’s story, is a

Vietnam vet who visited Australia

during the war.

“I have butterflies of hope, but

my guard is still up in case I get

disappointed again,” she said.

“The reality is that he could be

dead or has other children discou-

raging him from meeting me. A lot

is going through my mind.”

Zindy said she hopes the DNA

analysis she received from

23andMe will eventually lead her

to her father. That road is contin-

gent on her father, or one of his rel-

atives, having made their own

DNA profile available for compar-

ison.

‘I always felt half’ In 1969, Zindy’s mother was a

go-go dancer in Sydney, where she

often met U.S. service members

on leave. The soldiers inevitably

returned to duty, some to Vietnam,

and she eventually moved back to

her home country, Denmark.

Zindy grew up eager to find out

who this mysterious person was

that her mom met dancing, like

something out of a movie.

Meanwhile, in 1992, she was

runner-up for the chance to repre-

sent Denmark in the Eurovision

Song Contest. Record labels scout-

ed her during the audition proc-

ess.

“I flew to America to make a re-

cord, and I had this thought that

maybe my dad could be there

around any corner,” she said.

In 1998, she hired a private in-

vestigator to track down Cleve-

land Mason, an American working

for Veterans Affairs in San Fran-

cisco with whom Zindy’s mom had

a monthslong relationship, and

Zindy believed could be her fa-

ther.

Zindy and Mason got to know

each other over the next few years.

She produced a song about the

meaning of family inspired by the

joy of perhaps finding her long-

lost dad.

But DNA tests proved Mason

was not Zindy’s father. The

search, and her subsequent disap-

pointment, made tabloid papers in

Denmark because of Zindy’s bud-

ding fame.

“I was so devastated,” she said.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to give up.

I’m never going to meet my dad.’ ”

Over the years, Zindy said, she

has developed confidence in her-

self, and finding her father is more

about closure than identity. But,

despite her fame and success, she

always felt like a piece was mis-

sing, especially growing up as a bi-

racial woman in predominantly

white Europe.

“I always felt half,” Zindy said.

“I wanted to be around more peo-

ple who looked like me and know

more about my ethnic and cultural

identity.”

A tough taskThis year, Zindy’s hope was re-

newed when she met DNA and

family lineage hobbyist Brian

Hjort while waiting in line to get a

coronavirus test at a Copenhagen

gym. Hjort recognized Zindy from

her fame as a musician and stories

about her search for her father.

Zindy was hesitant at first, but ulti-

mately agreed to let him help.

Hjort, a Danish antique furni-

ture repairman, became interest-

ed in reuniting families of war vet-

erans when he was backpacking in

Vietnam in 1992 and heard stories

about people speculating about

their possible GI fathers, he told

Stars and Stripes in a phone inter-

view Aug. 10.

Once back home in Denmark,

one of his Vietnamese friends

asked for his help finding the

American father of a person in her

village. Using military records re-

quests, an archive of the names of

American soldiers who served in

Vietnam and contacting the U.S.

Embassy, he found a name and ad-

dress. Since then, Hjort has volun-

teered his time helping families

research their ancestry.

“I do it purely for the joy of mak-

ing a difference to someone,” he

said. “At first it was hard; all I had

was a typewriter, white pages and

limited access to internet cafés.

It’s gotten better now with new

DNA testing kits.”

The hardest part of the job is

taking lineage maps and family

tree results and tracking down rel-

atives. He said the toughest part,

emotionally, is finding a family

member who is either recently de-

ceased or does not wish to have

contact with unacknowledged

family members.

“There is no manual on how to

do this, but some of the successes

are worth the failures,” he said.

‘Continue to have hope’The process of finding an absent

family member can last anywhere

from several months to several

years, Hjort said, depending on

what someone knows about the

person they’re trying to find.

Hjort said Zindy’s DNA test re-

sults do not point to any clear an-

swers. Finding relatives is easier if

they have already had a DNA test

whose results are available for

comparison.

“If many relatives have tested

before, the easier it is,” he recently

told Stars and Stripes via Face-

book Messenger. “Then it’s to fig-

ure out how they all match up in

the puzzle.”

DNA analysis kits from compa-

nies such as Ancestry.com rely on

existing databases and do not

guarantee results. The company’s

“pro genealogy package” for cli-

ents searching for their biological

parents starts at $3,000, but even

at that price tag, not all cases are

solved.

Zindy said she received her

23andMe DNA results Sept. 10 and

is still awaiting results from An-

cestry.com. She remains anxious

but optimistic that she may find

her dad, perhaps soon.

“It’s crazy to think after all this

time, I could be meeting my father

this year,” she said, smiling and

cupping her face in her hands. “At

this point, all I can do is continue to

have hope.”

Singer hopes DNAleads to father shefeels is Vietnam vet

BY ERICA EARL

Stars and Stripes

earl.erica@stripes.comTwitter: @ThisEarlGirl

Anne-Sofie Hjort

Danish pop star Zindy Laursen has spent the past 30 years searching for her biological father, a man shebelieves may be an American veteran of the Vietnam War. 

Brian Hjort

Brian Hjort, center, poses in this undated photo with a family he reunited in Vietnam.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

PACIFIC

A British warship, part of the

U.K. carrier strike group, steamed

through the Taiwan Strait on Mon-

day on its way to rendezvous with

the Vietnamese navy.

The HMS Richmond, a Type 23

frigate that arrived in the Indo-Pa-

cific region with the aircraft carrier

HMS Queen Elizabeth, tweeted

through its official account that it

had transited the contentious, 110-

mile-wide strait that day.

“After a busy period working

with partners and allies in the East

China Sea, we are now en route

through the Taiwan Strait to visit

Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s

Navy,” the message said.

The Chinese government rou-

tinely condemns the U.S. Navy’s

transits through the politically sen-

sitive waterway that separates Chi-

na from Taiwan. Beijing considers

democratic Taiwan a breakaway

province that must be reunited with

the mainland, possibly by force.

The U.S. Navy’s most recent trip

through the strait happened Sept.

17, its ninth so far this year.

Spokespeople for the Royal Navy

did not immediately return a re-

quest from Stars and Stripes for

comment Monday.

During its time in the East China

Sea, the Richmond helped enforce

the United Nations’ sanctions

against North Korea’s missile pro-

grams, according to a U.K. Minis-

try of Defence news release on Sun-

day.

The U.K. reported that the Rich-

mond discovered evidence of North

Korean ships “apparently breach-

ing U.N. sanctions” and provided

that evidence to the U.N. Enforce-

ment Coordination Cell.

The Royal Navy has remained

active in the Indo-Pacific region

since the Queen Elizabeth strike

group arrived earlier this summer.

The aircraft carrier and its escorts

have made port calls in Guam and

Japan, as well as having held nu-

merous training exercises along-

side Japanese and American ships.

British frigate sails through Taiwan Strait to Vietnam

ROYAL NAVY

The HMS Richmond tweeted through its official account that it hadtransited the Taiwan Strait on Monday.

BY ALEX WILSON

Stars and Stripes

wilson.alex@stripes.comTwitter: @AlexMNWilson

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

MADISON, Wis. — With more

than 40 million doses of coronavi-

rus vaccines available, U.S. health

authorities said they’re confident

there will be enough for both qual-

ified older Americans seeking

booster shots and the young chil-

dren for whom initial vaccines are

expected to be approved in the

not-too-distant future.

The spike in demand — expect-

ed following last week’s federal

recommendation on booster shots

— would be the first significant

jump in months. More than 70 mil-

lion Americans remain unvacci-

nated despite the enticement of

lottery prizes, free food or gifts

and pleas from exhausted health

care workers as the average num-

ber of deaths per day climbed to

more than 1,900 in recent weeks.

Federal and state health author-

ities said current supply and stea-

dy production of more doses can

easily accommodate those seek-

ing boosters or initial vaccination,

avoiding a repeat of the frustrat-

ingly slow rollout of COVID-19

vaccines across the country early

this year.

“I hope that we have the level of

interest in the booster ... that we

need more vaccines,” Colorado

Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday.

“That’s simply not where we are

today. We have plenty of vac-

cines.”

Robust supply in the U.S. en-

abled President Joe Biden this

week to promise an additional 500

million of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots

to share with the world, doubling

the United States’ global contribu-

tion. Aid groups and health orga-

nizations have pushed the U.S.

and other countries to improve

vaccine access in countries where

even the most vulnerable people

haven’t had a shot.

Among the challenges states

face is not ordering too many dos-

es and letting them go to waste.

Several states with low vaccina-

tion rates, including Idaho and

Kansas, have reported throwing

away thousands of expired doses

or are struggling to use vaccines

nearing expiration this fall.

While most vaccines can stay on

the shelf unopened for months,

once a vial is opened the clock

starts ticking. Vaccines are only

usable for six to 12 hours, depend-

ing on the manufacturer, accord-

ing to the U.S. Food and Drug Ad-

ministration.

Moderna vaccines come in vials

containing 11 to 15 doses. Pfizer

vials contain up to six doses and

Johnson & Johnson vials five dos-

es.

“We are going to see more doses

that go unused over time,” said

Wisconsin’s health secretary, Ka-

ren Timberlake. “They come in

multidose files. They don’t come

in nice, tidy individual single-

serving packages.”

State health officials said they

have tried to request only what

health care providers and phar-

macies expect to need from the

federal supply. Those numbers

have dwindled since the vaccines

became widely available in early

spring.

But U.S. officials — holding out

hope that some of the unvaccinat-

ed will change their minds — are

trying to keep enough vaccines in

stock so all Americans can get

them.

Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief med-

ical officer of the Association of

State and Territorial Health Offi-

cials, which represents the public

health agencies of all 50 U.S.

states, the District of Columbia

and U.S. territories, said officials

anticipate that on-hand doses of

COVID-19 vaccines and manufac-

turers’ ability to supply more will

meet needs across the country.

“I think states have tried to plan

as if everybody’s going to be of-

fered a booster,” he said, suggesti-

ng they will be overprepared for

the more narrow recommenda-

tions issued by the FDA and the

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

US has enoughvaccines forboosters, kids

Associated Press

JAE C. HONG/AP

Mayra Navarrete, 13, receives the Pfizer COVID­19 vaccine from registered nurse Noleen Nobleza at aclinic set up in the parking lot of CalOptima in Orange, Calif., on Aug. 28.

Billions more in profits are at stake for

some vaccine makers as the U.S. moves to-

ward dispensing COVID-19 booster shots to

shore up Americans’ protection against the

virus.

How much the manufacturers stand to

gain depends on how big the rollout proves

to be.

U.S. health officials late on Thursday en-

dorsed booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine

for all Americans 65 and older — along with

tens of millions of younger people who are

at higher risk from the coronavirus because

of health conditions or their jobs.

Officials described the move as a first

step. Boosters will likely be offered even

more broadly in the coming weeks or

months, including boosters of vaccines

made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

That, plus continued growth in initial vacci-

nations, could mean a huge gain in sales and

profits for Pfizer and Moderna in particu-

lar.

“The opportunity quite frankly is reflec-

tive of the billions of people around the

world who would need a vaccination and a

boost,” Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said.

Wall Street is taking notice. The average

forecast among analysts for Moderna’s

2022 revenue has jumped 35% since Presi-

dent Joe Biden laid out his booster plan in

mid-August.

Most of the vaccinations so far in the U.S.

have come from Pfizer, which developed its

shot with Germany’s BioNTech, and Mod-

erna. They have inoculated about 99 million

and 68 million people, respectively. John-

son & Johnson is third with about 14 million

people.

No one knows yet how many people will

get the extra shots. But Morningstar analyst

Karen Andersen expects boosters alone to

bring in about $26 billion in global sales

next year for Pfizer and BioNTech and

around $14 billion for Moderna if they are

endorsed for nearly all Americans.

Those companies also may gain business

from people who got other vaccines initial-

ly. In Britain, which plans to offer boosters

to everyone over 50 and other vulnerable

people, an expert panel has recommended

that Pfizer’s shot be the primary choice,

with Moderna as the alternative.

Andersen expects Moderna, which has

no other products on the market, to gener-

ate a roughly $13 billion profit next year

from all COVID-19 vaccine sales if boosters

are broadly authorized.

Potential vaccine profits are harder to es-

timate for Pfizer, but company executives

have said they expect their pre-tax adjusted

profit margin from the vaccine to be in the

“high 20s” as a percentage of revenue. That

would translate to a profit of around $7 bil-

lion next year just from boosters, based on

Andersen’s sales prediction.

J&J and Europe’s AstraZeneca have said

they don’t intend to profit from their CO-

VID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

For Pfizer and Moderna, the boosters

could be more profitable than the original

doses because they won’t come with the re-

search and development costs the compa-

nies incurred to get the vaccines on the mar-

ket in the first place.

WBB Securities CEO Steve Brozak said

the booster shots will represent “almost

pure profit” compared with the initial dos-

es.

Drugmakers aren’t the only businesses

that could see a windfall from delivering

boosters. Drugstore chains CVS Health and

Walgreens could bring in more than $800

million each in revenue, according to Jeff

Jonas, a portfolio manager with Gabelli

Funds.

Vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakersBY TOM MURPHY

Associated Press

PFIZER/AP

A technician works on a line for packaging preparation for the Pfizer­BioNTechCOVID­19 vaccine at the company's facility in Puurs, Belgium, in March.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

WASHINGTON — As Demo-

crats push ahead with President

Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion rebuild-

ing plan, they’re promising histor-

ic investments across the arc of

education — from early childhood

to college and beyond — in what

advocates describe as the most

comprehensive package of its

kind in decades.

The education provisions in Bi-

den’s “Build Back Better” propos-

al would serve as a bedrock for

schooling opportunities for count-

less Americans and test the na-

tion’s willingness to expand fed-

eral programs in far-reaching

ways.

Equity is a focus, as it seeks to

remove barriers to education that

for decades have resulted in wage

and learning disparities based on

race and income. And by expand-

ing early education and child care

programs, it aims to bring back

workers, especially women, who

left jobs during the COVID-19

pandemic to look after children

whose schools were closed.

All told, Americans would be

entitled to two years of free pre-

school plus two years of free com-

munity college. Millions of fam-

ilies would be eligible for expand-

ed child care subsidies. And there

would be more federal financial

aid for low-income college stu-

dents.

“We haven’t done anything like

that in my memory,” said Jessica

Thompson, associate vice presi-

dent of the Institute for College

Access and Success, an education

nonprofit. “It’s the dream.”

Congress is working to meet

Monday’s self-imposed deadlines,

and Biden’s broader proposal

could come before the House lat-

er in the week. But Democrats

must first overcome divisions

within their own ranks over the

scope of the plan. The $3.5 trillion

proposal reaches nearly every as-

pect of American life, from health

care and taxes to the climate and

housing, largely paid for by rais-

ing taxes on corporations and the

wealthy.

The price tag will likely drop

and ambitions scaled back to ap-

pease more centrist lawmakers

wary of big spending. But the cuts

are drawing concerns from pro-

gressives and others who say they

have already compromised

enough.

Funding for historically Black

colleges and universities, for ex-

ample, has been slashed from Bi-

den’s earlier plans. As lawmakers

eye other possible cost-saving

moves, money to repair aging

school buildings could lose out.

At a recent House committee

hearing, Rep. Frederica Wilson,

D-Fla., argued that any more cuts

could jeopardize the success of its

education programs.

“Even with the robust invest-

ments proposed here, we are still

shortchanging vital programs,”

she said.

Democrats are pushing ahead

on their own because Republi-

cans decry the proposal as a step

toward socialism that will worsen

inflation and strain the economy.

They argue that free community

college will benefit wealthier stu-

dents who access the resource, at

the expense of those with lower-

incomes. And even on child care,

which typically brings bipartisan

support, Republicans say the plan

goes too far.

“We should be focused on en-

suring hardworking taxpayers

can find the best care for their

children rather than blindly

throwing money at the problem

and calling it a solution,” said

Rep. Virginia Foxx, of North Car-

olina, the top Republican on the

House Education and Labor Com-

mittee.

Taken together, the $761 billion

in education investments make up

a fifth of Biden’s total package.

They’re intended to provide a

stronger academic start for chil-

dren, especially those from low-

income families. The higher edu-

cation plans aim to get more

adults into college and help them

graduate with degrees that will

lead to higher-paying jobs.

White House seeks investment in educationAssociated Press

MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AP

President Joe Biden talks to students on Sept. 10 at Brookland Middle School in Washington, D.C., as firstlady Jill Biden talks with science teacher Michelle Taylor, right rear.

WASHINGTON — It’s a conse-

quential week for President Joe

Biden’s agenda, as Democratic

leaders delicately trim back his

$3.5 trillion “Build Back Better”

package to win over remaining

lawmakers and work to quickly

pass legislation to avoid a federal

shutdown.

An expected Monday vote on a

related $1 trillion bipartisan in-

frastructure package is now post-

poned until Thursday, amid ongo-

ing negotiations. More immedi-

ately, the Senate has a test vote set

Monday to keep the government

funded and avert a federal debt

default before Thursday’s fiscal

year-end deadline. That package

stands to run into a blockade by

Republican senators — all but en-

suring lawmakers will have to try

again later in the week.

All this while Biden’s domestic

agenda hangs in the balance, at

risk of collapse and political fal-

lout if he and Democratic leaders

cannot pull their party together to

deliver what could be a signature

piece of legislation and the biggest

overhaul of the nation’s tax and

spending priorities in decades.

Over the weekend, Biden person-

ally spoke with lawmakers on the

path forward, according to a

White House official who request-

ed anonymity to discuss the pri-

vate conversations.

“Let me just say, it’s an eventful

week,” House Speaker Nancy Pe-

losi said Sunday on ABC’s “This

Week.”

Biden, Pelosi and Senate Major-

ity Leader Chuck Schumer are

deep into negotiations over the

president’s broader proposal,

which is being chiseled back to

win over key senators and a few

House lawmakers who have so far

refused the $3.5 trillion price tag

and the tax increases on corpora-

tions and the wealthy to pay for it.

Behind-the-scenes talks

churned, allowing for needed

breathing room after Monday’s

anticipated vote on the companion

$1 trillion public works measure

was postponed. The two bills are

related, and centrists and progres-

sive factions are at odds at prior-

itizing one ahead of the other. Pe-

losi announced the Thursday vote

in a letter late Sunday evening to

colleagues, noting it’s also a dead-

line for related transportation pro-

grams in the infrastructure bill.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.,

who led a group of House moder-

ates in securing a vote on the slim-

mer infrastructure bill, said earli-

er Sunday he wouldn’t be both-

ered by a slight delay. He was opti-

mistic both pieces of legislation

could be resolved this week.

The more difficult action now

lies in the Senate, as Democrats

are under pressure to amass the

votes for Biden’s big package. It

would provide an expansion of ex-

isting health, education and child

care programs for Americans

young and old, alongside new fed-

eral efforts to curb climate

change.

Republicans are lockstep op-

posed to Biden’s proposal, which

would be paid for by increasing

the corporate tax rate, from 21% to

26.5% on businesses earning more

than $5 million a year, and raising

the top rate on individuals from

37% to 39.6% for those earning

more than $400,000 a year, or

$450,000 for couples.

Two Democratic holdouts,

Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Vir-

ginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, of Ari-

zona, also have said they won’t

support a bill of that size. Manchin

has previously proposed spending

of $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.

Asked Sunday on ABC if she

agrees the final number on the so-

called reconciliation bill will be

“somewhat smaller” than $3.5 tril-

lion, Pelosi responded: “That

seems self-evident.”

“We’ll see how the number

comes down and what we need,”

she added. “I think even those who

want a smaller number, support

the vision of the president, and

this is really transformative.”

Biden, Congress face big weekfor agenda, government funding

Associated Press

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D­Calif., joined by Rep. Judy Chu,D­Calif., right, holds a news conference at the Capitol, on Friday.

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

NATION

A federal judge said Monday

that John Hinckley Jr., who tried

to assassinate President Ronald

Reagan four decades ago, can be

freed from all his remaining re-

strictions next year if he contin-

ues to follow those rules and re-

mains mentally stable.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul

L. Friedman in Washington said

during a 90-minute court hearing

that he’ll issue his ruling on the

plan this week.

Friedman said the plan is to re-

lease Hinckley from all court su-

pervision in June if he remains

mentally stable and continues to

follow the court-issued rules that

were imposed on him after he left

a Washington hospital in 2016 to

live in Williamsburg, Va.

Since Hinckley, 66, moved to

Williamsburg, the court-imposed

conditions have included doctors

and therapists overseeing his

psychiatric medication and de-

ciding how often he attends indi-

vidual and group therapy ses-

sions. Hinckley also can’t have a

gun. And he can’t contact Re-

agan’s children, other victims or

their families, or actress Jodie

Foster, who he was obsessed with

at the time of the 1981 shooting.

Attorney Barry Levine had re-

quested unconditional release,

saying Hinckley no longer poses

a threat. A 2020 violence risk as-

sessment conducted on behalf of

Washington’s Department of Be-

havioral Health concluded that

Hinckley would not pose a dan-

ger.

The U.S. government opposed

ending restrictions as of a May

court filing, and retained an ex-

pert to determine if Hinckley

would pose a danger to himself or

others if unconditionally re-

leased. Findings from such an ex-

amination have not been filed in

court.

Hinckley was 25 when he shot

and wounded the 40th U.S. presi-

dent outside a Washington hotel.

The shooting paralyzed Reagan

press secretary James Brady,

who died in 2014. It also injured

Secret Service agent Timothy

McCarthy and Washington police

officer Thomas Delahanty.

Jurors decided Hinckley was

suffering from acute psychosis

and found him not guilty by rea-

son of insanity, saying he needed

treatment and not life in prison.

EVAN VUCCI/AP

John Hinckley Jr. arrives at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2003.

John Hinckley, who shot Reagan, setto be freed from oversight next year

BY BEN FINLEY

Associated Press

RON EDMONDS/AP

Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, foreground, Washingtonpoliceman Thomas K. Delehanty, center, and presidential press secretary James Brady, background, lie wounded on a street outsidea Washington hotel after shots were fired at President Ronald Reaganon March 30, 1981.

Facebook is putting a hold on the

development of a kids’ version of

Instagram, geared toward chil-

dren under 13, to address concerns

that have been raised about the

vulnerability of younger users.

“I still firmly believe that it’s a

good thing to build a version of In-

stagram that’s designed to be safe

for tweens, but we want to take the

time to talk to parents and re-

searchers and safety experts and

get to more consensus about how to

move forward,” said Adam Moss-

eri, the head of Instagram, in an in-

terview Monday on NBC’s “To-

day” show.

The announcement follows a in-

vestigative series by The Wall

Street Journal that reported that

Facebook was aware that the use of

Instagram by some teenage girls

led to mental health issues and

anxiety.

Yet the development of Insta-

gram for a younger audience was

met with broader opposition al-

most immediately.

Facebook announced the devel-

opment of an Instagram Kids app

in March, saying at the time that it

was “exploring a parent-con-

trolled experience.” Two months

later, a bipartisan group of 44 at-

torneys general wrote to Facebook

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging

him to abandon the project, citing

the well-being of children.

They cited increased cyberbul-

lying, possible vulnerability to on-

line predators and what they

called Facebook’s “checkered re-

cord” in protecting children on its

platforms. Facebook faced similar

criticism in 2017 when it launched

the Messenger Kids app, touted as

away for children to chat with fam-

ily members and friends approved

by parents.

Josh Golin, executive director of

children’s digital advocacy group

Fairplay, urged the company Mon-

day to permanently pull the plug

on the app. So did a group of Demo-

cratic members of Congress.

“Facebook is heeding our calls

to stop plowing ahead with plans to

launch a version of Instagram for

kids,” tweeted Massachusetts Sen.

Ed Markey. “But a ‘pause’ is insuf-

ficient. Facebook must completely

abandon this project.”

The Senate had already planned

a hearing Thursday with Face-

book’s global safety head, Anti-

gone Davis, to address what the

company knows about how Insta-

gram affects the mental health of

younger users.

Mosseri maintained Monday

that the company believes it’s bet-

ter for children under 13 to have a

specific platform for age-appro-

priate content, and that other com-

panies like TikTok and YouTube

have app versions for that age

group.

He said in a blog post that it’s bet-

ter to have a version of Instagram

where parents can supervise and

control their experience rather

than relying on the company’s abil-

ity to verify if kids are old enough to

use the app.

Mosseri said that Instagram for

kids is meant for those between the

ages of 10 and 12, not younger. It

will require parental permission to

join, be ad free, and will include

age-appropriate content and fea-

tures. Parents will be able to super-

vise the time their children spend

on the app, oversee who can mess-

age them, who can follow them and

who they can follow.

While work is being paused on

Instagram Kids, the company will

be expanding opt-in parental su-

pervision tools to teen accounts of

those 13 and older. More details on

these tools will be disclosed in the

coming months, Mosseri said.

This isn’t the first time Facebook

has received backlash for a prod-

uct aimed at children. Child devel-

opment experts urged the compa-

ny to shut down its Messenger Kids

app in 2018, saying it was not re-

sponding to a “need” as Facebook

insisted but creating one instead.

In that case, Facebook went

ahead with the app.

Instagram for kidsput on hold afterextensive pushback

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN

Associated Press

JENNY KANE/AP

Facebook has put plans to develop a kids’ version of the popularInstagram app on hold after the idea was met with broad opposition.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Man drove SUV over wall,into house’s 2nd floor

CT NORWICH — A Willi-

mantic man was ex-

pected to face criminal charges af-

ter a car he was driving launched

off a stone wall and flew through

the air, crashing into the second

floor of a multifamily home where

someone was sleeping.

The crash occurred early Satur-

day in Norwich, police said. No se-

rious injuries resulted from the in-

cident even though the SUV came

to rest a few feet from a bed and

sprayed debris throughout the

room, they told The Day. The per-

son was taken to the hospital with

minor injuries, police said.

Thirty-year-old Walter Lassiter

was being held on a warrant for a

separate arrest for driving under

the influence, police said.

Lassiter was taken to a hospital

and released, police said.

Flying Farmer stuntmancrashes during jump

ND MAKOTI — The first

car jumping attempt

in five years by North Dakota’s

version of Evil Knievel ended in

disaster when the car driven by

the man known as the Flying

Farmer corkscrewed off the ramp

and rolled.

Authorities said John Smith, 57,

was alert after the crash Saturday

at a rural gravel pit and that he

even tried to pull himself out of the

car while talking to rescuers. He

was eventually cut out and taken

by a medical helicopter to a hospi-

tal, according to firefighters. The

extent of his injuries wasn’t

known.

The crowd of about 300 specta-

tors went silent when Smith

crashed. Family members, in-

cluding his daughters and wife of

34 years, Melinda, reacted emo-

tionally, running to the mangled

car, The Bismarck Tribune re-

ported.

Smith’s previous jump was in

2016, when he rose over towering

flames to clear a burning trailer.

2 jailed after attemptedkidnapping of 1-year-old

IN KOKOMO — Two people

have been arrested after

one of them allegedly tried to take

a1-year-old child from a shopping

cart in a central Indiana Walmart

store.

The child’s mother told officers

a woman appeared to purposely

bump her before unbuckling the

child from the cart about 11:30

a.m. Friday in Kokomo, the Koko-

mo Tribune reported.

The mother struggled with the

woman who then fled the store

without the child, police said in a

release.

Officers later arrested the 36-

year-old woman and a 53-year-old

man who were inside a vehicle in

the parking lot. The woman faces

attempted kidnapping, cocaine

and marijuana possession, and

false informing charges. The man

faces invasion of privacy and vari-

ous drug charges.

Getaway car came fromdealership test drive

NC RALEIGH — Author-

ities said a North Car-

olina bank robber was caught af-

ter they determined he had taken

his getaway vehicle for a test drive

from a car dealer.

The Raleigh-based U.S. Attor-

ney’s Office said in a news release

that 68-year-old Glenn Alin Marti-

noff was sentenced to more than

four years in prison Thursday af-

ter previously pleading guilty to

bank robbery.

The news release said Marti-

noff entered a Wilmington bank in

January wearing a mask and

gloves and brandishing a large

screwdriver. He robbed the loca-

tion of more than $6,000, author-

ities said.

Investigators using surveil-

lance video determined his geta-

way car was for sale at a nearby

dealership. The news release said

that authorities found out he had

taken the car for a test drive to use

as his getaway car.

Woman allegedly made 2 false bomb threats

ME PITTSFIELD — Au-

thorities said a Maine

woman who wanted to spend

more time with her boyfriend

called in two bomb threats to his

employer, forcing the evacuation

of two manufacturing plants.

Police said the first threat was

made Thursday morning when a

woman called Maine State Police

and said she was going to place a

bomb at the Puritan Medical

Products plant in Pittsfield, the

Morning Sentinel reported. Police

said she called back two hours lat-

er and said she intended to place

four pipe bombs near the plant.

The 33-year-old woman was

charged with a felony count of ter-

rorizing.

Police: Woman dousedwith gasoline, set on fire

NM ALBUQUERQUE —

An Albuquerque

woman is being treated at a burn

center after her male roommate

allegedly doused her with gaso-

line and lit her on fire, according

to police.

Police said 39-year-old Law-

rence Sedillo was booked into jail

Saturday on suspicion of aggra-

vated battery resulting in great

bodily harm.

The Albuquerque Journal re-

ported that court records show the

42-year-old woman suffered se-

vere burns to her face, arms, chest

and back.

The newspaper said she was

flown to the burn center at Uni-

versity Medical Center in Lub-

bock, Texas.

At least 16 indicted afterfederal firearms sweep

IA WATERLOO — At least

16 people in eastern Iowa

were charged with gun crimes af-

ter a two-day sweep by federal au-

thorities this week.

Grand juries met Wednesday

through Friday in the U.S. District

Court for Northern Iowa and is-

sued the indictments, the Water-

loo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

Many of those indicted have al-

ready been charged in state courts

for weapons offenses.

Most of the indictments were

for felons in possession of a fire-

arm or for having a firearm and

using drugs.

Student uses offensivesign as invite to dance

KS OLATHE — A subur-

ban Kansas City school

district is investigating after a stu-

dent asked a girl to homecoming

using an offensive sign.

The sign reads: “If I was Black I

would be picking cotton but I’m

white so I’m picking you for HO-

CO.”

A picture of two white students

holding the sign and smiling that

was posted online drew sharp crit-

icism on social media, according

to the Kansas City Star.

School officials in Olathe, Kan.,

said they are working to contact

everyone involved, including the

parents of the students. Olathe

South High School Principal Dale

Longenecker said in a letter sent

to parents that the sign “does not

meet the expectations of our core

values.”

Inmates study in school’sbachelor degree program

IL EAST MOLINE — In-

mates at East Moline Cor-

rectional Center have begun a

Bachelor of Arts program through

Augustana College.

State officials said 10 students

began study late in the summer.

They are taking courses from pro-

fessors who lecture on the same

subjects on Augustana’s Rock Is-

land campus.

It’s the first BA program of-

fered to East Moline inmates in

more than 20 years.

Students in the Augustana Pris-

on Education Program pay no tui-

tion or any costs associated with

coursework. The program is fund-

ed by the Austin E. Knowlton

Foundation.

ELI HARTMAN, ODESSA (TEXAS) AMERICAN/AP

Hazeus the tortoise crawls around the Paint the Park event put on by West Texas Gifts of Hope on Saturday, in Odessa, Texas. The Paint thePark event aims to raise awareness within the community about those affected by all types of cancer and honor not only those who have losttheir lives to the disease, but honor those who are currently battling cancer and also those who have survived.

Slow and steady

THE CENSUS

$32 The amount of money in each refund check that hundreds ofthousands of drivers will be receiving from the Arizona De-

partment of Transportation. About 200,000 checks are going out in the mailthis month, worth about $6.6 million, according to ADOT. The Arizona Repub-lic reported that the refunds involve a controversial public safety fee that waspart of vehicle registration costs approved three years ago and later rescinded.Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, told the newspaper she added therefunds into the state budget for people who paid the fee in June because ADOTshould not have charged it that month after its repeal.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

WORLD

BERLIN — The party that nar-

rowly beat outgoing German

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc

pushed Monday for a quick agree-

ment on a coalition government,

but Europe’s biggest economy

could still be in for weeks of un-

certainty after an election that

failed to set a clear direction.

Olaf Scholz, the candidate of the

center-left Social Democrats,

called for Merkel’s center-right

Union bloc to go into opposition

after it saw its worst-ever result in

a national election. Both finished

with well under 30% of the vote,

and that appeared to put the keys

to power in the hands of two oppo-

sition parties — raising questions

over the stability of a future gov-

ernment.

Armin Laschet, the Union’s

candidate, disputed the idea that

the election gave any party a clear

mandate and made clear he still

hopes to lead a new government.

But he sounded considerably less

confident Monday than he did a

day earlier, when he said his bloc

would do “everything we can” to

form one — and some allies hint-

ed at skepticism that would hap-

pen.

Whoever becomes chancellor

will lead Germany into a new era.

During Merkel’s 16 years in of-

fice, she was seen abroad not just

as Germany’s leader but in many

ways as Europe’s, helping steer

the European Union through a se-

ries of financial and political cri-

ses and ensuring her country

maintained a high profile on the

international stage. It remains to

be seen whether the next chancel-

lor will match her global standing.

The unclear result combined

with an upcoming French presi-

dential election in April creates

uncertainty — at least for now —

in the two economic and political

powers at the center of the EU,

just as the bloc struggles with how

to counter Russia and China, re-

vamp its relationship with the

United States and manage ques-

tions about its future from pop-

ulist leaders in eastern countries.

“Voters have spoken very

clearly,” Scholz said Monday.

“They strengthened three parties

— the Social Democrats, the

Greens and the Free Democrats

— so this is the visible mandate

the citizens of this country have

given: These three parties should

lead the next government.”

After close vote, Germany ontricky path to form government

WOLFGANG KUMM/AP

Social Democratic candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at theparty’s headquarters in Berlin on Monday. 

Associated Press

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

WORLD

UNITED NATIONS — The dispute be-

tween Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers

and its former government over who

should speak at the United Nations’ an-

nual meeting of world leaders finally has

an answer: no one.

The Taliban had challenged the cre-

dentials of the ambassador from Afghan-

istan’s former government, and asked to

represent the country at this year’s Gen-

eral Assembly summit, which began

Sept. 21 and ends Monday.

But all challenges to credentials must

be heard by the assembly’s credentials

committee, which generally meets in No-

vember and did not convene earlier to

hear the challenge.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric

said that as of Friday, Afghanistan’s cur-

rently recognized U.N. ambassador,

Ghulam Isaczai, was list-

ed as speaking for the

country.

But, Dujarric told The

Associated Press on

Monday morning: “We

were notified Saturday

by the Afghan Mission

that they would no longer

be speaking.”

Afghanistan was scheduled to deliver

the final address of the gathering of presi-

dents, prime ministers, monarchs and

ministers on Monday afternoon. But it

was not on the list of speakers issued

Monday morning.

A phone message seeking comment

was left with Afghanistan’s U.N. mission.

The Taliban overran most of Afghanis-

tan last month as U.S. and NATO forces

were in the final stages of their chaotic

withdrawal from the country after 20

years and argue that they are now in

charge and have the right to represent the

country at the United Nations. Isaczai

represents former President Ashraf Gha-

ni’s government.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres, the Taliban’s newly

appointed foreign minister, Ameer Khan

Muttaqi, said Ghani was “ousted” as of

Aug. 15 and that countries across the

world “no longer recognize him as presi-

dent.”

Therefore, Muttaqi said, Isaczai no

longer represents Afghanistan and the

Taliban was nominating a new U.N. per-

manent representative, Mohammad Su-

hail Shaheen. He was a spokesperson for

the Taliban during peace negotiations in

Qatar.

When the Taliban last ruled from 1996

to 2001, the U.N. refused to recognize

their government and instead gave Af-

ghanistan’s seat to the previous, warlord-

dominated government of President Bur-

hanuddin Rabbani, who was killed by a

suicide bomber in 2011. It was Rabbani’s

government that brought Osama bin La-

den to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996.

Neither Taliban nor ex-Afghan official to address UNBY EDITH M. LEDERER

Associated Press

Isaczai

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

FACES

The Rolling Stones are touring again, this time

without their heartbeat, or at least their backbeat.

The legendary rockers launched their pandemic-

delayed “No Filter” tour Sunday in St. Louis without

their drummer of nearly six decades. It was clear

from the outset just how much the band members —

and the fans — missed Charlie Watts, who died last

month at age 80. The St. Louis concert was the band’s

first public show since Watts’ death.

The show opened with an empty stage and only a

drumbeat, with photos of Watts flashing on the video

board. After the second song, a rousing rendition of

“It’s Only Rock ’N’ Roll (But I Like It),” Mick Jagger,

Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood came to the front of

the stage and thanked fans for the outpouring of sup-

port and love for Watts. Jagger acknowledged it was

emotional seeing the photos of Watts.

“This is our first-ever tour we’ve ever done without

him,” Jagger said. “We’ll miss Charlie so much, on

and off the stage.”

The band dedicated “Tumbling Dice” to Watts.

The tour had been scheduled for 2020 before the

coronavirus virtually shut down the touring industry.

The concert itself featured the same driving beat

personified by Watts, thanks to his replacement,

Steve Jordan. The drummer may be new to fans, but

he’s hardly new to the Stones — Jordan has perform-

ed for years with Richards’ side project, X-Pensive

Winos, along with many other leading acts.

Still, die-hard fans couldn’t help but miss Watts,

widely considered one of rock’s greatest drummers,

even though his real love was jazz. He joined Jagger

and Richards in the Rolling Stones in 1963. Wood

joined in 1975.

For Laura Jezewski, 62, of Omaha, Neb., seeing the

Stones without Watts was bittersweet.

“It’s really sad,” she said. “He’s the first of the old

Stones to pass away.”

After St. Louis, the tour will include stops in Char-

lotte, N.C.; Pittsburgh; Nashville; Minneapolis; Tam-

pa, Fla.; Dallas; Atlanta; Detroit; Los Angeles; Las

Vegas; and ending in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 20.

AMY HARRIS, INVISION/AP

Ronnie Wood (left), Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones perform Sunday in St. Louis.

Stones rolling on Band pays tribute to drummer Watts in kickoff of North American tour

BY JIM SALTER

Associated Press

After a 15-month pandemic de-

lay, the 2020 Tony Awards were at

long last handed out Sunday night,

with “Moulin Rouge! The Musi-

cal” winning in an abridged field

for best musical. Matthew Lopez’s

two-part “The Inheritance” was

crowned best play.

“Moulin Rouge!,” based on the

2001 pop-mashup movie musical,

bested “Jagged Little Pill” and

“Tina: the Tina Turner Musical”

for the evening’s most coveted

statuette. The production collect-

ed 10 awards, including for direc-

tion, choreography, actor, sup-

porting actor, set design, cos-

tumes, lighting, orchestrations

and sound. A new play version

from London of “A Christmas Car-

ol” was runner-up, with five

awards.

The three nominated musicals

closed on March 12, 2020, with the

rest of Broadway’s 41 theaters in

what turned into the longest shut-

down in Broadway history. All

three shows are coming back this

season along with a slew of others

—a fact the Tony Awards stressed

in a pair of broadcasts Sunday

from Broadway’s Winter Garden

Theatre.

The festivities — which also

spotlighted a variety of perform-

ers speaking of the need for more

diversity and inclusivity on

Broadway — began with a nearly

two-hour awards ceremony

streamed live on Paramount+.

That portion was hosted by six-

time Tony winner Audra McDo-

nald (who was nominated again

but didn’t win, for her perform-

ance in the revival of “Frankie and

Johnny in the Clair de Lune”).

After most of the awards were

announced, CBS joined Para-

mount+ to broadcast “The Tony

Awards Present: Broadway’s

Back!,” a two-hour concert em-

ceed by “Hamilton” star Leslie

Odom Jr. Among the celebrity ac-

tors appearing were Bernadette

Peters, Josh Groban, John Leg-

end, Anika Noni Rose, Ben Platt,

Brian Stokes Mitchell and many

others.

“We’re a little late, but we are

here!” McDonald declared, in

welcoming the masked and vacci-

nated audience at the top of the 7

p.m. awards show.

This was by many measures an

extreme oddity in awards pro-

gramming, given that the theater

season the 74th Tonys covered ran

from May 2019 to February 2020.

The season, which was cut short

by two months, meant that only 18

shows were eligible for awards.

Ordinarily, a Broadway season

extends until the end of April, with

the awards ceremony in early

June.

The shortened season led to all

kinds of anomalies, including that

all five nominees for best score

were nonmusical plays; catego-

ries such as best revival of a musi-

cal were eliminated; and only one

actor, Aaron Tveit, was nominated

for best actor in a musical. With

only three eligible musicals, in

fact, it did seem at times as if the

Tonys were handing out participa-

tion trophies.

In such unique circumstances,

it was hard to count any result as

surprising or an upset, although

the shutout for “Slave Play” —

which entered the evening with 12

nominations, a record for a non-

musical — raised eyebrows.

In happier outcomes, the nota-

ble winners included Adrienne

Warren, a favorite as best actress

in a musical for her portrayal of

Tina Turner in “Tina”; Andrew

Burnap as best actor in a play for

“The Inheritance”; and Mary-

Louise Parker, as best actress in a

play for “The Sound Inside.”

‘Moulin Rouge!’ takes 10 trophies at unusual Tony AwardsBY PETER MARKS

The Washington Post

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of

the Ten Rings” led the North

American box office for a fourth

consecutive weekend, surpassing

“Black Widow” as the highest do-

mestic earner of the pandemic.

The Walt Disney Co. film took in

$13.3 million in sales at U.S. and

Canadian theaters, researcher

Comscore Inc. estimated on Sun-

day. That fell slightly short of Box-

office Pro’s forecast of $13.8 mil-

lion. The movie generated an

overall $196.5 million in domestic

ticket sales.

“Dear Evan Hansen,” a Univer-

sal Pictures movie based on the

Tony-winning stage play, took

second place and brought in about

$7.5 million in its opening week-

end, Comscore said. The musical

stars Ben Platt and follows a teen-

ager incorrectly assumed to be the

friend of a fellow student who

commits suicide.

Disney’s “Free Guy,” which has

been out since August, came in be-

hind “Dear Evan Hansen.”

“Shang-Chi” has had a strong

run. It had one of the more moder-

ate openings for a Marvel movie,

but ticket sales benefited from

good reviews and the fact it was

available only in theaters, rather

than also on streaming services.

Still, it hasn’t been released in the

largest movie market in the world,

China, with the country working

through its own backlog of films it

wants to show to domestic audi-

ences.

Amodio joins small group

of ‘Jeopardy!’ millionairesMatt Amodio’s historic run on

“Jeopardy!” has now netted him

more than $1 million in non-tour-

nament play, making him the

third person in the show’s history

to pass that mark.

The only other contestants to

win more than $1 million in regu-

lar-season games are Ken Jen-

nings, whose 74-game streak net-

ted $2,520,700, and James Holz-

hauer, who earned $2,462,216

over 32 victories.

Amodio, a fifth-year computer

science Ph.D student at Yale Uni-

versity, on Sept. 24 won $48,800

for his 28th victory, bringing his

total winnings to $1,004,001.

Amodio’s latest milestone came

at the end of temporary host May-

im Bialik’s first week back behind

the lectern in the wake of the de-

parture of host and executive pro-

ducer Mike Richards. Bialik will

share hosting duties with Jen-

nings through the end of the year.

Patterson, Scholastic

form literacy initiativeWith a donation of $1.5 million

from author James Patterson,

Scholastic Book Clubs has

launched “The United States of

Readers,” a classroom program

designed to address literacy ineq-

uity.

Scholastic announced Monday

that United States of Readers will

help bring books to 32,000 kids na-

tionwide, grades K-8, from low-in-

come families.

Patterson, one of the world’s be-

stselling novelists, has already do-

nated more than $10 million to

teachers and students through

Scholastic.

Other newsActor Michael K. Williams

died earlier this month of a drug

overdose — “acute intoxication by

the combined effects of fentanyl,

p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and co-

caine,” the New York City chief

medical examiner’s office said

Sept. 24. His death has been ruled

accidental. Williams, best known

for his career-defining role as

Omar Little on “The Wire,” was

found dead Sept. 6 in his Brooklyn

apartment. He was 54.

‘Shang-Chi’ biggest statesidebox-office hit in COVID era

From wire reports

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

John Rodriguez, Europe chief of staff

Lt. Col. Michael Kerschbaum, Pacific commander

Michael Ryan, Pacific chief of staff

EDITORIAL

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stripes.com

OPINION

Like many senior officers who en-

tered the military in the 1980s, I

have lived through dramatic

changes in warfighting focus in

support of U.S. national security.

At the beginning of my career, I was a

fighter pilot focused on the deterrence and, if

necessary, defeat of the Soviet military ma-

chine. Within a few years, the Berlin Wall

had collapsed, the Cold War had ended and

the United States had shifted its emphasis to

the Middle East and desert warfare with

Iraq. Then came Bosnia, Kosovo and, finally,

9/11 and a 20-year effort to counter terrorist

organizations.

We kept our nation safe, but it came at a

cost.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Unit-

ed States was no longer driven by the pres-

sure of strategic competition with the Soviet

Union, and we became the world’s lone su-

perpower. In that role, we faced an unrelent-

ing series of challenges after 9/11, while Chi-

na and Russia upgraded their militaries in

menacing ways — building new technologies

in space, in cyberspace, on land, at sea and in

the air. Now, as my service’s senior uni-

formed officer, I have evaluated the Air

Force’s need to rapidly pivot to address these

security challenges — and published a stra-

tegic approach whose title embodies our im-

perative: “Accelerate Change or Lose.”

It’s not hyperbole. We know from detailed

war games played out over the past decade

that winning any conflict with China or Rus-

sia would require marshaling significant

new resources. Both strategic competitors

have built formidable and advanced defen-

sive systems, are bolstering offensive and de-

fensive capabilities in space and are rapidly

developing the next generation of technolo-

gies in autonomously operated weapons,

precision missiles, artificial intelligence and

hypersonic flight.

In many ways, this moment is reminiscent

of the interwar years of the 1930s, when the

horrors of trench warfare from World War I

led to innovations such as long-range strate-

gic bombing, carrier aviation and highly ma-

neuverable ground forces. Although some of

these emerging concepts were still experi-

mental prior to World War II, we made

enough progress so that when the shock of

Pearl Harbor and early victories won by the

Germans and Japanese were overcome, we

were able to successfully prosecute the war

with weapons and tactics that had been bat-

tle-tested in peacetime drills.

Today, given the lethality and accuracy of

modern armaments, the Air Force might not

have such a cushion if we again have to fight a

major conflict alongside our sister services,

allies and partners. To ensure success — or

head off failure — we must rapidly develop

and deliver new capabilities. We must make

difficult but necessary choices to retire less

relevant capabilities that we know won’t con-

tribute to deterring or won’t survive in the

next big fight.

And we must change culture: We must

sharpen our focus on the “pacing threat” —

that is, the leading danger to our security —

and acquire a strong sense of urgency that

pervades everything we do. Preparing our

airmen to understand what it means to com-

pete against China, our pacing challenge, is

now an Air Force imperative and the culture

change we seek.

Ihad the privilege to serve as the U.S. Cen-

tral Command’s air component commander

during the Defeat ISIS campaign that began

in 2014. I know that our way of operations was

being studied by both China and Russia.

Three years ago, I took command of Pacific

Air Forces in Hawaii, about as far removed

from counterinsurgency warfare as possi-

ble. While focusing on the problem at hand —

fighting Islamic State — I did my best to stay

abreast of global trends. But little could have

prepared me for what I have learned since

then about the comprehensive advancement

in fielded capability, technology and tactics

that marked the rise of the Chinese armed

forces in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Air Force has mapped out a path to

compete, deter and win in this new strategic

environment, and we’re moving swiftly to

implement change. It will involve rigorous

analysis of the problem, difficult choices and

close collaboration with Congress, industry

and academia. To do this, we are removing

bureaucratic hurdles, emphasizing a culture

of competition and creating processes that

will bring rapid digital design concepts to

fruition, aiming to bring new technologies

online at the pace that strategic competition

demands.

My passion for sounding the alarm and

trumpeting the need for rapid and innovative

change is born of experience. We can be

ready. But we must act with deliberate speed

and a clarity of purpose not seen in a long

time.

Air Force acting to confront China’s threat to USBY GEN. CHARLES Q. BROWN JR.

Special to The Washington Post

Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is the U.S. Air Force chief of staff.

WASHINGTON

President Joe Biden hosted a sum-

mit meeting Friday that could turn

out to be a watershed — but if you

weren’t watching, you might have

missed it.

The meeting brought together the leaders

of a deliberately low-key group called “the

Quad”: the United States, Japan, India and

Australia.

U.S. officials downplayed the session, de-

scribing it as “an informal gathering of lead-

ing democracies in the Indo-Pacific.”

China wasn’t fooled. Its diplomats have

spent months denouncing the Quad as a Cold

War-style alliance aimed at containing Beij-

ing’s rise as the dominant power in Asia.

And they’re right.

Biden and his fellow Quad leaders never

publicly uttered the word “China,” but the

Quad is all about containment. It seeks to

blunt China’s growing influence, deter it

from launching military adventures and pre-

vent it from muscling the United States and

other countries out of Asia’s growing mar-

kets.

The Quad isn’t a military alliance — for-

mally, at least. A Biden aide who briefed re-

porters before the summit took pains to

make that point three times in 20 minutes.

But last month, four navies staged a massive

military exercise in the Philippine Sea east of

China. The participants were the same four:

the United States, Japan, India and Austra-

lia.

All four are democracies. More to the

point, all four have been alarmed to see Chi-

na exert economic and military power to get

its way — from seizing islands and building

bases on contested territory in the South Chi-

na Sea to threatening Taiwan and attacking

Indian army positions in the Himalayas.

In Australia, the muscle China used was

economic: After Australia called for an in-

vestigation of the origins of the coronavirus,

Beijing retaliated by cutting imports of Aus-

tralian beef and called on the Canberra gov-

ernment to stifle “anti-China statements”

from members of Parliament and the media.

The naked pressure backfired; the Aus-

sies got their backs up and decided to move

closer to the United States.

One result was AUKUS, the new military

partnership of Australia, Britain and the

United States, whose first big project is

building nuclear-powered submarines for

the Australian navy.

Between the Quad and AUKUS, “we’re

seeing the emergence of a new security ar-

chitecture,” Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at

the German Marshall Fund of the United

States, told me. “It sends a signal to Beijing

that other countries are willing to stand up to-

gether and defend a rules-based internation-

al order.”

Containing China has become a top prior-

ity of U.S. foreign policy, with coalition-

building as Biden’s instrument of choice.

That shouldn’t be surprising; it’s one theater

in which the United States enjoys a clear ad-

vantage.

The question is whether China will launch

a military challenge against the new coali-

tion before the U.S. has time to consolidate it.

The test could come over Taiwan, the break-

away province that China’s ruling Commu-

nist Party has long vowed to reincorporate

into the motherland.

“The standard view in Asia is that Taiwan

is the canary in the coal mine,” said Elbridge

Colby, a former Pentagon official whose new

book, “The Strategy of Denial,” focuses on

the U.S.-China confrontation.

The recently retired commander of U.S.

forces in the Pacific, Navy Adm. Phil David-

son, warned in March that China could pose

a serious threat to Taiwan “in the next six

years,” Colby noted.

Chinese President Xi Jinping “can see that

the trends are not favorable,” Colby said.

If this is beginning to sound like the bad old

days of the Cold War, when the United States

and its allies obsessed over the prospect of a

Soviet invasion of Europe, it should.

No historical analogy is perfect, of course.

Our competition-plus-conflict with China is

complicated by the two countries’ deep eco-

nomic entanglement, which wasn’t the case

with the Soviet Union. But in most other re-

spects, the comparison fits: two nuclear su-

perpowers that disagree over ideology, often

view global power as a zero-sum game and —

in the case of the United States — build coali-

tions and alliances to reinforce their influen-

ce.

“We are not seeking a new Cold War,” Bi-

den said at the United Nations last week. But

thanks to Xi’s assertiveness, he’s gotten one

— and no matter how soothing his words,

he’s acting accordingly.

The US-China faceoff is looking like the Cold WarBY DOYLE MCMANUS

Los Angeles Times

Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

ACROSS

1 Regrets

5 Part of LGBTQ

8 Country singer

Evans

12 Recedes

13 Exploit

14 Novelist Jennifer

15 “Patriot Games”

actor

17 Aviation prefix

18 Attempt

19 MSN, for one

20 “Peer Gynt”

playwright

21 Perched

22 Supporting

23 Ladybug features

26 Beginning

30 Seize

31 Designer

Claiborne

32 Summers in Paris

33 Pledge drive gift

35 Sky blue

36 Singer Orbison

37 “Hail!”

38 Big Apple

borough

41 Hearty quaff

42 “I love,” in Latin

45 Sitar music

46 Food court stand

48 Always

49 Religious sch.

50 Writer Wiesel

51 Conked out

52 Pair

53 Jewels

DOWN

1 Take five

2 Modern taxi rival

3 Online

auction site

4 Tax form ID

5 Invitee

6 Pronto

7 Longing

8 Summer cooler

9 Mellows

10 Scarce

11 Unsigned (Abbr.)

16 Prejudice

20 Charged bit

21 Mountain

rescue dog

22 City in Morocco

23 Boot camp VIP

24 Expert

25 Granola grain

26 Showbiz job

27 R-V link

28 Suffix with cash

29 Compass dir.

31 Nonclerical

34 Jury enclosure

35 With (Fr.)

37 Texas landmark

38 Raised

39 Sitarist Shankar

40 Curved molding

41 Fresh

42 Competent

43 Hurt severely

44 Raw materials

46 Concorde, e.g.

47 Small barrel

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

SCOREBOARD/MLB

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA Playoffs

(x-if necessary)Second Round

Sunday’s gamesNo. 5 Phoenix 85, No. 4 Seattle 80, OTNo. 6 Chicago 89, No. 3 Minnesota 76

Semifinals(Best-of-5)

No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 6 ChicagoTuesday’s game: Chicago at Connecti-

cut Thursday’s game: Chicago at Connecti-

cut Sunday, Oct. 3: Connecticut at Chicago x-Wednesday, Oct. 6: Connecticut at

Chicago x-Friday, Oct. 8: Chicago at Connecticut

No. 2 Las Vegas vs. No. 5 PhoenixTuesday’s game: Phoenix at Las Vegas Thursday’s game: Phoenix at Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 3: Las Vegas at Phoenix x-Wednesday, Oct. 6: Las Vegas at Phoe-

nix x-Friday, Oct. 8: Phoenix at Las Vegas

Class: Finals

(Best-of-5)Sunday, Oct. 10 Wednesday, Oct. 13 Friday, Oct. 15 x-Sunday, Oct 17 x-Tuesday, Oct. 19

PRO SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 19 4 5 62 53 33

Nashville 11 3 12 45 44 24

NYCFC 11 9 6 39 44 30

Philadelphia 10 7 8 38 32 25

Orlando City 10 8 8 38 37 38

D.C. United 11 11 4 37 45 38

CF Montréal 10 9 7 37 37 32

Atlanta 9 8 9 36 35 31

Columbus 9 11 7 34 32 36

Inter Miami CF 9 11 5 32 25 40

New York 8 11 6 30 31 29

Chicago 6 15 6 24 26 43

Cincinnati 4 13 8 20 26 48

Toronto FC 4 15 7 19 28 51

Western Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 14 5 6 48 38 21

Sporting KC 13 6 7 46 44 28

Colorado 12 4 9 45 35 24

Portland 12 10 4 40 42 43

LA Galaxy 11 10 5 38 37 42

Minnesota 10 8 7 37 29 29

Real Salt Lake 10 10 6 36 42 41

LAFC 9 11 6 33 38 38

Vancouver 8 8 9 33 31 34

San Jose 8 9 9 33 34 38

FC Dallas 6 12 9 27 38 44

Houston 5 11 11 26 31 41

Austin FC 6 16 4 22 27 40

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Sunday’s games

Nashville 0, Chicago 0, tie Seattle 2, Sporting Kansas City 1 Austin FC 2, LA Galaxy 0

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Reign FC 11 7 2 35 30 19

Portland 11 5 2 35 26 13

North Carolina 8 6 5 29 23 13

Chicago 8 7 5 29 22 24

Orlando 7 6 7 28 24 24

Washington 7 6 5 26 21 22

Houston 7 7 5 26 24 23

Gotham FC 6 5 7 25 20 16

Louisville 4 10 5 17 15 31

Kansas City 2 12 5 11 10 30

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Sunday’s games

Houston 4, Louisville 0Washington 2, Kansas City 1 Reign FC 3, Orlando 0

DEALS

Sunday’s TransactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BOSTON RED SOX — Placed LHP JoshTaylor on the 10-day IL, retroactive toSept. 23. Recalled RHP Eduard Bazardofrom Worcester (Triple-A East).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Placed OF BrianGoodwin on the 10-day IL, retroactive toSept. 24. Recalled RHP Matt Foster fromCharlotte (Triple-A East).

DETROIT TIGERS — Placed OF VictorReyes on the 10-day IL. Recalled INF ZackShort from Toledo (Triple-A West).

HOUSTON ASTROS — Reinstated RHPJake Odorizzi from the 10-day IL. OptionedRHP Seth Martinez to Sugar Land (Triple-AWest).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Recalled RHPSam Selman from Salt Lake (Triple-AWest). Placed RHP Jaime Barria on the 10-day IL.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Placed SS ElvisAndrus and 2B/DH Jed Lowrie on the 10-day IL. Reinstated LHP Sam Moll from thepaternity list. Recalled INF Vimael Machinfrom Las Vegas (Triple-A West).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Activated LHPRyan Borucki.

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Placed SS

Nick Ahmed on the 10-day IL, retroactiveto Sept. 23. Recalled SS Geraldo Perdomofrom Reno (Triple-A West).

ATLANTA BRAVES — Optioned RHP Tou-ki Toussaint to Gwinnett (Triple-A East).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Recalled LHPAndrew Vasquez from Oklahoma City (Tri-ple-A West). Optioned OF Luke Raley toOklahoma City.

NEW YORK METS — Placed 3B J.D. Davison the 10-Day IL, retroactive to Sept. 23.Reinstated RHP Sean Reid-Foley from the60-Day IL. Designated OF Albert Almora forassignment.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — DesignatedLF Matt Joyce for assignment. Selectedthe contract of RHP Hans Crouse from Le-high (Triple-A East). Sent RHP ConnorBrogdon to Lehigh Valley (Triple-A East)on a rehab assignment.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Reinstated RHPDavid Bednar from the 10-day IL. OptionedRHP Kyle Keller to Indianapolis (Triple-AEast).

BASKETBALLNational Basketball League

PHOENIX SUNS — Signed G ChassonRandle.

TENNIS

Moselle Open

SundayAt Arenes de Metz

Metz, FrancePurse: Euro 419,470

Surface: Hardcourt indoorMen’s SinglesChampionship

Hubert Hurkacz (1), Poland, def. PabloCarreno Busta (2), Spain, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Men’s DoublesChampionship

Jan Zielinski and Hubert Hurkacz, Po-land, def. Hugo Nys, Monaco, and ArthurRinderknech, France, 7-5, 6-3.

AUTO RACING

South Point 400

NASCAR Cup SeriesSunday

At Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayLas Vegas.

Lap length: 1.50 miles(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267 laps, 58points.

2. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 40. 3. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 52. 4. (4) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267, 41. 5. (2) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 39. 6. (13) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 267, 43. 7. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 35. 8. (20) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, 33. 9. (5) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267, 34. 10. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 37. 11. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 32. 12. (14) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 267, 27. 13. (15) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 26. 14. (19) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 266, 23. 15. (26) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 266, 22. 16. (21) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 266, 22. 17. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet,

266, 20. 18. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 266, 25. 19. (17) Aric Almirola, Ford, 266, 18. 20. (29) Ryan Newman, Ford, 266, 17. 21. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 266, 16. 22. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 265, 15. 23. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 265, 14. 24. (12) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 265, 13. 25. (25) Chris Buescher, Ford, 265, 12. 26. (16) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 265, 11. 27. (32) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, 265, 10. 28. (24) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 265, 9. 29. (28) Cole Custer, Ford, 265, 8. 30. (27) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 264, 7. 31. (35) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 260, 0. 32. (33) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 260, 0. 33. (34) BJ McLeod, Ford, 257, 0. 34. (36) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 255, 3. 35. (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 254,

0. 36. (31) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 252, 1. 37. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, accident,

84, 0. 38. (38) JJ Yeley, Toyota, handling, 76, 0.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 144.646mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 46 minutes, 8 sec-onds.

Margin of Victory: 0.442 seconds. Caution Flags: 4 for 21 laps. Lead Changes: 21 among 10 drivers. Lap Leaders: K.Larson 0; R.Blaney 1-7;

D.Hamlin 8-26; R.Blaney 27; Ky.Busch 28-29; D.Hamlin 30-44; K.Larson 45-83; D.Ham-lin 84-88; K.Larson 89-91; W.Byron 92-98;K.Larson 99-101; C.Elliott 102; K.Larson103-152; D.Hamlin 153-162; T.Reddick 163;D.Hamlin 164-166; M.Truex 167; D.Hamlin168-213; T.Reddick 214-217; B.Keselowski218-221; A.Dillon 222-228; D.Hamlin 229-267

Grand Prix of Long BeachIndyCar Acura

SundayAt Streets of Long Beach

Long Beach, Calif.Lap length: 1.968 miles

(Start position in parentheses)1. (14) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 85

laps, Running.2. (1) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevro-

let, 85, Running.3. (2) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85,

Running.4. (10) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 85,

Running.5. (4) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Chevro-

let, 85, Running.6. (15) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Honda,

85, Running.7. (25) Jack Harvey, Dallara-Honda, 85,

Running.8. (22) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-

Chevrolet, 85, Running.9. (16) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 85,

Running.10. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet,

85, Running.11. (13) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chev-

rolet, 85, Running.12. (9) Ed Jones, Dallara-Honda, 85, Run-

ning.13. (5) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevro-

let, 85, Running.14. (7) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda,

85, Running.15. (23) Max Chilton, Dallara-Chevrolet,

85, Running.16. (19) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda,

85, Running.17. (27) Jimmie Johnson, Dallara-Honda,

85, Running.18. (20) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevro-

let, 85, Running.19. (26) Dalton Kellett, Dallara-Chevro-

let, 85, Running.20. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Hon-

da, 85, Running.21. (21) Conor Daly, Dallara-Chevrolet,

84, Running.22. (28) Oliver Askew, Dallara-Chevrolet,

83, Running.23. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Hon-

da, 83, Running.24. (6) Romain Grosjean, Dallara-Honda,

75, Did not finish.25. (24) Rinus Veekay, Dallara-Chevrolet,

48, Did not finish.26. (18) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevrolet,

47, Did not finish.27. (8) Pato O'Ward, Dallara-Chevrolet,

43, Did not finish.28. (17) Marcus Ericsson, Dallara-Honda,

25, Did not finish.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 91.935mph.

Time of Race: 01:49:10.3764.Margin of Victory: 0.5883 seconds.Cautions: 4 for 13 laps.Lead Changes: 7 among 7 drivers.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

AP Top 25

The Top 25 teams in The AssociatedPress college football poll, with first-placevotes in parentheses, records throughSep. 25, total points based on 25 points fora first-place vote through one point for a25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Alabama (58) 4-0 1546 1

2. Georgia (4) 4-0 1492 2

3. Oregon 4-0 1411 3

4. Penn St. 4-0 1283 6

5. Iowa 4-0 1277 5

6. Oklahoma 4-0 1212 4

7. Cincinnati 3-0 1154 8

8. Arkansas 4-0 1094 16

9. Notre Dame 4-0 1076 12

10. Florida 3-1 1019 11

11. Ohio St. 3-1 1005 10

12. Mississippi 3-0 852 13

13. BYU 4-0 748 15

14. Michigan 4-0 677 19

15. Texas A&M 3-1 651 7

16. Coastal Carolina 4-0 613 17

17. Michigan St. 4-0 581 20

18. Fresno St. 4-1 415 22

19. Oklahoma St. 4-0 341 -

20. UCLA 3-1 316 24

21. Baylor 4-0 233 -

22. Auburn 3-1 197 23

23. NC State 3-1 145 -

24. Wake Forest 4-0 142 -

25. Clemson 2-2 138 9

Others receiving votes: Texas 131, Mary-land 91, San Diego St. 57, Boston College55, SMU 44, Kentucky 26, Iowa St. 25, LSU24, Arizona St. 23, Virginia Tech 20, Wiscon-sin 13, Rutgers 6, Kansas St. 5, UTSA 4, Ore-gon St. 4, Louisville 3, North Carolina 1.

USA Today Coaches PollThe USA TODAY Sports AFCA CoachesPoll Top 25 with team's records FROMTHROUGH SATURDAY in parentheses,total points based on 25 for first placethrough one point for 25th, ranking in lastyear's final poll and first-place votesreceived:...................................................................

Record Pts Pvs

1. Alabama (64) 4-0 1624 1

2. Georgia (1) 4-0 1558 2

3. Oregon 4-0 1467 4

4. Oklahoma 4-0 1395 3

5. Iowa 4-0 1319 6

6. Penn State 4-0 1286 8

7. Notre Dame 4-0 1187 10

8. Cincinnati 3-0 1185 9

9. Florida 3-1 1101 11

10. Ohio State 3-1 1030 12

11. Arkansas 4-0 1016 18

12. Mississippi 3-0 916 13

13. Texas A&M 3-1 744 5

14. Michigan 4-0 674 19

15. Brigham Young 4-0 670 16

16. Michigan State 4-0 583 21

17. Coastal Carolina 4-0 583 17

18. Oklahoma State 4-0 459 22

19. Clemson 2-2 389 7

20. UCLA 3-1 312 24

21. Fresno State 4-1 251 25

22. Auburn 3-1 244 23

23. Kentucky 4-0 179 27

24. Baylor 4-0 134 42

25. Wake Forest 4-0 119 39

Dropped out: No. 14 Iowa State (2-2); No.15 Wisconsin (1-2); No. 20 North Carolina(2-2).

Others receiving votes: Texas (3-1) 101;Boston College (4-0) 91; North CarolinaState (3-1) 70; San Diego State (4-0) 69; Ma-ryland (4-0) 59; Wisconsin (1-2) 56; SMU(4-0) 54; Virginia Tech (3-1) 39; LSU (3-1) 36;Iowa State (2-2) 31; Army (4-0) 23; ArizonaState (3-1) 12; Texas-San Antonio (4-0) 11;Liberty (3-1) 11; North Carolina (2-2) 10;Central Florida (2-1) 9; Oregon State (3-1)7; Louisiana-Lafayette (3-1) 3; Appala-chian State (3-1) 3; Louisville (3-1) 2; Indi-ana (2-2) 2; Wyoming (4-0) 1.

AP Top 25 ScheduleFriday

No. 5. Iowa at Maryland No. 13. Brigham Young at Utah St.

SaturdayNo. 1. Alabama vs. No. 12 Mississippi No. 2. Georgia vs. No. 8 Arkansas No. 3. Oregon at Stanford No. 4. Penn State vs. Indiana No. 6. Oklahoma at Kansas St.No. 7. Cincinnati at No. 9 Notre Dame No. 10.Florida at Kentucky No. 11. Ohio State at Rutgers No. 14. Michigan at Wisconsin No. 15. Texas A&M vs. Mississippi St.No. 16. Coastal Carolina vs. Louisiana-

Monroe No. 17. Michigan State vs. W. Kentucky No. 18. Fresno State at Hawaii No. 19. Oklahoma State vs. No. 21 Baylor No. 20. UCLA vs. Arizona St.No. 22. Auburn at LSU No. 23. North Carolina State vs. Louisia-

na Tech No. 24. Wake Forest vs. Louisville No. 25. Clemson vs. Boston College

GOLF

Ryder Cup

At Whistling StraitsSheboygan, Wis.

Yardage: 7,387; Par: 71UNITED STATES 19, EUROPE 9

SundaySingles

United States 8, Europe 4Rory McIlroy, Europe, def. Xander

Schauffele, United States, 3 and 2. Patrick Cantlay, United States, def.

Shane Lowry, Europe, 4 and 2. Scottie Scheffler, United States, def. Jon

Rahm, Europe, 4 and 3. Bryson DeChambeau, United States, def.

Sergio Garcia, Europe, 3 and 2. Viktor Hovland, Europe, halved with Col-

lin Morikawa, United States. Dustin Johnson, United States, def. Paul

Casey, Europe, 1 up. Brooks Koepka, United States, def.

Bernd Wiesberger, Europe, 2 and 1. Ian Poulter, Europe, def. Tony Finau,

United States, 3 and 2. Justin Thomas, United States, def. Tyrell

Hatton, Europe, 4 and 3. Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Harris En-

glish, United States, 1 up. Tommy Fleetwood, Europe, halved with

Jordan Spieth, United States. Daniel Berger, United States, def. Matt

Fitzpatrick, Europe, 1 up.

NW Arkansas ChampionshipLPGA Tour

SundayAt Pinnacle Country Club

Rogers, Ark.Purse: $2.3 million

Yardage: 6,438; Par: 71(a)-amateurFinal Round

Nasa Hataoka, $345,000 65-65-67—197 -16 Eun-Hee Ji, $178,028 63-68-67—198 -15 Minjee Lee, $178,028 67-63-68—198 -15 Yuka Saso, $104,506 69-65-65—199 -14 Danielle Kang, $104,506 68-66-65—199 -14 Stacy Lewis, $70,047 67-68-66—201 -12 Jin Young Ko, $70,047 68-66-67—201 -12

Pure Insurance ChampionshipPGA Tour Champions

SundayAt Pebble Beach Golf LinksAt Spyglass Hill Golf Course

Pebble Beach, Calif.Yardage: 7,025; Par: 71

Purse: $2.2 MillionFinal Round

K.J. Choi, $330,000 67-68-68—203 -13Bernhard Langer, $176,000 71-66-68—205 -11Alex Cejka, $176,000 66-71-68—205 -11Scott Dunlap, $130,900 72-68-66—206 -10Steven Alker, $96,250 71-69-67—207 -9Paul Stankowski, $96,250 70-69-68—207 -9Doug Barron, $74,800 69-69-70—208 -8Marco Dawson, $74,800 69-69-70—208 -8Steve Flesch, $61,600 72-70-67—209 -7

CHICAGO — Andrew Knizner

slid across home plate, hopped up

and pumped his right arm in jubi-

lation.

Make it a very sweet 16 for the

St. Louis Cardinals.

Knizner scored the go-ahead

run on Codi Heuer’s wild pitch in

the ninth inning, and the Cardi-

nals beat the lowly Chicago Cubs

4-2 on Sunday for their 16th

straight victory.

“We did the little things,” man-

ager Mike Shildt said, “the little

things that help you win games.”

The team’s franchise-record

streak is the longest in the majors

since Cleveland took 22 in a row in

2017, and the best in the National

League since the New York Giants

won 16 straight in 1951 on their

way to an improbable pennant.

Paul Goldschmidt and Harrison

Bader homered to extend a streak

that has rocketed St. Louis into po-

sition for the second NL wild card,

leading Philadelphia and Cincin-

nati by six games with six to go.

Next up is a three-game series

against NL Central champion Mil-

waukee beginning on Tuesday

night in St. Louis.

“We’re really locked in,” Knizn-

er said. “We’re playing good base-

ball. We’re playing all the way

through the ninth inning until the

last pitch.”

Knizner drew a leadoff walk in

the ninth. With one out and the

bases loaded, Heuer threw a pitch

to Tyler O’Neill that tailed away

from catcher Willson Contreras,

bringing Knizner home.

Heuer then mishandled

O’Neill’s comebacker and Lars

Nootbaar scampered to the plate,

giving the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.

Chicago dropped its sixth

straight game.

NAM Y. HUH/AP

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcherGiovanny Gallegos, left,celebrates with catcher AndrewKnizner after their 4­2 winSunday over the Chicago Cubs inChicago. 

Cardinals topCubs for 16thstraight win

BY JAY COHEN

Associated Press

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

x-Tampa Bay 97 59 .622 _

New York 89 67 .571 8

Boston 88 68 .564 9

Toronto 87 69 .558 10

Baltimore 50 106 .321 47

Central Division

W L Pct GB

x-Chicago 88 68 .564 _

Cleveland 76 79 .490 11½

Detroit 75 80 .484 12½

Kansas City 71 84 .458 16½

Minnesota 69 87 .442 19

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 91 65 .583 _

Seattle 86 70 .551 5

Oakland 85 71 .545 6

Los Angeles 74 82 .474 17

Texas 57 99 .365 34

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 83 72 .535 _

Philadelphia 81 75 .519 2½

New York 73 82 .471 10

Miami 64 91 .413 19

Washington 64 92 .410 19½

Central Division

W L Pct GB

x-Milwaukee 94 62 .603 _

St. Louis 87 69 .558 7

Cincinnati 81 75 .519 13

Chicago 67 89 .429 27

Pittsburgh 58 97 .374 35½

West Division

W L Pct GB

z-San Francisco 102 54 .654 _

z-Los Angeles 100 56 .641 2

San Diego 78 78 .500 24

Colorado 71 84 .458 30½

Arizona 50 106 .321 52

x-clinched divisionz-clinched playoff berth

Sunday’s games

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

Monday’s games

Chicago White Sox at DetroitKansas City at ClevelandOakland at SeattlePittsburgh at CincinnatiWashington at Colorado

Tuesday’s games

Boston (Sale 5-0) at Baltimore (Zimmer-mann 4-4)

N.Y. Yankees (Taillon 8-6) at Toronto(Ryu 13-9)

Detroit (Alexander 2-3) at Minnesota (TBD)L.A. Angels (Naughton 0-3) at Texas

(Alexy 2-1)Cincinnati (TBD) at Chicago White Sox

(López 3-3)Cleveland (Civale 11-5) at Kansas City

(Singer 5-10)Tampa Bay (Wacha 3-5) at Houston (Urquidy 8-3)Oakland (Bassitt 12-4) at Seattle (Kikuchi 7-9)Miami (Rogers 7-8) at N.Y. Mets (Stro-

man 9-13)Miami (TBD) at N.Y. Mets (Williams 4-2)Chicago Cubs (Mills 6-7) at Pittsburgh

(Keller 5-11)Philadelphia (Wheeler 14-9) at Atlanta

(Morton 13-6)Milwaukee (Woodruff 9-10) at St. Louis

(Wainwright 16-7)Washington (Corbin 9-15) at Colorado

(Freeland 6-8)Arizona (Weaver 3-6) at San Francisco

(Webb 10-3)San Diego (Darvish 8-10) at L.A. Dodgers

(Buehler 14-4)Wednesday’s games

Boston at BaltimoreN.Y. Yankees at TorontoDetroit at MinnesotaL.A. Angels at TexasCincinnati at Chicago White SoxCleveland at Kansas CityTampa Bay at HoustonOakland at SeattleWashington at ColoradoChicago Cubs at PittsburghMiami at N.Y. MetsPhiladelphia at AtlantaMilwaukee at St. LouisArizona at San FranciscoSan Diego at L.A. Dodgers

Scoreboard

BOSTON — Yankees manager

Aaron Boone watched two of his

Gold Glove fielders drop easy pop­

ups to hand the Red Sox the lead.

Then Boston fumbled a pair of

foul balls with Aaron Judge at the

plate, twice giving the slugger new

life before his two­run double pro­

pelled New York to a 6­3 victory

on  Sunday  night  and  a  series

sweep that flipped the lead in the

AL wild­card race.

“It’s a little bit stunning, right?

You  can’t  make  that  stuff  up,”

Boone  said.  “It’s  not  something

you’re going to see very often, two

popups get dropped by really good

defenders.  It’s  part  of  the  ride

right now.” 

After Judge turned a 3­2 deficit

into a 4­3 lead, Giancarlo Stanton

hit  a  two­run  homer  over  the

Green Monster and out of the ball­

park  to  seal  the  Yankees’  sixth

straight  win.  Stanton,  who  won

Saturday’s game with an eighth­

inning grand slam, homered in all

three games and drove in 10 runs

during the series. 

Mickey Mantle is the only other

Yankee with 10 RBIs in a three­

game series versus the Red Sox;

Joe DiMaggio is the only other one

to homer in each game of a three­

game series against them.

“It’s a big time right now, so I’ve

just got to make sure I’m the most

prepared,”  Stanton  said.  “You

can’t be scared of those moments,

or  they’ll  sneak  up  on  you  real

quick.” 

New  York,  which  arrived  in

Boston trailing the Red Sox by two

games, leaves it with a one­game

lead in the race to host the Oct. 5

AL  wild­card  game.  Boston  re­

mains  in  playoff  position,  one

game ahead of Toronto for the sec­

ond wild­card spot. 

“It’s not what we wanted com­

ing into the series,” Boston man­

ager Alex Cora said. “We didn’t

get the job done. It’s that simple.”

After the Red Sox took a 3­2 lead

in the seventh on a pair of dropped

popups, the Yankees put runners

on second and third with one out

before Judge hit a  foul ball  that

rookie first baseman Bobby Dal­

bec  short­armed  as  he  ap­

proached the Red Sox dugout. 

The  Red  Sox  had  a  second

chance  to  retire  Judge  when  he

tipped  a  1­2  pitch,  but  catcher

Christian  Vázquez  couldn’t  con­

trol it.

MICHAEL DWYER/AP

The New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton, left, celebrates his two­run home run with Joey Gallo, right, thatalso drove in Aaron Judge, center, during the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 6­3 win Sunday in Boston.

Yanks sweep Red Sox, lead wild cardBY JIMMY GOLEN

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — The Milwau­

kee Brewers clinched their second

NL Central title in four years, beat­

ing the sloppy New York Mets 8­4

Sunday  behind  Willy  Adames’s

two­run homer and three RBIs.

A day after New York was elim­

inated from postseason contention

in its first season under new owner

Steven Cohen, the Mets (73­82) lost

for the 10th time in 11 games and

were assured of a losing season for

the fourth time in five years.

Freddy  Peralta  (10­5)  won  for

the first time since Aug. 10, allow­

ing four runs and five hits in 51⁄�3 in­

nings. Carlos Carrasco (1­4) gave

up five runs, seven hits and four

walks in four innings.

Braves 4, Padres 3: Will Smith

struck out  the side around  three

walks in the ninth for his 35th save,

and  Atlanta  opened  a  2½­game

lead over Philadelphia heading in­

to their NL East showdown with a

win at San Diego.

Pinch­hitter Orlando Arcia hit a

go­ahead  double  in  the  sixth  off

Pierce Johnson (3­4).

Pirates  6,  Phillies  0: Starter

Hans Crouse (0­1) gave up a home

run to Cole Tucker on his first ma­

jor league pitch and visiting Pitts­

burgh stopped Philadelphia’s five­

game winning streak.

Bryce Harper and  the Phillies

finished the home portion of their

schedule 47­34. 

Reds 9, Nationals 2: Tyler Ste­

phenson and Nick Castellanos hit

consecutive home runs, and Kyle

Farmer broke open the game with

a grand  slam  as  host  Cincinnati

won its third straight.

The Reds are six games back of

St. Louis for the second NL wild

card with six games left, tied with

Philadelphia. At 81­75, Cincinnati

ensured  consecutive  nonlosing

seasons for the first time since 2012

and ’13.

Rays 3, Marlins 2:Rookie Shane

Baz  (2­0)  allowed  three  hits  and

struck out nine in 52⁄�3 scoreless in­

nings  to  win  his  second  straight

start for host Tampa Bay.

Nelson Cruz had two RBIs for

the Rays,

Blue Jays 5, Twins 2: Danny

Jansen hit a go­ahead,  three­run

homer off Griffin Jax (3­5 and Ge­

orge Springer also went deep as

Toronto won at Minnesota.

The  Blue  Jays  enter  the  final

week one game back for the second

AL wild card.

Athletics 4, Astros 3:Mark Can­

ha hit an RBI single off Ryan Press­

ly with one out in the ninth as host

Oakland completed a three­game

sweep  and  closed  within  three

games for the second AL wild card.

Alex  Bregman  homered  for

Houston, whose magic number to

AL West stayed at 2.

Giants 6, Rockies 2: Brandon

Crawford homered off Tyler Kin­

ney to cap a four­run ninth and vis­

iting  San  Francisco  won  for  the

15th time in 19 games and main­

tained a  two­game  lead. The Gi­

ants’ 102 wins are the most since

103 in 1993.

Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 0:

Corey Seager hit two solo homers,

Julio  Urías  (19­3)  scattered  five

hits over five innings and World Se­

ries champion Los Angeles reac­

hed 100 wins for the third time in

the last four full seasons with a win

at Arizona.

Mariners 5, Angels 1: Shohei

Ohtani  allowed  Jarred  Kelenic’s

tying home run in the seventh, and

Mitch Haniger hit a go­ahead sin­

gle in a four­run eighth against the

bullpen as Seattle won at Los An­

geles.

White Sox 5, Indians 2: Lucas

Giolito  allowed  five  hits  in  six

scoreless innings, and Eloy Jimé­

nez  had  a  two­run  single  in  the

third off Triston McKenzie (5­8) as

Chicago won at Cleveland.

Rangers 7, Orioles 4:Andy Ibá­

ñez hit a two­run homer off John

Means  (6­8).  and  visiting  Texas

avoided its 100th loss for at least a

day by gaining a four­game split at

Baltimore.

Royals 2, Tigers 1: Kris Bubic

(6­6) gave up two hits in seven shut­

out innings in Kansas City’s win at

Detroit.

Brewers down Mets, clinch NL CentralAssociated Press AL Wild Card

W L Pct WCGB

New York 89 67 .571 _

Boston 88 68 .564 _

Toronto 87 69 .558 1

Seattle 86 70 .551 2

Oakland 85 71 .545 3

Sunday’s games

Toronto 5, Minnesota 2Seattle 5, L.A. Angels 1Oakland 4, Houston 3N.Y. Yankees 6, Boston 3

Monday’s game

Oakland at Seattle

NL Wild Card

W L Pct WCGB

z-Los Angeles 100 56 .641 _

St. Louis 87 69 .558 _

Cincinnati 81 75 .519 6

Philadelphia 81 75 .519 6

z-clinched playoff berth

Sunday’s games

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 0Cincinnati 9, Washington 2St. Louis 4, Chicago Cubs 2L.A. Dodgers 3, Arizona 0

Monday’s game

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati

ROUNDUP

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

AUTO RACING

LAS VEGAS — Turns out 21 was

Denny Hamlin’s lucky number in

Vegas.

After finally getting his first ca-

reer victory at Las Vegas Motor

Speedway on his 21st try, Hamlin

is on an undeniable hot streak he

just might ride all the way to his

long-sought first NASCAR Cup

Series championship.

Hamlin finally broke through in

Vegas on Sunday night, holding off

Chase Elliott and kicking off the

second round of the playoffs with

his second win in September.

Three weeks after Hamlin got

his first victory of the season in the

playoff opener at Darlington, he

led 137 laps in Vegas in his Joe

Gibbs Racing Toyota, including

the final 39.

After a season of frustrating re-

sults and a 17-year career filled

with championship near-misses,

Hamlin has emerged as a serious

contender for the title once again.

He is just 14 points behind Kyle

Larson in the points standings,

and he’ll have no pressure head-

ing into the high-stakes upcoming

races at Talladega and the Char-

lotte Roval with his ticket already

punched for the third round by

this Vegas victory.

“It feels so good to win in Ve-

gas,” Hamlin said. “Last couple of

times I’ve been close, but just

didn’t have the right brakes. Great

to hold those guys off.”

The 41-year-old veteran had

struggled on this 1½-mile track for

most of his career, with just two

top-five finishes in his first 18

starts. He has put together three

consecutive top-four finishes

since then in Vegas, capped by this

victory under the lights and fire-

works.

“There was a point where I nev-

er thought I’d even sniff a victory

here,” Hamlin said. “The team has

found a setup that has worked

with my driving style. The team

goes to work to give me what I

need to go fast.”

Elliott closed in on Hamlin in

the final five laps as Hamlin’s per-

formance appeared to decline,

cutting the gap to a half-second

with two laps to go — but the de-

fending Cup Series champion

couldn’t close the remaining dis-

tance, finishing second in his Hen-

drick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“We were really close,” Elliott

said. “Just not quite close enough.

Denny did a good job controlling

the gap to me. I feel like we’ve

been performing at a really nice

level the last four or five weeks.

Just haven’t had the results to

show for it.”

Kyle Busch finished third on his

hometown track, followed by

Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney

as the 12 remaining playoff driv-

ers began the second round and

the final seven races of the season.

Hamlin, Busch and Truex put Joe

Gibbs Racing in three of the top

four spots.

“I just can’t think of a better

place to win,” said Chris Gabe-

hart, Hamlin’s crew chief. “Cer-

tainly our team has been really ca-

pable all year long. Every metric

other than the win column has

been astounding for our team. It’s

really been our best year together

thus far. You stay up front as much

as we have, the wins are going to

finally come. They’re coming at

the right time.”

Larson finished 10th on the

track where he won in March. Ke-

vin Harvick, who scrapped with

Elliott over tactics last week at

Bristol, finished ninth.

Larson won the first stage, but

Hamlin took the second when Lar-

son needed gas and pitted with

eight laps to go. Larson got stuck

in the midfield in the final stage

while struggling with his tires.

No dramaHarvick wasn’t really in posi-

tion for any payback on Elliott af-

ter the younger driver deliberate-

ly slowed Harvick at Bristol last

week, ruining his chances of

catching Larson. Harvick and El-

liott had a vocal public disagree-

ment after that race.

Harvick was still sore about it in

Vegas, calling it “probably the

maddest I’ve ever been.”

“It was like speaking to a 9-

year-old,” Harvick said of his ar-

gument with Elliott. “It’s identi-

cal. It’s 100% the exact same sce-

nario. They get hung up on one

thing and you can’t speak to them

about the broader picture about

how the whole thing works.”

Long time comingHamlin has made the playoffs

15 times, but he came closest to a

championship in 2010. He won

eight races that year and took a

points lead into the season finale at

Homestead, only to end up second

behind Jimmie Johnson with a

14th-place race finish.

Big hitJoey Gase went to a hospital af-

ter a violent one-car crash 92 laps

in. His left rear tire flew off the

car, sending him high into the out-

side wall off Turn 2.

STEVE MARCUS/AP

Denny Hamlin leads as drivers restart after a caution during Sunday's NASCAR Cup race in Las Vegas.

Hamlin holds off Elliott forfirst NASCAR win in Vegas

BY GREG BEACHAM

Associated Press

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Alex

Palou raised the Spanish flag over

his head and hugged every team-

mate he could find. The first

championship trophy of his pro-

fessional career at last in his

hands, he planted his lips on the

Astor Cup and savored a dream

come true.

He spent two years racing in Ja-

pan, but it was IndyCar where he

wanted to be and Palou simulated

life as if he drove in America’s top

open-wheel racing series. He’s

now an IndyCar champion — his

first title since karting as a teen —

and the first Spaniard to claim the

crown in series history.

Palou finished fourth in an easy

Sunday drive at the Grand Prix of

Long Beach to cap a smooth and

steady second season in IndyCar.

“There were moments where I

was just feeling like I was living

my dream, and now I’m doing it,”

Palou said after the race. “Oh

yeah, 100% dream completed.

Let’s get another one now.”

Colton Herta won the race —

Long Beach is considered his

home track — for his second con-

secutive win and third of the sea-

son. Josef Newgarden finished

second and Scott Dixon, the six-

time and reigning champion, fin-

ished third before turning the In-

dyCar crown over to Chip Ganassi

Racing teammate Palou.

The 24-year-old had never be-

fore seen Long Beach before he

arrived this weekend — the his-

toric course was canceled last

year in the pandemic — but his

consistency since winning the sea-

son-opener in his first race driv-

ing for Ganassi had him in solid

position. His 35-point lead meant

a finish of 11th or better would win

him the title, and once challenger

Pato O’Ward was knocked out

with a mechanical problem, Palou

just needed to make it to the finish.

It capped a remarkable run in

which Palou earned his break a

year ago with Dale Coyne Racing

then manifested his childhood

dream to race for a championship

by introducing himself to Ganassi

at the Indianapolis 500. He moved

into Ganassi’s No. 10 this year,

won three races, finished second

in the Indy 500 and led the stand-

ings 12 of 16 weeks.

“Chip told me when I joined that

I had to win a championship, so

that’s not too much pressure,” Pa-

lou joked. “He likes winners. If

you are not one, you are in trou-

ble.”

After climbing his way through

the European ranks, Palou raced

two years in Japan but had not

won a title since competing in go-

karts as a teenager in Spain.

“His apprentice program into

racing most recently was in Ja-

pan, so I think he brings a lot of

that Japanese mentality to the

team, which a lot of us find re-

freshing,” Ganassi said. “He

brought a certain fortitude that

you see in that part of the world.

And you know, he didn’t turn a

wheel wrong all year.”

Palou has now joined an exclu-

sive club of all-stars in Ganassi’s

elite “I like winners” club. The ti-

tle was the 14th in American open-

wheel racing for Ganassi among

six drivers and came 25 years af-

ter Jimmy Vasser gave the orga-

nization its first championship.

Palou joins Vasser, Alex Zanar-

di, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario

Franchitti and Scott Dixon as Ga-

nassi open-wheel champions; he’s

the first Ganassi champion since

Montoya in 1999 not named Fran-

chitti or Dixon, who combined for

nine titles from 2008 through last

year.

Franchitti is now the Ganassi

driver coach and Palou is consid-

ered the best driver in the No. 10

since a head injury forced Fran-

chitti into an early 2013 retire-

ment. Palou is the first Ganassi

driver since Franchitti to beat

Dixon in the season standings.

“I think he’s raised the bar for

all of us this year to keep pushing,”

Dixon said. “It definitely feels like

kind of the 2009 through sort of

’12, ’13 period with Dario. Super

proud of what the 10 car has done.

Super proud of Alex. Man, he’s

done a tremendous job this year.”

Palou won the championship by

38 points over Newgarden, who

bumped one spot ahead of O’Ward

once O’Ward was eliminated

when his drive shaft broke be-

cause of contact on the very first

lap of the race.

O’Ward needed Palou to have a

disastrous day to become Indy-

Car’s first Mexican champion. But

the 22-year-old was frustrated all

weekend, even though he had

vowed to pull all the stops to dis-

rupt the championship race.

Palou is first Spaniardto win IndyCar title

ALEX GALLARDO/AP

Alex Palou celebrates winningthe IndyCar championship after afourth­place finish in Sunday’sGrand Prix of Long Beach.

BY JENNA FRYER

Associated Press

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

RYDER CUP/COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The kids are more

than all right. After America’s youngest

Ryder Cup team handed Europe its biggest

beating ever, they’re more than a little

cocky, too.

Two decades-and-counting worth of frus-

tration poured out alongside plastic cups fil-

led with champagne after the 19-9 final

score was posted Sunday at Whistling

Straits. Heading into the final-day singles,

the U.S. players threatened to run up the

score — something the Europeans did more

than once while taking seven of the previous

nine cup matches — and man, did they ever

deliver.

Collin Morikawa, at 24 the youngest play-

er on the team and already a two-time major

champion, came up with the clinching blow.

A 3-foot birdie putt at the 17th in his match

against Viktor Hovland assured the Amer-

icans at least the 14½ points they needed.

Everything after that wasn’t just gravy; it

was designed to send the Europeans a

message.

“This is a new era,” U.S. captain Steve

Stricker said. “These guys are young. They

want it. They’re motivated. They came here

determined to win. I could see it in their

eyes.”

His kids, cockier still, promised to do it

again when the event shifts to Rome in two

years. With six rookies, eight players under

30 and a core of superstars that appear to

genuinely like playing together, it may not

be an empty boast.

“It’s one thing to win it over here and it is a

lot easier to do so. It’s harder to win over

there,” said Jordan Spieth, who played on

two previous losing U.S. sides. “But if we

play like we did this week, the score will

look the same over there in a couple years,

and that’s what we’re here for.”

Spieth wasn’t alone. Stricker tried to set a

different tone for the post-match news con-

ference by talking about camaraderie and

his players’ willingness to sacrifice for one

another. A few minutes in, however, the

players were showering each other with

praise and the mood was more like a celeb-

rity roast.

Dustin Johnson, who won all five of his

matches and at age 37 served as the team’s

elder statesman, quickly became a frequent

target for the barbs.

“Poor guy went out there and tried to get

six points, but all he could do was five,” Jus-

tin Thomas laughed, adding, “We’re follow-

ing grandpa into the abyss.”

Asked whether he had the stamina to

keep celebrating deep into the night along-

side his teammates, Johnson guaranteed it.

“Is that even in question?” Patrick Can-

tlay howled.

“He’ll get started now,” Tony Finau con-

curred, raising his glass in a toast.

For all the fun and games, the goal Strick-

er set heading into the weekend — that this

team could change the U.S. Ryder Cup cul-

ture in a meaningful way — appeared close

to a done deal. Previous teams have come

nearly as talented; eight Americans were

ranked inside the top 10 this time, and only

one outside the top 20 (Scottie Scheffler, at

No. 21). But those stellar lineups were un-

done by bickering and clashing personali-

ties.

This team was without Tiger Woods and

Phil Mickelson, two of the most dominant

golfers of the last 30 years. Yet it was con-

siderably more unified. It certainly didn’t

hurt that half the U.S. squad arrived without

any lasting scars from nearly three decades

of European dominance. Or that so many of

them knew and played against each other in

the upper echelons of junior golf. Or that

Stricker made everything from the choice

of playing partners to the outfits they wore a

more collaborative effort.

In any case, it showed.

“It’s not just the strongest U.S. team I’ve

seen, but they all played well this week,”

said Lee Westwood, a European stalwart

with 11 previous Cup appearances. “Every-

body performed and turned up this week.

Looks like they are a team.”

Perhaps to reinforce that notion, the U.S.

players ended their news conference by in-

sisting that Brooks Koepka and Bryson De-

Chambeau, who’ve been waging battles on

social media and sniping at each other for

nearly two years, bury the hatchet before

they left.

Stricker had made a point earlier of hav-

ing all dozen players gather and lay a hand

on the small gold trophy. This time, Thomas

directed Koepka and DeChambeau to the

middle of the room, put the trophy between

them and said, “To prove how much of a

team we are, they are going to hug.”

It could have been awkward. Instead, the

frenemies embraced to the accompaniment

of Thomas singing, “Why Can’t We Be

Friends.”

If that truce remains intact when the U.S.

squad gathers again in Rome in 2023, the

chances of the Americans once again dom-

inating this event the way they did when

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer played

together are better than good.

ASHLEY LANDIS/AP

American players pose with the trophy after routing the Europeans at the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits Golf Course on Sunday.

The start of something bigResounding victory by young US team sends a message

BY DOUG FERGUSON

Associated Press

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/AP

Dustin Johnson reacts to his putt on the15th hole during a Ryder Cup singlesmatch on Sunday. Johnson won all five ofhis matches during the event.

Air Force’s Haaziq Daniels didn’t just

break the longest run of the weekend when he

went 94 yards for a touchdown against Florida

Atlantic.

It was the longest by a Football Bowl Sub-

division quarterback in 18 years.

Daniels’ big run was the second of his two

touchdowns in a 31-7 win and the longest in

program history, breaking the 50-year-old re-

cord of 88 yards by Joel Carlson against Army.

The last quarterback to run so far was Ric-

e’s Kyle Herm, who went 95 yards against Ne-

vada in 2003.

The 200 clubArmy quarterback Christian Anderson had

the best rushing performance of the week,

running for a career-high 236 yards on 15 car-

ries against Miami (Ohio).

Northwestern’s Evan Hull had the only oth-

er 200-yard game, carrying 22 times for 216

against Ohio. Hull’s 90-yard TD run was

Northwestern’s longest since Bill Swingle

went 95 yards against Boston College in 1961.

Bulldog’s a ballerFresno State’s Jalen Cropper joined some

elite company by catching four touchdown

passes against UNLV.

He is among four players in program histo-

ry to accomplish the feat, a list that includes

Davante Adams, now with the Green Bay

Packers.

Cropper has a TD in six straight games, the

first Fresno State player to do so since Adams

scored in nine games in a row over the 2012-13

seasons.

Delivering the ball to Cropper was Jake

Haener, whose five TD passes against UNLV

were most in a game by a Bulldogs player

since Derek Carr did it in 2013.

Busy RoadrunnerSincere McCormick’s 42 carries for UTSA

against Memphis were the most in five years

by a player not in a triple-option offense.

McCormick ran for 184 yards and three

touchdowns and caught three balls for 33

yards in the Roadrunners’ 31-28 come-from-

behind win. It was his third 100-yard game of

the season and program-best 13th of his ca-

reer.

Air Force’s Isaiah Sanders and Georgia

Tech’s Taquon Marshall each carried 44

times in a game in 2017, but they played in op-

tion offenses in which passes were rare.

Take those two players out of the equation,

and McCormick’s number of carries was the

highest since D’Onta Foreman of Texas ran 51

times against Kansas in 2016.

Twice as niceJameson Williams became the first Alaba-

ma player to return two kickoffs for touch-

downs.

He ran back the opening kickoff against

Southern Mississippi 100 yards, and he re-

turned a fourth-quarter kick 83 yards. Wil-

liams also had an 81-yard touchdown recep-

tion and finished with 258 all-purpose yards.

STAT WATCH

AcademyQBs reachmilestones

BY ERIC OLSON

Associated Press

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

NFL

American ConferenceEast

W L T Pct PF PA

Buffalo 2 1 0 .667 94 44

Miami 1 2 0 .333 45 82

New England 1 2 0 .333 54 51

N.Y. Jets 0 3 0 .000 20 70

South

W L T Pct PF PA

Tennessee 2 1 0 .667 71 84

Houston 1 2 0 .333 67 76

Indianapolis 0 3 0 .000 56 80

Jacksonville 0 3 0 .000 53 91

North

W L T Pct PF PA

Baltimore 2 1 0 .667 82 85

Cincinnati 2 1 0 .667 68 54

Cleveland 2 1 0 .667 86 60

Pittsburgh 1 2 0 .333 50 66

West

W L T Pct PF PA

Denver 3 0 0 1.000 76 26

Las Vegas 3 0 0 1.000 90 72

L.A. Chargers 2 1 0 .667 67 60

Kansas City 1 2 0 .333 92 95

National Conference

East

W L T Pct PF PA

Dallas 1 1 0 .500 49 48

Philadelphia 1 1 0 .500 43 23

Washington 1 2 0 .333 67 92

N.Y. Giants 0 3 0 .000 56 74

South

W L T Pct PF PA

Carolina 3 0 0 1.000 69 30

New Orleans 2 1 0 .667 73 42

Tampa Bay 2 1 0 .667 103 88

Atlanta 1 2 0 .333 48 94

North

W L T Pct PF PA

Green Bay 2 1 0 .667 68 83

Chicago 1 2 0 .333 40 77

Minnesota 1 2 0 .333 87 78

Detroit 0 3 0 .000 67 95

West

W L T Pct PF PA

Arizona 3 0 0 1.000 103 65

L.A. Rams 3 0 0 1.000 95 62

San Francisco 2 1 0 .667 86 74

Seattle 1 2 0 .333 75 79

Thursday, Sept. 23

Carolina 24, Houston 9

Sunday’s games

Arizona 31, Jacksonville 19Atlanta 17, N.Y. Giants 14Baltimore 19, Detroit 17Buffalo 43, Washington 21Cincinnati 24, Pittsburgh 10Cleveland 26, Chicago 6L.A. Chargers 30, Kansas City 24New Orleans 28, New England 13Tennessee 25, Indianapolis 16Denver 26, N.Y. Jets 0Las Vegas 31, Miami 28, OTL.A. Rams 34, Tampa Bay 24Minnesota 30, Seattle 17Green Bay 30, San Francisco 28

Monday’s game

Philadelphia at Dallas

Thursday’s game

Jacksonville at Cincinnati

Sunday, Oct. 3

Carolina at DallasCleveland at MinnesotaDetroit at ChicagoHouston at BuffaloIndianapolis at MiamiKansas City at PhiladelphiaN.Y. Giants at New OrleansTennessee at N.Y. JetsWashington at AtlantaArizona at L.A. RamsSeattle at San FranciscoBaltimore at DenverPittsburgh at Green BayTampa Bay at New England

Monday, Oct. 4

Las Vegas at L.A. Chargers

Scoreboard

9The Bucs' streak of nine straightgames with 30-plus points endedSunday with their first loss since Nov.29, 2020.

SOURCE: NFL.com

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Sean

McVay’s excitement over the big-

play potential the Los Angeles

Rams have with Matthew Stafford

finally got the best of him Sunday.

The Rams had a 14-7 lead against

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in

the third quarter when they faced

third-and-10 at the LA 25. McVay

dialed up the perfect play that

would be the defining moment in

the Los Angeles’ 34-24 victory over

the defending Super Bowl cham-

pions.

McVay called for a pass to De-

Sean Jackson on a go route. Jackson

easily ran by cornerback Carlton

Davis III, caught it at the Bucca-

neers 30 and then zig-zagged his

way for the final 10 yards and into

the tunnel. He was eventually

greeted by the exuberant Rams

coach, who ran down the sideline to

celebrate his team going up by two

touchdowns.

“I think my hamstrings are al-

ready sore. I probably pulled them

both,” McVay said jokingly. “I was

being in the moment and having

fun, enjoying watching these guys

do their thing and there was a lot of

reasons to be excited for our team

today.”

Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians

said Jackson got wide open due to

totally busted coverage and lack of

communication in the secondary.

Stafford, who said he wanted to

come to Los Angeles to play in big

games, passed for 343 yards and

four touchdowns as he outdueled

Tom Brady and Tampa Bay (2-1),

which had their 10-game regular

season and playoff winning streak

snapped.

“We’re up in his face one time, he

finds a guy wide open down the field

and gets it to him. Other guys, they

see him but they can’t get it to ’em.

He gets it to them, so he’s a special

player,” Arians said of Stafford.

The Rams are 3-0 for the third

time in McVay’s five seasons. The

Super Bowl, which they reached in

the 2018 season, will be played in

their palatial Hollywood Park

home.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald

was asked if he thought Los Angeles

was one of the favorites to get to

there: “for sure.”

“Everybody’s always having fun

together. And last time we had a

team like that we went to the Super

Bowl,” said Donald, who had three

tackles and got his first career sack

against Brady.

Stafford was off-target on five of

his first six attempts before getting

in a groove as the Rams scored on

their next six drives.

“I think Sean does a great job of

giving us a game plan that really

keeps the defense on their toes,”

said Stafford, who completed 27 of

38 passes.

Rams, Stafford outduel Bucs, BradyLA QB throws for 343yards, 4 TDs in 34-24win over Tampa Bay

BY JOE REEDY

Associated Press

JAE C. HONG/AP

Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (89) celebrates after his touchdown catch during the Rams’34­24 win Sunday over the Tampa Bay Bucs at Inglewood, Calif.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chargers had

just turned the Kansas City Chiefs over for the

fourth time Sunday. Los Angeles coach Bran-

don Staley was left with a crucial fourth-down

call with less than a minute left in a tie game.

Send out his kicker for a 48-yard field goal,

even though Tristan Vizcaino already missed

an extra point. Or place the outcome with Jus-

tin Herbert and the offense.

“We wanted to leave the ball in Justin’s

hands,” Staley said. “We wanted him to be the

game decider.”

Herbert threw a jump ball that produced a

pass interference call on the Chiefs’ DeAndre

Baker and a first down. Then he hit Mike Wil-

liams with consecutive completions, including

the TD throw with 32 seconds left that lifted

Los Angeles to a 30-24 victory over the five-

time defending AFC West champions.

“We’re fortunate we have a gangsta quarter-

back,” Staley said with a grin.

Herbert finished with 281 yards passing and

four TDs without an interception, outdueling

Patrick Mahomes in a matchup not only of two

of the game’s best young quarterbacks but two

teams expected to compete for a division title.

Instead, the up-and-coming Chargers (2-1)

won for the third time in four trips to Kansas

City while sending the two-time defending

conference champion Chiefs (1-2) to the divi-

sion cellar.

“You can’t overcome four turnovers,” said

Kansas City assistant Dave Toub, who took

postgame questions because coach Andy Reid

was feeling ill. “I thought that was the story of

the game.”

Reid was taken to the hospital after the

game, and the team said Sunday night he was

feeling well and in stable condition.

The Chiefs trailed 14-0 early but had climbed

back into the game in the second half, taking a

24-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

But Los Angeles tied it on Tristan Vizcaino’s

short field goal, and after Mahomes was picked

by Alohi Gilman with 1:42 to go, Herbert began

the march for the go-ahead touchdown.

He converted a third-and-2 near midfield

with a pass to Allen, then the Chargers were

bailed out on a fourth-down incompletion by

Baker’s pass interference. Herbert hit Wil-

liams for a 16-yard gain before finding his big

wide receiver in the end zone for the second

time in the game.

Kansas City got to midfield in the closing

seconds, but Mahomes’ throw to the end zone

was incomplete.

“The defense did a great job stepping up to-

day and forcing all those turnovers,” said

Herbert, who found Williams seven times for

122 yards and two touchdowns. “I couldn’t

have done it without them.”

Austin Ekeler and Keenen Allen also had

touchdown catches for Los Angeles.

Mahomes finished with 260 yards passing

and three touchdowns to go with his two inter-

ceptions, while Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for

100 yards with a touchdown catch but was re-

sponsible for one of two Chiefs fumbles.

“Nobody is happy with the way we played,”

Mahomes said. “You take a loss to a division

opponent, it’s not a good thing.”

Chargers rally past error-prone Chiefs

ED ZURGA/AP

Los Angeles Chargers running back LarryRountree III is tackled by the Kansas CityChiefs’ Marcus Kemp. The Chargers defeatedthe five­time defending AFC West champions30­24 Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. 

BY DAVE SKRETTA

Associated Press

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

NFL

STARS

Passing

Matthew Stafford, Rams, passed

for 343 yards and four touchdowns as

he outdueled Tom Brady and led Los

Angeles to a 34-24 victory over the Buc-

caneers.

Justin Herbert, Chargers, finished

with 281 yards passing and four touch-

downs without an interception in out-

dueling Patrick Mahomes in a 30-24

win at Kansas City.

Kyler Murray, Cardinals, complet-

ed 28 of 34 passes for 316 yards and

ran for a score in a 31-19 victory at Jack-

sonville.

Josh Allen, Bills, finished 32-for-

43 for 358 yards and four touchdowns,

while also surpassing the 100-touch-

down plateau (including TDs rushing

and one receiving) in his 47th start. Buf-

falo defeated Washington 43-21.

Kirk Cousins, Vikings, went 30-

for-38 for 323 yards in his third consec-

utive turnover-free game, throwing for

three first-half TDs in a 30-17 win

against Seattle.

Derek Carr, Raiders, completed

26 of 43 pass attempts for 386 yards

and two touchdowns in a 31-28 over-

time victory against Miami.

Rushing

Derrick Henry, the reigning AP

NFL Offensive Player of the Year, ran for

113 yards, topping the 100-yard mark

for a sixth straight division game.

Kareem Hunt, Browns, scored on

a 29-yard run and finished with 155

yards, 81 rushing and 74 receiving, in a

26-6 victory against Chicago.

Alexander Mattison, Vikings,

stepped in for the injured Dalvin Cook

and racked up 171 total yards in a 30-

17 win against Seattle.

Receiving

Rookie Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals,

caught two TD passes from Joe Burrow

— his LSU teammate — as Cincinnati

won at Pittsburgh 24-10.

RB Najee Harris. Steelers, caught

14 passes for 102 yards. Harris’ 14

catches are tied with Saquon Barkley

and Roy Helu for the most receptions by

a rookie running back in a single game.

A.J. Green, Cardinals, had 112

yards, his first 100-yard receiving day

since 2018, and Christian Kirk added

104 in a 31-19 victory over Jacksonville.

DeSean Jackson, Rams, got his

ninth touchdown reception of at least

75 yards — exactly 75 from Matthew

Stafford — tying him with Hall of Famer

Lance Alworth for the most in the NFL

history, according to Elias, as LA beat

Tampa Bay 34-24.

Special Teams

Jamal Agnew, Jaguars, tied the

NFL record for longest play with a 109-

yard return of Matt Prater’s 68-yard

field-goal try on the final play before

halftime. His touchdown wasn’t enough

as Arizona won 31-19.

Chase McLaughlin, Browns,

kicked field goals of 57, 52, 41 and 28

yards in a 26-6 win over Chicago.

Defense

Myles Garrett made a Browns re-

cord 4 ½ sacks on Justin Fields and Cle-

veland brought down Chicago’s rookie

quarterback nine times in a 26-6 win

over Chicago. The Browns held Chicago

to 47 yards and six first downs.

Byron Murphy, Cardinals, inter-

cepted two passes, including one he re-

turned for a touchdown following a

botched flea-flicker, in a 31-19 win at

Jacksonville.

Alexander Johnson led a Denver

defense that sacked Zach Wilson five

times, intercepted him twice and limit-

ed the rookie to 160 yards passing in the

Broncos’ 26-0 win over the Jets. John-

son got to Wilson twice.

MILESTONES

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, the No.

1overall draft pick, has nine turnovers in

three games and is on pace to throw 40

interceptions. Hall of Famer Peyton

Manning holds the rookie record with

28 set in 1998. ... Tom Brady complet-

ed 41 of 55 passes for 432 yards and

joined Drew Brees as the only quarter-

backs to throw for more than 80,000

yards. ... Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes,

appearing in his 49th career game, had

260 passing yards and three touch-

downs. Mahomes has 15,092 career

passing yards and became the first

quarterback to reach 15,000 in 50 or

fewer games.

STREAKS & STATS

The Dolphins got on the board at Las

Vegas when linebacker Elandon Ro-

berts darted 85 yards with an intercep-

tion. That extended a string to an NFL-

best 25 straight games with a takeaway

for the Dolphins. … The 34-24 loss at

the Rams snapped the defending Super

Bowl champion Buccaneers’ 10-game

regular season and playoff winning

streak going back to last season. … A

44-yard kick by Seattle’s Jason Myers

went wide left, ending his team-record

streak of 37 straight field goals made,

the fourth longest in NFL history. …

Chris Boswell, Steelers, had made all 31

of his field-goal attempts against Cincin-

nati before missing a 42-yarder in the

third quarter ... Younghoe Koo’s 40-

yard field goal for Atlanta gave coach Ar-

thur Smith his first NFL win and marked

the second straight week the Giants lost

on the final play of the game. …Cincin-

nati is above .500 heading into October

for the first time in head coach Zac Tay-

lor’s three-year tenure while the Steelers

failed to get a sack, ending their NFL-

record streak of 75 games. … Tennes-

see hadn’t won a game turning over the

ball three times since beating Atlanta

20-13 on Oct. 7, 2007. The Titans did

so Sunday against Indianapolis. … The

Colts (0-3) are off to their worst start

since 2011. … The Jets (0-3) became

the third NFL team to lose a dozen con-

secutive games in September, joining

the 1994-97 Saints and the 2007-10

Rams.

Sidelined

Indianapolis Colts All-Pro left guard

Quenton Nelson, Tennessee Titans Pro

Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown and New

England Patriots running back James

White were among the NFL’s most no-

table injuries.

Nelson was carted off with a right an-

kle injury early in the second quarter of a

25-16 loss to Tennessee.

Brown hurt a hamstring early and

watched the second half in shorts and a

T-shirt.

White was carted off the field early in

the second quarter with a hip injury after

landing awkwardly as he was tackled by

Damario Davis.

NFL Today

through September after most of

their starters barely played in Au-

gust. There are exceptions, of

course. The Rams held many

starters out of exhibition games

and they’re one of four undefeated

teams along with the Cardinals,

Broncos and Raiders.

The defending Super Bowl

champion Bucs saw their weak-

nesses exposed by the Rams in a

34-24 loss. A depleted secondary

couldn’t stop a high-powered of-

fense led by Matthew Stafford and

Tampa’s offense didn’t give Brady

much help. Brady threw 55 times

and led the way on the ground with

14 yards and one touchdown.

“Just not a great complemen-

tary game by us,” Brady said after

playing in Los Angeles for the first

time in his 22-year career. “Got to

learn from it. ... All around, the of-

fense needs to be better.”

Patrick Mahomes had never

lost a game or thrown an intercep-

tion in September until last week.

Now the Chiefs have dropped two

in a row, giving Mahomes his first

losing record in the NFL. Ma-

homes threw a pick on the opening

possession and another one with

the score tied and 1:42 left that led

to Justin Herbert throwing the

winning TD pass.

“Everybody isn’t happy with

how we played,” Mahomes said.

“Whenever you lose a game at

home to a divisional opponent, it

isn’t a good thing. We haven’t had

alot of that in my time here, but it’s

about how you respond. We have a

long season ahead of us. It looks

really dim right now, but if we can

find a way to get better from this

and learn how to win these types of

games, we’ll be where we want to

be at the end of the season.”

Mahomes is right. It’s a long

season made even longer by a 17th

game, and there’s plenty of time

for the Chiefs and others to get on

track. Consistency down the

stretch — not the first few weeks

—is the key to postseason success.

But some of the teams off to

rough starts might not have what

it takes to turn things around.

Pittsburgh’s loss to Cincinnati

could signal a changing of the

guard. The Steelers had won 14 of

16 against the Bengals, but Joe

Burrow is healthy and he has

weapons around him. Meanwhile,

39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger is

closer to the end, and Pittsburgh is

2-6 since starting 11-0 last year.

Indianapolis hoped Carson

Wentz would help the team get

over the playoff hump, but his

struggles in Philadelphia have

carried over. The only constant for

Wentz is he’s banged-up and gets

beat up.

While Wentz’s second chance

with a new team hasn’t gone well

so far, Teddy Bridgewater is mak-

ing the most of his new opportuni-

ty in Denver. He has a 116.4 passer

rating in three games against the

winless Giants, Jaguars and Jets.

The real test comes when the

Broncos face tougher opponents.

Derek Carr is silencing critics

and playing like an MVP candi-

date for the Raiders, who’ve al-

ready won twice in overtime. But a

Monday night showdown against

Herbert and the Chargers next

week presents another challenge.

October is coming. It may take a

while for consistent play to follow.

Stumbling: Still time to get on trackFROM PAGE 24

LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Raiders are off to

their best start since 2002.

Coach Jon Gruden isn’t about to nitpick about how

they’re winning.

Reigning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Da-

niel Carlson’s 22-yard field goal as time expired in

overtime lifted the Raiders to a 31-28 victory over the

Miami Dolphins on Sunday. It marked the second time

in the Raiders’ first three games — both at home — they

overcame a two-touchdown deficit to win in overtime.

They also did so against Baltimore in Week 1 on a Mon-

day night.

“I don’t apologize for winning these games, no matter

how we won them,” Gruden said. “When you’re down

14-0 and score 25 unanswered in the NFL against a

team like that, something’s going right.”

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found Bryan Ed-

wards for 34 yards before Peyton Barber put together

runs of 27 and 8 yards to put Las Vegas on the Miami

11-yard line. That eventually set up the winning score

for Carlson, who missed an extra point in regulation

and kicked two field goals in the extra frame.

Las Vegas is the first team to open 3-0 against teams

that won 10 or more games the previous season.

Carr, who completed 26 of 43 pass attempts for 386

yards and two touchdowns, used his talented receiving

depth for the third straight game. The eight-year veter-

an completed passes to nine targets, led by Hunter

Renfrow and Darren Waller, who each had five recep-

tions. Renfrow also scored a touchdown.

With star running back Josh Jacobs sidelined with an

ankle injury, recently signed Barber led the rushing

game with 111 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

“I think he did more than just run it — we went to him

as our third-down back … he caught a pass out of the

backfield, he picked up some blitzes, he was helpful in

protection, he didn’t blow any assignments, he ran

hard,” Gruden said. “I don’t even hardly know this guy.

But I gave him a big hug and a game ball.”

And while the Raiders’ offense outgained Miami

497-330, it was their special teams and defense that ig-

nited the comeback after Miami scored the game’s first

14 points.

One play after Zay Jones raced downfield on a punt to

down the ball on the 1-yard line, cornerback Casey

Hayward Jr. caught Miami receiver Jaylen Waddle on

a screen pass in the end zone for a safety.

“That one little moment of Zay just giving an extra

effort, an extra burst, to go pin that ball, I mean that al-

lows us to get two points and get us back going,” Carr

said. “He made a huge play for us on the special teams

in that moment.”

Carlson booted a 50-yard field goal to get the Raiders

within nine. Then, after a defensive stop, Las Vegas

drove 95 yards to cut Miami’s lead to 14-12. Fullback

Alec Ingold was rewarded by having his number called

after recovering Barber’s fumble on the goal line on the

previous play.

The Raiders scored on their next two possessions

when Carr and Renfrow connected for a 12-yard strike

and Barber dived over the pack for a 1-yard touchdown

to open a 25-14 lead.

Raiders rally, win in OT again

RICK SCUTERI/AP

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr celebrates afterwide receiver Hunter Renfrow scored a touchdownagainst the Dolphinsin the second half on Sunday.

BY W.G. RAMIREZ

Associated Press

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

NFL

DETROIT — Justin Tucker ended the game as if he

was starting it, b acking up an extra step or two and

kicking the football with every bit of force he had in his

right foot.

Tucker set an NFL record with a 66-yard field goal,

bouncing it through the crossbar as time expired to lift

the Baltimore Ravens to a 19-17 win over the Detroit

Lions on Sunday.

“That one was more like a kickoff,” he said. “It’s like

you’re a competitor in a long-drive contest. You just

let it rip and hope it stays straight.”

The kick topped the 64-yard field goal Matt Prater

made for Denver against Tennessee on Dec. 8, 2013.

Prater’s attempt at a 68-yard kick for Arizona on Sun-

day fell short and was returned 109 yards for a touch-

down by Jacksonville’s Jamal Agnew, a former team-

mate in Detroit.

Lamar Jackson — and perhaps a break from the of-

ficials — made the record-breaking kick at Ford Field

possible.

On fourth-and-19 from the Baltimore 16, he threw a

36-yard pass to Sammy Watkins to get the Ravens

across midfield with 7 seconds left. The superstar

quarterback spiked the ball to stop the clock, and on

the next snap, he threw it away after TV footage sug-

gested the play clock expired.

“We’ll get an apology and it doesn’t mean any-

thing,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said.

Then Tucker — who made a 61-yard kick to beat the

Lions in Baltimore’s previous visit to Detroit eight

years ago — came out and made the record-breaking

field goal.

“I love Detroit,” said Tucker, who is the most accu-

rate kicker in NFL history. “I’m thinking about getting

a place here.”

Referee Scott Novak told a pool reporter that he had

not seen a replay of the play in which the play clock ap-

peared on TV to expire before Jackson’s incomplete

pass to the sideline, adding he had no idea if there was

an error made.

“The back judge is looking at the play clock and if it

were to hit zero, he sees the zero, and he then looks to

see if the ball is being snapped,” Novak said. “If the

ball is being snapped, we will let the play go. If it’s not

moving, it’s delay of game. Those are the mechanics

that we apply on that play.”

The Ravens(2-1) went into the fourth quarter with a

16-7 lead and ended up trailing briefly.

Ryan Santoso made a go-ahead, 35-yard field goal

with 1:04 left, giving Campbell an opportunity to win

his first game with the Lions (0-3).

“It hurts because you put yourself in position to

win,” Campbell said. “The silver lining is we’re get-

ting better and I’m proud of the way they competed.”

Santoso was promoted from Detroit’s practice

squad on Saturday after kicker Austin Seibert went on

the COVID-19 reserve list.

Jackson was 16-for-31 for a season-high 287 yards

with a touchdown and an interception. His teammates

dropped at least four passes that could have potential-

ly turned the closely contested game into a rout.

Mark Andrews had five receptions for 109 yards for

the Baltimore, which has won 11 straight games

against NFC opponents.

PHOTOS BY TONY DING/AP

Above: Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (9) kicks a 66­yard field goal to give his team a 19­17 winSunday over the Detroit Lions in Detroit. Below: Tucker celebrates the NFl­record kick.

Tucker’s record field goalpropels Ravens past LionsHis 66-yarder gives Baltimore 19-17 win

BY LARRYLAGE

Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With

only seconds to play and no time-

outs, Aaron Rodgers had no doubt

where he’d look to drive the Green

Bay Packers to a game-winning

kick.

Rodgers completed two deep

passes to Davante Adams on a

last-minute drive, setting up Ma-

son Crosby’s 51-yard field goal on

the final play of the game that gave

the Packers a 30-28 victory over

the San Francisco 49ers on Sun-

day night.

“My first thoughts in devising

how I wanted to get us into field-

goal range was how could I get 17

the ball,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers did it twice on passes of

25 and 17 yards to Adams after the

Packers took over at their 25 with

37 seconds left and no timeouts

following Jimmy Garoppolo’s 12-

yard TD pass to Kyle Juszczyk.

Adams came back after taking a

hard hit from Jimmie Ward that

looked like it could knock him out

of the game and finished with 12

catches for 132 yards.

“How can you not be romantic

about football?” Rodgers said.

All that was left was for Crosby

to make the kick and the Packers

(2-1) to celebrate a win that came

after they blew a 17-point lead.

“Celebrating with the guys in

the end zone, seeing that energy

and feeling that juice, is what it’s

all about,” Crosby said. “And then

carrying on into the locker room

and guys pouring water all over

my head and everybody, that’s

what this game is all about. It was

really special.”

The comeback spoiled the first

game for the 49ers (2-1) with fans

since beating Green Bay in the

2019 NFC title game. San Francis-

co had rallied from 17 points down

to take the lead before getting

crushed by Rodgers.

Rodgers threw for 261 yards

and two touchdowns to lead the

Packers to back-to-back wins af-

ter a season-opening 38-3 loss to

New Orleans. Rodgers had six TD

passes and no interceptions in

wins over the 49ers (2-1) and De-

troit.

“I feel good about our team,”

Rodgers said. “Week One was an

anomaly. I said that and I believe

that. We bounced back Week Two.

Played a great team tonight right

down to the wire. This plane ride is

going to feel incredible.”

The Niners returned home fol-

lowing back-to-back road wins

back East but struggled to slow

down Rodgers.

“There were some great indi-

vidual efforts of guys just making

unbelievable plays that got us in

and gave us a chance to win that

game,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.

“But some mistakes that we made

throughout the game, you don’t

win a lot of football doing that.

That’s what we’ve got to clean up.”

Rodgers connected on a 1-yard

TD pass to Adams and a 12-yarder

in the fourth quarter to Marquez

Valdes-Scantling to help stake the

Packers to the lead.

They made it 27-21 when Garop-

polo inexplicably threw the ball to

the ground behind him while try-

ing to avoid a sack by Kenny Clark

that set up a field goal by Crosby.

Garoppolo responded with the

TD drive but it wasn’t enough.

“There’s always too much time

on the clock if there’s ever time on

the clock, especially with Aaron

Rodgers,” tight end George Kittle

said. “I think we have a really good

defense. I don’t really have any

worries when our defense is out on

the field. But it’s Aaron Rodgers

and Davante Adams over there.

They did what they had to do to

win.”

TONY AVELAR/AP

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown sixtouchdown passes with no interceptions in his past two games.

Rodgers’ late driveleads Green Baypast San Francisco

BY JOSH DUBOW

Associated Press “How can younot be romanticabout football?”

Aaron Rodgers

Green Bay Packers QB

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, September 28, 2021

SPORTS‘This is a new era’

Ryder Cup victory could be start ofdominant run for US ›› Golf, Page 20

Cards extend winning streak to 16 games ›› MLB, Page 17

Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay

Buccaneers in rushing. The

Kansas City Chiefs turned the

ball over on their first three

possessions.

No surprise, the 2020 NFL conference

champions lost Sunday.

Three weeks into this season and incon-

sistency has become the norm, even for

some of the league’s top contenders.

The Chiefs (1-2), Seahawks (1-2) and

Steelers (1-2) have lost two in a row. The

Buccaneers would be 1-2 if it weren’t for a

last-minute field goal in Week 1. Same for

the Packers, who needed Aaron Rodgers’

heroics and a last-second 51-yard field goal

from Mason Crosby to beat the 49ers on

Sunday night for their second consecutive

victory after they were blown out by New

Orleans in their opener.

The Ravens (2-1) had to get a record-set-

ting 66-yard field goal by Justin Tucker to

avoid losing to Detroit. The Colts (0-3) are

winless and the Patriots (1-2) lost by 15 at

home to the Saints.

Many teams are feeling their way

REED HOFFMANN/AP

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu wraps up Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after a pass during the first half Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. 

Stumbling through SeptemberInconsistency dogging some of NFL’s top teams in opening month of season

BY ROB MAADDI

Associated Press

ON FOOTBALL

INSIDE

Stafford lifts Rams overBrady, BuccaneersPage 21

Raiders rally to anotherOT victory Page 22SEE STUMBLING ON PAGE 22