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MOSTLY SUNNY 65 • 42 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020 | theworldlink.com
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Barrett confirmed, takes oath
Clearing the bar
Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio, the longest serving House member in Oregon’s history, in the Nov. 3 election. This summer, the worst wildfires on record burned in Oregon, with climate change and overgrown forests worsening fire conditions. As smoke smothered Skarlatos’ hometown of Roseburg, he took interest. “It was really the lack of forest management that got me interested (in running), because it is a federal issue. And our forest policy is made 3,000 miles away, in D.C.,” Skarlatos said in an interview. Winning the election seems like a long shot, but Skarlatos has raised more than $3.7 million
in campaign contributions, compared to DeFazio’s nearly $3.3 million, according to the Federal Election Commission. The last time a Republican was elected to the seat that represents the southern half of Oregon’s coastal counties was in 1972, and the GOP is eager to deal a blow to Democratic control of a district that includes swaths of rural, conservative areas as well as more liberal bastions in the college towns of Eugene and Corvallis. A possible factor in Skarlatos’ favor: Thousands of students at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, who would normally vote in those towns, are learning remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
If Skarlatos flips the seat, it would likely give the GOP two of Oregon’s five House seats in this blue state, with the GOP almost certain to retain control of the 2nd Congressional District covering eastern and central Oregon. Both of Oregon’s senators are Democrats, as is the governor. Democrats have a supermajority in the Legislature. One of Skarlatos’ campaign videos features TV news reports on how he, two longtime friends, and two other men foiled the attack on Aug. 21, 2015, by Islamic extremist Ayoub El-Khazzani on a high-speed train with 500 passengers aboard.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Monday by a deeply divided Senate, with Republicans overpowering Democrats to install President Donald Trump’s nominee days before the election and secure a likely conservative court majority for years to come. Trump’s choice to fill the vacancy of the late liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg potentially opens a new era of rulings on abortion, the Affordable Care Act and even his own election. Democrats were unable to stop the outcome, Trump’s third justice on the court, as Republicans race to reshape the judiciary. Barrett, 48, will be able to start work Tuesday, her lifetime appointment as the 115th justice solidifying the court’s rightward tilt. “This is a momentous day for America,” Trump said at a primetime swearing-in event on the South Lawn at the White House. Justice Clarence Thomas administered the Constitutional Oath to Barrett before a crowd of about 200. Barrett told those gathered that she believes “it is the job of a judge to resist her policy preferences.” She vowed, “I will do my job without any fear or favor.” Monday’s vote was the closest high court confirmation ever to a presidential election, and the first in modern times with no support from the minority party. The spiking COVID-19 crisis has hung over the proceedings. Vice President Mike Pence declined to preside at the Senate unless his tie-breaking vote was needed after Democrats asked him to stay away when his aides tested positive for COVID-19. The vote was 52-48, and Pence’s vote was not necessary. “Voting to confirm this nominee should make every single senator proud,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, fending off “outlandish” criticism in a lengthy speech. During a rare weekend session he declared that Barrett’s opponents “won’t be able to do much about this for a long time to come.” Barrett, a federal appeals court judge from Indiana, is expected to take the judicial oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony Tuesday at the court to begin participating in proceedings. Underscoring the political divide during the pandemic, the Republican senators, most wearing masks, sat in their seats as is tradition for landmark votes, and applauded the outcome, with fist-bumps. Democratic senators emptied their side, heeding party leadership’s advice to not linger in the chamber. A Rose Garden event with Trump to announce Barrett’s nomination last month ended up spreading the virus, including to some GOP senators who have since returned from quarantine. Pence’s presence would have been expected for a high-profile moment. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and his leadership team said it would not only violate virus guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “it would also be a violation of common decency and courtesy.”
Please see Skarlatos, Page 3
Please see Court, Page 3
on Oct. 18, according to Oregon State Police. The truck fell down the embankment near milepost 11 before hitting a tree and sliding into the water, police say. Soon, the vehicle was completely underwater. Police say the vehicle’s three occupants all escaped the vehicle, but only two were able to make it to shore. Boyd was last seen in the river about 20 feet from shore, accord-
ing to police. Witnesses lost sight of him in the morning darkness. A Bandon Fire Department dive team responded to search for Boyd, joined by Coos County Marine Deputies and OSP Game Troopers on boats. Crews searched the area for Boyd to no avail, and a towing crew removed the truck from the river. Boyd’s friends and community members have been in the area
searching for him regularly since the accident. Jeremiah Reiber, a friend of Boyd’s from high school, has been spreading the word about the efforts. “We’ll continue as long as we can,” Reiber said. A group of volunteers searched the area by boat and by foot over the weekend, and continues to do so in the evenings, Reiber said. If Boyd isn’t found
by next weekend, the group will likely meet at Rooke Higgins Park at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday for another search effort. The area is challenging to search in because of the murky, log-filled water and low visibility, Reiber noted. He said smaller boats are more maneuverable in the area, but urged kayakers and other boaters to wear life jackets if they plan to search.
John Gunther, The World
Marshfield’s Jack Waddington clears a height in the pole vault during the Coos County Meet on Friday at Marshfield High School. The meet concluded the first fall sports season including competitions between Marshfield and North Bend in softball, baseball, outdoor volleyball and track and field. Bandon and Powers also participated in the county meet and Powers played volleyball. Myrtle Point will join in the next season, which includes boys and girls soccer, seven-on-seven football and basketball skills competitions. For more on the county meet, see Tuesday’s print edition of The World.
Crews contain fire in Coos Mountain area Officials say fire that burned 13 acres east of the Bay Area was caused by humans The World COOS COUNTY — Fire crews responded to a 13-acre fire on private timber lands near Mink Creek late Sunday, according to information from the Coos Forest Protective Association. The fire isn’t currently threatening any structures or recreational sites, and crews had it contained by Monday evening. The response included five engines, two tenders and two crews working the fire about two hours east of Coos Bay. Crews began working on the fire around 10 p.m. Sunday after it was reported by detection cameras and reported to CFPA. The fire was human caused, CFPA said. The precise cause is still under investigation.
Contributed by Coos Forest Protective Association
CFPA is responding to a 13-acre, human-caused fire in the Coos Mountain area.
Train attack hero makes bid for Congress Skarlatos makes bid to unseat DeFazio in Fourth District SALEM (AP) — In 2015, Alek Skarlatos and two friends thwarted an attack by a gunman on a Paris-bound train, a dramatic and heroic action that was made into a movie by Clint Eastwood in which the trio starred as themselves. Now, Skarlatos, 28, is hoping to ride his moment of fame to get a seat in Congress, representing Oregon’s 4th congressional district in the House of Representatives. To do that, the Republican candidate will need to unseat
Community searches for CB man after rollover into river ZACK DEMARS The World
COOS BAY — A Coos Bay man has been missing for more than a week after his car rolled into the Millicoma River, authorities say. Tyler Boyd, 36, was driving northbound on Highway 241 with two passengers when his vehicle left the roadway around 6:30 a.m.
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Eight new COVID-19 cases in Coos County The World Another 339 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday by the Oregon Health Authority, including eight in Coos County. OHA also reported two new deaths, raising the state’s death toll since the pandemic began to 655, as of 12:01 a.m. Monday. The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Monday are
in the following counties: Benton (1), Clackamas (41), Clatsop (1), Columbia (7), Coos (8), Crook (2), Deschutes (10), Douglas (1), Jackson (15), Josephine (1), Klamath (1), Lake (2), Lane (37), Linn (7), Malheur (2), Marion (40), Multnomah (90), Polk (4), Sherman (1), Umatilla (5), Union (1), Washington (56), and Yamhill (6). Oregon’s 654th
COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old man in Douglas County who tested positive on Oct. 19 and died on Oct. 25 in his residence. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 655th COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Oct. 9 and died on Oct. 23 in her residence. She had underlying conditions.
Water found on moon’s surface CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The moon’s shadowed, frigid nooks and crannies may hold frozen water in more places and in larger quantities than previously suspected. And for the first time, the presence of water on the moon’s sunlit surface has been confirmed, scientists reported Monday. That’s good news for astronauts at future lunar bases who could tap into these resources for drinking and making rocket fuel. While previous observations have indicated millions of tons of ice in the permanently shadowed craters of the moon’s poles, a pair of studies in the journal Nature Astronomy take the availability of lunar surface water to a new level. More than 15,400 square miles of lunar terrain have the capability to trap water in the form of ice, according to a team led by the University of Colorado’s Paul Hayne. That’s 20% more area than previous estimates, he said. The presence of water in sunlit surfaces had been previously suggested, but not confirmed. The molecules are so far apart that they are in neither liquid nor solid form, said lead researcher Casey Honniball, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “To be clear, this is not puddles of water,” she
stressed at a news conference. NASA’s astrophysics director Paul Hertz said it’s too soon to know whether this water — found in and around the southern hemisphere’s sunlit Clavius Crater — would be accessible. The surface could be harder there, ruining wheels and drills. These latest findings, nonetheless, expand the possible landing spots for robots and astronauts alike — “opening up real estate previously considered ‘off limits’ for being bone dry,” Hayne said in an email to The Associated Press. For now, NASA said it still aims to send astronauts to the lunar south pole, especially rich in frozen water. The White House deadline is 2024. As for the shadowed areas believed to be brimming with frozen water near the moon’s north and south poles, temperatures are so low that they could hold onto the water for millions or even billions of years. These so-called cold traps get down to minus 261 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 163 degrees Celsius). Using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the researchers identified cold traps as small as a few yards across and as wide as 18 miles and more, and used computer models to get all the way down to micrometers in size. “Since the little ones are too small to see from orbit,
despite being vastly more numerous, we can’t yet identify ice inside them,” Hayne said. “Once we’re on the surface, we will do that experiment.” For the second study, scientists used NASA’s airborne infrared observatory Sofia to conclusively identify water molecules on sunlit portions of the moon just outside the polar regions. Most of these molecules are likely stored in the voids between moon dust and other particles or entombed in the glassy residue of of micrometeorite impacts. In this way, the molecules can withstand the moon’s harsh environment, scientists said. By flying 45,000 feet above Earth, the Sofia plane is above the water vapors that can interfere with infrared observations. For now, Sofia can analyze only the moon’s outermost surface, but these water molecules could be buried yards deep, Honniball noted. As a comparison, the Sahara desert has 100 times the amount of water than what Sofia detected in the lunar soil. Scientists believe all this water on the moon came from comets, asteroids, interplanetary dust, the solar wind or even lunar volcanic eruptions. They’ll have a better idea of the sources “if we can get down on the surface and analyze samples of the ice,” Hayne said.
longer be allowed in Oregon’s historic cemeteries. Members of Oregon’s Commission on Historic Cemeteries voted unanimously Friday to adopt a position paper recommending Confederate flags not be allowed in historic cemeteries at any time, KOIN-TV reported. That includes flying the flag on poles or small flags placed on individual graves.
of anyone,” the position paper reads. “It is extremely important that historic cemeteries are maintained as places where the visitors feel safe and welcome.” Chairperson Bev Power noted in Friday’s meeting that the committee can’t punish cemeteries that don’t abide by the recommendation. The discussion began in July, at a time when many
protests against police brutality and systemic racism after the May 25 police death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. More than 1,500 historic cemeteries are registered with the state of Oregon. In order to be considered historic, they must have at least one burial of a person who died before Feb. 14, 1909 – 50 years after Oregon became a state.
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New Orleans gets warning in advance of Hurricane Zeta Zeta is the 27th named storm of Atlantic season CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Storm-weary Louisiana is once again under a hurricane warning, with Zeta leaving Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on a path that could hit New Orleans Wednesday night. Zeta, the 27th named storm in a very busy Atlantic season, made landfall as a hurricane just north of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph). It weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed over land, but it was expected to regain strength over the Gulf of Mexico. Zeta’s top winds were 70 mph (110 kph) early Tuesday, and it was centered about 540 miles (865 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. If Zeta makes landfall in Louisiana, it will be the fifth named storm to hit the state this year, joining Cristobal, Laura, Marco and Delta. Zeta was still drenching the northern Yucatan as its center moved over the water. Quintana Roo state Gov. Carlos Joaquín said via Twitter early Tuesday
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Sosa Rosado noted they had to perform the same maneuver barely three week ago, when the area was hit by a stronger Hurricane Delta, which made landfall with top winds of 110 mph (175 kph). “With Delta, the gusts of wind were very strong ... the anchor lines were at risk of breaking,” Sosa Rosado said. “I hope it won’t be as bad with this hurricane.” Quintana Roo state officials reported nearly 60,000 tourists in the state as of midweek. Zeta broke the record for the previous earliest 27th Atlantic named storm that formed Nov. 29, 2005. It’s also the 11th hurricane of the season. An average season sees six hurricanes and 12 named storms. There have been so many storms this season that the hurricane center had to turn to the Greek alphabet after running out of assigned names. Zeta is the furthest into the Greek alphabet the Atlantic season has gone. There was also a Tropical Storm Zeta in 2005, but that year had 28 storms because meteorologists later found they missed one, which then became an “unnamed named storm.”
native birds that are not game fowl. Lynn Tompkins, Blue Mountain Wildlife executive director, said the Cooper’s hawk had fractures and that a necropsy confirmed the hawk was shot — likely with nonlead ammunition, which does not fragment like lead. A red-tailed hawk from Wapato, Washington, suffered multiple fractures. An X-ray revealed six shotgun pellets inside the bird, she said. “When the accompanying damage in the right wrist, elbow and hip were considered,” according to a weekly update written by
Tompkins, “euthanasia was the most humane option.” X-rays of a red-tailed hawk from Eltopia, Washington, showed 14 pellets or pellet fragments inside the hawk, which is undergoing treatment for multiple fractures. The hawk also appears to be blind in one eye and may have suffered hearing damage. The raptor also shows signs of lead poisoning from eating prey that had been shot with lead ammunition, Tompkins said. The hawk will need further evaluation to determine if it will be able to catch wild game again, Tompkins said.
Three hawks with gunshot wounds sent to rehab center
Cooper’s hawk Confederate flag not welcome in historic cemeteries dies after being shot and two redOREGON CITY (AP) “We do not support allow- cities, counties and states — A state commission has ing flags in historic cemewere banning the Confedtailed hawks also voted to recommend that teries that promote systemic erate flag at public sites the Confederate flag no racism, fear, and oppression in response to weeks of are brought in
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that early reports indicated his state suffered no major damage, nor were there reports of deaths or injuries. He said airports were open and business activity could resume Tuesday morning, though beaches would remain closed until the surf calms. In Playa del Carmen, between Tulum and Cancun, Mexican tourist Elsa Márquez held up her beach towel Monday so it flapped in the wind, rattling with the strong gusts Monday a few hours before Zeta’s arrival. “This is our first experience (in a hurricane) and the truth is we are a little afraid because we don’t know what will happen, but here we are,” said Márquez, who was visiting the resort from the north-central state of Queretaro. Another tourist, Mario Ortiz Rosas from the western state of Michoacan, looked at the rising waves, noting: “I didn’t plan for this, but it looks like it is going to get complicated.” Some boats that normally carry tourists in Cancun took refuge in a nearby lagoon channel, anchored among the mangroves to avoid the battering wind, waves and storm surge. Boat captain Francisco
PENDLETON (AP) — A wildlife rehabilitation center near Pendleton says it has received three hawks with gunshot wounds, including a dead Cooper’s hawk from the Baker City, Oregon area. The hawks were sent to Blue Mountain Wildlife last week, The East Oregonian reported. State and federal laws protect raptors and other
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High court does not extend Wisconsin ballot deadline WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is siding with Republicans to prevent Wisconsin from counting mailed ballots that are received after Election Day. In a 5-3 order, the justices on Monday refused to reinstate a lower court order that called for mailed ballots to be counted if they are received up to six days after the Nov. 3 election. A federal appeals court had already put that order on hold. The three liberal justices dissented from the order that the court issued just before the Senate started voting on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. Chief Justice John Roberts last week joined the liberals to preserve a Pennsylvania state court order extending the absentee ballot deadline but voted the other way in the Wisconsin case, which has moved through federal courts. “Different bodies of law and different precedents govern these two situations
and require, in these particular circumstances, that we allow the modification of election rules in Pennsylvania but not Wisconsin,” Roberts wrote. Democrats argued that the flood of absentee ballots and other challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic makes it necessary to extend the period in which ballots can be counted. Wisconsin is one of the nation’s hot spots for COVID-19, with hospitals treating a record high number of patients with the disease. Republicans opposed the extension, saying that voters have plenty of opportunities to cast their ballots by the close of polls on Election Day and that the rules should not be changed so close to the election. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler responded to the ruling by pledging Democrats would be “dialing up a huge voter education campaign” to prod roughly 360,000 people who hadn’t yet returned absentee bal-
lots to hand-deliver them by 8 p.m. on Election Day, or to vote in person. State Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt praised the ruling. “Absentee voting in Wisconsin is extremely easy and hundreds of thousands of people have done it already — last-minute attempts to change election laws only cause more voter confusion and erode the integrity of our elections,” he said in a statement. The justices often say nothing, or very little, about the reasons for their votes in these emergency cases, but on Monday, four justices wrote opinions totaling 35 pages to lay out their competing rationales. “As the COVID pandemic rages, the Court has failed to adequately protect the Nation’s voters,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent that noted the state allowed the six-day extension for primary voting in April and that roughly 80,000 ballots were received after the day of the primary election.
Issues important to Trump await new Supreme Court justice Barrett WASHINGTON (AP) — Amy Coney Barrett’s first votes on the Supreme Court could include two big topics affecting the man who appointed her. The court is weighing a plea from President Donald Trump to prevent the Manhattan district attorney from acquiring his tax returns. It is also considering appeals from the Trump campaign and Republicans to shorten the deadline for receiving and counting absentee ballots in the battleground states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It’s not certain Barrett will take part in any of these issues, but she will make that call. Barrett was confirmed Monday by the Senate in a 52-48 virtual party line vote. She is expected to begin work as a justice on Tuesday after taking the second of two oaths required of judges by federal law. No justice has assumed office so close to a presidential election or immediately confronted issues so directly tied to the incumbent president’s political and personal fortunes. At 48, she’s the youngest justice since Clarence Thomas joined the court in 1991 at age 43. Other election-related issues are pending at the high court, which next week also will hear a clash of LGBTQ rights and religious freedoms. The fate
Judge: US can’t replace Trump as defendant NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday denied President Donald Trump’s request that the United States replace him as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit alleging he raped a woman in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan came after the Justice Department argued that the United States — and by extension the American people — should replace Trump as the defendant in a lawsuit filed by the columnist E. Jean Carroll. The government’s lawyers contended that the United States could step in as the defendant because Trump was forced to respond to her lawsuit to prove he was physically and mentally fit for the job. A lawyer for Carroll, Roberta Kaplan, called it a clear victory for her client.
“The simple truth is that President Trump defamed our client because she was brave enough to reveal that he had sexually assaulted her, and that brutal, personal attack cannot be attributed to the Office of the President,” Kaplan said in a statement. Messages were left on Tuesday for lawyers for Trump and the Justice Department seeking comment. The judge ruled that a law protecting federal employees from being sued individually for things they do within the scope of their employment didn’t apply to a president. “The President of the United States is not an employee of the Government within the meaning of the relevant statutes,” Kaplan wrote. “Even if he were such an employee, President Trumps allegedly defamatory statements concerning Ms. Carroll
would not have been within the scope of his employment. Accordingly, the motion to substitute the United States in place of President Trump is denied.” Lawyers for Carroll had written that “only in a world gone mad could it somehow be presidential, not personal, for Trump to slander a woman who he sexually assaulted.” The Justice Department relied solely on written arguments in the dispute after its lawyer was banned from a Manhattan federal courthouse last week because he had not quarantined for two weeks after traveling to New York from a state on a list of those whose coronavirus test rates were high. Carroll, a former longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, said in her lawsuit that in the fall of 1995 or spring of 1996 she and Trump met in a chance
encounter when they recognized each other at the Bergdorf Goodman store. She said they engaged in a lighthearted chat about trying on a see-through lilac gray bodysuit when they made their way to a dressing room, where she said Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her. Trump said Carroll was “totally lying” to sell a memoir and that he’d never met her, though a 1987 photo showed them and their then-spouses at a social event. He said the photo captured a moment when he was standing in a line. Carroll, who wants unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump’s statements, also seeks a DNA sample from Trump to see whether it matches as-yet-unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she was wearing during the alleged attack.
Skarlatos
zani in the head with the barrel of the rifle until he lost consciousness under Stone’s chokehold. The train heroes were presented with the Legion d’Honneur by French President Francois Hollande and received at the White House by President Barack Obama. Then came a book written by the trio, followed by the movie “The 15:17 to Paris.” Skarlatos returned to Roseburg. In 2018, he ran for Douglas County Commissioner but lost. His name recognition went only so far, said Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University. “He’s not a John McCain prisoner-of-war type,” Nichols said, referring to the late Republican senator who was shot down over North Vietnam, was captured and endured torture for years. But this time, running for Congress, Skarlatos has attracted attention beyond Oregon. Of his campaign war chest, over 60% comes from out of state, DeFazio said during their debate. Some came from Sen. Ted
Cruz, R-Texas. Skarlatos took his own shot at DeFazio’s campaign funding, saying most comes from political action committees. DeFazio responded that among them are ones representing Oregon teachers, carpenters and realtors. “Those are people who banded together to promote the interests of their business,” said DeFazio, who is seen as a moderate. DeFazio is the powerful chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and has tried to depict his younger challenger as a Trump acolyte who would back repealing Obamacare. The veteran congressman also touts his advocacy for a $15 an hour national minimum wage, investing hundreds of billions of dollars in national infrastructure improvements and his pro-choice stance on abortion. In the debate, DeFazio described how he had three bills this Congress, which he described as the most divided since the post-Civil War era, that passed with support from Republicans. The Democratic Party of Oregon has hinted that
Skarlatos is affiliated with right-wing extremists, tweeting an article that raised questions about his appearance at a Timber Unity rally. The group has attracted QAnon believers and members of the Proud Boys. But Timber Unity’s core followers are loggers and others who lost jobs when the timber industry hit hard times. Several GOP state lawmakers display the group’s regalia in their Capitol offices. “Timber Unity seems to be a group that encompasses a whole lot of different positions,” Nichols said. Skarlatos’ hometown of Roseburg remembers the days when timber was king. With the industry having waned, logging in 2.4 million acres of forests in western Oregon owned by the U.S. government dropped. That land was set aside by Congress in 1937 for “forest production,” with 50% of revenue from timber sales going to certain counties. That revenue also plunged. Skarlatos wants the land to generate revenue for the counties again.
From Page 1
In the interview, Skarlatos recalled how a normal day turned into a life-ordeath struggle. Skarlatos, who was in the Oregon Army National Guard and had recently completed a tour in Afghanistan — was messaging people back home and following the train’s progress on Google Maps. “We just crossed the border with France. I heard a gunshot, breaking glass and a train employee ran away from the noise at a full sprint,” Skarlatos said over the phone. “I look back to see what he’s running from and there’s a shirtless man with an AK47 (style rifle).” Skarlatos’ friend Spencer Stone charged El-Khazzani, who aimed the rifle at Stone and pulled the trigger. The round was faulty and the gun didn’t fire. Spencer fought him and Skarlatos and another friend, Anthony Sadler, helped subdue El-Khazzani, who was also armed with a pistol and knife. Skarlatos hit El-Khaz-
Philadelphia police shooting sparks protests Monday PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police shot and killed a 27-year-old Black man on a Philadelphia street after yelling at him to drop his knife, sparking violent protests that police said injured 30 officers and led to dozens of arrests. The shooting occurred before 4 p.m. Monday as
officers responded to a report of a person with a weapon, police spokesperson Tanya Little said. Officers were called to the Cobbs Creek neighborhood and encountered the man, later identified as Walter Wallace, who was holding a knife, Little said. Officers ordered Wallace to
drop the knife, but he instead “advanced towards” them. Both officers then fired “several times,” Little said. Wallace was hit in the shoulder and chest. One of the officers then put him in a police vehicle and drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a
short time later, Little said. Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the shooting late Monday into early Tuesday, with interactions between protesters and police turning violent at times, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Video showed many yelling at officers and crying.
of the Affordable Care Act is on the agenda on Nov. 10, and Trump himself last week reiterated his opposition to the Obama-era law. “I hope they end it,” he said in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” On Friday, Barrett, the most open opponent of abortion rights to join the court in decades, also could be called upon to weigh in on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. The state is appealing lower court rulings invalidating the ban. Abortion opponents in Pittsburgh also are challenging a so-called bubble zone that prevents protesters from getting too close to abortion clinics. The court put off acting on both cases before Barrett joined the court, without offering any explanation in the Mississippi case. It ordered Pittsburgh to file a response to the appeal filed by the protesters, who call themselves sidewalk counselors. It’s not clear that the public will know how Barrett voted in the two abortion cases because the court typically doesn’t make the vote counts public when it is considering whether to grant full review to cases. Barrett declined to commit to Democratic demands that she step aside from any cases on controversial topics, including a potential post-election dispute over the presidential results.
Court From Page 1
Democrats argued for weeks that the vote was being improperly rushed and insisted during an all-night Sunday session it should be up to the winner of the Nov. 3 election to name the nominee. Speaking near midnight Sunday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called the vote “illegitimate” and “the last gasp of a desperate party.” Several matters are awaiting decision just a week before Election Day, and Barrett could be a decisive vote in Republican appeals of orders extending the deadlines for absentee ballots in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The justices also are weighing Trump’s emergency plea for the court to prevent the Manhattan District Attorney from acquiring his tax returns. And on Nov. 10, the court is expected to hear the Trump-backed challenge to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Just before the Senate voted, the court sided with Republicans in refusing to extend the deadline for absentee ballots in Wisconsin. Trump has said he wanted to swiftly install a ninth justice to resolve election disputes and is hopeful the justices will end the health law known as “Obamacare.” In a statement, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tied Barrett’s nomination to the court to the Republican effort to pull down the Affordable Care Act. He called her confirmation “rushed and unprecedented” and a stark reminder to Americans that “your vote matters.” During several days of public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barrett was careful not to disclose how she would rule on any such cases. She presented herself as a neutral arbiter and suggested, “It’s not the law of Amy.” But her writings against abortion and a ruling on “Obamacare” show a deeply conservative thinker. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, praised the mother of seven as a role model for conservative women. “This is historic,” Graham said. Republicans focused on her Catholic faith, criticizing earlier Democratic questions about her beliefs. Graham called Barrett “unabashedly pro-life.” At the start of Trump’s presidency, McConnell
engineered a Senate rules change to allow confirmation by a majority of the 100 senators, rather than the 60-vote threshold traditionally needed to advance high court nominees over objections. That was an escalation of a rules change Democrats put in place to advance other court and administrative nominees under President Barack Obama. Republicans are taking a political plunge days from the Nov. 3 election with the presidency and their Senate majority at stake. Only one Republican — Sen. Susan Collins, who is in a tight reelection fight in Maine — voted against the nominee, not over any direct assessment of Barrett. Rather, Collins said, “I do not think it is fair nor consistent to have a Senate confirmation vote prior to the election.” Trump and his Republican allies had hoped for a campaign boost, in much the way Trump generated excitement among conservatives and evangelical Christians in 2016 over a court vacancy. That year, McConnell refused to allow the Senate to consider then-President Barack Obama’s choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, arguing the new president should decide. Most other Republicans facing tough races embraced the nominee who clerked for the late Scalia to bolster their standing with conservatives. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in a speech Monday that Barrett will “go down in history as one of the great justices.” But it’s not clear the extraordinary effort to install the new justice over such opposition in a heated election year will pay political rewards to the GOP. Demonstrations for and against the nominee have been more muted at the Capitol under coronavirus restrictions. Democrats were unified against Barrett. While two Democratic senators voted to confirm Barrett in 2017 after Trump nominated the Notre Dame Law School professor to the appellate court, none voted to confirm her to the high court. In a display of party priorities, California Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, returned to Washington from the campaign trail to join colleagues with a no vote. No other Supreme Court justice has been confirmed on a recorded vote with no support from the minority party in at least 150 years, according to information provided by the Senate Historical Office.
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MOSTLY SUNNY 65 • 42 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020 | theworldlink.com
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Rams beat Bears in defensive battle INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Rams could tell Leonard Floyd was playing with an uncommon fury against his old team, and the rest of the Los Angeles defense followed his lead. By the time the Rams were done with the Chicago Bears on Monday night, Floyd had two sacks and the game ball — and Los Angeles had a decisive, energizing victory over a fellow NFC contender. Josh Reynolds and Gerald Everett caught touchdown passes from Jared Goff, and the Rams won a matchup of dominant defenses, beating the Bears 24-10. “We proved that we were the better defense today,” Floyd said after a six-tackle performance in his first game against Chicago since the Bears released him last offseason. After his first sack, Floyd jumped up and went toward the Bears sideline, shouting and gesticulating at the team that let him go. Floyd already knows he landed in a good spot with the Rams (5-2), who remained unbeaten at brand-new SoFi Stadium and
reasserted themselves in the conference hierarchy with a rebound performance one week after a rough loss at San Francisco “I thought our defense was outstanding from start to finish,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “They did such a great job. Some key stops, some key turnovers. Offensively, we did enough to get that lead and then really just run out the clock on that game.” Goff passed for 219 yards and Malcolm Brown rushed for a score for the Rams, but their defense did the hardest work. Taylor Rapp made an endzone interception on a pass deflection by Troy Hill while the Rams held Chicago (5-2) to 182 yards in the first three quarters and built a 24-3 lead. Eddie Jackson returned a fumble 8 yards for Chicago’s only touchdown with 7:30 to play, but Los Angeles’ defense stayed in control, yielding 279 total yards and three points. The Rams have won twice in three defense-dominated games between these longtime rivals over the past three seasons. “Obviously, stating the obvi-
ous, the offense, we’ve got to get this stuff figured out,” Chicago coach Matt Nagy said. “It’s not good enough, and to be outscored by your defense, obviously, is unacceptable, too. So that part is frustrating.” Nick Foles passed for 261 yards for the Bears, who dropped out of the NFC North lead and fell to 3-1 on the road with their latest discouraging offensive performance. Chicago managed just 49 yards rushing and has 175 yards on the ground in the past four games. Jackson insisted the defense won’t get discouraged by the offense’s struggles. “It’s a team sport, and we know the type of players we have on offense,” Jackson said. “We’ll put ’em against any defense any day. You’re going to come up short in some games ... but we’re going to continue to rally around one another and do our best.” The Rams’ defense, now coordinated by former Bears outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley, sacked Foles four times and picked off two of his passes, including Jalen Ramsey’s first
interception of the season near midfield to clinch the victory with 3:13 to play. Staley also was awarded a game ball by McVay after the latest in a strong line of performances by his defense. “The defense, we’re playing aggressive, we’re playing physical, and we’re making all the right plays,” said linebacker Justin Hollins, who had a huge fourth-down sack in the red zone after Aaron Donald flushed Foles from the pocket in the fourth quarter. “Everybody is on one page. We’re just one tight unit right now.” The Rams led 10-3 at halftime after holding the Bears to 126 yards. Reynolds made his 4-yard TD reception in the first quarter, but the Bears stopped two additional drives just outside field goal range to keep the deficit manageable. The Rams went up 17-3 midway through the third quarter on a TD drive capped by Brown’s 1-yard run. Chicago mounted its best drive immediately thereafter, but its 71-yard march ended when
Hill deflected a pass intended for Darnell Mooney in the end zone and Rapp snagged it for an interception. The Rams followed with a crisp 80-yard drive capped by a 12-yard TD catch-and-run by Everett, their big-play tight end. Chicago showed life when Jackson returned Robert Woods’ fumble on a jet sweep for the sixth defensive touchdown of his four-year career, but the Bears couldn’t ride any momentum. PRIMO PUNTING: Even Rams punter Johnny Hekker, a former Oregon State star, dominated the Bears, pinning them inside their 10 with all five of his punts in a superb performance by the four-time Pro Bowler. “Johnny is the best punter in the league, and he showed it tonight,” Goff said. “He really was a weapon for us.” The Rams celebrated his big kicks as a team, and Hekker even got a chest bump from Donald, LA’s All-Pro defensive tackle. “It’s just great to know that Aaron Donald knows my name sometimes,” Hekker said with a laugh.
Chip Ganassi celebrates 30 years of winning in racing Dixon’s IndyCar title is the 20th championship for the renowned team owner ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — You may have heard that Chip Ganassi likes winners. It’s his catchphrase, his slogan for his drivers, and the brand he’s established for his race teams. In this 30th anniversary season for Chip Ganassi Racing, the boss is celebrating another winner: Scott Dixon won his sixth IndyCar title to give Ganassi a 20th championship ring as a team owner. “Big Boom!!!!” Ganassi posted to Twitter after Dixon sealed the title in Sunday’s season finale in downtown St. Petersburg. He closed with his signature ‘#ilikewinners’ at the end of the post. It’s not been an easy year for Ganassi, who started the season miserably sitting in his Pittsburgh home while IMSA rang the opening bell at the Rolex 24 of Daytona. Ganassi before 2020 shuttered the dominant sports car program that had won seven championships — his manufacturer is taking a break from the series — and Ganassi hated not having cars in the first show of the season. Then the pandemic hit and racing — his only business — was on hold. It was a contract year for Kyle Larson with Ganassi’s NASCAR team and an expensive bidding war was expected. Then Larson used a racial slur while participating in an online event and Ganassi had to fire him. Things didn’t start to pick up until June, when his storied IndyCar program finally got on track. Team owners are permitted in IndyCar’s “bubble” at the track — in NASCAR they are not — and Ganassi could at last get to a race. Dixon won the first IndyCar race of the season, then the second, then the third. The fourth race was won by Felix Rosenqvist, giving the Ganassi team four consecutive wins and a strong command of
NASCAR race still on hold in Texas FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas was pushed back yet another day without drivers completing any more laps Monday. Eight hours after the race was scheduled to resume on a misty day with temperatures in the low 40s Fahrenheit (single digits Celsius), NASCAR postponed it and decided to try again Tuesday. Similar weather conditions were in the forecast for Tuesday and into Wednesday. Only 52 of the scheduled 334 laps were completed Sunday before mist and drizzle forced the race to stop. There was a delay of more than four hours then before the race was postponed a day. Another 115 laps have to be completed to get to the halfway mark of 167 laps that would make Texas an official race. the championship race. Dixon at one point built a 117-point lead, a cushion he needed when 2019 winner Josef Newgarden made a late charge. Newgarden won Sunday’s season finale, which was basically his only path to keeping his title, but Dixon shadowed him the entire day to finish third with a safe and smooth strategy. He said he saw concern on Ganassi’s face in the buildup to the race, but Dixon joked the boss had nothing to worry about. Dixon is as steady as they come and Ganassi ends every meeting encouraging his teams to “do the obvious things right.” “He always goes into, ‘Visualize yourself getting that checkered flag first. Visualize the pit stops going smoothly,’” Dixon said. “He always has great words of
There are still three spots up for grabs for the four-driver championship race in the season finale at Phoenix. The only other race between Texas and Phoenix is Sunday at Martinsville, the shortest and oldest Cup track. Joey Logano opened the final three-race playoff round with a win at Kansas, where he held off Kevin Harvick for the final 40-plus laps to get a victory that took him from outside the top four to a guaranteed championship chance in the Nov. 8 finale. Harvick, who has won the last three fall races at Texas and is a nine-time winner this season, brushed the wall while leading on Lap 29. With damage to his car’s right side, he was 36th and one lap down when the race stopped Sunday. The only laps completed Monday on the 1 1/2-mile track were by the Air Titan and jet dryer trucks. The race cars remained parked in the garage, never rolling to pit road. encouragement. Before I got in the car, he just said, ‘Don’t worry, just do what you do.’” Ganassi is gruff and indisputable, very clear in his wants. Win races and keep your head down are Ganassi’s demands, and follow those instructions or your time with the team will be short. Rosenqvist, a young talent, is reportedly out after two seasons and just one win. But coming in for 2021 is seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who has joined the Ganassi list of champions that includes Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser. Johnson will run IndyCar road and street course races for Ganassi in a new No. 48 entry with funding from Carvana,
a company brand new to motorsports. Johnson and Dixon have 13 driver titles between them and are regarded as the best of their generation. Ganassi has been impressed with Johnson’s work ethic and commitment to put together a competitive IndyCar program. He likes hard workers. He noted Johnson flew from North Carolina to St. Petersburg to spend all day Saturday at the track immersed with the team. Johnson was ready to work upon his 7:30 a.m. arrival. “He’s on the phone, on the computer, in front of the data, looking at data all the time,” Ganassi said. “It became very apparent very quickly why this guy’s a champion. It’s such a breath of fresh air to have a guy like that come in the door who’s going to push us.” Fielding championship teams has gotten harder as sponsorship opportunities have shrunk. Ganassi has not been immune. He was funded by Target for 27 years in a partnership that was the envy of motorsports. The job became much harder when Target pulled out of racing and sponsorship became a larger factor in driver hirings than Ganassi prefers. He’s said little about Rosenqvist or the No. 10 entry, but he’s presumably looking for a driver who brings some money to fill the car. On the NASCAR side, he promoted Ross Chastain from the Xfinity Series to drive Larson’s car next year. The Chastain move was delayed by a devastating financial blow delivered before the 2019 season when the FBI raided sponsor D.C. Solar. The company was heavily invested in Ganassi’s NASCAR arm and Ganassi had to close the Xfinity team earmarked for Chastain. Ganassi is operating much leaner than he was from 1996-99 when Vasser, Zanardi and Montoya collected four consecutive championships followed by a Montoya Indianapolis 500 win the next year. He’s still in the game, though, playing the cards he has right now, right here, at this very moment.
Rays, Dodgers grateful to have fans at neutral-site World Series ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Individual whistles echo during quieter moments, and a single fan with enough persistence can leave an impression with a chant during World Series games with the smallest crowds in more than 100 years. Because of the coronavirus, this year’s Fall Classic is being held at a neutral site. A team from each coast is playing in Texas, drawing fans from Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida — along with curious Rangers supporters seeing the home squad’s new retractable-roof stadium for the first time. The roughly 11,000 mask-wearing fans each night — well, they’re supposed to be wearing face coverings — are roughly 11,000 more than players saw in the stands during the regular season and all of the
American League playoffs. So 40,518-seat Globe Life Field might as well be full as far as the Tampa Bay Rays are concerned. “It certainly sounds like there’s 40,000 people in there,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Now, they might be 35,000 Dodger fans, which is OK. Any type of loudness and energy, that creates a lot in the dugout. That creates intensity. It’s loud and it’s been really refreshing to get to play with fans.” To Cash’s point, there has been plenty of Dodger blue visible for each of the 12 games with limited crowds since the start of the National League Championship Series two weeks ago. The 13th will be Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night, with Los Angeles in position to win its first title in 32 years.
That also means plenty of masks with the iconic interlocking LA logo since face coverings are required except when fans are “actively eating or drinking” — an activity apparently more loosely defined by some. There’s plenty of elbow room on the concourses, and fans in clusters of four are separated by at least one row above and below them. Mask compliance on the concourses is close to 100%, while in the seats about one in four can be seen either without a mask on, or with the covering pulled down around the neck. Many of these fans, though, are used to being crammed into the corridors of, say, Dodger Stadium, in the postseason. “It’s great that it’s empty and it’s clean and it was easy to get in,” said Ana Chacon, born,
raised and still living in Los Angeles County. “But it sucks that not everyone got to come. And it sucks that it’s not in Los Angeles.” Game 1’s restricted total of 11,388 was the smallest Series crowd since 10,535 attended Game 6 in 1909 between the Tigers and Pittsburgh at Detroit’s Bennett Park, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It’s the first World Series played entirely at one ballpark since 1944 between the Cardinals and Browns at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis — and the fourth overall. The Yankees and Giants shared New York’s Polo Grounds in 1921 and 1922. Jacob Ornelas grew up in the Dallas area before returning to his native El Paso. He still makes it back for Texas Rangers games, and would have been at Globe
Life Field’s first opening day had fans been allowed. Ornelas went to games at the original homes of the Rangers, since-demolished Arlington Stadium, and watched them in the World Series a decade ago at Globe Life Park. The open-air facility is still standing across the street from the new place. He was standing in a concession line, trying to keep his social distance, on a concourse with large dots everywhere reminding people to stay 6 feet apart. Just like with the masks, some lines were compliant, others not so much. “It takes away from the experience overall, but not my experience as far as being here the first time, being in a World Series,” Ornelas said. “It’s a World Series, not the regular season. The crowd, the noise.”