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Biden gets first access to president’s daily brief WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden has had his first look as president-elect at the President’s Daily Brief, a top secret summary of U.S. intelligence and world events — a document former first lady Michelle Obama has called “The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book.” Biden has already had eyes on different iterations of the socalled PDB, which is tailored to the way each president likes to absorb information. More than a decade ago, Biden read President George W. Bush’s PDB during Biden’s transition into the vice presidency. After that, he read President Barack Obama’s PDB for eight years. Beginning Monday, after a fouryear break, he’s reading President Donald Trump’s PDB. “The briefers almost certainly will be asking Biden what he prefers in terms of format and style,” said David Priess, author of “The President’s Book of Secrets,” a history of the PDB. “At a minimum, they’re seeing what seems to resonate most with him so that when they make the book his book, they can tailor it to him.” Obama’s PDB was a 10- to

15-page document tucked in a leather binder, which he found waiting for him on the breakfast table. Later in his presidency, he liked reading the ultra-secret intelligence brief on a secured iPad. “Michelle called it “The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book,” Obama wrote in his recently released book, ”A Promised Land.” “On a given day, I might read about terrorist cells in Somalia or unrest in Iraq or the fact that the Chinese or Russians were developing new weapons systems,” Obama wrote. “Nearly always, there was mention of potential terrorist plots, no matter how vague, thinly sourced, or unactionable — a form of due diligence on the part of the intelligence community, meant to avoid the kind of second-guessing that had transpired after 9/11.” From now until Inauguration Day, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be reading the PDB crafted for Trump, who had delayed giving Biden and Harris access to it as he contests the outcome of the election. Trump, who prefers absorbing

information in visual ways, likes short texts and graphics. “Trump himself said during his campaign and during the transition in 2016 that he did not like reading long documents — that he preferred bullet points,” said Priess, who has not seen any of Trump’s PDBs. “It probably has charts, tables, graphs — things like that. Not the parody that people make that it’s like a cartoon book ... but something that is more visual. But we don’t know for sure.” The written brief, which Trump doesn’t always read, often is followed by a verbal briefing with an intelligence official, although those oral briefings stopped at least for a time in October. Priess said he didn’t know why they stopped or if they had resumed, but that they stopped at a time when Trump was spending much of his time on the campaign trail. Before Trump authorized Biden to get the PDB as president-elect, Biden was given some intelligence background briefings as a candidate. But they were more general and did not include the nation’s top secrets. The other thing that a presi-

dent-elect gets is a briefing “on CIA’s covert actions,” former acting CIA director Mike Morell said at an event hosted by the Center for Presidential Transition based in Washington. “It’s important for the president-elect to get this briefing ... because on Inauguration Day, these covert actions will become the new president’s.” In 1961, President John F. Kennedy read his first brief while sitting on the diving board of a swimming pool at his retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. President Lyndon Johnson liked to read his brief in the afternoon. President Richard Nixon relied on his national security adviser Henry Kissinger to peruse the briefs and tell him what he thought the president should know. As the laborious recount of ballots dragged on in 2000, President Bill Clinton decided that then-Gov. George W. Bush should get access to his PDB just in case he was the winner. Bush became was the first incoming president to read it before he was president-elect. Biden is getting the PDB later than usual because of Trump’s

The Community Christmas Tree

ongoing protest of the election results. Trump approved the briefings for Biden last Tuesday, a day after his administration approved the formal transition process to his successor. When Biden walks into the Oval Office, he’ll be inheriting nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, changing political dynamics in the Middle East, the winding down of America’s presence in Afghanistan and rising competition from China. Biden had access to the PDB in Wilmington, Delaware. Harris received it in a secure room at the Commerce Department, where the presidential transition offices are located. Even Biden, who has decades of experience in foreign policy, could be the victim of an old political adage that no matter how informed he thinks he is, he could learn otherwise from the PDB. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden wrote in his book that revelations and new insight found in the PDB are known as “aw s---” moments. As in: “Aw s---,” he wrote, “wish we hadn’t said that during that campaign stop in Buffalo.”

Moderna asks U.S., European regulators to OK its virus shot Associated Press

Photos by David Rupkalvis, The World

Coos Bay Mayor Joe Benetti and Santa count down to the lighting of the community Christmas tree.

Study: Students falling behind in math during pandemic Associated Press

A disproportionately large number of poor and minority students were not in schools for assessments this fall, complicating efforts to measure the pandemic’s effects on some of the most vulnerable students, a not-for-profit company that administers standardized testing said Tuesday. Overall, NWEA’s fall assessments showed elementary and middle school students have fallen measurably behind in math, while most appear to be progressing at a normal pace in reading since schools were forced to abruptly close in March and pickup online.

The analysis of data from nearly 4.4 million U.S. students in grades 3-8 represents one of the first significant measures of the pandemic’s impacts on learning. But researchers at NWEA, whose MAP Growth assessments are meant to measure student proficiency, caution they may be underestimating the effects on minority and economically disadvantaged groups. Those students made up a significant portion of the roughly 1 in 4 students who tested in 2019 but were missing from 2020 testing. NWEA said they may have opted out of the assessments, which were given in-person and

remotely, because they lacked reliable technology or stopped going to school. “Given we’ve also seen school district reports of higher levels of absenteeism in many different school districts, this is something to really be concerned about,” researcher Megan Kuhfeld said on a call with reporters. The NWEA findings show that, compared to last year, students scored an average of 5 to 10 percentile points lower in math, with students in grades three, four and five experiencing the largest drops. English language arts scores were largely the same as last year. NWEA Chief Executive Chris

Minnich pointed to the sequential nature of math, where one year’s skills — or deficits — carry over into the next year. “The challenge around mathematics is an acute one, and it’s something we’re going to be dealing with even after we get back in school,” he said. NWEA compared grade-level performance on the 2019 and 2020 tests. It also analyzed student growth over time, based on how individual students did on assessments given shortly before schools closed and those given this fall. Both measures indicated that students are advancing in math, but not as rapidly as in a typical Please see Math, Page 2

Moderna Inc. said Monday it was asking U.S. and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection — intensifying the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus rampage worsens. Multiple vaccine candidates must succeed for the world to stamp out the pandemic, which has been on the upswing in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. hospitals have been stretched to the limit as the nation has seen more than 160,000 new cases per day and more than 1,400 daily deaths. Since first emerging nearly a year ago in China, the virus has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide. Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca. Moderna created its shots with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and already had a hint they were working, but said it got the final needed results over the weekend that suggest the vaccine is more than 94% effective. Of 196 COVID-19 cases so far in its huge U.S. study, 185 were trial participants who received the placebo and 11 who got the real vaccine. The only people who got severely ill — 30 participants, including one who died — had received dummy shots, said Dr. Tal Zaks, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, company’s chief medical officer. When he learned the results, “I allowed myself to cry for the first time,” Zaks told The Associated Press. “We have already, just in the trial, have already saved lives. Just imagine the impact then multiplied to the people who can get this vaccine.” Please see Regulators, Page 3

eEdition

Oregon goes over 75,000 COVID-19 cases Oregon crossed the 75,000-mark in total COVID-19 cases on Monday when the Oregon Health Authority reported 1,314 new confirmed and presumptive cases, as well as seven more deaths. As of 12:01 a.m. Monday, the state had 75,431 total cases and 912 deaths. “COVID-19 is spreading faster in all parts of Oregon,” OHA Director Patrick Allen said. “It took six months before 25,000 Oregonians became sick with COVID-19 and two months more until we reached 50,000 total COVID-19 infections in Oregon. Most recently, it took only three weeks

to go from 50,000 cases to 75,000 and this weekend we crossed 900 total deaths. “We can keep more people from getting sick and dying, if we stay true to science-based mask-wearing and social distancing. With the bright promise of vaccines coming on the horizon, we can’t give up.” The new confirmed and presumptive cases reported Monday were in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (9), Clackamas (228), Clatsop (1), Columbia (14), Coos (4), Crook (4), Curry (2), Deschutes (54), Douglas (33), Harney (1), Hood River (1), Jackson (54), Jefferson (9), Josephine (20), Klamath (1), Lake

(1), Lane (62), Lincoln (3), Linn (16), Malheur (2), Marion (167), Morrow (1), Multnomah (320), Polk (26), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (40), Union (6), Wasco (2), Washington (202), Yamhill (27) Oregon’s 906th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Oct. 28 and died on Nov. 28 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 907th COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 5 and died on Nov. 27 at Salem Hospital. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 908th

EUGENE (AP) — Officers shot someone after they were suspected of violated a restraining order in Eugene, according to police. A call was made to 911 at about 10:25 a.m. Monday about a restraining order violation and incident after which a person fled with a knife, Eugene Police Department spokeswoman Melinda

McLaughlin said in a news release. Two officers saw the suspect running down an alley and during a confrontation, the suspect was shot, police said. Officers provided aid to the suspect who was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. McLaughlin said while an investigation is ongoing, body camera video,

in-car video, and third-party video from a nearby building suggests the suspect had been advancing on the officers, with the knife, before the shooting. Lane County’s Interagency Deadly Force Investigation Team is leading an investigation into the incident. The name of the person shot and the officers involved has not been released to the public.

The World

Eugene officers shoot person with knife

Protestors gather at home of regulator after fine against gym owner SILVERTON (AP) — About 50 protesters converged on the Silverton, Oregon, home of a state workplace safety regulator to protest a large fine levied against a Salem gym owner. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Silverton Police Chief Jim Anglemier identified the protestors who gathered Sunday afternoon as members and affiliates of Patriot Prayer, the conservative group founded by Joey Gibson. “There were no problems, no issues,” Anglemier said. “They stayed on the sidewalks and they stayed off private property.” Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Admin-

istrator Michael Wood said in a statement Monday that “Oregon OSHA worked with the affected enforcement officer over the holiday weekend to minimize, to the degree possible, the disruption to him and his family (particularly his young child).” The controversy stems from a $90,000 penalty issued against a Salem gym and its owner, who refused to comply with Gov. Kate Brown’s economic “freeze.” Brown announced the freeze and related restrictions earlier this month in an effort to stem the explosion of new COVID-19 cases. “As a result of the harm done to our business from the first shutdown, we

will not survive another closure,” John Miller said in a statement before the freeze went into effect on Nov. 18. “This is a horrible position I find myself in, and it leaves me with only one choice: Courthouse Club Fitness will remain open (Nov. 18) and the days to follow.” Courthouse has five locations in the Salem-Keizer area. Gyms and many other businesses also had to close or restrict their operations in Brown’s first lockdown order last spring. Patriot Prayer has been a vocal opponent of the lockdown and freeze orders implemented in Oregon and many other states.

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COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 19 and died on Nov. 28 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. She had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 909th COVID-19 death is a 48-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 22 and died on Nov. 25 at

Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 910th COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Nov. 25 at his residence. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 911th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in

Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 5 and died on Nov. 19 at Adventist Hospital. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 912th COVID-19 death is a 58-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Oct. 31 and died on Nov. 25 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The coronavirus has cast a pall over Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, all but shutting down the biblical town revered as Jesus’ birthplace at the height of the normally cheery holiday season. Missing are the thousands of international pilgrims who normally descend upon the town. Restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops are closed. The renowned Christmas tree lighting service will be limited to a small group of authorized people, as will church services on Christmas Eve. “Bethlehem is dead,” said Maryana al-Arja, owner of the 120-room Angel Hotel on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The hotel was the site of the West Bank’s first coronavirus outbreak — when a group of Greek tourists came down with the virus last March. She kept her 25 workers on staff for several months but ultimately couldn’t continue to pay them. Al-Arja, who herself was infected with the virus, said she has been forced to close the hotel and lay off the entire staff because there is no sign of the pandemic ending or tourists visiting anytime soon. “We had 351 tourist groups booked in our hotel this year, each one 150 people,” she said. “But they all canceled.” Elyas al-Arja, the head of the city’s hotel association, said Bethlehem received some 3 million tourists in 2019. With Israel, the main entry point

for international visitors to the region, banning tourists because of the coronavirus crisis, and the West Bank’s border crossing with Jordan closed to foreigners, that number is close to zero this year, he said. “Sixty percent of the city relies on tourism, and their income disappeared when the tourists disappeared,” said al-Arja, a cousin of the Angel Hotel owner. The Ambassador Hotel, which is located near the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, has reopened one floor in hopes that some local visitors may want to come celebrate in the coming weeks. Mahmoud Tarman, the hotel’s receptionist, said the Ambassador has brought back eight of its 60 workers to serve local guests. But with the West Bank’s economy devastated by repeated lockdowns, it remains unclear how many people will come. “At this time of the year, this empty hotel would be bustling with life. But as you see, there is no life, not even a Christmas tree yet,” he said as he pointed at the empty lobby. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, this week imposed a new nighttime lockdown to help contain a spike in coronavirus cases. People must remain indoors from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m., and Bethlehem is included in the lockdown. Officials say the lockdown could be extended

through Christmas and into the new year if the infection levels don’t come down. The Health Ministry has reported a total of about 65,000 coronavirus cases in the West Bank, and over 620 deaths. Bethlehem’s mayor, Anton Salman, said the city had planned to receive 3,000 invited guests, including local scout troops and musical bands from around the world that normally entertain visitors during Christmas Eve festivities. He said the famed Christmas tree lighting, scheduled on Thursday, will be limited to just 15 guests, including local mayors, the district governor and the Latin Patriarch and other clergy. The 85-year-old Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who usually joins the celebration, has been invited but has not said whether he will attend. Midnight Mass, a solemn event led by the Latin Patriarch that is usually attended by religious leaders, local VIPs and hundreds of pilgrims from around the world, has also been scaled back, Salman said. He said officials are still working on the guest list, but it is expected to include religious leaders and some foreign diplomats. The event will be closed to the general public but broadcast live for people to watch. “No one can hold the responsibility of inviting large numbers of people to Christmas events,” he said. “Nothing will be the same during the pandemic.”

Math

reading or math assessments in fall 2019 and 2020. It found students of all grades were performing below expectations in math at the beginning of the school year, with some grades 12 or more weeks behind. Black, Hispanic, American Indian and students in schools serving largely low-income families fared worse but the pandemic so far hasn’t widened existing achievement gaps, the Renaissance report said. NWEA said that while it saw some differences by racial and ethnic groups emerging in its data, it was too early to draw conclusions. Andre Pecina, assistant superintendent of student

services at Golden Plains Unified School District in San Joaquin, California, said his district has scrambled to stem learning loss by issuing devices to all of its students, but the district continues to struggle with connectivity for students at home. Students who are typically 1.5 grades behind are now two grades behind, he said. “We’ve really just gone back to the basics where we’re focusing on literacy and math. That’s all we do,” Pecina said. “I feel like we’re trying our best,” he said. “Our students are engaged, but it’s not optimal. The learning environment is not optimal.”

Pandemic robs Bethlehem of Christmas cheer

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year. The findings confirm expectations that students are losing ground during the pandemic, but show those losses are not as great as projections made in spring that were based in part on typical “summer slide” learning losses. A November report by Renaissance Learning Inc., based on its own standardized testing, similarly found troubling setbacks in math and lesser reading losses. The Renaissance Learning analysis looked at results from 5 million students in grades 1-8 who took Star Early Literacy

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eEdition

Supreme Court seems skeptical of Trump’s census plan WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sounded skeptical Monday that President Donald Trump could categorically exclude people living in the country illegally from the population count used to allot seats among the states in the House of Representatives. But it also appeared possible that the justices could avoid a final ruling on the issue until they know how broadly the Trump administration acts in its final days in office and whether the division of House seats is affected. No president has tried to do what Trump outlined in a memo in July — remove millions of noncitizens from the once-a-decade head count of the U.S.

population that determines how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives, as well as the allocation of some federal funding. The court, meeting by telephone because of the coronavirus pandemic, heard arguments in its second case in two years related to the 2020 census and immigrants. The census already is facing novel questions over deadlines, data quality and politics, including whether the incoming Biden administration would do anything to try to reverse decisions made under Trump. One possibility outlined by acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer, is that Trump might try

to leave out of the count people who are in immigration detention or those who have been ordered to leave the country. But under questioning from Justice Elena Kagan, Wall would not rule out larger categories of immigrants, including those who have protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programs. “We can’t be certain at this point, and we don’t know what the president will decide to do with respect to that,” Wall said. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was among several members of the court who said the administration’s argument for broad discretion in deciding whom to exclude is troublesome be-

cause “a lot of the historical evidence and long-standing practice really cuts against your position.” The court decided to hear the case on a fast track, based on the administration’s plea for a decision by early January, when Trump is required by law to transmit census numbers to Congress. The Census Bureau is supposed to send the data to Trump by Dec. 31. But Wall told the court Monday, “We are not currently on pace to send the report to the president by the year-end statutory deadline.” He said census officials told him they hope some data is available in January. A delay of even three weeks would mean the Census Bureau would be

turning in the numbers to a new president. President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Several conservative justices suggested that the better course for the court would be to avoid ruling immediately on lawsuits filed by New York and other Democratic-led states as well as immigration advocates because Trump’s intentions are speculative at this point. “Mr. Ho, if the additional information would be beneficial in a few weeks, wouldn’t it be beneficial to actually resolving this case? As the questioning seems to suggest, there’s some difficulty in assessing exactly what information will be available and what that information will be,”

Justice Clarence Thomas said to Dale Ho, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing immigration groups. The court could simply sit on the case in front of it to see what happens, or dismiss it as premature. The second option would allow Trump to move forward with his plan and lead inevitably to a new lawsuit. Trump has a mixed record at the high court on immigration. The justices upheld his ban on travel to the U.S. by residents of some largely Muslim countries. But the court shot down his attempt to end the DACA program and blocked his bid to add a citizenship question to the census for the first time in 70 years.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s top elections official announced investigations Monday into potential violations of election law even as he defended the integrity of the state’s election against what he’s said are baseless attacks. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly said there’s no evidence of systemic problems and said during a news conference at the state Capitol that his office investigates any credible claims of illegal voting and election law violations. More than 250 cases are under investigation, but nothing so far seems likely to change the outcome

of the election, Gabriel Sterling, a top official in Raffensperger’s office, said during the news conference. Raffensperger said there have been attempts to register ineligible people to vote ahead of a high-profile Jan. 5 runoff election for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats. He said his office’s 23 investigators also are looking into allegations of absentee ballot problems, as well as claims of people voting twice, people casting a dead person’s ballot and non-residents voting. But Raffensperger also punched back — as he has repeatedly since the Nov. 3 general election — at

allegations online and in lawsuits that the state’s election was marred by widespread fraud. President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia, is among those criticizing the state’s handling of the election. “There are those who are exploiting the emotions of many Trump supporters with fantastic claims, halftruths, misinformation and, frankly, they’re misleading the president as well, apparently,” Raffensperger said. A sworn statement from a Republican official in Gwinnett County, in Atlanta’s suburbs, says

there were more absentee ballots than absentee ballot envelopes, Sterling said. A county spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. Raffensperger said investigators are also looking into specific allegations against four groups. America Votes sent absentee ballot applications to people at addresses where they haven’t lived in more than 25 years, while Vote Forward tried to register a dead Alabama woman to vote in Georgia and the New Georgia Project sent registration applications to New York City, he said. A spokesperson for

America Votes said in an email that the group aims to make sure every voice is heard. “America Votes has mailed registered voters in Georgia applications to safely and securely vote by mail in the January runoffs. These mailings were sent to the list of registered voters maintained by the Secretary of State,” Sahil Mehrotra wrote. An emailed statement from Vote Forward says volunteers send letters encouraging people to vote. “The letters our volunteers are mailing in advance of the January 5th special election are being sent only to Georgia

addresses, not to any other state These letters do not include registration applications and do not directly register anyone to vote,” the statement said. The New Georgia Project called the allegations “tired and false.” “As Georgians are turning out in record numbers to have their voices heard at the polls, the Secretary of State is resorting to desperate attempts to smear law-abiding organizations and scare eligible Georgians from registering to vote in critical upcoming elections. We will not be deterred,” executive director Nse Ufot said in an emailed statement.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Climate change, voracious beetles and disease are imperiling the long-term survival of a high-elevation pine tree that’s a key source of food for some grizzly bears and found across the U.S. West, U.S. officials said Tuesday. A Fish and Wildlife Service proposal scheduled to be published Wednesday would protect the whitebark pine tree as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, according to documents posted by the Office of the Federal Register. But the agency said it doesn’t plan to designate which forested areas are critical to the tree’s survival, stopping short of what some environmentalists argue is needed. The trees can live up to 1,000 years and are found at elevations up to 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) — conditions too harsh for most tress to survive. Environmentalists had petitioned the government in 2008 to protect the trees that grow in Wyoming,

Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and western Canada. They’ve been all but wiped out in some areas, including the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park, where they are a source of food for threatened grizzly bears. Grizzlies raid squirrel caches of whitebark pine cones and devour the seeds within the cones to fatten up for winter. A nonnative fungus has been killing whitebark pines for a century. More recently, the trees have proven vulnerable to bark beetles that have killed millions of acres of forest and climate change that scientific studies have said are responsible for more severe wildfire seasons. The government’s proposal described the threats to the trees as “imminent” and said whitebark was one of many plants expected to be impacted as climate change moves faster than they are able to adapt. “Whitebark pine survives at high elevations

already, so there is little remaining habitat in many areas for the species to migrate to higher elevations in response to warmer temperatures,” Fish and Wildlife Service officials wrote. The officials added: “Overall, whitebark pine stands have seen severe reductions in reproduction and regeneration...High severity wildfires, white pine blister rust, and mountain pine beetle all act on portions of whitebark pine’s range.” An attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which submitted the 2008 petition for protections, lamented that it took so long for the government to act but said the proposal was still worth celebrating. “This is the federal government admitting that climate change is killing off a widely-distributed tree, and we know that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many species threatened,” said Rebecca Riley, legal director for the environmental group’s nature program.

Regulators

an Medicines Agency, Europe’s version of FDA, has signaled it also is open to faster “conditional” clearance. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, called that level of protection “extraordinary.” But with a grim few months ahead until enough vaccine arrives, he is pleading with Americans to stick with masks and other critical public

health measures. “We’ve got to continue to do that consistently and uniformly until we get the entire or most of the country vaccinated and have enough herd immunity that we can crush this outbreak,” Fauci told the AP. With vaccines, “we’ve crushed smallpox, we’ve crushed polio, we’ve crushed measles,” but doing the same for COVID-19 will take time.

Georgia elections official announces investigations, defends election

Trump files lawsuit challenging Wisconsin results MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Wisconsin seeking to disqualify hundreds of thousands of ballots in a longshot attempt to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the battleground state he lost by nearly 20,700 votes. Trump filed the day after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the chairwoman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission certified Biden as the winner of the state’s 10 Electoral College votes. Trump asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court, controlled 4-3 by conservatives, to take the case directly, rather than have it start in a lower court. The state’s highest court also is considering whether to hear two other lawsuits filed by conservatives seeking to invalidate ballots cast during the presidential election. Trump repeats many of the claims he made without evidence during a recount of votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties that large swaths of absentee votes were illegally cast. Local officials rejected his claims during the recount, and Trump is challenging procedures that have been in place for years and never been found to be illegal. Evers and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Trump’s lawsuit. “The people of Wisconsin deserve election processes with uniform

enforcement of the law, plain and simple,” Trump’s Wisconsin attorney, Jim Troupis, said in a statement. “During the recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties, we know with absolute certainty illegal ballots have unduly influenced the state’s election results.” Similar Trump campaign lawsuits have failed in other battleground states. In Phoenix, a judge has scheduled a Thursday trial in Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward’s lawsuit that seeks to annul Biden’s victory in the state. A judge is letting Ward’s lawyers and experts compare the signatures on 100 mail-in ballot envelopes with signatures on file to determine whether there were any irregularities. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office, which certified Arizona’s election results on Monday, said there was no factual basis for conducting such a review. Trump is running out of time to have his legal cases heard. The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on Dec. 14 and Congress is to count the votes on Jan. 6. Trump’s Wisconsin lawsuit seeks to have ballots discarded where election clerks filled in missing address information on the certification envelope where the ballot is inserted. The state elections commission told clerks before the election that they could fill in missing information

on the absentee ballot envelopes, a practice that has been in place for at least the past 11 elections. Trump also challenged any absentee ballot where a voter declared themselves to be “indefinitely confined” under the law, a designation that increased from about 57,000 in 2016 to nearly 216,000 this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Such a declaration exempts voters from having to show photo identification to cast a ballot. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in March ruled that it is up to individual voters to determine whether they are indefinitely confined. Trump also wants to discard any absentee ballot where there was not a written application on file and all absentee ballots cast in person during the two weeks before Election Day. People who vote in person early fill out a certification envelope in which they place their ballot and which serves as the written record. But the vast majority of absentee requests these days are made online, with a voter’s name entered into an electronic log with no paper record. The Trump campaign said his lawsuit would disqualify 221,000 votes in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Trump also challenges events held in Madison parks where election workers accepted completed absentee ballots from voters looking to avoid crowds and mail delays.

Mountain pine tree that feeds grizzlies is threatened

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Moderna said the shots’ effectiveness and a good safety record so far — with only temporary, flulike side effects — mean they meet requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use before the final-stage testing is complete. The Europe-

SUNNY 52 • 35 | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | theworldlink.com

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Seahawks beat Eagles on Monday night PHILADELPHIA (AP) — DK Metcalf got extra motivation he didn’t even need. Metcalf caught 10 passes for 177 yards, Russell Wilson threw for 230 yards and a touchdown and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-17 on Monday night. Before the game, Metcalf said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who coached Calvin Johnson in Detroit, compared him to the former Lions star. “I’m getting a little respect, but you know I still got work to do. One of the defensive coaches came up to me and it kind of made me mad that he was like, ‘You know, I was in Detroit with Megatron but you’re not there yet,’” Metcalf said. “In my mind, I’m not trying to be Megatron. I’m trying to be me. So I had a

little chip on my shoulder the whole game.” The Seahawks (8-3) moved one game ahead of the Rams in the NFC West. The Eagles (3-7-1) fell a half-game behind the Giants and Washington in the woeful NFC East. Carson Wentz didn’t cede many snaps to backup Jalen Hurts but had another rough game. He was 25 of 45 for 215 yards, two TDs — one in garbage time — and one interception. Seattle’s defense entered the game allowing the most yards in the NFL and most yards passing but held Philadelphia’s inept offense to 250 yards. Metcalf was on the board when the Eagles took J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in the second round with the 57th pick in 2019. Arcega-Whiteside has

12 career catches and was a healthy inactive before landing on the COVID-19 list. Metcalf, who was the final pick of the second round, had the best game of his rookie year in Seattle’s playoff win at Philadelphia last season and again showed why he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL. Metcalf’s 52-yard catch on third-and-13 set up Wilson’s 1-yard TD pass to David Moore that gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead. “It’s kind of like coming home, a place that had a chance to draft me but they didn’t so I’ve got to make them pay,” Metcalf said. Cornerback Darius Slay, who followed Metcalf in coverage, called it the worst game of his career. “I lost every 50-50 ball. I

let the team down. I gotta play better,” Slay said. Chris Carson made it 14-0 when he bullied his way through Philadelphia’s defense on a 16yard run. “You know me, I saw that end zone so my game is physical so I wanted to get it in,” Carson said. The Eagles didn’t get a first down until Wentz ran for 20 yards with under five minutes left in the first half. Wentz scrambled for 13 yards on third-and-5 to keep the drive going and tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Dallas Goedert to cut it to 14-6 at halftime. Jake Elliott missed the extra point wide left. Elliott’s 42-yard field goal cut it to 14-9 in the third quarter. Jason Myers hit one from 44 yards to extend it to 17-9. After a holding call on Cedric Ogbuehi negated a 17-yard TD

run by Carlos Hyde, Myers connected from 33 yards. He hit another one from 39. Richard Rodgers caught a tipped ball on a desperation heave by Wentz for a 33-yard TD in the final minute. Trailing by 11, Eagles coach Doug Pederson passed up a field goal and went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Seahawks 15. Wentz’s pass went straight to Seattle’s Quandre Diggs as Goedert turned the other way on the route. The Eagles got a huge stop on Seattle’s opening series. After a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties helped the Seahawks reach the 3, Derek Barnett stuffed Moore for a 5-yard loss on fourth down from the 2. Barnett sacked Wilson on fourth-and-2 from Philadelphia’s 37 on Seattle’s second drive.

Oregon women extend win streak to 21 games PORTLAND (AP) — Erin Boley had 25 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 Oregon defeated Portland 85-52 on Monday night to extend its winning streak to 21 games dating to last season. The winning streak matches the Oregon record set in 1978-79. Sedona Prince added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Ducks (2-0), who led by as many as 37. “I think it’s really important right now to be aggressive as much as we can, especially to start each half, because it really sets a tone,” Boley said. “Because we don’t have any one person that’s super dominant on the court, it’s really important for all of us to try and be aggressive and have a lot of energy and attack to start each half.” Alex Fowler paced the Pilots (1-1) with 12 points. Both teams were coming off victories over Seattle. The Pilots downed the Redhawks 82-70 in Seattle last Wednesday before the Ducks beat them 116-51 at home in Eugene on Saturday. The Ducks have a new look after standouts Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard moved on to the WNBA. Oregon went 31-2 last season and won the Pac-12 Tournament before the NCAA Tournament was called off due to the coronavirus. “I’m not gonna lie, it was really difficult for the returners to let go of last season. It took a long time. It was a big transition,” Boley said. “But we are so excited to have this new team, and it feels like a really great opportunity for us to create something special.” Junior transfer Taylor Mikesell, who had a career-high 28 points in her Ducks debut against Seattle, scored 11. The Pilots won the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas last season and were headed to their first NCAA Tournament since 1997. Portland finished 20-11 for the team’s first 20-win season since 1996-97. The Pilots played Monday without junior guard Haylee Andrews because of a concussion. Andrews averaged 16 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game last season. “That’s a team that can win a national championship, so I think it’s a great opportunity early on, as we’re making

South Carolina women remain on top NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked South Carolina jumped into the new season by playing three games in the first five days. The Gamecocks were challenged over the weekend in a tournament in South Dakota but emerged victorious. They remained the top choice in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday, receiving 29 of 30 first-place votes from a media panel. The top 10 teams stayed the same as in the preseason poll, with Stanford, UConn, Baylor and Louisville rounding out the first five. South Carolina opened with an 81-point victory over Charleston before topping South Dakota by 10 and then-No. 21 Gonzaga by seven. Mississippi State, Arizona, North Carolina State, UCLA and Oregon rounded out the top 10. Oregon State was up one spot to No. 17 Associated Press Women’s Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking Record Pts Prv 1. South Carolina (29) 3-0 749 1 2. Stanford (1) 1-0 704 2 3. UConn 0-0 689 3 4. Baylor 1-0 665 4 5. Louisville 2-0 607 5 6. Mississippi St. 1-0 586 6 7. Arizona 1-0 566 7 8. NC State 2-0 564 8 9. UCLA 1-0 494 9 10. Oregon 1-0 477 10 11. Kentucky 2-0 466 11 12. Texas A&M 2-0 412 13 13. Indiana 1-0 342 16 14. Maryland 2-1 327 12 15. Northwestern 0-0 289 17 16. Arkansas 3-1 265 14 17. Oregon St. 1-0 256 18 18. Gonzaga 1-1 193 21 19. Ohio St. 1-0 189 20 20. DePaul 1-1 187 19 21. Missouri St. 2-1 153 24 22. Syracuse 1-0 142 23 23. Iowa St. 1-1 128 15 24. Michigan 2-0 110 25 25. Texas 2-0 65 Others receiving votes: South Dakota St. 31, North Carolina 24, South Dakota 20, Notre Dame 20, Arizona St. 10, Wake Forest 9, Ohio 6, South

changes in the program, to see what that looks like, to see a team so talented,”

Florida 1, Boston College 1, Tennessee 1, Rutgers 1, Duke 1.

Gonzaga men stay at No. 1 The first Associated Press men’s college basketball poll of the regular season remained steady at the top. The rest, predictably, was filled with change as teams exceeded or failed to live up to preseason expectations. Gonzaga and Baylor remained Nos. 1-2 in the poll released Monday. The Zags received 57 of 63 first-place votes from a media panel and the Bears had six first-place votes. They were the only two teams to hold their places from the preseason poll. Gonzaga kept the top spot by a commanding margin with impressive wins in Fort Myers, Florida. The Zags (2-0) rolled over Kansas 102-90 and crushed Auburn 90-67 the next day. Associated Press Men’s Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking Record Pts Prv 1. Gonzaga (57) 2-0 1569 1 2. Baylor (6) 2-0 1513 2 3. Iowa 2-0 1410 5 4. Wisconsin 2-0 1287 7 5. Illinois 3-0 1281 8 6. Duke 1-0 1185 9 7. Kansas 1-1 1169 6 8. Michigan St. 2-0 1028 13 9. Creighton 1-0 981 11 10. Houston 3-0 949 17 11. West Virginia 3-0 943 15 12. Villanova 2-1 939 3 13. Tennessee 0-0 878 12 14. North Carolina 1-0 591 16 15. Virginia 1-1 581 4 16. Virginia Tech 3-0 570 17. Texas 2-0 478 19 17. Texas Tech 2-1 478 14 19. Richmond 2-0 382 20. Kentucky 1-1 363 10 21. Oregon 0-0 338 20 22. Florida St. 0-0 304 21 23. Ohio St. 2-0 282 23 24. Rutgers 3-0 252 24 25. Arizona St 2-1 233 18 Others receiving votes: Michigan 90, San Diego St. 86, Saint Louis 69, Louisville 55, Alabama 52, Florida 45, Indiana 38, UCLA 14, Maryland 9, Providence 7, Stanford 7, UConn 6, Clemson 4, LSU 3, Arkansas 2, Loyola of Chicago 1, TCU 1, Colorado 1, BYU 1.

Portland coach Michael Meek said. “I’m really proud of our team the way they

Olympic rings return to Tokyo Bay TOKYO (AP) — The five Olympic rings are back in Tokyo Bay. They were removed for maintenance four months ago shortly after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rings arrived on Tuesday after a short cruise from nearby Yokohama and are positioned on a barge in the shadow on Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge. The rings — painted blue, black, red, green, and yellow — are gigantic. They stand about 15 meters tall and 33 meters in length — about 50 feet tall and 100 feet in length. The rings will be lighted at night and herald the coming of the Tokyo Olympics, which are to open on July 23, 2021,

followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 24. The rings made their first appearance early in 2020, just a few months before the Olympics were postponed late in March. The reappearance of the rings is the latest sign that organizers and the International Olympic Committee are increasingly confident that 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes can safely enter Japan during the pandemic. These Olympics are sure to be like no other. They will hinge partly on the availability of vaccines and rapid testing for COVID-19, and on athletes and other participants following strict rules that could involve quarantines, a limited number of fans in venues, and

athletes leaving Japan shortly after they finish their competitions. Organizers have been vague about exactly how the Olympics will be held. Plans are in flux with dozens of COVID-19 countermeasures being floated involving athletes, fans, and tens of thousands of officials, judges, VIPs, and media and broadcasters. Protocols should become clearer early in 2021 when decisions must be made about permitting fans from abroad, which will affect revenue from ticket sales. The meter continues to run on billions in costs, with Japanese taxpayers picking up most of the bills. Reports in Japan this week say the cost of the postponement is about $3 billion.

stepped up to that.” Boley, one of two seniors on the Ducks’ roster, scored the first seven points of the game and Oregon led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter. Portland’s defensive pressure helped keep the margin from getting any wider. “I thought the first half we looked really out of sync, and we were just playing faster than we should,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “We’ve got to give them credit — they put a lot of pressure on us and we just kind of panicked a little bit and we overpassed sometimes, and passed to Casper the ghost.” Prince, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Texas, had eight points and four rebounds as the Ducks took a 34-22 lead into halftime. Oregon’s 9-0 run to open the third quarter stretched the lead to 42-22. “At halftime they just took a deep breath and played more under control. That third quarter we really took it to them, 29-11. That was really much more our style,” Graves said. The Ducks have won five straight in the series. BIG PICTURE Oregon: Mikesell came to the Ducks from Maryland, where she was a starter for the past two seasons. ... Boley made her 73rd career start. ... The Ducks have opened 2-0 for the sixth straight season. Portland: The Pilots lost just one player from last season’s starting five, Kate Anderson, who graduated. ... Portland’s roster includes three Australians and one player from New Zealand. UP NEXT Oregon is set to host Colorado in a Pac12 Conference game Friday. Portland is scheduled to play Seattle again on Sunday, this time at home in the Chiles Center.

Beavers canceled Oregon State’s women’s game against Carroll College on Monday was canceled because of a COVID-19 issue in Carroll’s program. In addition, Oregon State’s scheduled Pac-12 opener against Utah has been pushed from Friday to Tuesday because of covid protocol involving the Utah program. The Beavers now will open the Pac12 season against Colorado on Sunday, the same day that game was scheduled for.

Parkour group urges IOC to reject their sport from 2024 Olympics LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Organizers of the sport of parkour urged the IOC on Tuesday to reject adding the obstacle course-style street-running event to the 2024 Paris Olympics because of a dispute with the governing body of gymnastics. The Parkour Earth group has for years opposed what it calls a “hostile takeover” of the sport by the International Gymnastics Federation, known as FIG. “Unfortunately, FIG’s encroachment and misappropriation of our sport continues,” Parkour Earth wrote Tuesday in an open letter to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC executive board will meet on Monday and on the agenda is finalizing the sports program for the Paris Games. Requests to add new medal events

or modify existing ones are expected from governing bodies. FIG, which will have 18 medal events at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, is expected to ask again for parkour’s inclusion. Paris is where parkour was developed in the 1990s. Parkour’s spectacular tricks in an urban setting has clear appeal at a time when the Olympics is targeting a younger audience. Skateboarding, 3-on-3 basketball and sport climbing will make their debuts in Tokyo, though the IOC declined FIG’s proposal of parkour. Breakdancing will be an Olympic sport in Paris in 2024. What counts against parkour for the Paris Games is the IOC’s policy of adding medal events that involve only the existing pool of athletes. The IOC does not want to increase the overall quota of 10,500 athletes competing in 2024.