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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Solano County response to LNU fire recovery gets national award Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano County has been recognized by the National Association of Counties for its post-LNU Lightning Complex Fire outreach efforts. The 2022 Achievment Award was presented for “innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents,” a program that has become a model for use by other counties. “When I look at the services Solano County provides, this is just a shining example of how we change lives,” said Supervisor Jim Spering, whose staff put together the application for the award. “When they went out and said, ‘We’re with the government and we want to help you,’ they meant it.” The Department of Resource Management and the Office of Emergency Services were specifically recognized during the Tuesday ceremony before the Board of Supervisors, but clearly there was plenty of back-slapping to go around. “We saw a complete shift of duties on very short notice,” Terry Schmidtbauer, director of

SCHMIDTBAUER Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

Cars are parked at Mankas Corner in rural Fairfield, Tuesday.

Supes shift pandemic business loan funds;

SPERING

support park, tourism projects

Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Nearly $7 million in park and tourism projects – including a parking lot at Mankas Corner – were given the go-ahead Tuesday by the Solano County Board of Supervisors. The board also shifted $4 million earmarked for a pandemic-related business revolving loan program to a different American Rescue Plan Act category to sidestep some program difficulties, including time constraints and federal guidelines that officials said left some lenders a bit nervous. The board unanimously approved the move from the Negative Economic Impacts category to Revenue Recovery category, which puts control of

the funds into the hands of the county. Eligibility and other requirements for the loans are still in effect, but the move also means payments on the loans will stay within the program. The supervisors voted 4-1, with Supervisor BROWN Monica Brown dissenting, to support five park and tourism projects totaling $6.9 million. With the allocations, the county has $12.6 million of the nearly $87 million in pandemic American Rescue Plan Act funds unallocated. Brown supported the $262,912 in pandemic relief funding for Lake Solano campground, walking path, fire safety and other improvements because

of the time deadlines involved. The funds will be used as a match to more than $1.4 million in other federal dollars already secured for the project, including $867,648 in earlier pandemic relief funding through the CARES Act. Brown wanted the other projects to be considered against about $45 million in funding requests still to come before the board. However, Supervisors Erin Hannigan and Mitch Mashburn said the park projects benefit thousands of annual visitors to Lake Solano and Sandy Beach, where one of the projects will be located. In addition to the campground See Funds, Page A8

Russia’s methodical attacks exploit frailty of Ukrainian power system The Washington Post Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have been so methodical and destructive that Ukrainian and Western officials say they are being directed by electricity specialists who know exactly which targets will inflict maximum pain on Ukraine’s grid. The two-week-old bombing campaign, an effort to plunge Ukrainians into darkness ahead of their country’s bitter winter, has focused less on well-protected power generation plants and more on the network nodes that are key to keeping Ukraine’s electricity grid functioning and providing critical services. Already, more than a third of Ukraine’s hard-to-replace transmission hubs have been

Wojciech Grzedzinski/For the The Washington Post file

Ukrainian troops fire mortar at a Russian position near Bakhmut, Ukraine, Oct. 16. damaged or destroyed, officials said. Russia’s shift in tactics is alarming Ukrainian and Western officials as temperatures start to drop in Ukraine. They warn that the attacks could inflict suffering on civilians, create a new wave of refugees and further erode Ukraine’s war-shattered economy. Many Ukrainian cities are heated from central-

ized plants that require both electricity and gas to function, meaning the

attacks could be particularly devastating. Western officials have condemned the attacks on infrastructure as a war crime, saying they are intended to sow terror in the civilian population. The campaign has been relentless and highly strategic – unlike the Russian military’s ground tactics, which often seem ill-conceived, Ukrainian officials said. “All the drones they’re using, missiles, everything is targeting energy infrastructure,” See Power, Page A8

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See Award, Page A8

3 Solano employee contracts gain approval; wave of others expected Most of the 23 contracts expired Oct. 21, and as noted by FAIRFIELD — Solano the supervisors, it always County supervisors on seems to come down to Tuesday ratified three the final weeks – if not employee contracts and days – for final movement expect to approve on the terms to 18 more in the be reached. coming weeks. One big issue “So 22 (barstill facing the gaining units) county is the have essentially number of vacanratified or agreed cies, an issue to the terms raised by some of our agreeof the employee ments,” board unions, and one Chairman John HANNIGAN that remains Vasquez said. unresolved. Most of those conSupervisor Erin tracts are just going Hannigan said while the before the employees contracts do not solve for consideration, with the issue of vacancies in votes expected over the county, having the the next 10 days, the agreements done is a big board was told. Only one step forward. She said bargaining unit, that rep- the county can focus on resenting physicians and filling the empty jobs. dentists, is not near a In other action, the final resolution. board: Details on the ratified n Approved a contracts were not immediately available. See Contract, Page A8

Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

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