Daily Republic: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 by mcnaughtonmedia

International Bird Rescue seeks volunteers A3

Scholtens finally gets his shot on the mound B1

WEDNESDAY | May 31, 2023 | $1.00

DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Community gathers to remember nation’s fallen Amy Maginnis-Honey

AMAGINNIS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — About 100 people gathered near the old county court house Monday to mark Memorial Day 2023. A bevy of buddy poppies were on hand. Flags, some handheld, some secured to flag poles, blew in the midmorning breeze. The commemoration was to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It was hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Simmons-Sheldon Post and Auxiliary 2333. Majesty Kawaya Knott, 8, sang the national anthem. The Laurel Creek student, who began singing when she was 7, said she rehearsed the song and felt pretty comfortable standing before the crowd. “I’ve been singing it over and over. I know it pretty well now,” she said at the end

of the event. Past post Commander Darrol Prill read General Order No. 11 which established Memorial Day in 1868. The order read the day “is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Post Adjutant Mike Johnson offered a preemptive apology prior to introducing dignitaries for any omission or mispronunciations. “It’s all about Memorial Day, don’t get your feelings hurt,” he said. When he called out for any Gold Star families to stand, there was no response, “That’s a good thing,” Johnson said, adding that some See Fallen, Page A8

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

John Aldridge of Post 306 salutes during the Memorial Day observance in front of the Solano County War Memorial in downtown Fairfield, Monday.

Debt-limit deal faces final test in Congress to avert US default Bloomberg News The debt-limit agreement forged by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy heads into a crucial final stretch with less than a week to win congressional passage before a June 5 default deadline. Biden and McCarthy spent much of the Memorial Day holiday lobbying members of their respective parties to build enough support ahead of a House vote expected Wednesday. If the two leaders can overcome expected opposition from their flanks, the deal goes to the Senate, where a single objection risks triggering time-consuming procedures that threaten to bring the US right to the brink of a firstever default. “I never say I’m confident about what the

Congress is going to do, but I feel very good about it,” Biden told reporters Monday. Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said early Tuesday that the measure has clear momentum in his party. “I think taken in its totality you will see enough Democratic support to make sure this bill passes,” Boyle said on CNN. “It’s neither perfect nor awful, but somewhere in between.” Treasuries rallied, with yields on the securities set to mature when the government was most at risk of a default tumbling in European trading. Two-year yields were down about 4 basis points. Stock futures See Default, Page A8

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic photos

Suisun City Planning Commissioner Kristina Elder speaks to city residents about new developments at the State

of the City event, at the Joseph Nelson Community Center, Tuesday.

Highlights, challenges, and a Key to the City presented at State of the City Amy Maginnis-Honey

AMAGINNIS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

SUISUN CITY — Suisun City’s State of the City offered residents a chance to meet city staff and officials, members of different committees and neighbors. More than 100 people filled a room at the Joseph Nelson Center to ask questions, get an update on city activities and accomplishments as well as the challenges the town of almost 30,000 face. City Manager Greg Folsom said he often hears “there’s nothing happening in Suisun. They are not paying attention,” he said. He recalled he and former Mayor Lori Wilson did a state of the city address with the local chamber of commerce. “We thought Suisun City deserves its own state of the city.” Mayor Alma Hernandez presented a slide showing touting the city’s accomplishments in the last

Gemma Geluz tries on VR goggles at the Suisun City State of the City event, at the Joseph Nelson Community Center, Tuesday. 12 months. “We have much more work ahead,” she said, noting the event was a time to “pause and the look at the bright spots.” The audience applauded when

she noted for the first time in almost a year, there’s been a full city council. Each department was featured See State, Page A8

Flannery sues Solano County landowners for $510 million Daily Republic Staff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The mysterious Flannery Group, which for about five years has been purchasing land in the Jepson Prairie and Montezuma Hills area of Solano County, has sued some landowners in those areas for at least $510 million. “Flannery estimates that, to date, the Conspirators and their illegal price-fixing conspiracy have caused damages to Flannery from overpayment for properties from

the Conspirators, their coowners, and third parties of at least $170 million and that Defendants are therefore jointly and severally liable to pay Flannery treble damages in the amount of at least $510 million,” states the lawsuit, which was filed by Flannery Associates LLC on May 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento. Treble damages allows the court to triple the amount of the actual or compensatory damages. “This is a simple case

about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix, and illegally overcharge Flannery, a buyer who had approached these landowners on an individual basis to buy their properties in the Jepson Prairie and Montezuma Hills area of Solano County, California,” the lawsuit states. “This area hosts several utility-scale commercial wind farms, transmission lines, substations, and other energy infrastructure, as well as

numerous environmental conservation and mitigation projects.” The land purchases includes SMUD’s Solano 4 Wind Wind Project, about which the utility recently settled a lawsuit by the county for development of larger turbines. The lawsuit also specifically notes land values of some of the defendants due to wind development leases. Flannery contends in the federal action that the more than 60 named See Sues, Page A8

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