Parks and Recreation to vote on more pickleball courts A4
Xfinity Series ready for first Sonoma race Saturday B1
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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
Coughlan logging miles on his run across America Amy Maginnis-Honey
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Farmers work in Fairfield, Tuesday. Sixty-two $5,000 grants will be awarded to small farming operations.
Small farms to get share of Solano’s Covid-relief funding Daily Republic Staff
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FAIRFIELD — Sixty-two $5,000 grants will be awarded to small farming or related operations. A total of $383,026 of the American Rescue Plan Act funds has been set aside for the program, which was formerly approved on Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. “All the farms during Covid were significantly impacted, especially the small farms,” Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said, adding, “These dollars are very important to a small part of a $1 billion industry in Solano County.” The application period is open from November to January. An estimated 200 to 300 farms or
farm-related companies, with a 2021 gross income of $400,000 or less, will be eligible. “We are focused on the production side,” Meghan Richards, an administrative analyst who leads the ARPA programs. The Solano County Farm Bureau will be handling outreach, while the Workforce Development Board and Small Business Development Center also have parts to play. In other action, the board: n Approved using cooperative purchase solicitation with ACCO Engineered Systems for the emergency replacement of the Fairfield Library Chiller and Boiler systems, and approved an appropriation transfer of $611,913 from Library Contingencies for the work.
n Approved the notice of completion for the Countywide Card Access Upgrades Project by Honeywell Building Solutions of Sacramento. The project cost $1.4 million, the budget amount, with construction costs at a bit more than $1 million. n Approved a $112,350 appropriation transfer from Health & Social Services to the Accumulated Capital Outlay Fund to fund the H&SS Employment & Eligibility Kiosk Update project. n Approved a five-year, $8.64 million agreement with Presidio and a companion finance agreement with Key Government Finance, Inc. for procurement
VACAVILLE — Noah Coughlan, on his fourth run across America, has racked up 170 miles of the 3,500 he plans on running. “The Run For Revival is about 5% complete,” he wrote on social media Tuesday. On Memorial Day, Vacaville native Coughlan began the 3,500-mile solo trek near Seattle. He plans to finish in Miami on Veteran’s Day. He logged 9 miles the first day. “Only 3,491 miles remain to Miami” he wrote on social media. Coughlan wore a pair of shoes he donned on the final day of his 2015 Run For Rare and later across Ireland in 2020. Along the way, he dedicates days to those who have served in the United States military, including Randy Franklin, who served in the United States Air Force fr0r 21 years. Franklin is well known in Solano County and was part of Coughlan’s third run
across America. The kindness of fellow Americans is something Coughlan experiences daily. On a whim, he called the KOA in the Burlington/Belfast are of Washington state. “When I limped in to the KOA 3 hours later, the entire staff greeted me with a warm meal, a complimentary cabin, a hot tub, and fluids to rehydrate. I cannot thank them enough,” Coughlan wrote. On Day 6 Coughlan made it to the gateway of the Cascades. “I am exposed to the elements and weather for over five months straight. You can’t run from it. You can’t escape it. You have to adapt and minimize any injury or exposure. I always do. In this initial week, my body is in shock, but adapting,” Coughlan wrote on social media. He started at 180 pounds and estimated he will crop about 20 by the time he reaches South Dakota. Running across the See Run, Page A8
See Farms, Page A8 Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file
Conservative parent group wants representation on Vaca school board Daily Republic Staff
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VACAVILLE — A conservative, parent-driven group of city residents wants the Vacaville Unified School District board to listen to their issues and their voices. In fact, they want to elect a majority of likeminded representatives to the school board to control those issues. Among their concerns is wanting a board that will engage with parents before enacting transgender and critical race theory – or equity – policies, all of which they generally oppose. That is especially true when it has to do with the lower grade levels. “What the board and the school (district) want to be is inclusive, equitable and diversified, and we feel excluded,” Kathy Bettencourt said. She accused the board and the district of being secretive about critical issues that should involve parents. Ed Santopadre, who becomes the district super-
intendent on July 1, said the district does not have a critical race theory curriculum or a gender-based education policy, adding he will meet with anyone with district concerns. The district is developing an administrative regulation regarding a gender support plan, not unlike other student support plans, but added that parents and the public will be able to comment on the proposed regulation when it is released this fall. Santopadre also noted that the district was teaching the students the same curriculum when they were in their own homes due to Covid-19, and there were no complaints from parents about that curriculum then. And while many of the group members got involved during the Covid-19 shutdown because they opposed state mandates – particularly when it came to the possibility of mandated student vaccinations – it was the efforts of the district’s Equity Task Force that have riled them back up.
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Julianne Brewer said she agreed with 85% to 90% of what was in the task force report, but there are areas of great concern. That report was released two years ago. They pointed to a staff meeting held in March at Buckingham Charter School during which a “gender support plan” was discussed. It includes keeping the information secret from parents if the student does not want the information released. Santopadre said there are a host of issues students will discuss with teachers, counselors and administrators, but are terrified about their parents learning they had spoken about them.
Noah Coughlan, photographed in March.
Ukraine dam blast blamed on Russia tips war into new phase Bloomberg News
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Jenny Callison He said not everything gets shared with parents, especially if there is a student safety concern. Bettencourt and Brewer agree that student safety is a priority, but that parents See Board, Page A8
Ukraine said Russia blew up a giant dam and unleashed an environmental catastrophe, with floodwater sweeping across the south of the country as Kyiv’s forces intensify their counteroffensive to oust Moscow’s troops from occupied territory. The Kremlin denied responsibility and said Ukraine was behind the breach at the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant early Tuesday as the torrent of water threatened to force tens of thousands of
people from their homes and renewed fears for the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power station. Wheat prices jumped, while a separate explosion on an ammonia pipeline shut down in the war underscored the vulnerability of key infrastructure as the fighting enters a critical new phase. “This is the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address See Blast, Page A8
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