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Texas wanted to be the nations tech haven, but new measures on abortion and voting cause workers to rethink their move

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On Sept. 3, just two days after Texas banned abortions, Vivek Bhaskaran, the chief executive of an Austin-based online survey software company, quickly assembled the handful of female employees that are based in the city.

In a virtual town hall that lasted about 15 minutes, he told the women that regardless of insurance, the company would cover out-of-state abortion services.

“I’m not a politician; I can’t change anything. But I’m still responsible for my employees in Texas, and I have a moral responsibility to them,” said Bhaskaran, CEO of QuestionPro.

For the past several years, Texas has been selling itself as a tech haven attracting start-ups and tech companies such as Oracle, Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, and even Elon Musk, Tesla’s billionaire co-founder and CEO, who has moved to the state. Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Apple all have grown their presence in the state, opening new warehouses, data centers, and production facilities.

But Texas’s recent swerve to the right on abortion, voting restrictions as well as a ban on coronavirus vaccine mandates has many workers and industry leaders like Bhaskaran worried about retaining workers and recruiting top tech talent to the state. In August, Texas had 33,843 tech job openings – the second highest in the U.S. after California – according to a report from the Computing Technology Industry Association. That’s up 56% from a year earlier.

“We already find it extremely challenging to attract tech workers,” said Bhaskaran, noting there are more jobs than talent in the industry. “This seems like an extremely unnecessary conversation we’re going to have to have” with potential recruits.

The new abortion law in Texas, which went into effect earlier this month, bans abortions at six weeks and allows private citizens to sue people or services that perform or aid in an abortion. Reporting parties could receive at least $10,000 as well as recover legal fees if they win their cases. In response, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over the law, trying to block it.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, on Thursday also signed a bill that would prohibit large tech companies from blocking or restricting people or their posts based on their viewpoint, setting the stage for a legal battle with the tech industry. Abbott also slammed President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for private companies, calling it a “power grab.”

Texas led the nation in population growth in 2020 attracting 373,965 residents, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. While experts say it’s too early to tell whether the new laws will cause any massive change in worker migration, they note that right-wing measures could lead to a pause of left-leaning tech workers considering moving to the state.

“You might see a slow down,” said Richard Alm, a writer in residence at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business in Dallas who studies Texas’ economy. “This has potential to impact the supply of labor if workers are less willing to relocate to Texas.”

After Abbott signed the abortion bill into law, many tech workers were quick to react on social media platforms such as Twitter to air their concerns, frustration, and fears. For some tech industry workers who recently relocated to the state, the abortion law is making them consider moving elsewhere.

That’s the case for Valerie Veteto, a copywriter, who has freelanced for San Francisco tech companies including Salesforce, Patreon and Lyft. She moved to Austin from San Francisco in September 2020, drawn by the city’s vibe, creativity, live music scene and the low cost of living.

But a few months later, when Texas’ power grid failed during a winter storm, leaving millions without power, heat and water, Veteto began questioning her choice.

“That was a moment that chipped away at my confidence of living here. Then obviously what’s going on currently, it sealed the deal,” she said. She and her boyfriend are now planning to relocate to New York City.

Some professionals in the tech industry say they’re worried about what the passage of the abortion law says about the direction Texas is headed in terms of other major social issues.

“It scares the living daylights out of me,” said Deep Barot, a Texas native and San Francisco-based angel investor in biotech, software and cryptocurrency companies. “This is an abortion law, but what’s next?”

The issue boils down to one question, said Alm from SMU: Can employers retain and attract top tech talent despite the state’s new restrictive laws?

David Panarelli, a user experience designer for an e-commerce company in San Diego, said he and his wife had considered moving to Texas but both are concerned with how officials have handled issues like immigration, the pandemic, and masking guidelines. The abortion law reaffirmed their fears, he said.

“If I’m in a situation where I have to make an extremely irreversible decision, I don’t want anyone making that decision for me,” he said. “It’s not about women. It’s about human rights.”

Crystal Wiese, QuestionPro’s director of marketing, said the reaction from the people on the virtual town hall was mostly silence.

“There was a reassuring feeling, but it’s not the kind of conversation you expect to have with your CEO.”

Some Texas-based tech companies were quick to respond to what essentially is an abortion ban, recognizing that it could have significant repercussions on recruitment and retention of talent in the future.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, said in a tweet on Friday that he would be willing to move his employees if they wanted to relocate without providing further details. A Salesforce employee who declined to be named said the company told workers via an internal chat that if they had concerns about access to reproductive health care in their states, Salesforce would help relocate them and their immediate families.

Dallas-based Match, which operates dating apps, said its CEO Shar Dubey is creating a fund to help cover the cost of abortion services for employees who have to travel outside of the state.

“I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say, as a Texas resident, I am shocked that I now live in a state where women’s reproductive laws are more regressive than most of the world, including India,” Dubey said in a memo to employees earlier this month. “Surely everyone should see the danger of this highly punitive and unfair law.”

Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell based in Round Rock, Texas, sent a note to employees on Sept. 8, addressing the latest Texas laws, saying the company believes in “the right to free, fair and equitable access to voting” and that its goal is to give employees “more coverage” when it comes to health “not less.” The company declined to say whether it is planning anything specific related to Texas’ abortion and voting laws.

HPE still believes that its policies and benefits will attract workers “no matter where they’re located,” said spokesman Adam Bauer. But he said the company can’t predict if and how this will impact recruiting in the future.

Kat Scott, a San Francisco-based developer advocate for the open-source foundation Open Robotics, said if the law is not removed quickly, it will have a lasting impact on people’s impression of the state.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult to recruit women or young people,” she said.

Published : September 13, 2021

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In 9/11 commemorations, an elegy for what the nation lost that day – and in the 20 years since

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NEW YORK – A wife told her husband about the son he never knew who had grown to be “the spitting image” of his dad.

Aveteran reflected on his sacrifice in a war launched in a spirit of vengeance and ended in a haze of defeat.

Presidents past and present wondered what had become of national unity, and whether a common sense of purpose could be recovered.

On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, commemorations of a calamitous moment in American history played out on a tableau eerily similar to the original set: a glorious late summer’s day up and down the East Coast, one seemingly incongruous with planes crashing out of the clear-blue sky.

At Ground Zero in New York, the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field, the names of the dead were read at a clipped yet mournful cadence. Family members held photos of their loved ones aloft. Bells rang. Bagpipes wailed. Silence marked the most acute moments of horror, when planes crashed or buildings fell.

Yet the events were as much an elegy for what has been lost in the two decades since as they were for the terrible toll from that day. The accumulation of personal grief as children grew up without parents. The wounds inflicted on a nation by ruinous wars and poisonous politics.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/defb9de0-c8de-4d64-b092-381ebf0f23f3?ptvads=block&playthrough=false

At the site in Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed, the hijackers’ apparent plans to attack the U.S. Capitol foiled by a rebellion among passengers, relatives of those who died questioned whether the country had gone off course.

“Are we worthy of their sacrifice?” asked Gordon Felt, whose brother, Edward, was a passenger on the doomed flight. “Do we as individuals, communities and as a country conduct ourselves in a manner that would make those that sacrificed so much and fought so hard proud of who we’ve become?”

Speaking minutes later, the man who was president on 9/11, George W. Bush, seemed to offer an answer. On the day America was attacked and in the immediate aftermath, Bush said, the country had been unified. But increasingly, he said, America is menaced not only by foreign dangers but by “violence that gathers from within.”

“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home,” he said. “But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols – they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.”

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Although Bush did not say so outright, the reference to insurrectionists who on Jan. 6 laid siege to the U.S. Capitol – the target that Flight 93 passengers had defended – was difficult to miss.

So, too, was the difference in tone between this anniversary and the ones that have preceded it. Bush and the presidents who have followed have often used 9/11 as an opportunity for chest-beating bravado, with threats to rain down fury upon U.S. enemies.

But with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the chaotic American exit only weeks old, there was far less of that than usual.

While Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley vowed at a Pentagon commemoration that “no terrorist anywhere on Earth can ever destroy” American ideals, he also noted that feelings among U.S. service members were “very conflicted” this year, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The country, after all, had lost 2,461 troops, including 13 who died in a suicide attack just two weeks ago. More than 20,000 had been injured, and countless more were afflicted, he said, “by the invisible wounds of war.”

That cost became a source of quiet tension for some within the audience gathered in Shanksville, with Air Force Academy classmates of LeRoy Homer Jr., the co-pilot on Flight 93, speaking about his heroism and then quietly questioning how and why the United States left Afghanistan.

One classmate, Scott Hoffman, had deployed within days of 9/11. His son was in second grade, and he told his wife as he prepared for his mission to avenge the attacks: “I’ll do this so our children don’t have to.”

Last month, that son, now Capt. Christopher Hoffman, was among the Americans to pilot a C17 filled with Afghans fleeing a country taken over by the Taliban.

“I feel sick to my stomach,” Scott Hoffman said about the Afghan evacuation. “Our chance to stand up to the Nazis of our time and we turned our back.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/2c8e1553-0744-43f4-8a75-e8ff87cdf028?ptvads=block&playthrough=false

President Joe Biden paid tribute to 9/11 victims in visits to all three sites where people were killed. Although he did not deliver formal remarks, he recorded a video in which he described “the central lesson” of Sept. 11.

“It’s that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that makes us human, in the battle of the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris echoed that sentiment with a speech in Shanksville in which she paid tribute to Flight 93 passengers and called for Americans to “honor their courage, their conviction, with our own – that we honor their unity by strengthening our common bonds.”

Former president Donald Trump did not attend any of the commemorative services, though he fired off statements critical of Biden as they got underway. He later made an unannounced visit to a New York police precinct in which he strongly hinted he will run for president again and decried the “rigged election.”

Those comments were sharply at odds with the tenor of the 9/11 remembrances, which have traditionally been apolitical. At each one on Saturday, the focus remained squarely on the day’s victims – particularly on all the ways their absence continues to reverberate, 20 years on.

In New York, the ceremony at Ground Zero began with the first moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. – the time Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The last moment of silence came at 10:28 a.m., in observance of the fall of the North Tower. The reading of the names of the victims, an annual tradition, went on for more than four hours, a reflection of the extraordinary toll from the worst terrorist attack in American history.

With violins and flutes for a backdrop, along with the sound of rushing water from the inverted fountains that occupy the footprint where the twin towers once stood, the names were read by relatives of the victims, their voices occasionally breaking.

Among the readers: Lisa Reina, who was eight months pregnant when she lost her husband, Joseph Reina Jr., an operations manager for Cantor Fitzgerald who worked on the 101st floor of the North Tower.

“Joe, we love and miss you more than you can ever imagine,” she said. “Our son is the spitting image of you. He lights up my world every day. I see you in everything that he does.”

After the moment of silence at the time that Flight 175 struck the South Tower, Bruce Springsteen – wearing a suit, and playing acoustic guitar and harmonica – performed “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Many in the audience dabbed their eyes as they listened.

Among the sea of loved ones there to honor the dead was retired Army Sgt. Edwin Morales, who said he comes to the service every year to remember his cousin, Ruben “Dave” Correa, a New York City firefighter. Correa, 44, a Marine and 1991 Persian Gulf War veteran from Staten Island, died at the Marriott hotel that once stood in the shadows of the towers, his cousin said.

“His soul is right there where we did the ceremony. He was never found,” Morales said of Correa, pointing to the nearby spot where he and others placed roses and tiny American flags. “Every day is 9/11 for me.”

Remembrances on Saturday were not limited to the United States. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played Saturday morning at a special changing of the guard ceremony at Windsor Castle.

The scene echoed the one 20 years ago when, two days after 9/11 and by order of Queen Elizabeth II, troops played the U.S. national anthem during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The moment became a symbol of the outpouring of sympathy around the world, from allies and foes alike.

Yet there were reminders Saturday that much of that international goodwill has evaporated. China’s Foreign Ministry, for instance, issued a lashing statement calling the United States “the culprit of the Afghan issue” and suggesting that it should learn some “hard lessons.”

Those lessons were on the minds of many of those mourning in the United States.

Patrick J. Mahaney, a retired Green Beret who lost a cousin and six friends on 9/11, served seven tours in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2011 and said he came to love the country. But leaving it the way that the United States did, he said, “is a bipartisan disaster.”

“We abandoned our Afghan partners, who we fought with shoulder-to-shoulder,” he said. “They were willing to keep fighting because we said, ‘We’re still with you, we’ll always be with you, because of 9/11.’ “

Beyond New York, Shanksville and the Pentagon, there were commemorations in cities from coast to coast Saturday.

Across Boston and its suburbs, people gathered in churches, firehouses and public parks. The city has a uniquely painful connection to 9/11: The planes that flew into the World Trade Center departed from the city’s Logan airport.

Leslie Blair, whose sister Susan Leigh Blair was killed on 9/11, five months after starting a job at the World Trade Center, was among those gathered at a remembrance service at Boston’s John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Following the ceremony, she said, she planned to spend the rest of the day performing acts of service, “to remember and to honor, and to push those ripples” of life from her sister a little farther outward.

Across the country, in Orange County, Calif., hundreds of people gathered to remember, including Tom Frost, whose daughter, Lisa, was due to fly back to California that day, but never made it: Her plane crashed into the South Tower.

“Lisa was just the dearest, sweetest gift I ever received. I miss her so much,” he said as his voice filled with emotion. “It’s a bright blue sky today. It’s just like it was 20 years ago in New York, before the events of that day changed it all.”

Published : September 12, 2021

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Trump skips joining Biden, other former presidents at official 9/11 memorial ceremonies

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Donald Trump, instead of appearing at the ceremonies, traveled several blocks from his Trump Tower building in Manhattan to the 17th police precinct and the neighboring fire station in NYC.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was absent at official 9/11 memorial ceremonies in New York City and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton all attended a somber ceremony Saturday morning at the National September 11 Memorial where the World Trade Center towers fell two decades ago.

Biden traveled next to the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville to attend a wreath-laying ceremony. Earlier, former President George W. Bush and Vice President Kamala Harris both spoke at the memorial.

Trump, instead of appearing at the ceremonies, traveled several blocks from his Trump Tower building in Manhattan to the 17th police precinct and the neighboring fire station in NYC.

During an unannounced stop at a Shanksville fire department, Biden praised Bush for encouraging American unity in his speech. He also defended his administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in brief remarks to the press pool.

A guard of honor salutes during a commemoration ceremony of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York, the United States, on Sept. 11, 2021.

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Biden’s last stop in the day was the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, where he attended a wreath-laying ceremony along with first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Biden did not deliver formal remarks on Saturday but released a video statement on Friday recognizing the lives lost in the deadliest attack in U.S. history and calling for national unity.

Nineteen terrorists hijacked four fuel-loaded U.S. commercial airplanes bound for west coast destinations on Sept. 11, 2001. A total of 2,977 people were killed in the attacks.

Relatives read victims

Published : September 12, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006014

Former U.S. President George W. Bush warns against domestic extremism on 9/11 anniversary

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Bush lamented the division in the United States, contrasting the current political climate to the spirit of unity that he said he observed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday warned against domestic extremism, saying the country has seen “growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within.”

“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home,” said Bush in a speech marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them,” he said.   

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•  

Bush, who was in his first year as president when the horrific attacks took place, paid tribute to the passengers and crew members of Flight 93, which crashed in a field after those on board fought back against the hijackers and diverted them from their intended target.

The former Republican president lamented the division in the United States, contrasting the current political climate to the spirit of unity that he said he observed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

“A malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument, and every argument into a clash of cultures. So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear, and resentment,” Bush said. “That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together.”

Bush has been outspoken about condemning violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results for President Joe Biden.  
 

Published : September 12, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006013

Families, residents pay tribute to 9/11 victims as U.S. still healing 20 years on

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Dale Nacke noted that the 9/11 attacks helped galvanize the country and bring the society together, but it didnt last long. “Now 20 years later, I see a country thats largely divided.”

When Dale Nacke talked about the last moments of his late brother Joey before the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed 20 years ago, he said his brother didn’t make any phone call because he wouldn’t share that burden with anybody.

“He wouldn’t put that kind of pain on the rest of us, so he didn’t make any phone calls. That isn’t our brother,” Dale, 49, told Xinhua on a chilly Friday night after a Luminaria Ceremony at the plane’s crash site surrounded by meadows and hills, located in the Pennsylvania countryside outside of Shanksville.

Asked how long it took for the family members to recover from the tragedy, Dale said 20 years doesn’t make much of a difference. “I don’t think we do (recover),” he said, choking back tears. “I’ll live the rest of my life without my brother and that absence in our family never goes away.”

Flight 93 was one of the four hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the deadliest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. The other three planes hit the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

A wreath is seen at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the United States, Sept. 9, 2021.

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Experts believe that the target of the Flight 93 hijackers was likely the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House. The 40 passengers and crew members attempted to seize control from hijackers and eventually forced down the plane, which crashed only 20 minutes flying-time from Washington, D.C.

“If I had the opportunity to say anything to him, given what this is, I would love to tell him how much, how proud I was of him,” Dale said.

His elder brother Louis Joseph Nacke II, a toy company executive, had just turned 42 two days before the 9/11 attacks. Dale said his brother liked to be called “Joey” by family members, while he preferred the name “Lou” with colleagues and friends.

“He had a Superman tattoo. He was afraid of nobody. He was my big brother. He was always my protector. And he was, he was a little brash. He was a little loud, but he was very loyal, very loving. As my big brother, I always looked up to him,” Dale said, bursting into laughter when describing what kind of person his brother was.

The Luminaria Ceremony, held a few hours before President Joe Biden and some former presidents gathered at the site to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, was attended by hundreds of families and friends of the victims, as well as many others who traveled hours to pay their tribute to the courageous heroes they never met.

Fourty candle lanterns were lit and carried by family members and friends, and placed below each victim’s name, engraved on tall slabs of white marble, known as Wall of Names. Flowers, mini American flags and a toy bear were easy to spot.

Glenna Putyrski, who lived in a nearby town, said she was a sixth grader when the plane crashed and had no idea what was going on, and attending the Luminaria Ceremony makes things real.

“Seeing the family members, I was really choked up too, because it just makes it so much more real seeing a family member of each person. And you just realize all those individual families and their own stories and everybody that was affected,” Glenna told Xinhua.

Asked about one of the major changes the 9/11 attacks have brought, Glenna highlighted the loss of trust among people and among countries. “Just overall distrust in the world, I feel like that just changed everybody’s outlook on everything,” she said.

“That sense of fear that people have now, maybe they didn’t before,” Glenna’s mom Anne Putyrski added.

“I’d say that we as a nation are not as arrogant about our own security as we were perhaps 20 years ago,” Dale said. “And I think we have a better heightened awareness, and are maybe more vigilant.”

Dale also noted that the 9/11 attacks helped galvanize the country and bring the society together, but it didn’t last long. “Now 20 years later, I see a country that’s largely divided,” he said.

Lanterns are placed at the Wall of Names during a candlelight memorial to the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the United States, Sept. 10, 2021.

Published : September 12, 2021

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5 soldiers killed, 6 wounded in ELN attack in Colombia

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According to authorities, the wounded men were promptly transferred to a health center, where they are recovering from their injuries, while the army “is coordinating the corresponding legal procedures with the relevant authorities.”

 At least five soldiers were killed and six were wounded on Saturday in an attack by guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN) in a rural area of the Colombian municipality of Arauquita in the department of Arauca.

According to authorities, the wounded men were promptly transferred to a health center, where they are recovering from their injuries, while the army “is coordinating the corresponding legal procedures with the relevant authorities.”

“The soldiers of Colombia express their heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of our murdered heroes,” said the Colombian Army.

Colombian President Ivan Duque condemned the attack, saying on Twitter, “These cowardly acts are the product of despair in the face of military pressure. For the memory of our heroes, we will continue attacking narco-terrorism and dismantling its structures.” 
 

Published : September 12, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006010

Malaysian PM pushes Asean travel bubble with China as Covid cases surge

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Southeast Asia witnessed a rise in new Covid-19 infections and a decline in deaths on Saturday, collated data showed.

Asean countries reported 83,523 infections and 1,323 deaths on Saturday compared to 75,832 and 1,390 respectively on Friday.

Malaysia‘s new Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has proposed Asean to create guidelines on forming a travel bubble with China in order to stimulate the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis.

If the guidelines become a reality, it would help the tourism industry recover and enable people to connect with each other, he said.

Singapore‘s government will kick off its project to administer a third Covid-19 jab, using Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, to boost immunity for the elderly aged over 60 years from September 14.

The country’s health minister said the elderly who had already received the second jab at least six months ago could receive the third jab, adding that 900,000 seniors were curently eligible.

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Malaysian PM pushes Asean travel bubble with China as Covid cases surge

Published : September 12, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006003

Curtis Samuel placed on injured reserve, will be eligible to return after three games

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The Washington Football Team will have to start its season without one of its newest (and highest-paid) offseason acquisitions. Curtis Samuel was placed on injured reserve Friday because of a lingering groin injury, forcing the veteran wide receiver to miss at least the first three games of the season.

It’s unclear when Samuel first suffered the injury, but he has dealt with it since at least early June, forcing him to miss minicamp and later training camp and the preseason. He also spent 10 days on the covid-19/reserve list early in training camp, which Coach Ron Rivera said set him back in his recovery.

Samuel returned to practice for the first time Monday and participated on a limited basis in pads. But at the team’s subsequent practice Wednesday, Samuel ran only a few individual drills before walking over toward the sideline in apparent discomfort. He was formally listed as a nonparticipant on the team’s practice report both Wednesday and Thursday.

“We’re just trying to take a little bit of pressure off of him in terms of his rehab program,” Rivera told reporters Friday. “Having been put on the covid list at one time I think set him back in terms of his opportunity to rehab and get himself ready to go for the year. So we want to create this opportunity and take advantage of it and really let him focus on getting healthy before he has to start worrying about playing.”

Rivera indicated that Samuel’s time on IR is expected to be short term. Per the NFL’s modified IR rules, Samuel has to miss three games before he is eligible to return to practice, which would be Sept. 27 for Washington, following its Week 3 game at Buffalo. If Samuel is designated for return, the team would have 21 days to decide to activate him or leave him on IR for the remainder of the season.

The soonest Samuel could suit up for a game is Week 4 against the Falcons in Atlanta.

When asked about the possibility of surgery for Samuel, Rivera became irritated and said it’s “not an option.”

“Don’t even bring that up,” he told reporters. ” . . . I don’t want to start any rumors, any crap, okay? This has got nothing to do with any of that, guys. It’s just about giving a guy an opportunity to get a chance to rehab the way he needed to because, unfortunately, when we had to put him on [the] covid [list], he missed basically two weeks. We’re trying to catch up on those lost two weeks. We pushed him a little bit last week, he’s not ready, so we figured this is the best thing to do. . . .

“Do not even mention that, please. That is not an option as far as we’re concerned right now. It’s not even on the table. . . . Do not start something that’s not there.”

Washington signed Samuel to a three-year, $34.5 million contract in March with the expectation that he would become a focal point of an offense that last year lagged in most major statistical categories. Per Sportradar, Washington tied for 29th in the league with 94 total explosive plays (at least 12 yards rushing or 16 yards passing).

“I think it was one of the things that we were missing, was the opportunity to have three or four guys on the field that could potentially go the distance,” Rivera said Monday. “You know, we may have had two guys at a time, but now we have a potential to put three or four guys out on the field that have the ability to go the distance every time they touch it. So this is pretty exciting as far as what we can be on offense. . . . The things that we did, we did in mind with that express intent, and that was to get faster, to put more playmakers that have the chance to go vertical.”

With sub-4.4-second speed and experience in Washington’s offensive system (he was coached by Rivera and coordinator Scott Turner with Carolina), Samuel was a natural fit to pair with Terry McLaurin atop the wide receiver depth chart. But Samuel wasn’t the only addition at the position, and now players such as third-round draft pick Dyami Brown, veteran free agent Adam Humphries and fourth-year player Cam Sims will be called upon to step up as Samuel continues to rehab.

“We have enough guys that can do what Curtis does, and we feel good about those guys, and that’s why we don’t feel any pressure as far as doing what we’re doing,” Rivera added Friday.

Brown and Sims, in particular, presumably will be relied upon more in Samuel’s absence to start the season. But the future of Washington’s offense remains unknown while Samuel remains sidelined.

“It’s just one of those things,” Rivera said, “that at some point, we just say: ‘You know what? Let’s just let you heal up.’ And let’s let you go out and now focus in on getting better and getting ready to play as opposed to having to worry about: ‘Oh, man, I got to feel better. I got to feel better so I can play.’ “

Published : September 11, 2021

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Tina Charles returns to form, gives Mystics playoff hopes a boost with win over Dream

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WASHINGTON – The Washington Mystics had grown accustomed to turning to Tina Charles to carry them in the first half of the season. With the team missing multiple starters, Charles shouldered the load, leading the WNBA in scoring.

Then came a hip injury and a four-game absence. Friday night, in an 82-74 win over the Atlanta Dream at Entertainment & Sports Arena, Charles returned to form, scoring 26 points to go with 16 rebounds and putting the Mystics into a tie with the New York Liberty for the league’s eighth and final playoff spot with three games remaining.

Charles’s work over the second and third quarters put the Mystics (11-18) in control. She scored 11 points during a 14-2 second-quarter run to give Washington a 38-29 lead. After Atlanta (7-22) cut the margin to 40-34 at halftime, she opened the third quarter with six straight points and eight during a 12-2 run that gave the Mystics a 52-36 lead, effectively putting away the Dream.

“I thought I played very poor,” Charles said. “I have high standards for myself and how I come out and play and trying to be efficient the older I get. I just missed some shots that I should have made that could’ve made the game more easier for us. Gave Atlanta a little bit of life.

“Having teammates like Shavonte Zellous, who knows me and knows to get into me, definitely encouraged me to just keep going out there and keep playing my game and to be more aggressive.”

Charles also had a career milestone as she passed Rebekkah Brunson to become the No. 2 rebounder in WNBA history behind Sylvia Fowles. She received a standing ovation when the accomplishment was announced. Charles waved and pointed to her former U-Conn. teammate Kalana Greene, whom Charles called her best friend.

“It means everything,” Charles said. “Especially Rebekkah Brunson, it’s very unfortunate she was left off that Top 25 [players in WNBA history]. Rebekkah Brunson is one of the dominant players. Coming out of the Big East and knowing what she represented there. She was someone I looked up to.

“She set the tone for rebounding. So, to go past Rebekkah Brunson, it’s more so about her and how she set the tone to me.”

Theresa Plaisance scored 14 points off the bench for the Mystics and Natasha Cloud added 13 points, six assists and four steals. Every Washington player that stepped on the floor scored during the game.

Courtney Williams paced the Dream with 23 points, Monique Billings chipped in 14 point and 10 rebounds and Tiffany Hayes finished with 13 points.

The Mystics have struggled mightily on the defensive end of the floor recently and the 74 points were the fewest Washington has allowed since a 78-68 win over the Sparks on Aug. 24.

“I thought we did a really, really good job defensively,” Coach Mike Thibault said. “Even [Williams] she had to work to get them. She had to shoot it over a hand in their face. . . . Billings got most of hers early and not a lot late.”

Thibault singled out the defense of guards Natasha Cloud and Leilani Mitchell.

“Obviously, [Cloud] did her usual getting up into Tiffany Hayes. And I thought our other guards, particularly Leilani at the start, made Aari McDonald work.”

The season-long trend of playing shorthanded continued for the Mystics as they were without Elena Delle Donne (back), Myisha Hines-Allen (non-covid illness) and Ariel Atkins (personal reasons). Delle Donne is now dealing with a nerve issue after getting banged up in her second game back from a pair of back surgeries that kept her out the better part of two years.

Hines-Allen remains out with an illness that doctors have yet be able to diagnose. Thibault said she’s doing better, but is extremely fatigued and not ready to return to the court.

All three are expected to miss Sunday’s game at Chicago.

Things weren’t much better for the Dream as they were without Odyssey Sims (personal reasons), Cyrstal Bradford (foot), Tianna Hawkins (foot) and Cheyenne Parker (pregnancy).

“Tonight was big for us,” Cloud said. “We needed this. We needed the momentum. We needed the confidence. We needed this game. We are very aware of where we are in the standings. We’re very aware that we’re fighting for our lives to get in the playoffs. I’m really proud of this group with the resiliency of being able to bounce back from a really bad loss in Seattle.

“Through all the injuries, through all the adversity, to come out tonight and get a good feeling win was huge for us.”

Published : September 11, 2021

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Josh Bell homers in return to Pittsburgh, but Nats bullpen blows another lead

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PITTSBURGH – For the first five years of his career in the majors, Josh Bell came to PNC Park and strolled through the corridors on the field level until arriving at the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse, where he had become a beloved teammate as well as a fan favorite.

On Friday, Bell headed in the opposite direction, to the visitor’s clubhouse with his Washington Nationals’ teammates for the opener in the three-game series. The journey was just a little bit awkward.

“It’s my first time walking through this tunnel,” Bell, who joined the Nationals this past offseason, said while standing in front of the visitor’s dugout roughly 90 minutes prior to first pitch. “First time being in that clubhouse.”

Bell was far more comfortable at the plate, sparking the Nationals (58-83) to a two-run lead with a homer in the sixth. The bullpen, however, doomed Washington again in a 4-3 loss after Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to drive in the decisive run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, wasting a strong start from Josh Rogers.

Well before the collapse that unfolded when relievers Patrick Murphy and Alberto Baldonado failed to record the final three outs, Bell had blasted a solo shot off Pirates reliever Sam Howard on an 0-1 fastball that sailed over the wall in left center. It was the switch hitter’s 26th homer, matching his second-most in a season.

In 2019, Bell set his personal mark for homers with 37 while playing 143 games with the Pirates. He also had career highs of 116 RBIs, 94 runs and 146 hits with a .277 batting average, on the way to being named an all-star for the first and only time in his career.

Friday’s blast was the ninth homer of the season for Bell while batting right-handed, and extended a run of hitting safely in 16 of 18 games. Over that time Bell is hitting .313 (21-for-67) with six homers, four doubles, 15 RBIs and eight runs. He also walked twice, bumping his total to 13 in that span.

The first baseman has hit safely in 21 of 24 games and entered Friday hitting .294 over his last 23 games with an on-base percentage of .400 and a slugging percentage of .565.

Bell exchanged pleasantries with a handful of former teammates, and appreciative Pirates supporters greeted him with two ovations, the first during pregame player introductions.

Then they rose from their seats when Bell walked to the plate for the first time to face Pittsburgh opening pitcher Steven Brault, who worked two innings during which time the Nationals took a 2-0 lead.

“It was cool,” Bell said. “You really don’t know what to expect going into it, but I was happy to get somewhat of a good turnout here, cool little video tribute that they put together for me. It was definitely icing on the cake to hit a homer as well.”

Catcher Riley Adams, all 6-foot-4, 246 pounds of him, drove in the Nationals’ first run in the second inning with his first career triple after third baseman Carter Kieboom drew a leadoff walk. Adams scored when center fielder Lane Thomas connected on a sharp liner to left.

Pittsburgh got one back in the third off Rogers, who permitted a leadoff double to Cole Tucker. The Pirates shortstop scored two batters later on Hayes’s sacrifice fly to center. Rogers also gave up a leadoff solo homer in the seventh to Anthony Alford.

The 26-year-old left-hander making his second start with the Nationals and just the fifth of his career recorded two outs in the seventh before departing on the heels of a single from pinch hitter Wilmer Difo, formerly of the Nationals for the previous six seasons.

Rogers exited with Washington leading 3-2 after giving up eight hits with one walk and a one strikeout over 6 2/3 innings in the longest outing of his career, which began in 2018 with the Baltimore Orioles.

“I thought he came out of the game throwing fastballs and just challenging guys,” said Nationals bench coach Tim Bogar, who managed while Dave Martinez served a one-game suspension for his involvement in Wednesday’s incident in which reliever Sean Nolin hit Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman. “He did a really good job of getting after people with that.”

Andres Machado pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief following Rogers, who averted what had the makings of a productive inning for the Pirates in the sixth when they started with consecutive singles. But Rogers induced three straight fly outs to escape damage.

Murphy and Baldonado could not muster the same. With closer Kyle Finnegan getting a second straight night off, Murphy got the first crack at closing, but Alford led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Ben Gamel followed with a walk.

Two wild pitches later, Pittsburgh (51-90) had runners on second and third with one out, and Murphy gave way to Baldonado. Pinch-hitter Colin Morgan’s hard-hit groundout off Baldonado allowed Alford to score the tying run before Hayes ended it.

“I mean, that’s baseball,” Rogers said. “It is what it is. Obviously everybody in that locker room was fighting hard and wants to get the win. Hopefully we’ll come back tomorrow and compete.”

Published : September 11, 2021