Featured
Simone Biles Leaves Olympics a Winner, and So Does Suni Lee
In her comeback to the Olympic Games on August 3, Simone Biles won the bronze medal for a workmanlike job on the balance beam. She didn’t pull any punches. She gave the punches she could. The ones that were still in her.
In her comeback to the Olympic Games on August 3, Simone Biles won the bronze medal for a workmanlike job on the balance beam. She didn’t pull any punches. She gave the punches she could. The ones that were still in her.
After these Olympics, on the balance beam of life, is there any doubt, Biles deserves a gold something? With all her events completed, the biggest star in U.S.A. gymnastics ever leaves these 2020 games held in 2021 a survivor.
Consider Biles’ week plagued by the “twisties,” when a gymnast feels out of synch with her body, unable to tell up from down while tucking and rolling and flinging herself in the air. And then there was the overall pressure of a games that perhaps never should have been. One year delayed? Why not two? Why not cancel it during a world-wide pandemic?
Does any country value a medal in Global Public Health? (No).
Or were the financial obligations to sponsors and NBC too great to ignore at the expense of reason? (Yes).
All that put pressure on Biles, an Olympic legend and a known public face, to be the marquee name. In fact, the only justification for the games to be sold in a time of disease and division was that the Olympics could be a positive, unifying world force.
Instead, it was just a world-wide distraction dwarfed by the virus that has grown to nearly 200 million confirmed cases and claimed 4.25 million lives. It’s death on an Olympic scale. Give the virus a medal. It evolved into a variant.
And of course, on top of all that, consider Biles’ personal story as a victim at the hands of a former Olympic team doctor, the now disgraced mass sexual abuser, Larry Nasser.
With all that compounded, would you feel like jumping for joy on demand? In Japan? And she doesn’t even like sushi. (Did you see her reaction to a platter on the Today Show?)
On her comeback Tuesday, in her final individual event, though everyone wanted to see Biles do the thing she will be forever known for—her signature move — a dismounting double-twisting, double-back somersault–—she didn’t do it.
She went back to a move she last did at age 12.
She had already done so much for these Olympics that seemed lost without fans. And for a few days, the games were without one of its biggest names on the gym floor.
Biles was neither chilling nor copping out. When she withdrew, she knew the depths of her team’s ability and selflessly went from competitor to cheerleader—encouraging young talent like Sunisa “Suni” Lee, the 18-year-old Asian American who had been a close No. 2 to Biles in competitions leading up to the Olympics.
In her first Olympics, Lee said she was just going for silver. But then when her opportunity came, and with Biles’ blessing, she seized the moment, and by just .135 of a point won the gold in the all-around individual competition, the major event that was supposed to have been Biles’ moment.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
City Government
Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Special to The Post
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.
Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”
According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.
“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”
When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.
At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”
While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.
“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.
The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.
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