City Weekly May 25, 2023

CITY WEEKLY

CITY WEEKLY

New food and community-building programs are unlocking barriers for Indigenous people of Utah and the Southwest

By Aimee L. Cook

S AP

BOX

Buyer Beware

For many years, the American dream has included the pursuit of a college degree. Unfortunately, today’s college graduates face an unprecedented predicament. The debt incurred to get that degree far exceeds the potential income earned in the short term.

According to BestColleges, the average cost of a four-year, in-state education is $140,000. If that student has a loan at 6% interest for 15 years, that’s another $75,000. That’s the cost of a moderate house in some areas.

Beyond college, our economy still provides ample work for tradesmen. But many plumbers and electricians are paid to learn their trade, with ample work and opportunity available along the way. Although overlooked, a trade can provide a fulfilling life, full of challenge, and the financial stability to be more than comfortable.

To have the opportunity to pursue a degree, many students will spend at least two years of high school working toward padding their resume with activities and test results. At the very least, for most adolescents, this means countless hours working toward a test with no longitudinal tie to any matrix of success, at the cost of time spent figuring out their passions or interests or simply being a kid.

As a reward for sacrificing their childhood, college applicants get the approval of their parents and a trip on the Hedonic Treadmill, sponsored by our “intellectual elite.” In their (likely) mandatory two years of liberal arts

studies, students will be challenged to master subjects such as a foreign language or music appreciation in lieu of anything practical like how to file taxes or use index funds and compound interest to retire early.

To offset the mounting cost of education, many parents should consider starting their student at a community college. There are many benefits to community college. Most students can cover the cost of their education by working. By learning to balance both work and school, students can learn valuable lessons about time management and fiscal responsibility.

During their two years at community college, the goal should be not just to gain credits but to experiment within different fields of work, until the student has a clear vision for their future. Once ignited, the process of college should become more fulfilling and enriching.

The fact is that higher education has value. However, for many, the cost

needs to be a part of a deeper conversation. Families need to start facing the reality that higher education might be their biggest investment. This means the decision has significant costs that must be carefully weighed against the value of the experience, as well as the long term earning potential of the degree against other opportunities.

Finally, an important footnote: where students go to school is not a reflection of their parents. Nor should the college search process be a referendum on the parents’ success.

Instead, the process should help the student earn an education that will give them the skills to live a self-rewarding and self-sustaining life.

BRENDAN RYAN Salt Lake City

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THE WATER COOLER

If you could have a dream house anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Wes Long

Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, I think. That or on a Swiss mountainside.

Scott Renshaw

Just walking distance from Disneyland. That works for me.

Kelly Boyce

A tropical location on the beach with a lazy river going through the house and a nearby concert venue.

Katharine Biele

A small tree-lined cottage with a brick path to the front porch for sitting in a rural area where no one has heard of MAGA.

Benjamin Wood

A cabin in the woods by a creek, with a bike trail that drops right into town and a cog rail line to get me back up the mountain (note: Cog rail is also the right choice for Little and Big Cottonwood canyons. On second thought, we just need to build more rail, and my dream home is here).

Paula Saltas

Crete, Greece. The best place to be— beautiful beaches, and your life expectancy is high with eating great food and swimming in the sea. I just want to hang out and drink a frappe, eat kalitsounia (cheese pastries) and play backgammon.

OPINION

BY MICHAEL S. ROBINSON SR.

Dark Skies

As a child I dreamed of flying and, on a lark, I took my first lesson in 1978.

Anxious for my pilot license, I arranged for lessons every afternoon. I started on a Monday; on Friday, my instructor had me land at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport and directed me to stop in front of the airport’s little café. She—yes, my instructor was a follower of Amelia Earhart—said, “Michael, I want you to do two takeoffs and landings, and then taxi back to meet me.” I felt totally unprepared, and I gave her one of those looks—like “You have to be kidding!” She told me, “You’re ready, and you’ll be fine.”

As I taxied away from the terminal, my knees were knocking together in fright—visions of imminent death swirling through my mind. And yet, I somehow survived that first solo flight.

Though it started only as a recreational pursuit, flying almost immediately became a useful tool in my business, allowing me to have same-day appointments in multiple cities, while not being tied to the wasted time of sitting in airports, waiting for scheduled airline flights.

During my many years as a businessman, I personally piloted my company aircraft all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico, accumulating more than 5,000 hours in the “left seat.” As an added bonus, I was able to take my family on many of the trips—mixing business with pleasure.

Because “time is money,” I didn’t have the option of sitting on the ground, waiting for inclement weather to pass. If I had an appointment in a distant city, I would be there—no excuses.

I remember several times when wintertime departure visibility was limited to only the runway centerline ahead,

and I descended, many times, from my cruise altitude to situations of minimum-allowable approach and landing visibility.

As an instrument-rated commercial pilot flying complex, multi-engine aircraft in all kinds of weather, I did most of my return flights at night—after my meetings with clients had ended. Flying up to 29,000 feet in pressurized comfort—and often above a thick cloud ceiling—I could identify many of the major populated areas by the glow that showed through. Places like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Boston, New York City and Seattle emitted an amazing amount of light, sometimes brightly piercing thousands of feet of the clouds below me. It always amazed me, the sheer intensity and power of the light, and I sometimes contemplated the amazing amount of energy that was used in lighting our world.

In many areas, there was no light at all. I’d have a grand view of the stars and moon above. Likewise, I sometimes chose to overnight in the least populated areas, where I was treated to an inspiring, planetarium-quality show. Stanley, Idaho, at the headwaters of the Salmon River, was one of my favorites. The sky there was stunning.

When one considers the impact of mankind on our planet, we have plenty of reason to worry: Our land is covered with garbage; the pollution of our oceans is choking our sea life; space junk and debris are floating, in orbit, through our heavens; water supplies, once pristine and pure, are impacted by industry, making them threats to the health of people and animals; the disaster of mining and drilling have released forever-toxins into the ground, the water and the air.

This out-of-control pollution of our finite resources should be a matter of everyone’s concern.

Luckily, the world is becoming acutely aware of all types of pollution and, while it’s really been just a drop in the bucket, many governments are taking firm measures to ensure that we, with all our modern technology, don’t trash our world for future generations. As science attempts to save our planet, conservation plans are proliferating. One of those is a relatively new effort to protect those areas of our country that enjoy dark skies at night.

In Utah, we’re blessed with quite a few designated “dark sky areas.” One is right here, in the backyard of the Wasatch Front population. In 2019, Heber City—considered to be a jewel of the “Wasatch Back”—passed an ordinance to control light pollution.

The focus of Heber’s laws were the following: 1. Only light the area that needs it; 2. Be no brighter than necessary; 3. Minimize blue light emissions and; 4. Eliminate upward-directed light.

But now, there’s a challenge to the standard on “upward-directed light,” which is actually the most harmful element and critical for preventing unnecessary atmospheric refraction from destroying the nighttime view. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has decided to build a temple in Heber, and it has succeeded in getting the city to soften its dark-sky standards, allowing some upward-directed lights, but at a reduced intensity. Obviously, were it not for the fact that the city council is composed almost entirely of Latter-day Saints, such an easy default on new light-pollution rules would not have occurred. For those who aren’t part of the faith, the rule variance is a stunning affront to the area’s nighttime beauty. There’s been plenty of outcry, but the church is prevailing.

It’s really sad that a religion’s need for bright-light advertising has become more important than protecting our treasured dark-sky resources. The church has shown that an impressive production is far more important than preserving the beauty of the Heber Valley.

It’s shameful.

If a religion, expected to honor mankind’s custodial responsibility for our world, feels entitled to unnecessarily hurt the environment, there’s something terribly wrong. All Utahns should be up in arms about the church’s imminent contribution to a community’s light pollution, and Heber City needs to stick to its guns on the importance of its continuing dark-sky standards. CW

Private Eye is off this week. Michael S. Robinson Sr. writes a weekly online column for City Weekly called Taking a Gander. Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele THE

MISS: High and Dry

We’re not alone. At least as terminal lakes go, the Great Salt Lake is in good company. In the most recent terrifying news, The Washington Post reported that climate change is drying up lakes faster than scientists thought. “A warming climate and human water consumption drove at least half of the decline in natural lakes, the study found.” Meanwhile, GSL is still kicking up toxic dust despite having risen about 5 feet since the doomsday shrinkage, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. But with dust clouds and existing pollution in the valley, EPA is conducting an “environmental justice study” to determine the effects on the west side of the valley. What’s out there to make things worse? The information-murky Utah inland port, with its idling trains and busy warehouses. Even if lawmakers are skeptical of climate change, they should take heed of the deadly pollution their development-friendly policies are creating.

MISS: Cutting the Mics

Most Utahns wouldn’t think of St. George as a communist stronghold, but that type of wild accusation is what caused the mayor to call a halt to free speech at council meetings. At one April meeting, a crowd accused some council members of a secret agenda to make “St. George the drag queen hub of the West,” The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The problem was that drag shows weren’t even on the agenda. If you’re wondering why this is happening, so does Utah’s governor. The New Yorker Radio Hour had an explanation of sorts. Politics has been nationalized and in the United States, the culture war is unique around the world. In order to get back to business, governments may have to tell audiences to shut up. To those who say it’s unAmerican, they should know that freedom of speech is not absolute. Unless, of course, it’s on Twitter.

HIT: Bailed Out

While the anti-federal government movement is alive and well in Utah, there are some bright spots—if only people would quit screaming “socialism.” During the COVID pandemic—not counting all the grim deaths—education was the big loser. Online learning was often the only option, but everyone suffered as a result. “It’s a national tragedy. And its impact will be felt for generations.” Kathleen Brown, director of the University of Utah Reading Clinic told The Salt Lake Tribune. And because money often makes the difference between success and failure, Utah was awarded more than $1 billion to shore up K-12 education. In total, the federal government spent more than $4.2 trillion to keep the economy afloat, and sadly many states have yet to use those funds. The good news is that many Utah recipients have benefitted, and Utah is just barely below the national average of spending before the September 2024 deadline. One problem, if you care about education, is the GOP insistence on rescinding the unspent money as part of its debt ceiling negotiations.

STREETS

WITH BRYANT HEATH | @slsees

Gone, But Not Forgotten

There is an old saying in marketing textbooks that “businesses come and go, but brands stay forever.” No doubt, a large part of a brand’s appeal is its iconic imagery. What would Nike be without their patented “swoosh” or Coca-Cola without its fancifully embellished script? Perhaps just another company lost in the annals of history.

Mega-corporations aren’t necessarily Salt Lake’s forte, but the city has its fair share of local businesses whose vintage signage can still be spotted around town, generating that same sense of recognition among locals.

Outside the pop-up Acme Bar Co. on 2100 South and Windsor Street, you can find a speedy pizza deliverer (above photo). I’d imagine most pass by without giving it much thought, but if you are of a certain generation—here’s looking at you Gen X—seeing this lederhosen lad transports you back to Dër Ratskeller Pizza Shoppe, the former tenants of the building, where you could split a whole pizza with your teenage friends for around $3.

Similarly, across the street is a Snelgrove sign (lower left). In a past life, this welcomed you to the Snelgrove ice cream factory before Dreyer’s moved in and subsequently closed, leaving the lot vacant for housing developers.

The other Snelgrove signage still in the city is the infamous all-black cone at the Jimmy John’s on 400 South and 600 East (lower right). Depending on whom you ask, it was allegedly painted over in a dispute between the owner and preservationists, or is a cheesy marketing gimmick. Regardless, you can’t argue that it’s memorable!

It’s no coincidence Sugar House is known for a collection of vintage signs. That area is at the forefront of preservation via their Historic Sign Committee, part of their local Community Council. They championed a zoning change in 2017 that made it easier to reuse vintage signage during redevelopment and enlist volunteers to locate signs via the SLC Mobile App.

I think it’s safe to say that protecting this type of neighborhood character is something we all—NIMBYs and YIMBYs alike—can get behind! CW

A speedy delivery boy with a fresh pie marks the former Sugar House location of Dër Ratskeller Pizza Shoppe.

The ice cream fridges may be long gone from these former Snelgrove locations, but their iconic double-scoops live on.

Big Shiny Robot

Pay the Writers

A writers’ strike and the surge of AI makes respecting the craft all the more urgent.

BY BRYAN YOUNG comments@cityweekly.net @swankmotron

Writing is an artistic craft, like any other. At its most basic, the art of writing is essentially based on shining the light of feelings and ideas through a prism of empathy, influences and art. On the other side, you get a rainbow of understanding for readers to perceive, enjoy and (hopefully) allow them to grow.

“If it isn’t for the writing,” legendary Hollywood producer Irving Thalberg famously said, “we’ve got nothing. Writers are the most important people in Hollywood. And we must never let them know it.” Right now, thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence and the abysmal treatment of writers that led them to go on strike in Hollywood, writers are being forced to assert their self-worth in clearer terms than ever. It’s a chance to figure out what the place of the writer is in the 21st century, and how we move forward.

But to be a writer, at this moment in the 21st century, is to be inherently undervalued. Consider this: National magazines at the beginning of the 20th century would pay columnists and short-story writers as much as $1 per written word. Imagine how well you could survive on selling a single 5000-word short story to the Saturday Evening Post in 1920. Even in today’s dollars, that $5000 would be a king’s ransom.

Compare that to the professional going rate today, though: a paltry minimum of 8 cents a word. For every outlet that pays even as much as 25 cents a word, there are a hundred more that want to pay you in “exposure,” or the hope of royalties, instead of cash for your labor. Part of the reason for this switch is that many readers don’t actually like paying for words anymore, hence the foofaraw over lawsuits against the Internet Archive, who spent some time during the pandemic just giving away digital books

A&E

without actually, you know, paying the writers. The pay a writer earns doesn’t include all of the work it takes to learn about what you’re writing about, too. When I write about Star Wars or Doctor Who, or any of the other licensed universes I’m paid to work in or write about, I’m only paid for the written words, not for the effort that goes into learning enough about these worlds to write about them competently. That’s just another sacrifice a writer is expected to make.

Even when writers band together in unions and get publishing deals, few writers have the means to ply their craft as anything but a side-gig. The capitalist society of the United States loves the work of writers, but is actively hostile to a political system and lifestyle that would actually produce high quantities of great writers. I lament all of the future Shakespeares, Kurt Vonneguts and Ursula K. Leguins whose words the world will never have, because instead of making a living in short fiction and building to their great full-length novels, these writers are instead working themselves to the bone for the bare necessities to live.

At the end of the day, Hollywood knows they have nothing without writers. Publishers have nothing without writers. Readers can’t read without writers.

Tech-bros, however, are pointing to AI and saying, “We

can do this without writers.” But have you read any of the drivel produced by AI? It’s nonsensical. AI has no capacity to create that prism through which good art shines. Even if AI writing gets better at becoming a facsimile of the writing humans can do, it will still lack the depth of emotion, creativity and spirit of a human writer—because artificial intelligence doesn’t have emotions. It can’t. It never will.

So, what can you do? You can put your money where your mouth is. Pay for the words you want to see, the shows you want to watch, the movies you want to enjoy. Buy the books you want to read. Subscribe to that newspaper. And then, once you’ve devoured these written words, crafted at the hands of artisans, shout about it from the rooftops, and feel good about the investment you made.

Otherwise, we’re going to end up in a world where the only people who can afford to be writers are those who are on the payroll of companies that don’t care about the empathy-building, world-changing nature of a finelycrafted story. And even then, these happy few will likely only be paid to prompt AI to write the stories for them.

Vonnegut said that writing (or practicing any art), no matter how badly, is a way to make your soul grow. But computers don’t have souls, so pay actual writers to grow theirs. Cross our palms with silver, and watch the world become a better place. CW

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

Chasten Buttigieg: I Have Something to Tell You

Being the spouse of a politician is no easy task, requiring one to maintain an image of perfection and unwavering support, and dealing with the inevitable public criticisms of your partner. That job becomes even harder when you’re the spouse of one of the first-ever high-profile gay politicians—including a campaign for President of the United States. But as Chasten Buttigieg—husband of former South Bend, Indiana mayor and current Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg—relates in his memoir I Have Something to Tell You, dealing with difficult situations and possible rejection was just part of growing up gay in small-town Michigan.

I Have Something to Tell You chronicles Chasten’s childhood and youth trying to blend in and keep his homosexuality a secret. But it also relates his ultimate decision to come out, and the impact on his life and relationships of finally acknowledging his true self. This newly-released young adult edition of the original 2020 memoir has been entirely rewritten with new stories, along with special resources for adolescent readers, parents and teachers, as a way to help guide young people on their own challenging journeys.

Chasten Buttigieg visits the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (20 S. West Temple) on Friday, May 26 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., in conversation with Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams. This ticketed event, sponsored by The King’s English Bookshop, costs $30, which includes admission for two to the event and a pre-signed hardcover copy of I Have Something to Tell You. Visit kingsenglish.com for the Eventbrite ticketing link and other event information (Scott Renshaw)

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

Utah Symphony: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3

If it has seemed like a particularly long goodbye for outgoing Utah Symphony music director/conductor Thierry Fischer, that’s only because— like everything related to the COVID pandemic—time got wonky over the past few years. When he originally announced in 2019 his plans to depart at the end of his contract, that target date was the end of the 2021-2022 season, but Fischer extended his tenure in light of the pandemic’s impact on the search for the next music director (which is still ongoing).

This weekend marks a chance to bid farewell to Maestro Fischer with a program featuring the work of one of his favorite composers, Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 3, an evening-length, six-movement piece composed circa 1893 – 1896, and which selected in a survey of composers for BBC Music Magazine as one of the ten greatest symphonies of all time. Joining the Utah Symphony will the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, and students of the Madeleine Choir School, for a work that the program describes as “contemplating nature, humanity, spirituality and love.”

Thierry Fischer conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 at Abravanel Hall (123 W. South Temple) on Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.50 - $105. Ticket-holders are invited to attend a pre-concert chat with selected musicians and performers, held 45 minutes before performances times in the First Tier Room, and for a pre-performance lobby concert by members of the Symphony’s Youth Guild. Visit utahsymphony.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

MARCO BORGGREVE

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical @ Eccles Theater

The compelling life story of music icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tina Turner has been presented in multiple formats, including Turner’s own 1986 autobiography I, Tina and its Oscar-nominated 1993 biopic film adaptation What’s Love Got to Do With It. It took a surprisingly long time, however, for the Tina Turner story to find what intuitively feels like its natural genre: the stage musical. But at long last, in 2018, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical hit theaters first in London, then ultimately to Broadway in 2019. It begins with the story of Tina’s youth as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee singing in the church choir. After moving to St. Louis to reunite with her mother and sister, Anna Mae first meets musician Ike Turner, eventually joining him on tour, where Ike gave her the stage name Tina Turner. Thus began a tumultuous relationship with Ike that involved physical abuse and Ike’s drug addiction, and the split that ultimately led to Tina’s successful 1980s solo career. Tina follows the full arc of that life, including a lineup of amazing songs including “Proud Mary,” “Better Be Good to Me,” “Private Dancer,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and many more.

Broadway Across America’s touring production of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical visits the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) May 30 – June 4, with tickets $50 - $149. Performance dates and times vary; visit arttix.org for full calendar of performances, to purchase tickets, and for additional event information. (SR)

Join us for our REVAMPED one-day Utah Cann event where Art, Music & Cannabis collide. The goal of our revamped event is to make cannabis related products & services more socially acceptable, introduce Utah to emerging psychoactive medicine alternatives (psilocybin, ketamine, etc), and highlight the art and music that they inspire. There will be no panel/speakers at this event and an emphasis will be placed on entertainment to draw in a broader audience.

CANNABIS + ART + MUSIC

NEW LOCATION

Dreamscapes and the adjacent Utah Arts Alliance massive one-story event space at the Shops at South Town. A project of the nonprofit Utah Arts Alliance, Dreamscapes is born from the imaginations of more than 100 artists, builders and audio-visual wizards. Dreamscapes’ mission is to empower, inspire, and include all members of our community by re-imagining the traditional definition of art. dreamscapesslc.org

10450 STATE STREET • SANDY, UT dreamscapes.art

Native SOIL

New food and communitybuilding programs are unlocking barriers for Indigenous people of Utah and the Southwest

BY AIMEE L. COOK comments@cityweekly.net

If Bleu Adams’ name sounds familiar, it’s probably for a good reason. She and her late brother, chef Mark Daniel Mason (of Blue Poblano) served as fearless advocates for their community on the Navajo Nation—especially younger generations—and the Indigenous community at large in Utah.

Their voices reverberated throughout various tribal communities as advocates for change and the betterment of all humanity. And, after losing Mason to COVID in 2021, Adams has continued to carry the water with the help of her family, volunteers and many others who understand the importance of creating sustainable change—and how it begins with nutrition.

The Navajo Nation has long struggled with a lack of access to healthy food. Located in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the reservation spans over 27,000 square miles—roughly the size of Virginia—and is home to more than 170,000 people. But with a total of only 13 grocery stores available to residents, many must drive more than an hour to purchase fresh food.

The food scarcity on the Navajo reservation is not just a matter of convenience, but a health crisis. The lack of access to healthy food has contributed to high rates of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. Due to reservation’s vast and sparsely populated areas, many families rely on convenience stores and gas stations for meals.

“When I opened my first restaurant, [Black Sheep], I was really troubled because I was providing beautiful food and dishes, but less than 5% of our clientele was Indigenous,” Adams said. “I was already in the space of ‘What can I do for the community?’ because that is how we are raised—we don’t succeed without each other.”

Adams said despite the success of her restaurant, she didn’t feel successful due to a lack of community connection. That led her to consider the different barriers that people face— which extends to internet connectivity and financial resources—and inspired her to launch the nonprofit IndigeHub.

“I came across a [social media] post from a childhood friend who said it had taken him two days to complete a [job] application and get it printed and turned in,” Adams said. “This is due to

lack of access.”

Creating a sustainable food supply is no easy feat, especially when you consider the challenges on the Navajo Nation, where land is leased to the people by the U.S. government. But despite the obstacles, there are many who work tirelessly toward the goal of achieving food sovereignty and ending food scarcity in their community.

Many, like Adams, look at the challenges as an opportunity to find “green” ways to achieve access. From farmers to activists, educators to volunteers, there is a diverse group of individuals who understand the importance of creating a sustainable and resilient food system. Their efforts may not always make the headlines, but they are nonetheless vital to creating a better future for the Navajo people, offering hope that some of the most pressing

issues can be solved through collective effort toward a common purpose.

Planting Seeds

Some Native Americans still live without running water or electricity. In addition, many families in the Navajo Nation live below the poverty level and do not have a physical address, therefore having little access to capital or a way to secure a loan.

Adams and other members of the community have acted to address these overlapping crises. With IndigeHub, she is on a mission “to empower Indigenous communities through culturally informed, sustainable solutions that prioritize self-sufficiency and long-term success.”

IndigeHub offers three programs: the CoWork Hub, Food Hub and Blackbird Shared Kitchen, which is sched-

“The work we are doing isn’t just for the benefit of the Indigenous community. It is for the benefit of all.” —Bleu Adams

Continued from page 23

uled to reopen in the spring of 2024. Through these various programs, Native Americans have access to the internet, business tools, education and support for local food producers and aspiring chefs.

“Many of our community members lack resources—electricity, access to public utilities, etc.—yet they are asked to compete with the rest of the United States,” Adams added. “I wanted to understand why, and it really boils down to a directive to disconnect us from our land in order to extract natural resources. And that is just the truth.”

She also emphasized that solutions to food insecurity and health care disparities aren’t limited to tribal communities, but can inform strategies for a better quality of life overall. “The work we are doing isn’t just for the benefit of the Indigenous community,” Adams said. “It is for the benefit of all.”

Jaiden Willeto lives on the reservation near Window Rock, Arizona, and is the food sovereignty coordinator for DragonFly Farms on the Navajo reservation. She grows food using ancient Indigenous practices, utilizing dryland farming and the monsoon season.

Food grown on the farm is given to people on the reservation at no charge to assist in better health practices and sustainability. Dragonfly Farms is part of the IndigeHub project, and the hope in the near future is to establish a solar-powered storage container that can serve as a “food hub,” with a washing station and a refrigerator.

Willeto started Dragonfly a year ago, and although she does most of the

work herself, some community members volunteer to help by caring for seed starts, performing routine farm tasks and building compost bins to make their own soil assist in this mutual-aid farm growing nutrient-dense foods for the community.

“People can donate if they want to, but we don’t sell it,” Willeto said. “All of the food that we harvested from last year was given out at farmers’ markets, harvest markets and flea markets. I care about the food people eat— it can be poison or medicine. And I just care about my people, and I want them to be able to feed themselves culturally relevant and spiritually-, mentally-, emotionally- and physically-fulfilling foods and have access to that food without an economic barrier.”

The farm currently sits on 2 acres of land. Willeto practices drip-line irrigation, which requires her to run a hose more than 150 feet from a water spigot, as well as dry-land farming practices. This season, she is planting a corn field that will fully be grown through dryland farming dependent on rainfall.

It is a technique that has been practiced for centuries, although it is increasingly difficult under persistent megadrought. In addition, she plans to grow Indigenous heirloom crops, as those seeds have adapted to the climate because they have been grown on the reservation for generations.

“We are seeing our monsoon seasons change due to climate change,” Willeto said. “Now our monsoon seasons are delayed until the end of July, and they also come more aggressively, so we are getting intense monsoon events where

it will flash flood.”

During times of flooding, fields can be entirely washed out, while the dry periods between storms can stretch on for weeks at a time. She said a goal of the farm is to evolve and adapt to current climate conditions through water efficiency and drought tolerance.

“Last year, we had 100 days with no rain,” she said.

Living Off the Land

Twila Cassadore has a genuine fire for life—a true inspiration, overcoming many obstacles from abuse to addiction. Yet, despite difficult challenges, she harnessed her resilience and passion for her culture to triumph and became a highly regarded teacher. Now, she’s passing down the ancient practices of food harvesting on the reservation with great pride and expertise.

But it’s not just about food for her. It’s a spiritual practice—a way to connect with the land and community.

For the past 25 years, Cassadore has been working closely with the San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache and Yavapai peoples to explore ways to regain food sovereignty. Through interviews with elders, she has brought back valuable information to address health and social problems within these communities.

With a particular focus on the Traditional Western Apache Diet Project, Cassadore has documented the historical importance of the traditional diet of Apaches, such as grass and acorn seeds. Cassadore takes a group of people out onto the land three times a week and teaches them first-hand

what and how to forage.

“People ask how they can help. For me, I start within my community,” Cassadore said. “We need to have those discussions. You don’t see these discussions in high school, and that needs to change; through the education system, we can bring attention to this topic. Being part of the conversation is the first step to finding solutions.”

Through community collaboration and partnerships, there’s hope that the food scarcity on the Navajo reservation will one day become a thing of the past.

It’s important to note that food sovereignty is not just about access to food. It’s also about the right to control one’s own food system. The Navajo people have a long and rich history of farming and ranching, and they have a right to continue these traditions.

Adams says it would take an act of Congress to create real change, which she does not believe will happen in her lifetime. The question then becomes one of what can be done, she said. Do the people of the Navajo Nation submit to the situation that has been created, or learn to empower themselves?

Adams believes that focusing on grassroots and mutual aid is how people survive. They turn to their communities; they find creative solutions; they try to provide whatever is lacking and find a way to create it.

“Each of us has the ability to take this message to our network. That is how we initiate change—it has a ripple effect,” Adams added. “This has been happening in our communities for centuries, but now, we are seeing this happen on a global scale.” CW

“Now our

monsoon

seasons are delayed until the end of July, and they also come more agressively.”

—Jaiden Willeto

“Many of our community members lack resources—electricity, access to public utilities, etc.—yet they are asked to compete with the rest of the United States.”—Bleu Adams BLEU ADAMS BLUE ADAMS

Lost in Translation

Tooele County School District weighs dropping German language immersion program at elementary school as enrollment shrinks.

BY CONNOR SANDERS comments@cityweekly.net

Sprechen sie Deutsch? Even the brightest children in Utah—understandably—wouldn’t be able to answer that question. And while dual language immersion programs have become common in Utah elementary schools, teaching young children to be near-fluent in languages from Spanish to Chinese, there are only two such programs in the entire state that are taught in German.

Before too much longer, there may only be one.

West Elementary School in Tooele may not seem like a diamond in the rough at first—or even second— glance. The air conditioning and heating systems are on their last legs. There’s no fence around the playground. A parent begged school board members to fix the plumbing at a recent meeting after lead from the school’s pipes made it into the children’s water.

West hosts the only German Dual Language Immersion program offered at a traditional public school in Utah (Summit Academy, a charter school in Bluffdale, is the state’s other German immersion

program). West Elementary’s immersion program positions faculty and administrators to provide an unmatched opportunity to the school’s lower-income students, said Glen Turnbow, a parent of two students at West Elementary.

“I’m working hard so my kids keep their program, but also so that kids here have more of an opportunity, financially, to improve learning German,” Turnbow said.

Turnbow learned Spanish while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina. While he found plenty of opportunities to speak Spanish at his jobs, he noted he never got paid more because he could speak Spanish.

While searching on hiring databases like Indeed and Glassdoor, however, Turnbow discovered a swath of high-paying jobs for German speakers in Utah. He teamed up with other parents in an attempt to save the program after the Tooele County School Board expressed concern about the long-term viability of DLI at West Elementary.

“Kids here, they could really use that economic boost,” Turnbow said. Many German colleges also offer free tuition for students, Turnbow noted, if they can speak the language.

Der Anfang (The Beginning)

How did an elementary in Tooele land in this idiosyncratic position? Built in 1959, West Elementary is one of the oldest buildings in Tooele County School District. The district embraced dual-language immersion at its elementary schools in the early 2010s, launching programs in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and—in 2014 at West—German.

German immersion classes bumped enrollment in the first couple of years. Before the program started, there were 48 first graders at West Elementary. But in the program’s first year, first-grade enrollment jumped to 72, with 54 participating in German duallanguage immersion.

As the years wore on, the lopsided class sizes between the German immersion classes and the traditional English language classes only grew, creating budgetary headaches that undermine the program’s enrollment success.

(Before we go any further, let’s pause to understand what the phrase “FTE” means. FTE stands for “full-time equivalent” and is a formulaic representation for how much funding a school district has available to allocate toward paying staff and personnel. The work of two parttime teachers can add up to one FTE. Districts have ideal funding ratios for how many students should correspond to an FTE, which could be one teacher or could represent a combination of staff resources.)

Tooele’s personnel standards call for 25 students per FTE at the elementary level, district spokesman Brett Valdez said, though that ratio is a guideline as specific staffing ratios vary from school to school. The growing class-size disparities at West threw the district’s overall FTE standards out of whack.

Teachers in West Elementary’s traditional programs were giving lessons to groups of maybe 11 students, while those at other schools in the district— bursting at the seams with their own enrollment growth—faced overcrowded classrooms.

“The FTE ratio at West [Elementary] is much lower and it makes education much more expensive,” Valdez said. “The parents there enjoy that, but it’s harder to justify when you have other schools that don’t have the same ratio.”

In response, the district school board decided to reassign the traditional teachers at West Elementary to other schools in the district, designating West as a “magnet school” in 2019. They dropped the English-language classes and, from then on, only taught German immersion courses beginning at first grade, with traditional kindergarten programs.

But this created new problems, including dwindling enrollment at West Elementary that pushed the board to weigh reversing its decision.

Lopsided enrollment in Tooele’s West Elementary School’s German dual language immersion program has created budgetary headaches that could shut the program down. DREAMSTIME

Die Zukunft (The Future)

Tooele school board members are plotting how to fit more kids at West to relieve enrollment pressure at other elementary schools packed to the gills.

Enrollment continued to shrink after the magnet school designation. As of the 2022-23 school year, there were only 193 students enrolled at the school, including kindergartners. Meanwhile, the next smallest elementary school in Tooele, Northlake Elementary, ballooned to a population of 567.

In particular, Settlement Canyon Elementary is quickly approaching its building capacity and administrators theorize that turning West Elementary back into a traditional neighborhood school would ease the burden there and at other surrounding schools.

There are a number of options for the program’s future that the school board is considering. The list is too long to include here, but of the seven presented at an April board meeting, three recommended phasing out the German immersion program completely. The district has committed to providing German instruction through sixth grade to all current students, and those who will enter first grade this fall.

There is also the issue of repairing the dilapidated school campus. The district is studying the potential for asking voters to approve a bond to rebuild the school, but that likely wouldn’t happen for at least a few years.

At a board meeting in April, administrators laid out a timeline in which they would most likely ask for a bond in 2026 to avoid raising property taxes and break ground in the spring of 2027. It would take about two years to rebuild, so a new school will start taking students in 2029.

German is not the only language program potentially on the chopping block. All of Tooele’s dual-immersion programs are being evaluated as the district looks to align itself with its ideal FTE-to-student ratios.

Die Kinder (The Children)

No matter what the board decides, it’s clear that West Elementary desperately needs upgrades. Under Utah’s open enrollment laws, parents can opt to take their kids to any school in, or even outside, their home district. If the German program is phased out and the school returns to a traditional model, the need for updates will only grow.

“If I were to move in, and I saw a nice school, or a crummy, old school, I’d want my kids at the nice school,” Turnbow said. “They have all the nice, new stuff. Why wouldn’t you want your kid to go there?”

At a meeting on May 9, operations director Ian Silva told board members the district has only made $128,500 worth of improvements at West Elementary since 2016—buying blinds for windows and an ice machine for the faculty room. The board approved $250,000 worth of repairs, including plumbing fixes to remove lead in the water, as part of its capital outlay for next year.

The German Dual-language Immersion program hasn’t been set up for success, in Turnbow’s estimation. Students cannot be easily admitted to the school after second grade since West doesn’t offer traditional classes. He argued that if a family with an older child and another in kindergarten moves in close to West, they’ll likely choose another school that can accommodate both of their children at once.

Turnbow and other parents are concerned the district will repeat the same mistakes that led to the school being reclassified in 2019. Filling the school up with traditional classes will put further stress on the facilities, he argues, and parents have worked tirelessly with school staff to recruit more students, posting yard signs, sending letters to parents at nearby schools and creating promotional videos.

And young families are coming. Since Turnbow moved into his house two years ago, eight more families have arrived on the street. Many have elementary-aged kids but can’t enroll in the German program at West because they’re too old and don’t have the option of English-only courses there.

Turnbow thinks people are sleeping on the potential that learning German at such a young age could have for students. The students who were the first to enroll in the program in 2014 are reaching high school age now, and Turnbow has heard they’re still mastering German on foreign exchange trips and more.

“I’ve heard of some families that have gone to Germany, and their kids are just talking away,” Turnbow said. “They’re doing all the translating, negotiating pay and finding out what to do because they can speak it.”

Valdez encouraged parents to keep an eye on upcoming agendas for further board discussions on the future of the dual language immersions programs in Tooele. He added that the board has placed a priority on being transparent and “wants to have those discussions publicly.”

For now, West Elementary will continue its current programming in the 2023-24 school year. However, the district is taking a closer look at its DLI programs and plans to revisit the issue in August, if not sooner. CW

Bavarian Badass

Weller’s Bistro dishes up German cuisine with a twist.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

The Wasatch Front is as expansive as it is diverse when it comes to restaurants open for business. Lately, I’ve been setting my sights on destinations North of Salt Lake City out of curiosity; I’ve had a few spots come across my radar, only to find that they’re up in Bountiful, Ogden or, in this week’s case, Layton.

Yes, the planets have aligned and placed Weller’s Bistro and its emphasis on high-end German classics in my crosshairs. I decided to roll the dice and mount a northward campaign into the heart of Layton—and I’m oh so glad I did.

I had seen coverage of Weller’s Bistro back when it opened in 2019, and mentally filed it away for the right moment. Recently, I was making plans to meet a buddy who lives in Northern Utah, and that’s when Weller’s Bistro became a sound option. When I pulled up and smelled the intoxicating aroma of grilled bratwursts, and saw that most of the Layton population was waiting for a table, I knew this was a good place to be.

Owner Jan Weller’s pedigree includes a stint at Savoy in London before moving to Utah and working his way through the Park City hotel circuit; prior to opening his own restaurant, he was managing restaurants at The Promontory Club. A German native, Weller shows an affection for Bavarian cuisine that fuels the creative energy of his popular local bistro.

Anyone with a passing familiarity of German food will know that bratwurst is a staple, so the bratwurst plate ($21) is an excellent place to start. It consists

of a brat duo—one made from pork, and one made from veal. Our visit saw the latter swapped with a smoky beef and buffalo mixture, since they happened to sell out of veal. The brats are accompanied by some lovely bratkartoffeln, which are roasted potatoes with a bit of onion and salty speck bacon, along with a spectacular sauerkraut from the cookbook of Weller’s grandmother.

Now, I love brats served up hot dogstyle in buns, but this meal has made me think that such infantilization of a centuries-old craft might need to be phased out. Bring us more plates piled high with sizzling bratwurst hot off the grill, dammit! The brats at Wellers can easily go toe-to-toe with your favorite steak dinner—and if you’re hungry enough for a side of spaetzle ($7) served with a mushroom sauce, you will never look back.

Another German entree that holds a special place in my heart is schnitzel, and Das Schnitzel ($23) is a near-perfect interpretation. The tricky thing about schnitzel is that it’s easy to fry the pork loin into shoe-leather oblivion, but that’s not the case at Weller’s. Your schnitzel stays nice and tender on the inside, while enjoying a crispy parmesan crust on the outside. Diners can choose from a tangy lemon and caper sauce or an earthy mushroom and cream sauce, though getting both on the side for two dollars extra is a great way to keep your options open. After my experience, I think the creamy mushroom sauce is my preferred schnitzel companion, but the lemon caper sauce is equally impressive.

If you like your German dining experiences served up with some spectacle, then you’ll want to check out the Beef Rouladen ($27.50), which is one of Weller’s dinner specialties. This is a classic German dish that takes roast beef slices and rolls them up into a speck-and-cornichon-filled dreamscape. Fans of traditional cuisine served by way of showstopping presenta-

tion will be all over this one.

If you’re in the neighborhood around lunchtime, Weller’s has a Reuben sandwich ($14.50) that will ring your bell. It’s got a traditional kit—pastrami, Russian dressing, marble rye—but Weller’s sauerkraut is so fantastic that it’s tough to decide whether the peppery pastrami or the acidic kraut is the star of this sandwich. Regardless of where you land on that particular battle, this toasty Reuben hits all the right notes for fans of old-school deli action.

You get to pick your side dish when you order sandwiches at Weller’s, and I went with the Brussels sprouts which was the correct choice. They’re roasted to perfection and then tossed in a honey-soy glaze before getting a sprinkle of thin almond slivers.

Despite the fact that I was not hungry at all after my entrees had come and gone, the promise of homemade bienenstich was too tempting to pass up. If you’ve never had the so-called “bee sting” cake, and you happen to be in the vicinity of Weller’s, you’ve got to get in to try this. It’s a layer cake filled with vanilla pudding and topped with a honey almond crust. Had I just eaten nearly two entrees? Of course. Did I still finish my bienenstich? Of course. It’s light, creamy and perfectly balanced.

I think it’s safe to say that if you find yourself in the Northern part of the Wasatch Front and are craving some delectable comfort food, Weller’s needs to be on your list. Pairing some German favorites with a lengthy beer and wine list and a few craft cocktails is a great excuse to take a brief sojourn up to Main Street Layton. CW

2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC

avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Blizzard Wizard - Hazy Pale Ale

Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC

BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: El Guapo – Coffee Vienna Lager

Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele

BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115

chappell.beer

On Tap: Sploosh - Blackberry

Bischoff Sour

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com

On Tap: That’s a Knife - Australian Cold IPA

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC

DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap: Tropical Fruit Storm Pale Ale

Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC

EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Spiral Jetty IPA

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC

FisherBeer.com

On Tap: Rotating up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works

333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

On Tap: Extra Pale Ale

Helper Beer 159 N Main Street Helper, UT 84526 helperbeer.com/

Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Friendly Introduction Pale Ale

Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Philly Sour Fruit Bat Bingo ($1,000 jackpot): Wednesdays at 7pm

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab

TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap: Golden Sproket Wit

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Pomme Paloma

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/

On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com

On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: It’s Complicated Sour

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Cloud Chaser - Kölsch with Strawberry and Watermelon

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191 Moab, Utah 84532

On Tap: Angus McCloud- Scottish Ale

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Red Rock Kimball Junction Redrockbrewing.com

1640 Redstone Center

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: Flash Flood Belgian

Pale Ale

Brewers Select: Pink Boots Society Hibiscus IPA

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Identity Crisis Session West Coast Hazy Cold IPA – the name says it all!

SaltFire Brewing

2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com

On Tap: Deep Dive Series - Steam Beer

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Kiss Whoever You Want IPL release. Pride party May 27th

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Scion Cider ROSÉ RUCKUS - 6.9%

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer

On Tap: Limited Release Prickly Pear Sour Ale, “Sounds Gay, I’m in” 6.5%

Live Music: Thursdays

Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Mexican Lager

Karaoke: Wednesdays

Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co. 147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/ squatters

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Kreator Kolsch

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Squatters & Pink Boots Collab Healthy Boundaries Black IPA, 5%

Strap Tank Brewery Multiple Locations StrapTankBrewery.com

Springville On Tap: PB Rider, Peanut Butter Stout

Lehi On Tap: 2-Stroke, Vanilla Mocha Porter

Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com

On Tap: Yacht Rock Juice Box - Juicy IPA

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com

On Tap: Edel Pils

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com

On Tap: King Slayer- Pilsner

Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com

On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com

On Tap: Love Punch for us –Tropical Hefeweizen-5% ABV. Pride beer! A portion of proceeds are donated to Project Rainbow

Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com

Wasatch 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch

On Tap: Wasatch Salt Lime Cerveza (SLC)

Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

Utah’s 2023 World Beer Cup Winners

Local Utah breweries take home international beer competition honors

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Acouple of weeks ago, there was an international beer competition in Nashville, Tennessee. A few local beer makers managed to shine among the 10,000 beers entered from all over the globe. The World Beer Cup is the largest international gathering, bringing judges from 26 countries together, for the single goal: to find the best examples of what makes beer great. Here are the 2023 local medal winners.

Templin Family Brewery - Squirrel (Gold): This New England-style IPA was the brewery’s first attempt at an NEIPA back in 2019. This squirrel shows its head at least once a year, and locals can’t get enough of it.

The aroma offers up some sweet malt, soft berries and orange. The flavor is full with additional notes of mango, passionfruit, peach, lychee, floral blossoms, grass, pine and earth. A light bitterness balances it and, along with a little bit of “hop bite,” leads to a dry finish with some fruit, pine, earth and spice lingering. In the mouth it’s medium-bodied, but with a lot of extra proteins that makes it seem fluffier and fuller—gently crisp, then smooth.

I cannot state how important this gold medal is for this beer. The New England IPA is the hottest style in craft brewing right now, and having the best example in the world made in Salt Lake City really puts Utah on the beer map.

Templin Family Brewery - Triple Brett Oak-Aged Dark Lager Aged on Montmorency Cherries (Silver): This mixed-fermentation sour ale was another first-of-its-type made at TF. Kevin Templin told me that it was entered as

an afterthought, saying, “We just threw it out there to see how it would do.” Well, it did pretty well in another difficult category to medal in.

Fruits include bruised apples, plum and cherry, while dark, caramelish malt comes through as well. This is one of those rare beers where the aroma is almost as satisfying as the beer itself, and the flavor mimics the aroma. It’s quite tart and almost puckering, but the sweetness of the malt is there underneath to balance it. All of the fruitiness found in the aroma remains with some added dark raisin and tart red berries, and some yeasty phenolics. It’s certainly earned a place on the world’s stage. Well worth seeking out.

Uinta - Was Angeles (Silver): The term Was Angeles (Wasatch/Los Angeles ) is the local vernacular that refers to the gridlock conditions that often occur while headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon on powder days. Now, it also refers to one of the best examples of a cream ale available.

A nose of pilsner yeast, soft wheat, subtle grains and sweet honey malts leads to similar flavors, with soft wheat and honey malts lightly dancing on a subtle floral hop note that is refreshing and quenching. Nice mouth feel, crisp and medium carbonated with a subtly dry finish.

Grid City - English Brown Ale (Bronze): I think if the judges had known that this bronze medal-winning brown ale was available on nitro and cask along with CO2, it would have placed even higher.

Mild aromas of smooth cream, milk chocolate and caramel mix with faint aromas of dark bread. But it’s mostly malts here, with some cream, smooth caramel and milk chocolate in the flavor, possibly some faint citrus and roastiness. Caramel evolves into a cocoa flavor in the middle; a dryness is then present, followed by caramel and slightly milky red-fruit sweetness. It produces incredibly evocative notes—a wild ride from the bursting, almost dessert-like bouquet to the maltier flavor profile with hints of bitterness. This has a ton to offer, and is really enjoyable to drink because of it.

Get out there and try these. You owe it to yourself to see what all the fuss is about. As always, cheers! CW

MIKE RIEDEL

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Downtown Farmers Market Launch Party

The Downtown Farmers Market celebrates 32 years in operation this year, and it’s time to get out there and show them some pre-game love. Their annual launch party will be held on May 25 at Squatters Pub Brewery (147 W. Broadway) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This is a great opportunity to meet some of our local growers and makers while getting first crack at this year’s Farmers Market-inspired beer from the Squatters team. In addition to enjoying some great food and drinks within the cozy confines of Squatters, attendees will have plenty of options for donating money to this year’s celebration of all things locally made. Tickets for the event are available at slcfarmersmarket.org.

Seasons Plant Based Bistro Reopens

The plant-based dining scene hasn’t quite been the same while Seasons Plant Based Bistro (seasonsslc.com) closed its doors to move to a new location. After what feels like far too long, the team at Seasons announced that their new location (916 S. Jefferson Street) is in soft-opening mode. Whether you’re on a plant-based diet or simply in love with good food, now is an excellent time to check out what Seasons has done with plant-based European cuisine. If you missed last week’s soft opening event, they’re holding another one this weekend from May 25 - May 28, and their grand opening will be on June 8.

Silverside Deli Opens

I’ve always believed that a sandwich has limitless potential, and it seems like the recently opened Silverside Deli (2121 S. McClelland Street, silversidedeli.com) shares that sentiment. This Sugar House deli seems to be starting with Hawaiian-inspired garlic and soy chicken sandwiches and homemade macaroni salad, and branching out into everything from Italian beef to Thai curry chicken. In addition to macaroni salad, Silverside is also serving up some fried balsamic Brussels sprouts, and cheese fries topped with onions and ground beef. For dessert, they’ve got a mango and fruit sago, which is a cool and creamy tapioca pudding. I’ll have to pop in very soon to see these bombastic sandos for myself.

Quote of the Week: “Enjoy every sandwich.” –Warren Zevon

GOOD EATS

Featuring dining destinations from buffets and rooms with a view to mom-and-pop joints, chic cuisine and some of our dining critic’s faves.

Woody’s Drive-In

As per its slogan—“Come back to the ’50s”—the place is set up like the drivein establishments of a bygone age. The trademark Woody Burger adds a bit of versatility to traditional pastrami burgers because you can order one with sliced ham. The zucchini fries reign supreme, maintaining just the right amount of toothsome body beneath their crisp outer layer. Wrapping things up, a dip into Woody’s vast pool of milkshakes and ice cream cones is hard to pass up. Woody’s variety is what’s kept it afloat for the past three decades. 6172 S. 1300 East, Murray, 801-266-6934, woodysdrivein.com

The People’s Coffee

Caffeine junkies unite: You can get your daily fix of mochas, lattes and espressos at The People’s Coffee, burrowed in downtown Salt Lake City. Engaging photographs adorn the walls and interesting novels rest on the tables, yet it’s the staff that’s most refreshing, serving a smile along with a tasty cup of joe. Accompanying the personable crew, lively jazz music fills the café on select nights. The space is perfect for those late study sessions, as it stays open till 8 p.m. every day. 221 E. 300 South, 801-906-8761, facebook.com/thepeoplescoffee

Lone Star Taquería

Everything is fresh at this inexpensive, funky eatery, from the tortillas and salsas to the tamales and tacos. It’s been around longer than most local restaurants, and looks like someone transported a taco shack from a Baja beach right into Cottonwood Heights. This cool and kitschy place features cold Mexican cervezas served in glass cowboy boots, and a rockin’ house sound system. The only thing missing is sand. The mahi-mahi fish tacos with cilantro aioli are wildly popular, and the zippy jalapeño-spiked guacamole is addictive. The burritos are good, too, but it’s really all about the tacos here. Flip-flops are optional. 2265 E. Fort Union Blvd., Cottonwood Heights, 801944-2300, lstaq.com

Blunder the Sea

The Little Mermaid remake tries to recreate the original without any of the fun

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

For months now—ever since the first stills and clips from director Rob Marshall’s remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid first started making the rounds—the punch line has been about darkness. The images, particularly those set in the undersea world of Ariel (Halle Bailey), Sebastian (Daveed Digs), Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) and the Sea King (Javier Bardem), felt leached of light and color. In an era when new interpretations of established properties have been all about the idea that you made things darker in order to have them taken more seriously, it seemed like a very bad sign. Was “gritty reboot” something literally anyone was asking for when it came to a story about singing, dancing aquatic life?

That notion feels particularly misguided when it comes to this specific property, which effectively created the template for the Disney animated renaissance of the 1990s. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken built their model for The Little Mermaid on the conventions of classic Broadway musicals: give your protagonist an “I want” song, make sure there’s a “show-stopper,” etc. First and foremost, the goal was to create joy. If your approach is one that worries more about how much light would really trickle down to the ocean floor, or how Flounder should

look as a photorealistic fish, what space is left to create joy?

And so we get an interpretation of the 1989 Little Mermaid story—with the curious teenage mermaid Ariel rebelling against her father and longing to be human so she can be with Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), the human prince with whom she has fallen in love—steeped in brooding emotions. The Sea King sits on his throne fuming over Ariel’s betrayal like a trident-wielding King Lear; Ariel must demonstrate genuine torment rather the whirlwind feelings of an adolescent. Yes, it’s a step in the right direction to flesh out Eric as a character by giving him his own “I want” song—one of a few new tunes created by Menken and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda—but it’s not entirely necessary that the staging of the song makes it seem like he’s about to hurl himself into the ocean due to the profundity of his angst.

Perhaps none of this would have felt so awkward, though, had this Little Mermaid committed itself fully to being its own thing, utterly separate from the legacy of its predecessor. But the script, credited to David Magee, takes nearly every memorable line and joke from Little Mermaid ’89, to the point where anyone even vaguely

familiar with the original is waiting for them. That’s almost a cruel trick to play on these new cast members, who are being asked not to create distinctive versions of these characters, but to imitate the versions created nearly 40 years ago. When Melissa McCarthy as Ursula trots out “life’s full of tough choices, innit?” or Diggs’ Sebastian intones “somebody’s got to nail that girl’s fins to the floor,” it plays less like homage than like karaoke.

That sensibility is perhaps even more notable when it comes to the beloved Ashman/Menken songs, which are—to put it as gently as possible—not served well. Bailey’s interpretation of “Part of Your World” works best, earnestly sung and less dependent on surroundings, but most of the others are a complete mess. Nothing about “Under the Sea” succeeds when the idea of smiling fish at an actual rollicking party with actual musical instruments turns into an experiment in “what would it look like to have real-life sea stars do choreography;” “Kiss the Girl,” leaving aside one’s feelings about the misguided tweaking of the lyrics, similarly gets sapped of all the energy involved in seeing creatively-animated critters play sometimes-literally-with-wings wing-

men to Ariel’s romantic overtures. Whatever it is Marshall and company want to do with this story, the goal almost never feels like “what would make this moment most joyful?”

Volumes could be devoted to the odd choices Marshall, Magee and company make in changing the story, like making Ursula the Scar-like embittered sibling of the Sea King, or having Ariel not remember that she actually wants Eric to kiss her. Those, however, are almost forgivable considering the big picture that everyone involved is missing. For all the nostalgic fidelity devoted to re-creating songs, lines of dialogue and even the blocking of specific shots, this Little Mermaid carves out its own unique identity in the most ill-advised manner possible: It’s just no damned fun. And that’s darker than any frame of the film. CW

THE LITTLE MERMAID BB

Halley Bailey

Jonah Hauer-King

Daveed Diggs Rated PG Available May 26 in theaters

Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid WALT DISNEY PICTURES

CINCO DE MAYO

TUNES BY DJ LYRIC

Celebrate and see double

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS DJ FRESH(NESS)

SATURDAYS POKER @ 2PM DJ DELMAGGIO

SHARK SUNDAYS POOL TOURNEY HOSTED BY JARED AND TANNER

MONDAYS REGGAE MONDAY WITH DJ NAPO TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE

Blooming in Salt Lake

Indie rockers Cardinal Bloom talk highlights and future plans

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

Things have been moving fast for SLC quartet Cardinal Bloom. Since their debut EP in 2019, the four friends have won Velour’s Battle of the Bands, released several popular singles and gained a dedicated following. There’s no plan of slowing down for the young indie rock group— and that’s just fine.

Members Josh Thomas (lead guitar), Nathan Adair (drums), Jacob Sylvester (bass/ vocals) and Joey St. John (lead vocals/guitar) met and formed Cardinal Bloom while studying what they love in college: music. But it was still just that: studying. Playing together offered a respite from the difficulties of college, and gave them a way to escape.

Since then, Cardinal Bloom has accomplished so much. Taking home the win in the aforementioned Battle of the Bands was a surreal moment for the group. “It was like a fever dream,” St. John said. “It felt not real the whole time, and every part of us was like, “If we didn’t win, we didn’t win, but we had a good time and hopefully we got some more fans out of it.’ And then we heard our name.”

This win was massive for Cardinal Bloom, finally feeling like they accomplished something big. At the same time, they realized they needed to continue to capitalize on this momentum. “I think we all realized after we won, it was exciting, but then literally that same night we’re like, ‘We’ve got to go to work now. We can’t

squander this,” Thomas said.

And work they did. The group has been putting out music consistently that has yielded major hits with listeners. One of their most recent singles, “She’s Just a Friend,” has quickly gained thousands of streams, and for good reason. To start, the subject matter is very relatable to anyone who has been in a “situationship,” or has had a love life that’s fraught with dysfunction.

“It was definitely about a real girl that I was very much into,” St. John shared. “It was just one of those periods of, we’re not dating or we’re not together, but we kind of like each other, but we don’t want to act on it.”

The song starts out with soft guitar playing, already conveying a sense of longing and melancholy, before St. John’s cozy and smooth vocals come in. The lyrics throughout will have you majorly in your feelings: “Let’s go out tonight / Got me feeling right / Did you feel the tension rise / You’ve got bottled up love in your eyes,” St. John serenades. “89 to Salt Lake / Tell your parents you’re staying out late / And if they find us in the back of the car / She’s just a friend except tonight it went too far.”

Another of the band’s latest tracks, “Under the Oak Tree,” has helped them grow more with its upbeat summer sound. While winning Battle of the Bands was a surreal experience, building up a fanbase has been quite another. The band has noticed an evolution from a few years ago, when they would play to crowds with little to no interaction. People would stand around, arms folded, heads nodding here and there, not completely engaged. Now, however, fans sing their songs louder than the band itself at times.

“Those moments are so cool and so exciting and weird,” Thomas said. “I definitely think it was my parents at first, and then it was my parents and a couple friends [at shows],” St. John added. “Now it’s just a crowd of 200, 300 people that are all singing it, and then it’s louder than us

on stage and it’s very weird, but enjoyable for sure.”

All of the praise for their music—and hearing fans enjoy their material—has added fuel to the fire for Cardinal Bloom. They’re eager to get back in the studio and get to work, which should be happening soon. “I would definitely say we’re really hoping for late June/early July for another single,” St. John said.

The band notes that recording in-studio is like being a kid in a candy store—a much more exciting experience than anything at home. They’ll be hitting June Audio in Provo to work on new stuff, the goal being more singles, an EP and possibly a full album. The sky seems to be the limit

for Cardinal Bloom.

Moving forward, fans can expect a few more tracks like “Under the Oak Tree” and “She’s Just a Friend,” but the group also wants to get more “experimental,” as they put it; “Almost using our degrees a little bit more,” St. John said. All of their music though, at its core, is still relatable enough for listeners to resonate with. “Everything that we write about is very honest and very personal, and hopefully that can be reflective to whoever’s listening,” Thomas said.

Cardinal Bloom has the fans, the talent and most importantly—the drive to keep moving onward and upward. Nothing can stop them now. CW

Cardinal Bloom

Lord Vox @ Urban Lounge 5/25

Get on your knees and bow: Hailed local band Lord Vox will breeze into The Urban Lounge on May 25, with support from (also local) Harpers and The Alpines. A triedand-true staple at Psych Lake City, Salt Lake City’s foremost psychedelic-specific festival, Lord Vox have made a name for themselves in the Beehive State for their unique sound, which buzzes with contemporary energy yet possesses an incisive, splintering nostalgia. In the true spirit of the genre, Lord Vox provides luminous musical offerings—an unmistakably layered sonic sonance of callous and verbose guitar solos on top of full lyrics that feel just slightly out of grasp. With the new (I’m talkin’ one week old!) introduction of bassist Nora (also of Daytime Lover), their already-rich music can only dive deeper. Coalescing in a sound that feels zealously overlaid with a light film of ghost-town dust, Lord Vox are rightful (and will rightfully remain) nobility. With Harpers and The Alpines’ carefully carved out melodies remarkably slotted beforehand, May 25 promises a night of music one won’t easily forget. Doors open for the 21+ show at 7:00 p.m., and tickets are $10 at 24tix.com. (Sophie Caligiuri)

MUSIC PICK S

By Emilee Atkinson

CozyU onour heate atio

Image/Intent, Del Lago, Belle & The Blackbird @ Boardwalk Sound 5/26

Live Music

Boardwalk Sound is hosting a triple-threat of locals this week that is not one to miss. Heading the charge is post-rock/Las Vegas metalcore group Image/Intent. Despite only having started putting out music just last year, the group has gained thousands of streams from their intense and addicting rock vibes. The production on the group’s sound is insane; cool effects linger in the background, while driving guitars carry the song along with energetic vocals. Their most recent single, “Heartache,” takes a bit of a more solemn approach to the band’s vibes, but is still easy to get lost in. The soundscape for their music is huge—listening to their singles on your best speakers or headphones will transport you to another dimension. Joining Image/Intent are metalheads Del Lago, who have recently been playing their heavy tracks alongside classic horror movies like The Evil Dead. If you head to their Instagram page, you can see a clip of them performing while the movie plays in the background. Honestly, what a cool way to experience horror movies and metal all in one place. Belle & The Blackbird roundson the bill of this hard-rocking show. Check out this epic lineup on Friday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 before and $15 at the door. Grab tickets at theboardwalksound.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

Protect Your Loved Ones

By Emilee Atkinson

Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons @ Garage on Beck 5/27

Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons are no strangers to SLC. Joseph hails from the Pacific Northwest, but is hardly ever there. According to his website bio, Joseph plays more than150 shows a year—quite the busy bee. These shows aren’t just in the United States, but all over the world, including Europe, Mexico, Central America, Lebanon, Israel, Kurdish Iraq, India and Afghanistan. To say the man is welltraveled is an understatement. A lot of this has to do with his non-profit called Nomad Music Foundation, which acts as a School of Rock for displaced kids in areas of conflict. It appears the man can do it all. Utah got its own chapter in Joseph’s history when he moved here in 1996 and joined up with the Jackmormons. Alongside the creation of Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons, Joseph released a solo album entitled Salt Lake City in 1998. How many other cities have entire albums named after them? A lot, probably, but it’s still cool to see SLC getting some love from such an experienced and profound singer/songwriter like Joseph. Come out and see Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons at Garage on Beck on Saturday, May 27 at 9 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $40 and can be found at 24tix.com. (EA)

Kainalu @ Kilby Court 5/28

Multi-instrumentalist Trent Prall does some great things with soundscapes. He has a knack for taking a lot of different sounds and arranging them into extremely catchy songs, some of which sound pretty effortless and close to pop perfection 90 percent of the time. At his best, he can make all the synths, psych-rock guitar and funk drum patterns unite like Voltron. Kainalu—the solo project that he set in motion back in 2017 with the EP Bloom Lagoon—was just the beginning of hitting that sweet spot of blending ‘80s-influenced melodies and ‘70s-style appeal. Kainalu’s latest effort, Ginseng Hourglass, is an ultimate headphone album. “I used to pile a lot of sounds and layers on top of each other. Now I’m trying to be more intentful with choosing the sound and

shaping the tone,” Prall told From The Intercom in 2022. “To me, it feels like the next step in what I’ve been trying to do so far, and I’m excited to let it be heard, finally.” Ginseng Hourglass is gripping in that it feels like its songs demand to be listened to. For example, whenever “Revelator” comes on, I have to divert most of my attention to it, as it really fills your mind. It doesn’t feel predictable, or same-y of what came before. It makes me appreciate a different angle to Prall’s psychedelic approach, and the music plays perfectly in a live setting. Pink Skies and future.exboyfriend open. Catch these acts at Kilby Court on Sunday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all ages show are $15 and can be found at 24tix.com (Mark Dago)

Anees @ Soundwell 5/31

“Anees writes from the soul, for the soul. He believes passionately that music is meant to help others heal. That is the driving spirit in all of his songs,” says the bio of singer/ songwriter/rapper Anees. “His music is a genre-bending treat of ear candy melodies, sublime rhyme-scheming and crooning lyricism. His authentic fusion of pop and hip-hop with an R&B tone often draws comparison to artists such as Mac Miller, Jon Bellion and Chance the Rapper.” It’s safe to say that Anees is making a name for himself in the R&B/rap world. One of his biggest singles to date, “sun and moon,” is a perfect summer bop, showcasing Anees’ many talents. His voice is buttery smooth, while the music accompanying him is addicting; there are beats that sound so natural and appealing that they create a soundscape perfect for get-togethers with the best of friends. His newest single, “free me,” is light and airy musically, but has heavier lyrics that depict leaving a toxic relationship. This is another one fit for the summer, which you can belt at the top of your lungs while zooming down the road lamenting relationships of the past. Come check out Anees at Soundwell Wednesday, May 31. There are a few options for all-age tickets, including a VIP experience at $125, a meetand-greet package at $75 and a regular old GA ticket at $25. Grab tickets at soundwellslc.com. (EA)

Jerry Joseph Kainalu

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

My reading of the astrological omens inspires me to make a series of paradoxical predictions for you. Here are five scenarios I foresee as being quite possible in the coming weeks: 1. An epic journey to a sanctuary close to home; 2. A boundary that doesn’t keep people apart but brings them closer; 3. A rambunctious intervention that calms you down and helps you feel more at peace; 4. A complex process that leads to simple clarity; 5. A visit to the past that empowers you to redesign the future.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Do you want a seed to fulfill its destiny? You must bury it in the ground. There, if it’s able to draw on water and the proper nutrients, it will break open and sprout. Its life as a seed will be over. The plant it eventually grows into will look nothing like its source. We take this process for granted, but it’s always a miracle. Now let’s invoke this story as a metaphor for what you are hopefully on the verge of, Taurus. I invite you to do all that’s helpful and necessary to ensure your seed germinates!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Your meandering trek through the Unpromised Land wasn’t as demoralizing as you feared. The skirmish with the metaphorical dragon was a bit disruptive, but hey, you are still breathing and walking around—and even seem to have been energized by the weird thrill of the adventure. The only other possible downside was the new dent in your sweet dream. But I suspect that in the long run, that imperfection will inspire you to work even harder on behalf of your sweet dream—and this will be a blessing. Here’s another perk: The ordeal you endured effectively cleaned out stale old karma, freeing up space for a slew of fresh help and resources.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Testing time is ahead, but don’t get your nerves in an uproar with fantasy-spawned stress. For the most part, your challenges and trials will be interesting, not unsettling. There will be few if any trick questions. There will be straightforward prods to stretch your capacities and expand your understanding. Bonus! I bet you’ll get the brilliant impulse to shed the ball and chain you’ve been absent-mindedly carrying around with you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Biologist Edward O. Wilson said that the most social animals are ants, termites and honeybees. He used the following criteria to define that description: “altruism, instincts devoted to social life and the tightness of the bonds that turn colonies into virtual superorganisms.” I’m going to advocate that you regard ants, termites and honeybees as teachers and role models for you. The coming weeks will be a great time to boost your skill at socializing and networking. You will be wise to ruminate about how you could improve your life by enhancing your ability to cooperate with others. And remember to boost your altruism!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Jack Sarfatti is an authentic but maverick physicist born under the sign of Virgo. He suggests that if we make ourselves receptive and alert, we may get help from our future selves. They are trying to communicate good ideas to us back through time. Alas, most of us don’t believe such a thing is feasible, so we aren’t attuned to the potential help. I will encourage you to transcend any natural skepticism you might have about Sarfatti’s theory. As a fun experiment, imagine that the Future You has an important transmission for you—maybe several transmissions. For best results, formulate three specific questions to pose to the Future You.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

I have five points for your consideration: 1. You are alive in your mysterious, endlessly interesting life, and you are imbued with the fantastically potent power of awareness. How could you not feel thrilled? 2. You’re on a planet that’s always surprising, and you’re in an era when so many

things are changing that you can’t help being fascinated. How could you not feel thrilled? 3. You have some intriguing project to look forward to, or some challenging but engaging work you’re doing, or some mind-bending riddle you’re trying to solve. How could you not feel thrilled? 4. You’re playing the most enigmatic game in the universe, also known as your destiny on Earth, and you love ruminating on questions about what it all means. How could you not feel thrilled? 5. You never know what’s going to happen next. You’re like a hero in an epic movie that is endlessly entertaining. How could you not feel thrilled?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

“Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn,” advises Scorpio author Neil Gaiman. Let’s make that one of your mantras for the coming weeks. In my astrological understanding, you are due to cash in on favors you have bestowed on others. The generosity you have expressed should be streaming back your way in abundance. Be bold about welcoming the bounty. In fact, I hope you will nudge and prompt people, if necessary, to reward you for your past support and blessings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

So many of us are starved to be listened to with full attention. So many of us yearn to be seen and heard and felt by people who are skilled at receptive empathy. How many of us? I’d say the figure is about 99.9%. That’s the bad news, Sagittarius. The good news is that in the coming weeks, you will have an exceptional ability to win the attention of good listeners. To boost the potential healing effects of this opportunity, here’s what I recommend: Refine and deepen your own listening skills. Express them with panache.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Because you’re a Capricorn, earthiness is probably one of your strengths. It’s your birthright to be practical and sensible and well-grounded. Now and then, however, your earthiness devolves into muddiness. You get too sober and earnest. You’re bogged down in excess pragmatism. I suspect you may be susceptible to such a state these days. What to do? It may help if you add elements of air and fire to your constitution, just to balance things out. Give yourself a secret nickname with a fiery feel, like Blaze, or a crispy briskness, like Breezy. What else could you do to rouse fresh, glowing vigor, Breezy Blaze—even a touch of wildness?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

I love to use metaphors in my writing, but I hate to mix unrelated metaphors. I thrive on referring to poetry, sometimes even surrealistic poetry, but I try to avoid sounding like a lunatic. However, at this juncture in your hero’s journey, Aquarius, I frankly feel that the most effective way to communicate with you is to offer you mixed metaphors and surrealist poetry that border on sounding lunatic. Why? Because you seem primed to wander around on the edges of reality. I’m guessing you’ll respond best to a message that’s aligned with your unruly mood. So here goes: Get ready to surf the spiritual undertow all the way to the teeming wilderness on the other side of the cracked mirror. Ignore the provocative wasteland on your left and the intriguing chaos on your right. Stay focused on the stars in your eyes and devote yourself to wild joy.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

“The gift of patience opens when our body, heart and mind slow enough to move in unison.” So says Piscean poet Mark Nepo. I feel confident you are about to glide into such a grand harmony, dear Pisces. Through a blend of grace and your relaxed efforts to be true to your deepest desires, your body, heart and mind will synchronize and synergize. Patience will be just one of the gifts you will receive. Others include: a clear vision of your most beautiful future; a lucid understanding of what will be most meaningful to you in the next three years; and a profound sense of feeling at home in the world wherever you go.

ACROSS

1.  “Pirates of the Caribbean” star

5.  Gorilla, e.g.

8.  Japanese beer brand whose name translates to “morning sun”

13.  Jai ____

14.  ____ house

15.  “You dig?” reply

16.  Lauderdale neighbor

17.  Isn’t equivalent?

18.  WNBA star Taurasi

19.  With 38- and 54-Across, helpful phrase from a person with connections (and a hint to this puzzle’s italicized clues)

22.  Tupperware stock

23.  TV alien played by Robin Williams

24.  Latin for “womb”

26.  Got to second base, maybe

29.  NBA star Thompson

30.  Jazz great Fitzgerald

31.  With less delay

33.  Place to conduct forensics

36.  “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” host

38.  See 19-Across

39.  “It’s ____!” (“I’ll see you then”)

41.  Lean-____ (shelters)

42.  Homes that may have butlers

45.  Glenn Frey hit “The Heat ____”

46.  “The Voice” host Carson

47.  “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” director

49.  “Memento” star

52.  Nickname followed by -dore or -dora

53.  Scratchy voice

54.  See 19-Across

59.  Words before earliest or least

61.  Indiana neighbor

62.  On

64.  Organizing expert Kondo

65.  Unable to make a decision

66.  M, on forms

Play for time

Comedian Barinholtz

Harry and William attended it

1.  Tiny amount of eye cream 2.  “The Time Machine” race 3.  Beasts of burden 4.  Place for cocktails and music

Opera highlight

Sharp feeling

Caesar’s accusation

Now That You Mansion It

The mission of a tax collector is to provide the public with fair market value of real and personal property and to comply with county and state laws enacted for the taxing system. We can be taxed on our real estate holdings, mobile homes, aircraft, motor vehicles and property used in the operation of a business.

In Utah, property tax notices are sent to taxpayers mid- to late summer to review and accept/pay—or to protest.

8.  Funding

9.  “Sesame Street” game show host

10.  The slightest margin

11.  Diwali celebrant

12.  “None for me, thanks”

14.  “Gunpowder Plot” conspirator

20.  The Magic, on scoreboards

21.  Present time?

25.  Skating legend Lipinski

26.  Dexterous

27.  Potpourri

28.  Snuggle competitor

29.  Soup mix brand

32.  “Now what’s all this then?!”

33.  Verbally attack

34.  Yours, to Yves

35.  “Molto ____!”

37.  Big Apple debut of 1998

40.  Craps, e.g.

43.  Supermodel Wek

44.  Waits to publish, as an article

46.  TV advice show cocreated by Oprah

48.  Lil Wayne’s “____ Carter V”

49.  Strollers through Covent

Garden

50.  Seriously vex

51.  “Ad ____” (2019 space film)

55.  Claim of innocence

56.  “I get it now”

57.  What a tightrope walker walks on

58.  #carpediem

60.  Delicacy with kabayaki sauce

63.  Implement with a nib

Last week’s answers

School districts account for roughly 60% of the property tax revenues collected in the state. Your county assessor’s computers determine a property’s value and, if it’s residential, the owner will automatically get a 45% deduction from their home value to determine its taxable rate—meaning you pay taxes on just 55% of your home’s total value.

We are blessed with a relatively low tax rate here. But be glad you don’t live in—say—Los Angeles, where, as of last April, high-end homes are now subject to a “mansion tax” that levies a fee on transfers of real property selling for more than $5 million. Revenue from the tax will fund affordable housing and services to combat homelessness in the city.

We don’t have transfer taxes in Utah. When I got my real estate license years ago, the story I was told was that we Realtors made a deal with tax assessors to provide them with sales data each year so that assessors could calculate property taxes in exchange for not levying transfer taxes on the sale of land, homes, condo, commercial buildings and multiplexes.

These “mansion taxes” have nothing to do with the capital gains taxes on profits that the IRS charges.

1 to

X

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers

9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

The Utah Legislature hasn’t considered charging transfer taxes in some time and, well, there are arguments for and against them in mainstream politics—to either keep taxes low or to tax more and give the funds to worthy causes like homelessness programs.

As you can imagine, many California millionaires are challenging this transfer tax in the courts. And there are huge arguments over whether this kind of tax will affect the local economy. Some say it will have zero impact and others say that L.A. is going to lose millions of dollars in revenues.

Wealthy homeowners and buyers are just like anyone else—they want to pay the least amount of taxes and save as much money as possible when selling a property.

Some sellers who thought of asking $5,025,000 might list their home instead for $5 million just to avoid the taxes, which will unfairly affect comparable sales. Others predict that this kind of tax will discourage flippers and speculators. We shall see.

Find more information about your property taxes at slco.org. You can also phone 385-468-8000 or contact your local assessor. CW

Operations Manager(Draper, UT) Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction. Direct & coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products. Prepare staff work schedules & assign specific duties. 40hrs/ wk, Offered wage: $37,918/year, Bachelor’s Degree in Business / Entrepreneurship or related & 1 yr of experience as Operations Manager or related required. Resume to CUPBOP CO Attn: Yeiri Kim, 12184 S Business Park Dr, #C, Draper, UT 84020

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED PARTLOW RENTALS:

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Awesome!

Even with declining occurrences of tornadic storms, Kansas is famous for its twisters (thanks, Dorothy). Some cause extensive destruction, but on May 9, one tornado took precise aim on an unexpected target: a coconut cream pie. KSNT-TV reported that a baker in Clay Center, Nancy Kimbrough, filed an emergency report with the details: Her son was delivering baked goods to the Clay Center Country Club when the storm boiled up. The wind was so strong that it ripped the meringue right off the pie and splattered it across the parking lot. The club repaired the pie with Cool Whip and served it to guests anyway, and Kimbrough got a good laugh out of the incident. “It’ll probably never happen again,” she said, therefore inviting another pieeating storm.

Suspicions Confirmed

A tourist identified as Mr. Zhang checked into a hotel in Lhasa, Tibet, on April 20, only to discover a foul smell in his room, CNN reported. He stuck it out for half a day, thinking it might be his own feet or the restaurant downstairs, but finally he asked to be moved. Two days later, he was informed about the source of the bad odor: a dead body under the bed. Police officers questioned Mr. Zhang but said he was not a suspect because the body had been there before he checked in. He cooperated with police and then took his leave of Tibet, saying he was suffering from the shock of the incident. “I stay up until 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. every morning, and the slightest movement would wake me up,” he said. “It left me in a bad mental state.” So yes, Billy, there really is something scary under the bed.

The Fetishists

David Neal, 52, is the night manager at the 4th Avenue South Hilton Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee—or he was, until a bizarre incident on March 30. WKRN-TV reported that around 5 a.m. that day, Neal allegedly made a key card to enter an occupied room and suck on the toes of the sleeping guest. When officers arrived at the hotel, Neal admitted entering the room but said he had done so because he smelled smoke and wanted to check on the occupant. He was arrested on May 5 at his home and charged with aggravated burglary and assault.

T A cyclist and a hunter came to the rescue of a 51-year-old man who had been tied to a tree near the German town of Bueckburg on May 3, KRQE-TV reported. The situation was the unfortunate outcome of a sex game he had been playing with a woman; he told police that after she tied him up, she got a phone call and suddenly fled. He was fully dressed and had pantyhose over his head when he was found, but the box cutter he had brought “for such situations” was unreachable. The man was unharmed and refused to identify the woman for authorities.

Questionable Judgment

Chloe Stein, 23, of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, stopped attending classes at Penn State more than a year and a half ago, but her family was expecting her to graduate this month. So she did what any enterprising college student would do: She faked her own kidnapping. The New York Post reported that Stein left her job at Sonic on May 1 and texted her boyfriend that she’d been pulled over by police on a quiet road—then she disappeared. When authorities caught up with her about 20 hours later, she was at the home of an acquaintance a few miles from the Sonic, where she had walked after abandoning her car and phone. She at first told police she had been bound and “semi-assaulted,” but then admitted the whole thing was a hoax to cover for the fact that she wouldn’t be graduating from college. State trooper Steve Limani said the search for Stein had cost the state “tens of thousands of dollars” in manpower and equipment. She is facing a number of charges in the case.

Don’t Hear That Often

Beth Bogar of West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, was just finishing up a trip with her husband to Bali when things took a turn. WMUR-TV reported that the couple ended their tour at Mason Elephant Park & Lodge, where she got to swim with and ride an elephant. But when she posed with the pachyderm for a photo, her arm got “pushed” into the animal’s mouth. “I couldn’t get my arm out. I could just hear cracking and I just started to panic,” she said. Bogar was rushed to a hospital an hour away, where the surgeon was able to reassemble her arm with plates and screws. “It’s gonna be a long road,” Bogar said. She noted that she knew the risks going in and doesn’t blame the elephant.

The Neighbors

Ninety-two-year-old Colette Ferry of Frontenex, France, was surprised to answer her door recently and find two police officers, The Guardian reported. The officers informed Ferry that they would have to remove three large frogs who lived in her garden pond and had been croaking loudly enough to keep Ferry’s neighbor awake. Ferry said the frogs didn’t belong to her but were squatters. “They’re in and out of the water playing with my fish,” she explained. “There’s always someone ready to complain about someone else.” She’s looking forward to watching officials try to catch the frogs. “That’ll be fun ... They jump.”

T In the Burns Beach community of Perth, Australia, a dispute has arisen between a woman named Sarah and her neighbor, Perth Now reported. “Could you please shut your side window when cooking please,” Sarah wrote on behalf of her family. “My family are vegan and the smell of the meat you cook makes us feel sick and upset.” On the front of the envelope, she wrote, “Please take seriously. ” But no such luck: The letter was posted to Facebook on May 5, where commenters were merciless: “I’m offended by the smell of the kale she always cooks,” one said, while another said they’d be “firing up the BBQ and inviting the entire street.”

Animal Antics

On May 8 in Enid, Oklahoma, officers were called to a farm where someone had reported hearing shouts of “Help!” Officers David Sneed and Neil Storey arrived at the scene and also heard the cries for help: “I think it’s a person,” Sneed says on bodycam video. When they discovered the source of the hollering, it wasn’t a person at all, but a goat. A person working at the farm then approached the officers and explained that the loud goat was “a little upset because I separated him from his friends,” People reported.

Bright Idea

Franklin County (Kansas) Sheriff’s deputies pulled over a driver on I-35 near Ottawa on May 5 after other motorists alerted law enforcement of his erratic driving, Fox4 News reported. When officers approached the car, they saw that the driver was wearing a Bud Light can costume. “A career in law enforcement is exciting, and you get to experience something new every day,” the sheriff’s department posted on its Facebook page. The driver posted bond on his DUI and was released from the county jail.

The Continuing Crisis

Residents of Brienz, Switzerland, gathered at a town hall on May 9, where officials warned them they would need to evacuate their homes by 6 p.m. on May 12, CNN reported. The head of the early warning service, Stefan Schneider, said a large mass of rock outside the small hamlet was expected to tumble down in a matter of days, probably as a result of climate change. “Up to 2 million cubic meters of rock material will collapse or slide,” he said. Fortunately, fewer than 100 people live in the town.

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