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■ How one local lab raised wages and stayed solvent BY NICOLE SPEER ■ Sky-high rent, not employee pay, is hurting small businesses BY SUSAN GIBSON
on another eatery. Can local restaurants survive in Boulder? BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
DEPARTMENTS
Credit: Jackie Lee Young
COMMENTARY
WISDOM FOR THE WAGES
BY NICOLE SPEER
“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”
The first time I read fourterm U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s statement, I was shocked by his audacity. As a union member from a union family, I thought, “Amen!” As someone who relies on a steady stream of paying customers to employ a small staff, I squirmed. He wasn’t wrong. Our country’s record on workers’ wages leaves much to be desired.
Since our founding, we have relied on stolen and exploited labor to entice consumers with low prices and drive up profits. More than 12% of people in Boulder County met official federal poverty guidelines in 2022, above the nation-
al rate. There seems to be no end to the suffering we are willing to inflict upon each other to ensure a steady supply of cheap labor.
The brain imaging research facility I have managed for over a decade is based at CU Boulder but operates as a nonprofit. Unlike many units at CU, we don’t receive funding from tuition dollars or indirect costs from research grants. Fees for our services cover the costs of staff salaries and benefits, equipment repairs and other basic expenses such as rent. More than for-profit service industries, staff salaries and benefits are our largest expense, accounting for 65% of our budget last year.
For the first seven years of my tenure, I followed the tried-and-true business
AUGUST 22, 2024
Volume 32, Number 1
PUBLISHER: Francis J. Zankowski
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle
ARTS EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray
REPORTER: Kaylee Harter
FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff
INTERN: John Kowalski
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Susan Gibson, Courtney Johnson, Dan Savage, Nicole Speer, Toni Tresca, Sarah Wilson
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As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.
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model of keeping our rates as low as possible to benefit our customers. This meant keeping everyone’s salaries low, including my own. As the cost of housing, childcare and other living expenses in Boulder County crept up pre-pandemic, it became clear that this strategy was unsustainable. If our highly-specialized staff left in search of pay that covered their basic expenses, our turnover costs would be untenable.
In 2019, with support from our executive director, we collectively decided to increase our wages by almost 15% and plan for subsequent annual increases that would keep up with inflation.
The salary bump in the first year was easier to navigate due to an unexpectedly high sales year. The following year, the pandemic hit. Rather than cutting staff or furloughing employees, we worked with our customers to figure out how to conduct human research during a global pandemic. Our collaboration made us one of the first facilities of our kind in the country to reopen, and we had another unexpectedly high sales year.
As our sales have normalized over the last three years, our salaries have continued to increase. Because we sell a lot of units throughout the year, our salary increases were spread over many transactions. Our customers’ costs went up slightly but less than our wages.
Two years ago, an unfunded federal mandate related to data storage and
sharing required that we hire more staff, to whom we also committed to paying a living wage. Consequently, we increased prices last year by 7.5%. This year, we faced another 11% price increase. It was beyond what we thought anyone would pay.
We weren’t willing to walk back the livable wages we’d spent five years creating. We began to have hard conversations about which positions to consider cutting to keep our facility going. And then, as we talked to our clients about the devastating choice we were facing between cutting staff and raising prices, something remarkable began to happen: Our clients refused to let us make that binary choice.
“You are worth it,” they said. “We will help.”
Over a couple of months, our customers rallied around us. They helped us figure out creative ways to balance our budget, not just by paying more for our new services but also by temporarily hiring some of our staff part-time for their own projects to reduce our overall costs, committing to helping us increase sales and generally joining us in the work of staying afloat.
What we hadn’t realized when we committed to raising our salaries was that we would be strengthening our connections to one another. We could spend time with our families and friends. Student employees were able to stop
working multiple minimum wage jobs to pay their bills. We were better rested, less stressed and more focused on our work, which helped us guide our customers through unprecedented challenges like a global pandemic. We felt valued and became even more invested in our work, and our customers became more invested in us.
On Aug. 22, Boulder’s City Council will consider options for raising our city’s minimum wage, including aligning with Boulder County to achieve a $25 per hour minimum by 2030. Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette and Erie will have similar discussions this fall.
I hope in these conversations we remember that supporting workers and local businesses is not mutually exclusive. As caring, compassionate communities, we all have a role to play in ensuring our workers can meet their basic needs.
Some of our small and micro-businesses may need our support to navigate this bold transition, especially the women- and minority-owned businesses that face systemic inequities. The beauty of committing to invest in and support our local businesses and our workers is that we won’t pit business owners against workers. As local small business owner and equity consultant Jovita Schiffer says, “Equity isn’t keeping one part of our population down to keep from harming another. Equity is making changes that work for everyone.”
Working together, our research facility arrived in a stable financial place this year. Despite our unexpected price increase, we kept every client. We also kept every employee except the student workers who graduated. Our incomes are still lower than we’d get in for-profit industries, but 80% of us now have base salaries that would allow us to support our varying household sizes at a minimum of 80% of the area median income, even if we were the only income earners in our families (which half of us are). Even our lowest-paid, entry-level student workers earn $18 an hour.
I still squirm when I read FDR’s words. But I know he was right. We should invest in a future where everyone has what they need, from the workers to the businesses that employ them. When consumers, workers and employers commit to each other’s wellbeing, we can finally interrupt our society’s pattern of worker exploitation and move closer to becoming the sustainable, equitable and resilient community we all deserve.
Nicole Speer is member of United Campus Workers Colorado — CWA Local 7799, a director of research services at CU Boulder, and mayor pro tem on Boulder’s city council. She is writing in her personal capacity.
This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
A worker prepares a computer to run a brain imaging study at Intermountain Neuroimaging Consortium. Credit: Gabby Kramer
CU Boulder workers at the intermountain neuroimaging scanner. Credit: Glenn J. Asakawa, CU Boulder
OPINION
DEMAND A LIVABLE WAGE
Workers deserve more than mere survival
BY SUSAN GIBSON
Afew weeks ago, a coalition of community and labor organizations rallied at the Trident Cafe, demanding a higher minimum wage for Boulder workers. Dozens of us gathered to call on the Boulder City Council to raise the city’s minimum wage to from its current $14.42 per hour to $16.57 in 2025, and then up gradually until we reach $25 per hour by 2030. This would match Boulder County’s existing plan to increase the minimum wage in unincorporated areas.
I know firsthand the challenges of being a small business owner: For years, I owned two in downtown Boulder. The relentless hours, the enormous effort and the constant worry about making ends meet — it’s a tough gig. But what’s even tougher is watching your employees struggle to survive on wages that simply don’t cut it in today’s economy.
Denver started increasing its minimum wage in January 2020, and it now stands at $18.29 per hour. Contrary to the dire predictions, this hasn’t driven Denver’s small businesses into the ground — they have rebounded postpandemic better than many other places.
I ask the small business owners of Boulder: Do you pay your employees less than $18 an hour? Do you support a more livable wage in Boulder? Why or why not? How do you feel when your corporate landlord, maybe Stephen Tebo or another billionaire, hikes up your rent again?
It’s not a livable wage that’s driving small businesses out of business — it’s the ever-increasing cost of leasing space. Commercial landlords like Tebo or the massive Unico grow richer, their properties appreciate, and they have little regard for the loyal tenants who have been paying them outrageous rent prices for years.
Opposing a livable wage means prioritizing the profits of billionaire real estate investors over the wellbeing of
hardworking employees. It’s worth noting that the only employers clinging to minimum wage rates are the biggest and most profitable corporations.
These giants — like Brookdale Senior Living with its $3.03 billion revenue — pay their executives millions while skimping on pay for frontline workers. They are the ones lobbying against minimum wage increases — not out of concern for mom-and-pop shops, but to ensure their own hefty profits.
It’s time that we join together to create a community where people can afford to live where they work. Let’s put an end to the daily commutes from faroff places like Commerce City or Brighton because folks can’t afford to live in Boulder.
It’s time for us to demand a minimum wage that reflects the true cost of living. Let’s commit to a future where every worker can thrive, not just survive. We owe it to ourselves, to our neighbors and to the future of Boulder.
This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
CONTACT CITY COUNCIL. Use this email form: bouldercolorado. gov/contact-city-council-and-staff. Contact information for city council members are available on their individual pages: bouldercolorado. gov/government/city-council
ATTEND A MEETING. City council will discuss minimum wage at its virtual Aug. 22 study session. Watch on YouTube (youtube. com/@CityofBoulderGov) or Channel 8.
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: Want to answer Susan’s questions? Have a different take on minimum wage? Send it to us: letters@boulderweekly.com
GOV’T WATCH
What your local officials are up to this week
BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF
Boulder City Council will not meet the week of Aug. 29. Meetings will resume Thursday, Sept. 5 with a final vote on ballot measures for the November election.
BOULDER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
On Monday, Aug. 26, commissioners will:
• Discuss the Affordable and Attainable Housing Tax, which voters approved in 2023. The roughly $17 million tax will be used to fund housing initiatives and services throughout the county. Public comment will not be taken, but community members can attend virtually: boco.org/HousingTax-Aug26. The discussion is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, Aug. 27, commissioners will:
• Hold a 1 p.m. public hearing and vote on referring to the ballot a petition to form the Homestead Public Improvement District (PID) in Gunbarrel. Properties within the PID would be taxed, with the revenue used to repair, resurface and improve roads and sidewalks.
The proposed boundaries include all properties with direct access to Mt. Meeker Road, Homestead Way, La Plata Circle, Crestone Circle, Baca Circle and Ptarmigan Circle. All properties with direct access to Idylwild Trail are excluded.
If it is referred to the ballot, property owners will vote on the district at the Nov. 5 general election. Register to speak in person (1300 Pearl St., 3rd floor): boco.org/InPerson-Aug27PM. Attend virtually: boco.org/BOCCAug27PM
LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL
On Aug. 20, council:
• Approved a $850,000 budget to design and implement renovations to the Starkey Building on Public Road, to be used for a community hub and events. The city purchased this building from the Chamber of Commerce in 2022 for $400,000. Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will pay for the renovation.
• Received an update on the water bill assistance program. Council in 2023 authorized $50,000 to fund the pilot; qualifying seniors and those with fixed incomes can receive a $7.50 monthly bill credit, distributed through Sister Carmen Community Center. Only 39 households are currently enrolled, for a total of $3,510 in credits. Sister Carmen reported that they receive $19,000 worth of requests for shutoff assistance from community members. Staff is recommending a redesign of the program for 2025 to a one-time bill credit of $100 or more and reallocating $15,000 to shutoff assistance.
• Approved the purchase of 701 S. Public Road from the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority for $1. The 0.14acre property will be used as a flexible green space. (Disclosure: Contributor Karen Norback advocated for the purchase of this land.)
All agenda items are subject to change. Karen Norback contributed reporting.
BOCO, BRIEFLY
Local news at a glance
BY KAYLEE HARTER
NAROPA HAS BUYER FOR MAIN CAMPUS
Naropa University will sell its main campus after calling the 2130 Arapahoe property home for four decades, the university announced in an email Aug. 15, just five years after selling its 30th Street Paramita campus and months after announcing it would sell its associated preschool.
“We recognize the profound value and importance that the land, which has been home to Naropa University for several decades, holds for many of us,” the email from the president’s office to the university community read. “We now need to balance that with the opportunity to create a significant fund for investment in Naropa’s future.”
The university doesn’t anticipate leaving campus before June 2027, according to the email.
Naropa has a buyer for the space, President Chuck Lief told Boulder Weekly, but the buyer will not be public for another several weeks due to a contractual agreement. Lief said he could not share the dollar amount, but that it was “significant.”
“For a school of our size, it’s a lot of money,” he said. “This will not just sort of nibble around the edges. We’ll be able to actually do some significant investing whatever that looks like.”
There were four potential “deep-pocket buyers” and the university made its selection in part due to “mission alignment,” Lief said.
“Anybody building here is going to build something that’s residential,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
As far as the brick-and-mortar future of the university, the Nalanda campus at 6287 Arapahoe Ave. will remain open, but Lief said it’s unlikely the university would purchase or build a new building (though he likely won’t be president by the time those decisions are officially made — he plans to retire in the summer of 2026).
More than 40% of students and “a sig-
nificant portion of staff and faculty” are operating in hybrid and virtual spaces, according to the university’s email. Lief also said the property, which sits in a floodplain is “a very difficult piece of land to own.”
“If you don’t have something like a housing development or something which is generating much more money than our buildings do, you can’t afford to do anything,” he said.
Money tied up in owning and maintaining real estate, he said, is “money that we can’t invest in either compensation for faculty and staff, or it’s money that we have to, at least in part, ask students for in the form of tuition.”
Last year, Naropa students saw a 5% tuition increase, the first bump in four years.
About 1,080 students are enrolled in BA or MA programs at Naropa this school year, according to Lief, an increase of about 9% from the previous year. That doesn’t count certificate programs or postgraduate programs, like the school’s psychedelic-assisted therapies program.
The email said the sale will “ensure the long-term financial health sustainability” of the university.
Earlier this year, Naropa announced it would sell its associated preschool, Alaya. Parents, teachers and other supporters known as Friends of Alaya wishing to save the school now have until June 2025 to raise the $2.2 million needed to purchase it.
The university is launching community town halls this semester “to improve campus communication.” The meetings will be Wednesdays from noon to 1:30 p.m., kicking off Sept. 11. The first town hall will include “a discussion of the sale and next steps to keep our community informed.”
BOCO PILOT PROJECT TO GIVE PARENTS CASH
Applications are open for a program that will give 725 Boulder County families $300 a month for two years. There are no restrictions on how the money can be spent.
To apply, a family must have at least one child under 4 years old and have a family income under 30% of area median income (AMI) — $43,800 annually for a family of four. The Nurturing Futures pro-
gram is open to all, regardless of immigration status.
Participants will be selected through a lottery system, and applications are open through Tuesday, Aug. 27. Learn more or apply at bit.ly/cashforparentsBW
An enrollment event will be held Monday, Aug. 26 at St. Vrain Community Hub, 515 Coffman St., Longmont, Room 112.
BVSD TO OPPOSE TWO STATE PROPERTY TAX BALLOT INITIATIVES
Boulder Valley School District’s board agreed at an Aug. 13 meeting to oppose two state property tax initiatives set to appear on the ballot in November’s election.
Initiative 50 would limit property tax growth to 4% statewide, and Initiative 108 would reduce property tax revenue to local governments by an estimated $3 billion in 2026.
“I don’t want to be wishy-washy, this is not good for K-12,” BVSD Board Vice President Beth Niznik said at the meeting.
The board said it would oppose the initiatives through formal resolutions and through encouraging the legislature to convene a special session to get them taken off the ballot.
Thursday, Aug. 15, Gov. Jared Polis called a special session that will start Aug. 26 and last at least three days, Colorado Sun reported. In the session, legislators
will work to cut property taxes in order to reach an agreement with Initiative 50 and 108 backers to remove them from the ballot. The deadline to remove the items from the ballot is Sept. 6.
IN OTHER NEWS…
• Two suspects were arrested and charged with arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the July 31 Panorama Point fire, according to an Aug. 14 Boulder County Sheriff’s Office press release. At the time of the fire, the county was under Stage 1 fire restrictions, which prohibit fireworks, “yet they still recklessly set off fireworks in a grassy and wooded area,” Sheriff Curtis Johnson said in an earlier release.
• The county coroner is struggling to identify the remains of the person found in the wake of Lyons’ Stone Canyon Fire, due to challenges finding usable DNA and locating family members for comparative DNA analysis. “We are dedicated to overcoming these challenges and are utilizing every available resource to assist in this identification effort,” Boulder County Coroner Jeff Martin said in an Aug. 14 press release.
• On-leash requirements for several Boulder trails are in effect through Dec. 1 “to minimize dog-bear encounters where high-quality bear foraging habitat is near trails.” See which trails at bit.ly/ leashesBW
Courtesy: Naropa University
BUSABA AUTHENIC THAI CUISINE
Busaba means “flower” in thai - life emerging from the elements growing toward the light and emanating its brilliant colors as a gift. Our Family has lovingly created this restaurant as our “busaba” and are offering it to you with flavorful food as our gift. At Busaba, we are committed to preserving the environment and strive to reduce waste. Our taste using fresh ingredients locally available.
Now Open: Downtown Boulder 1035 Pearl Street, #102 Hours: 11:30a-9:00p Daily
Louisville Location: 133 McCaslin Blvd Unit H, Louisville
Boulder, Baseline Location: 4800 Baseline Road, Unit A-110
Erie Location: 3120 Vista Village Drive, Suite 102
Opening soon in Longmont 2343 Clover Basin Dr
FOUR PAWS & CO
Soffers two special services. We can deliver the food you need to your door, and we have a pet sitting service. Stop in soon and see how Four Paws & Co. can help you care for your best friend.
ince opening in 2003, Four Paws & Co. has specialized in premium natural foods and treats, including frozen diets and raw bones. Along with the excellent choices in food for cats and dogs, we carry supplements, grooming supplies, leashes & collars, toys, beds, and cat condos. It’s safe to say there is something for every pet in the store. There is also the Friends of Four Paws Frequent Buyer Program. You receive a punch card and once that is filled, you will receive a $10 Four Paws gift card. Last, but certainly not least, Four Paws
1225 Ken Pratt Blvd. #108 Longmont, CO 303-485-1565 www.fourpawsandco.com
MOUNTAIN FOUNTAIN COUNTRY STORE
At The Mountain Fountain, there’s a little something for everyone. Located smack dab in the center of Hygiene, our eclectic market and deli sources meats from local pastures, and homemade gluten-free bread to die for — combine the two, and you’ve got one of Boulder County’s best gluten-free sandwiches. As a matter of fact, everything at our bakery is homemade — and it makes all the difference — resulting in an airy, light bite across all
products: banana bread, brownies, pies, countryloafs, and so much more. Our butcher shop is many local’s little secret, but the word is out — you will walk out with the best, locally-sourced meat in the area. Grab a coffee, a sandwich and and a seat at The Mountain Fountain— we’ve got what you need.
11809 N. 75th Street, Longmont, CO 80503 (720) 487-2571 mtnftnmarket@gmail.com
COMING ATTRACTION?
Unpacking Boulder’s bid for the Sundance Film Festival
BY MICHAEL J. CASEY
In case you somehow haven’t heard, the Sundance Film Festival might be coming to Boulder in 2027.
“The Sundance Film Festival has a deep history in the Mountain West, and we can think of no better home for its next act than Colorado,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a June press release. “With the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop and our deep commitment to the arts, we can help the festival achieve even greater success while preserving what makes it special, building on Colorado’s iconic creative brand and our strong arts community.”
Then again, the festival’s next act might bind itself to the strong arts communities of Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; or Santa Fe, New Mexico. Or maybe it’ll stay put in Park City, Utah, and expand 30 miles northwest into Salt Lake City. Sundance is considering all six as “potential host cities for the festival,” per a July 19 press release. Naturally, the six potential hosts are excited about the economic impact the Sundance Film Festival could bring. According to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, last year’s event boosted Utah’s economy to the tune of 1,608 jobs, $63 million in wages and more than 21,000 out-of-state visitors.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Publically, speculation began this past January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival during a live recording of Matthew Belloni’s podcast, The Town with then-Sundance Institute (which organizes the festival) CEO Joana Vicente. Sundance’s current contract with Park City expires following the 2026 festival, prompting speculation about the festival’s future.
Sundance attendance has been declining — exacerbated by virtual-only festivals in 2021 and 2022 — while the streaming boom of the past decade has disrupted the production-to-platform pipeline so totally that every film festival has felt the sting. That’s the cloud Vicente was under when she revealed Sundance’s future might no longer be tied to the ski resort town it has called home for 40 years.
“Yes, there is a negotiation coming up,” Vicente said on The Town. “We’re also spending time doing a lot of strategic thinking: Where can we be most relevant? What’s the role of the festival? What’s the role of the Institute? How do we evolve in an ever-changing industry?”
Two months later, Vicente stepped down as CEO of the Institute. Behind-the-scenes, the wheels have been turning a lot longer. The Sundance Film Festival, which champions new and emerging voices — primarily in the American independent and documentary scenes — has grown into one of the biggest players on the cinematic calendar. (The 2024 festival has extensions in Chicago, London, Mexico City and Taiwan.)
In April, the Sundance Institute opened the Request for Information (RFI) and
subsequent Request for Proposal (RFP) for locations interested in hosting the festival for 10 years.
“We are in a unique moment for our festival and our global film community,” Sundance’s director of festival and public programming, Eugene Hernandez, said in the press release. “With the contract up for renewal, this exploration allows us to responsibly consider how we best continue sustainably serving our community while maintaining the essence of the festival experience.”
HOW STRONG IS BOULDER’S BID?
Colorado is no stranger to film festivals. Boulder already has the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF), held in late winter, while 30 miles southeast, Denver hosts the Denver Film Festival (DFF) in November. Between the two are a smattering of smaller but no less significant fests: Boulder Jewish Film Festival, Boulder Environmental / Nature / Outdoors Film Festival, CinemaQ, Mimesis Documentary Festival, Women+Film Festival, and so on.
Then there’s the University of Colorado’s First Person Cinema and
International Film Series, two long-running series with dedicated followings.
“We have a real homegrown audience that’s into more artistic cinema,” CU professor and filmmaker Kelly Sears tells Boulder Weekly. “Thinking about folks who come to the Brakhage Symposium, who come to the Celebrating Stan series, who come to the Mimesis Documentary Festival ... I think there is a big population that is eager for cinema that skews toward the margins here.”
Sears, who’s had five of her shorts screen at Sundance, thinks “Boulder is a very interesting fit for Sundance” because the festival’s “interest is in finding new voices, new visions and new aesthetics.”
The emphasis there is “new.” Sundance is a marketplace. Save for a couple of locally produced movies, everything you see at BIFF or DFF — who did not respond to requests for comment from Boulder Weekly by the time of publication — has already acquired distribution. The majority of the movies that play Sundance do not. Invited filmmakers show up with hope and a prayer that they’ll leave 10 days later with a deal from a studio or a streamer and a check to cash.
Boulder is one of six finalists in the running to host the Sundance Film Festival in 2027. Courtesy: Arthur Mola/Invision/AP
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Before it was Sundance, it was the Utah/ US Film Festival. The year was 1978, and Sterling van Wagenen, a Brigham Young University film school graduate, and Utah State Film Commissioner John Earle wanted to put on a show.
Like a lot of projects in their infancy, the Utah/US Film Festival bounced around the calendar and locations before settling in Park City in 1981, thanks to a suggestion by board member and filmmaker Sydney Pollack. He figured that as the only film festival held at a ski resort during ski season, “Hollywood would beat down the door to attend.” Pollack was right. That same year, the festival changed names to the US Film and Video Festival, finally taking the moniker of the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.
BEFORE THERE WAS UTAH, THERE WAS BOULDER
If there’s one name synonymous with Sundance, it’s Robert Redford. Married to van Wagenen’s cousin, Lola, at the
time, Redford was attached to the festival from the get-go.
If you read any article or press release about Boulder’s bid for Sundance, they will invariably mention Redford’s ties to CU — he attended in 1955 and was kicked out after one year — and the time he was a busboy at The Sink. What they tend to leave out is that Redford offered the festival to the university in 1978, and they turned him down.
“I thought I’d throw this feeler out and see if the university was interested,” Redford told Denver Post movie critic Steven Rosen in 2000. For the pitch, Redford gathered then-Governor Dick Lamm, CU film studies professor Virgil Grillo, resident filmmaker Stan Brakhage and Telluride Film Festival’s Bill Pence, and offered to put up the seed money. “Then hopefully there would be either a group of investors or community leaders or the university itself. I never got any response. So I went on my way.”
Boulder’s loss was Utah’s gain. Nearly 50 years later, a reversal might be in the works.
WHO WANTS SUNDANCE TO COME TO BOULDER?
Turns out, a lot of people. The consortium behind Boulder’s $1.5 million bid for the Sundance Film Festival is a partnership between the State of Colorado and the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Boulder) in collaboration with Colorado Office of Film Television and Media (COFTM) and the Business Funding and Incentives division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Other players include the City of Boulder, the Boulder Chamber, the University of Colorado and the Stanley Film Center in Estes Park — which is currently hosting the Sundance Institute’s Directors Labs in 2024 while the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah is under construction. (Redford sold the property in 2020.)
“Colorado’s creative industries contribute $16.8 billion to our economy every year and account for nearly 4% of jobs,” OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman said in a June press release. “Hosting the prestigious Sundance Film
Festival will grow the sector’s contributions to our state while raising Colorado’s profile across the globe, benefiting the many small businesses that depend on tourism and out-of-state visitors for their livelihoods.”
This sentiment was echoed by the Boulder community in a recent Sundance Film Festival Engagement Survey conducted by Visit Boulder and distributed through local arts organizations like BIFF and the Conference on World Affairs email lists.
“Responses were overwhelmingly positive,” Karleen Lewis, Visit Boulder’s director of marketing and communications, told Boulder Weekly, “with more than 80% of respondents indicating they are excited about Boulder potentially hosting the Sundance Film Festival.”
Lewis explains that the survey was “distributed to gauge interest” if Boulder was selected to host the fest. Those results will be “used to help inform the selection committee’s decision.”
Though the full results of Visit Boulder’s survey are confidential, Lewis says they are “overwhelmingly positive” despite some concerns which “revolve around logistical questions or practical issues.”
And those logistical questions and practical issues — from where the festival films will screen to what kind of impact this will have on the already established film festivals — amount to an awful lot. Then there are the questions of lodging and logistics, infrastructure and environmental impact.
But before we get to all that, there’s still the lingering question of Sundance’s next act.
“This is a good time for Sundance to pivot to a new location,” CU professor and local filmmaker Emilie Upczak tells Boulder Weekly. “When we move locations, we also clean house and look at what we need and what we don’t. I hope that Sundance, in this move, would take the opportunity to look at their strengths and build on those.”
The announcement for the location of the 2027 Sundance Film Festival will come sometime between now and early 2025. The 2025 Sundance Film Festival will take place in Park City from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2.
The Boulder International Film Festival has been a local staple for 20 years. Courtesy: BIFF
MUSIC
EVERYTHING IS ICING
Molly Rankin of Alvvays on saying no, honoring her influences and marking 10 years as power-pop royalty
BY JEZY J. GRAY
Adark bruise of storm clouds begins to clot in the background of a family photo on the coast of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. The scene resembles a Renaissance painting: Mom, serving early-90s chic in her chambray button-up and khaki baseball cap, throws her glance sideways to dad who pulls their 5-year-old daughter from choppy waters to the safety of dry land. The wild-eyed child looks back at the camera over a bulky orange life jacket and a mane of blonde hair, her gaze startled and urgent.
That kid was Molly Rankin, founding singer-songwriter of the Canadian indiepop band Alvvays — and that arresting image is the artwork of Blue Rev, the quintet’s Grammy-nominated third LP. She came across the shot a few years ago while flipping through an envelope of photographs taken by her aunt. Rankin hadn’t yet written a single note for what would become the celebrated follow-up to 2017’s Antisocialites, but she knew it had to be the cover of the next record.
“Finding something that makes you feel that way is so rare,” Rankin, 37, says. “Using that photo of the past just made sense to me. This album was one of the first times I actually wove in some of my own experience of what it was like being a teen in Nova Scotia. There was a thematic link there, but the contrast in the sky was also really interesting to me: the symbolism of having this warm blanket of family support pulling you off a boat and onto a wharf with this horrible storm coming in behind you.”
This personal touch carries over to the album title, referencing the brand name of syrupy electric-blue wine cooler Rankin
and her teenage friends would sneak “at rink dances and in graveyards.” And it doesn’t take long for bits of her biography to bubble to the surface of the music, like her short-lived experiment with higher ed at Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University: “I dropped out / college education’s a dull knife,” she sings with equal parts power and sweetness. “If you don’t believe in the lettered life / then maybe this is our only try.”
lar force, these 14 songs find Alvvays pulling off the delicate high-wire act of taking listeners to new territory that still somehow feels familiar.
Boulder Weekly called Rankin ahead of the band’s upcoming Aug. 24 performance with New Zealand power-pop outfit The Beths at Denver’s Mission Ballroom to talk about her band’s 10th anniversary, their masterful third LP and penchant for taking big creative swings. The following has been edited for length and clarity
It’s been 10 years this month since the first Alvvays record. Are those big anniversaries meaningful to you, or is that just the sort of thing music journalists like because it gives them something to write about?
gets me excited and makes me feel a bit more invested in some type of milestone like that. But otherwise, I’m not really all that sentimental about milestones.
When you look back on that time compared to now, what has changed and what has stayed the same?
But it’s not all backward glances on Blue Rev. The band scales new heights as the album skates across its 39-minute runtime, finding deeper pockets of melody amid blistering walls of shoegaze guitar and delicate turns of twee tenderness. Much like the group’s knack for synthesizing their influences into a singu-
[Laughs.] Yes, and no. The years have really flown by, so it doesn’t feel like a ton of time for me. But at the same time, so much has happened. When I think about working with Chad Van Galen [on our self-titled debut] and how much of a strange dream it was when he agreed to do it with us, it’s really overwhelming. To think about the time we spent together and the work he put into it
Something that hasn’t changed is I never expect any type of warm reception with what we put out there. I’ve never hung any expectation on what this could be. As a result, everything has been essentially icing to us. It’s not to say we don’t work really hard at what we do, but I feel like so much of music is about timing. There’s a lot that’s out of your control. Something that has changed is that all of us are good at getting what we need out and feeling more comfortable asking for things that are necessary. I was always afraid of burdening people, when really it was very baseline things I needed. I would feel timid or not competent enough to get what I want out of a situation, and it’s taken a lot of time to come out of that place and just communicate properly. That skill is so important when you’re traveling with a bunch of people and you’re just trying to maintain happiness or stability in a working environment. Learning how to speak to people directly but politely is a hard-to-harvest skill.
Left to right: Sheridan Riley, Abbey Blackwell, Molly Rankin, Alec O’Hanley and Kerri MacLellan of Alvvays. Credit: Eleanor Petry
Blue Rev by Alvvays was released Oct. 7, 2022. Courtesy: Polyvinyl Records
Can you give an example?
Saying “no.” I’m very comfortable doing that now. I have a pretty good grasp of — I hate this word — boundaries, and what makes me feel gross and what I’m OK with. That could be answering a specific type of question or being asked to play a show that we don’t really feel good about. If we’re opening for some huge act and we only have 20 minutes to figure out how to get sound and have everything on stage before playing for thousands of people, I feel like we’re all a lot better at getting precisely what’s needed in order to get through the set.
That stuff has happened so much over the last 10 years of touring that we’re actually really good at operating in a circus now.
Let’s talk about Blue Rev. It’s one of those albums I have to force myself to stop putting on repeat, or I’ll just make myself sick with it. We all have those!
What’s a record like that for you?
I was just listening to the David Kilgour album, Here Come the Cars. I was in a huge obsession cycle and
now I’m revisiting it again. I kind of overplayed it for myself by just repeating it constantly. I do that a lot when I’m trying to write and become inspired by other things.
It’s interesting to hear you say that, because your music is so singular but it also feels very connected to your influences. How do you navigate those two pieces?
Being able to successfully channel any influence — and that could just mean a drum sound — is hard to pull off. Any time I feel like we’ve successfully done that, it always just ends up sounding like our band. I don’t know if that’s because of my vocal or our guitar. But I also just really like to do impressions of people. So sometimes I like to inhabit the space of my favorite vocalist and see what the song would sound like if I tried to take on some of their idiosyncrasies.
There’s a guitar lick on Blue Rev that feels like a direct reference to “This Charming Man” by The Smiths. Oh, interesting! You’re probably thinking about “Pressed.” We were trying to do a Smiths verse and an R.E.M. chorus.
But like you say, it’s unmistakably Alvvays. A lot of that seems to do with these unexpected turns, where the song takes a big swing you don’t really see coming. How consciously are you seeking out those moments?
I’m a disciple of the radio, so sometimes I have these really weird pop instincts that find their way into the songs and I dial that back a bit [laughs]. It’s a mashup of that and more niche things like ’80s guitar groups like The Feelies and The dBs. I also like playing with structure and creating different twists and turns, because I don’t want to keep writing the same song every time. So you experiment, chopping things up and playing with it. That means you have to go down a lot of different roads, and that takes a lot of time — which is something we tend to do with records.
MUSIC
I’ve never hung any expectation on what this could be.
As a result, everything has been essentially icing to us.”
— MOLLY RANKIN, ALVVAYS
You can hear that in the music. Your albums sound very fussed over.
We believe we’re too fussy for our own good. But then I listen to previous iterations of what we’re working on, and I’m very glad that at the end of the day that we had those arguments and thought things through to the point that we’re happy with it.
A lot of listeners and critics seem to agree that Blue Rev is the high mark of your career so far. Did it feel like you were on to something special when you were making it?
We generally treat every album like it’s our last try at making a record. You never actually know [how it’s going to be received]. Everyone goes through that, where they make something to the best of their ability and then people can just be like, “meh.” I don’t want to pretend like I have a better scale of what our best thing is or what will resonate with people. They might just not like the way we dress anymore, and the album therefore sucks. [Laughs.] We just wanted to make sure it felt the way it needed to feel and hoped that other people would understand.
ON THE BILL: Alvvays with The Beths. 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $43
Molly Rankin
Credit: Nicole Dib
CRUEL RUNNINGS
Debut musical from immersive theater troupe is a provocative ’90s throwback
BY TONI TRESCA
Picture it: Two men, caught in a passionate moment, are photographed for blackmail while singing Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy.” As the tension rises, the scene transforms into a dramatic breakup set to NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” with choreography inspired by the opening sequence of Deadpool and Wolverine. If this combination of raunchy drama and pop-culture nostalgia sounds appealing, then Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical is the perfect show for you. Shifted Lens Theatre Company’s production is an irreverent, outrageous satire skewering the rich urban youth culture of the pre-Y2K era.
Based on the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, the musical follows the twisted games of wealthy step siblings Sebastian Valmont (Jack Icke) and Kathryn Merteuil (Sabrina Patten) as they manipulate their way through New York’s elite private school scene. Their primary targets are the virtuous Annette Hargrove (Erica Caruso) and the naive Cecile Caldwell (Helen Campbell), setting the stage for a tangled web of deceit and betrayal.
With a score of ’90s pop hits, this musical marks the debut of Shifted Lens, a new immersive theater troupe based in Aurora, and is directed by the company’s founder, Lexie Lazea. The People’s Building, a versatile and intimate space, enables the company to experiment with audience engagement and spatial dynamics.
Opening night was sold out, filling the venue with an energetic crowd eager to experience the show’s immersive elements. Upon arrival, theatergoers were met with decadent chandeliers hanging above minimalist yet opulent furniture and projection screens showing vintage music videos.
The interactive set invited audience members to pick up telephones scattered throughout the space to hear pre-record-
ed messages from the characters. Notably, the crowd included a significant number of younger people — a refreshing change from the usual demographic of Colorado’s theater scene.
BOLD ENTRANCE
formance, and Patten’s Kathryn exudes big Morticia Addams energy with her poised goth sensibility. However, Patten’s minor but noticeable habit of breaking the fourth wall and observing the audience’s reactions detracted from the tension at key moments.
Erica Caruso, who plays the Reese Witherspoon-inspired Annette, balances her character’s simple nature with an underlying strength that elevates her beyond a pawn in the step siblings’ game. Caruso’s vocal performance, particularly in the ballads, adds emotional depth to the show, making Annette a character you can root for amid the chaos.
The five ensemble members known as the Manchester Prep Dancers are well integrated into group scenes, elevating key moments and selling tricky dance numbers. Choreographer Erin Carrino’s stylized work captures the essence of ’90s music videos with dynamic and fluid movements that keep the energy high. Whether supporting the main action or creating background tableaux, the ensemble’s expressiveness makes them an integral part of the story.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Helen Campbell’s performance as the innocent, wide-eyed Cecile is one of the show’s highlights. Her rendition of Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” is a standout, transforming what could have been a cringeworthy moment into a comedic gem. Campbell has a gift for stealing scenes with her over-the-top naivety while also elevating the performances of her scene partners.
Suzanne Connors-Nepi delivers an admirable performance as Bunny Caldwell, Cecile’s overprotective and racially insensitive mother. ConnorsNepi’s comedic timing is spot on, and she adds sophistication to what could have been a one-dimensional character. Her scenes with Jamien Geovante Walker, who plays Cecile’s cello teacher
Jack Icke and Sabrina Patten give solid performances as the scheming step siblings, though their portrayals lack the intensity that would elevate their characters from villainous to truly menacing. Icke’s Sebastian has the suave-yet-sleazy charm of an early Neil Patrick Harris per-
Ronald, are particularly memorable; his grounded dignity makes his character feel authentic.
Chris Temple and Neil Isales Jr. deserve praise for their performances as gay couple Blaine Tuttle and Greg McConnell. Their chemistry is undeniable, and they deliver some of the show’s most amusing and poignant moments.
A few technical issues detracted from the overall experience on opening night. While the lighting design is visually appealing with its use of blues, oranges, purples and pinks, it frequently casts shadows on the actors, which is exacerbated by scenes where the lights shine directly into the audience’s eyes. The sound design was also inconsistent, with microphone packs not always turning on and occasional static disrupting the flow. The live four-piece band occasionally overpowered the singers, particularly during more intimate numbers. Despite being marketed as an immersive company, these features fell short of expectations. The interactive set and the distribution of Sebastian’s journal pages to the audience are nice touches, but they don’t completely bridge the gap between audience and performance, as one would expect from an “immersive” production. Overall, Shifted Lens’ throwback musical is a strong debut showcasing the troupe’s potential. While some aspects need refinement, particularly on the technical front, the production succeeds in delivering a fun, sexy throwback to the original film.
If you’re in the mood for an angsty romp through the ’90s with a healthy dose of dark humor, Cruel Intentions is well worth the trip to Aurora. Just be prepared to embrace the decade’s unfiltered attitude and enjoy the ride.
ON STAGE: Cruel
Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Through Sept. 1, The People’s Building, 9995 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora. $28-$38
NOCTURNAL BEASTS
There is a whole world to discover after the sun goes down
BY COURTNEY JOHNSON
When I was a child, I regularly played outside after the street lights came on in the suburbs of Chicago. The night brought out a new adventurous side to me. I loved the freedom of car-free streets and the little goosebumps I would get from the glow of a full jar of lightning bugs. The tingle of my arms from the cool night breeze or knowing that I might soon be caught and become “it” during a night time game. My eyes opened as wide as they could on the camping trip my dad and I saw Halley’s Comet streak across the night sky. This moment solidified my love for the outdoors and the universe above. Tracking the croaks of neighborhood frogs always led to giggles as my best friend Brian and I tried to hold the slimy amphibians in our hands.
There is a whole world to discover when the sun sets behind the mountains in Colorado. Here are some ideas for families to create experiential memories when the sky darkens.
HUNT FOR NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
With the diverse habitats of the foothills, wetlands and forest around Boulder County, there are many nocturnal and
crepuscular (active at dusk) animals to be found close to home.
According to the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), Boulder County is home to 11 different species of bats, a quarter of all the bat species in the U.S.
Searching for animals at night is a full sensory experience. Use the red filter on your headlamp or flashlight to avoid scaring animals away. Minimize talking and listen for rustling on the ground or from above.
Head to an open space, or even your neighborhood, to look for salamanders, bats or toads. Our picks are Sawhill Ponds, Coot Lake and Bobolink for some night observation. OSMP trails are open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., with some exceptions.
You can also be a citizen scientist and help track nocturnal animal locations and movements in Boulder County. Critter Snap is looking for volunteers to classify photo data: Go to zooniverse.org/ projects/bouldercounty/critter-snap.
LOOK TO THE SKIES
Grab a blanket, lay down, look up and let your eyes adjust for about 10-15 minutes. Pretty soon, you will be able to see more
and more stars. Use an app like SkyView Lite to help you locate constellations, planets and even the International Space Station as it passes by.
In August, the Perseids meteor shower put on quite an annual show in the night sky. Look for special events at International Dark Sky Parks, and state and national parks close to home. The scenic overlook off Peak to Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park and Button
Rock Preserve have all been places we’ve observed the night sky close to Boulder.
SPY A FIREFLY
If you grew up in the East or Midwest, catching fireflies (also known as lightning bugs) is a rite of passage in the summer. While the light is often duller in color, fireflies can be found in Colorado if you know where to look.
This elusive species enjoys wetlands and marshy areas, especially where cattails are found. There is a short time frame to enjoy the glow, typically from the end of June through mid-tolate July based on the weather.
Sawhill Ponds in Boulder looking south into the farmer fields near the railroad tracks is our favorite local place to spot
Mount Meeker, as seen from the south side of McIntosh Lake in Longmont. Credit: Tyler Cipriani
The Milky Way, seen from Great Sand Dunes National Park. Credit: Patrick Myers
Townsend’s big-eared bats breed 11 places in Colorado, including two in City of Boulder open space. Credit: Kristen Lalumiere
them. Some other consistent places to view fireflies are Riverbend Ponds Natural Area and Reservoir Ridge Natural Area in Fort Collins, and Morey Wildlife Reserve in Loveland. Reports of fireflies north of the Pleasant View Soccer Complex in the wetland area off 47th Street have been made over the years. You can even help the Butterfly Pavilion as they work to restore firefly populations in Colorado. Document your sightings to help with conservation efforts.
PADDLE UNDER THE MOON
Rocky Mountain Paddleboard is one outfitter that offers full moon paddle nights with rental equipment included at Boulder Reservoir and Cherry Creek Reservoir. Or head out on a full moon night and paddle in a local body of water. Union Reservoir is open until 9 p.m., while McIntosh Lake is open until one hour past sunset. Grab a permit to paddle at Brainard Lake under the moon (no time restrictions).
TAKE A SUNSET HIKE
Recharge after a full day by taking a sunset hike. For safety, choose a familiar trail you can navigate by headlamp. Obstacle-free trails that are wide open are the best choice, especially if you have young adventurers. Enjoy a picnic dinner or dessert as the sun sinks behind the mountains. Or consider taking in the opposite view by waking up early to catch the sun coming up over the horizon.
A few of my favorite sunset trails are Coot Lake, Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail at the NCAR Trailhead or Davidson Mesa, where the views are stunning while the trail is relatively hazard-free. There are so many places to get higher up to enjoy the sunrise. Mt. Sanitas is a classic hike for starting the morning. Near the perfect sunrise overlook, the Long Canyon Trail is a moderate hike that begins and ends near the Lost Gulch Overlook. Short in length but not on views, the Red Rocks Trail is also a favorite.
VISIT A NATIONAL PARK AT NIGHT
With national park visitation growing year to year, quiet moments (and reservations) during the daytime are becoming harder and harder to find. Trafficfree park roads, empty trailheads and the serenity of the evening are just some of the perks of visiting when the sun goes down.
All four national parks in Colorado are open 24 hours. Three of the four national parks in Colorado are designated as International Dark Sky Parks due to the lack of light pollution: Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. So are Hovenweep National Monument, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument and Curecanti National Recreation Area.
Children ages 5 to 12 can earn a special Junior Ranger Night Explorers badge by completing an activity booklet picked up at a visitor center or online.
There is a reason the National Park Service uses the slogan, coined by astronomer, author and artist Dr. Tyler Nordgren, “Half the park is after dark.”
22
ROCK & RAILS 2024
5-9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, Whistlestop Park, Murray Street & 1st Avenue, Niwot. Free
Niwot’s free summer concert series continues with the funk stylings of the Nalani Effect, Regi and Adam Wooten. Food trucks and beer vendors will serve patrons during this community bash that won the Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence for Best Promotional Event.
22
BEGINNING WATERCOLOR BASICS
6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, pARTiculars Art Gallery and Teaching Studio, 401 South Public Road, Lafayette. $50
Learn the fundamentals of watercolor painting in this beginner-level class led by artist Laurie Adams. Whether this is your first foray into the form or you’re looking to brush up on the basics, this hands-on workshop is for you. No extra materials needed.
23
JUNKYARD HIP-HOP FESTIVAL
4 p.m to midnight, Friday, Aug. 23, Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave., Suite A, Boulder. $15
This vibrant celebration of hip-hop culture includes dance competitions, live mural painting, workshops, documentary screenings, live performances and more. The day will also feature local poets and sharing circles, along with merch vendors, food trucks and more.
24
CU CLIMBING FUNDRAISER COMPETITION
7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Kilter Climbing Grips, 3762 Puritan Way #3 Frederick. $12-$34
Join in on this CU fundraiser by competing against other rock climbers for prizes and awards. Proceeds support the CU climbing team at the FISU World University Games in Slovenia this fall.
24
NED JAZZ AND WINE FESTIVAL
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Chipeta Park, 254-306 Lakeview Drive, Nederland. $60
Jazz and wine collide in the shadow of the mountains during this annual blowout supporting Nederland Seniors Inc. Head to Chipeta park for live music, food trucks and a bevy of wineries, cideries, meaderies, distilleries and breweries.
24
PURRFECT TAROT WITH PURRFECT CATS
2-6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Purrfect Pause Cat Cafe, 5290 Arapahoe Ave., Unit E, Boulder. $40
Have your future revealed and make new furry friends during this tarot reading event with Amara Paladine. You’ll get a 20-minute reading session before meeting some of the cats that roam the Purrfect Pause Cat Cafe.
24 LIGHTS OUT LYONS
5:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Bohn Park, 199 2nd Ave., Lyons. Free
Turn out the lights and join the Lyons community in watching the stars above. The nocturnal fun starts at Lyons Library with a “mini dome” experience brought to you by Fiske Planetarium, followed by a nighttime hang in Bohn Park with telescopes and astronomy educators.
The mountains are calling, and you must go. This 3.2-mile guided hike led by Carly Moree of Rocky Mountain Hiking Co. meets at the NCAR trailhead and winds through Bear Canyon Loop for an intermediate-level trek with 659 feet of elevation gain.
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DRAG BINGO WITH MISS JESSICA
6:30-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, Left Hand Tasting Room, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free
Your lucky numbers are up at Left Hand Brewing. There’s no room for inhibitions during this regular drag bingo bash with the one and only Miss Jessica L’Whor, where you can slay the night away while imbibing on a few award-winning craft beers.
25
IRISH TRAD SESSION
5-8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, The Wheel House, 101 2nd Ave., Niwot. Free
Pull out the fiddle and get ready to jam over some traditional Irish tunes at this jam session in Niwot. Bring the family along for pub grub and drinks (including NA options) at the Wheel House, a bike shop by day and community watering hole by night.
25
SUNDAYS ON WEST PEARL
10 a.m. to noon. Sunday, Aug. 25, The New Local, 741 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
Boulder’s new weekly cultural series continues with another round of free art activities, live painting demos, performances and more. The morning starts at Spruce Confections with coffee and a live jazz trio, followed by artforward fun at The New Local.
27
TUESDAY TRIVIA
6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Road, Unit 3, Boulder. Free
Assemble your brainiest crew and head to Rayback for this weekly trivia series. Prizes are awarded to the top three finishing teams of no more than 10 players. Seating is available first-come, first-serve — so get there early.
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PARK YOGA
6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, Eben G. Fine Park, 101 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. $12
Treat your mind and body with an afternoon yoga sesh. This weekly series offers a chance to take in the natural beauty surrounding Eben G. Fine Park while making new connections with your neighbors. Take a dip in Boulder Creek afterward to cool off from the late-summer heat.
28
BLUEGRASS PICK
5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, Beyond the Mountain Brewing, 6035 Longbow Drive, Unit 109, Boulder. Free
Bring your instrument and connect with other musicians during this bluegrass jam session at Beyond the Mountain Brewing. The weekly event is led by members of local group The Sweet Lillies and their friends. “Pickers get their first beer free.”
Chuck Sitero and Dylan Kober
Bob Barrick
The Sweet Lillies with Derek Dames Ohl & Elle Michelle
LIVE MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22
BLUE TONGUE. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free
DR. JIM’S ONE MAN BAND 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
THE 502S WITH MAX MCNOWN 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 13th St. $25
ALVVAYS WITH THE BETHS 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $44 STORY ON P. 14
GANESHA WITH AVA SPARKZ, PZZLR, MUSHII MUSHII AND WOVN 10 p.m. Bounce Empire, 1380 S. Public Road, Lafayette. $40
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25 LAURIE BERKNER 11
and 3 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 13th St. $36
LIVE MUSIC
ON THE BILL
Credit: Jackie Lee Young
Texas giants Khruangbin bring their cosmic brand of psych-rock to the Front Range for three nights of shows at Mission Ballroom and Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, Aug. 26-28. They’ll be joined on their Colorado sojourn by New Delhi alt-rock masterminds Peter Cat Recording Co See listing for details
LOCO UKELELE JAM 2 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free
KAMEN ROSS. 12:30 p.m. Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Free
DAVY ALLARD WITH JAPE ABRUSCATO.
3 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free
KHRUANGBIN WITH PETER CAT RECORDING CO (NIGHT 2). 8 p.m. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $125
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28
MIDDAY MUSIC MEDITATION Noon. Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Free
ANDY EPPLER 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont. Free
KHRUANGBIN WITH PETER CAT
RECORDING CO (NIGHT 3) 8 p.m.
Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $125
MATT FLAHERTY BAND 9 p.m. Southern Sun, 627 S. Broadway, Boulder. Free
Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.
ASTROLOGY
BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Years ago, when I worked as a postal delivery person in Santa Cruz, California, I mastered my route quickly. The time allotted to complete it was six hours, but I could easily finish in four. Soon I began to goof off two hours a day, six days a week. Many great works of literature and music entertained me during that time. I joined a softball team and was able to play an entire game each Saturday while officially on the job. Was what I did unethical? I don’t think so, since I always did my work thoroughly and precisely. Is there any comparable possibility in your life, Aries? An ethical loophole? A workaround that has full integrity? An escape clause that causes no harm?
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): From an astronomer’s perspective, Uranus is huge. Sixty-three Earths could fit inside of it. It’s also weirdly unique because it rotates sideways compared to the other planets. From an astrologer’s point of view, Uranus symbolizes the talents and gifts we possess that can be beneficial to others. If we fully develop these potentials, they will express our unique genius and be useful to our fellow humans. It so happens that Uranus has been cruising through Taurus since 2018 and will mostly continue there until 2026. I regard these years as your best chance in this lifetime to fulfill the opportunities I described. The coming weeks will be especially pregnant with possibilities.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Mountaineer Edmund Hillary is renowned as the first person to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. It happened in 1953. Less famous was his companion in the ascent, Gemini mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. Why did Hillary get more acclaim than Norgay, even though they were equal partners in the monumental accomplishment? Was it because one was a white New Zealander and the other a brown Nepalese? In any case, I’m happy to speculate that if there’s a situation in your life that resembles Norgay’s, you will get remediation in the coming months. You will receive more of the credit you deserve. You will garner the acknowledgment and recognition that had previously been unavailable. And it all starts soon.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): As an American, I’m embarrassed by the fact that my fellow citizens and I comprise just 4% of the world’s population but generate 20% of its garbage. How is that possible? In any case, I vow that during the next five weeks, I will decrease the volume of trash I produce and increase the amount of dross I recycle. I encourage you, my fellow Cancerians, to make a similar promise. In ways that may not be immediately imaginable, attending to these matters will improve your mental health and maybe even inspire you to generate an array of fresh insights about how to live your life with flair and joy.
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): The coming weeks will be a wonderful time to waste time on the internet. If you are properly aligned with cosmic rhythms, you will spend long hours watching silly videos, interacting with friends and strangers on social media and shopping for products you don’t really need. JUST KIDDING!! Everything I just said was a dirty lie. It was designed to test your power to resist distracting influences and mediocre advice. Here’s my authentic counsel, Leo: The coming weeks will be a fantastic phase to waste as little time as possible as you intensify your focus on the few things that matter to you most.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Scientific research suggests that brushing and flossing your teeth not only boosts the health of your gums, but also protects your heart’s health. Other studies show that if you maintain robust microbiota in your gut, you’re more likely to avoid anxiety and depression as you nurture your mental health. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to focus on big-picture thoughts like these, Virgo. You will be wise to meditate on how each part of your life affects every other part. You will generate good fortune as you become more vividly aware and appreciative of the intimate interconnectedness that underlies all you do.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): The official term for the shape of a single piece of M&M candy is “oblate spheroid.” It’s rounded but not perfectly round. It looks like a partially squashed sphere. An Iraqi man named Ibrahim Sadeq decided to try the difficult task of arranging as many M&M’s as possible in a vertical stack. He is now the world’s record holder in that art, with seven M&M’s. I am imagining that sometime soon, Libra, you could achieve a comparable feat in your own domain. What’s challenging but not impossible?
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): I’ve heard many people brag about their hangovers. The stories they tell are often entertaining and humorous. One of my best laughs emerged in response to two friends describing the time they jumped on the roof of a parked Mercedes Benz at 3 a.m. and sang songs from Verdi’s opera Falstaff until the cops came and threw them in a jail cell with nothing to eat or drink for ten hours. In accordance with astrological omens, Scorpio, I ask you to not get a hangover in the coming weeks, even an amusing one. Instead, I encourage you to studiously pursue extreme amounts of pleasurable experiences that have only good side effects.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Most famous musicians demand that their dressing rooms be furnished with specific amenities. Beyoncé needs rose-scented candles. Rihanna expects her preparatory sanctuary to have dark blue or black drapes topped with icy blue chiffon. Eminem insists on a set of 25-pound dumbbells, and the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd wants Super Soaker water guns. Since the coming weeks may be as close to a rock star phase of your cycle as you’ve ever had, I recommend you create a list of your required luxuries. This imaginative exercise will hopefully get you in the mood to ask for exactly what you need everywhere you go.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Sleep deprivation is widespread. I see it as a pandemic. According to some studies, over half the people in the world suffer from insomnia, don’t get enough sleep, or have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Most research on this subject doesn’t mention an equally important problem: that many people aren’t dreaming enough. And the fact is that dreaming is key to our psychological wellbeing. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because the coming weeks will be a favorable time to enhance your relationship with sleep and dreams. I encourage you to learn all you can and do all you can to make your time in bed deeply rejuvenating.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Only 47 people live on the volcanic Pitcairn Islands, which are located in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific Ocean. Pollution is virtually non-existent, which is why the honey made by local bees is the purest on the planet. In accordance with astrological omens, I’d love for you to get honey like that in the coming weeks. I hope you will also seek the best and purest of everything. More than ever, you need to associate with influences that are potent, clear, genuine, raw, vibrant, natural and full-strength.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Many Indigenous people in North America picked and ate wild cranberries. But farm-grown cranberries available for commercial use didn’t appear until 1816. Here’s how it happened. In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a farmer discovered a secret about the wild cranberry bog on his land. Whenever big storms dumped sand on the bog, the fruit grew with more lush vigor. He tinkered with this revelation from nature and figured out how to cultivate cranberries. I recommend this as a teaching story, Pisces. Your assignment is to harness the power and wisdom provided by a metaphorical storm or disturbance. Use it to generate a practical innovation in your life.
My husband loves board games, problem solving and anything that gets his brain going. But he’s not particularly aware of what motivates him. He’s also not straightforward with exactly what turns him on. One thing he likes is initiating sex at the most inconvenient moment. He’ll try to get things going when I’m cooking or when we have to get dressed and get somewhere. The more I rebuff his advances, the more motivated my husband is to have sex. I think my rebuffs feel like a game for him — a fun problem to solve — but I find the whole thing pretty fucking annoying. I’ve tried asking him what turns him on, and I’ve been straightforward about his advances not feeling sexy when I’m concentrating on not burning dinner or getting dressed and out the door because we’re meeting friends somewhere or have a reservation. But it just keeps happening.
— Jokey Unaware Man’s Actions Not Juicy Ideal
Your husband isn’t the only one who can play games. You can lie to your husband about having dinner reservations for 7 p.m. when they’re actually for 8 and let him think he’s getting away with something when he initiates sex at 6:45 p.m.
If you really wanna make it a puzzle and keep him out of the kitchen, JUMANJI, get your husband a cock cage and hide clues for the combination lock in other parts of the house. If he can solve the puzzle and free his cock before dinner, you will turn down the heat and have a quickie on the kitchen counter. But he’s not allowed in the kitchen until his cock is free or his dinner is served, whichever comes first.
My girlfriend is very sweet and super affectionate in private, but it totally disappears in public. She barely smiles at me and rejects any public display of affection greater than holding hands. It makes me anxious when we go from very cuddly and touchy at home to her literally jumping away if I try to give her a peck on the cheek in public. Is she being unreasonable or am I just an anxious little bitch?
— Publicly Displayed Aversion
SAVAGE LOVE
BY DAN SAVAGE
Your girlfriend could be unreasonable, PDA, and you could be an anxious little bitch — it doesn’t have to be one or the other. But unreasonable or not, PDA, your girlfriend doesn’t like public displays of affection. If it hurts your feelings when she pulls away when you try to kiss her in public, stop trying to kiss her in public
I’m a 41-year-old cisgender man who can only perform sexually if a certain song is playing. It’s not a song I particularly like, but it was a song my late wife loved and listened to all the time and even chose for our first dance at our wedding. My wife died six years ago and I’m obviously unable to let go. I’ve tried ED pills, but they don’t help because the root cause is psychological, not physical. Have you ever heard of anything like this?
— Totally Unfathomable Need Endangering Situationships
I haven’t heard of this, TUNES, but back in my twenties, I used to hook up with a guy who wanted to be spanked while he listened to Doris Day’s Greatest Hits. He never offered an indepth explanation, TUNES, and I didn’t want one.
Do what you can to wean yourself from this song. Listening to it at progressively lower volumes when you’re having sex and/or jerking off might get you to a point where you can hear it even when it’s not playing. Maybe you can wear your AirPods and play the song loudly enough for you to hear but not so loudly you can’t hear your sex partner’s moans and/or requests.
Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
REQUIEM FOR A PIZZERIA
Can independent bistros long survive in Boulder?
BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
Before opening for the final night of business at Under the Sun, the eatery’s owner, Kevin Daly, is matter-of-fact in detailing his situation.
“We’re getting slammed,” he says. “People have been coming back one more time, but the restaurant has been so slow this year.”
The community had been shocked by the sudden announcement on social media: “Our operations are no longer sustainable,” it read. “Please know that despite our best efforts to adapt to the challenges we faced, we believe that closing our doors is the most responsible course of action at this time.”
AN IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION
The 11-year-old gathering spot for the Table Mesa neighborhood closed on Aug. 17. However, this day had been coming since the pandemic, according to Daly. Other local eateries are calling it quits, too, citing a challenging environment.
“Under the Sun was losing money, but the decision finally came down to staffing,” Daly says. “We literally had no one to run Under the Sun next week. All of our locations have challenges attracting staff and managers, but the situation in Boulder is impossible.”
Under the Sun was part of the 31-yearold, Boulder-born restaurant group that includes Mountain Sun Brewpub and Southern Sun in Boulder, Longs Peak Pub and Taphouse in Longmont and Denver’s recently relaunched Vine Street Pub. Those locations are open and have absorbed Under the Sun’s staff, according to Daly.
Some of the eatery’s popular items will appear on menus at Mountain Sun and Southern Sun. The restaurant itself will remain available for private events.
“We really don’t know what to do with that space,” Daly says. “Someone will probably pick up the lease.”
WHERE THE YOUNG PEOPLE AREN’T
“You need two things to make a successful restaurant these days,” Daly says: “Young workers and young customers who live nearby. Boulder has neither.
“The city has become a much more difficult place to run a restaurant.”
Under the Sun is just the latest example of a local independent food business closing or changing its operations. The eateries’ social media announcements sound eerily similar, spotlighting rising utility expenses, increased fees and taxes, skyrocketing food costs and wage increases. There’s only so much diners will pay for a burger or taco.
Black Pepper Pho Restaurant just closed at 2770 Pearl St. Farther west on Pearl Street, Mateo restaurant and Dedalus wine shop are both shuttered on the same block.
Earlier this year, Under the Sun’s Table Mesa neighbor, Murphy’s South, closed and the space was filled by Illegal Pete’s.
The Local (formerly Murphy’s North) in North Boulder, Niwot’s 1914 House and Lafayette’s 95a Bistro are also departed. Downtown’s Ash’Kara closed in 2023. The space was filled by The Sophomore for mere months before that eatery closed and was replaced by The Colorado Club.
Despite Boulder’s Guy Fieri sightings, Michelin awards and Coach Prime glow, these closings are not entirely unexpected. The signs of trouble were clear by March when First Bite, Boulder’s celebrated dining week, was canceled because of dwindling interest from restaurants and diners.
Other restaurants are adjusting their operations. Farow restaurant in Niwot recently changed its format from fine dining to more affordable fare, while adding lunch and a wine store. Longmont’s The Passenger restaurant announced that it would only be open for public dining on Friday and Saturday evenings.
THE GRASS IS GREENER
As at most Boulder dining establishments, virtually the entire staff at Daly’s locations lives elsewhere.
“I cannot bribe people to drive into Boulder to manage or work,” he says. “They can find jobs in Boulder County and Denver close to where they live. They can’t afford to live here.”
The presence of a large university, CU Boulder, in town has not been much help
to alleviate his staffing shortages, Daly says: “There are fewer university students working.”
Slowing business makes it hard to hold on to workers because servers and cooks end up making less money from tips. The customer base for local eateries has also changed.
“Boulder’s population is getting older,” Daly says, “and the older people who supported us don’t eat out much anymore.”
A recent CU Boulder study found that, since the pandemic, more than 50% of older adults say they are spending more time at home and less time socializing at restaurants and other public places.
Like other restaurateurs, Daly says doing business has simply become less daunting outside of the Boulder bubble.
“After reopening Vine Street this summer, we realized it’s so much easier in Denver,” he says. “There are workers available and young people living nearby who go out. The same is true in Longmont.”
NEW LOCAL EATERIES
The doom-and-gloom dining scenario hasn’t killed the entrepreneurial itch for some restaurateurs.
Chef Johnny Curiel recently opened Cozobi Fonda Fina, a fine dining Mexican restaurant, at 909 Walnut St. The team behind Gemini restaurant has launched
A crowd enjoys Under the Sun’s patio in early June. Courtesy: Mountain Sun Pub
Mountain Sun owner Kevin Daly, pictured in 2018, says the downtown Boulder location is losing $100,000 a year. Boulder Weekly file photo
NIBBLES
High Country at 1117 Pearl St., while Zoe Ma Ma moved to a bigger space at 919 Pearl St.
Other recent openings include the Boulder Swim Club at The Broker, Sanitas Brewing Co. in Lafayette and Superior’s Bambei Brewing Company. On Aug. 23, The Jasmine Bar starts pouring drinks at 836½ Main St. in Louisville, and Bona Coffee Roasters begins brewing at Boulder’s Avanti Food & Beverage. This fall, the folks behind Oak at Fourteenth and Corrida will open C Bar and C Burger at 921 Pearl St.
How long they will last is another matter. Several of the above eateries took the place of short-lived establishments or former restaurant spaces that sat empty for years.
NOTHING BUT CHAINS
The near future looks even more challenging, according to Daly, because of rising labor costs.
“Mountain Sun on Pearl Street is losing more than $100,000 a year, but it is where we started and we want to stay,” he says. “But if Boulder raises the minimum wage again, we’ll have to think about closing the Mountain Sun.
“I’m a progressive,” he continues. “I lobbied for a higher state minimum wage, but raising it further in Boulder won’t really help the people who work at restaurants and bars. None of them can afford to live in Boulder anyway.
“It’s just virtue signaling.”
What would help, Daly says, is to “make housing affordable. Get workers back into the offices. Making driving easier, not harder. The same with parking. Improve public transportation. The City also has to do something about homelessness downtown. People aren’t coming down because they are afraid.”
Otherwise, Daly has a dire warning: “There won’t be anything in Boulder but chain restaurants.”
CULINARY CALENDAR: FOOD FEST-FILLED WEEKEND
Slow Food Boulder County hosts an Aug. 25 fundraiser at Sunflower Farm featuring live music, farm tours and tastings of fresh fare prepared by Farow, Urban Field and Whistling Boar sunflowerfarminfo.com
The Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival Aug. 24 features live jazz and tastes from local wineries, including Boulder’s Settembre Cellars, plus spirits, beer, mead and non-alcoholic beverages with food vendors and trucks. nedjazzwine.com
The Spirit of Japan festival Aug. 23-25 at Denver’s Sakura Square features more than 20 Japanese food and sake vendors. spirit-jpn.com/ Denver
Also: Loveland Corn Roast Festival, Aug. 23-24. loveland.org; Polish Food Festival, Denver, Aug. 24-25, polishfoodfestival.org; and the Colorado Ukrainian Festival, Aug. 24, Lakewood, ukrainiansofcolorado.org
WORDS TO CHEW ON: BREAKFAST FLAVOR CRASH
“Nothing beats the taste sensation when maple syrup collides with ham.” — Agent Dale Cooper in the first season of the odd TV series Twin Peaks
John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk on KGNU. Comments: nibbles@boulderweekly.com
JTM’s Inaniwa Udon, a delicacy from Akita, is but one of many dishes available at the Spirit of Japan festival in Denver this weekend. Courtesy: Spirit of Japan
LOCAL CONTROL
Attorneys trade arguments in Pueblo needle exchange case
BY SARAH WILSON COLORADO NEWSLINE
APueblo County judge considered arguments Aug. 13 for and against a citywide ordinance to prohibit syringe exchange programs, three months after the Pueblo City Council passed the controversial measure.
The court’s decision on the merits of the case and whether to block enforcement of the ordinance will determine whether two syringe exchange programs in the city can continue to provide sterile injection equipment to people who use drugs.
Those sites are places where people can access sterile needles and other paraphernalia for free, as well as get connected to resources and support services. The harm reduction approach at the sites intends to reduce disease transmission and prevent overdose deaths.
In May, Pueblo City Council voted 5-2 to effectively ban syringe exchange programs in the city.
Colorado Health Network and the Southern Colorado Harm Reduction Association then sued the city over the ordinance, and District Court Judge Tayler Marie Thomas granted a temporary
restraining order on the ordinance ahead of the case’s first hearing on Tuesday.
Attorneys for CHN and SCHRA argued that a state law allowing syringe exchange programs to operate, and a 2020 amendment that allows experienced nonprofits to operate them without local interference, supersedes the Pueblo ordinance. That state statute sets minimum
requirements for syringe exchange programs, attorneys said, including that they have the ability to provide access to sterile injection equipment.
“This isn’t an issue where there’s some overlap between what state law authorizes and what the ordinance prohibits. The only thing it prohibits are activities that are authorized and exempted from prosecution under state law,” attorney James Albert Kelly said.
That satisfies the Colorado Supreme Court’s standard for “operational conflict” under the City of Longmont v. Colorado Oil and Gas Association precedent, Kelly said.
Additionally, the state has a declared interest in reducing the spread of bloodborne disease and preventing overdoses. Concerns about prohibitive ordinances are what led the legislature to amend the
Attorney Geoffrey Klingsporn said the state statute and city ordinance need to be absolutely irreconcilable for the ordinance to be struck down, which the plaintiffs have not proved is the case.
“The ordinance’s main concern is clean syringes, empty syringes being handed out,” he said. “They need to point to a specific mandate in the state statutes that requires the plaintiffs hand those out. They haven’t met that.”
Under state statute, a syringe exchange program must have the ability to provide people with “access” to sterile injection equipment.
“Whether that access requires distribution is the textual question that the court must answer,” Klingsporn said. The city ordinance, he said, is concerned with distribution.
Thomas questioned, however, how a needle exchange program could be called such without the ability to exchange needles.
statute in 2020 to allow nonprofits like CHN and SCHRA to operate a syringe exchange program without local health board approval.
“The state has just as much of an interest in preventing needless and unnecessary deaths from overdose whether those occur in Pueblo, Grand Junction, Denver or elsewhere,” Kelly said. “The ordinance gets in the way of it by creating large access gaps in the state.”
Attorneys for the city argue that the ordinance is narrowly tailored to the distribution of syringes, and does not affect the programs’ ability to offer services like disease testing, education and opioid antagonist distribution.
Additionally, Klingsporn argued that when read as a whole, the statute gives municipalities the power to opt out of a syringe exchange program, even if the program began under that revised subsection from 2020.
“As the city reads that subsection and that amendment, it does not create a zone completely outside local control,” he said. “It does not immunize a syringe exchange program from all regulation by the municipality in which it decides to land.”
Thomas said she will hand down her order on the matter within three weeks.
Colorado Newsline is a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news outlet.
The contents of a needle exchange kit, which commonly include a tourniquet, cotton balls, condoms, alcohol swabs and needles of different sizes for drugs of various viscosity. Credit: Todd Huffman
A sharps container for depositing used needles (pen shown for scale). Courtesy: Boulder County
