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A look at how to improve media coverage of mass shootings

by Matt Cortina

Road salt is imperiling aquatic ecosystems. It doesn’t have to.

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Colorado’s poet laureate Bobby LeFebre reflects on his life and work during National Poetry Month

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Just Economics: It’s time wealth paid its fair share Letters: Sign, sealed, delivered, your views Guest Column: PERA should divest from fossil fuels News: Red Letter Books closing, Congress honors Boulder shooting victims, federal oil and gas leasing and more Events: New books, local music and more to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do Words: ‘Things change’ by Samantha Albala Savage Love: Numb and numbered Astrology: by Rob Brezsny Film: 70 years on, ‘The Furies’ is still good, pulpy fun Try this: Green chili cheddarshack @ Shake Shack

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Editor, Matt Cortina Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Katie Rhodes, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer Cover, Amanda Piela April 22, 2021 Volume XXVIII, Number 36 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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It’s time wealth paid its fair share

by Ken Bonetti

S Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

ince 1980, the U.S. economy has increasingly divided Americans along class lines to a degree now rivaling the Gilded Age. Economic elites have gained massively from 40 years of a structurally weakened working class, failure to break up monopolies, job-exporting trade agreements and a tax system that hits secretaries harder than billionaires.

fallen dramatically since 1980. Billionaires have seen their taxes decline roughly 79% as a percentage of their wealth since 1980. The “effective tax rate” on the billionaire class — the actual percentage paid — was just 23% in 2018 compared to 47% in 1980. Today, billionaires pay proportionately less than most middle-income taxpayers.

THE WEALTHY GAIN WHILE THE REST OF US PAY TAXES Economic elites have long benefited from government largesse: public land grants and leases, public infrastructure, public education, government-sponsored research and a legal system that protects their property rights. Nevertheless, these super-beneficiaries fail to pay their fair share of taxes.

Effective tax rates for the wealthiest Americans have

RICH GETTING RICHER New data from the Federal Reserve shows the top 1% now holds 15 times more wealth than the lower half of Americans combined. During the pandemic, as millions lost their jobs, Elon Musk saw his wealth increase by 242%, surpassing $100 billion. Jeff Bezos added $65 billion to his net worth.

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see JUST ECONOMICS Page 6

APRIL 22, 2021

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JUST ECONOMICS from Page 5

Not surprisingly, the billions ladled upon the ultra-rich have not “trickled down” to the masses. The income gap between those at the top and the rest of us has markedly widened. Between 1947 and 1979, real income for the lower four-fifths of American families grew an average of 110% while the upper 1% saw a 61% increase. Incomes for the bottom fifth grew 116%. After 1980 the trend reversed. Between 1979 and 2014, incomes for the lower 80% of American workers grew a paltry 7.5% while incomes of the top one percent shot up 162%. Incomes for the lower fifth actually fell by 12%.

WHY WEALTH SHOULD PAY ITS FAIR SHARE French economist Thomas Piketty demonstrated in his epic Capital in the 21st Century that the rate of profit from capital naturally rises faster than national income.

The only period in American history that trend was interrupted is the post-war period before 1980.

New Deal tax reforms ensured that wealth contributed a larger share.

Not only did inequality drop to an historical low, economic growth and productivity reached historic highs. Tax equity was good for people and the economy. There are ways to reverse the current inequality trend without raising taxes on the vast majority of American households and businesses.

TAX ULTRA-WEALTH Most Americans already pay a wealth tax. It’s known as the residential property tax, which often falls most heavily on lower wealth households. Meanwhile, most concentrated wealth goes untaxed.

Several wealth tax proposals have been floated in Congress. The most ambitious would levy a 1% tax on wealth above $32 million, for married couples, and then slowly increase the tax for the wealthiest households to a maximum of 8% on wealth over $10 billion. The proposal would cut billionaire wealth in the U.S. by half in 15 years and entirely close the wealth growth gap between billionaires and the average American family. According to University of California economists Gabriel Zucman and Emmanuel 6

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Saez, the tax would raise $4.35 trillion in 10 years, more than twice the cost of President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

SPECULATIVE TRANSACTIONS TAX There are a number of benefits, such as restraining unproductive speculative transactions. Nobel laureate economist James Tobin favored a financial transactions tax, or FTT, because it encourages longer-term investments by raising the cost of speculative transactions. The levy is progressive as most equities are owned by the wealthiest investors. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a .1% transactions tax would raise $777 billion over 10 years.

RAISE THE SOCIAL SECURITY CAP Currently, only wage income up to $137,700 is taxed to pay for Social Security benefits upon which millions of Americans depend.

Wages and unearned income above the cap are untaxed. A CEO pulling down $10 million a year in pay and bonuses pays zero Social Security on $9.8 million of that. The cap has not kept up with the extreme growth of top incomes, eroding the Social Security tax base. Removing the cap and including non-wage income would go a long way to ensure Social Security’s long-term viability.

TRUMP AND BUSH TAX CUTS Repealing those Trump tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest would net $500 billion over the next decade, reduce the federal deficit and significantly improve tax equity for middle class Americans. Repealing the Bush cuts for the super-rich could yield an additional $700 billion over 10 years. Numerous loopholes and tax avoidance opportunities primarily benefiting the wealthiest could be closed as well.

As we have witnessed over the past 40 years, America has become a nation of massive and accelerating inequality. A tiny handful are amassing wealth beyond imagination while millions of Americans face deepening financial distress. It’s time the wealthy uphold their end of the social contract and begin to pay their fair share.

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

APRIL 22, 2021

STANDING A breeze strokes the pine limbs, creating a windborne symphony. We encircle one tree, joining hands. This tree might have greeted the first peoples who climbed this rocky terrain.

Her shiny sap sticks to my chin. We hug her tighter.

Near April Fools’ Day, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by an alliance of environmental groups.

That lawsuit had challenged the decision of the Army Corp of Engineers to issue a permit to Denver Water for the expansion of Gross Reservoir.

This dismissal was no laughing matter.

The pine tree symphonies heard near Gross COULD be replaced by the metallic grind of lumber trucks. It has been estimated that 500,000 trees would be cut down IF the Gross Reservoir expansion is allowed to proceed. The words “could” and “if ” were capitalized, in the previous sentence, to emphasize the hope that the proposed expansion of Gross can still be stopped. Hope that it can be stopped in spite of the recent legal decision.

Hope that might be found in Colorado House Bill 1041. There is precedent of the 1041 process being used to stop development. I urge the Boulder County Commissioners to use the bill’s full authority to stop the expansion of Gross Reservoir. Yes, I speak for the trees. In spite of having stood above Boulder for centuries, they have no legal standing.

Kirsten Marshall/Boulder I

REPLACE MEAT THIS EARTH DAY With Earth Day on April 22, we have reduced our carbon footprint by curtailing travel and our thermostat.

We recycle. But we can do so much more by cutting our consumption of animal meat and milk products. Yes, that.

A recent article in The Guardian argues that animal agriculture is a major driver of climate change, as well as air and water pollution, depletion of soil and water resources, and destruction of wildlife habitats.

Oxford University’s prestigious Food Climate Research Network reports that solving the global warming catastrophe requires a massive shift to plant-based eating. The Netflix feature Seaspiracy documents the devastating environmental impacts of the fishing industry.

In an environmentally sustainable world, we must replace meat, fish and dairy products with vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains, just as we replace fossil fuels with wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.

Each of us has a unique opportunity to heal our planet by transitioning to plant-based eating. We can begin with the one-minute NY Times diet quiz. Then, let’s celebrate Earth Day by checking out the rich variety of plant-based meat and dairy products at our supermarket. The internet offers ample advice and recipes.

Stanley Silver/Boulder see LETTERS Page 8

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

PERA should divest from fossil fuels for the climate as well as for better returns.

by Deborah McNamara and Kevin Cross

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olorado legislators and Colorado’s state pension fund — Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) — should be paying close attention to the fact that a bill, HB21-1246 PERA Public Employees’ Retirement Association Divestment From Fossil Fuel Companies, didn’t move forward in committee at the state legislature on April 19. To not divest from fossil fuels not only fails to take bold action to address the climate crisis but also fails beneficiaries in choosing to ignore the mounting evidence that funds that have divested are outperforming those that have not.

It is vital that Colorado continue to lead the fight against climate change in every way possible. It is our moral imperative to do so as climate change is a real and serious threat to the health, welfare and prosperity of all Coloradans, all U.S residents, and all people on the planet.

Maintaining the status quo of fossil fuel energy production will unquestionably lead to a self-created catastrophe. Therefore the State of Colorado has an ethical responsibility to take steps to avert this disastrous result.

Attempting to profit from investments in companies whose profits depend almost exclusively on the continuation of practices that cause climate breakdown (and adding insult to injury, losing money on those investments) is unacceptable and puts Colorado on the wrong side of history.

Colorado has codified into law HB19-1261, Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 26% by 2025, at least 50% by 2030 and at least 90% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Continuing to invest our public funds and pensions in fossil fuels does not serve us in achieving these goals.

The fossil fuel sector continues to struggle, with profits dropping, cash flow down, long-term debt loads rising and growth opportunities limit-

ed. A 2021 report by BlackRock examined hundreds of divestment actions of funds worldwide and concluded that portfolios experienced no negative financial impacts as a result of divesting from fossil fuels. In fact, they found evidence of improvement in returns for those funds.

The fossil fuel industry is suffering a prolonged downward trend, facing increased climate-related financial risk, and mounting concerns over the growing climate crisis. The number of lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages from the biggest contributors to climate change is growing.

All of this significantly impacts the value of oil and gas companies and investment returns for PERA. PERA should be actively working to mitigate climate-related financial risk, taking into account that at least two-thirds of fossil fuel reserves will not be monetized if we are to stay below 2 degrees Celsius of warming, which we must do in order to avert the worst climate impacts. According to the International Energy Agency, stranded asset estimates range from $304 billion to $100 trillion by 2035.

Attempting to beat the market by holding these investments until the last possible moment is a high-risk strategy that doesn’t help our planet or PERA’s beneficiaries. As Bevis Longstreth, former SEC Commissioner, has stated: “It is entirely plausible, even predictable, that continuing to hold equities in fossil fuel companies will be ruled negligence.”

Legislators should take responsibility since PERA is currently not doing so. Our public money should not be invested in companies that are adversely impacting our collective health and further exacerbating the climate crisis.

Deborah McNamara is the campaign director for 350 Colorado. Kevin Cross is a spokesperson for the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate.

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

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APRIL 22, 2021

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LETTERS from Page 6

NOT NORMAL I am glad to read that Boulder Weekly is planning to talk more about the livestream of the March 22 mass shooting in Boulder. (Re: News, “How the media covers mass shootings has evolved. But is it better?”

April 1). This is not journalism. This is the sensationalization and commoditization of a tragedy.

I watched the price of this shoddy footage go from around $87 to over $200 in the week following this horrific act of violence. I will not name this self-described “citizen journalist.”

A mass shooting is traumatizing enough on its own. A livestream account only serves to further compound the trauma. The fact that the livestream still exists on YouTube’s platform today further exacerbates the trauma.

It seems as though people are accepting the livestream as a “normal” part of our society now, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed us to be even more reliant on our devices. Some people might go a step further and argue that this type of footage is necessary in order for there to be change. I will remind them that it is possible to record without livestreaming.

This type of behavior, left unchecked in society, will only continue to increase in number and lead to further normalization and desensitization to violent, tragic acts. We cannot continue to go in the direc-

tion where these types of tragedies can be broadcast to thousands of people to watch in the palm of their hand in real time. We have created this society that prioritizes likes, clicks, views and subscribers — which means we can change it.

Facebook tightened restrictions on livestreaming in the aftermath of the Christchurch, New Zealand, mass shooting where the shooter broadcast their attack on Facebook Live. Platforms like YouTube need to be held accountable when they see content like this going viral and take a more active role in reducing harm. I also hope that we can hold our media outlets to higher moral and ethical standards. I urge them to pause and think before purchasing this type of footage and amplifying it on their channels.

We all need to do better — out of respect for the families of those our Boulder community lost and for humanity as a whole.

B Goodell/Boulder DIVEST PERA As Colorado endures one of our driest years on record, the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is investing Coloradan’s public money into destructive fossil fuel companies. It is time for PERA to divest from the fossil fuel industry; it is a bad investment and an immoral use of public money.

My mom teaches here in Colorado. We live in Lyons, and this

past October we watched the Calwood fire burn within miles of our home. It is unjust that her money unwillingly funds the destruction of our communities, and almost our home.

PERA continues to profit off these investments which entirely depend on the poisoning of our communities and the worsening of the climate crisis. However, these investments will not lead to profit for long. In recent years, the number of U.S. oil and gas companies filing for bankruptcy has climbed, and those in Colorado are no exception. Our state is the fifth highest state for the number of oil and gas companies that have filed for bankruptcy. A recent study conducted by Corporate Knights estimates that PERA is valued at at least $1.77 billion less than it would have been had it divested from fossil fuels 10 years ago. Furthermore, a recent report by BlackRock, the world’s largest investment house, shows that those who have divested from fossil fuels have profited financially.

Therefore, PERA’s continued investment in the fossil fuel industry is not only illogical, but it is embarrassing. By investing in the fossil fuel industry, PERA is investing in Colorado’s destruction.

I call on PERA to invest public funds toward a more sustainable, more just and more beautiful Colorado.

Megan Neufeld/Silver Creek High School, Lyons

WELCOME TO BOULDER In late February, a caucus of Republican legislators wrote a three-page memo to rally opposition to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

Highlighting “liberal goodies” in the bill, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) explained that his group had put together a fact sheet “to educate Americans exactly how their taxpayer dollars are being spent by Democrats.” (Mother Jones, April 5, 2021). There it was again, invoked as usual to block government aid: the myth of the “taxpayer” and their “dollars.”

There may be no direct connection between this “fact” sheet and the recent letter by Brett Kingstone, but it’s the same talking points. So, if Mr. Kingstone wishes to increase the diversity of thought in local publications, I would suggest he quote someone other than Rep. Jim Banks and his ilk. This man is so concerned about the deficit that he voted for an unfunded mandate of $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, primarily to billionaires. And of course he slavishly supported a man who told over 20,000 lies and whose inactions led to the deaths of over a half million Americans. I would be more than a little skeptical. Facts and hypocrisy may not matter to Republicans but I think Mr. Kingstone will soon discover that they do matter here. Welcome to Boulder.

Jim Wilkinson/Boulder

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Moving the media forward

A look at how to improve media coverage of mass shootings

by Matt Cortina

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hen a gunman killed eight people in Indianapolis Says research Jennnifer Johnston of the on April 15, it marked the 45th mass shooting media’s responsibility (four or more casualties) in the U.S. in the previto change coverage of ous month, going back to the shooting at an mass shootings to limit Atlanta day spa on March 16. copycats: “You don’t want to believe you Likely, you saw the news of the Indianapolis tragedy have this power, but and felt sympathy, because now we know first-hand how it you do.” feels to lose the illusion of safety we’ve cultivated in our “safe” American commmunities and to see friends and neighbors mourn on national television. Indeed, the way many of us here in Boulder County look at mass shootings in the U.S. changed on March 22.

But did anything change in the last month for the media and how it covers such shootings?

“There’s a routine to breaking news coverage in part because it works, in part because you have a short timeline, you have a deadline,” says Bruce Shapiro, executive director of Columbia University’s Dart Center, which works to improve coverage of mass shootings.

That’s a problem. It’s a problem that the normalized, formulaic way in which media covers mass shootings in the U.S. garners viewers, readers and clicks; that small newsrooms don’t have the resources to cover mass shootings beyond the immediate event; and that coverage of mass shootings in national media “just starts dropping off,” after three days of an event, according to Jennifer Johnston, a Western New Mexico University researcher with a doctorate in media psychology.

It’s a problem that media organizations profit from mass shootings.

“We have other research that indicates violence sells and murder is major clickbait,” Johnston says. “It works as far as selling newspapers and magazines. I unfortunately think they’re making a profit as opposed to what the research says about contagion.”

(Media contagion, as we’ve discussed in earlier parts of this series, is the term for a documented trend of sensational, all-angles coverage of mass shootings leading to more.)

So how can the media learn lessons from the most recent shootings and

APRIL 22, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Research indicates that while images and references to mass shooting suspects have gotten smaller and moved out of prime positions, the biggest newspapers in the country still make editorial decisions that could spur copycat shootings.

improve its coverage?

Shapiro says if the immediate coverage of the shooting is act one, then “there’s a kind of longer act two and three that play out over time in the lives of witnesses and the lives of the community, and that’s a lot harder — it’s not impossible — to craft a news agenda around. The Dart Center exists to get act two on page one. You have to define what’s news and whose story you’re telling in a different way. You bring a new toolkit to bear. It’s a little more challenging. ... American TV is really only oriented toward act one.”

Not only is national media (not just TV) focused on covering only the immediate event, but Johnston’s research indicates it’s focused on the shooter. A review of media coverage of the shootings in Las Vegas; Parkland, Florida; and Santa Fe, Texas, found images of the shooter appear 41 times more often than any one of his victims. The New York Times, in particular, printed the names of mass shooters on its front page 4.5 times more than any of the other 602 other newspapers (besides the Washington Post) researchers reviewed. And though, broadly speaking, media organizations have done a better job minimizing photos of shooters, the Times was the only newspaper that displayed images of

weapons of the Las Vegas and Parkland shooters in lead story positions.

Instead, Johnston says, the focus of media coverage should be on victims — “Anytime you focus on victims, it builds empathy in most viewers.”

The problem, she posits, is that the emotions involved in reading or viewing stories on victims in shootings are harder for consumers to deal with than anger, which images and stories about the shooter tend to engender.

“If you show the shooter, that viewer can be mad,” she says. “It seems to be an easier emotion to tolerate as a consumer.”

But focusing coverage on the viewers is, ultimately, a harder and more time consuming endeavor, in addition to not being the ratingsdriver that coverage of suspects is.

Elizabeth Skewes, chair of the University of Colorado journalism department, outlines the problem thusly: “This is one of those big and complex problems. I think it takes researchers, researchers who are looking into causes and impacts on the community, and journalists staying in touch with them and writing those stories.”

But, “Who has six months to do this, right?”

It’s either local reporters or it’s no

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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one. Shapiro says stories that look into the environment that allowed this to happen — why the shooter was able to get a gun, if there were failures in the mental health system — “are best reported on as local stories.”

Any victim- or system-focused coverage beyond the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting likely won’t contribute to contagion, Johnston says.

“Focus on anything but... Don’t focus on the shooter, don’t go into his name, don’t go into his emails, his background.”

Media should report on laws that enabled this, security issues along the way, prosecutorial items after the fact, mental health issues, heroic efforts during the event that come to light later. Anything but the shooter.

Too, families of the people who were killed might also benefit from sustained local coverage. Shapiro cites a case-in-point wherein after a shooting in Winnenden, Germany, the editor of the local paper decided to run a blacked-out front page with the word “Why” and a small subhead.

Shapiro spent some time in the newsroom and gathered why the editor made that choice.

“He didn’t want his paper revictimizing, didn’t want sensationalizing. He ran a black block on the front page. In the weeks following, APRIL 22, 2021

he [said] he didn’t want interviews with victims’ families because he knew it would be distressing.

“A few weeks later this father of a girl who died came into the Winnenden bureau and yelled at him, ‘Why haven’t you come and talked to me? I want people to know who my daughter was, she was a real person.’ There is a lot of evidence that capturing those stories at the right moment, that bearing witness for families that have lost someone, help frame the narrative in a very valuable way.”

It’s not like the media hasn’t changed the way it covers tragedies before. Johnston says there was widespread acceptance across media organizations for changing the way suicide is covered — not sensationalizing, focusing on family members left behind, relegating stories to the back page — and it coincided with a documented reduction in suicide.

In fact, changing the way we cover mass shootings, as with suicide, is a matter of life and death. But first, the media has to be honest about the role it plays in perpetuating such violence.

To the media outlets that might resist changing the way mass shootings are covered, Johnston says: “You don’t want to believe you have this power, but you do.”

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by Boulder Weekly Staff

Red Letter Secondhand Books set to close at end of April as building is scheduled for demolition

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fter more than 30 years in business, Red Letter Secondhand Books will close at the end of April.

Surrounded by partially emptied bookshelves, owner Seth Rowland says he hopes to move the business elsewhere, but has yet to find a location.

“We plan to continue selling books online until we find a space,” he says.

The building, at 1737 Pearl St., along with 1724, is a pair of adjacent retail spaces that will be demolished to make way for a three-story commercial and residential project, according to a June 25, 2020 summary by the Planning Board.

The plan calls for the construction of a new 28,222-square-foot structure with more than 9,400 square feet of retail space and a public courtyard on the first floor, and 14 apartments on the second and third floors. Parking will be added in an underground garage.

“Primarily, I would like to notify the community of our departure,” Rowland said in an email.

“I would also like to communicate that it was not

our choice. We’ve survived economic downturns. We could have survived the pandemic. Development is what is killing us.”

Rowland has owned Red Letter since 2013. He worked at the store for more than five years prior to buying it from original owner John Murray, who opened Red Letter in 1990. Rowland’s father owned a bookstore in Fort Collins for many years, and prior to working with Red Letter, Rowland owned Happenstance Books and Curiosities just a block east on Pearl.

“I think that the emotions are going to hit me later,” Rowland says of the store closing. “We’ve had customers from all over the world. From Patti Smith to the former ambassador to Mali to the same out-of-town family that we’ve seen every summer for the past 20 years.”

Rowland says he’s trying to keep Red Letter open until April 24 to allow community members to drop by and say goodbye, though the shelves may be bare as he and staff work quickly to vacate the property by April 29.

House observes a moment of silence in honor of the Boulder shooting victims

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n April 20, Rep. Joe Neguse led a moment of silence on the House floor at the Capitol in Washington D.C. to honor the 10 victims of the shooting at the Table Mesa King Soopers on March 22 in Boulder.

“There are no words to express how the Boulder community is feeling in the wake of this tragedy,” Neguse told the chamber. “Our hearts are broken. The loss of life is unimaginable.”

Flanked by his Colorado colleagues, he named all 10 victims: Officer Eric Talley, Denny, Neven, Rikki, Tralona, Suzanne, Teri, Kevin, Lynn and Jody.

“Today may we remember them and honor them 12

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as we lift their names and express our deepest condolences to their families.”

Also on Tuesday, Boulder City Council passed a resolution urging state and federal lawmakers to pass gun control legislation that would hopefully prevent mass shootings in the future, including a ban on assault rifles.

APRIL 22, 2021

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Update: Seth Franco lawsuits

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age Franco, the brother of Seth Franco, who died by suicide while at a Boulder halfway house in March 2020 (See News, “He wanted to be heard,” Dec. 17, 2020), filed a complaint in federal court this week alleging his brother’s death could have been prevented, citing the facility’s “deliberate indifference and callous disregard toward residents and their rights.”

The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaration that Intervention Community Corrections Services (ICCS), which runs the facility, Seth’s case manager and the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, as the state agency that sets standards and audits facilities like ICCS Boulder, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Eighth Amendment by both their actions and inactions.

This comes on the heels of a March 8 court order, whereby a federal judge allowed a different civil rights lawsuit brought by Seth Franco against the City of Boulder and its police department to proceed. Filed prior to his death, the lawsuit alleges police officers did not receive adequate training specific to probation violations, emergency mental illness response or welfare checks. It stems from a 2017 interaction between Seth and several officers, after his probation officer called for a welfare check that ultimately led to Seth’s arrest.

“What happened to Seth was truly awful,” Christian Griffin, attorney for Seth and Sage Franco, writes in an email. “In response to a request for a welfare check due to a reported threat of suicide — not a report of any criminal activity — BPD officers arrested him for a crime that did not exist, and then took him to jail.”

Although the judge ruled the individual officers are covered by qualified immunity, he said there were credible allegations that Boulder police lack adequate training and allowed the lawsuit against the City of Boulder for its policies to proceed to a jury trial, set to start in October.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Let’s Go Out! It’s Time...

Enviro groups and businesses defend Biden’s pause on federal lands oil and gas leasing

W

hen President Biden issued an executive order to pause oil and gas leasing on federal lands shortly after taking office, it was quickly met with legal challenges from the industry group Western Energy Alliance. In March, several states that receive revenue from such drilling projects also filed federal lawsuits against the Biden administration, including Wyoming.

Now, a diverse coalition of 21 different Western conservation organizations have intervened in two lawsuits in Wyoming in support of the Biden administration, stating a review of the federal oil and gas leasing and permitting program is long-overdue. A group of Western businesses, including Alterra Mountain Company, Aspen Skiing Company and other outfitters, ranchers and farmers have also intervened in support of the federal government, arguing that their businesses rely on clean air and water, which is degraded by oil and gas extraction on federal lands.

The businesses also argue continued and “unabated drilling on public lands” contributes to climate change, which is damaging rural economies in the western U.S. “The threat to our business from climate change may be exacerbated if Western Energy Alliance succeeds in overturning the leasing suspension and requiring the Interior Department to continue offering additional oil and gas leases,” Auden Schendler, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company, said in a statement. Aspen is the largest employer in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley.

The extraction of fossil fuels on public lands accounts for a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The federal leasing pause does not stop oil and gas development of current leases, of which the industry has plenty. According to the Biden administration, oil and gas production is happening on less than half of the 26 million acres of federal lands currently under lease, and there are more than 7,000 undeveloped federal drilling permits.

In conjunction with the executive order, the BLM announced on April 21 it wouldn’t hold its second quarter lease sales.

“Canceling these oil and gas lease sales is a small but vital step as the Interior Department conducts its top-to-bottom review of America’s rigged oil and gas leasing system,” Policy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn of Center for Western Priorities said in a statement. “Despite the crocodile tears the oil industry is likely to shed today, their own CEOs admit they are sitting on years worth of unused leases and drilling permits right now, and this delay will have no effect on their bottom line.”

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uring this unusually snowy year, the rumble of snowplows and salt trucks has become a familiar — and comforting — winter soundtrack across the northern U.S. In southern Vermont, where I live, we received more than 100 inches of snow through February, about twice the typical snowfall for that time of year.

Undoubtedly, de-icing salts have prevented numerous accidents on otherwise slick roads.

Although salt contributes to road safety, it racks up high hidden costs. In the U.S., salt damage to infrastructure and the economy is estimated to total between $19.8 billion and $45 billion annually. That

an underestimate, say the THE U.S. APPLIES about 24 million tons of authors. salt to its roads annuIf trends continue, the ally, and each year salt study concludes, many of causes between $19.8 these lakes will be too salty billion and $45 billion in damage to infrastructure to support life within 50 and the economy. years. Lakes with roads and parking lots nearby are most at risk; 70% of these lakes are likely to have elevated chloride levels, based on the study’s sample.

Excess salt can damage entire aquatic food chains, including zooplankton, salamanders and frogs, fish, shellfish and aquatic plants.

At high concentrations, salt can stunt the growth of some fish, making them more vulnerable to predators. It can tilt maleto-female ratios of amphibian populations out of balance. And it can kill off algae-eating zooplankton, allowing algae to grow unchecked into smelly, goopy, hazardous blooms.

Even organic additives made from natural substances like beet juice and molasses, used to improve salt’s melting power, can have unintended consequences. One study found that two common additives, GeoMelt and Magic Salt, caused mosquito larvae to mature and hatch earlier than usual.

Flora Krivak-Tetley, an ecologist at Dartmouth College who co-authored the 2017 study, says that salt concentrations in most lakes have not reached the threshold the Environmental Protection Agency’s deems lethal for aquatic life. But salt can throw an ecosystem out of balance well before that happens, she notes.

And this is to say nothing of the enormous car-

Road salt Is imperiling aquatic ecosystems. It doesn’t have to.

A pilot project in upstate New York shows how we can balance our need for safe roads with our duty to protect nature.

by Anne N. Connor, Undark includes damage to roadways, bridges, vehicles, tourism and property values. For example, salt can leach calcium out of concrete and rust steel rebar, a process sometimes known as “concrete cancer” that rots bridges from the inside with few outward warning signs.

For all their economic costs, road salts may take an even steeper toll on the environment. As salty runoff infiltrates streams and lakes, it can upset freshwater ecosystems. Authors of a 2017 study estimated that 7,770 North American lakes — about 20 % of those in the study region — may have elevated chloride concentrations. And this number may be 14

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APRIL 22, 2021

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bon footprint associated with transporting and distributing the salt, much of which arrives on barges from countries such as Chile and Egypt.

How, then, can we balance our need for safe roads with our duty to protect the environment?

In 2015, the not-for-profit FUND for Lake George, in upstate New York, launched an effort to answer that question. They started by working with towns around Lake George to determine just how much salt they used. Maintenance managers deployed GPS to track trucks’ speed and position, and used sensors to measure how fast salt was being released. This feedback allowed road crews to calibrate their distribution rates, saving money, salt and effort.

Next, leaders in the Lake George region experimented with ways to keep the roads clear using less salt. They found it worked well to pretreat roads with salt brine before winter storms. The liquid prevents snow and ice from bonding with the asphalt, making it easier to scrape roads clean. Unlike grains of rock salt, which often bounce onto road shoulders, brine largely adheres to its target.

Area officials found that, pound for pound, brine was far more efficient than traditional rock salt. They could protect a lane-mile of road with a solution containing under 100 pounds of salt, roughly one-third the amount used by rock-salt trucks.

Last, the towns switched to liveedge plows, which have flexible blades made up of multiple, independently moving sections mounted on springs.

These state-of-the-art blades are more thorough than conventional ones. And starting with brine makes the plows even more efficient, says Eric Siy, executive director of The FUND for Lake George. If live-edge snowplows are like razors that hug the curves, brine is like shaving cream.

The sweeping changes to road care required a culture shift within the towns’ maintenance departments. But black roads and shortened plowing times ulti-

mately convinced road crews near Lake George to embrace sustainable winter management. Over two years of using brine and live-blade plows, these communities cut their salt usage in half, a drop that maintenance officials say can’t be explained by weather variations.

The changes also saved the municipalities time and money. Siy says that the town of Hague, New York, saved $66,000 of its $150,000 winter maintenance budget last winter. If just half the towns in New York achieved results like Hague’s, Siy says, taxpayers’ annual savings would be more than $30 million.

The Lake George area’s project is one of many efforts to create a more sustainable paradigm of winter road maintenance. Road salt use is also starting to decline in other communities around the nation as maintenance chiefs exchange best practices. More cities have incorporated brine pretreatments, flexible plow blades and truck-level monitoring into their road maintenance regimes.

“There’s no trade-off, there’s no compromise,” says Rick Relyea, an ecologist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has partnered with The FUND for Lake George on a multi-year research project studying the lake’s water quality.

“It’s not the environment versus safety.

You can have both.”

As America thaws out from one of its snowiest winters in recent memory, the lessons of Lake George are timely.

The U.S. applies about 24 million tons of salt to its roads each year. If salt use continues unabated, the environmental costs may be even higher than we can imagine. Experts say we’re only just starting to learn about the unintended impacts road salt has on ecosystems.

A nationwide effort to move toward sustainable winter road maintenance is long overdue — and it would be well worth the investment.

This piece was first published in Undark as an opinion column. This story is part of the SoJo Exchange from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous reporting about responses to social problems.

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RADICAL IMAGINATION Colorado’s poet laureate Bobby LeFebre reflects on his life and work in preparation for a collaborative virtual event with Longmont Library for National Poetry Month

BY KATIE RHODES

F

or Bobby LeFebre, Colorado’s eighth poet laureate, place and identity are an inseparable part of the human experience. His work addresses this, revolving around contemporary cultural issues and phenomena, asking questions of racial identity, gun control, gentrification and humanity in the modern age. It’s within these questions that the heart of his poetry is felt, distilling societal frustrations into powerful art that radiates through his words, both written and spoken.

“I want to capture the cultural conflict,” LeFebre says. “Opening up dialogue around systemic issues can be an art form, though many people don’t see it that way. There’s so much going on right now, and I want to encompass what it feels like to be in this moment.”

Most recently, after Boulder’s March 22 shooting, he shared on social media: 1.

The hand tells the gun: “I am boss.”

The gun answers the hand: “Aim wisely.”

The gun tells the bullet: “Prepare yourself.”

The bullet answers the gun: “I am afraid.”

The bullet tells the target:

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“I am sorry.”

The target answers the bullet: “I know.”

The target tells the blood: “Don’t leave me.”

The blood answers the target: “I must.”

The blood asks society: “How much more of me do you want?”

Society answers the blood: “………………..”

2.

In the distance prayers ring out: “God bless the hand.”

“God bless the gun.”

“God bless the bullet.”

“God bless the target.”

“God bless the blood.”

“God bless the United States of America.”

A Denver native, poet, activist and playwright, LeFebre has navigated many different circles in his life, evangelizing his message of racial, cultural and social justice. This year for April’s National Poetry Month, LeFebre is partnering with the Longmont Library to provide a livestream event filled with poetry, conversation and connection through the art of language on April 22.

A Chicano hailing from Denver’s Northside neighborhood, LeFebre has spent

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NATIONAL POETRY his life finding MONTH with Colorado connection poet laureate Bobby between place LeFebre. 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 22 via and identity, and Webex. Registration how the two interrequired: changeably work bit.ly/3smSekQ. together to shape who and what we become within society.

“I’m from a neighborhood that has been through and seen a lot, and I carry that and those stories of the people and the city with me in my work,” LeFebre says. “All artists deal with that question about place and how they fit into and represent it.”

As a poet, his words are poignant, lyrical, spiritual, often dancing between English and Spanish, tackling issues of freedom, equality, race, violence and love. Raised Catholic, though no longer traditionally religious, LeFebre sees poetry as a spiritual practice.

LeFebre says he fell in love with performing and artistry in the eighth grade, during an exercise where students were asked to write what they wanted to do or be on notecards.

“Be specific, my teacher said,’’ LeFebre recalls. His mind wandered back to when, as a child, he participated in a school play about Jackie Robinson put on for Black History Month. In the one-act play, Robinson recalls see POET LAUREATE Page 18

APRIL 22, 2021

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POET LAUREATE from Page 17

moments from his life: his struggles with poverty and racism, his desire to make America a safe and equitable place for people of all colors and walks of life. That, LeFebre says, was his first experience in understanding racism and the power of performance.

“On that note card I ended up writing a sentence as opposed to a single word: ‘I don’t know what I want to be, but I know I want to perform and help people.’”

These two desires have driven everything LeFebre has done in the years since, whether in the art world or the realm of social justice work.

LeFebre juggles a multitude of jobs, projects and art, but despite his admission that his life is overwhelming, he insists it’s chaos “in the best way.” During the day, LeFebre is an administrator for Denver Human Services, managing supervisors who work with youth in the area. He also sits on the board of the Clyfford Still Museum as well as the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, and is a member of the Latino Cultural Arts Center’s advisory council, a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures fellow... and more. He’s launched numerous side projects, both alone and as a cocreator, that work to heal and give artistic expression to BIPOC communities and youths; in 2004, LeFebre cofounded Café Cultura, now called Sacred Voices, a Denver-based nonprofit that supports youth literacy through poetry.

Suzi Q. Smith, a longtime colleague from Café Cultura and frequent collaborator of LeFebre’s, likens his art to holding up a mirror for the community. “Bobby is an exceptional writer, performer, thinker and human being,” she says. “I think his work resonates with people because it is an authentic reflection of who he is, offering either a mirror or a window to audiences, allowing them to reflect on his and their own experiences.”

Still living in the same neighborhood he grew up in, LeFebre says that while the inspiration he drew from the Northside was a jumping off point for him in his earlier work, he has begun to expand into different things, projects that are still fueled by finding identity and inspiration through art, though not always with the personal ties to his own Northside home.

Having received a federally funded grant for a project called Proyecto Sobremesa: Radical Imagination, Accountability and the Future, LeFebre is in the midst of hosting a six-dinner series where he brings BIPOC cultural workers, social workers and creatives together to 18

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have intimate conversations about racial, cultural and social equality, using art as the entry point and poetry as the conduit. The idea, LeFebre says, is to amplify existences that are marginalized, giving them space to discuss identity politics and colonial structures within our society — to brainstorm ideas and ways to create more equity in our cultures.

“We want to treat these social workers, people who are used to giving and giving, being extracted from constantly, an evening where we take care of them,” LeFebre says. “We’re going to be talking about heavy things, but over amazing VICTOR FOSSEN food and good mezcal, so we can do things together in a way that feels good.

It’s all about the conversation, the process. We don’t know what will come out of it, but I want to collectively give these people more room and grace to live in those spaces of conversation.”

LeFebre is also a celebrated playwright; his semi-autobiographical play, Northside, premiered in June 2019 at Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center to a sold-out audience, and was subsequently dubbed one of the most successful homegrown productions to ever premiere in Denver by myriad local publications, including Westword and 303 Magazine. Tying in a bit of the real and a bit of the artist’s imagination, BOBBY LEFEBRE is Northside frankly depicts the gentrification of Tony Garcia, program BIPOC neighborhoods, director for Su Teatro and the ripple effect it has in Denver. “He is on the ground, speaking on the lives of the comto people, working munity. against that system of “The story was very oppression.” reminiscent of things happening in my neighborhood and all over the city,” LeFebre says. “Systems and institutions didn’t seem excited about stopping it, so we wanted to humanize the topic and explore the nuance of what happens during that process through the people and their lives and stories. We wanted to capture that cultural conflict and show it in real time. It was a beautiful thing to create something that spoke to that wound.”

Tony Garcia, program director for Su Teatro, has known LeFebre since the poet was 19 and first auditioned at the theataer, a space which was born out of the Chicano Civil Rights movement of the ’60s and ’70s.

“Bobby was an activist first, heavily inspired by the

APRIL 22, 2021

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poet and change-maker Abelardo Delgado,” Garcia says. “It was this influence that showed him that he could be an activist and a poet. He is on the ground, speaking to people, working against that system of oppression. He had begun writing his play Northside, which was further fueled because someone began posting signs in [Le Febre’s] neighborhood that said ‘whites only.’ And that inspired him to take action, to hold guerrilla poetry presentations, to write this play that led to deeper analysis of gentrification and racial justice. He took the name for a neighborhood, Northside, and made it into a one-word statement for identity.”

The fact that LeFebre is Colorado’s first person of color to be named poet laureate does not escape him.

“As I was being interviewed at the beginning, I touched on the fact that I’m intelligent enough to know I’m not the first person of color who was qualified to be poet laureate,” LeFebre says. “Arts and culture doesn’t live outside of the systemic issues we face in our society, and it’s just indicative of that inequality. I named that first, but at the same time saw it as a learning opportunity. I don’t need to shine. It’s nice, but I would rather talk about things that matter, and in that sense I’m super grateful and proud because this has opened up a dialogue and allowed me to push forward in a better way.”

LeFebre’s current project (the details of which are hush-hush at the moment) will bring artists and cultural workers from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border together, working with poetry and identity to express how art connects us. Identity politics are complicated, and, as LeFebre says, we all embody performative identities in our day-to-day lives whether or not we know it. Identity is the way in which we show up, engage, appear.

“I’m someone who thinks about [identity] a lot — the ‘who I am, who we are, who we’ve been, who we want to become,’” he says. “I regularly obsess and talk about not only cultural identity, but who we are as a people, a nation, a city, an arts ecosystem. Who are we and how and why. It haunts me. Because only by understanding who we are can we make radical changes in who we want to become.”

LeFebre’s program with Longmont Library will provide a space to share poems, talk about arts and cultural social and racial justice, the pandemic, gun control — whatever people need to talk about. As with his poetry, and all his art, the topics LeFebre enjoys engaging in are contemporary, meaningful and ever present.

“Every project I start or am a part of is about mining ideas to put forth towards a better tomorrow. A lot of people are outcome driven, and that’s an important piece, but for me as an artist, so much of the beauty and magic happens in the process, the digging and the exploration,” he says. “There’s a quote by Bukowski I used to live by: ‘Find what you love and let it kill you.’

For me, as I’ve grown as an artist and a person, that quote has come to embody capitalism, this idea of ‘work work work until you die’. I changed my mind about that quote somewhere along the line. Now I say, ‘Find what you love and let it keep you alive.’ I’ve been able to merge all my identities to create a wild life that I’m super grateful for and fulfilled by. That’s the truest gift.”

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APRIL 22, 2021

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BEST OF BO LDER INFLUENCING WEEKEND PLANS SINCE 1

COMING THIS MONTH

PLAN

events

If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email Caitlin at crockett@boulderweekly.com.

YWCA BOULDER COUNTY PRESENTS STAND AGAINST RACISM WEEK 2021.

April 22-25. The event is free, and registration is required: ywcaboulder.org.

Public health is and always has been central to racial justice work. YMCA Boulder will kick off Stand Against Racism Week by hosting a virtual event, “Environmental Racism and Health Disparities Panel and Discussion,” from 5:306:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 22. Panelists will discuss the connections between racism and public health outcomes as well as how to implement public health practices to effectively identify and address racial injustice in our communities.

BACK ON HER FEET: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY FROM HOMELESSNESS TO NONPROFIT LEADER.

BOULDER’S STORY SLAM PRESENTS WE THE PEOPLE: TRUE STORIES ABOUT RACE.

6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24 via Zoom, storyslamboulder.com.

Eliminating racism is a monumental task. Story Slam believes it starts with stories — listening to one another’s stories with curiosity and heart.

Co-led by Johanna Walker, speaker, trainer and host of Boulder’s Story Slam, and Darryl Piggott, an L.A.-based educator, with a mixed-race group of storytellers from across the U.S., you’ll hear quirky, open-hearted, righteous, poignant, transformational stories told by a group of storytellers who have participated in a storytelling workshop centered in anti-racism work.

DAIRY DRIVE-IN: ‘SEEDING CHANGE.’

7 p.m. Thursday, April 29 via Zoom. Register on Eventbrite: bit.ly/3annw5d Jennifer Livovich will share her personal journey from homelessness to executive director of Feet Forward, a Boulder-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting the homeless. Joy Redstone will introduce the talk by providing a brief overview of homelessness in Boulder County and will moderate a Q&A session after Livovich shares her story. Please register for a free ticket to receive a Zoom link.

ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT NFTS WITH CHRIS NUNES.

Noon. Wednesday, April 28 via Zoom.

Register at: bit.ly/3dAt8ee There has been a lot of news lately about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and cryptoart as a way for artists to make a healthier living, from Beeple’s record-setting $69 million sale with Christie’s, to the NBA selling more than $400 million in TopShots. But there’s much more to NFTs than these high-profile dollars. Join Boulder County Arts Alliance’s next artist forum to hear Chris Nunes (cryptoaddress: thegoodnunes.eth) discuss this fascinating topic. Nunes is head of the studio at HEAVY (heavy.io), an award-winning mixed reality art+tech studio.

Nunes has been in the cryptocurrency space since 2014, and started creating and collecting NFTs in 2018 at the ETHDenver Hackathon. He will offer a straightforward, practical introduction to the hottest thing in the art world, and respond to questions from guests.

TWO MILE CREEK CLEANUP.

1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 1. All participants must register for free at TheBigDream.life Local company The Big Dream is organizing a community-powered cleanup of Elmer’s Two Mile Creek.

This section of creek, which runs along the bike path between Iris, Foothills, Pearl and Folsom, is an area prone to trash, dumping, camping and neglect.

The cleanup of this important wetlands habitat is open to the public and will include snacks and beverages donated by local companies, as well as giveaways and prizes for participants. Trash collection tools will be supplied by the City of Boulder. The event will be following COVID-19 precautions, while allowing for the community to gather in their pods and from safe distances. Any businesses or individuals wanting to contribute or collaborate beyond day-of cleanup should contact info@thebigdream.life.

7:30 p.m. April 23 and 24, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, thedairy.org. Cost is $25 per car.

With the increasing frequency of natural disasters, temperatures rising and indigenous communities at risk, Seeding Change challenges shoppers to pay more attention to the way they interact with our planet, starting with what’s on their shopping list. While there isn’t one solution to climate change, the corporations within the film are taking the first steps to show their consumers that they too can make a difference.

BOULDER BOOK STORE PRESENTS TRENT PRESZLER — ‘LITTLE AND OFTEN,’ IN CONVERSATION WITH NICK OFFERMAN.

5 p.m.Tuesday, April 27 via Zoom. Tickets are $26.99-$36.99 and include a copy of the book: bit.ly/2QzXODn. When Trent Preszler’s father died, all he left his son was a beat-up wooden toolbox. This family heirloom befuddled Preszler, who’d never been much of a craftsman. He’d spent years estranged from his larger-than-life father: a cattle rancher, rodeo champion and Vietnam War Bronze Star Medal recipient. In his grief, Preszler wondered if there was still a way to understand his father. Driven only by blind will, he decided to build a wooden canoe, and he would aim to paddle it on the first anniversary of his father’s death. Little and Often is an unflinching account of bereavement and a stirring reflection on the complexities of inheritance.

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APRIL 22, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

L O C AL

AUTHORS

‘VOICES OF RESILIENCE: CHILDREN’S AND ADULTS’ STORIES OF STRENGTH & COURAGE OF HEART,’ BY ALEX P. HARTWELL (ARCHWAY PUBLISHING).

‘MALINAE,’ BY JOSH SCHLOSSBERG (D & T PUBLISHING).

Historian monk Saint Bede, while studying the tides in 725, found that the ocean’s ebbs and flows were controlled by the moon.

“When the tides are increasing, they are called malinae,” he wrote. “Sometimes they will arrive earlier or later, or be more or less strong than usual when they are pushed onwards or forced back by the winds, or by the pressure of some other phenomenon or natural force, with the result that sometimes their order is upset, and the malina tide claims more in this month, and less in the next.”

In his debut novel, MALINAE, Denver Horror Collective cofounding member Josh Schlossberg explores the tides of human life through the lens of the supernatural. Ward Ayers, physically disabled and confined to his Jersey Shore home, can only watch in dismay as his beloved wife Malina slips further and further into dementia. Until he uncovers the dark force behind Malina’s decline and must plumb the depths of sacrifice and selfishness to reclaim his wife and preserve humanity’s future. MALINAE is currently available as an e-book from Godless.com, and as print and e-book through Amazon on April 23. Physical copies will be available at select bookstores in May. For more information, go to DenverHorror.com.

‘THE DEAD HUSBAND,’ BY CARTER WILSON (MAY 4, 2021; SOURCEBOOKS).

Boulder author Carter Wilson is celebrating the launch of his newest psychological thriller, The Dead Husband, with three virtual local launch parties, all in conversation with fellow authors: May 4 at 5 p.m., hosted by Boulder Book Store; May 8, time TBD, hosted by Tattered Cover Book Store; and May 13 at 7 p.m., hosted by BookBar. All are free and open to the public.

Carter Wilson has written seven critically acclaimed, standalone psychological thrillers, including The Dead Girl in 2A and Mister Tender’s Girl, as well as numerous short stories. In The Dead Husband, a small town is rocked by tragedy that only Rose Yates and her family know the truth about.

Rose escapes her hometown and starts a new life: a marriage, a son, a career. And then her husband is found dead. As far as Detective Colin Pearson is concerned, Rose is guilty. Her marriage wasn’t as happy as she’d led everyone to believe, and worse, she’s connected to a 20-year-old cold case.

Grieving her husband and struggling to make ends meet, Rose returns to her childhood home, hoping to finally confront her domineering father and unstable sister. But memories of a horrific crime echo through the house, and Rose soon learns that she can’t trust anyone, especially not the people closest to her.

Voices of Resilience, by Grand Junction resident Alex P. Hartwell, contains real-life stories for all ages that illustrates how to utilize inner-strength and courage, along with outside support at times, to resolve problems and move forward in life with a new purpose. Designed to share stories from both children and adults, the book illustrates how they solved problems and how they got over issues. The topics include overcoming obstacles, surviving, thriving beyond traumatic events and solving everyday challenges. Through their stories, they want to encourage others. Available through Ingram, Archway Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

‘YOU CAN PLAY SPORTS,’ A TOUCH AND FEEL BOOK OF SPORTS FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS,

BY NICOLE AND TODD STOLTENBERG, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRANDON MINCH (YOUCANPLAYSPORTS.COM).

Touch and feel books are beloved for their ability to increase child engagement, stimulate sensory awareness and foster associations between senses and new vocabulary.

Traditionally, these books have featured subjects such as farm animals, cars, colors and dinosaurs. Knowing first-hand the benefits of sports in their own lives, parents and athletes Nicole and Todd Stoltenberg sought to create a book to inspire their two young boys to explore the world of sports and nurture their curiosity about athletics, even as babies. Tired of the continuous barnyard narrative, they partnered with illustrator Brandon Minch, a former college and French pro-league football player to create You Can Play Sports, a touch and feel book designed for ages 0-3. Featuring eight different sports with a textured ball (or puck) for each, the book allows children to create meaningful associations with the words, the sports, the equipment and the balls in an interactive manner.

‘COMPLICIT,’ BY AMY RIVERS (COMPATHY PRESS).

Boulder author Amy Rivers, an acclaimed novelist who won multiple awards for her 2019 blockbuster All the Broken People, introduces a standout new series with the release of Complicit, book one in the Legacy of Silence series. A taut, tense and terrifying tale, Complicit features forensic psychologist protagonist Kate Medina. When a violent attack leaves her shaken to the core, Kate retreats to her hometown where it’s safe, accepting a job where the prospect of violence is slim to none — a high school psychologist. Five years later, a student disappears, leaving the school in crisis. When the girl’s body is found, changing the focus of the investigation to homicide, Kate finds herself in the middle of a situation she never anticipated. What started as her desire to help puts Kate directly in the crosshairs of an enemy who remains largely in shadow. As her past and present collide, Kate is dragged into the middle of a dangerous game where only one thing is clear — no one can be trusted.

EVENTS from Page 25

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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APRIL 22, 2021

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Community Camp Guide 8 Weeks with over 90 camps, you could With weeks, Withmore more than than 70 50 camps camps over over seven eight weeks, attend a different camp every week! youcould couldattend attend a a different different camp camp every you everyweek! week!

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Ride a horse through Pike National Forest on the way to our own outpost, The Meadow!

Fish for trout or canoe in our lake, zip through the forest on our newly redone ropes course, or meet kids from all over the US and many foreign countries! Our many returning staff members and campers ensure our spirit and family atmosphere!

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LOCAL

EVENTS from page 23

STAY CONNECTED

music

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter for events, local news, and ticket giveaways. facebook.com/theboulderweekly twitter.com/boulderweekly

NEW RELEASE: “SPIRALING,” BY HELLO, MOUNTAIN (HELLOMOUNTAINBAND.COM)

Denver-based indie-rock trio Hello, Mountain was tired of rushing their recording process, always running out of money to pay for more studio time that would allow them to experiment.

So they recorded and produced everything themselves for their upcoming record, Swim, set for release on June 18.

While the band’s inclination toward early aughts indie rock is still present — in the yearning of lead singer Stephen Pamas’ lyric tenor, in those fat, clean guitar tones — their new single, “Spiraling,” showcases a more intricately layered, synth-heavy sound than the band’s more traditional rock offerings on their previous three EPs. “It felt really freeing because when you record in a studio, you have a time limit, you have a money limit, and sometimes it can feel rushed,” says drummer Patrick Smith. “Sometimes it can feel like, ‘I wish we could have done this or added this.’ You just don’t have enough time. You have to practice a bunch and have everything super dialed in — it can be super stressful. So we thought, hey, we can really make this on our own, we can get experimental. If we have an idea a month after we tracked the drums, we can add things and change things. It can be an evolving process.”

Smith, who joined the group in 2018, says the group has been making a gradual but steady move toward a sound that embraces more electronic and R&B influences. “Spiraling” wraps lead singer Stephen Pamas’ anxiety-ridden lyrics into a lush, bright melody that gives way to a danceable chorus.

“Is there a way to fall to pieces, darling / Without running away,” Pamas wonders in the track. “Is there a way to fall asleep, my love / Without terrors of that face?”

The sound of water dripping through pipes at the top of the track nods to a running theme throughout the album.

“Water is obviously a huge theme on this album, and that was on purpose,” Pamas said in a press release. “You can be so vulnerable under water. You’re close to death in a way, but there is always an escape. That escape just happens to be to do nothing and just wait till you float to the surface. But when you panic, you tend to get into trouble. The whole record is based on that feeling of drowning then eventually getting over that fear, metaphorically.”

Swim will be the band’s first record available on vinyl. Check out the single, “Spiraling,” on Spotify or Bandcamp.

—Caitlin Rockett

boulderweekly.com

Walking, Running, & Trail Shoes

Comfortableshoes.com

see EVENTS Page 26

In store • Online • Curbside BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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APRIL 22, 2021

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LIVE

EVENTS from page 25

music

BOULDER THEATER SHOWS (2032 14TH ST., BOULDER)

An Evening with Daniel Rodriguez (second show).

9 p.m. Friday, April 23. Tickets are $55.

The former Elephant Revival member got a shoutout in Rolling Stone last year after the release of his latest album, Sojourn of a Burning Sun, which tracks the grief process from shock to acceptance.

AN EVENING WITH RANDOM RAB (NIGHTS 1 AND 2).

8 p.m. May 1 and 2. Tickets are $40.

The Burning Man staple known for his sunrise sets brings his blend of trip-hop, classical and Arabic sounds to the Boulder Theater.

Open Range Competition Teams Summer Day Camps Classes & Private Lessons

Target & Hunting Full Service Retail Pro Shop & Service Recurve & Compound

High Altitude Archery 455 Weaver Park Rd #500 Longmont, CO 80501 720-491-3309

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APRIL 22, 2021

STREAMING SHOWS AT STONE COTTAGE STUDIOS (STONECOTTAGESTUDIOS.COM)

Brendan James.

5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29. Tickets are $20-$35.

Stone Cottage Studios is hosting a livestream concert with troubadour and pianist Brendan James. After several months off the mic, James and his trio will reunite for a special virtual show.

James will pull music from his entire catalogue as well as from his latest release, Leap Taken.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

• Gifts for any cook • Fun and colorful kitchenware • Specialty foods, local and imported • Gadgets, cookware, and kitchen essentials • Louisville’s one-of-a-kind kitchen shop 728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 www.SingingCookStore.com

Things change

by Samantha Albala

Things change, always. You wrote this in my yearbook. I stumbled upon it last week. In the heart of the fire is a cheap fool’s gold necklace. Hanging from the necklace is a charm that reads told you so. I wrote that in your yearbook. I rewrite our yearbook goodbyes on the inside of my forearm. Told you so. Things change, always.

It has been too long, and I am not really exploring the cavern of my memory just right anymore. Either way…

I imagine you taste like lavender and honey. & Every attractive person reminds me of you.

Doesn’t that suck? Or it will until it doesn’t. Or it will until every attractive person reminds of someone else. Or, until the novelty wears off.

Yoga Parties

I clean out my closet in the middle of my workday because I feel weighed down too much to think. Only, I’m still thinking about if I am letting go of the right things. I wonder if my coworkers will notice the distance I put between myself and reality.

Corporate/Private events catered specifically for your group

There is a faint smell of charcoal and raspberries echoing through the hallway. It makes me think I live in a castle, and that instead of castles being lonely and foreign, they are a utopia full of love and comfort.

Wednesday @7:30 am MST Fridays @ 3:30 pm MST

Alignment Based Strong but Slow Flow Yin yoga to slow down and stretch your subtle body tissues Mondays @ 6:00 pm MST

I know I won’t tell you anything anymore. Not in the way I want to. Not unless there is a drastic sign telling me that I can refocus my attentions away from myself again.

I look at my forearm.

I look at the clouds drifting in the same direction. Slow and effortless.

I look at my stomach. It flashes me a smile, like an acquaintance would.

Beginning Yoga

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Why you will love to practice with me:

I wonder if getting rid of my yearbook would be a horrendous mistake. In the same way I fight the idea of getting rid of you. As if the sensation of experiencing people can be an old t-shirt that hasn’t been worn for well over a year. And I hold it in my hands, trying to embody the feeling of letting it go. I can’t tell… I can’t tell if the decluttering will be right, until the emptiness presents itself.

• Alignment focused instruction to safely deepen each pose • Foster positive & calming Energy • Age with strength and mobility • Receive individualized attention with interactive and small classes • Enjoy weekly themes based on Yoga Philosophy interwoven with spiritual inspiration • Breathe, get strong and learn to calm your nervous system • Grow with YOGA - Mind, Body and Spirit

Samantha Albala is a Boulder-tethered poet, gobbling up horizons and babbling about road trips, tea and anatomical hearts.

See more writing at samanthaalbala.contently.com.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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APRIL 22, 2021

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APRIL 22, 2021

Dear Dan: I’m a cis bi guy in my 40s who doesn’t have a lot of experience with other men. I’m happily married to a wonderful woman who knows I’m bi, and while we’re presently monogamous, we’ve talked about opening things up in the future. If that happens, I’d like to casually hook up with a guy once in a while, but I’m a little anxious about gay hookup culture.

1) Will a lot of guys dismiss me for being bi or married? I assume biphobia is more of an issue when looking for a relationship, rather than a hookup, but I dunno.

2) If I meet a guy and we’re going to fuck, is it weird to bring up condoms? I know: I shouldn’t be afraid to ask to use a condom, and if someone can’t respect that, I shouldn’t fuck him. I’m not and I won’t. But will most guys be a little surprised, especially with PrEP these days?

3) On that note, should I ask my doctor about PrEP when all I want is a very occasional fuck (maybe a few times a year) with someone I’ve vetted and trust about their HIV-negative or undetectable status? I want to be safe, but I don’t want to put superfluous meds in my body.

4) Is the “top shortage” I’ve read about a few times a real thing? Are a lot of guys strictly tops or bottoms?

5) And is there anything else I should know before hopping on the apps?

—Wondering About Navigating New Arenas Before Indulging Dear WANNABI: 1) There are lots of biphobic gay men out there, WANNABI, but I gotta say... there are more biphobes in the straight community. Yes, straight biphobia is less gallingly hypocritical, I will grant you, but it does more harm; research has shown that having a biphobic straight spouse is the single biggest risk factor for poor mental health outcomes among bisexuals. So I’m happy to hear that your spouse accepts your bisexuality, WANNABI, and I’m going to apologize in advance for the biphobia you’ll encounter from some dumb gay men. But if all you’re after is some casual sex, WANNABI, you don’t need to disclose your bisexuality to the men you meet on the apps. You also shouldn’t assume the men you meet on “gay” hookup apps are gay; some will be bisexual, just like you. And while biphobic gay men get all the press, WANNABI, I

there are lots of biphilic gay men out there — that is, gay men who are really into married “straight” men. If you don’t wanna hide the wife and don’t wanna wind up with a FWB who wants you to leave the wife for him, finding guys who are actually turned on by the fact that you have a wife at home is not a bad strategy.

2) Even at the height of the AIDS crisis — even at a time when contracting HIV was almost invariably fatal — condoms weren’t used 100% of the time by 100% of gay and bi men. Now with PrEP (a daily pill that prevents HIV infection) and treatments for HIV+ men that make it impossible for them to spread the virus (HIV+ men with undetectable viral loads can’t transmit the virus), fewer gay and bi men are using condoms these days. If you wanna use a condom because you’re not on PrEP and/or you wanna protect yourself and your wife from all the sexually-transmitted infections PrEP won’t protect you from — and that would be all the other sexually-transmitted infections out there — insist on condoms and pass on guys who argue with you about it.

3) If you wanna be able to have spontaneous and/or anonymous sex with other men, taking PrEP daily is smart.

But you can use PrEP without taking it daily if you’re having sex with other men once or twice a year and you’re making those sex dates at least a few days in advance. Intermittent or “on-demand” use of PrEP is highly effective; take two pills 24 hours before you have sex and one pill a day for two days afterwards.

4) Not all gay and bi men are into anal sex or into anal sex with casual partners, WANNABI, and while most of the men I’ve encountered were functionally versatile, there do seem to be more bottoms out there than tops. Not that “bottom” and “top” are static identities; a guy who’ll bottom for you might be more comfortable topping for someone else, a guy who enjoys bottoming when he’s younger might enjoy topping more later in life and vice-versa, etc.

5) Not every photo is recent, WANNABI, and not every guy is decent.

Some guys will lie to get in your pants or in your ass or on your dick or on your face. Trust your gut, WANNABI, and be choosy about the guys you invite to rearrange yours.

Send questions to mail@savagelove. net, follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage, and visit savagelovecast.com.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

LIBRA

“Self-Care List.” I’ll tell you a few of her 57 action items, in hopes of inspiring you to create your own list. The coming weeks will be a perfect phase to upgrade your focus on doing what makes you feel healthy and holy.

Here are Elsworthy’s ideas: Get in the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. Organize your room. Clean your mirror and laptop. Lie in the sunshine. Become the person you would ideally fall in love with. Walk with a straight posture. Stretch your body. Challenge yourself to not judge or ridicule anyone for a whole day. Have a luxurious shower with your favorite music playing.

Remember your dreams. Fantasize about the life you would lead if failure didn’t exist.

capitalize her name) has a nuanced perspective on the nature of our pain. She writes, “Contrary to what we may have been taught, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us, but need not scar us for life.” She acknowledges that unnecessary and unchosen suffering does indeed “mark us.” But we have the power to reshape and transform how it marks us. I think her wisdom will be useful for you to wield in the coming weeks. You now have extra power to reshape and transform the marks of your old pain. You probably won’t make it disappear entirely, but you can find new ways to make it serve you, teach you and ennoble you.

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: Blogger Emma Elsworthy wrote her

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: Some traditional Buddhist monks sit on

city streets in Asia with a “begging bowl” in front of them.

It’s a clay or iron container they use to solicit money and food from passers-by who want to support them.

Contemporary American poet Mariannne Boruch regards the begging bowl as a metaphor that helps her generate new poems. She adopts the attitude of the empty vessel, awaiting life’s instructions and inspiration to guide her creative inquiry. This enables her to “avoid too much selfobsession and navel-gazing” and be receptive — ”with no agenda besides the usual wonder and puzzlement.”

I recommend the begging bowl approach to you as you launch the next phase of your journey, Taurus.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: Gemini-born Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) is

today regarded as an innovative and influential painter.

But his early years provided few hints that he would ultimately become renowned. As a teenager, he attended naval preparatory school, and later he joined the French navy. At age 23, he became a stockbroker. Although he also began dabbling as a painter at that time, it wasn’t until the stock market crashed 11 years later that he made the decision to be a full-time painter. Is there a Gauguin-like turning point in your future, Gemini? If so, its early signs might show itself soon. It won’t be as dramatic or stressful as Gauguin’s, but I bet it will be quite galvinizing.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: A research team found that some people

pray for things they are reasonably sure God wouldn’t approve of. In a sense, they’re trying to trick the Creator into giving them goodies they’re not supposed to get.

Do you ever do that? Try to bamboozle life into offering you blessings you’re not sure you deserve? The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to dare such ploys.

I’m not guaranteeing you’ll succeed, but the chances are much better than usual that you will. The universe is pretty relaxed and generous toward you right now.

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: In 2013, the New Zealand government

decided to rectify the fact that its two main islands had never been assigned formal names. At that time, it gave Waipounamu. In the spirit of correcting for oversights and neglect, and in accordance with current astrological omens, is there any action you’d like to take to make yourself more official or professional or established? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to do so.

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: Author Grant Morrison observes that our

heads are “big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there!” That’s why it’s so unfortunate, he says, if we fill up our “magical cabinet” with “little broken things, sad trinkets that we play with over and over.” In accordance with astrological potentials, Virgo, I exhort you to dispose of as many of those sad trinkets and little broken things as you can.

Make lots of room to hold expansive visions and marvelous dreams and wondrous possibilities. It’s time to think bigger and feel wilder.

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: Libran author bell hooks (who doesn’t

Call 720.253.4710 All credit cards accepted No text messages

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: I love people who inspire me to surprise

myself. I’m appreciative when an ally provides me with a friendly shock that moves me to question my habitual ways of thinking or doing things. I feel lucky when a person I like offers a compassionate critique that nudges me out of a rut I’ve been in. Here’s a secret: I don’t always wait around passively hoping events like these will happen. Now and then I actively seek them out. I encourage them. I ask for them. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I invite you to be like me in this regard.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: “Where did last year’s lessons go?” asks

Gillian Welch in her song “I Dream a Highway.” Now I’m posing the same question to you — just in time for the Remember Last Year’s Lessons Phase of your cycle. In my astrological opinion, it’s crucial for you to recollect and ruminate deeply on the breakdowns and breakthroughs you experienced in 2020; on every spiritual emergency and spiritual emergence you weathered; on all the scary trials you endured and all the sacred trails you trod.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: Capricorn painter Henri Matisse had a revolutionary influence on 20th-century art, in part because of his raucous use of color. Early in his career he belonged to the movement known as Fauvism, derived from the French term for “wild beasts.” During his final years, he invented a new genre very different from his previous work: large collages of brightly colored cut-out paper.

The subject matter, according to critic Jed Perl, included “jungles, goddesses, oceans and the heavens,” and “ravishing signs and symbols” extracted from the depths of “Matisse’s luminosity.” I offer him as a role model for you, Capricorn, because I think it’s a perfect time to be, as Perl describes Matisse, both “a hard-nosed problemsolver and a feverish dreamer.”

“The Boulder Mountainbike Alliance ran ads recently in the Boulder Weekly to promote our annual Membership Party and Colorado Gives Day. The campaign was a huge success and BMA raised $34,320 - all going towards improving Boulder County’s trail system! The Boulder Weekly ads led to additional awareness of BMA and played an important part in this extraordinary fundraising campaign. Thanks Boulder Weekly!”

Wendy Sweet President, Board of Directors Boulder Mountainbike Alliance

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: “The guiding motto in the life of every

natural philosopher should be, ‘Seek simplicity, but distrust it.’” Aquarian philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote that, and now I’m proposing that you use it as your motto in the coming weeks, even if you’re not a natural philosopher. Why? Because I suspect you’ll thrive by uncomplicating your life. You’ll enhance your well-being if you put greater trust in your instinctual nature and avoid getting lost in convoluted thoughts. On the other hand, it’s important not to plunge so deeply into minimalism that you become shallow, careless or unimaginative.

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: In ancient Greek comic theater, there

was a stock character known as the eiron. He was a crafty underdog who outwitted and triumphed over boastful egotists by pretending to be naive. Might I interest you in borrowing from that technique in the coming weeks? I think you’re most likely to be successful if you approach victory indirectly or sideways — and don’t get bogged down trying to forcefully coax skeptics and resisters. Be cagey, understated and strategic, Pisces. Let everyone think they’re smart and strong if it helps ensure that your vision of how things should be will win out in the end.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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owadays we call them noir, but back in the 1940s and ’50s they didn’t have a name. Born out of 1930s hard-boiled novels and an

THE CRITERION COLLECTION

started in New York theater before

In addition to The Furies, he made Winchester ’73 and Devil’s Doorway The Furies is as close as

interested in the land he owns than the

he has to kick them off or they won’t back

Barbara Stanwyck, after all. versatile as Stanwyck, and The Furies

Noir on the range

70 years on, ‘The Furies’ is still good, pulpy fun

by Michael J. Casey festival today. jury’s still out on that one, but we know that noir as an aesthetic, an attitude, an

ON THE BILL: ‘The Furies’ starring Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston, newly released from The Criterion Collection.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

The Furies

The

ration of the movie, a bevy of interviews, commentaries and essays, and a new

Furies DVD from The Criterion Collection.

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S I M P L E

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L O C A L

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FA R M

T O

TA B L E LIMITED

TAKE-OUT AVA I L A B L E

S AT & SU N 9 AM - 2 PM

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TUE-FRI 11AM-2PM

APRIL 22, 2021

TUE-THUR 4:30PM-9PM

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F R I & S AT 4:30PM-9:30PM

S U N D AY 4:30PM-9PM

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

Try this week:

Green Chile Cheddarshack @ Shake Shack

SHAKE SHACK. 1680 29th St., Boulder, 720-704-7980, shakeshack. com/location/ boulder-co

OK, we bit the bullet and followed the hordes to Boulder’s new Shake Shack, located in the Twenty-Ninth Street Mall.

Shake Shack is a national burger chain with a legion of fans, a la In-N-Out and Five Guys, and so its recent arrival was met with excitement. On our visit, we opted for the regionally exclusive Green Chile Cheddarshack, a beef patty (or two, your choice) is topped with white Cheddar, scallions and marinated green chiles. The chiles are abundant, bright and just a little spicy. That spice is balanced with the creamy white Cheddar and the fat in the burger. Get the crinklecut fries — crispy, hot and appropriately salty — and the house beer brewed in collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery for a fine meal.

2

1 TWISTED PINE HAS A NEW HEAD BREWER

AMERICAN CRAFT BEER WEEK IS COMING THE BREWERS ASSOCIATION, a locally based craft beer trade group, is hosting the 15th annual American Craft Beer Week May 10-16.

Breweries nationwide, including 40 Boulder County breweries, will be celebrating with new beer releases, discounts and other creative offerings.

“This year’s American Craft Beer Week, more than ever, is about more than just delicious craft beer; it’s about community and showing support for hometown taprooms, brewpubs and breweries,” said Ann Obenchain, marketing director of the BA, in a press release. You can view a map of participating breweries at craftbeer.com/breweries/find-a-us-brewery.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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TWISTED PINE, ONE of Boulder’s oldest breweries, announced the hiring of Jeff Griffith as its new head brewer this week. Griffith has over 15 years of professional brewing experience, including stints at Odyssey Beerworks and FATE Brewing. Griffith helped open the latter, a 10-barrel brewpub, and launched its beer portfolio, which included a Great American Beer Festival goldwinning German-style kölsch.

In a press release announcing Griffith’s position, Bob Baile, co-owner and founder of Twisted Pine Brewing said, “To have a brewer of Jeff’s caliber and pedigree be on our team is one we’re very excited about. His innovative spirit and approach to experimentation will be a great fit for all of us.”

APRIL 22, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

The one time of year to drink a mint julep

By Matt Cortina

Y

ou can have a gin and tonic or a negroni any time you want. But order a mint julep in October and you’re likely to get some odd looks from the bartender.

times and places — hurricanes in New Orleans, daiquiris Mad Men 10-plus years later. But perhaps no cocktail is as connected to a moment as the mint julep and the Kentucky Derby, which will occur May 1.

The mint julep has a long, odd history. Mentions of the drink go as far back as the mid-1700s, when it was referenced as a medicinal drink, with the modern-day base of Bourbon sometimes switched out for rum, gin or ginever (aged gin). All had a hint of sweetness, all had the drink’s trademark addition of fresh mint.

In the 19th century, juleps made with various spirits tion of the cocktail in Second Series of A Diary of America: “There are many varieties [of Mint Julep], such as those composed of Claret, Madeira, [etc.].; but the ingredients of the real mint-julep are as follows. I learnt how to make them, and succeeded pretty well. Put into

a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint, upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal proportions of peach and common brandy, so as haps a little less. Then take rasped or pounded ice, and

the South, led to its association with the Kentucky Derby (an esteemed horse race). Since 1938, juleps have been

or you can pick up a julep glass at a local liquor or food store, like Hazel’s.

However, if you’re not a typical bourbon drinker (and thus won’t know what to do with what remains in the bottle after Derby Day) or you don’t want to fuss with making or buying simple syrup, there are places to go nearby that’ll make a julep for you. Plus, drinking it in the (distanced) company of others makes it taste better.

That’s annecdtoal, sure, but we’re sticking to it.

bourbon, as the spirit used was aged on used, not new, -

April 29 through May 2 with $10 Woodford Reserve mint juleps; head over on Derby Day, wear a funny hat and

but if you’re making it at home (see recipe below), you’ll want to go with the Woodford.

Woodford Reserve by itself and it’ll have deviled eggs and ence, head to Monkey Barrel in Denver, which’ll pair its

with a piece of fresh pine-apple, and the tumbler itself is very often incrusted outside with stalactites of ice. As the ice melts, you drink.”

Derby branded one is available at kentuckyderby.com,

Official Kentucky Derby Mint Julep

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

INGREDIENTS • 2 oz. Woodford Reserve • 1/2 oz. Simple syrup • 3 Fresh mint leaves • Crushed ice

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PREPARATION the glass. To the same glass, add simple syrup, bourbon and crushed ice. Stir. Garnish with more ice and fresh mint.

APRIL 22, 2021

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‘For internal use only’

istration to prevent drug traffickers from claiming business expenses, and revised in the Clinton administration to target the budding cannabis industry specifically.

“From the very start, that was the U.S. government’s tool to shut down the cannabis industry,” he says. “It was used that way all along.”

And he points out, a cannabis 280E audit is about three times more profitable for the IRS than any other kind of audit they do. It’s low-hanging fruit, and it’s why cannabis businesses pay an 80-90% tax rate, compared to the standard 30% tax rate for normal businesses.

Beyond the IRS’ means and methods for exercising the 280E tax code, the recently released PG also covers a lot of cannabis basics: describing different types of products, different strains of flower, general cultivation techniques, and how dispensaries handle cash. It even touches on more technical (and controversial) concepts like calculating a grow’s yield by examining its utility bills — an idea Richards calls “ridiculous.”

The PG also instructs IRS agents to start asking cannabis business owners as many questions as fast as possible before they contact an attorney. It’s a tactic Richards says is extremely common during IRS audits.

“They want to be able to charge in when a business owner doesn’t understand entirely what’s going on, ask a bunch of questions and get a bunch of

Recently disclosed IRS playbook for auditing cannabis businesses exposes taste for low-hanging fruit

By Will Brendza

S

ince 2016, rumors have circulated among cannabis tax experts of an undisclosed playbook the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses to audit the cannabis industry. Such a document isn’t unusual, according to Denver tax attorney Kevin Richards. In fact, the IRS maintains playbooks like these, called Audit Technique Guides (ATGs), for every legal industry in the U.S. They’re resources designed for IRS auditors, Richards explains, to help agents understand the accounting methods and possible tax issues specific to different industries. But ATGs are also extremely useful resources for businesses trying to stay in compliance with federal tax law.

While ATGs for most mainstream sectors are made publicly available on the IRS website, the agency never published one for the cannabis industry. Marijuana tax experts knew the IRS was using something to train the agents auditing cannabis businesses — but for years the actual document remained confidential.

That was until April of this year. When, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by MJBizDaily, the IRS finally released a document known as a “Participant Guide” (PG) — a document just like an ATG, except for internal use only. And it’s just as restrictive as experts like Richards imagined.

“It is really, essentially, an [ATG],” says Richards.

“Just under a different name.”

A large part of the cannabis industry’s PG outlines how IRS agents should use the infamous 280E tax code — a law that prevents cannabis companies from legally deducting any business expense besides the cost of goods sold. Richards calls 280E a “political weapon.” He says it was drafted in the Reagan admin-

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APRIL 22, 2021

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important information before they can get educated,” he says. Which is why having a tax attorney to handle an audit is so important when it comes to the IRS, he explains.

“Don’t talk to the IRS,” Richards warns cannabis business owners. “They’re not out to be your friend.

They’re out to determine the highest amount of tax they can apply.”

That’s something clearly laid out in the cannabis industry’s PG, he says.

Sadly, Richards doesn’t see much hope for the IRS changing its PG or the way it audits cannabis businesses, before federal cannabis reform is passed.

“There’s just no sympathy for the cannabis business that pays too much in taxes. Nobody cares about that,” Richards says.

“And everybody thinks that the cannabis industry is making just tons of money, anyway — when they’re really not. Most of the companies are struggling to break even because of the 280E tax code.”

But, he points out, if cannabis is legalized, all of that goes away.

280E would dissolve, and with it the cannabis industry’s 80-90% tax rate; local businesses would see larger profit margins and could expand and grow faster, hiring more people and bringing more prosperity into their communities.

And the IRS would have to scrap this internal PG in favor of a formal, and public, ATG for the U.S. cannabis industry.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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