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Charges against the paramedics who administered ketamine to Elijah McClain could inhibit EMS use of sedatives

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Charges against the paramedics who administered ketamine to Elijah McClain could inhibit EMS use of sedatives

by Will Brendza

In Wyoming, fences are coming down to make way for wildlife

by Hillary Rosner

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buzz:

R. Alan Brooks and Sarah Menzel Trapl explore loss and regret in upcoming graphic novella, ‘Greiving Mall’

by Caitlin Rockett

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Boulder’s mysterious talking concrete pig is a monument to barbecue, schoolkids, 4-Nikators, and local dining history

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All of the flavor, none of the regret

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Opinion: Rethinking Circumcision Opinion: Reforming occupancy limits Events: What to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do...

Film: Dispatches from the Telluride Film Festival Astrology: by Rob Brezsny Savage Love: Counseled culture Taste of the Week: Ska Street Dagwood @ Ska Street Brewstillery 38 Weed Between the Lines: No emulsifier required

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Brendan Joel Kelley Managing Editor, Caitlin Rockett News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Contributing Editor, Angela K. Evans Contributing Writers: Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Sara McCrea, 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, Carter Ferryman 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 September 9, 2021 Volume XXIX, Number 5 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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Rethinking circumcision

by Charlie Danaher

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ocieties are oftentimes plagued with dysfunctions that, due to their historical acceptance, are tolerated, with tragic consequences. In my opinion, non-religious infant male circumcision (IMC) is a glaring, current day example.

In reaching my conclusion, I draw on the following principles: First, do no harm. I contend that the medical establishment is in broad violation of this creed. It doesn’t take much research to learn about the emotional, psychological, and even physical harm that’s inflicted on millions of baby boys, every single year.

Live and let live. A civilized society allows people to have autonomy over their own bodies. Why do we think it’s acceptable to not let baby boys mature into adults, when they can make their own decision whether to undergo such an irreversible “operation.”

Informed consent. There are two parts to this idea. To be informed means that what’s about to take place is understood. Clearly this cannot be true with a baby boy. And

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when it comes to consent, nobody is even trying to argue that any baby agreed to be permanently disfigured.

A drastic action requires compelling reasons. An action as drastic as amputating part of a person’s sexual organ requires a commensurately compelling rationale.

When I hear reasons like: lowering the risk of infection; reducing the temptation for masturbation; and making them look like everyone else, I’m nowhere near convinced.

Genital mutilation. We’re outraged at female genital mutilation—as well we should be. I suggest we form a similar dedication to protecting baby boys from this trauma and violation.

Psychological scars. Let’s be clear, long after the newborn’s bleeding stops and the physical scars form, damage lingers. Psychological scars persist. All we have to do is be willing to look at the data, and listen to the victims.

Avoiding STDs. This reason is especially perverse to me. Is it our position that, as a society, we’re so sure of someone’s future promiscuous behavior, that we pre-emptively amputate part of their body so that their chance of contracting and spreading infection is reduced? Are we see OPINION Page 8

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OPINION from Page 7

really that paternalistic and insensitive to our brothers’ sense of being? I sure hope not.

Sociological acceptance. One argument for cutting boys is that we think they’ll fit in better if they look like others around them. That’s not a bad idea, in and of itself. But the idea of continuing an abusive practice for the sake of fitting in is, frankly, backward.

Tolerating religious practices.

This is a tough one. I realize that circumcision is a religious ceremony for some people. I may not agree with the logic of how circumcision fits in with their religious practice, but I can honor, reluctantly, their right to live that way. However, I will continue to try to change their minds.

Reducing sexual pleasure. Historically, up until the sexual revolution, circumcision was promoted by a crowd that was opposed to sexual pleasure. But the act of love is supposed to be pleasurable. Intentionally debilitating another’s body, against their will, is the epitome of paternalism and authoritarianism. I say, go ahead and deny yourself of pleasure, if you choose to. Please don’t impose your deprivation mindset onto other, helpless people.

Let’s quit living in fear. Much of the argument for performing circumcision is conveyed to parents as a threat. In that, if you don’t have your son cut, this or that might happen. But what’s rarely discussed is, if the circumcision takes place, what will happen. If we become more informed, we’re likely to make rational decisions, and not ones based in fear and coercion.

Peace begins with us. Lastly, I would argue that if we truly envision and desire a peaceful existence, then we need to strive to remove all forms of violence from our world. Sometimes violence is right under our noses.

Sometimes we’ve become so accustomed to it that we don’t even see it. Think about how, in the past, we’ve treated Black people, Native Americans, Jews, and women. Cultures have a way of hiding, right in plain sight, injustices and irrationalities. I predict that the cultural acceptance of circumcision will disappear. But its disappearance won’t happen without our efforts. I, for one, want to work to hasten that day.

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

WHEN IT COMES TO CONSENT, NOBODY IS EVEN TRYING TO ARGUE THAT ANY BABY AGREED TO BE PERMANENTLY DISFIGURED.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Reforming occupancy limits

Aidan Kankyoku, Mark Van Akkeren, Sara Campbell, Brad Johnson

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s homeowners in South Boulder, we believe that renters and students have so much to bring to our community. We wish to dispel the false notion that renters and owner-occupants are incompatible.

That’s why we support the Bedrooms Are For People ballot campaign to reform our city’s occupancy limits. We hope to welcome more honesty, diversity, and friendship into our neighborhoods.

Boulder is experiencing a housing crisis. Soaring rent and property prices have left hundreds of people in our city without a roof. Sixty thousand more commute in from less expensive cities nearby, creating traffic and pollution. Meanwhile, a draconian law forces thousands of bedrooms in Boulder to lie empty and leaves thousands of lower-income tenants under constant fear of eviction. From safeguarding our environment to increasing affordable housing, there are numerous benefits to lifting this occupancy restriction. Despite this, some of our neighbors fear how this measure will alter our city. We believe those fears are misplaced.

Renters have long been a crucial component of Boulder. When we think of renters, we might picture professionals in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond who are deeply committed to our Boulder community.

In fact, each of us has rented a room in our own homes to such people!

For instance, one of our tenants is a psychotherapist in his mid-30s who teaches at Naropa and is approaching 10 years in Boulder. Another tenant was a recently divorced woman in her 50s with a masters degree, creating a fresh start for herself with a new career in nursing.

These stories are no longer the exception. We have numerous friends who grew up in Boulder, but will never be able to buy a house here. If they choose to stay in their hometown, they will be lifelong renters. For many of them, that’s okay: Many millennials (who started turning 40 this year) are postponing their parents’ dream of marriages, mortgages, and kids, or foregoing them altogether. But Boulder’s laws have not kept up with these lifestyle trends.

Of course, people in their late teens and 20s can also be excellent neighbors and tenants. Several of us have happily lived with student tenants. One of us lives near a house of undergrad and graduate students in their 20s who are beloved on their block. For the last two years,

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these students have been out after every snow storm shoveling their older neighbors’ sidewalks. They safely live one person to a bedroom, but if the city found out, they would be evicted. There are homes like this all across Boulder.

Some well-intentioned Boul-

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

derites fear that the Bedrooms Are For People (BAFP) initiative will actually drive up the cost of living in Boulder. One neighbor thought that doubling the number of renters allowed in a five-bedroom house see OPINION Page 10

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(from the current three to a proposed six) would effectively double the market rate for that house.

This is unlikely to happen. Market rates already reflect the “full house” number of renters; in violation of city law, hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of housing units are filled based on the actual capacity of the house. Landlords know this— indeed, a modest five-bedroom in South Boulder would not rent for $4,000 per month otherwise. Empirical data collected

by BAFP shows that five-bedroom homes already rent for as much per bedroom as four-bedroom homes in the same neighborhood.

This measure also makes Boulder more affordable for owner-occupants like us. The authors of this op-ed can only afford to own here by renting out bedrooms. The current rule infringes profoundly on our lifestyle choices. Some of us have chosen not to have kids, and wish to create family by living in community with other

adults in our home. Boulder’s law discriminates against this kind of nontraditional family, which is increasingly common. We currently don’t have the freedom to choose how many people to live with in our own homes unless those people are our biological off spring!

We agree with BAFP’s dedicated housing activists when they argue that the initiative will make Boulder more affordable and inclusive. Although BAFP is just one of many necessary steps to address Boulder’s housing crisis, legalizing ways that people are already living is dear to our hearts. We want happier, friendlier, and more vibrant neighborhoods for owners and renters alike, where everyone feels comfortable to meet each other and live openly.

We hope you will vote YES on this ballot measure to put forward more progressive occupancy limits this fall.

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

SOARING RENT AND PROPERTY PRICES HAVE LEFT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN OUR CITY WITHOUT A ROOF.

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Officers of chemical restraint

Charges against the paramedics who administered ketamine to Elijah McClain could inhibit EMS use of sedatives

by Will Brendza

PROTESTERS in Aurora spill onto the roadway, as people marched for justice for Elijah McClain on June 27, 2020.

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n January of 2021, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced a grand jury investigation into the death of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black man killed in 2019 after being detained by police and administered a common sedative—the anesthetic ketamine.

Nine months later, on Wednesday, September 1, Weiser stepped up to a podium before a room full of journalists to announce the grand jury was finally returning an indictment—one that not only charges the three police officers who initially detained and subdued Elijah McClain, but also charges the two responding Aurora Fire Rescue (AFR) paramedics, Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper.

The paramedics are both charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, as well as multiple counts of second degree assault and crimes of violence.

Weiser called the grand jury indictment a “formal accusation” and promised justice “for Elijah McClain, his family, his friends and the state.”

training when his crew responded to a woman who was bleeding from her head and clearly altered on either drugs or alcohol. Capps explains that in such a situation EMS protocols dictate that a patient cannot refuse medical treatment—they have to be taken to a hospital. “EMS can’t simply walk away,” he says.

“She ended up getting into a scuffle with us about whether or not she wanted treatment, and she just didn’t want to go in the ambulance,” Capps says. “So we shot her up with sedative drugs in order to just get her to be quiet and get in the back.”

Capps says he was immediately uneasy with this method of apprehension; it felt like an invasion of the person’s body, he says. But he was still in training, so he didn’t question it—the first time.

But when it happened again, just a few weeks later on another ride in Denver, he decided to approach his instructor about it.

“She told me, ‘Look, this is just how we do it.

These people are dangerous, and we have to protect ourselves,’” Capps recalls. Which meant that if someWILL BRENDZA one was acting aggressively or unruly, the best thing to do was to sedate them, Capps says.

The culture and expectations within EMS seem to promote that attitude, from Capps’ perspective. More than 90,000 patients are transported to Denver-area hospitals every year by paramedics, who respond on average to over 300 calls per day, according to an analysis done by Aladtec. Those EMS providers have to move quickly from one call to the next, without much rest or delay in between.

On top of having such a distressing job, paramedics, EMTs, and other EMS providers undergo extreme stress, often struggle with PTSD, and rarely seek out or receive counseling or emotional support services (read: “Under a cloak of darkness,” Boulder Weekly, April 4, 2019).

Capps says EMS providers simply don’t have the time, the bandwidth, or the emotional energy to handle resistant patients with as much empathy and understanding as they might warrant. And sometimes, he says, they’re encouraged by the police to medicate someone in their custody.

While those charges still have to be proven in “My sense is that sometimes when a person is court, some paramedics and EMTs, like Reilly Capps, resisting arrest, the cops will [tell paramedics] things believe that regardless of the outcome this should like, ‘Look, this guy has excited delirium, don’t you open up a serious conversation about Emergency think?’ with the suggestion of, ‘Hey, can you work with Medical Services (EMS); about the ways in which me to make this an easier apprehension?’” Capps says.

EMS professionals use sedatives and how they work Which was allegedly what happened on August with police. Because while the National Association 24, 2019, when AFR paramedics Cooper and Cichuof Physicians calls the suggestion that ketamine is niec were called to respond to the scene of Elijah routinely used for non-medical purposes “dangerously McClain’s arrest. misleading,” Capps says he saw it and other sedatives According to a blog post from the City of Aurora, used for non-medical purposes on a regular basis. published two days after the incident: “Due to the “[Sedatives] were used for making our lives easier,” level of physical force applied while restraining the he says, then pauses before adding, “and for making subject and his agitated mental state, officers requestcops’ lives easier.” ed Aurora Fire Rescue (AFR) and Falck Ambulance Capps is a certified EMT who worked for AMR respond to render professional medical attention.” in Boulder for two years and did his training in Denver. He recalls one ambulance ride during his see OFFICERS Page 14 l

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

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OFFICERS from Page 13

The ambulance arrived at 10:53 p.m. and McClain was already on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back. He’d vomited into his ski mask and was telling officers he couldn’t breathe and that what they were doing “was hurting.”

The grand jury indictment asserts: “After approximately two minutes on the scene, Cooper and Cichuniec both concluded that Mr. McClain was suffering from excited delirium. Cooper reached his diagnosis after receiving some information from officers and observing McClain for about one minute.”

The City of Aurora’s Investigation Report and Recommendations elaborates: “Aurora Fire Lt. Peter Cichuniec advised Falck Rocky Mountain to draw up a 500 milligram dose of ketamine based on his inaccurate estimation that Mr. McClain weighed about 190 pounds. At 10:59 p.m. or 11:00 p.m., Paramedic Cooper administered the ketamine to Mr. McClain. At the time of the injection, Mr. McClain had not moved or made any sounds for about one minute.”

AFR’s own incident report admits that the Falck medic who provided the lethal drug hadn’t been able to do his own assessment of McClain due to “darkness as well as multiple APD officers being on top of (patient).”

McClain—who weighed just 140 pounds—was given a dose of ketamine that would have been adequate for a 220-pound adult.

Just minutes later, on the way to the hospital, he suffered cardiac arrest and although he was revived, he went into an irreversible coma.

Days later, on August 30, Elijah McClain’s family made the decision to take him off life support.

Now, Cooper and Cichuniec are facing eleven criminal charges each: manslaughter; criminally negligent homicide; second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily harm; second-degree assault for recklessly causing bodily harm with a deadly weapon (ketamine); second-degree assault for administering a drug for 14

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a purpose other than lawful medical or therapeutic treatment; and two counts of crimes of violence for each assault charge.

“I have never handled a case where something like that has happened,” Kevin Mahoney, with the Mahoney Law Firm, a medical malpractice and personal injury law firm in Boulder, says of the charges against the AFR paramedics. He calls it “highly uncommon.”

When asked about the legality of EMTs and paramedics using sedatives to help police detain someone or to do so on their own, Mahoney is taken aback.

“I didn’t have any idea about that

until now . . . and that is very surprising,” he says. “And I’m guessing that it’s going to happen a lot less frequently now.”

That guess is likely to come true, thanks to a bill signed by Governor Jared Polis in July 2021. The “Appropriate Use Of Chemical Restraints On A Person” Act (HB-1251) severely restricts and limits the use of ketamine on agitated patients outside of hospital settings—essentially suspending the use of ketamine for EMS providers completely. Representative Leslie Herod (D-Denver) introduced the bill during the 2021 legislative session.

“You cannot forcefully inject someone with a drug that can kill them without having the proper medical attention right there and supervision right there, and it can never happen at the direction of law enforcement,” Herod told Fox31.

“These are common sense things that unfortunately, we shouldn’t have to legislate. But unfortunately, we do.”

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Of course, not everyone agrees with that sentiment. Many in the emergency medical response industry see the ketamine suspension as a barrier to providing adequate care. Scott Sholes, president of the Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado, said there will undoubtedly be consequences to limiting their access to pharmaceutical sedatives.

“The consequences of this bill, likely unforeseen and unintended by the Colorado General Assembly, will dramatically impact our ability to safely treat and transport mental health and other patients experiencing life-threatening emergencies, and EMSAC is working with CDPHE to reinstate those WILL BRENDZA waivers within the parameters of the new legislation,” Sholes told Fox31 in a July 2021 interview.

For his part, Capps is also torn about how all this is shaking out.

On the one hand, he says it’s scary to think that a paramedic on duty doing their best to help someone in need could be charged with manslaughter or assault with a deadly weapon if they truly need to use ketamine in the field and something unforeseen happens.

“At the same time, I also think that the culture of EMS needs to change,” he says. “We use sedative drugs way too much. We sedate people that have no business being sedated. It’s kind of appalling how often we shoot people up with Versed or ketamine as a way to get them off our backs or to calm them down because we don’t want to deal with them anymore.”

Judging by the actions and language of Colorado’s lawmakers and attorney general, they agree with Capps.

“I agree that chemical restraints like ketamine should only be used in true medical emergencies,” Governor Polis wrote in his signing statement for HB-1251. “Furthermore, ketamine should not be used for law enforcement purposes. When on-scene, there should be a formal hand-off from the responding officer l

to the EMS provider.”

“We want to make sure [EMS providers] are not stepping beyond their duties and directing the use of a drug so deadly and volatile that it’s resulted in the death of people like Elijah McClain,” Representative Herod told the Denver Post.

For now, Cooper and Cichuniec and the three officers charged alongside them remain innocent until proven guilty. The case will go to trial and their innocence (or lack thereof ) will be determined by a jury of their peers. If they’re found guilty, Capps thinks it will dramatically change the way paramedics do their jobs—for the better.

“I think it could definitely reduce the unnecessary or unwarranted or just overly-aggressive use of other sedatives, for sure,” he says.

According to Mahoney with Mahoney Law Firm, though, convicting the paramedics is still a big “if.” It’s hard enough to convince a jury that a healthcare provider made a mistake, let alone to convince them that they did so maliciously, he says. “If even just one person doesn’t buy it, then you’ve got a hung jury.”

This case could set a new precedent for EMS providers across the country who administer sedatives on a daily basis for both medical and non-medical purposes. Like the police officers who responded to the scene and arrested Elijah Mcclain, EMS providers like Cooper and Cichuniec could be liable to criminal prosecution should they use sedatives knowingly and inappropriately—and also in the case that they do so completely on accident.

Regardless of the outcome in court, this conversation is one among many necessary discussions that began as a result of Elijah McClain’s death. It’s tragic that it took his death to do that, but Capps says the system needs an overhaul and McClain might have helped make that possible.

“They say cops are expected to be social workers and mental health professionals, and [EMS is] expected to do some of that, too. And it’s just too fucking much. We just can’t do it all and we shouldn’t do it all,” Capps says. “People get into this for healing and saving—not to be enforcers. But, sometimes, we’re forced into that role.”

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

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In Wyoming, fences are coming down to make way for wildlife

By Hillary Rosner, National Geographic

O

n a warm July morning, roughly two dozen volunteers gathered at a ranch outside Cody, Wyoming, carrying wire cutters, gloves, buckets, and bottles of water. The goal was to take down several miles of barbed wire that had not been used to fence livestock for many years—and were now a useless and even dangerous blemish on the landscape.

West of Cody, on the road to Yellowstone National Park, the North Fork of the Shoshone River winds through the Absaroka Mountains, a landscape of extinct volcanoes that once towered thousands of feet higher.

Strange formations of eroded volcanic rock, known as hoodoos, cap the hillsides. If you’re lucky, you might see a flock of bighorn sheep scampering beneath these ancient deposits. But that’s much less likely than it would have been a century or two ago, when settlers first began developing—and fencing— the landscape.

Scientists conservatively estimate that more than 600,000 miles of fences crisscross the American West, and that’s without counting property fencing in cities and suburbs. In just one Wyoming county, researchers mapped roughly 4,500 miles of fences—longer than the U.S. border with Mexico. The Absarokas and other western landscapes may look wide open and sprawling, particularly to road-trippers from more paved-over parts of the country, but in fact they are sliced up by miles and miles of barbed wire, put there to keep livestock in (or out), to mark boundaries between public and private lands, or to keep animals away from roads.

In some cases, the fences are simply remnants, erected decades ago

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and no longer serving any purpose.

In others, they were constructed with little thought about their impact on other species. But land managers and conservation groups in the United States are increasingly aware of how fences can harm wild animals, and they are beginning to push for fence removal or replacement as a solution that many otherwise-at-odds constituents can get behind.

“Everyone can agree on this,” says Tony Mong, a wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Mong is chair of the Absaroka Fence Initiative, a local organization that organized the fence takedown outside Cody last month.

Deer, interrupted

Fences can spell disaster for wildlife that need to migrate seasonally or simply move around for their basic needs. Mule deer can get their legs caught as they try to jump over fencing and can die there. Pronghorn antelopes, which tend to scramble under fences, can get stuck or scraped on the bottom wire, leading to death or to cuts and scars that never heal and are prone to infection.

One study looked at pronghorn in the northern sagebrush steppe in Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan— SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

where the study area contained enough fence to wrap around the planet eight times—and found, not surprisingly, that pronghorn chose paths that crossed less fencing. That means there is actually less habitat available to them than it might seem just from the vastness of the landscape No matter where you are in the western U.S., says Wenjing Xu, a graduate student at University of California Berkeley, on ALFRED BUELLESBACH average you are likely less than two miles from a fence.

“From a human perspective, fences are for managing land and livestock, and they are barely visible from afar,” says Xu. “For animals that need to roam, however, every ‘invisible’ fence line could be an actual barrier that they have to figure out how to overcome.”

In the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, of which the Absarokas are a part, migration of ungulates—pronghorn and deer but also elk and bighorn sheep—are “what make this whole system run,” says Arthur Middleton, a wildlife ecologist who heads up the Berkeley lab that Xu works in. Fences are just one of many types of habitat fragmentation—along with roads, pipelines, and residential subdivisions—that constrain wildlife movement.

“It’s death by 5,000 cuts,” Middleton says.

Middleton and Xu are part of an emerging field of research known as fence ecology, which has sprung up to understand the impacts of all these fences and how to mitigate them. Until recently there had been very little such research. Because it’s usually not possible to see fences in satellite imagery, l

they are often overlooked in conservation planning; they also do not factor into the Global Human Footprint Index, a widely used mapping tool that shows the relative influence of humans on landscapes around the world. In fact, says Xu, fences tend to proliferate in areas that appear to have an otherwise low human footprint.

A worldwide concern

Globally, fencing is a growing problem for wildlife movement, with a host of impacts that vary depending on the type of fence, the type of ecosystem, and the type of animal. An exponential increase in fencing in East Africa’s Maasai Mara grasslands, for example, is interfering with the huge seasonal migration of wildebeest and other animals.

In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, “veterinary fences”—built to keep cattle free from wildlife diseases—have blocked the passage of zebra, wildebeest, giraffes, buffalo, and other animals through this unique land-locked wetland. The fences have been linked to a multi-decade decline in wildlife populations; animals die trying to cross the fences or are picked off there by poachers. One study found that the Botswana fences also changed the vegetation, with far less woodlands where the wildlife became concentrated.

In Argentina’s Patagonia region, pervasive livestock fences are death traps for guanaco, a type of wild llama, which get stuck on the barbed wire and starve. In just one two-year period on one sheep ranch, scientists recorded 124 guanaco deaths.

In parts of Eastern Europe, there is more border fencing now than there was during the Cold War, and new fences designed to deter human migrants from the Middle East and Africa are slicing through crucial habitat for carnivores like bear, lynx, and wolves.

Meanwhile, along the U.S. border with Mexico, the partially constructed border wall, 30 feet high in some places, cuts off migration corridors for jaguars, ocelots, Mexican gray wolves, and many others. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental

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ALFRED BUELLESBACH

Now Sharing a Single Vision

group, it potentially threatens more than 90 endangered species.

Doing a little good

The Absaroka Fence Initiative (AFI) includes state agencies like Mong’s and federal ones like the Bureau of Land Management, conservation groups such as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and local landowners. AFI has been organizing fence-removal and modification events over the past year. One in May drew 80 volunteers, who removed three miles of fencing, consisting of nearly 4,000 pounds of wire and posts.

The July effort was smaller, with 25 volunteers recruited from AFI’s ranks rather than the general public. Teams were organized and fanned out to several sites across the ranch. I tagged along with a group that included Xu and Middleton, as well as representatives from TNC and the Mule Deer Foundation, and one of the ranch’s owners, among others. For three hours we slowly made our way south and then east between a road and an irrigated field, removing fasteners that held barbed wire onto posts, clipping and rolling huge lengths of wire, and untangling the strands from thick sagebrush that had grown up and entwined itself around the fencing.

The ranch owner, who asked to remain anonymous, pointed out several well-worn elk trails that the animals used several times a day to cross from the hills down into the valley.

As the sun rose higher the temperature rose with it, and it was a relief when some other volunteers arrived in an ATV with cold drinks. By the time the work was done for the day,

the teams had removed two miles of fencing.

For volunteers, this kind of work yields instant gratification, a sense that you are having a direct impact on the land and animals. “There’s a growing recognition of how important these open working lands are,” says Abby Scott, Northwest Wyoming program director for TNC, who says she has been contacted by other groups working on fence removal. “I think we are right on the edge of becoming something bigger.”

Middleton hopes that’s the case.

Around 30 miles to the west, Yellowstone National Park is thronged with tourists, many of whom hope to see charismatic megafauna. But those same animals migrate in and out of the park, and without the “out” part, they can’t survive.

“People don’t make connections between the wildlife they want to see in Yellowstone and the conservation work that needs to happen here,” Middleton says. Cody is in the middle of a postCOVID development boom. People from the coasts who can work from anywhere but are priced out of the likes of Jackson, Wyoming, or Bozeman, Montana, are descending on the little town. Much of the development pressure will likely be right in the middle of pronghorn, deer, and elk migration routes—also key habitat for grizzlies. As we drove back to Cody that day, proud of having opened some new pathways, we passed new homes under construction on a subdivided ranch on the valley floor. They were being built along a recognized animal corridor.

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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COURTESY R. ALAN BROOKS AND SARAH MEZEL TRAPL

Finding the common struggle

R. Alan Brooks and Sarah Menzel Trapl explore loss and regret in upcoming graphic novella, ‘Grieving Mall’

by Caitlin Rockett

D

eath has this way of opening doors, of showing the living paths they didn’t realize they could take.

“Mostly it is loss,” mused the German philosopher Schopenhauer, “which teaches us the worth of things.”

Denver-based graphic novelist R. Alan Brooks lived Schopenhauer’s words nearly a decade ago when his mother teetered on the edge of death during a health scare. She pulled through, but the experience wrung something new out of both Brooks and his mother.

“Just the thought of her dying sort of knocked me out of reality,” Brooks says during a Zoom interview. “It was so hard. It was so heavy and surreal and I thought, ‘Man, that’s going to happen eventually, and maybe I need to be reading books about grief to prepare for it.’ I guess I thought I was going to solve something. I didn’t solve leave things unsaid. At the moment where my mother thought she was going to die, she said some things to me that she had never said to me in my life in terms of admitting fault. And that was really touching, but I was kind of like, why does it have to come to this to tell me this? So I think that part of grief was at least something that I see GRIEVING Page 21

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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On the Shelf—with R. Alan Brooks and Sarah Menzel Trapl Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books, by Ken Quattro “It’s a book about comic books,” Brooks says. “It’s about the Black artists different Black artists who drew comics in the ’30s and ’40s.”

Using primary source material from World War II-era black newspapers and magazines, Ken Quarttro highlights Black comic pioneers E.C. Stoner, a

Adventureman #1, by Matt Fraction, with art by Terry and Rachel Dodson “It’s kind of like a throwback pulp hero who gets reincarnated as a single mother,” Brooks says.

This generation-spanning, swashbuckling send-off to comics of yesteryear utilizes the classic battle between good and evil set in a dieselpunk-inspired New York City.

Happiness “It’s called Happiness but it’s really depressing,” Trapl admits with a laugh.

Oshimi’s serialized manga brings together the familiar bedfellows of highschool dread and vampires.

Uzumaki, by Junji Ito “I think there’s something about Japanese horror comics in particular that is paced really differently than like American horror,” Trapl says. “It’s deeply disturbing in a way that I don’t really feel super often when reading anything else.” plagued by a supernatural curse involving spirals.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

GRIEVING from Page 19

knew I could explore.”

With help from graphic artist Sarah Menzel Trapl, Brooks investigates the confounding power of grief in a new graphic novella called Grieving Mall, out digitally and at select bookstores on September 19, when the pair will answer questions and sign copies at Mutiny Information Cafe in Denver.

The story follows a woman named Lorraine as she learns of her mother’s death. Lorraine’s not done too badly for herself: At work she’s the boss, and after hours she’s painting the town red in haute couture with a handsome suitor. But her relationship with her mother was strained, making the death an emotional labyrinth for Lorraine.

For a decade or more, Brooks had tinkered around with the idea of setting a story in an abandoned mall.

“In our discussions, Sarah and I were talking about the Tumblrs that you can

in the work.

“If they want to draw underwater unicorns or outer space frogs or whatevmatters to me.” acters based on who they are, race-wise or gender,” Brooks adds. “Obviously that what is a real human struggle for this

person. Sometimes when I’m writing in the voice of somebody who is not male or Black, then I have some checkpoints. Like with Anguish Garden intentional that I had [female, Denver-based artist] Dailen Ogden drawing it, so that I wasn’t just some dude writing women poorly. But so much of writing is just based in sincere compassion and empathy, and if you have that, then a lot

ON THE BILL: ‘Grieving Mall,’ is out digitally and in select bookstores on September 19.

Catch the authors at Mutiny Information Cafe (2 S. Broadway, Denver) that day for a Q&A and book signing.

human struggle to someone.”

malls and taken all these photos and how they seem to represent lost dreams,” Brooks says. “I think that there’s something about a dead, abandoned mall as a perfect representation of grief because it used to be so full of life, so much activity, so much human interaction. People met there, people fought there, people bought something important there, and for all of that to be gone, for it to be this building that’s abandoned, it ends up being a very important visual representation of what we’re talking about in this book.”

Trapl had worked with Brooks last serialized graphic novel Anguish Garden. for Grieving Mall, Trapl asked Brooks how he’d feel about Lorraine being a plussized character.

“Before working on this project, I was kind of feeling disconnected from my work in general,” Trapl says. “And I think working on the project I realized I wanted to draw a plus-sized character who I could relate to, because a lot of times in my illustrations before [Grieving Mall], I was not drawing people of my kind of body type, a bigger body. It was more like an industry standard of beauty. I’ve always into that. So I really wanted [Lorraine] to kind of own her body and for the story to not be about her body. I think representation can be more than having it always be a discussion around a body—like, just having a character exist. That’s saying a lot too.”

For Brooks, it’s paramount that the

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

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• 4,000+ monthly events • Streamlined search • Comprehensive details • Social sharing features 22

Avery Brewery. Photo by Susan France.

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Food • Drink • Entertainment • Music • Classes • Art • Sports • And More!

Looking for something to do?

Head to Boulder County’s Definitive Guide to Local Events Boulder County Events .com brought to you by SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

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E VENTS

EVENTS

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

Family Cruiser Ride

3 p.m. Sunday, September 12, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Join in this family-friendly cruiser ride to help raise money for the Boulder PLAY Foundation, Community Food Share, Boulder Community Cycles, and the brand new Junkyard Social Club. Start the afternoon by meeting performers Paige and Jeff at the Main Branch of the Boulder Public Library to enjoy the PLAY Foundation-created Tree House. Then the group will head down the Boulder Creek path to Scott Carpenter Park to meet folks from Junkyard Social Club for more entertainment and treats!

Youth Center Pop-up in Loomiller Park

3:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 14, Loomiller Park, 1700 11th Avenue, Longmont. For more information, the Youth Center at 303-651-8580.

Every Tuesday in September, this pop-up will offer activities for middle- and high-school aged students in neighborhood and community parks. Activities will include a variety of crafts and sports, food, team-building exercises, and opportunities to develop life and social skills. Families interested in receiving additional details and updates about upcoming Youth Center events can subscribe via text by sending the word “fun” to 833-436-1350.

Third Annual Boulder Valley Wine Festival

11 a.m. Saturday, September 11, Louisville Community Park, 955 Bella Vista Drive, Louisville.

Tickets: $40-$80 The Third Annual Boulder Valley Wine Festival will feature more than 20 Colorado wineries, 30 retail vendors, food vendors and live music. General admission tickets include a commemorative glass, wine tote and unlimited tastings. VIP tickets include access to the VIP tent with catered food and a wine bar. Non-drinker tickets are available at the gate. Chairs and picnic baskets are encouraged.

Boulder Downtown Fall Fest

Friday-Sunday, September 10, 11 and 12, Pearl Street, Boulder For three days, the Pearl Street Mall, as well as 14th Street between Spruce arts, crafts, and other makers, a beer/ wine/margarita garden, live music, and children’s activities during the annual Downtown Boulder Fall Fest. Friday the event runs from 5-9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. (with activities for families at 9 a.m.) and Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (with activities for families at 9 a.m.).

Visitors will be entertained with a wide range of musical performances by local bands including Jeff and Paige, Foxfeather, The Sweet Lillies, The Goonies, and more.

Lafayette Brew Fest

2-7 p.m. Saturday, September 11, Morrell Printing Solutions, 990 S. Public Road, Unit C, Lafayette Explore craft and microbrews one pour at a time, featuring breweries/cideries all within 75 miles of Lafayette.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

SanitasFest Eighth Anniversary Party

Noon-10 p.m. Saturday, September 11, Sanitas Brewing Company, 3550 Frontier Avenue, Unit A, Boulder. Price: $5—tickets sold at door Join the team at Sanitas Brewing to celebrate the brewery’s eighth anniversary with music (Goodsmiles, Desert Furs, Drunken Hearts, DJ Elf), food and, of course, beer. Taste newly released beers, the Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Black IPA, Marauder, and

available in the taproom. McDevitt Taco Supply will also be slinging tacos on the patio deck. see EVENTS Page 24

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EVENTS from Page 23

COURTESY PARASOL ARTS

Parasol Arts: ‘The Seasons’

Friday, September 10, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Tickets are $15-$15, thedairy.org Parasol Arts, Colorado’s only Argentine tango performance company, combines the mediums of Argentine tango, music, visual arts and poetry in this multimedia presentation. The show will incorporate the visual artwork of Michelle Courier, from Denver’s Westward Gallery, the music of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aries, played by The Austin Piazzolla Quintet, and the poetry of Vivaldi.

COURTESY STORY SLAM

Boulder Story Slam featuring singer/songwriter Darryl Purpose

STREETWISEBOULDER.COM MURAL MAP

ARTIVISM MURAL FESTIVAL & EVENTS Come out and watch 38 mural artists painting all week around Boulder.

Check out the map online at www.streetwiseboulder.com/muralmap Join us for one of the many events, Spray paint workshops and activism panels throughout the week. streetwisearts.org/events ADAM RAIOLA AEROSE ART AMANDA WOLF BUNNIE REISS CHELSEA LEWINSKI CHROMAJ CYA DAVIS DANIELLE DEROBERTS DANIELLE SEEWALKER FEW & FAR BETWEEN GREGG DEAL HIERO VIEGA JASON GRAVES JAYCEE BEYALE JUURI KATILIN ORIN KAILA SPENCER KENDALL KIPPLEY LADIES FANCYWORK SOCIETY LINDEE ZIMMER LYFR MARIA-JOSE LINDO LAWYER & JOSHUA LAWYER MARISSA NAPOLETANO MICHAELA MACASINAG MOE GRAM OG MILLIE PHIL MCKENZIE REMOTE REMIX1 SECRET SKWADRON SHIE MORENO SOFIA RAMIREZ THINH DINH UCSEPIA ZAIDA SEVER

7 p.m. Sunday, September 12, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Tickets are $15-$25, storyslamboulder.com/tickets The structure for Story Slam is simple: There’s a theme for the night (LAND for September 12). Audience members put their name in a hat to tell a story. If their name gets drawn, they come to the stage to tell a theme— without notes. At the end of the night, the audience votes on the best story. Story Slam host and producer Johanna Walker will be joined on stage by songwriter and recording artist Darryl Purpose—who also happens to be one of the world’s fastest card counters. You’ll get the chance to hear music from across Purpose’s eight albums of original music.

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

STREETWISEBOULDER.COM 24

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

EVENTS

ART

Opening Reception: ‘¡Oye! More Than Street Art—De La Gente’

COURTESY DAIRY ARTS CENTER

5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, September 10, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Exhibition runs through October 31. ¡Oye! More Than Street Art: De La Gente brings together a diverse group of Colorado-based

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

OCT 7 ....... STRICTLY PRESENTS - MOST GUTTER, WILDCARD, AUGUST LIGHT

NOV 11-14 ................................... WARREN MILLER’S WINTER STARTS NOW

FRI. SEP 10

THU. SEP 9

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

LOST DOG STREET BAND

WILD RIVERS

MATT HECKLER

LINDSEY LOMIS

FRI. SEP 10

THU. SEP 16

HERE COME THE MUMMIES HEARTY HAR

ROOSTER PRESENTS

MERSIV

SUN. SEP 12

SMOAKLAND, SUPERAVE., MEDUSO

BEATLES VS. STONES A MUSICAL SHOWDOWN

FRI. SEP 17

CHRISTIAN FRENCH

THU. SEP 16

SARAH BARRIOS

88.5 KGNU & UPSLOPE BREWING COMPANY PRESENT

SAT. SEP 18 ROOSTER, PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN SAT. SEP 18

YHETI (2 HOUR SET)

97.3 KBCO & BOULDER BOOK STORE PRESENT: AN EVENING WITH

TERNION SOUND, HONEYBEE

RICKIE LEE JONES

WED. SEP 22

Opening Reception: ‘All Together Now,’ by Janelle W. Anderson

THU. SEP 23

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Avenue, Longmont. Exhibition runs through October 3.

ANDY SHAUF + SON LITTLE

88.5 KGNU & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

THU. SEP 23

GONE GONE BEYOND, BLOSSOMN

ROBERT FRANCIS

DIRTWIRE FRI. OCT 1

ROOSTER & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT: DAYMAKER TOUR

FRI. SEP 24

FLAMINGOSIS

PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

IAN EWING

ARDALAN HARVE

SAT. OCT 2

SAT. SEP 25

TSURUDA + CHEE + ESSEKS

TRAILBLAZER TOUR

THE GOOD KIND

MON. OCT 4

FISTS OF THE PROLETARIAT

DISTORTION AND BLUE HEARTS!

BOB MOULD BAND

SUN. SEP 26

ArtWalk on Main Street

4-8 p.m. Saturday, September 11, Main Street (from Third Avenue to Longs Peak), Longmont

SLOW CAVES

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO THU. SEP 30 ROOSTER & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

A-TRAK

THU. OCT 7

PAT METHENY SIDE-EYE W/ JAMES FRANCIES & JOE DYSON THU. OCT 14

FRI. OCT 1

MALAA

GREAT DIVIDE BREWING CO PRESENTS

MIPSO

MON. OCT 18

ANNA TIVEL

107.9 KBPI PRESENTS: THE HUN TOUR

THE HU

SAT. OCT 2

THE HAUNT

THE MARIAS

TUE. OCT 19

SUN. OCT 3

THE CELTIC CONNECTION, 88.5 KGNU & BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENT: THE HOME FROM HOME TOUR

THE HIGH KINGS

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

JULIAN LAGE see EVENTS Page 26

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

..................................... JOHN HIATT & THE JERRY DOUGLAS BAND ..................................................................................... DAR WILLIAMS ................................................................... THE DEL MCCOURY BAND .................................................................................................. GETTER

BRASSTRACKS TOBI

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

OCT 23 OCT 24 OCT 26 OCT 29

WED. OCT 6

OCT 8 ........................................................................... START MAKING SENSE OCT 9 ........................................................... THE SPONGES & MUZZY BEARR OCT 10 ................................................................................. SHOVELS & ROPE OCT 15 ................................................................................................ SHLUMP OCT 16 ............................................................................... CHAMPAGNE DRIP

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EVENTS

EVENTS from Page 25

CONCERTS DAVID BURNS

Thursday, September 9

Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore (American roots). 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, September 9, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont.

Tickets are $15-$20.

Shack and the Bachas (blues).

8 p.m. Thursday, September 9, The Louisville Underground, 640 Main Street, Louisville. Tickets: $10-$15.

Friday, September 10

Orchard Creek Band (bluegrass). 2:30 p.m. Friday, September 10, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. Tickets: $8-$12.

NEEDTOBREATHE with Switchfoot, The New Respects. 7 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison.

Wild Rivers with Lindsey Lomis-Night One (folk). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $18-$20.

Here Come the Mummies with Hearty Har (funk). 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $20-$25.

Antonio Lopez Trio (folk). 7 p.m. The Tune Up at Full Cycle, 2355 30th Street, Boulder. Free.

ABOVE: American duo Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore will perform at Longmont Museum September 9.

BELOW: Brandi Carlile’s got two shows at Red Rocks, September 11 and 12.

NEIL KRUG

Saturday, September 11

The 19th Annual Soul Rebel Festival (reggae).

4-11 p.m. Sunshine Acres, 6717 Valmont Road, Boulder.

Free.

The Well Intentioned (’70s and ’80s rock). 6 p.m.

Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt Street, Longmont. Free.

Brandi Carlile with Tanya Tucker (Americana). 7 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Tickets: $55-$109.50.

Left Hand Monkey Wrench (Grateful Dead tribute). 7 p.m. The Louisville Underground. 640 Main Street, Louisville. Tickets: $10.

Tony Trischka & Nick Forster—Music and Conversation (roots). 7 p.m. September 11, eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce Street, Boulder. Tickets are $25.

Wild Rivers with Lindsey Lomis-Night Two (folk). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $18-$20.

Taylor Shae at The Soundpost Sessions (folk). 8 p.m. Longmont Public Media, 457 4th Avenue, Longmont. Tickets: $15. see CONCERTS Page 28

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Up to 50% Off Local Dining Discounts

CONCERTS from Page 26 UMUSIC

Sunday, September 12

Save on local dining, entertainment, retail and wellness. bestofboulderdeals.kostizi.com Go to website to purchase

ABOVE: Australian

Singer-Songwriter Sundays. 5 p.m. The Tune DJ/producer Alison Up at Full Cycle, 2355 30th Street, Boulder. Free.

Wonderland will Brandi Carlile with Tanya Tucker (Amerhave fans dancing at icana). 6 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 Red Rocks on West Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Tickets: $55September 14 and 15. $109.5.0 Beer and Hymns Northern Colorado. 6 p.m.

Dickens Opera House, 300 Main Street, Longmont.

Tickets: $6—15 and under are free.

Beatles vs. Stones—A Musical Showdown (classic rock). 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 12, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $25-$55. All attendees will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the venue or a negative test result within 72 hours of entry.

Monday, September 13

Death Cab for Cutie with Perfume Genius (indie rock). 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison.

Tuesday, September 14

Alison Wonderland (dance/electronic). 6 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Tickets: $40-$89.95.

Wednesday, September 15

George Nelson (blues). 5 p.m. Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th Street, Boulder. Free.

Alison Wonderland (dance/electronic). 6 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Tickets: $40-$89.95.

Thursday, September 16

Circles Around the Sun (rock/jam). 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $35-$29.50.

Mersiv with Smoakland, SuperAve., and Meduso (dance/electronic). 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $25-$30.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

The show must go on

Dispatches from the 48th Telluride Film Festival

by Michael J. Casey

T

• 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

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The French Dispatch The Same Storm MICHAEL J. CASEY

Cyrano the screen with Peter

culmination is not.

NEXT STOP: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On from the writer/ Marcel

Procession

Procession is a powerful

Marcel

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “We need to become more unreasonable

but in an intelligent way,” says Aries politician Jerry Brown.

Yes! I agree! And that’s especially true for you right now, Aries. To Brown’s advice, I will add this message from Aries fashion designer Vivienne Westwood: “Intelligence is composed mostly of imagination, insight—things that have nothing to do with reason.” Here’s one further suggestion to help you take maximum advantage of cosmic rhythms, courtesy of Aries historian Arnold J. Toynbee: “The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.”

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: “I have become whole and complete, like a thundering cloudburst in summer,” wrote Taurus poet Miklós Radnóti. I love that metaphor for fullness: not an immaculate icon of shiny, sterile perfection, but rather a primal, vigorous force of nature in all of its rumbling glory. I hope you like this symbol as much as I do, and I hope you use it to fuel your creative spirit in the coming weeks. PS: Keep in mind that many indigenous people welcome rainstorms as a source of fertility and growth.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: “Pandiculation” is a word that refers to when

you stretch and yawn at the same time. According to my understanding of the astrological omens, you will benefit from doing a lot of pandiculations in the coming days. I also recommend gazing lazily out the window and looking at the sky a lot. Keep your shoes off as much as possible, get a massage or three, and let yourself sleep more than you customarily do. Did you know that sighing deeply is good for your lungs’ health? Here’s your homework: Dream up all the things you can do to relax and renew yourself. It’s prime time to indulge in generous acts of self-healing.

“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

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: The ancient Roman author Pliny’s ten-volume

Natural History, written in the first century, was a monumental encyclopedia of the natural world, unprecedented in its own time and for centuries afterward. It offered compilations of facts about astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, mineralogy, and many other subjects. There was one big problem with it, however. It contained a great deal of erroneous information.

For example, Pliny described in detail many non-existent animals, including dragons, flying horses, and giant serpents that swallowed bulls and snatched birds out of the sky. My reason for telling you this is to inspire you to be extra discerning in the coming weeks. Be especially skeptical of authorities, experts, and other know-it-alls who are very confident despite being inaccurate or erroneous. It’s time for you to increase your trust in your own authority.

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: “There are those fortunate hours when the world consents to be made into a poem,” writes Leo poet Mark Doty. That’s great for a poet. But what about for everyone else? My variation on Doty’s comment is this: There are fortunate hours when the world consents to be made into a holy revelation or a lyrical breakthrough or a marvelous feeling that changes our lives forever. I expect events like those to come your way at least twice in the immediate future.

VIRGO

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SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: College student Amelia Hamrick studied the right panel of Hieronymus Bosch’s 15th-century painting The Garden of Earthly Delights. It depicts a hellish scene.

Cities are on fire. Weird beasts devour sinful humans.

There are demons and torture chambers. Hamrick did what no one in the history of art had ever done: She transcribed the musical score that the artist had written on a man’s naked hindquarters. Her work inspired a composer to create a recording entitled “500-Year-Old Butt Song from Hell.” In the coming weeks, I invite you to perform feats comparable to Hamrick: 1. Explore the past for useful, overlooked clues.

2. Find or create redemptive transformations out of stressful situations. 3. Have fun telling stories about your past misadventures.

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: Born on one of the Galapagos Islands, Diego is a giant tortoise who has lived for over 100 years.

He’s a member of the Hood Island species, which had dwindled to a population of 15 by 1977. That’s when he and his tortoise colleague, whose name is E5, became part of a breeding program with 12 female tortoises. E5 was reserved in his behavior, but Diego was a showboat who vocalized loudly as he enjoyed public mating rituals. Together the two males saved their species—producing over 2,000 offspring in subsequent years. According to my astrological analysis, you could be as metaphorically fertile as Diego and E5 in the coming months—even if you prefer to adopt an approach more akin to E5’s.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: “The meaning of my existence is that life has addressed a question to me,” wrote psychologist Carl Jung. “Or, conversely, I myself am a question that is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise, I am dependent upon the world’s answer.” These are superb meditations for you Sagittarians during the coming weeks. Between now and October 1, I invite you to keep a journal where you write about two subjects: 1. What is the main question that life asks you? 2.

What is the main question that your life asks the world?

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: North Korea’s Capricorn leader Kim Jong-un

has an amazing résumé. Official reports say he learned to drive at age three and was an accomplished sailor at nine.

As an adult, he developed the power to control the weather.

He’s a skilled musician and artist, as well as a scientist who developed a miracle drug to cure AIDs, Ebola, cancer, heart disease, and the common cold. Most impressively, Kim is an archaeologist who discovered a lair where magical unicorns live. Is it possible you have unexpressed powers like these, Capricorn? If so, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to identify them and start tapping into their potential. It’s time to develop your dormant talents.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: Aquarian author Toni Morrison testified, “I

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: Between 37 and 41 BCE, Virgo-born Caligula served as third Emperor of Rome. To do so, he had to disprove the prophecy of a renowned astrologer, Thrasyllus of Mendes. Years earlier, Thrasyllus had predicted that Caligula, despite being well-connected, “had no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae”—a distance of two miles. Once in power, Caligula arranged to have a series of pontoon boats arrayed across the bay, enabling him to ride his favorite horse Incitatus from one shore to the other across the Bay of Baiae. I foresee the possibility of a comparable turn of events for you, Virgo. Is there a curse you want to undo? A false prophecy you’d like to cancel? Someone’s low expectation you would love to debunk? The coming weeks will be a favorable time.

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LIBRA

think of beauty as an absolute necessity. I don’t think it’s a privilege or an indulgence. It’s almost like knowledge, which is to say, it’s what we were born for.” I urge you to adopt her perspective during the next four weeks, Aquarius. In my astrological opinion, a devoted quest for beauty will heal exactly what most needs to be healed in you. It will teach you everything you most need to know.

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: Poet and translator Anne Carson peri-

odically joins with her husband Robert Currie to teach a workshop called “EgoCircus.” It’s an ironic title, because the subject they teach is the art of collaboration. To develop skills as a collaborator, of course, people must lay aside at least some of their egos’ needs and demands. In accordance with current astrological potentials, I encourage you to stage your own version of EgoCircus in the coming weeks. The time is ripe for you to hone your creative togetherness and synergistic intimacy.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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A back-to-school pig’s tale

Boulder’s mysterious talking concrete pig is a monument to barbecue, schoolkids, 4-Nikators, and local dining history

by John Lehndorff

I

t seems out of place, this beat-up old 1,500-pound concrete pig whose faded paint is gouged and pockmarked. Yet, this worn hog has his own fenced enclosure at the 12th Street entrance to the playground behind the former Mapleton Elementary School, now the Mapleton Early Childhood Center.

If you attended the school in the 1980s and ’90s, you’re already raising your hand to say, “It’s Slick the Pig.” The tale of exactly how Slick the talking pig ended up on that hill with a view of Downtown Boulder involves a heady brew of barbecue, controversy, an unhappy pit bull, persistent schoolkids, and a member of the Legendary 4-Nikators.

We know from news reports that in his porcine youth, the then-unnamed concrete pig was crafted in Denver and installed in 1985 in front of Oh, Carolina Pit BBQ at 835 Walnut Street.

That crossroads location is now home to The Bitter Bar, but the site has including D’Napoli Ristorante, Southern Exposure,

Slick had a speaker installed under his chin so he could “speak” to—and freak out—passers-by with pre-recorded messages.

This being Boulder, Slick was soon cited as a violation of City of Boulder codes prohibiting talking signs. Oh, Carolina owner Don Ray insisted that Slick was a work of art, not a sign, because the messages had nothing to do with the restaurant that famously introduced Boulderites to tangy Carolina-style barbecue. While the city’s nascent food scene was rapidly upgrading and innovating in the 1980s, Slick’s motion-activated voice would reportedly say things like, “Step a little closer so I can bend your ear. Dress warmly for this weather so you don’t get Slick also famously announced: “In case you’re wondering, I’m a Hampshire hog with no name. Mapleton kids, give me a name.”

That’s when the third graders at the school named him Slick. Slick eventually won his battle with the authorities and was designated a work of public art.

Slick’s story took a dramatic turn one day when a passing pit bull terrier took exception to Slick’s comments and ripped the hog’s speaker off. The incident sparked widespread news coverage and increased Slick’s fan base. He was listed along with Mork from Ork as among the most famous things about Boulder.

When Oh, Carolina closed in the middle of the night in 1986, chef Bruce Monette took over the space to “By the time I opened Southern Exposure, Slick was already famous,” Monette says. “People always asked about him, I said you need to talk to his lawyers.”

As Oh, Carolina closed, his owner reached out to an attorney who was among Slick’s fan base. “Don 32

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

JOHN LEHNDORFF

called to ask me if we could keep an eye on Slick until he moved to Mapleton. I promised him we would,” says Harold Fielden, one of the lawyers who was a regular at the eatery.

KEY LIME PIE was a staple at Boulder’s Southern Exposure Restaurant, home to Slick the Pig for a number of years in the late ’80s.

745 Walnut Street.

“He was just supposed to be there for the weekend,” says Fielden, better known as a member of the notorious Boulder party rock band The Legendary 4-Nikators. “We contacted the school and the principal said ‘We’re not taking the pig.’”

Other entities including the City of Boulder and business and arts groups reportedly “Slick for City Council” campaigns. Meanwhile, Slick’s attire changed with the season.

The pig wore a houndstooth suit and was also dressed up as everything from Jason in Friday the 13th to the Easter Pig. In 1989, those third graders who named Slick were about to graduate from sixth his spot at Mapleton Elementary after a parade up Ninth Street. He arrived in time to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary.

Today, at the age of 82, chef Bruce Monette is still crafting his award-winning Key lime pies, which are sold frozen at Lucky’s Market, Niwot Market, and Cheese Importers Warehouse.

Attorney Harold Fielden is retired from his drumming days with the Legendary 4-Nikators. “I’ve had enough with touring,” he says. He credits Bonnie Cooper, the law Now quite elderly, Slick the Pig lives an anonymous, voiceless life at Mapleton’s playground entrance. Few of those who happily climb on the swine know of Slick’s colorful past.

Boulder has plenty of historic monuments and statues, but zero honoring the city’s rich, colorful food culture. Perhaps it’s time to at least install a plaque next to Slick noting his place in history; it should thank the kids—now grownups with children themselves—who saved one of the city’s most iconic public objets d’art.

Local food news

The Boulder Valley School District will offer no cost meals for all students for the entire 2021-2022 school year with no sign-up required. Boulder’s food program is nationally recognized for high-quality, cooked-from-scratch meals. BVSD is looking for part-time help serving lunch for a few hours on weekdays at neighborhood schools.

Info: jobs.bvsd.org . . . Vote by September 19 for your favorite East Boulder County restaurants, bakeries and coffee houses in the Boulder Weekly’s Best of Boulder East County 2021 awards. Visit boulderweekly.com . . . Coming soon: Ghost Box Detroit-style Pizza: 103 South Public Road, Lafayette.

Words to chew on

“I think we need to feed every child at school for free and feed them a real school lunch that’s sustainable and nutritious and delicious. It needs to be part of the curriculum of the school in the same way that physical education was part of the curriculum.”—Chef Alice Waters BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Non-alcoholic craft

All of the flavor, none of the regret

by Michael J. Casey

S

o you want to brew with cannabis.

If you’re a homebrewer, you’ve probably felt this urge. Commercially published in 1996, Marijuana Beer: How to Make Your Own Hi-Brew by Ed Rosenthal and the Unknown Brewer follows the time-honored tradition of homebrew innovation leading to commercial replication. But there’s a catch: Homebrewers need not worry about the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which issues brewing permits. Commercial breweries do, so as long as cannabis remains a Schedule 1 drug on the federal level, anyone wanting to sell marijuana beer must de-alcoholize the product. But, as Keith Villa of CERIA Brewing explains, those restrictions might

says. “Some people could potentially end up dead from blood alcohol poisoning. So, yes, there are some issues that are unknown that make [combining cannabis and alcohol] potentially dangerous.”

That said, there’s de-alcoholized beer: The market share is growing.

Data over the last few years suggest that age-appropriate consumers are drinking less and less alcohol. This has given rise to non-alco-

throat.

“But if you smoke cannabis, that nerve is stimulated to the point where you can touch it, and you won’t gag,” he continues, “[which] helps people on chemo, because they can be on chemo and having a couple hundred dry heaves a day from the chemo. But with cannabis,

the occasion calls for a beverage, but the consumer is a sober-conscious, or calorie-conscious, drinker.

Some producers are staples— Brooklyn Brewery has two under its NA label, Special Effects—but most are newcomers. Canada’s Grüvi, which took home Naturally Boulder’s 2020 Pitch Slam and People’s Choice Awards, makes alcohol-free beer and sparkling wine. Connecticut’s Athletic Brewing Co. has a half-dozen NA styles, from IPA to stout.

Those three are good and easy to

However, if you’re not on chemo and you’re just pounding booze, then you need the vagus nerve to do its job. Throwing up from drinking too much is your body’s way of ridding itself of poison, but if the vagus nerve is stimulated because you’re consuming cannabis as well, “You won’t have that urge to throw up, and can just keep going until you black out,” Villa

might be the best around. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering Villa’s brewing legacy (see Boulder Weekly, Aug. 12).

But Indiewave isn’t just dank, snappy, and refreshing; it tastes like a regular beer. NA beers, much like decaf coffee, can taste hollow and thin. Indiewave is the type of beer that you don’t know is non-alcoholic until you’ve had your second and still feel

“Cannabis stimulates the vagus nerve, which is in the back of the throat,” Villa explains. “That’s what makes you

clear-headed.

“We use vacuum distillation,” Villa explains, adding that the brewing techniques CERIA uses to maintain body and pull out all the alcohol to get it down to zero point zero.”

And it’s on the backs of CERIA’s non-alcoholic beers—not their THC-infused versions—that Villa is spreading the good word. As of this writing, de-alcoholized CERIA beer can be found in 19 states, with California next on the list.

The future of cannabis and beer

Villa is probably correct in thinking that legalized cannabis on a federal level is a question of when and not if. That puts him in a pretty good position, business-wise. But is cannabis the future of craft beer? That’s hard to say. It depends on how consumers approach it. Will they view marijuana beer as a complementary style—like amber, IPA, or stout—to their standard go-to’s? Or is cannabis beer a replacement, like hard

seltzer, wine, or spirits?

Interestingly, non-alcoholic beer might be both. It’s attractive to drinkers watching their intake while also giving sober-conscious drinkers an option to enjoy the of alcohol. Ditto for terpenes: Their use in the brewing process won’t just break new cally-conscious drinker.

It’s an interesting time to be a beer drinker. Craft sales have plateaued while national sales slip. If those numbers bear fruit, then that means there are more beers out there to discover and fewer drinkers discovering them. As brewers compete for relevance and attention, innovation is a necessity. As the old saying goes, the future comes fast. It might already be here.

This concludes our series on the intersection of brewing and cannabis.

For more, see Boulder Weekly’s Drink columns for Aug. 12, 19, 26, and Sept. 2, and Cannabis Corner columns for Aug. 19 and Sept. 2.

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JOHN LEHNDORFF

bY JOHN LEHNDORFF

TASTE OF THE WEEK: Ska Street Dagwood @ Ska Street Brewstillery

SITTING ON THE PATIO with a friend, it occurs to us that Boulder’s Ska Street Brewstillery (1600 38th Street, Boulder) may be the quintessential Colorado foodie destination. This single location combines micro versions of Ska Brewing and Peach Street Distillery, both honored for their craft beverages, and a welcoming eatery with a menu full of crowd-pleasers. in blue cheese dressing and barbecue sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed the Ska Street Dagwood sandwich layered with three juicy meats from the restaurant’s smoker: duck, brisket, and pastrami.

Grilled kale, cheddar cheese, and brown ale mustard pulled the construction together. My dessert was a side of dense, sweet plantain quick bread.

Culinary calendar What to do with too many chilies

HERE’S A RECIPE using locally-grown ingredients from chef Jodie Lindsay Popma, courtesy of the Boulder County Farmers Market.

Whether you call them “peppers” or their more-proper appellation “chilies,” these green, red, and yellow Roasted Sweet Pepper and pods of pleasure are available right Tomato Salad now in myriad varieties and levels of 3 large sweet peppers (bell or sweet and heat from local gardens, other) farmers, and markets.

5 large ripe tomatoes While there are many ways to enjoy fresh JOHN LEHNDORFF peppers, from sweet bells to hot Anaheims, most Whether you roast them yourself or pick them up roasted by the bushel, roasting—which loosens the tough outer skin for removal—makes chilies ready to be used or frozen for future meals.

Place skinned, seeded,

Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

Place peppers on a baking sheet and roast. Turn every few minutes for 10 to 15 minutes until skins are blackened.

Add tomatoes to the baking sheet and roast for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and place peppers in a bag. Set tomatoes aside to cool. Remove skins and seeds from peppers. Chop peppers and tomatoes into a bowl and add some salt, chile juice, and zest. Mix, taste, and adjust seasoning.

Sprinkle parsley on top and drizzle with olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

sheet or plate to freeze. bag so small quantities can be removed to use in chilibased stews and sauces.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

chopped Juice and zest of 1 lemon Extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon salt Chopped parsley

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

INTERNATIONAL BOX WINE Day is September 9. Celebrate with Kingman wines, the only Colorado winery producing box wines, with options including Viognier, Chardonnay, Reve Rouge (rosé blend), Marv’lous (Red blend), and Cabernet Franc . . . Boulder’s BookCliff Vineyards is a big winner in the 2021 Governor’s Cup. More than 250 wines from 41 Colorado wineries were sampled by a panel of 16 judges including sommeliers, winemakers, and wine writers. Bookcliff Vineyards placed its 2018 Graciano and 2018 Reserve Syrah in the Colorado Governor’s Cup, the competition’s top prize. Bookcliff’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon earned a gold medal, and several BookCliff wines won silver and bronze medals. These and the state’s top wines can be sampled November 5 at Colorado Uncorked at the History Colorado Center in Denver. Tickets: coloradowine.com/governors-cup . . .

The inaugural Boulder Valley Wine Festival September 11 in Louisville showcases Colorado-made beverage makers including Colorado Sake Company, Decadent Saint, Dragon Meadery, Mountain Spirit Winery and St Vrain Cidery. Info: bouldervalleywinefestival.com Send information about local food events, classes, festivals, and tastings at least two weeks in advance to: nibbles@boulderweekly.com l

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No emulsifier required

Because in an emulsion each THC molecule is encased in so many individual oil molecules, its absorption speed is more limited than it needs to be, he explains.

LifeTonic’s heavily patented ionization drug delivery technology is about to change the edible game forever—and Big Pharma is going to be interested

by Will Brendza

R

molecules. So it’s actually quite big,” Thomas says.

ussell Thomas stared down an obstacle in recreational cannabis beverages that no one else seemed to be able to get around: THC beverages took 30 minutes to a full hour to start to kick in. Even the fastest-acting THC beverages, using the most cutting-edge edible technology, could only shave that onset time down to around 15 to 20 minutes.

It wasn’t even close to working as fast as a shot of alcohol—and to Thomas that was clearly holding back the potential of THC beverages.

“Alcohol is popular because you go to a bar, you take a shot of it, you start to get drunk,” Thomas says. “Imagine if it took a half an hour, 45 minutes, or even an hour to feel that same shot.

It would be the end of social drinking as we know it.”

He points out that the biggest investments in cannabis have been from liquor companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Pabst Brewing Company, and Constellation Brands—huge corporations pumping money into THC beverages. And yet, it’s one of the smallest parts of the recreational cannabis market. They simply take too

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long to take effect, Thomas says.

With a background in science and engineering, Thomas saw that hurdle as an opportunity. And the solution he designed around it could change how rapidly cannabis and many other drugs are delivered into the body. Through the process of ionization, Thomas and his company LifeTonic have created an ultra-fast onset cannabis beverage product.

“We developed a cannabis beverage that you feel, quite literally, in under

nano-globules.

By contrast, LifeTonic’s ionized plant compounds act more like salts than oils, which dissolve exponentially faster in water—without an

molecule is water-insoluble.

It’s what makes traditional edibles take so long to kick in: Because THC molecules don’t dissolve in water, only in fat, they must pass through the liver to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Nano-emulsion was the

encased in hundreds of oil molecules, ionized THC dissolves directly in water, evenly coating the body’s digestive system with single molecules of THC instead of clumped globules of oil.

The result is a THC beverage that hits you in under five minutes, and a CBD beverage that does so in under three. And on top of all that, Thomas discovered an exciting feature of his ionized plant based substances: They change color. By mixing the solution with water and a light acid (like carbonated water or lime juice) the color instantly changes from a vibrant purple to a bright yellow.

“It was a really cool surprise when we discovered that chemical reaction,” Thomas says.

Finally, there are cannabis beverages that work nearly as fast as alcoholic ones. This could drastically change the popularity of THC beverages, and the ways in which they’re consumed. Which is exactly Thomas’ hope.

Although LifeTonic is a Boulder-based

to bypass that problem.

This process traps the THC molecules in an emulsion, suspending them in microscopic water-soluble oil globules which the body can absorb more directly—and far more quickly. Instead of waiting 30 minutes to an hour to feel the onset of their high,

ionized cannabis beverages in Nevada. Eventually, Thomas says he plans on distributing in Colorado as well. He’s got even higher hopes, too—to eventually license out some of LifeTonic’s many, many patents to other cannabis companies, and even to drug companies beyond the cannabis industry.

“This is a drug delivery technology that we’ve

15 to 20 minutes.

Still, Thomas thought it could be done faster.

granted and pending patents for this subject matter. We don’t mess around with IP.”

On its own, without

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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