City Weekly July, 16 2020 by Copperfield Publishing

C I T Y W E E K LY. N E T J U LY 1 6 , 2 0 2 0 | VO L . 3 7 N 0 . 8

River of

Dreams

A long-buried Jordan River confluence sees the light of dayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; giving more reasons to love this urban waterway By Benjamin Wood

CONTENTS COVER STORY

RIVER OF DREAMS A long-buried Jordan River confluence sees the light of day— giving more reasons to love this urban waterway By Benjamin Wood

Cover photography by Jordan Allred

5 PRIVATE EYE 8 A&E 10 DINE 22 MUSIC 28 CINEMA 29 COMMUNITY

2 | JULY 16, 2020

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OPINION

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STAY INFORMED! Want to know the latest on coronavirus? Get off Facebook and check out these three online resources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov World Health Organization: who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 Utah Coronavirus Task Force: coronavirus.utah.gov

STAFF Publisher PETE SALTAS Executive Editor JOHN SALTAS News Editor JERRE WROBLE Arts & Entertainment Editor SCOTT RENSHAW Music Editor ERIN MOORE Copy Desk KARA RHODES Contributors JORDAN ALLRED, KATHARINE BIELE, ROB BREZSNY, MIKE RIEDEL, ALEX SPRINGER, BENJAMIN WOOD

Production Art Director DEREK CARLISLE Graphic Artists SOFIA CIFUENTES, CHELSEA NEIDER Circulation Circulation Manager ERIC GRANATO

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Salt Lake City Weekly is published every Thursday by Copperfield Publishing Inc. We are an independent publication dedicated to alternative news and news sources, that also serves as a comprehensive entertainment guide. 15,000 copies of Salt Lake City Weekly are available free of charge at more than 1,800 locations along the Wasatch Front. Limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper can be purchased for $1 (Best of Utah and other special issues, $5) payable to Salt Lake City Weekly in advance. No person, without expressed permission of Copperfield Publishing Inc., may take more than one copy of any Salt Lake City Weekly issue. No portion of this oublication may be reproduced in whole or part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the written permission of the publisher. Third-class postage paid at Midvale, UT. Delivery might take up to one full week. All rights reserved.

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“Harlot’s Wet Kiss” by John Saltas

Black Voices Matter No. 3

It was an honor to a part of this issue. @c.v4lenta via Instagram Why are there two people on the cover not wearing masks? @chrisbarron84 via Instagram

Ya know, if we had a competent president, we’d be doing just fine like every other country right now. But, when you elect a rapist who paid off his teachers and had someone take the SAT for him, you should anticipate that the country will go to shit. High school dropouts who could only pass shop class are running the country, and it’s not going well. @tecky86 via Instagram

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We might have something [Trump] wants: The only person in his party who dares publicly go against him. @stevejerman via Instagram Woosh. Bold. Salty. Yes! @artbyaleshasevykelley via Instagram I have faith in our state—well, at least our city. SLC is getting more with the times. We will get there. It will take forever, but we will. @jean_nandez via Instagram

THE BOX

What’s a word or phrase people use that you just can’t stand? Charley Cayias Do you know what I mean? And: No, they do look real, honestly. Paula Saltas That’s not my job. And Make American Great Again. Eric Granato Sheep or Sheeple. It’s just stupid Tom Metos “With all due respect…” It’s actually Britishspeak for, “You are so full of shit, but I will talk nicely”. Stephanie Babalis Frickin’. We all know what you want to say, so just say it or find another adjective. Mikey Saltas If you’re the type of person who says “no offense, but ...” and then follow with something super offensive, I hope you stub your toe on a table. Amanda Reid “It is what it is.” Brian Hamilton “I could care less”. If you could care less, you would. The correct term is: “I couldn’t care less”. Kelly Boyce May I ask you a question? Just ask it! Christie Zervos When people write: You shouldn’t of. It is “You shouldn’t have.” English 101. Derek Carlisle “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Written by a socialist, encouraged by nationalist and edited by an evangelical. Place your hand over your heart, stand at attention, stay silent and kiss your rights goodbye.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE COVID Crisis Fail

their livelihoods intact. Other nations that have contained this virus have a strong social net for terrifying scenarios like this. Yet, the “richest” country in the world does not. We are too busy fighting class wars to count losses that don’t include case numbers and deaths—losses such as newspapers. Initial reports called COVID-19 the “altweekly killer,” and many of our friends in the newspaper industry have stopped publishing. We have no vaccine. Nearly our entire business streams have dried up. But as long as we are able, we will remain an advocate for local small businesses. Our business model is also directly tied to the sponsorship of community gatherings, not only those of local arts organizations but also those events of our own making, such as the Utah Beer Festival and others. Utah has forced all of the above to close or operate within revenue reducing parameters but has not given any real guidance or plan. Utah’s idea of a plan is just a suggestion, a “challenge.” That means Utahns and Utah businesses are dying on Gov. Herbert’s watch; it’s foretelling of what will come if Spencer Cox is elected. Here’s what they could do: Offer landlord subsidies in the form of full payment or tax credits, defer sales taxes for small businesses, suspend DABC license fees and grant alcohol discounts to license holders, defer utility payments, mandate personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements so that hospitality workers don’t take the brunt of government inaction, freely distribute PPE and, finally, allow cocktails to go. Take this seriously and do something! If you appreciate the positive effects of having thriving locally owned small businesses—those that support City Weekly and other local media, nonprofits and community efforts—then we hope you’ll find ways to locate and patronize such establishments. And do so safely. Our friends in the small-business community need our support now more than ever. CW Send comments to pete@cityweekly.net

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tahns are always at war: Religious wars. Liquor wars. Urban vs. rural wars. Thus, it should surprise no one that strategies for dealing with COVID-19 quickly were parsed along political lines. And now, after months of fumbled responses, the damage is done. And we have to ask why the state has done so little to help the hospitality industry during COVID-19. It began when Utah deemed certain businesses “essential” and others “non-essential.” Some businesses were allowed to remain open, others were closed. You could go to the liquor store, but not a pub; to a grocery store but not a restaurant; to a home-improvement big box store but not a self-improvement service like a barber. Since essential businesses stayed open, they didn’t have to enforce strict policies during the initial months of the pandemic. From March to June, for example, state-run liquor stores did not require masks even while they had long lines forming outside all day long. Employees weren’t required to wear masks, either, so many didn’t. As a result, several stores had to briefly close due to COVID-19 contamination. Whether closed or open, all businesses asked for just one thing from our government: leadership. The state put the burden of containment on the people from the start, which allowed Utah to become sicker as a result. When the state began to reopen the economy on May 1, its official policy was one of hands-off: “We hope you do the right thing, citizens. See ya!” Consumer confidence was low and got lower. It will remain low as long as our elected officials continue to mishandle the pandemic response. Our mom and pop independent shops are the casualties. Reopening has not been smooth sailing. There is already discussion about again closing down Utah bars. However,

that’s based on scattered political and religious opinion, not reality. So far, COVID-19 spread in Utah is not linked to the hospitality industry that has by and large been incredibly careful regarding masks and sanitizer. They aren’t openly defying state guidelines, which is what is happening in other states. They want to get through this just like everybody else—pay the bills and go home. However, the imposed health mandates mean most of them are operating at less than 50% capacity. That is not sustainable because they still are burdened with 100% of the liability. The state Rainy Day Fund is full of dollars taken from Utah’s hospitality industry. Give some back! Navigating the pandemic has been a nightmare for the service and hospitality industries—with little help along the way. Bars were shut down for the better part of two months, and many remain closed today. How many of us can survive without any income for that long? Many that reopened (as well as other businesses) have been shamed for doing so. They get beat up online for requiring masks. They had no choice. How about this, Gov. Herbert: How about you fine or penalize people who don’t wear masks? Not doing so means you’re just pushing the responsibility onto business owners. Is Utah really business friendly? Financial relief programs are not bridging the gap. Nearly all the businesses that got funding from the Paycheck Protection Program had to spend those dollars in just eight weeks while many remained closed with no revenue coming in. The state also gave out small loans, but they were disbursed more than three months ago. The state’s Rainy Day Fund waits for rain—not people dying, apparently. And, the Salt Lake County rent grant was only good for businesses that did not receive relief from other sources. Also, much of the “relief” was in the form of loans. The botched pandemic response was not the fault of smallbusiness owners. Not only were they asked to forgo income, but they have been forced into debt in order to keep

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Bread for Religious Ed

What better time and place to talk about religion than now and in Utah? The Deseret News was so gleeful about the latest Supreme Court decision that it devoted its front page to this: “Court ruling could help reverse rising secularization.” The ruling gave religious schools access to state funds, but whether that opens the door in Utah to the tired voucher debate is still a question. But really—reverse secularization? “No rich country prays nearly as much as the U.S., and no country that prays as much as the U.S. is nearly as rich,” an Atlantic reporter writes. The D-News story posits that a lack of religious education is causing the secular pivot. The Atlantic says it’s due to “the association of the Republican Party with the Christian right, the end of the Cold War and 9/11.” In other words, citizens simply expect a more robust division between faith and politics. And who knows, the ruling may further secularize the country.

Fools Rush in

Systems take time to change. They are stubborn, and the people who run them are resistant to change. If you don’t want to wait for that resistance to erode, then you need to join this ever-growing movement. We Stand in Silence—Blackout will be a four-hour vigil against police brutality as demonstrators demand justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Protesters want Gov. Gary Herbert to sign the Peace Officer Amendments in HB 5007 and demand discrimination awareness training, tactical rule changes, body camera requirements and easily identifiable badge numbers, among other reforms that include morals and ethics training. They ask everyone to wear black clothing, wear a mask and come in peace. Utah Capitol, 350 N. State, Saturday, July 18, 7 a.m. free. Facebook.com/events/987654871705213

Youth Speak Out

It’s time to hear from our youth about racism and its effect on the younger generation. Our Voices Matter Youth Rally will provide that opportunity for young activists. “Their voices need to be heard and uplifted. They will talk about their experiences and solutions to help stop racism in today’s climate,” organizers say. Join the movement, hear the music and stay for the Q&A segment. Riverdale Park, 4300 Parker Drive, Riverdale, Wednesday, July 22, 7-9 p.m., free. https://bit.ly/2DnaHKh

Ogden Police Reform Rally

Police Reform Now organizers say the Ogden mayor and police chief have been unwilling to move forward with police reform, noting, “They do not want to adopt the 8 Can’t Wait or any other reforms we are pushing for to make our citizens and police more safe.” A research-based plan from Campaign Zero offers eight immediate steps that organizers say could make a major dent in the amount of police violence or killings of civilians. “They compared use of force guidelines from a hundred of the country’s largest police departments to come up with their recommendations,” according to Business Insider. Ogden Police Department, 2186 Lincoln Ave., Ogden, Saturday, July 18, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., free/wear mask & social distance. https://bit.ly/2CiCRG2

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Workplace Microaggressions

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Working from home may be a welcome relief for many women of color. In this interactive webinar titled Navigating Workplace Microaggressions for Women of Color: Parts 2 + 3, Jodi-Ann Burey will “go through case study examples on the experiences women of color face at work and explore the options for managing your mindset and constructing an effective response.” Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences. This is an online event, but if tickets are sold out, email hello@jodiannburey.com. Thursday, July 16, 12-1 p.m., free. https://bit.ly/2ZZgqh0

Did you know that Utah celebrated Victims of Communism Day? As if we don’t have enough trouble with fascism, the Legislature wants you to focus on the nonexistent if impotent far left in the state. Socialism, lawlessness, America-haters. How’s that working for you, GOP? Well, it apparently worked in the 4th Congressional District where the Republican primary chose Burgess Owens to face U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams in November. Owens is raising the specter of Marxism, among other bogeymen. Meanwhile, the governor is walking the precarious line between action and surrender in the ever-politicizing facemask debate. Why, you might ask, is he tuning out physicians, chambers of commerce and “experts?” He told the Deseret News he doesn’t want things to get too divisive. Maybe he’s been holed up too long.

Black Lives Still Matter

Beware of Bogeymen

IN A WEEK, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

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Comic relief is always good— especially during the unrelenting drumbeat of the pandemic. Enter the anti-mask flash mobs. Oferfun! Their website defendingutah. org alone is enough to throw you into an epileptic fit. “Giving tyrannical powers to your mayor,” “selling out your freedoms,” and “whistleblowers reveal lies behind the fake pandemic.” The United States has long been an exceptional incubator of conspiracy theories, but the anti-mask movement puts it in comical perspective. The “flash mob” has a set time to line up and enter grocery stores. The KUTV 2 story shows men pushing empty shopping carts they have obviously never pushed before, and women joyfully taking selfies because it’s so much fun. Everyone is smiling because they’re going to teach the government that they can do whatever they want. So, this is freedom from what?

CITIZEN REV LT

ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, JULY 16-22, 2020

The disruption to the performing arts caused by the pandemic is almost impossible to calculate, and the idea that any arts organization could carry on with an annual production seems almost absurd. SALT Contemporary Dance, however, had a show in its repertoire ready-made for the special circumstances required for audience safety: an outdoor venue, with plenty of opportunity for socially-distanced seating. For the fourth year, SALT presents Pan, a modern dance interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan characters. This version combines familiar components from the original text as well as stage and screen interpretations—like the Lost Children of Neverland—while adding depth to the character of Peter Pan himself. The narrative explores Peter’s origins, including his own parentage, and the events that might have turned him into the little boy who never grew up. “I wanted to create a story that resonates with the magic of childhood,” SALT Contemporary Dance artistic director Michelle Nielsen told City Weekly in 2018, “but also the real-

The protests sweeping America this summer have been a painful reminder of how far we have to go in providing a nation of equal opportunity for people of color. Among the many industries forced to examine their actions and attitudes is media—long described as being a bastion of progressivism, yet still a field where opportunities have been limited based on prejudices and assumptions about what “audiences” want. In his 2016 documentary A Tough Act to Follow, veteran stand-up comedian, writer and actor Sampson McCormick explores issues of media representation built largely on his own experience as a Black gay man. The North Carolina native shares his own experiences—as well as those of comedy colleagues including Adele Givens, Darryl Stephens, Karen Williams, Karen Ripley and Sinbad—about the obstacles facing anyone trying to break into comedy, film or television if you happen to be LGBTQ, or Black, or a woman, or heaven forbid some combination of those things. Sampson approaches the challenging topics with a sense of humor that makes them accessible, while not back-

SALT CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Sampson McCormick: A Tough Act to Follow

ity of our family lives that are all complicated.” The production takes place on the shores of Utah Lake, at the American Fork Boat Harbor (100 West), with remaining performances July 16-18 at 7 p.m. “This location was made for this show,” Nielsen added. “It’s so magical … under the tiki torches, on the beach, with the Lost Boys in the trees, mermaids in the water.” Tickets are $15 per person, or $60 for a family pass good for five attendees; purchase at saltdance.com. Bring your own blankets and chairs, and follow guidelines for appropriate distancing. (Scott Renshaw)

Even if you’re not feeling particularly positive about your fellow human beings these days, animals—both companion and wild—offer a different way to connect with life. Cute videos give us a much-needed dose of warmth, our pets provide friendship even when we’re otherwise isolated, and artists attempt to express their feelings through representations of their favorite critters. Throughout the month of July and closing Aug. 2, Urban Arts Gallery (116 S. Rio Grande St., urbanartsgallery.org) presents Animalia: The Beauty of the Beast, a group show featuring a wide range of images in a variety of styles and techniques exploring the bounty of Earth’s fauna. Participating artists include Alex Gregory, Candace Jean, Chrystal Brower, Halley Bruno, Heather Olsen, Holly Sagendorf, Jaime Reynolds, Jessica Ahlborn, Jessica Douglas, Kenny Pittman, Madelyn Boudreaux, Miguel Galaz, Natasha Hoffman, Ngoc-Minh Anderson, Raynola Dominguez, Ronnie Hansen, Rosemarie Dunn, Sarah Winkler, Shanna Stott, Stacy Tonozzi, Todd Powelson, Trevor Dahl, Vanessa Colunga, and Valkyrie Johnson.

ing away from the realities of racism, sexism and homophobia in the entertainment industry. On July 16 at 5:30 p.m., McCormick will participate in a virtual “town hall” addressing issues raised by A Tough Act to Follow. After a screening of the hour-long film, McCormick will participate in a live Q&A moderated by Jennifer Nicole, chairperson of Utah People of Color and Allies. Visit facebook.com/ events/277966483414049/ for additional information and the Google Meet link, and join in an important conversation about media representation. (SR)

Utah Shakespeare Festival Virtual Seminar Grove

Gallery manager Scott Tuckfield says, “This is one of my very favorite themes, and I’m always really struck by the diversity of styles that we receive. Some artists create elegant photorealistic drawings, others take a lighthearted, comical approach. There’s a 5-foot tall sculpture of a dragon hatching from its egg, there are surreal paintings straight out of a dream, and there are stylish modern pieces made with stencils and spray paint. For me, it’s very refreshing to see an exhibit with a very cohesive theme that also manages to feel very eclectic and colorful. I feel like there’s something for everyone in this show.” (SR)

Fans of the arts in Utah have lost a lot of beloved events in 2020, including the Utah Shakespeare Festival. After an early indication that they would try to continue their productions in a revised manner, the festival ultimately had to announce that it wouldn’t be possible to mount their slate of productions. So, in an attempt to stay connected with their audience this summer, Utah Shakespeare has developed two virtual seminar series in the spirit of the festival’s traditional live events that provided additional background on both the texts and the people who put on the physical productions. Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Virtual Seminar Grove continues this week with live installments in both the Play Seminar series and the Production Seminar series at facebook.com/ utahshakespeare. On July 16 at 10 a.m., the Play Seminar series explores Every Brilliant Thing—produced for Utah Shakespeare’s 2019 season, and later toured for Utah schools—about the experience of

UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Urban Arts Gallery: Animalia

510 MEDIA

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

SALT Contemporary Dance: Pan

SARAH WINKLER

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ESSENTIALS

the

living with a parent with severe depression. Director Vincent Cardinal, actor Michael Doherty and other members of the production team discuss working on the show, and its challenging themes. On July 17 at 1 p.m., scenery designer Dan Giedeman talks about his work creating the design of a Utah Shakespeare Festival show. After the live seminar presentations, recorded versions will be available at bard.org. In case these opportunities aren’t enough to get a little Shakespeare in your life, check out bard.org/virtual for festival Education Director Michael Bahr’s one-minute videos on funky subjects in the Bard’s work, like the use of birds as symbols. This year, all the world really is their stage. (SR)

A&E

THEATER

Physical Art

UMOCA’s director talks about the challenges of reopening, and engaging the community during a pandemic. BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

LAURA HURTADO

see. Including a collaboration with Granary Arts in Ephraim, the project included work by contributors including Jared Steffenson and Cara Krebs, at locations in several Utah counties. “Even within the first few weeks [of the pandemic], people had kind of a digital fatigue, tired of staring at screens all day,” Hurtado says. “It seemed important to really connect people with their communities, even their own neighborhoods.” Collaboration with other organizations also became important as UMOCA planned for its reopening. Hurtado recalls conversations with leaders of arts organizations around the country, as well as benefitting from the experience locally of venues like Thanksgiving Point and Hogle Zoo which were among the first to re-open with new health and safety guidelines in place. “There’s a sense of, ‘we’re not alone,’” Hurtado says. “Part of what this stay-at-home order did is create this sense of isolation, where your world suddenly becomes very small. … It was nice to see how those organizations took early steps, and knowing in some cases, there were mixed reactions … that maybe [they were] opening too early.” While there are still concerns within the community about what should and should not be open as coronavirus case numbers

Artist Jared Steffenson’s contribution to the UMOCA Lawn Gnomes 2020 project continue to rise, Hurtado believes that the nature of a place like UMOCA makes it conducive to a safe re-opening, especially with an initial capacity limitation of 20 guests at any one time. “One way our organization is set up that’s different from, say, Ballet West or the Eccles Theater, is … our model isn’t a model of people being seated together in a tight space, but the model of a museum: ‘Don’t touch,’” Hurtado says. “Giving people space to reflect, and room with the art, is kind of the cultural practice of viewing in a museum.” As the museum re-opens with several new exhibitions—including From Before to Now, an exhibition by artist exploring how the pandemic has impacted their work— Hurtado hopes that it can offer not just the experiences with art that people crave, but a glimpse at what is possible beyond our reasonable ongoing fears. “I think there’s something really powerful in saying there’s a new normal, and within that space we can operate in a new way, where people can still feel protected,” she says. “There is a bit of a cloud lifting.” CW

providing services for their community in a safe, engaging way. “We came up with these key words, and tried to come up with programming from that,” Hurtado says. “They needed comfort, normalcy, connection, community and stimulation. So there was a lot of brainstorming: If these are the needs we’re seeing, how do we create programming within the restrictions that exist, and meet our audience where they’re at?” Naturally, many of those ideas involved virtual interaction. Some of them were extremely well-received, including the “Art Everyday” videos that helped parents teaching their children at home with hands-on art-making projects that could be created from supplies that were available around the home. Others, Hurtado feels, were a bit less successful, like the 360-degree online tours of current exhibitions. “I think those were important to document our exhibitions,” Hurtado says. “But while some people were grateful, I think people … wanted that ability to have something physical, to have a connection.” Among the ideas that invited people back into a real-world experience with art was the Lawn Gnomes 2020 project, which asked local artists to present work in their front yards that visitors could drive by and

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ack in mid-March, Laura Allred Hurtado—executive director of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art— thought the museum’s closure as a result of the coronavirus outbreak would last a couple of weeks. Four months later, UMOCA’s doors are finally reopening to the public July 15, at a time when there’s still incredible uncertainty about the pandemic. As was the case for most of us, Hurtado had no sense for what was coming even a few days before everything changed. In fact, she was visiting New York City with a group of UMOCA donors in early March, returning to attend a sold-out event at the Rose Wagner Center featuring the artist collective Guerrilla Girls on Monday, March 9. “I just didn’t have a pulse on the gravity of the situation early in that week,” Hurtado recalls. “In New York, we were slightly worried, but still riding on public transportation. It was in the back of our minds, but far back of our minds. Then, we were closed by that Thursday.” During those early days of the pandemic, Hurtado and the UMOCA staff went to work on preparing for a variety of possibilities involving the revision of their exhibition calendar. “Worst case scenario,” Hurtado recalls, “if we’re reopening in September, or August, or July, what do we need to change to accommodate that? So we did some really agile planning.” Beyond preparing for the things they couldn’t do, the goal then became realizing what they could do, and working towards

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BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

AT A GLANCE

Open: Mon., 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Best bet: The Philly Steak Can’t miss: Kneel before the King of Steaks

JULY 16, 2020 | 11

diners could only get three different sandwiches, along with a cheeseburger. With a bit of time and experience under their belt, the restaurant has taken their cheesesteak recipe and created several exciting variations on their original theme. Before accurately developing an opinion about Fat Boy Phillies’ more creative sandwiches, one must start at the beginning with the foundational Philly

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For those who haven’t delved deeply into the art of cheesesteak sandwiches, the whole concept may appear disarmingly simple. When you’re working with something that has been a bona fide crowd-pleaser for nearly a century, however, it’s best not to make assumptions. Fat Boy Phillies is a good example of capitalizing on the cheesesteak’s versatility to expand its menu. When it first opened,

’m always grateful when people move to Utah and decide to bring their favorite foods along with them. For example, Anthony Duran opened Fat Boy Phillies (5823 S. State Street, 801-261-0313, facebook.com/FatBoysUtah) two years ago because he’s in love with an American classic—the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. This East Coast staple has a decent foothold here in the Beehive State, but proper cheesesteak sandwiches remain rare enough to earn special consideration. Fat Boy Phillies is unique because it’s one of the only local joints that uses the traditional Philly cheesesteak combo of sliced ribeye, melty cheese and grilled peppers as the focal point for its entire menu.

prepare to be amazed. Named with a clever nod to Philadelphia’s own Pat’s King of Steaks, the fabled genesis point of the Philly cheesesteak sandwich as we know it, this monstrous sandwich defies tradition to an obscene degree—and I love everything about it. If the twentydollar price point didn’t tip you off, this sandwich redefines the term “fully loaded.” It’s got everything a regular Philly has, plus two additional cheeses, sausage and bacon. The first bite is so packed with salty, melty, meaty flavor that it’s hard to fully process. As you work your way through, however, you start to see that the genius of this sandwich comes from the small moments when the exact right combo of meats and cheeses sets fire to your taste buds. The Philly cheesesteak sandwich is sought after by those craving something lavish and excessive for lunch. Fat Boy Phillies will satisfy that primal need, but it’s also ready to take on anyone whose definition of excessive is slightly more aggressive. They don’t call that thing the King of Steaks for nothing. CW

Fat Boy Phillies takes a tradition to excessive new heights.

ditional cheesesteak sandwiches could use more kick, and that’s what you get with this sweet little number. The flavors that garlic imparts to the cheesesteak are exactly what you’d expect; garlic and ribeye will always be gastronomic BFFs. Honestly, it’s one of those combos that should have worked its way into the cheesesteak genealogy years ago. Establishing their street cred with traditional cheesesteaks over the past two years has given the team at Fat Boy Phillies enough artistic leeway to make some radical changes to the game they grew up on. If one is so inclined, they can make any Philly on the menu into a Fat Boy, which makes your sandwich into the proud owner of a homemade spicy sausage for a dollar more. In all my Philly cheesesteak research, I’ve never heard of anyone bold enough to add Italian sausage to the mix. Philly purists might clutch their pearls with Whizcovered fingertips at the notion, but why are any of us here if we don’t step up and challenge social constructs every now and again? The sausage in question feels right at home with the other members of the menu. It’s plump, piping hot and just spicy enough to keep you from overlooking its presence. If the idea of adding sausage to your cheesesteak sandwich is anathema, you may want to skip the King of Steaks ($20) altogether—if not,

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That Philly Feeling

Steak ($10). Though you can get a decent variety of melty cheeses on your sandwich, the only way to experience the true Philly nature of this sandwich is to get it loaded with Cheese Whiz, or Whiz as they call it. It also comes with grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms, which is another tradition of the craft. I’m typically a provolone kind of guy when it comes to cheesesteaks, but there is something to be said about the salty excess that comes from throwing a shockingly yellow swatch of Cheese Whiz to the sandwich. Its viscosity coats the entire sandwich, infusing every bite with processed cheese goodness. I remain a provolone purist, but I can totally understand why Whiz is the Philly tradition. With the Philly Steak under your belt, you can begin to see the method to Fat Boy Phillies’ menu. Each additional item builds upon the Philly foundation in interesting and surprisingly sophisticated ways. My favorite variations are the chipotle ($11) and the garlic ($11)— both preserve the traditional Philly framework, but with the addition of some dynamite flavors that are even better when combined with cheesesteak. Apart from being a match made in alliterative heaven, the chipotle cheesesteak invites the smoky flavors and slow burning heat of chipotle peppers to party with the “in” crowd. I’ve always felt that tra-

the

Sehr Gut !

BACK BURNER BY ALEX SPRINGER @captainspringer

Old world flavor in the heart of Salt Lake

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WE ARE OPEN!

I’m particularly bummed about missing Eat Drink SLC (eatdrinkslc.com) this year, but I’m heartened to learn that in lieu of their annual celebration of local food and drink, they’re using their clout to raise money for the Utah Food Bank (utafoodbank.org). From now until the end of July, anyone interested in donating money to the Utah Food Bank can do so via Eat Drink SLC’s website, where their donation will be matched by Vine Lore Wine & Spirits (vinelore.com). Eat Drink SLC also has a list of affiliated food and drink vendors that local diners can support during the pandemic, if you feel like helping out while enjoying some local eats and cocktails.

Fillings and Emulsions Opens New Location

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Chef Adalberto Diaz and his team at Fillings and Emulsions (fillingsandemulsions.com) recently opened their third location in West Valley (1980 W. 3500 South). In adding this new spot to their downtown (1475 S. Main Street) and Provo (326 W. Center Street) locations, this local bakery is starting to become quite the heavy hitter. For those who have yet to visit Fillings and Emulsions, it’s home to some of the most whimsical and eclectic macarons in the state, as well as spectacular pastries, meat pies and other baked goods that are as beautiful as they are tasty. It’s a great time to have a sweet tooth in West Valley.

Plant-Based Junk Food Pop Up

Once again exposing its alter-ego as one of Salt Lake’s coolest event venues, Kiitos Brewing (608 W. 700 South, 801215-9165, kiitosbrewing.com) will be hosting a plant-based junk food pop up. The food in question will be provided by Vuture Food (vuturefood.com), a group of vegan food troubadours that sets forth from L.A. to serve up truly bodacious plant-based comfort classics to the rest of the country. A quick jaunt over to their website and Instagram accounts filled my screen with pinups of stacked Nashville hot chik’n sandwiches and cheesywithout-cheese hot dogs. Kiitos will also be serving up an accompaniment of craft beers for the occasion, which takes place on July 21, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Quote of the Week: “Food is the most primitive form of comfort.” –Sheila Graham

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In SLC, uncertainty breeds charity BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

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enough not to be bothersome, present enough to add complexity. There’s a nice texture here as well, courtesy of the oats, that’s smooth, slick and approachable. As you get into the stout’s finish, you begin to notice campfire marshmallow ash. Overall: A tasty 5 percent stout that offers a range of flavors without all of the overblown adjuncts you tend to get with much bigger beers. Proceeds from Saltfire’s version of Black is Beautiful will go to support the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter and the Utah ACLU. As these beers are solely for charity, no limits have been put upon them, all the better to get the cash they raise to the charities that they support sooner rather than later. Red Rock’s All Together IPA should be at all three of their locations, while Saltfire’s Black is Beautiful is only at the brewery. These are great beers for excellent causes. As always, cheers! CW

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ven now, when times are tough for local breweries, you can count on them to step up and help out our communities—even as their own long-term survival is in question. This week, I’m proud to bring you a couple of beers that are all about charity, solidifying their places as civic pillars. Red Rock All Together: All Together is a worldwide, open-ended beer collaboration created by New York’s Other Half Brewing Co. to raise support for the beer industry. This effort is intended to raise awareness and provide relief to those who are struggling during the pandemic. The recipe is open-source, the artwork is public, and the name is available for any participating brewery. Last May, I gave you the scoop

ness to the injustices that people of color face daily. This collaboration was started by Weathered Souls Brewing out of San Antonio, Texas, and is meant to bridge the racial gap that’s been around for ages and to provide a platform to show that the brewing community is an inclusive place. The body is an opaque dark black, certainly not an ink-black or jet-black. The gas is very light, which makes for very little in the way of foam or head. The beer is a simple oatmeal stout, but from the nose I get a fair amount of fresh ground coffee bean. There is none but the richness from the roasted malts, which is very deceiving. Could it be richer? Yes, but too much would give it that charred profile that tends to put off those who are not stout fans. Coffee pops again as it did in the aroma with java/espresso characteristics. Dark malts along with some hints of pleasant pecan begin to emerge as well—subtle

MIKE RIEDEL

Beers for a Cause

on the Templin Family Brewery’s participation in the All Together program. This week, it’s all about Red Rock’s new charitable beer. It’s got a hazy apricot appearance, more yellow than orange, with a solid aroma that’s quite fruity and very hop-forward. Citrus notes were most apparent, bursting with juicy orange and tangerine specifically. There’s a moderate amount of dankness, along with ripe honeydew melon. The taste is similar to the nose, with bright, slightly bitter citrus and grapefruit. Stone fruits make an appearance as well. Tropicals including some pineapple pop a bit more, before becoming more dank with slightly green hop flavors. The Mosaic hop varietals come through big time, with strong earthy and slightly vegetal notes that, like the nose, become more intense as it warms. Overall: This is a solid New England IPA, but the Mosaic unfortunately cancels out a lot of what the Citra, Simcoe and Cascade bring to the table with its earthy notes. Still, it was damn delicious. Red Rock tells me that 100 percent of the proceeds of this 6.5 percent beer will be going to the “Tip Your Server” program that is spearheaded by actor and Salt Lake City resident Ty Burrell. Saltfire Black Is Beautiful: The Black is Beautiful initiative is a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its customers, in an attempt to bring aware-

MIKE RIEDEL

BEER NERD

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JORDAN ALLRED

Years of work on the Jordan River, shown here between Murray and Taylorsville near Germania Park, have boosted the river’s appeal to recreationalists and developers.

BY BENJAMIN WOOD

Will There Ever Be a Swimming Hole?

JULY 16, 2020 | 15

It’s raining when I meet Tyler Murdock at the Three Creeks Confluence, a cozy spot along the Jordan River that sits a stone’s-throw from the intersection of 1300 South and 900 West. I ride my bike because I’m that guy, which means I arrive at my first pandemic interview dripping wet and shivering. But Murdock, too,

has his hood pulled up and a mask on his face, looking like the Unabomber, and that’s just how things are now, I guess. Murdock is a project manager with Salt Lake City, and he’s showing me the new river park and plaza under construction at Three Creeks. It’s a big endeavor, with one bridge already on the ground and another on the way. We look out over the water, and I geek out as Murdock paints me a word picture of what the park could become after it formally opens this fall. I imagine kayakers pulling their boats into and out of the water while clusters of students on a field trip skip stones and anglers cast lines from the observation bridge that will soon span the confluence. “There’s not a lot of places where you have that direct connection to the river,” Murdock says. “The river is often hidden because most of the access we have to it is from the parkway trail. In some places you can’t even visually see the river—you wouldn’t even know it’s there.” In the case of Three Creeks, it was actually portions of four natural waterways that were hidden beneath a parking lot next to an auto shop and a row of vintage homes. After the Red Butte and Emigration creeks join forces at Liberty Park, they braid underground with Parleys Creek at State Street and travel west roughly along 1300 South.

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cades to make that trail possible. But it didn’t really stop with the trail. In three short years, I’ve witnessed firsthand the nonstop pace of improvements along the parkway. You get a new bridge! You get a mileage marker! You get weed removal! You get a charming community mural! You get a seemingly endless chain of regional parks and nature preserves! Enjoy, urban explorer! The parkway trail isn’t the story anymore. It’s finished. It’s far from perfect but as of this moment, it is safer to walk or bike on the parkway than it is to walk or bike on State Street. Go ahead, check the scoreboard. Today’s article is about the river, because everything flows into it. Literally. And because there’s some cool stuff happening that I’d like to tell you about. And because I finally saw it from a kayak.

n 2017, my family moved from Sugar House to Poplar Grove, and I fell in love with the Jordan River. We had met before; I don’t recall exactly when. It was the early two-thousand-teens, I was bored, and I put my mountain bike on my Subaru and *drove* west to check out the trail along the river that someone had mentioned at a party or something. I remember it being very hot and dry, and I got a flat tire. I maybe rode for a mile? But in the summer of 2017, I moved to the west side. I ran the Jordan River trail at first, then biked, and there was always more trail to go. And then I was taking the trail to work and to movies with my wife and to the grocery store for my son’s frozen burritos because it was just a nicer way to get where I was going. The parkway trail was formally completed in the fall of 2017. They had a free 5K to kick off the opening of a pedestrian bridge that now spans from 200 South to North Temple. It was fun. I got a T-shirt! I remember thinking at the time that I needed to write an article. The idea of a continuous trail from Utah Lake to the Legacy Parkway had been around since long before there was such a thing as the Legacy Parkway. An untold number of people did an untold amount of unsung work over de-

A long-buried Jordan River confluence sees the light of day—giving more reasons to love this urban waterway

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River of Dreams

BENJAMIN WOOD BENJAMIN WOOD

“I think, by and large, people don’t see the river as a dirty and dangerous place anymore,” says Soren Simonsen, executive director of the Jordan River Commission.

BENJAMIN WOOD

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16 | JULY 16, 2020

River planners say Salt Lake County's aging stormwater drains contribute to river pollution.

Kayakers pass under Interstate 215 on the Jordan River between Murray and Taylorsville.

Long ago, the decision was made to bury the Jordan’s major tributaries—along with all the waste and sediment collected by them—and the Three Creeks project is the first step in a larger effort to “daylight,” or uncover, segments of the valley’s canyon waterways. Brian Tonetti, executive director of the Seven Canyons Trust, told me the significance of the Three Creeks project can’t be overstated. It’s a showcase, he said, of how buried waterways can be restored in a way that maximizes public benefit. “It’s kind of the first 200 feet in a 100-year vision to uncover 21 miles of buried creek,” he said. Price tag: $3 million. Eventually, Murdock tells me, the city would like to add nature trails and other features to the north and south of Three Creeks. That means reclaiming city land that has been encroached on by private property owners, but he says he’s not expecting much of a legal fight. I remain skeptical, as one does not simply settle a land dispute. Along the parkway trail, an open space inside the riverbend could be used for picnic tables, a pet station or a soft walking trail parallel to the bike-friendly pavement, Murdock says. Use of the trail has surged this summer, he says, and planners are already discussing options for mitigating future conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists. He starts to say how it’s a great spot for fishing because it’s a major inlet of fresh snowmelt, and it makes me think of my youth running rivers in Weber County. I think of my son growing up in Poplar Grove, and I interrupt to ask the question I know Murdock is going to hate. “So, will it ever be a swimming hole?” Murdock pauses. He laughs. We both laugh. I can tell he doesn’t want to say, “No.” I don’t really want him to, either. “I think paddling—canoeing and kayaking—I would do any day on the Jordan River,” Murdock says. “I probably wouldn’t be jumping in and swimming in the Jordan River right now. But I hope in the future, maybe that changes.” That he even hesitates is something of a victory. Decades of neglect, short-sighted development and jurisdictional complexity devolved the river into Salt Lake County’s gutter, shuttling detritus and sewage and the occasional dead body along its path between Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake. But the more recent decades have trended toward rehabilitation, incrementally at times but shifting into a higher gear during the last decade, a period that coincides with the creation of the Jordan River Commission, an aquatic United Nations composed of the various public and private entities that touch the river. And in stereotypical Knope-ian fashion, the commission is seizing on the anniversary this year to close the book on its equivalent of a master plan—the Blueprint Jordan River— and start fresh on a new vision for the next decade. Rehabilitation takes various forms, from clearing weeds and restoring native vegeta-

tion to water quality projects like one that will open to the public in Salt Lake City later this year. Just downriver from Three Creeks, the city’s public utilities department has built a second river park next to the Day-Riverside Branch Library, complete with its own outdoor amphitheater and boardwalk. But the pièce de résistance is the manmade creek bed and waterfall that will filter stormwater pollutants and aerate the Jordan River like a fish tank bubbler. Price tag: $2.5 million. “Going forward, these urban water quality projects are going to have a lot more public facing, educational and recreational features,” said Holly Mullen, utilities spokeswoman (and former editor of City Weekly), “so that we get more bang for the buck.”

The ‘Sad, Mad & Glad’ Tour

Soren Simonsen, executive director of the Jordan River Commission, has been offering to take me kayaking for years now. Apparently, it took a global pandemic to make me take him up on the offer. Simonsen reiterated that recreation along the river parkway has surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Trail counters along the river have tracked the boost in demand, and anecdotal stories abound of residents taking increased advantage of public spaces. It’s welcome visibility for the county’s new and improved trails and parks, but it also places an unexpected stress test on the parkway network, highlighting the potential bottlenecks as once-ignored greenspaces become more popular. “I think, by and large, people don’t see the river as a dirty and dangerous place anymore,” Simonsen said. “It still has a lot of challenges, to be sure, but the challenges are evolving.” And while the paved trail may be ready for prime time, the river is considerably less so. Simonsen and I elected to do a one-hour paddle down the Murray/Taylorsville stretch of the river, pulling out at Little Confluence Park. We did this because I’m most familiar with the Salt Lake City stretch of the parkway and because Murray was an early leader on river improvement and has an impressive corridor to show for it. Back in 2014, Colby Frazier wrote about kayaking the Jordan River in “Invisible River” for City Weekly. I loved that article. Before that, in 2009, City Weekly writer Stephen Dark also wrote about kayaking the Jordan River in “River Rats.” I’ve wanted to follow those up ever since. I have a moderate level of experience in a kayak, yet I could recognize that I was inordinately nervous for how calm the trip was. The water was murky and loomed much deeper than it actually was. There was stuff everywhere in the water, mostly twigs and plants and inoffensive flotsam but ever present in an unsettling way. Every so often, my paddle would

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JULY 16, 2020 | 17

JORDAN ALLRED

Human impacts: Garbage and litter next to an illegal camp on the Jordan River

JORDAN ALLRED

A new pedestrian bridge connects the Jordan River Parkway trail with Three Creeks Confluence, a new river park where the Red Butte, Emigration and Parleys creeks meet the Jordan River.

JORDAN ALLRED

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18 | JULY 16, 2020

A new public plaza in Salt Lake City, scheduled to open this fall, will feature a man-made waterfall and creek bed with interactive features, representing a new approach to stormwater runoff treatment using natural systems to improve water quality.

touch the riverbed, and I’d jolt from the startle. But it was beautiful. As I pushed off from the bank and started paddling, a large black bird with a craning neck took off from a nearby rock and flew over my head. There were ducks and swallows and kingfishers, and, yes, there was litter and, yes, there were camps and graffiti. But I also kayaked under Interstate 215. That’s not something I expected to do nor did I expect it to be so thrilling. Simonsen has led this tour many times, and for individuals considerably more prominent than myself. He calls it his “Sad, Mad, Glad” tour because you feel all three on the water. He points out the storm drains under nearly every bridge that pour a generic cocktail of motor oil and effluent into the river after a rain. We pass one that is large enough to stand in, and I try to peer inside but it’s pointless. I can only imagine what has poured out into the river over the years. We also pass through nature preserves where the birdsong drowns out the city buzz. We see a family fishing together and occasionally keep up with the joggers on the parkway. Simonsen tells me there are currently four maintained boat launches along the Jordan River. But that number is expected to swell to more than a dozen by next year, another $3 million improvement project about to break ground. “A lot of people are discovering the great recreation benefits of paddling the river,” Simonsen says. “But it’s hard to access it.” After access, the next big boating obstacles are the dams and water controls. One dam, just upriver from North Temple, features a canoe chute, but many of the others are effectively impassible. “You can’t go over or under them,” Simonsen said. “They are life safety risks.” Simonsen said the short-term solution is to build portages around the dams—or areas where you can exit the river and walk around an obstacle. But even that is easier said than done, he notes, and some areas could potentially host new canoe chutes built into the waterway. But the larger issue on the water, Simonsen tells me, is that there’s not enough of it, and not necessarily because of drought. The Jordan leaves Utah Lake as a wide, deep river but almost as soon as it enters Salt Lake County, it is bled dry by canals. Those segments of the parkway are great for walking and biking but are unnavigable by kayak. “When you get past the diversion dams for all the canals at the Point of the Mountain, the river literally becomes a trickle,” Simonsen said. “It’s not even as big as the creeks that feed it.” And while it can be easy to write off the inconvenience to recreational users of the river, the low water levels have a more insidious effect, robbing the Jordan of its self-cleaning potential and contributing to the ecosystem damage downstream. “Water quality has a lot to do with water quantity,” Sorensen said. But Simonsen sees room for optimism on water levels as well. He points to recent water

banking legislation—sponsored by state Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Salt Lake City—that does not include the Jordan River but could lay groundwork for a larger program. And developers along the river are increasingly orienting their property toward the water, rather than away from it, an encouraging sign of political capital in a state where real estate is king. “There’s a lot of property owners along the Jordan River who are interested in being supportive and being partners,” Simonsen said. I ask him about the issue of homeless encampments along the river, and he gives the kind of thoughtful answer that I never know quite how to summarize. He reminds me that the Jordan River has always been a place where people go who are weary, from Indigenous and nomadic communities to the settlers who declared the Salt Lake Valley to be the right place. “A lot of the encampments that we see are not all that different from some of the huts and shacks and sheds that were created by pioneers to weather their first couple of winters,” Simonsen said. He noted that the homeless community along the river, generally speaking, is inoffensively seeking seclusion. But he also pointed out the outsize environmental impact of illegal camps, from the waste left behind in the river to the death of vegetation that leave areas vulnerable to weeds and fire. “Yes, there’s an impact,” Simonsen said. “I would say the impact is more environmental at this point than it is social.”

We’re Moving in the Right Direction

My last interview was over the phone with Martin Jensen, Salt Lake County’s director of Parks and Recreation. He’s had to deal with me geeking out over parks before and is a good sport about it. I had been thinking about this story in poetic terms of two 10-year eras and how the decade of the bike was giving way to the decade of the kayak, and Jensen helped pop that balloon by reminding me that the Jordan River Parkway has been, at minimum, a 50-year effort and that he and his municipal counterparts are building on what came before them. He compared it to the construction of a highway corridor—a highway for bikes? Gee, what a thought, world!—and how land is acquired, a road is built and then come the rest stops. “The trail is in place,” Jensen said. “We’re making the river safer and more enjoyable every day, and now we want to put in some other things.” Traveling along the parkway trail, you can see the remnants of previous flurries of activity along the river. Weeds grow around cracked, concrete boat ramps that jut out into empty air. Yesterday’s shiny new mini-parks are now rusting and claimed by squatters. It could happen again. Maybe the virus breaks, and everyone goes back indoors. Or

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JULY 16, 2020 | 19

JORDAN ALLRED

The Jodan River Parkway Trail, completed in 2017, offers a nearly continuous walking and biking path from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake.

JORDAN ALLRED

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20 | JULY 16, 2020

This new park will open this fall featuring a constructed, open-air wetland where Red Butte, Emigration and Parleys creeks empty into the Jordan River via underground pipes.

The new Three Creeks Confluence bridge spans the Jordan River in Salt Lake City near 1300 South

maybe we’re all wrong, and the river is a lost cause, and nobody wants to skip rocks or watch birds or—maybe, someday—go for a swim on their lunch break. And maybe six years from now another reporter will write in City Weekly about the raw sewage floating through the west side’s dilapidated green space. Yet, Jensen said, “We’re moving in the right direction. It just takes time and money and planning.” Simonsen agreed that the wind, for now, is at planners’ backs. The future costs money, something in shorter supply with an infected economy, but he argued that enough pieces are in place on the parkway to encourage the feedback loop of public participation. And right on time, the commission is currently seeking public comment on the future “blueprint” for the Jordan River. If that seems tedious, perhaps remember the Three Creeks Confluence was born out of a group of University of Utah students who started making noise about daylighting years ago. “I feel more optimistic about the direction things are going than I did a decade ago,” Simonsen said. “There’s a lot of buy-in to the vision and small steps here and there inching us close to that.”

ism tells you you’re supposed to do. But what do I even ask, and how do I expect a person to answer? I live by the river. Not directly adjacent but near enough. I see illegal camps every day, as I do elsewhere in the city, and more since Operation Rio Grande started. It’s only the Jordan River where I see beavers so large they look like dogs. And I never have to worry about getting run over by a car on the parkway. I once felt compelled to call the police when a woman come out from under a bridge and threatened me and other passers-by on the parkway trail. And another time, not long after we moved to the area, I came home from work and found a man in my tool shed. Best I can tell, he hadn’t been there long, and he was either incapacitated or hiding from my dog, barking incessantly at the shed door. He made no attempt to hurt me and—thank God—my family wasn’t home. But it was still terrifying. I called the police and, no, I don’t really know what happened to him after they walked him out of my garage. Was that the river’s fault? Sure. That man would not have been in my shed without the river. Because none of us would be here without the Jordan River. That’s the thing about rivers. CW

Beavers So Large They Look Like Dogs The morning after my interview with Murdock, I walked through Three Creeks to get a better look at the area. One of the neighboring homeowners was out, and I asked her what she thought about the project. She says the construction caught her off guard, which I can tell is a nuisance but not something she wants to be publicly critical about. I asked her about crime in the area. She says items regularly go missing from her yard, and her neighbors have experienced multiple break-ins. She also says things seem to have gotten a little worse, not better, in the past couple years. We don’t talk about the city’s Operation Rio Grande, but it looms in the back of my mind. The operation began on August 2017 with police from multiple agencies arresting people in the vicinity of Rio Grande Street, near the now-shuttered Road Home homeless shelter. Launched to relocate the homeless from downtown’s most troubled neighborhood, it likely drove increasing numbers to river encampments. When I ask the homeowner if I can use her name, she politely declines. I thought about knocking on more doors, because that’s something a career in journal-

Did You Know?

• You can help update the new “blueprint” master plan by adding your comments to the public survey at: BlueprintJordanRiver.org • The Folsom Trail will be a paved walking and biking path connecting the Jordan River Parkway Trail to downtown Salt Lake City. The first phase of construction is anticipated to begin in fall 2020. It will follow a former rail corridor from 500 West at North Temple to the Jordan River Bridge and Fisher Mansion near 200 South • Tracy Aviary is in the process of adding a second campus at the Jordan River. Called the Tracy Aviary Jordan River Nature Center, it will offer education and conservation programs with the goal of connecting people to nature and helping preserve the natural habitat. Transitional building units opened in the spring of 2019, with construction for a new facility slated to begin in 2020. 1125 W. 3300 South, South Salt Lake • The Salt Lake City Boat Access Improvement project has constructed two new boat access locations along the Jordan River at Fisher Mansion (1206 W. 200 South), and at the Redwood Trailhead (1850 North Redwood Road). CW

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Reaching Higher

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Jay Warren balances working hard on music and working hard for social justice”. BY ERIN MOORE music@cityweekly.net @errands_

or many artists, the pandemic—as well as heightened focus on discourses about race and inequality—has stalled creative efforts. It’s not as easy to find artists who are pushing forward and continuing to make themselves both seen and heard. But that’s not the case for SLC artist Jay Warren, a local R&B crooner who’s been slowly releasing tracks over the last few years. He is now managing to wrap up his debut album Give Love, on top of keeping his hands busy in a number of other projects, and pursuing his goal of being the first Utah artist to reach number one on the iTunes R&B charts. “I have a philosophy that, at the end of the day, if you have a personal brand, it’s really all about creating the most value for the people you engage with, who engage with you,” Warren says. He’s been keeping that engagement up in spades. Besides releasing the infectious, pop-driven single “Take it Higher” in June, and spreading the word about his #1 dreams (which he’s handily on the way to, with pre-orders piling up on iTunes), he’s performed on the quarantine-born virtual concert series Social Antidote, and started two non-music-related projects, one alongside his wife Annie Warren. “Obviously the music is my number one, that’s my passion and that will keep happening forever, but my wife really wanted to start a podcast, so I was like, yeah let’s do it,” he says. “So during corona season, when things slowed down, we finally had time to get that going.” The series has turned into a unique product of its time, blending topics like relationship advice or advice for new parents with commentary and guest spots that address the realities of interracial marriage, staying positive during the pandemic and how to get involved in conversations about—and actions against—racism. Similarly, Warren has also started a video series called Questionz, where he sits down with other artists to discuss all things music, life, politics and more with fellow locals like James Curran, Jenn Blosil and Bri Ray. On top of all this, work for Give Love chugs on towards completion and its September release date, when fans will be treated to an ambitiously diverse palette of sound, inspired by the pop-to-ballad to R&B-and-everything in between meanderings of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. He’s also keeping in mind recent events around Black Lives Matter on social media and blog posts, and working to keep them distinct from his career. “I’ve been really diligent to try to separate the two, so that I’m not distracting from the movement with my music,” he says, “because at the end of the day, music is my business; that’s how I create income, that’s how I put food on the table.” Certainly as a Black artist, it’s his right to make that call about his own life’s work, and he makes it clear that since Black Lives Matter is at the forefront of our country’s shared consciousness right now, he doesn’t want to risk conflating it with his music, lest

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Jay Warren he divert from the important social work being done. The move has made space for him to be frank on socials and his blog, where he addresses common questions people have about BLM, such as his observation that the reason this feels new for many white people is because of a longtime nationwide focus on white history over that of people of color. “I’m trying my best and I’m definitely not sleeping as much as I probably should be,” Warren says. “I feel like right now, we’re at such an important time in our generation’s history, that putting in the work now is what’s needed and what’s necessary. Again, it’s not about me, it’s about the movement, and it’s about creating the change that all of us wanna see.” That work, for him, includes at least one musical footnote, by way of a late August collaboration with the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce, where besides enjoying music by Warren and others, attendees can register to vote and learn about Black and brown voter engagement. “Somehow we’ve managed to fit the entire 1960s in the first six months of 2020,” Warren notes. “It’s just absolutely crazy. Within the 1960s, you have a decade’s worth of amazing music that people love and listen to today.” And while he’s striving to keep implicit conversations about race away from the business that is his music, it seems he does hope his music can be part of the feeling in our own 2020 moment. “For me, I hope that the album provides an opportunity for people to feel, just to feel,” Warren says of Give Love. “I don’t want to assign how they’re going to feel or what they should feel, and I don’t even necessarily hope that they feel the same things that I feel. I just hope that it gives people the opportunity to feel things, because we’re already in a place where emotions are high. I think music oftentimes provides people this opportunity to escape from the things that are troubling them. Hopefully this album can do that in more ways than one.” CW

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The Salt Lake City Public Library has been keeping busy trying to find ways to get back to their usual programming, which for many is a normal part of summer’s fun and entertainment. Luckily, they’ve got 12 Minutes Max ready to get up and running again. The program showcases brief performances across the mediums of dance, music, film, theater, written word and other kinds of performance art, followed by equally brief Q&A sessions—earning its name of 12 Minutes Max. It affords artists the valuable opportunity to test out new work or works-in-progress, and this first virtual version of the event is no different than past incarnations. It features, ironically enough, a dance performance about the limits of technological communication that debuted way before the pandemic—almost exactly a year ago—by SLC-by-way-ofMinneapolis dancer Halie Bahr. There will also be a short film by Mikkel Richardson (who has in the past showed his film work at UMOCA) and a performance by Logan-based musician Man meets Bear. The latter also works as a lake ecologist, an interest that is evident in his structuring of songs as ecosystems using a synthesis of folk aesthetics and noise material. Head to vimeo.com/435803763 for the video page, or visit services.slcpl.org for more info, and tune in on Sunday, July 19 at 2 p.m.

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Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival (see July 9 City Weekly ED: Link here) is something of an SLC institution at this point, and a key part of the tapestry of arts that makes this city great. Unfortunately, just like most other in-person arts events, it has gone mostly virtual due to the pandemic—but this isn’t stopping groups from getting together to view the films that most excite them. The new format is easier in some ways than attending an IRL film festival, with no need to run from one screening to the next, Q&A’s and other features being non-existent when viewing from one’s own home, and with the tickets being per-household instead of per-person—a screaming deal for folks with roommates or families. The Salt Lake Men’s Choir is taking advantage of this moment, too, by collaborating with Damn These Heels on a screening party of Keyboard Fantasies, a documentary about the prolific jazz-folk and new age synth pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland. In an announcement on their Facebook page, SLMC President Justin Hudspeth notes that the story of Glenn-Copeland—who withstood the loneliness of being an out gay person and later an out trans person before it was common to be either, as well the challenges of being an underappreciated artist of color throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s—resonates with the Salt Lake Men’s Choir, in that they have also long celebrated their queer elders, and what it means to sing the song in one’s heart. The streaming party is on July 16 at 7 p.m., details for which can be found at facebook.com/slcmenschoir. Others wishing to stream the movie at other times can find details at damntheseheels.org.

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Local Binge: Hel Audio

Launching in 2012, Hel Audio has transformed SLC for the better as a go-to spot for crazy, challenging electronica offered up by the label’s roster of mainstay local and un-local artists alike. From the fuzzy, ambient noise of Braedyn Jae to the deliciously starry-eyed dream pop of Bobo, then to the clubby experimentations by UTA Trax, or the cinematic, creeping sounds of Θ (yes that’s the real name), there’s something for everyone here, whether they’re familiar with experimental electronic music or not. It may take some time to get into the grooves of what makes some of these similarly wandering artists distinct, which is made more challenging by their frequent (and very good) collaborations. Artists like RS2090, SIAK, Ben Q Best and Karl Jørgensen (the founder) collaborate often with their especially robotic leanings. The myriad other artists who have releases on the labels are too numerous to accurately describe, but be assured that the next time you need the relaxation of some excellent electronica, Hel Audio is the place to go. Another great way to get a sample of the participating artists is to take a peek at their big compilations, like 2014’s Industry or the February 2020 release WAV Network. Visit helaudio.bandcamp.com to purchase and stream, or visit helaudio.org to purchase their newly released HEL030. The collaboration between UTA Trax and Mooninite features contributions from Lauren Smith and Bobo, and all proceeds (forever) go to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

The Holladay Arts Council is getting on the creativity train alongside so many others, taking up the drive-in concert model for a new series of concerts at Highland Drive and Donelson Lane. Kicking off July 18 with the Joe Muscolino Band, the new series is free as long as one snags a reservation in time, with the performance space capped at 100 cars and up to six occupants per vehicle. The same rules as a drive-in movie basically apply—move around, sure, but be polite about it, which these days means wearing a mask when leaving the car. The sets all begin at 8:30, going until 11 p.m., with the exception of the very last night of the series (Aug. 29) which will go on at 7:30 and feature two acts, the Kage Hughart Project alongside the Charley Jenkins Band. This is a truly unique opportunity to enjoy longer-than-usual sets by beloved locals like funk and soul masters Joshy Soul & the Cool (Aug. 1), and the dynamic, contemporary stylings of Jersey Street Band (Aug. 15) and, as a repeat, the country-loving Charley Jenkins (Aug. 29). Don’t wait to reserve a spot for your car so you can roll down to Holladay and enjoy a safe summer’s night out under the stars, with plenty of tunes to go around. Go to holladayarts.com/”un”common-concerts for reservations and more info.

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About a year ago, when life was normal and you could bounce around to three different karaoke bars in one night, City Weekly published a story about why we karaoke. It was a good time for the writer, to be sure, and karaoke devotees surely miss their favorite pastime. So, as we did a few weeks ago when shows at bars started to happen again, it’s time to address the issue of live karaoke—many nights of which are starting to pop back up on summer calendars at local bars. Should one go belt one’s heart out while the pandemic still thrashes around our state? Unfortunately, reader, it might not be the best idea—or at least, that’s our opinion. Back in May, it was reported that an early March gathering of some choir singers in Mount Vernon, Wash. led to, uh, 87% of them falling ill with the virus (read about it on CNN, or do a simple google search “is it safe to sing in public 2020”). While church choirs and community choirs alike mourn the loss of group singing, the same concerns might be applied to the karaoke-loving community. While it’s technically usually just one person on stage singing, we all know what happens on karaoke night at a bar when everyone’s got some brewskis in them. So, do what thou wilt, readers, but consider saving thy spittle for another day, and a safer communal mic. Or, revisit one of our blog posts from back in March, when we outline how to host your own Instagram Live karaoke (spoiler: it involves a lot of drinking at home).

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Fourteen

Halftime Report

The best movies so far in a very weird movie year. BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

e’re just over the halfway mark in a year that seems like it can’t possibly end fast enough. Among the many bizarre qualities of 2020 has been a nearly four-month hiatus in new theatrical releases—but that doesn’t mean we haven’t had new movies worth giving your attention. Here in no particular order are a handful of the year’s best so far, whether from theater screens, streaming services or virtual cinemas. The Vast of Night: Director Andrew Patterson and screenwriters James Montague & Craig W. Sanger wear their influences baldly on their sleeves, but the result is a nifty low-tech sci-fi tale. The framing sequence positions it as an episode of a late-1950s Twilight Zone-esque series, where over the course of one evening, New Mexico radio station deejay Everett (Jake Horowitz) and switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) become aware of a strange radio transmission that may portend world-changing events. The first act terrifically re-creates Eisenhower-era smalltown life, while establishing an easy chemistry between the cocky Everett and gee-whiz Fay. That prologue also

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provides a solid context of this story in a time where people are fascinated with the futuristic technology (like phones people can carry around with them!). Once the plot kicks in, Patterson plays with his direction in engaging ways, and while it’s hard for the payoff to match Twilight Zone for a thematic kick, The Vast of Night largely evokes an era of curiosity and anxiety. Fourteen: Tales of dysfunctional/codependent relationships are tough to nail down, which makes writer/director Dan Sallitt’s film even more of a heartbreaking triumph. Over the course of around 10 years, Sallitt follows Mara (Tallie Medel) and Jo (Norma Kuhling)—friends since grade school—as Mara copes with the volatility of Jo’s personality. Sallitt’s directing style tends toward long takes, which can lead to the deceptive early impression that this story will be chilly and formalistic. But here it allows the characters and performances a chance to shine—both Medel and Kuhling are low-key fantastic—capturing a relationship filled with a weight of history. And Fourteen nails the dynamic that complicates this friendship: Mara’s frustration that she’s always picking up the pieces of Jo’s messy life, and Jo’s despair that “there’s no thing that happened” to offer an easy explanation for her mental-health rollercoaster. Parceling out information with patience and delicacy, Sallitt builds a remarkable portrait of how it feels to care deeply for someone you might not ever be able to “fix.” First Cow: Many of director Kelly Reichardt’s favored themes—the power of companionship, simple survival, economic uncertainty—coalesce in yet another beautiful exercise in filmmaking restraint. Working again with writer Jonathan Raymond, Reichardt visits the Oregon Territory circa the 1820s, where itinerant cook Cookie Figowitz (John Magaro) and Chinese immigrant King Lu (Orion Lee)

begin a business collaboration built on stealing milk from the only cow in the region, owned by a wealthy local landowner (Toby Jones). In some ways this is a suspense tale set in an unforgiving time and place, yet the modern-day prologue also removes a bit of that tension in favor of fatalism. What remains is both an economic parable and a tale of unconventional friendship, where capitalism collides with basic decency. Magaro’s pitch-perfect performance becomes the ideal representation of that dynamic, conveying what happens when somebody who is fundamentally kind and gentle faces the realities of a cutthroat world. With quiet confidence, Reichardt and Raymond offer a sweet and sad reminder of the violence behind our national mythologies of self-made men. The Assistant and The Invisible Man: Two of this year’s finest offerings were both tales of women trying to survive the threat of a predatory man. Kitty Green’s The Assistant casts Julia Garner as the newly-hired personal assistant to a clearly-Harvey-Weinstein-esque movie industry bigwig, as she tries to navigate the realization that he might be sexually assaulting young would-be actresses. A brilliant scene with a useless human resources director emphasizes the structures set up against any sort of accountability, while Garner’s performance captures how easy it is to stay silent. Meanwhile, James Wan’s latest incarnation of the H.G. Wells story pits Elisabeth Moss against her abusive ex, a tech millionaire who develops a way to stalk her without being seen. The set pieces allow for a terrific mix of visceral shocks and simmering paranoia, accentuated by a ferocious central performance by Moss. It might be a perfect movie for 2020 in another sense too: It’s about feeling crazy that you need to convince people that an obvious threat is real, even though it’s one you can’t see. CW

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ARIES (March 21-April 19) “If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time,” wrote Aries educator and activist Dorothy Height. This approach worked well during her 98 years on the planet. Her pioneering advocacy for African American women generated a number of practical improvements in their employment opportunities and civil rights. In accordance with the current astrological omens, Aries, I highly recommend her guiding principle for your use. You now have the power to ripen the time, even if no one else believes the time is ripe. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) “Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous ‘I don’t know.’” A wise and talented woman said that: Nobel Prize-winning poet Wisława Szymborska. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, it’s excellent advice for you to embrace during the coming weeks. You’re close to finding and accessing a mother lode of inspiration, and one of the best ways to ensure that happens in an optimal way is to make “I don’t know” your mantra. In other words, be cheerfully devoted to shedding your certainties. Lose your attachment to the beliefs and theories you tend to overly rely on. Make yourself as empty and clear and spacious as you possibly can.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) “Time can turn a scab into a beauty mark,” said actor and screenwriter Nia Vardalos. That’s a rousingly poetic speculation—and more metaphorically true than literally. But I suspect that if it ever might have a useful and meaningful application to an actual human struggle, it will be yours in the coming months. In my view, you are in fact capable of harnessing the magic necessary to transform a wound into a lovely asset. Be bold and imaginative as you carry out this seemingly improbable feat—which is actually not improbable.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “A person must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur,” wrote Sagittarian author and activist Jean Genet. “And dreaming is nursed in darkness.” According to my analysis of your astrological omens, this is an apt description of what has been unfolding for you, Sagittarius—and will continue to play out for you in the next two weeks. If you’re aligned with cosmic rhythms, you have been nursing your dreams in darkness— exploring and cultivating and learning from the raw creative energy that is simmering and ripening in your inner depths. Keep doing this important work, even if there are not yet any productive results. Eventually, it will enable you to “act with grandeur,” as Genet said. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau said, “There are truths that one can only say after having won the right to say them.” In my estimation, you have recently earned the right to express a fresh batch of scintillating and useful truths. Please do us all a favor and unveil them—preferably with both candor and tact. In behalf of everyone who will benefit from your insights, I’m sending you congratulations for the work you’ve had to do on yourself so as to win them. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) “After you make a fool of yourself a few hundred times, you learn what works,” testifies musician and singer Gwen Stefani. In my own life, I’ve had to make a fool of myself more than a few hundred times to learn what works. My number is closer to a thousand— and I’m still adding new examples on a regular basis. In the coming weeks, Aquarius, I highly recommend that you try what has served me and Gwen Stefani so well. You’re entering a phase when your foolishness will generate especially useful lessons. Being innocent and wildly open-minded will also be very useful. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution,” wrote author and futurist Alvin Toffler. While I hesitate to declare that idea to be absolutely and always true, I do recommend it to you in the coming weeks. Given the fact that you have recently been expanding possibilities and cultivating breakthroughs, I’d love to see you keep on pushing forward until you climax your momentum. To boost your courage, try to think of a crazy cry of exhilaration you might exclaim as you make your leaps, like “Yahoo!” or “Hell, yes!” or “Here I come!”

JULY 16, 2020 | 29

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Would you like to boost your mental and physical health in the coming weeks? Try this: Immerse yourself in the understanding that you’re interconnected with everything in the world. Tell yourself stories about how the atoms that compose your body have previously been part of many other things. This isn’t just a poetic metaphor; it’s scientific fact. Now study this passage by science writer Ella Frances Sanders: “The carbon inside you could have existed in any number of creatures or natural disasters before finding you. That particular atom residing somewhere above your left eyebrow? It could well have been a smooth riverbed pebble before deciding to call you home. You are rock and

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) “Deciding to remember, and what to remember, is how we decide who we are,” writes poet Robert Pinsky. That’s useful counsel for you right now, Scorpio. You’re entering a phase when you can substantially reframe your life story so that it serves you better. And one of the smartest ways to do that is to take an inventory of the memories you want to emphasize versus the memories you’d like to minimize. Another good trick is to reinterpret challenging past events so that you can focus on how they strengthened you and mobilized your determination to be true to yourself.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) As a Cancerian, you have a natural propensity to study and understand what author Margaret Atwood describes as “echoes and emptiness and shadow.” I believe this aspect of your repertoire will be especially active and available to you in the coming weeks. For best results, regard your attunement to these echoes and emptiness and shadow as an asset, even a precious talent. Use it to discern what’s missing or lost but could be recovered. Invoke it to help you navigate your way through murky or confusing situations. Call on it to help you see important things that are invisible to others.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) It’s a favorable time to celebrate the fantastic privilege of being alive. Are you willing to believe that? Will you cooperate with my intention to nudge you in the direction of elation and exaltation? Are you open to the possibility that miracles and epiphanies may be at hand for you personally? To help get yourself in the proper mood, read this passage by Libran author Diane Ackerman: “The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one’s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard and gallop over the thick, sunstruck hills every day.”

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Gemini-born author Djuna Barnes (1892–1982) was a world traveler who wrote in several different genres, ranging from lesbian fiction to essays on boxing to plays that used poetic language. She was experimental and empirical and experiential. On one occasion, she voluntarily submitted to the force-feeding endured by hunger-striking suffragists so she could write about what it was like to be tortured. Another fun fact about Djuna: Every morning, she did up her hair and put her make-up on, then climbed into bed and wrote for many hours. In the coming weeks, Gemini, I recommend you draw inspiration from every aspect of her life—except the torture part, of course. The coming weeks will be a fine time to be versatile, exploratory and committed to expressing yourself purely in whatever ways make you comfortably excited.

wave and the peeling bark of trees, you are ladybirds and the smell of a garden after the rain.”

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ADO

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

ACROSS

1. Stand taken by a speaker? 2. Philosopher Descartes 3. "Free Willy" creature 4. Workplace for some veterinarians 5. Declaration on a Chinese menu 6. Egglike 7. It's lit eight nights in a row 8. Singer DiFranco 9. Mil. decoration since 1918 10. Enduring aspect of a person's life

Post House

11. Orbicularis ____ (eyelid-closing muscle) 12. Swedish automaker 13. Titular host of NBC's "Game of Games" 18. Miss Piggy's coy question 22. Containing state-of-the-art gadgetry 23. Caleb who wrote "The Alienist" 24. Many a Meccan 25. "To begin with …" 26. [Avoid watching this in front of the boss] 27. Jazzman Baker 28. Some batteries 31. Works, as dough 32. Language from which "reindeer" comes 34. "____ arigato, Mr. Roboto" 35. "Whatcha ____?" 36. Fraternal order with an animal emblem 38. Level 40. One who's succeeding 43. Johnnie who said "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" 45. Alleges 46. Go by walking 48. Deep, musically 49. Waiting in the wings 50. Emasculate

51. "Chicago Hope" Emmy-winner Christine 52. Underground find 55. "Now, where ____?" 56. Polish for publication 57. Dinghy or dory 59. 1-800-Flowers competitor 60. Suffix with script or text 61. Zodiac animal

Last week’s answers

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

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Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9.

1. Physician with a daily talk show 5. Itinerant sort 10. Nada for Nadal 14. Prefix with nautical 15. Bakery fixtures 16. Environmentalist's subj. 17. *Unspeakable siutation? 19. Dock figure 20. Blue expanse 21. Third-northernmost national capital 22. Reduce by 50% 23. *Magazine that put Linda Evangelista on its cover holding a Cohiba panatella 26. Final Four org. 29. It's unlikely 30. *2013 disaster film that spawned many sequels 33. Rabbit relative 34. POTUS when Sputnik was launched 37. "All will be well" 39. Wharton, e.g., informally 41. Oz. and kg. 42. "Modern Family" actor Stonestreet 44. *1885 operetta set in Japan 45. Words before "the blues" or "the Mondays" 47. Charged particles 48. *Setting for "Mork & Mindy" 53. Actresses Kendrick and Paquin 54. Coat of frost 55. Fly catcher 58. California's ____ Valley 59. What each of the starred clues are "without" 62. Fake IRS call, e.g. 63. Blue eyes or hairy legs, e.g. 64. Where approximately 60% of people live 65. Urges 66. Tooth: Prefix 67. Fly catcher

SUDOKU

| COMMUNITY | | CITYWEEKLY.NET |

30 | JULY 16, 2020

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

The mother of all downtown residential projects has just broken ground in Salt Lake City. Post House Apartments will be a pedestrian-oriented development on 10 acres—a full city block (the size of Liberty Park)—with five buildings and 580 residential units (461,921 square feet of housing) and 26,833 square feet of retail. MVE+ Architects see this project as “a catalyst for fostering the development of a sustainable urban neighborhood.” The development is part of the Post District, which gets its name from an old building once housing the Newspaper Agency Corp.—a distribution point for the daily newspapers’ delivery trucks. Located along 500 South between 300 West and 400 West, you may have even glimpsed the area as a backdrop in recent skateboarding and clandestine videos. To the south is the Granary District and to the north is the Salt Lake Mission and what used to be a fruit and vegetable warehouse. The mission is still there, but the Post District has its own plans to repurpose the warehouse. It suffered some minor earthquake damage just after COVID-19 hit, but work is now going ahead full steam to take off the layers of paint and make it a part of the development. The developers dream of not only creating a variety of housing units—from studio apartments the size of small hotel rooms to 2,000 square foot lofts—but also indoor and outdoor pools, rooftop decks and BBQs, a fitness center and green spaces surrounding the buildings. Imagine Liberty Park with five mediumsize residential buildings surrounded by grass and trees. It would be a nicer area in which to live rather than having five individual housing units spread across downtown, sans green spaces. As a fan of history, I love that the developers want to utilize many of the old buildings on the sites and work them to complement to the new construction. The project is located within an “opportunity zone,” which gives blighted and distressed areas love and attention. Builders and investors receive incentives and tax breaks, just as developers did with the Granary District. The idea of the developers is to have a mix of rental priced housing, from the fancy penthouses to the starter studios. Drive south on 300 West past 500 South, and you’ll see the deep trenches going in now for the foundations. Reports are that this will end up costing almost $150 million to erect, but given the area and the desperate need for housing, methinks these will rent out fast. n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

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JULY 16, 2020 | 31

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

Babs De Lay

| COMMUNITY |

n Merseyside Police responding to the scene of a crash in Huyton, England, in the wee hours of June 28 say they arrived in

time to witness a woman “finishing off a glass of wine,” according to the Echo. In the collision, a white Mercedes had plowed into a parked Ford Focus, with both cars sustaining significant damage. Photographs from the scene showed the Mercedes to contain an empty wine bottle on the floor of the passenger seat, along with a wine glass, and another full bottle in a storage compartment. Police announced the arrest of two women, 33 and 35, on suspicion of unauthorized taking of a motor vehicle and drunk driving. This Old House Firefighters were called to a home in Guilford, Connecticut, on June 29 where a resident had fallen through a wood floor in the 177-year-old house and down about 30 feet into a well, WHDH reported. The victim treaded water for about 25 minutes while responders worked to hoist them out. Apparently, the well had been covered over by an addition made to the home during a 1981 renovation. “Some of these older, historical homes may have hazards that were not updated by current code,” the Guilford Police Department tweeted. The victim was taken to the hospital but had only minor injuries. Chutzpah Fisherman Dawson Cody Porter, 22, of Eagle River, Alaska, was arrested June 27 outside the Fisherman’s Bar after arriving there driving a stolen fire truck with its emergency lights flashing, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Bristol Bay Borough police said Porter broke into the King Salmon Fire Station around 9 p.m., where he started the truck and drove it through the station’s closed bay doors, making his way west on the Alaska Peninsula Highway about 15 miles to Naknek. Police Chief John Rhyshek said Porter caused about $10,000 in damage and put the fire truck out of commission while repairs are made to it. A Family Affair Retired wheat farmer Peter Grundy, 84, of Denilliquin, New South Wales, Australia, has wanted to sell his apartment in Melbourne for the past eight years so he can move to a retirement home, but he’s been foiled by his 49-year-old daughter, Katrina, who refuses to move out. Grundy has taken his daughter to court to evict her, Nine News reported, but she won’t budge, and Grundy is running out of options. “I’m sure it’s taken the bit of youth I had left in me,” said Grundy, describing his daughter as “very clever in legal terms.” Katrina contends her parents gifted her the apartment, but a judge has dismissed that claim. Dad has spent about $70,000 (Australian) in legal fees. “She has an enormous capability to come up with things we never hear of,” he said. Should Have Seen It Coming Alexander Feaster, 44, in Hunter, Oklahoma, was arrested and charged in the June 28 shooting of an unnamed 26-year-old woman who had been attending a party across the street from Feaster’s property. Garfield County Sheriff Jody Helm told KFOR that, on a dare, the woman had tried to steal one of two Nazi swastika flags displayed in Feaster’s front yard, but “on the way back, someone hollered, ‘gun.’ She dropped the flag ... and shots were fired.” Police executing a search warrant on the home found more than a dozen guns and ammunition. Feaster was charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon and shooting with intent to kill. The woman is expected to survive.

| CITYWEEKLY.NET |

Aw, Snap! A police officer in West Yorkshire, England, shared the thoughts of many after being called to the scene of a wreck involving a $300,000 Lamborghini that lasted only 20 minutes on the road before it was totaled on June 24. “It’s only a car,” the officer tweeted, but he “could have cried.” According to the BBC, the car suffered a mechanical failure during its virgin drive and came to a stop in the outside lane of the M1 motorway, where it was rearended by a van. The driver of the van suffered nonserious head injuries in the crash. The Lamborghini driver was not identified, nor was it clear whether he was hurt in the crash. Idle Hands TikTok user Kevin Wise told KSLA he was looking for his five minutes of fame when he jumped into a fish tank at Bass Pro Shop in Bossier, Louisiana, in late June. “I said that if I got 2,000 likes, I would jump in the tank,” Wise said. “I got way more than that and didn’t want to be a liar.” Shopper Treasure McGraw recorded video of Wise swimming around in the tank before he climbed out and ran through the store, soaking wet. “We heard a big splash, and I thought it was one of the fish,” McGraw said. Initially, Bass Pro Shops said it would not press charges, but on June 26, the company filed a complaint with the Bossier City Police Department, noting that it had to empty the 13,000-gallon tank and clean it after Wise’s swim. Wise wouldn’t recommend the stunt to others. “Don’t do spur-ofthe-moment crap like I do,” he warned. Repeat Offender Devin Roberts, 32, of Bardwell, Kentucky, caught the attention of local media after being arrested three times in one week. Carlisle County Sheriff’s deputies first encountered Roberts on June 23, WSIL reported, when he called the sheriff’s office to say he had taken a case he found next to a dumpster that turned out to contain items belonging to the city. When officers arrived, they determined the case had been removed from a city building. The following Saturday, Roberts was accused of fighting with a grocery store clerk and making lewd comments to female employees. Sheriff William Gilbert found Roberts at his home, passed out in a running vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. He had also left his 3-year-old son at home with another inebriated person. Finally, on June 28, deputies pulling over a car on suspicion of drunken driving found Roberts in the passenger seat, drunk and in possession of alcohol, which violated the terms of his earlier bonds. Roberts faces multiple charges related to all three encounters. Questionable Judgments n The Sun reported on June 29 that two Ryanair pilots are in the (chicken) soup after they recorded themselves getting silly with a rubber chicken in the cockpit of a Boeing 737-800. In the video, thought to be recorded as passengers boarded the plane in Birmingham, England, the first officer and pilot trade off using the chicken to operate the airplane’s throttle and making it squeak while mugging for the camera. Other crew members laugh in the background. A spokesperson for Ryanair commented: “These pictures and videos show crew on the ground in a parked aircraft with the engines shut down. While the images are unprofessional, the actions in them posed no risk and safety was never compromised. ... (Nevertheless) we are investigating the matter further.”

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| CITY WEEKLY • BACKSTOP |

32 | JULY 16, 2020

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