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CITY WEEKLY U TA H ' S I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R
TEARDOWN FOR WHAT? As Salt Lake City’s population booms, neighborhoods find themselves in a losing battle against ‘densi-fication.’
By Katharine Biele
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CONTENTS COVER STORY
TEARDOWN FOR WHAT? As Salt Lake City’s population booms, neighborhoods find themselves in a losing battle against ‘densi-fication.’ By Katharine Biele
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Cover design by Derek Carlisle
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OPINION A&E DINE MUSIC CINEMA COMMUNITY
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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 State of Utah Coronavirus Updates: coronavirus.utah.gov
STAFF Publisher PETE SALTAS Executive Editor JOHN SALTAS News Editor JERRE WROBLE Arts & Entertainment Editor SCOTT RENSHAW Music Editor ERIN MOORE Listings Desk KARA RHODES
Contributors KATHARINE BIELE, ROB BREZSNY, JENNY POPLAR, MIKE RIEDEL, ALEX SPRINGER, Production Art Director DEREK CARLISLE Graphic Artists SOFIA CIFUENTES, CHELSEA NEIDER
Circulation Circulation Manager ERIC GRANATO Business/Office Technical Director BRYAN MANNOS Developer BRYAN BALE Display Advertising 801-716-1777 National Advertising VMG Advertising 888-278-9866
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 publication 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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SOAP BOX “Pill Popping” April 8 Private Eye column
I found John Saltas’ “Pill Popping” article informative and timely. As someone who worked in the pharma industry for 30-plus years, mainly as a Drug Enforcement Administration compliance manager, I agree that flushing meds is not good for downstream inhabitants. The safe and legal way to dispose of unwanted medications can be done under the DEA’S Drug Take Back program. (Find out more at deadiversion. usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback) The “war on drugs” was indeed a fiasco and waste of taxpayer money. It put a lot of relatively innocent people in prison— often those who were hooked on drugs and could not break the cycle of addition. The real root cause of the current opioid crisis is doctors who overprescribe these medications. As Saltas said—and as I have experienced myself—you have a tooth pulled or surgery done, and they give you a prescription for 10 or 20 pills when 3 or 4 will do. Then there are the pill
@SLCWEEKLY mills, where doctors take your money and give you a prescription. The DEA knows it’s mainly doctors who are the problem, but it’s easier to go after the distributors and manufacturers—that’s where the money is. The DEA’s war on manufacturers and distributors started with Joseph Rannazzisi, who was the head of the DEA Diversion section. He hated Big Pharma and went after them with a vengeance. Look up him up on a 60 Minutes story (which was disappointing because it was entirely one-sided). I’m not saying the manufacturers and distributors are blameless. They made mistakes—and they have gone to great lengths to clean up their act.
“How Do You Spell Releaf?” April 29 cover story
North Salt Lake
Tech Titans Who Couldn’t Care Less
Listen to Utah in the Weeds podcast. If you’re unfamiliar with Utah’s laws and regulations, start at the beginning. @VERBALLYUNRESTRAINED
Via Instagram
“Sliced and Diced” April 29 Private Eye column
We are suffering now. Look at the lack of intellect in our representation in Washington, D.C. MIKE SCHMAUCH
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PATRICK (PAT) SHIELDS
“Get on the Canna-bus” April 22 cover story
We voted, they gutted. But a mask mandate is government overreach? @LORDJONNEMORT
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America is the technology titan of the planet. America is the productivity engineer of the nations. America is the humanitarian giant of the globe. America is the policeman of the world. If all this is true, why then is India
@CITYWEEKLY
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burning hundreds of thousands of its people to ashes night and day to remove the human outfall of our leadership role in the world? Perhaps it is because we are obsessed with private entertainment uses of technology, rather than public health uses. Maybe it is because we have farmed out our manufacturing and customer service jobs to ill-paid foreigners who are exploited daily by their rulers. Could it be that we don’t give a damn about Indian people of brown and black color? Is it possible we police other nations like we police our own minority neighborhoods and our own borders, dismissively and violently? And it seems likely our leaders, who have done an abominable job of preventing the disease here at home, and many of our people who do little to save themselves from the disease let alone others, won’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt about India.
KIMBALL SHINKOSKEY
Woods Cross
THE BOX What are you most excited about for summer 2021? Scott Renshaw
Movies in theaters, the way God intended.
Bryan Bale
Performing music again, starting with Living Traditions. Maybe Gracie’s or Bourbon House will bring back their weekly bluegrass jams.
Joel Smith
Seeing my toes again.
Eric Granato
City Weekly’s Beer Festival [Aug. 21-22 at the Gateway].
Benjamin Wood
Concerts, movies in theaters and not working myself to death for the first summer in 10 years.
Katharine Biele
I am bounded by two neighbors doing major renovations, so I am most hopeful this will all be done sometime in the summer and there will be peace. On earth, too.
Kelly Boyce
Boats. Water. Boating on water. No clothes (when applicable). Events sound pretty neat, too.
Paula Saltas
Our Beer Festival. People are ready to have fun. Get your VIP tickets now.
Mike Ptaschinski
In-person patio drinks, dinners and nonpolitical conversations with friends.
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OPINION
Done With Guns A
nother April gone. Every year when “the cruelest month” rolls around, I find myself reflecting on a tragic event from more than two decades ago that shaped my teen years. Few can forget the day two students at Littleton, Colorado’s Columbine High went on a shooting rampage that killed 12 students and a teacher. I was a 17-year-old junior at Cottonwood High School in Murray on April 20, 1999. I spent that day glued to my TV watching images of terrified students who were every bit my peers. Others were being carted out in body bags from their high school. I don’t have to look up the footage of the panicked students literally running for their lives, because they are forever seared into memory. Twenty-two years later, I can still feel the raw emotions that enveloped me. When I was 17, I thought that Columbine was an aberration—a horrific isolated incident that would be met with swift reforms. Little did I know that mass shootings would soon become the norm. Salt Lake itself went on to make the list of cities with a mass shooting. On the evening of Feb. 12, 2007, 18-year-old Sulejman Talović entered Trolley Square shopping mall and shot five shoppers, and wounded four others, before he was killed by police. On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza used a rifle and a handgun that belonged to his mother to fatally shoot 26 human beings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty students as young as 6 years old died. Let me repeat that. Adam Lanza fatally shot multiple kindergarteners. And virtually nothing changed. What Sandy Hook revealed is that a large portion of the U.S. population value the unrestricted right to bear arms
BY JENNY POPLAR over the right of an elementary school student to arrive at school alive and not leave in a body bag. In the wake of these all-too frequent shootings, many gun enthusiasts claim the answer to curbing gun violence is simply arming “good” guys with guns to take down the “bad” ones. My own brush with gun violence taught me how truly laughable the “good guys with guns” hypothesis is. On June 22, 2010—three weeks after I had moved to my adopted home of New Orleans—I was walking in the residential section of Bourbon Street at noon, when a 37-year-old man stepped in front of me on the sidewalk, pulled out a gun and demanded that I give him all of my money, or he was going to kill me. I will never forget how tense and unhinged my mugger was. I have replayed this encounter so many times in my mind, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt if I had reached into my purse and pulled out a gun, my mugger would have shot me multiple times. If some self-appointed Captain America vigilante had swooped in and tried to save the day by pulling out a gun—there is no question that someone would have been injured or killed. And I’m pretty sure that person riddled with bullet holes and bleeding out on the sidewalk would have been me. I was able to defuse a potentially deadly situation by complying with my mugger’s demands. I didn’t have any cash, so I handed over my ATM card. I recall repeating my ATM pin over and over again in the blazing afternoon sun. No one was hurt, and all of my stolen money was refunded by my bank. The evidence in my case put a serial mugger behind bars. I have mixed feelings about putting my assailant in jail for reasons that I will explain shortly. Why do so many people throw up their hands and act like there is no solution to the epidemic of U.S. gun violence. Really? When the United States is the only country
in the world that has regular mass shootings? Maybe we can look at other countries with low rates of gun violence and consider how we might adopt some workable policy solutions. In the wake of a 2019 attack on a mosque that killed 50 people, the New Zealand parliament banned military-style weapons. Any type of proposed gun ban works a sizable portion of the U.S. population into a frenzy, but it’s long past the time to ask ourselves if high-capacity guns designed solely to brutally kill as many people as possible in the blink of an eye really have a place in a civilized society. I understand that a gun is a tool. My Southern grandpa was an avid hunter who owned several guns. There is not a single piece of proposed common-sense gun legislation that would have impacted my grandfather in the least. It is high time for background checks, waiting periods to buy guns, closing easy firearm-access loopholes at gun shows, and red-flag laws that would temporarily remove firearms from potentially dangerous individuals who might cause harm to themselves or others. Gun violence is undeniably a complex issue that requires solutions beyond simply regulating guns. I am haunted by the fact that the man who mugged me thought that the ATM was broken because he could not withdraw money in $50 increments with my stolen card. That tells me that my 37-year-old mugger was so disenfranchised, he never had a bank card. Curbing gun violence requires a commitment to economic equality, accessible and affordable mental health care, and sensible gun control. There are countless workable, logical solutions to the scourge of gun violence. Contrary to popular belief, mass shootings don’t have to be the norm. We should not allow the psychic wounds of these tragedies to fully heal until the powers that be take decisive action on gun violence.CW Send comments to editor@cityweekly.net.
HITS&MISSES BY KATHARINE BIELE @kathybiele
MISS: Blue Phobia
You’d think the Utah Republican Party was worried about losing its vice grip on the state’s sheep-like electorate. At any minute, the whole thing could slip away and those radical liberal socialists will be forcing Utahns to abort their babies, leave their churches and turn in their guns. The Utah Republican Convention and the dialogue leading up to it just confirms that stalwarts have a message for you: The apocalypse is right around the corner. “This is what the ideology of the left is all about. It’s causing chaos, it’s causing misery, disrespect for those on the front line to stand between good and evil. ... Our society, our culture is under attack. It’s the Biden blitz,” U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens told Fox News. A Salt Lake Tribune editorial ticked off the many issues that set off Sen. Mike Lee, including Dr. Seuss books. Don’t forget that the socialists are “waging war” on the country’s founding. The outgoing state GOP chair warned of “storm clouds” because nearby states are getting “bluer.” And the new party chair simply whined, “We wanna keep the state red.”
MISS: Represent the People
When you think of the preservation movement, do you think about crumbling structures and gray-haired professors? What began with Ann Pamela Cunningham saving George Washington’s Mount Vernon in 1853 has changed and is looking to make it relevant to the next generation. If we are to learn from the past, we need to know why and how preservation is a part of the path forward. “Let’s expand our toolkit, our understanding of who is a preservationist, and empower each other for the future of our communities!” say organizers of Reconstructing the Preservation Movement. You will see examples of where the movement is going and how it can be more inclusive. Also, visual artist Carlos Carmonamedina will be sketching presentation reflections, and his creation will be revealed just before the live audience Q&A. Virtual, Thursday, May 6, 6 p.m., free. https://bit.ly/2Pz59ms
The National Monuments
Here in Utah, the fight to take over the national monuments is heating up along with support for shrinking these public treasures to open them to motor vehicles, mineral extraction and increased tourism. Understanding the National Monuments Debate will help Utahns see how these public lands provide a wide range of environmental benefits. “Granting protective status to these lands generally imposes restrictions on resource development and extraction activities and thus often generates conflict and debate among public and private stakeholders,” organizers say. Local legislators and the public are invited to view a special screening of the Patagonia documentary Public Trust: The Fight for America’s Public Lands, provided by The Hutchings Museum & Institute. Legislators may respond to the film in an attempt to highlight both sides of the contentious issue. Megaplex Theatres at Thanksgiving Point, 2935 North Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, Thursday, May 6, 6 p.m. Free/register at https://bit.ly/3xzlrNm
The U’s Historical Growth Crisis
In the years following World War II, the campus of the University of Utah was witnessing unprecedented growth and administrators were scrambling to find new places for classes, offices and research. Historian Bim Oliver will guide you through The Crisis Campus—The U of U After World War II during this extraordinary period that laid the ground for the campus we see today. Virtual, Wednesday, May 12, 12 p.m. Free/ register at https://bit.ly/3aPT5EV
—KATHARINE BIELE
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MAY 6, 2021 | 7
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia is celebrated on May 17, a date to commemorate the 1990 decision to remove homosexuality from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization. Join the Stephen Lewis Foundation for a conversation about the role of global solidarity in championing health and human rights. At Global Solidarity to End Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, you’ll hear diverse perspectives from community-based organizations in East Africa and Canada that are addressing the impacts on these marginalized communities. Virtual, Wednesday, May 12, 9 a.m. Free/register at https://bit.ly/3xCiqMl
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End the Phobias
It was close, but Mitt Romney survived a sound thrashing by Utah’s rightestwing Republicans as the state convention voted 798 to 711 not to censure him for, well, following his moral compass. The hapless senator was booed all during his convention speech, even when he said, “I’m not a fan of the current president’s policies.” It didn’t matter. GOP delegate Don “abortion is murder” Guymon pushed for censure as he and other Utah Republicans believe Romney is a closet Democrat somehow harming the Constitution by not fawning over the Donald. A comment on Fox 13’s site echoed the thought: “Proud of you Utah for making it clear that [Romney] F$&@ up by not standing with 45!” Still, Romney didn’t wilt from the challenge, all the while proclaiming his loyalty to the party that prefers Q.
Future Preservation
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HIT: Dodging Friendly Fire
IN A WEEK, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
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Speaking of keeping the state red: redistricting aka gerrymandering is coming to a district near you. “Progressives will want to carve out a safe Democratic district with perhaps Salt Lake City and West Valley City as the center. Republicans will want to carefully divide up Salt Lake County to dash those Democratic dreams,” says the Deseret News’ LaVarr Webb. Most people know who is going to win. Let’s talk about what citizens want—not what progressives or conservatives want. It’s probably to be represented, not discounted or diminished. Salt Lake is divided into three congressional districts and Summit County is divided among three Utah House and three Utah Senate districts. Utah is still the fastest growing state in the nation—but not enough to merit another congressional seat. Watch for leaders of the Latterday Saints to strongly encourage more births over the next decade.
CITIZEN REV LT
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8 | MAY 6, 2021
Available at Ogden’s Own Distillery 615 W. Stockman Way, Ogden (801) 458-1995 www.OgdensOwn.com
TEARDOWN FOR WHAT? BY KATHARINE BIELE
City East Side Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places were built in the 1890s. That designation doesn’t provide any protections but does allow homeowners to apply for renovation tax credits. And although the neighborhood won the battle over the designation, it wasn’t enough to save China Blue, the residents there or the historic homes that were part of the Lincoln Street rezoing project. While townhomes with up to 30 units will not be built, something else probably will.
Are ADUs the answer?
MAY 6, 2021 | 9
The issue is not so different in the upper Avenues, in Sugar House, Glendale, Yalecrest and just about anywhere in the city because there is growing anxiety over the inevitable population crunch. To residents, this is Armageddon against the invading hordes. The city is expecting 50,000 more inhabitants to pack in by 2030. Already, some 50,000 families are doubled up, and because of the dearth of living spaces, that leaves a shortfall of 100,000 units. Of that, The Salt Lake Tribune writes that “Utah lacks at least 50,000 moderately priced homes and rentals.” The city council is frantic to make room for them.
Capitol Park condos have been selling for upwards of $2.4 million, and a home just below is for sale for $2.7 million. “We are aware and we appreciate the input and have made numerous changes to our plan based on that input,” said Ivory Development President Chris Gamvroulas. “There is a strong, well-funded NIMBY group working overtime to make sure only super rich people get to live in the neighborhood.” The proposed development would be a first-of-its-kind in this market, with ADUs being built into the homes from the start. “I can tell you we are not going to develop it under the current zoning,” Gamvroulas said. “If this plan not approved, we will come back with another plan—and it may be more dense. This is a way to create some housing affordability in the city, and we intend to do that on that property.” Ivory saw an opening when the city passed its 2018 ordinance on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The first year, the city received only six applications for ADUs, according to the online Building Salt Lake real estate news. But this year, an additional 31 would mean a 1,000 percent increase. And according to a report by the city’s planning commission, it’s obvious “that ADUs are currently not contributing to alleviating the city’s housing shortage. ADUs have only been built on 0.15% of the city’s 44,000 single-family residential lots.” That hasn’t stopped Ivory from singing its praises, even though an ADU typically might cost $156,000 to construct.
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China Blue—or the Blue, as it was fondly called—sits at 959 E. 200 South in an historic district on Salt Lake’s east-central community among five homes targeted for demolition to make way for new, multifamily apartments. When the owners lost their fight with the city, they painted it white. The psychedelic murals didn’t fare any better, lost somewhere under layers of coverup. The fight is just one of many as neighborhoods across the city revolt in an effort to save what they have in lifestyle, affordability and character. Right now, it’s about something called RMF-30—the first piece of the city’s Residential Multi-Family zoning plan. “The plan specifically calls for the removal of local zoning barriers to housing development such as density limitations and ineffective lot dimensional requirements (lot width, oversize setbacks, etc.),” the city plan says. Think “height,” too—a maximum height of 30 feet, and that’s just the beginning. As the city builds up, residents wonder if Salt Lake is on the road to Beijing—saturated with box-like multi-family dwellings, tearing down “naturally occurring affordable” homes, while leaving a few singlefamily homes only the wealthy could afford. Four of the five homes in the Salt Lake
“We’ve reached the tipping point—we’re probably past the tipping point where we need to look at proposals,” says Salt Lake City Councilman Chris Wharton. Proposals. Dotted along the upper Avenues is sign after sign decrying, “No Ivory Homes Re-Zone.” Long ago gentrified, the Avenues was Salt Lake’s first neighborhood, attracting both young professionals and hipsters as wealthier homeowners moved up the hill or to the suburbs. The Avenues Historic District was designated in 1980 to include 487 acres and sites such as Brigham Young’s grave. High above, on 12th Avenue and E Street now sit 28 luxury condos in the renovated old Veterans Administration hospital, a red-brick neoclassical structure that stood empty for 16 years as a ghostly remnant of past wars. At the entrance, Ivory Homes has erected a sign proclaiming the Capitol Park Cottages—20 single-family houses to be built just north of the condos on what is now an open grassy field. The mature Siberian elms, a nesting site to two families of redtail hawks, would have to be clear-cut. The plans look strikingly like Daybreak. “Ivory originally filed in May of 2020 for rezoning the 3.1 acre plot,” says Peter Wright, who along with 100 other residents formed the Preserve Our Avenues Zoning Coalition. Ivory’s website emphasizes the affordability issue and “onerous burdens on new housing development.” Indeed, there’s not much affordable in the upper Aves. The
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I
t’s gone. At least for Angela Jensen, Alex Sparks and the countless residents who cycled in and out of this bohemian icon, it is gone, and with it not only the opportunity for community, but also for affordable living in a city growing anxiously in anticipation of an onslaught of population.
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As Salt Lake City’s population booms, neighborhoods find themselves in a losing battle against ‘densi-fication.’
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10 | MAY 6, 2021
The oversize impact of tiny homes
Wright calls the affordability refrain “a perversion of the concept of ADUs.” Still, affordability is only one area of dispute with POAZC. “Our objections are principally environmental,” says Wright. They are concerned about runoff on the steep foothills, wildlife protection and of course pollution. The city’s five-year plan calls for walkable communities, but that is virtually impossible in the upper Avenues. “Everyone that lives in this environment drives everywhere. It’s seven blocks down a steep grade to Smith’s,” he says. And people won’t be going by wheelchair. With only one driveway per unit, cars could be starting up and shuffling about frequently, polluting all the while. “We’re trying not to be NIMBYs over this,” Wright says. And yet developments like this are headed to everyone’s backyard—and in them. ADUs, which have a mixed record, are just one piece of the population puzzle. Often called mother-in-law apartments, the city has had them in neighborhoods for decades, although many aren’t officially recognized. Internal ADUs don’t create a lot of pushback, but stand-alone ADUs and the now-in-vogue tiny houses require separate hookups and permissions. That puts them out of reach for many. “For these stand-alones, it’s a minimum of $200,000 for sewer and line,” says Lynn Pershing, whose neighborhood activism started in Yalecrest. “The sewer alone is $25K. … This isn’t about affordability.” Gamvroulas says that building costs are what’s driving the escalatig price tags. “Lumber prices have increased 300 percent,” he says, noting that the smaller Capitol Park cottage homes will likely start at $1 million. The city once was beholden to the livestock barons, then the mining barons, “and now it’s the developer-builder barons, and they control all the state,” Pershing says. Building in the city is supposed to be “compatible,” but the definition in the code has been fuzzy. “That’s what destroyed the Avenues—all the teardowns and incompatible structures in terms of building style, mass and scale,” she says. “Compatibility is in the eye of the observer or regulator, and they will contort themselves to make it compatible.” Khosrow Semnani thinks of himself as an accidental developer. Once known as the founder of the waste-management company Envirocare, Semnani sold the company and started the global investment company S.K. Hart Management and bought Trolley Square when it was in receivership. “I was approached by the bank, and now I’m selling real estate by default,” he says. There had been plans to convert the mall to a storage area, but Semnani had other ideas because after his many decades in Utah, he has found history worth preserving. “It’s the history of the people in Utah who shaped it,” he says. His office sits along historic South Temple in a restored building. He looks across the street at the John Glendinning House, sometimes called Victorian Picturesque. Semnani wonders aloud how the city approved a shed-like addition to the side. Dave Amott of Preservation Utah thinks the addition, used for state offices, was likely approved in the late ’70s or ’80s before local landmarking laws were codified.
STEPHANIE STANCZAK
STEPHANIE STANCZAK
STEPHANIE STANCZAK
Goodbye, China Blue: Images of an eclectic historic home slated for demolition, one of five included in the Lincoln Street rezoning.
With residential demand going up, along with prices, homes are out of reach for many people. “I don’t have a magic wand,” Semnani says. “But you cannot cram everybody downtown.” Semnani says he appreciates the mayor looking at the problem, and city council trying to revisit it, but “testing should not be done in historical districts first. It doesn’t make sense… It’s like testing a face cream on an eye.” The testing appears to be fueled by rising homelessness and anxiety over an increase in population. Tiny homes and ADUs are being held up as solutions, if only stopgap, to both affordability and housing availability. But is it true? Certainly, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall thinks it could make a dent. She is proposing a tiny home community/ compound for the homeless. “The glorification of what is essentially a well-designed, small trailer covers up the fact that many people are not freely choosing tiny houses but are forced to live in them because of inflated housing prices and flat salaries in many housing markets.” That was a comment on a New York Times article entitled, “What No One Ever Tells You About Tiny Homes.”
Destroying what’s already good
Utah’s housing prices are skyrocketing like most markets in the country, and March saw the hottest market since 2012, according to discount real estate broker Redfin. There are many reasons including flight from the suburbs, and when supply can’t keep up, prices rise. “Income inequality drives hundreds of people into homelessness on any given night in dozens of communities across the U.S.,” according to new research in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Sugar House used to be an attraction for residents of moderate income. “The city council stopped using the term ‘affordable,’” says Judi Short, a former planning commissioner who is now Land Use chair for the Sugar House Community Council. These days, the cheapest rent in Sugar House is $1,200—and it may be for a studio apartment. “You can’t see anyone building an SRO (single-room occupancy, a low-income form of housing that includes a single room and often a shared bathroom and kitchen) that really serves the purpose,” she says. With some 80 percent of land in the city not zoned for housing, “you’re cramming it in.” City Planning Director Nick Norris concurs, noting the current formula of 15 percent of city land reserved for single-family homes and 6 percent for multi-family homes contributes to making housing less affordable. The Affordable Housing Overlay Zone allows any residential lot in the city to add as many units as can fit on a lot. Only District 6, which includes the Yalecrest area, is exempt. But that area has been hit hard, too. Since 1990, there have been 56 teardowns or demolitions of mostly historic homes in the area. And what is going up in their place is anything but affordable. “The city allows developers to do whatever they want and get a tax benefit for it,” says Yalecrest activist Pershing. Pershing is among many who think the city should help develop west-side communities “instead of destroying what’s already good.”
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Colonizing the hood
But west-side Salt Lake has its own unique issues. Developers are planning to put 58 townhomes on a 2.37-acre commercially zoned parcel in the Glendale neighborhood. This would displace the existing, if aging, Glendale Plaza. “This neighborhood could use a few good retail stores, like a small restaurant, ice cream or coffee shop,” says Charlotte Fife-Jepperson, managing editor of West View Media. “This development proposal does not encourage a ‘walkable’ community. Are these townhomes going to be affordable, or market rate?” The west side has never had the respect it deserves. When Deedee Corradini was mayor, she moved roads, bridges and freeway corridors to erase the divide, but the west side struggled with identity politics. A low-income migrant population added to a perception of crime, and a lack of business opportunities meant residents often lived in virtual food deserts. While much of that has changed, the west side continues to be a dumping ground for unwanted development and increased pollution. Think of the inland port, for example. “The west side has a suburban development pattern and single-family homes,” says Luke Garrott, a former Salt Lake City councilman for that district. “It needs density, rooftops, and people need services instead of driving. … You get what you zone for.” Much of the problem centers around parking because developers tend to overbuild for parking, and no one wants to walk by an empty parking lot, Garrott says. “It’s a paradox because business owners generally think all customers come in cars and that makes walkability less.” Meanwhile, in the Guadalupe/Jackson neighborhood, families in seven houses are being evicted to make way for a new apartment complex. The Kozo House will include 319 residential units with ground-floor commercial space. Members of the Rose Park Brown Berets protested the development, telling KUER 90.1 FM it is “definitely gentrification, but we call it ‘hood colonization.’”
No crystal ball
On a smaller scale, members of the Summum religion are protesting a seven-story apartment building with 244 units along 900 South near 700 West. “We have voiced our objection to it, but it is being crammed down our throats,” says Summum president Su Menu. She fears the height and noise will destroy their sanctuary and garden, which has been there for 40 years. Founded in Utah, Summum claims to be the only place worldwide where one can undergo modern mummification. “I realize a need for housing, but this low-income housing is not affordable. It’s high!” Displacement and gentrification are going on simultaneously, Wharton says, and they are problems in every growing city. “Even though you see all these cranes across city, you think, ‘How can there be not enough?’ but we are seeing unprecedented growth, and it’s projected to continue. “We can’t stop growth, but we can manage it. There’s no one solution. There are a bunch of little levers we can pull and a bunch of course corrections we can take,” he says. “Nobody has a crystal ball.” It’s all a process—and not an easy one. For instance, a developer comes to the city and asks for a zoning change, for GAP financing (an interim loan given to finance the difference between the floor loan and the maximum permanent loan as committed) or a writedown on the price of land. The city tries to do an analysis through planning and
KATHARINE BIELE
History worth preserving: the historic Glendinning Home at 617 E. South Temple in Salt Lake City now houses the Utah Division of Arts and Museums
KATHARINE BIELE
A coming attraction in the Avenues: Capitol Park Cottages (with a protest sign below)
the redevelopment agency to determine what the value of the public benefit is. “Any time somebody is building in the city, regardless, they are going to have to go through the planning process—transit, streets, zoning, height, public utilities,” Wharton says. If the city foresees an affordable-housing shortage, it might send it to the RDA. The administration will transmit a proposal to the council, which then weighs in. “Salt Lake City has a lot of community input built into the process through community councils and direct comment, too,” Wharton says, “but the reality of the situation is that the valley is built out, especially in Salt Lake City, and we’re running out of ground.”
Accepting inevitability
Community activist Cindy Cromer is well aware of the needs and the tension. “The neighborhoods are pushing back, but they’re not coordinated. If we could all just link together, we could be a lot more effective,” she says. In February, dozens of downtown renters were evicted from The Annex and the Carlton Hotel on South Temple after a Chicago company bought the buildings. Most were on month-to-month agreements and couldn’t afford to move. “The city is not addressing affordability. It’s just creating more housing and just made the problem worse,” Cromer says. “The city keeps milking the land.” Wharton says he feels their pain, and the city pays money to community-action groups to help people being displaced. Many, however, end up homeless or moving out of the city. And in fact, the city did have to move some of the Kozo residents out of the city. Not only are rents going up, but housing prices in general. “If everybody who’s a homeowner now had to rebuy, well over 50 percent couldn’t afford what we have now,” Wharton says. The median sales price in Salt Lake County is $468,000, and national reports say buyers are handing out cash, sometimes hundreds of thousands over the asking price. Even when “affordability” is added to the housing mix, it’s often only a small percentage for up to 10 years. After that, anything goes. The Avenues community believes affordability is a cover for Ivory Homes’ hunger for that empty field of developer dreams. The last community council meeting ended with a stunning vote: 1,244 opposed, 25 in favor. Still, the council chair said that the assumption is that something will be developed there, and they will accept that inevitability.
Communities must advocate for themselves
Angela Jensen is not as charitable about the demise of China Blue and its companion houses. It was a place of folklore and energy. It was home to the famous botanist Marcus Eugene Jones who died in 1934 after spending most of his career self-employed in Salt Lake. Elizabeth Smart was said to have partied there while she was in captivity. Tenants stepped up to renew the lease and clean up the house, but it was for naught. They got a notice of eviction on the day they had to vacate. Alex Sparks ended up in an unfinished basement on the west side for $1,200 a month, which he can’t afford. The community council came out in force with hundreds attending a city council meeting. Ultimately, they defeated the RMF-30 designation, but the houses now sit empty and their fate unknown. Pershing has called on the state and city to fund its rehabilitation. It hasn’t happened. “We need diverse housing types for a diverse city of residents,” she says. “One size doesn’t fit all.” While master plans exist, they are just plans. As the city scrambles to build and fill, each community has to be its own advocate because, as Cromer says, “Bad ideas never die.” CW
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MAY 6, 2021 | 13
impact and accumulation of experiences tied to those places,” Brown writes. “After making an initial arrangement of shapes (derived from floorplans, city boundaries, and abstracted interior and exterior views), I then repeatedly modify and layer additional imagery, allowing the process to determine the final complex image.” Findings runs now through June 5. The entire collection is available online, while the gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. COVID protocols are still in place, and guests are welcome to call and schedule individual visits (Scott Renshaw)
Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen— based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée—might include one of the most familiar pieces of operatic music in the world, thanks in no small part to the use of the “Habanera” from Carmen in a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon. Yet in order for this story to return to a live theater in the time of COVID, it was necessary to consider an alternative presentation. Hence, Utah Opera presents Peter Brook’s 1981 La Tragédie de Carmen, a condensed interpretation that pares the cast down to the most essential characters and the intensity of their interactions, with a chamber orchestra performing the music, as the company plays live for an audience for the first time since last fall. The plot line remains the same, focusing on Spanish military officer Don José (tenor and Utah resident Isaac Hurtado, making his Utah Opera debut) and his growing obsession with the beguiling gypsy Carmen (Utah soprano Kristin Chávez, pictured in a 2019 production). Don José’s passion threatens his career and his very life, and makes him a fugitive from the law, while Don José’s childhood sweetheart Micaëla (Utah Opera resident artist Julia Gershkoff) attempts
to find him. Baritone Efraín Solís and Utah Opera resident artist Brandon Bell complete the cast. La Tragédie de Carmen runs May 8 – 16 for five total performances, and seating at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South, saltlakecountyarts.org) remains limited. Current season ticket holders will be contacted to confirm attendance plans; performances may be sold out as a result of capacity restrictions. (SR)
Amazing Earthfest
violin when I started. I was just nervous and anxious and wanted it to be over,” she said. Hagen visits Wiseguys Jordan Landing (3763 W. Center Park Dr., West Jordan, wiseguyscomedy.com) for two shows on Saturday, May 8, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $15; visit the website for ticket purchases and for COVID protocol information. (SR)
For those of us who live in Utah, it doesn’t take much to appreciate the variety of outdoor activities available to us year-round. And along with that often comes an increased appreciation for the land, for the environment and for our relationship with them. That’s the focus of the Kanab-based Amazing Earthfest, a non-profit that describes as part of its mission statement that it “helps people build informed connections to their public land through direct experience of its natural values including wildlife habitat and ecosystem functions, cultural sites, geology, and spectacular scenery.” As was the case in 2020, the 2021 installment of Amazing Earthfest takes place entirely in a virtual space over the week of May 7-15. Highlights among the scheduled events include several documentary films focusing on outdoor and environmental issues, including the inspiring and fascinating Kiss the Ground (pictured), about the crucial importance of maintaining active, living soil, and what all of us can
BIG PICTURE RANCH PRODUCTIONS
Isabel Hagen @ Wiseguys Jordan Landing Comedy can emerge from a wide variety of places, and comedians themselves can emerge from any number of worlds. Still, it’s odd to think of a talented professional comedian coming out of the world of classical music—which is the case for Isabel Hagen. A Juilliard-trained violist, Hagen made the transition to comedy in a way that has wrangled laughs out of that rarified air. “I love telling people I went to Juilliard,” Hagen related in her late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show in 2020, “because they act impressed and I act modest. And I love that. They’re like, ‘Whoa, Juilliard,” and I’m like, ‘Eh, it’s nothing,’ and they’re like, ‘Humble and talented.’” It’s equally hilarious watching Hagen incorporate her viola playing into her standup act, emphasizing the odd juxtaposition of lovely music and her deadpan, self-deprecating jokes. And while it seems she’s perfectly at ease in both roles, she revealed on her podcast Good Timing with Isabel Hagen how she immediately recognized a comfort level with comedy that wasn’t quite there when playing music. “I feel like I had that [feeling of being where I should be] for standup at my first shitty open mic, but I didn’t have that with
Complete listings online at cityweekly.net
BRANCO GAICA
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
There can be a challenge in finding an accessible entry point to some visual art works for a layperson, but in the new work by Linnie Brown on display in the solo exhibition Findings at “A” Gallery (1321 S. 2100 East, agalleryonline.com), representation and abstraction find a fascinating architectural conjunction. These acrylic-on-panel pieces often feature bold swaths of color and hard lines that feel peculiar and alienating, until you take a closer look. In “Here and There” (pictured), there’s a multi-dimensional perspective that makes it seem as though you’re peering through windows on an atrium roof; the geometric forms in “Inventory of Linked Places” begin to resemble a row of apartment buildings, with the windows jutting off at strange angles. The Utah-based artist—who grew up in Oregon but studied at BYU and the University of Utah—addresses in her artist statement how the works in Findings tap into the process of navigating one’s history and identity. “My art evokes multiple locations simultaneously as a way to visualize the
ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, MAY 6-12, 2021
Utah Opera: La Tragédie de Carmen
Linnie Brown: Findings @ “A” Gallery
JENNI WALKOWIAK
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14 | MAY 6, 2021
ESSENTIALS
the
do about it in the face of industrial farming practices. Several panel discussions also cover a wide range of topics, including students from Kanab High School addressing youth perspectives on the future of the planet; author and historian Frederick Swanson exploring the history of Utah’s national parks and monuments and how Southern Utah’s natural beauty became know around the world; and writer Steven Trimble offering a workshop on creative non-fiction focusing on the natural world. All online events are free, but registration is required for participation. Visit amazingearthfest.org/events for additional information, including a full schedule of events. (SR)
Salt Lake Acting Company brings artists from the Pacific to the Atlantic together for Alabaster. BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw
W
A&E
Alabaster cast member Reanne Acasio prepares for filming from her home in Hawaii. have had to adapt to and learn on the fly over the past year. And while Fleming expects that some of these technical innovations will carry on even once live theater is common once more, she believes that the most important lesson she’s learned is where priorities should be. “We all have these stories in the theater of how ‘I performed with a 102-degree temperature, I threw up then I went back on stage,’” Fleming says. “We all have those stories, but that can’t happen anymore. It’s about people first, and making sure everybody is okay. … If we need to cancel one show, we cancel one show. I mean, we’ve been cancelled for over a year.”
SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY: ALABASTER
Available May 10-30 Tickets $20 per household, 48-hour streaming window Virtual presentation and tickets via saltlakeactingcompany.org
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For Hawaii-based cast member Acasio, being on the receiving end of all of this technical work was a unique experience as well. “Theater from home required me to be more than the actor,” she says; “I had to be the set-builder, the props assistant, the wardrobe assistant, the lighting assistant, the sound assistant, professional box opener, and more. It was a wonderful way to practice being a well-rounded artist.” Acasio adds that acting in this kind of virtual production required a different approach even from her experience acting in independent films. “Acting for a recorded virtual theater piece from my bedroom is almost like playing a different sport, but still using the same techniques,” she says. “In films, I’m usually acting with a scene partner in-person, and not often interacting with the camera itself. I think most of us know how taboo it is to make eye contact with the camera unless specifically told to. But with virtual theater, my scene partner is on my computer screen, and I’m very often acting as if my webcam is my scene partner.” The recorded production of Alabaster— edited by Utah filmmaker Kenny Riches— incorporates a wide range of skills artists
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hat does a theater production look like during the time of COVID? The creativity and innovation of theater artists has provided plenty of different answers to that question over the past year, but for Salt Lake Acting Company’s new streaming production Alabaster, it allowed for the collaboration of a creative team that was working together across a geographical span from Hawaii to New York. Originally planned as part of Salt Lake Acting Company’s 2019-2020 in-person season, playwright Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster deals with a photojournalist documenting stories of women with scars, and one of whose subjects is a survivor of a catastrophic tornado in a small Alabama town. While the state of the pandemic was still in tremendous flux at the time SLAC artistic director Cynthia Fleming was deciding which play would mark the company’s first solo production in more than a year, and what presentation format it would use, Fleming says it was clear to her that this play’s themes made it the right choice, whether or not it was a perfect choice for a virtual production. “I kept it because the story is even more relevant now than it was [at the time it was
originally planned],” Fleming says. “We’ve all experienced loss, and we’ve all experienced trauma. … There are some elements that of course, if it was live, would be more impactful, and I think will get lost in the digital world. But the heart and the humor and the healing aspect does shoot through the computer screen.” The decision then was how to present it virtually. Though SLAC presented the coproduction American Dreams in October 2020 that involved a streaming presentation of the actors performing live, Fleming opted for a recorded production. “With live, the sound is such an issue, and the potential technical problems,” she says. “It takes you out of the experience immediately. I thought to do a mash-up of everything we’ve learned up to now, and that filming it would result in a really good product. You don’t have to worry about an actor’s computer going out.” Once the form of the production was clear, it opened up the opportunity to bring in members of the creative team from coast-to-coast (and beyond). Director Martine Kei Green-Rogers is based in New York, while actor Reanne Acasio (who plays the photographer, Alice), lives in Hawaii. Yet all of the principal technical crew that was hired for the original production—lighting designer, production designer, makeup artist and more—are based here in Utah. It was crucial to Fleming to keep them on, even as she had to communicate to them a different vision for how their work would be realized. “Paying them and getting them to work, and at the same fee as if it was live, was important to me,” Fleming says. “So it was an incredible thing to watch, for instance, a lighting designer have in her head a huge picture, and get that to be small. Also, I told them that the actor will need to build their set, do the tech work with the lights, so keep it simple, simple, simple. You don’t want to complicate their lives any more than it already is right now just being alive.”
COURTESY PHOTO
THEATER Remote Control
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16 | MAY 6, 2021
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AT A GLANCE
PATIO IS OPEN!
f you’ve ever had the privilege of sitting down to an overstuffed arepa or a plate piled high with shredded beef and fried plantains, you’ll know that Venezuelan food doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to excess. My experiences with this South American cuisine have been almost exclusively positive—it’s hard not to love a menu that tries to stuff as much meat, cheese and fried corn cakes as it can onto one plate. With these fond memories still quite fresh in my mind, I’ve been excited to visit Venezuela Mia (9460 S. Union Square, Ste. 104, 801-831-6420, vzlamia. com) since it opened in early April. After a transformative experience with my very first cachapa and a menu that holds up quite well to repeat visits, it’s safe to say that Venezuelan cuisine in Utah continues to deliver the goods. Pulling into the Union Square commercial district made me acutely aware of how long I’d been avoiding public places. I’ve spent a lot of time in this area pre-pandemic—build a cheap movie theater and a Nicklecade and I will come—but the local restaurant scene in this zone seems to have exploded. Though my visit was all about Venezuela Mia, there are like five new-tome local restaurants and bakeries just hanging out in Union Square. Don’t worry, dear reader. I will explore them all and report. But first, let’s talk cachapas.
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BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer
cabbage, and lots of queso de mano along with smoked ham and bacon—!!!—before getting topped with a house made crema sauce. Under no circumstances should one try to tackle this beast alone but sharing the experience with a few gastronomically adventurous buddies will create a meal to remember. For more of a solo adventure, I’d recommend the arepa de la casa ($9.99), which is a solid rendition of this traditional Venezuelan sandwich. It’s got a nice crispy corn exterior and is stuffed with your choice of shredded beef or chicken, queso de mano and smoked ham. There are less meat-centric arepas to choose from, but if you’re craving a fistful of lovingly smoked meats covered in melty cheese, this is your dreamboat. The dish that really lets you dig into and appreciate the meatcraft happening at Venezuela Mia is the Picada Reina Lucero ($16), a marvelous food pile that could be poutine’s South American cousin. It’s built on a thick foundation of fried arepa dough that supports a plethora of proteins like smoked brisket, fried pork and cheese cubes that get nice and melty as you go. The brisket is beautifully smoked, but it’s not overcooked to the point where it just falls apart—there’s an ever so pleasant texture to these meaty bits. With a stacked menu filled with tantalizing meat and cheese combos, a penchant for absurdly excessive portions and a design concept that is very social media friendly, Venezuela Mia is poised to become one of the areas hottest destinations. Just remember to come hungry. CW
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Cachapa Champs
Venezuela Mia has a wide range of this traditional staple, but its basic construction involves a kind of pancake made from a fresh corn dough. Once it’s grilled into a perfect ratio of crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, it gets folded over a hefty dose of queso de mano, a beautifully salty and elastic cheese that could kick mozzarella’s ass any day of the week. The secret here—and it’s a secret that made me go a bit weak in the knees—is the sweet flavor within that fresh corn dough that sneaks up on you with every bite. It’s not cloying at all—it’s the same kiss of sweetness that you get when a kernel of corn pops in your mouth. Once your mouth pairs that subtle drop of flavor with the saltiness of all that melty cheese, it’s like fireworks. My cachapa of choice is known as La Condesa ($12.50), or The Countess. It’s half a cachapa stuffed with queso de mano and sliced pork sausage before getting topped with fried pork cubes and crumbly cheese. I don’t think you can really go wrong with a cachapa here, but La Condesa’s bitty slices of chorizo will lure me in every time. If you’re after the ultimate cachapa adventure, you need only ask for the Doña Barbara ($25.50), but you’ll want to make sure you’ve brought some company to help out. This entrée comes with two whole cachapas—La Condesa is only half a cachapa and it’s more than enough for one person—piled high with all the smoked and friend meats Venezuela Mia can throw at you, along with generous helpings of melty queso de mano. Even when deviating from the cachapa section of the menu, Venezuela Mia’s penchant for excess is everywhere. Their list of multi-meat burgers is rounded out by a monster known as Super Golosa ($37) that will handily feed a party of four. This extreme entrée offers up your choice of three—yes, three—of the restaurant’s signature proteins served up with fries,
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onTAP 2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com On Tap: Feelin’ Hazy Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: Blueberry Pomegranate Sour Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: Fresh Brewed UPA Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: Amarillo Comet Imperial IPA
Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Bougie Johnny’s - Rose Ale Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Single Varietal Elliott Gold Ogden River Brewing 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Whispers of the Primordial Sea
Squatters 147 W. Broadway, SLC Squatters.com Strap Tank Brewery Multiple Locations StrapTankBrewery.com Springville On Tap: PB Rider, Peanut Butter Stout Lehi On Tap: 2-Stroke, Vanilla Mocha Porter
Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Aerith - Mango Hibiscus Sour
Red Rock Brewing Multiple Locations RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Baked Pastry Stout RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Americano Coffee Blend
Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Extra Pale Ale
Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Cosmic Autumn Rebellion
Hoppers Grill and Brewing 890 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale HoppersBrewPub.com
Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com
TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Northern Lights Terpene IPA
Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: Red Ale
Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: NAIPA
A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week
Toasted Barrel Brewery 412 W. 600 North, SLC ToastedBarrelBrewery.com Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer UTOG 2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: American Ale
SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: 10 Ton Truck West Coast IPA
Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com Wasatch 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC WasatchBeers.com
Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com
Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Bombshell Cherry Belgian Ale
Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: West Coast IPA
Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Blue Berry Blast Beer Slushie
Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com
You already have your BURGER JOINT & TACO JOINT Now meet your TERIYAKI JOINT
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Imperial Adventure BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer
OUTDOOR SEATING ON THE PATIO
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MAY 6, 2021 | 19
e Americans love to take anything in its standard form, embrace it and then amplify it to make it a novelty. It’s what we do, and for the most part, we do it well. Beers in particular have benefited from this approach. If the triedand-true version of a style is brilliant, let’s add more of everything and see what happens. This week’s beers get the “imperial treatment.” Are you worthy? Epic - Armadillo Comet: A gentle pour gives a good finger of white foam that leaves an assertive lacing pattern. The beer for the most part is quite clear, with a nice amber color set with golden highlights. An attractive dance of streaming bubbles provides a satisfying sideshow. This brew will be well worth keeping around if they maintain the quality of this fresh aroma—tons of papaya, grapefruit and pine. It’s super tropical otherwise, with passion fruit, kiwi, pineapple, blackberry, guava, black tea, cane sugar and whole wheat toast. The taste follows the nose, though with the notes much easier to detect. Papaya, grapefruit rind, grapefruit juice, pineapple, apple, blackberry, a distinct brewed black tea note, toast and caramelized sugar are detectable, but grapefruit rind dominates heavily, with soapy over-steeped tea on the finish. The consistency is almost syrupy, but good carbonation and lots of hops keep it crisp and fresh. You gotta sip quickly to finish this one; the 9.5 percent alcohol amps up the caramelly base, and can get a tad cloying as it warms.
Overall: A world class IPA, pure and simple, and one of the hoppier Imperial IPA’s I’ve come across. Utah has a strong IPA market, and this is another gem that fits into many West Coast style beers that come out of the San Diego area. RoHa - Steady Edge: This Imperial Red ale poured a viscous copper color with hints of red poking through; a nice, white and sticky head produces ample lacing, and has staying power in my very clean glass. The nose is somewhat dank, with piney, resinous, fruity, spicy and almost phenolic notes from the hops. It’s one hoppy aroma, that’s for sure. The first drink is a bang of bitter hops, near the high end of the IBU (International Bittering Units) scale. There’s a thick and sticky mouthfeel, as powerful malts are backed up and overtaken by waves and waves of dank hops. At first, pine seems to dominate, then comes citrus in the form of ripe oranges, all building on a fairly malty and fruity bed. This is a hop bomb, but the malts back it up and lead to a nice and balanced finish. Some warming alcohol it present, but it is well integrated. Overall: Like I said earlier: hop bomb, just short of an American barleywine. This is a real treat, as RoHa seems to have an affinity for this style. All those West Coast, American-style hops coupled with a strong malty backbone that makes for a delicious and warming beer, with the 7.9 percent ABV is just shy of cellaring strength. I’m curious to see how this would hold up after a year; I imagine the hops will not let go much. I recommend getting to know this one fresh, as it’s perfect now. Armadillo Comet in Salt Lake City will be packaged in 22-ounce bottles, available now at Epic’s State Street brewery. The crew at Epic are also eager to let you know that a new canning line is soon headed to Utah, so you will start seeing more canned options from Epic in the coming months. There’s no shortage of canned options at RoHa, as Steady Edge is available now (and cold) to-go in their beer store. You will also start to see this one in DABC stores very soon, if not already. As always, cheers! CW
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This week’s beers are fit for building a beer empire.
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BEER NERD
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AUTHENTIC FLAVORS, GREAT SERVICE
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TAKE-OUT
SAVOR THE TASTE OF THE ISLAND AUTHENTIC PUERTO RICAN GRUB
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The United States Small Business Administration (sba. gov) recently launched a restaurant revitalization fund that is geared to provide emergency assistance to restaurants and bars impacted by COVID-19. According to the SBA website, this program will provide funding to cover revenue lost for pandemic-related reasons. Registration for funds through this program has begun, and will last until the funds are exhausted. The SBA has also designated priority group status to businesses owned by women, veterans or socially disadvantaged individuals during the first 20 days of the application process. If you’re in the local hospitality biz, and could use a bit of help, check out the application portal at restaurants.sba.gov.
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SLC Salads Opens
With a food-delivery scene dominated by fast food and pizza, there are times when you just want a salad. Stepping up to answer that healthy food craving is SLC Salads, one of ComCom Kitchen’s (67 W. 1700 South, 801-808-7318, slcsalads.com) new residents. Owned and operated by Chef Brandon Cagle—who is no stranger to Utah’s restaurant scene—SLC Salads is dedicated to small plates and appetizers like fried cauliflower and charcuterie, along with entrée-level salads with options like Mexican street corn and red beet with crispy quinoa. Based on their Instagram (@slcsalads) feed, these are some serious greens, paired with enough protein and other toppings to keep you satisfied. Check them out for pickup and delivery.
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On the opposite end of the foodie spectrum—but still available via delivery—is BLOX Dessert Bars (541 E. 500 East, Ste. A, American Fork, 385-205-8088, bloxdesserts.com). Their claim to fame comes in the form of gigantic brownies, blondies and Rice Krispy treats, topped with everything from toasted coconut to salted caramel. These desserts are available to purchase individually, but can also be purchased in orders of four, nine or 16. There’s something aesthetically-pleasing about a box full of BLOX, and based on the wide variety of flavors they’re offering, I’m guessing they taste pretty aesthetically-pleasing as well. Quote of the Week: “A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.” –Yotam Ottolenghi
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siegfriedsdelicatessen.com
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Sending it UPHERE!
A new local record label sends up fresh tunes with an emphasis on creativity and collectivity. BY ERIN MOORE music@cityweekly.net @errands_
A SATURDAYS
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quick scan on the UPHERE! Records Instagram page shows what looks like a well-established label going off left and right about their artists, a small-butgrowing scrappy collection of young, mostly Brady Flores and Utah County-based musicians. But UPHERE! is itself also young and scrappy, founded just Tom Petersen a few months ago in November 2020 by two friends in their early 20s. Brady Flores and Tom Petersen were both born and bred in the area, and though Flores describes UPHERE! as “just a couple of young bucks making cassette tapes,” the duo has quickly jumped into a shared vision for Utah music inspired by the people around them, and those who shaped it in the recent past. “Brady and I got into indie music from mix They’re also just fans of the music, even the stuff they find that’s CDs stolen from siblings, as well as iTunes already released digitally. Petersen explains that they still like to new releases, which led to learning guitar, writing music, being help artists with physical releases because, “selfishly, we want to in bands,” explains Petersen, who also worked with the Pleashave a physical copy of it. We want to release it because we’re colant Grove High School radio program, KPGR, as a teen. Petersen lectors.” also booked shows for the station’s venue, The Pig Pen, which was And while their fascination with collecting physical music may how he met Flores, who was playing at the time in a band called seem selfish to them, it doesn’t seem to deter their peers in the “days”—a band Petersen liked for their similarities to bands like scene from working with them to make a strong new music colBeach Fossils, Wild Nothing and Craft Spells, all purveyors of the lective. Petersen says, “We have help from the artists just because 20-teens jangly guitar rock craze. they’re pretty DIY so they do a lot of self-promotion, and then “We were both into the scene, had been following it since we we’ve involved some people that are passionate about graphic dewere young and had a similar vision for the future of it,” Petersen sign and social media who need some hours for internships.” says. “Of course, we loved the bands coming out of the Utah scene Their five-person team of photographers, graphic designers at the time like Baby Ghosts, Bat Manors (Choir Boy), 90s TV and and social media savvy folks also came together in one fast, reeverything from the ‘Dirty Provo’ collective as well.” cent week. And, right on time, as beloved all-ages venues like Kilby Dirty Provo consisted of a few releases featuring the aboveCourt begin to open up to 50 percent capacity, UPHERE! will start mentioned bands and others through 2014 and 2015. It was deepbooking more shows, like an upcoming date on May 15 with Dad ly DIY, and while today it mainly serves as a snapshot of Provo’s Bod and Adult Prom, two Utah indie favorites who are joining UPsmall-time indie scene at the time, for Flores and Petersen it is still HERE!. an inspiration in how they approach UPHERE! As they sprout quickly, UPHERE! hopes to help establish a more That includes the spontaneous fashion in which it started. “I united scene throughout Utah, too. Flores expresses frustration was going to start UPHERE! records back in 2018, but I didn’t realaround growing up in a Utah County music scene often divided by ly have the time or resources to do anything about it,” Flores says. religious differences, as well as the divisions he sees between the “Fast forward to last October, and Tom’s cousin had just finished separate big city scenes. To him, the Provo-to-Salt Lake pipeline is recording an album and Tom was like ‘Well hey, why don’t we just far too similar to the Utah-to-Los Angeles pipeline. release it on the label you’ve been envisioning?’ We threw it to“L.A.’s not famous because of being L.A., New York and Brooklyn gether—25 CDs really quick— in like one day.” aren’t famous because of being New York and Brooklyn. They’re Since then, they’ve teamed up with pretty much any band they famous because of what happened in those cities,” Flores says, like, helping push promotion and production of physical copies of “Me and Tom want the same thing to happen here where five, 10 the music—lately via tapes, though they’ve got plans to get back to years down the road, people will look back at this and be like, ‘That CDs, and eventually vinyl. So far, these include bands like Toothscene was really cool in Utah.’” picks and Backhand, and solo artists like Super Young Adult and Petersen says it perfectly, and frankly: “Our families are here, Nicole Canaan. you know? We want to have our music scene thrive where we’re livBut they don’t see themselves as a traditional label. “When you ing and hanging out with our families.” Follow the busy new label hear the words ‘record label’ you think of that suit and tie kind of at @uphererecords on Instagram, because if you blink, you might business,” Flores says, “but for us it’s like a family, a lot of these miss their next big move. CW people are our close friends, we hang out regularly.” UPHERE! RECORDS
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A Nashville-Utah Connection Revives
It’s no secret that Utah’s music scene has connections with arts and entertainment establishments all over this country, from Los Angeles and New York to Nashville, TN. That latter one particularly finds a home at the Sundance Mountain Resort’s annual Bluebird Cafe Concert Series, a partnership between the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Nashville artists and Utah audiences that’s been going on for nearly 20 years. The festival took the last year off, of course, but they’re getting back to normal this summer on Friday and Saturday nights. The festival highlights the talents of some of Nashville’s most famous songwriters, cornerstones of the community there who are behind much of the great music that comes out of the town. And though they may not be household names, the people they write for—like Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Blake Shelton— are, so concertgoers can expect familiar songs, but performed by their original creators. This year’s lineup includes: Doug Johnson, Elvie Shane and a third TBA artist on July 9 and 10; Bob Dipiero and two other TBA artists on July 16 and 17; Marc Beeson, Adam Hambrick and Kelly Archer on August 20 and 21; Lance Miller, Jessi Alexander and The Warren Brothers on August 27 and 28. The Sundance series keeps the tradition of Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe alive— shows are known to be reverently quiet as the songwriters play and explain the origins of each track. Tickets vary by seating arrangement: prime bench seats are $60, regular bench seats are $55 and the lawn is $50. Group and individual tickets are now both on sale, and tickets can also be got for the BBQ dinner, at $23 per adult and $20 per group. State and county health guidelines will be followed. Visit sundanceresort.com/bluebird-cafe-concertseries for info and tickets.
Davis Arts Council Brings Back Summer Music Programming
For our friends in Davis County, you’ll be glad to hear that the Davis Arts Council’s Free Sunday Concert Series is back for summer 2021, alongside other exciting events like their Summer Nights with the Stars shows at Kenley Amphitheater. While the latter event is of course not free, both traditions bring plenty of opportunity for engaging in music, from locals to big-timers. And we’re giving you an advance heads-up, because even though the Sunday Concert Series is free, tickets are still required for entry to the event, and can be purchased starting Tuesday, May 11 at 10 a.m. (call 801-546-8575 or visit the DAC box office at 445 N. Wasatch Dr, Layton). The Free Sunday Concert Series will kick off June 6 with Mimi Valentine & The Gentleman’s Club, followed in subsequent shows by artists like Ché Zuro, Jay Warren Trio and many more stretching into August. But if it’s glitz and glamor you crave, they’ve got that covered too. Summer Nights with the Stars this year launches June 15, with an “approximation” of The Everly Brothers by Jack Skuller and Sean Altman. Other notable acts among the many include Asia (June 23), local trio GENTRI (June 28), the one and only Marie Osmond (July 10), Three Dog Night (Sept. 3) and Air Supply (Sept 30). Prices for these shows range between $10 and $90 for GA, reserved and orchestra tickets, and for the different shows. Visit davisarts. org for more info so you can snag your tickets soon. All events will follow local and state health guidelines.
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BAR | NIGHTCLUB | MUSIC | SPORTS CHECKOUT OUR GREAT MENU Open for in-dining pre show! Reggae at the Royal Thursday, 5/6
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MUSIC PICKS
The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber at Eccles
Treefort Music Fest Swaps Spring 2020 for Fall 2021
PETER LOVERA
Song of the Week: “The Phantom of the Opera” by Andrew Lloyd Webber
You may be wondering why I’m writing about a song from a production that’s mentioned already, in our little piece on the Eccles Theater performance coming up. Well, it’s been a slow week of listening to nothing novel for me, besides some rainforest-y lo-fi cumbia music from Bandcamp that would be uninteresting to describe because it was only slightly interesting to listen to. What is interesting to me is that I realized today that the title track—if one calls songs from musical productions “title tracks”—of the famous musical is an exciting synthesis of contemporary-for-thetime musical tropes and operatic tradition. Punchy percussion parts and deep, intense keyboard synths march along together as a dramatic companion for a strings section that has pizazz that truly marks it as a composition that came out of the ’80s. Outside of its grand, romantic ’80s pop textures, freaky organ and the high soprano of Sarah Brightman make it a thrill, especially if you’re not used to listening to melodramatic theater soundtracks for pleasure. Listening to it while writing about The Phantom of the Opera this week brought me back to seeing the film version as a child, and wondering why someone would fall in love with a masked man determined to shatter chandeliers and hold her captive in his underground lake/lair. Now, I’m determined to find a stage production available for viewing online, if only to enjoy this sweeping banger of a theater song performed as it’s supposed to be.
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People always say Boise and Salt Lake City have a lot in common. Besides our twin Pie Hole restaurants, Boise is also home to the Treefort Music Fest, which has long been home on its own to tons of small Utah bands over the eight years it’s been running. Built to Spill, technically an Idaho property, practically feel like Utahns because they play here so often. Last year, the musical back and forth between the two cities paused, due to obvious COVID reasons that led to the cancelation of the spring 2020 festival. But with 2021 here, and late summer and fall looking safer and safer, Treefort is rushing ahead to make up for lost time, even if it means breaking with the spring tradition of the festival. In addition to its general friendliness to SLC bands, the lineup features more than 350 artists, from the well-known to the most obscure. The fest kicks off Sept. 22 - 26 with stages all over downtown Boise. Headliners include Japanese Breakfast, Calexico, The Marías, Andy Shauf, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah, Built to Spill (unsurprisingly) and other bands from far off locales, like Tennessee and even Niger! Others on the lineup include Joshy (formerly Joshy Soul), an artist who was one of SLC’s brightest until he decamped to L.A. last year to score a shiny record deal. Salt Lakers making appearances include Savage Daughters, Hoofless, The Boys Ranch, and Provo bands like Roadie and Brother. Early-bird tickets are unsurprisingly already sold out, but the remaining tickets range from $150 to $420, with payment plans available and kids’ entry a whopping zero dollars. Visit treefortmusicfest. com for more info.
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In a coordinated celebration of music returning to Utah stages, the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber will make a special appearance at downtown SLC’s Eccles Theater May 7 - 15. The London-based Really Useful Group—which is just Webber’s means for licensing and promoting his productions around the world—is allowing for a special series of his compositions to be played by a stunning cast of Utah talent. For super-fans of productions like The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar this is big news, and for fans of Utah’s classical community, it’s even bigger news. Utahns tackling the sweeping classics will include the Emmy Award-winning composer Kurt Bestor, Phantom veteran Dallyn Vail Bayles, Tony Award winner Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller and Lexi Walker, who’s spent time performing in other circles of the Utah classical community, including with The Piano Guys and Lindsey Stirling. And of course, an Osmond will be present in the form of David Osmond, who has over the years been the go-to man to perform the leading role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. While audience members are swept away by the grand music, they’ll take comfort in knowing that the only real phantom in the Eccles Theater will be the dispersing spirit of COVID-19. Tickets are $45, and can be found along with showtimes at live-at-the-eccles.com, or by calling 801-355-2787.
DENNIS COOPE
Phantom of the Opera
Lizzo performing at Treefort Music Fest in 2017
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MAY 6, 2021 | 27
Late Summer
It’s not starting on time, but a summer movie season will be welcome when it arrives. BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw
F
or decades, the first full weekend of May has marked an unofficial start to the summer movie season. That was supposed to be true in 2020 as well, with a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie—the stand-alone spin-off Black Widow—kicking things off as Marvel movies have for most of the previous dozen years. But then that release didn’t happen, and a year that would become defined as much by what didn’t happen as by what did happen came into even sharper focus. Most movie theaters are open now—the ones that weren’t forced to close permanently in the wake of the pandemic, anyway—and the vaccine roll-out has made theatrical movie-going a considerably less threatening proposition than it was a year ago at this time. The backlog of summermovie-esque fare has already started rolling into theaters with the successful openings of Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat, and the prospect of the latest Fast & Furious movie finally appearing in June has inspired a two-month-long special re-release of all eight previous franchise installments. Even Black Widow is back on the schedule for early July. It’s 2021, and summer movie season is back, baby! Well, sort of. As it stands right now, the schedule is mostly a trickle of titles, some of them backlogged from last year. Both Warner Bros. and Disney have taken advantage of their streaming platforms—HBO Max and Disney+, respectively—to provide same-day home-viewing options for some of the higher-profile releases, including Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad,
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CINEMA
FILM REVIEW
Cruella and, yes, Black Widow. As much as the solid numbers for Godzilla vs. Kong show that people are ready to go back to theaters to see popcorn entertainment, it’s not clear if there are still a lot of people who will decide they’re just fine with having that popcorn fresh out of the microwave bag on their own living room couch. I wrote just recently about what I miss about theatrical moviegoing, and also weighed in 15 years ago about the unique place summer movies hold in creating new generations of movie lovers. I won’t recap that previous argument in its entirety, but in summary, it’s important to keep in mind that even those who eventually become lovers of more challenging and complicated movies generally start out by falling in love with stuff like Star Wars, James Bond and superheroes, not with documentaries and subtitled dramas. They’re the “learn to crawl before you learn to run” of aesthetic appreciation. And while it’s certainly true
that not everyone who learns to run eventually learns to run a marathon—and not everyone who starts out loving big dumb movies graduates beyond loving anything but big dumb movies—no one who has ever run a marathon didn’t start out by crawling. There’s reason to push back against how much conversational oxygen gets sucked up by comic-book movies and other simple spectacles, and it’s understandable if frustration over their omnipresence bubbles over into just wanting the whole lot of them to go away. There is, however, a middle ground between a moviegoing world of nothing but summer movies, and a moviegoing world without summer movies. The bursts of endorphine bliss provided by crowd-pleasers keep people coming back to the movies, at a time when the economics of the industry are very much in a state of flux. Also, and not for nothing at this point in human history, but we should accept our
Vin Diesel in F9.
bursts of endorphine bliss where we can find them. The past year has been such a disruptive force on so many levels, including the almost incomprehensible loss of life, that spending too much time angsting over when we’ll see Vin Diesel drive a car off a cliff feels, well … a bit improper. But as we all spent months stuck in our homes, we also spent hours with our streaming services, enjoying the comfort food of our favorite movies. We want those movies, and more like them, to be around the next time we really need them. So while summer movie season might not be starting this year at the time we’d usually see it, at least it’s starting. And I hope it once again provides the fuel for a bunch more movie love in generations to come. CW
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY B Y R O B
B R E Z S N Y
Go to realastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Created by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century, the Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most famous paintings. It’s hanging in the Louvre museum in Paris. In that same museum is a less renowned version of the Mona Lisa. It depicts the same woman, but she’s unclothed. Made by da Vinci’s student, it was probably inspired by a now-lost nude Mona Lisa painted by the master himself. Renaissance artists commonly created “heavenly” and “vulgar” versions of the same subject. I suggest that in the coming weeks you opt for the “vulgar” Mona Lisa, not the “heavenly” one, as your metaphor of power. Favor what’s earthy, raw and unadorned over what’s spectacular, idealized and polished. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Taurus poet Vera Pavlova writes, “Why is the word yes so brief? It should be the longest, the hardest, so that you could not decide in an instant to say it, so that upon reflection you could stop in the middle of saying it.” I suppose it makes sense for her to express such an attitude, given the fact that she never had a happy experience until she was 20 years old, and that furthermore, this happiness was “unbearable.” (She confessed these sad truths in an interview.) But I hope you won’t adopt her hardedged skepticism toward yes anytime soon, Taurus. In my view, it’s time for you to become a connoisseur of yes, a brave explorer of the bright mysteries of yes, an exuberant perpetrator of yes.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) The poet Anne Sexton wrote a letter to a Benedictine monk whose real identity she kept secret from the rest of us. She told him, “There are a few great souls in my life. They are not many. They are few. You are one.” In this spirit, Leo, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to take an inventory of the great souls in your life: the people you admire and respect and learn from and feel grateful for; people with high integrity and noble intentions; people who are generous with their precious gifts. When you’ve compiled your list, I encourage you to do as Sexton did: Express your appreciation; perhaps even send no-strings-attached gifts. Doing these things will have a profoundly healing effect on you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) In a letter to a friend in 1856, Sagittarian poet Emily Dickinson confessed she was feeling discombobulated because of a recent move to a new home. She hoped she would soon regain her bearings. “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself,” she quipped, adding that she couldn’t help laughing at her disorientation. She signed the letter “From your mad Emilie,” intentionally misspelling her own name. I’d love it if you approached your current doubt and uncertainty with a similar light-heartedness and poise. (PS: Soon after writing this letter, Dickinson began her career as a poet in earnest, reading extensively and finishing an average of one poem every day for many years.) CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Now is a favorable time to celebrate both life’s changeableness and your own. The way we are all constantly called on to adjust to unceasing transformations can sometimes be a wearying chore, but I suspect it could be at least interesting and possibly even exhilarating for you in the coming weeks. For inspiration, study this message from the Welcome to Night Vale podcast: “You are never the same twice, and much of your unhappiness comes from trying to pretend that you are. Accept that you are different each day, and do so joyfully, recognizing it for the gift it is. Work within the desires and goals of the person you are currently, until you aren’t that person anymore.” AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Aquarian author Toni Morrison described two varieties of loneliness. The first “is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding, holding on, this motion smooths and contains the rocker.” The second “is a loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down. It is alive, on its own.” Neither kind is better or worse, of course, and both are sometimes necessary as a strategy for self-renewal—as a means for deepening and fine-tuning one’s relationship with oneself. I recommend either or both for you in the coming weeks. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) England’s Prince Charles requires his valet to iron his shoelaces and put toothpaste on his toothbrush and wash all of his clothes by hand. I could conceivably interpret the current astrological omens to mean that you should pursue similar behavior in the coming weeks. I could, but I won’t. Instead, I will suggest that you solicit help about truly important matters, not meaningless trivia like shoelace ironing. For example, I urge you to ask for the support you need as you build bridges, seek harmony and make interesting connections.
City Weekly newspaper is now hiring for sales position! Email your resume to Pete@cityweekly.net The Royal is now hiring bartenders and servers. We are a busy bar/live music venue. For more info and to schedule an interview call 801-550-4451
Shared office space, rent month to month, only $300/mo. Downtown Salt Lake. Easy walking distance to restaurants, businesses and Trax. 175 W 200 S, Axis Building. Call 801-654-1393 or email: sales@cityweekly. net Check out Def-tone.com. DJ33 track. A remix acting as if two different tracks come together as one.
Coffee Garden is looking for a baker with at least two years experience. Ability to multi task and organize time and a day’s production. Ability to work early morning hours. Professional and positive attitude. Dependable, HUGE! Bring or mail your resume or pick up an application at: Coffee Garden, 878 E 900 S or email to: contact@coffeegardenslc.com
www.greekazon.com Shop for Greek artisan products from Greek producers. Discover and explore the essence of Greece!
Gracies is now hiring. Inquire within at 326 South West Temple.
Home Loans made Brizzee. Julie Bri-ZAY makes home buying ea-ZAY! Loan Officer NMLS#243253. Julie Brizzee. 2750 E Cottonwood Pkwy, Suite 660. Cottonwood Heights UT 84020 801-971-2574. Intercap Lending. Providing all Mortage Loan Services. This is not a commitment to lend. Program restrictions apply. Company NMLS#190465. Intercaplending.com Equal Housing Lender.
Fehr & Peers has an opening in Salt Lake City, UT for a Transportation Engineer/Planner responsible for providing transportation engineering & planning services. Send resume to careers@fehrandpeers.com.
PERSONALS
Personal assistant needed by 81 year old man. $39 per hour start pay. Call 801-745-0916 for interview.
PATIO POOLS
Patio Pools and Spas customized to fit your limited space backyard. Transform your backyard into a staycation oasis. Call Bob for a Free Quote 801-420-0624 Dynasty Pools & Spas: Local family owned business. Creating quality pools and spas since 2008. Dynasty-pools-and-spas.myshopify.com
MISCELLANEOUS
Have junk? I will haul it away, small and medium sized loads! Great time to clean up. Starts at only $30. Call 801856-9500. Cash for wrecked and nonrunning vehicles. TOP DOLLAR on 2006 and above. Lost title? We can help. We tow it away for free. Call 801-889-2488. CARSOLDFORCASH.COM Catering: For outdoor catering, Greek and American food. All cooking on site. 8th Street Catering, call Chris 801-8569500.
REAL ESTATE
Buying or selling? I can help! Call Paula Saltas, Chapman Richards. 801-573-6811 or paula@chapmanrichards.com
CARS
Auto Detailing. Mobile car detailing service. Call Andy at 801-548-7521. Interior cleaning and carpet shampoo + exterior wash and wax. Call today ! Carconcepts.com for quality products and customer service. 1130 South Main St. 801467-0212.
CARPET CLEANING.
Spring clean and gets your carpets looking clean. Call 801-550-0490
PLUMBER
Plumbing. Home Repair. Home Remodel. Licensed/Insured Call 801-518-2315.
INSURANCE
Need Health Insurance? A Special Enrollment Period has been opened from 2/15-5/15. We are a free resource, and our services are available to anyone who needs help finding coverage. Give us a call! McDonald Insurance Services 801-576-6412.
MISCELLANEOUS
Have junk? I will haul it away, small and medium sized loads! Great time to clean up. Starts at only $30. Call 801-856-9500.
MAY 6, 2021 | 29
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) “It’s a temptation for any intelligent person to try to murder the primitive, emotive, appetitive self,” writes author Donna Tartt. “But that is a mistake. Because it is dangerous to ignore the existence of the irrational.” I’m sending this message out to you, Virgo, because in the coming weeks it will be crucial for you to honor the parts of your life that can’t be managed through rational thought alone. I suggest you have sacred fun as you
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) As Scorpio author Margaret Atwood reminds us, “Water is not a solid wall; it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, being like water will be an excellent strategy for you to embrace during the coming weeks. “Water is patient,” Atwood continues. “Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
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CANCER (June 21-July 22) “The universe conspires in your favor,” writes author Neale Donald Walsch. “It consistently places before you the right and perfect people, circumstances and situations with which to answer life’s only question: ‘Who are you?’” In my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings, I say much the same thing, although I mention two further questions that life regularly asks, which are: 1. What can you do next to liberate yourself from some of your suffering? 2. What can you do next to reduce the suffering of others, even by a little? As you enter a phase when you’ll get ample cosmic help in diminishing suffering and defining who you are, I hope you meditate on these questions every day.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Science writer Sharman Apt Russell provides counsel that I think you should consider adopting in the coming days. The psychospiritual healing you require probably won’t be available through the normal means, so some version of her proposal may be useful: “We may need to be cured by flowers. We may need to strip naked and let the petals fall on our shoulders, down our bellies, against our thighs. We may need to lie naked in fields of wildflowers. We may need to walk naked through beauty. We may need to walk naked through color. We may need to walk naked through scent.”
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) In indigenous cultures from West Africa to Finland to China, folklore describes foxes as crafty tricksters with magical powers. Sometimes, they’re thought of as perpetrators of pranks, but more often, they are considered helpful messengers or intelligent allies. I propose that you regard the fox as your spirit creature for the foreseeable future. I think you will benefit from the influence of your inner fox—the wild part of you that is ingenious, cunning and resourceful.
exult in the mysterious, welcome the numinous, explore the wildness within you, unrepress big feelings you’ve buried and marvel adoringly about your deepest yearnings.
COMMUNITY CLASSIFIEDS
© 2021
DISNEY+
BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK
ACROSS
1. Melissa Jefferson ____ Lizzo 2. Big ____ 3. It’s not hot long 4. Whichever 5. Enter forcefully 6. Prized mushroom 7. Rubbed the wrong way 8. Bot. or biol. 9. Prof’s assistants 10. Fate 11. “That’s poppycock!”
G
Sprague It!
12. “SNL” castmate of Shannon and Gasteyer 13. Extremes of the earth 18. “____ Tu” (1974 hit song) 21. “This is ____ new to me!” 22. BBC time traveling hero 23. Like many elephants 24. “Me? Never!” 25. States for the record 26. “The Ballad of John and ____” 27. No. 2 30. Pencil maze word 31. Itsy-bitsy 32. Flannel shirt pattern 33. Arctic hazards 34. “Auld Lang ____” 36. “Ella and ____” (1956 jazz album) 37. Facilitate 38. Farmer’s place, in song 42. MLB cleanup hitter 43. At some prior time 44. “How ya like dem apples?!” 45. “La Classe de Danse” painter 46. Kemper of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
47. Part of a lawn mower 48. Cartoon milk mascot 49. Tennis racquet brand 53. “Breaking Bad” org. 54. Not working, maybe 55. Green org.? 56. Illuminated 57. Beehive State native 58. Forlorn
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.
DOWN
URBAN L I V I N
WITH BABS DELAY Broker, Urban Utah Homes & Estates, urbanutah.com
Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9.
1. 1990s Britcom, familiarly 6. Sight in a produce aisle 10. BTS music genre 14. Reeves of “The Matrix” 15. Two-tone marine predator 16. What “:” can mean 17. Voice of Gollum whose name consists of 53-Across 19. “The Yipiyuk” author Silverstein 20. The Berenstain Bears live in one 21. 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year Stoudemire 22. Three-time Oscar winner for Best Actor whose name consists of 53-Across 27. Firebugs’ felonies 28. Electrical unit 29. “M*A*S*H” actress Loretta 30. Critters who worshipped C-3PO as a god 32. “NewsHour” network 35. “The Fault in Our Stars” actress whose name consists of 53-Across 39. Whole bunch 40. “Blonde” author Joyce Carol ____ 41. Bring in 42. Bit of misdirection 43. Accommodate 45. 2015 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award winner whose name consists of 53-Across 50. “Black-ish” star Tracee ____ Ross 51. Bananas 52. Genre for Gary Glitter and T. Rex 53. Streaming service where one might find 17-, 22-, 35- or 45-Across 59. Lover of Radames, in opera 60. “Night” author Wiesel 61. Mental aggravation 62. Spotted 63. Trebek on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 64. Couldn’t stand
SUDOKU
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30 | MAY 6, 2021
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Who knew that the American Library Association selected our humble Sprague Library as the “Most Beautiful Branch Library in America”? Yup, in 1935! The award could certainly be fitting today as this Salt Lake City library reopened to the public this week as a restored, refreshed and repaired beauty to behold! Back in July 2017, a sudden storm drenched both the city and Sugar House. Several inches poured from the skies over an hour. This library sits along Parleys Creek, and debris in the creek clogged one of the drainage grates in the Hidden Hollow retention pond, causing water and detritus to overflow, running directly into the basement of the library. When the storm subsided, there were 5 feet of muck and dirty water in the basement; books, periodicals and supplies were lost forever. After disaster cleanup was done, a team from Architectural Nexus and Margaret Sullivan Studio held open-house meetings to see how the community wanted the library to be restored and updated, and renovations began in 2019. Although the building was closed, the library continued to serve the community by opening the Sprague “Firehouse Express” at 1085 E. Simpson, which featured a few public computers, a book drop and a small collection of materials. Attending the library’s grand re-opening last week were the mayor and members of the Salt Lake City Council. If their ooohs and ahhhs while touring the space were any indication, what they saw delighted them. I was able to get a tour from Gordon Bradberry, who is Salt Lake City Public Library assistant director of facilities/IT. Mind you, I see many buildings in my daily life, and I, too, squealed as he showed me the newly restored spaces. Outside where there used to be an amphitheater pit is now waterwise hardscaping with a stage that abuts the building’s east side. Café tables will be located in that area and on the Highland Drive side. There’s also free WiFi inside and out for anyone nearby. With the basement’s street-level skylights, you’d never know you were underground because of all of the light. The meeting room can be expanded to allow for the 150-plus members of the Sugar House Community Council at their monthly meetings. The children’s reading room is similarly enormous, and the long table of computers can be moved to accommodate events and meetings. The signage and upholstery are rendered in modern colors while the light fixtures upstairs use irregularly shaped disks to accentuate the extra tall ceilings of the original high-gabled English Tudor Jacobethan Revival-style architecture. Sugar beet designs are woven into the carpets and molded into the handrailings throughout. Named after Joanna Sprague—the director of the Free Public Library of Salt Lake from 1903-1940—the library is on the National Register of Historic Places. Simply put: It’s dropdead beautiful inside and out. I encourage you to visit at 2131 S. 1100 East, Salt Lake City. Open Monday-Thursday, 11a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.
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HOME LOANS MADE BRIZZÉE Julie Bri-ZAY, makes home buying ea-ZAY Loan officer NMLS#243253
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MAY 6, 2021 | 31
the teddy bear character he created in 2016 and fashioned into a human-size Bearsun suit. On April 12, Larios decided to have a fun adventure walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco dressed as Bearsun, a journey of more than 400 miles. Mountain passes and road construction have made the trip slower than he expected, reported CNN Travel, and it’s no luxury excursion: Bearsun sleeps wherever he finds himself at the end of the day and gets food at gas stations. “I’m like a puppy, I guess,” Larios said. “I just see something, and I chase after it.” Mistaken Identity The Krakow (Poland) Society for the Protection of Animals responded on April 14 to a report that a suspected iguana was stuck in a lilac tree outside a residential building, only to discover a discarded croissant instead. “People don’t open windows because they’re afraid it’s going to enter their house,” the caller told the group. United Press International reported the animal rescue agency was forgiving. “It’s better to check and be pleasantly disappointed ... than not react, which can sometimes lead to a tragedy,” the group posted on its Facebook page. Sightings Detectives from the New Jersey State Park Police were dispatched on April 9 to a site in Wharton State Forest to examine a device found on the forest floor. The “UFO Detector Site” was determined to be safe by K-9 officer Prime, and officers had no trouble “disarming” the unit by unplugging headphone wires from the block of wood and soup can they were plugged into. It wasn’t clear who had left the object. On Facebook, park police noted, “Although humankind and the visitors to New Jersey’s state parks appreciate an extraterrestrial warning device like this, we should not be finding them in our state parks.” Least Competent Criminal Cordell Coleman, 33, was arrested for public intoxication on April 14 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and was held until about 2:30 the next morning. When he was released from the Polaski County jail, Coleman took the first car he came across: an unmarked Little Rock Police Department SUV that had been left unlocked. The Smoking Gun reported that police tracked the car to an apartment complex about 10 miles away, where Coleman was found in the car. He was brought back to jail and charged with felony theft, this time in lieu of $25,000 bond. Bright Idea Nathan Finkel called 911 on April 17 to report that Courtney Wilson and another person showed up at the gate of his expansive mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, claiming that they were having a wedding there that day. “I have people trespassing on my property,” Finkel said. “They say they’re having a wedding here, and it’s God’s message. I don’t know what’s going on.” According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Wilson, the groom, had inquired about buying the estate, listed for $5.7 million, several weeks ago, then asked Finkel if he could use the backyard for his wedding. Finkel said no, but Wilson and his betrothed, Shenita Jones, sent out online invitations anyway, with festivities beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and continuing through brunch on Sunday at what they called “the Wilson estate.” “The guy figured it was a vacant house and didn’t realize (Finkel) lived on the property in a different home,” explained Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff. Wilson was told to vacate the property and was not charged with a crime. Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
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Schemes Police in Naples, Florida, are looking for a woman identified only as “Rosalia,” a self-described witch who is suspected of swindling more than $100,000 from at least 10 victims. Authorities were first alerted to the scam on March 14 when a man called to report that Rosalia had disappeared with $29,500 of his money, according to a police report. The man said he had responded to a flier advertising Rosalia’s “witchcraft services,” WBBH-TV reported. She allegedly told the man she saw something “dark” in his future and gave him three eggs to put under his bed as he slept. When he brought them back the next day, she waved the eggs over his head and face, then opened them to reveal one filled with blood, one with needles and a third with worms, according to the report. She instructed the man to bring her all the money he had so she could bless it and multiply it at her temple in Fort Myers, promising to return it the next day, police said, but Rosalia hasn’t been seen since. Police have identified more victims in the course of their ongoing investigation. Sign of the Times A family-owned patisserie in Veresegyhaz, Hungary, is offering its customers sweet relief from COVID-19 angst with colorful layered mousses, each topped with a decorative syringe. The Sulyan family’s special desserts are colored with jelly toppings representing the different COVID-19 vaccinations available in Hungary: citrus yellow for AstraZeneca, darker yellow for Sinopharm, green for Pfizer, orange for Sputnik V and blue for Moderna, Reuters reported. “Anyone can try these,” said confectioner Katalin Benko, and “the only possible side effect would be a little smile on their face.” Going Out in Style Mourners at Phil McLean’s funeral in Wellington, New Zealand, first gasped, then laughed as his coffin, shaped like a giant cream doughnut, was brought into the chapel, the Associated Press reported on April 15. McLean had designed the special coffin with his cousin, Ross Hall, owner of Dying Art, a business in Auckland specializing in custom coffins. Over the last 15 years, Hall has fashioned a sailboat, a firetruck, a chocolate bar and Legos, among others. McLean’s widow, Debra, said her husband had considered himself a connoisseur of cream doughnuts, and the coffin “overshadowed the sadness. ... The final memory in everyone’s mind was of that doughnut and Phil’s sense of humor.” For himself, Hall said he had planned a red box with flames on it, but he changed his mind to a clear coffin, with him wearing nothing but a leopard-patterned G-string. “The kids say they’re not going,” he said. People With Issues Edward and Cheryl Patton of Lake View, New York, tried for three years to identify who was throwing used paper coffee cups—some with cigarette butts inside—on their front yard nearly every night, but they could never get a good look at the minivan as it drove by. Edward began collecting the cups, eventually filling 10 garbage bags, reported The Buffalo News. They even installed a surveillance camera, but it wasn’t until neighbors set up a stakeout and captured the license plate number that the mystery was solved. On April 18, police set up their own stakeout and pulled over Larry Pope, 76, a former co-worker of Cheryl’s whom she had had disagreements with. Pope was charged with harassment and throwing refuse onto a roadway. The Pattons said the littering has stopped since his arrest. It’s Good To Have a Hobby Bearsun is the name Jesse Larios, 33, of Los Angeles gave to
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