City Weekly October 20, 2022

Meet the candidates running for Salt Lake County Council, Auditor, Clerk, District Attorney and Sheriff.

County Seats

By Benjamin Wood

“Mike Lee’s Baggage,” Oct. 13 Private Eye

You stupid a—, John Saltas. The only thing you and your type have ever done politically is to undermine the Constitu tion in general, and the Bill of Rights in particular. Mike Lee is one of the very few Senators who have stood by the Constitu tion when the rest of the Senate was un dermining it as much as possible.

You don’t deserve to be a U.S. citizen. Your citizenship should be revoked.

BRIAN LEROHL Fairview, South Dakota

“The Battle for Ballpark,” Oct. 13 Cover Story

I left Ballpark due to crime and many of my neighbors have left for the same rea son. I am so happy I am gone.

No more shootings, no more constant

drug dealing, no more strangers fre quenting your property. I can now sit on my front porch and not see constant crime being committed.

I don’t say I moved away. I say I got out, because it was an escape.

BELINDA MASON FROST Via Facebook

Ballpark is consistently ignored despite the non-stop crimes and shootings. I moved out after five months.

More of our politicians should live in the area—maybe then something would actually get done.

LEEZEETZPIE Via Instagram

Dam Mike Lee

We all know that The Great Salt Lake is in serious trouble—a persistent drought, climate change and excessive abstrac tions threaten its very survival. But when

serious people gather to discuss what can possibly be done, Utah Sen. Mike Lee says we just need to build more dams.

Every water engineer is taught that “dams do not create water,” and that was what John Wesley Powell told Congress back in 1890, to their chagrin (there’s a good article about Powell breaking the bad news at https://bit.ly/2TfssCo).

That comment alone suggests that Mike Lee hasn’t a clue about what to do about solving Utah’s water problems. But of course, Lee has never really been con cerned with Utah. He’s too busy toadying for a position in the next Trump administration—now there’s a vision to frighten you this Halloween!

RICHARD MIDDLETON Salt Lake City

Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@city weekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

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How do you choose which books to read?

Mike Ptaschinski

Book choice is affected by my friends’ recommendations, usu ally involving biographies and his tory. I continue to be fascinated by World War II. Occasionally, I’ll watch a documentary that moves me to probe the backstory.

Sofia Cifuentes

It depends on the emotional state I’m in, the type of information I’m looking for, the name of the book and, sometimes, the cover design.

Katharine Biele

I have stopped reading dystopian novels and pretty much anything deep since COVID. I have been en joying an advance copy of Profiles in Ignorance by Andy Borowitz. That’s my kind of book!

Bryan Bale

Sometimes, I look to my favorite authors or genres. Sometimes, I’m curious about the source material behind a movie or TV adaptation. I’ll occasionally be swayed by a friend’s enthusiastic recommen dation. Sometimes, I’m given the gift of literature, which was how I first encountered Good Omens and A Confederacy of Dunces. Literate friends are the best.

Scott Renshaw

For quite a while, it was heav ily slanted towards “soon to be a major motion picture” homework reading. Then recently I started using year-end best-of lists from Time, NPR and other outlets, which has led me to so many great dis coveries that I’m bummed I didn’t start sooner.

Benjamin Wood

I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction and when I do, I’d love to say it’s through some mature, dis cerning process. In reality, I just get swept up in the internet hype (things like Gone Girl) or I read the book a good movie was based on (things like Dune).

Bill Frost

If it says “By Hunter S. Thompson” on the cover, that’s how. All other books can GTFO.

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BY KEITH BURNS

World vs. Church

In the Sunday morning session of October’s General Con ference, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson gave a sermon about “over coming the world” and finding peace through Jesus Christ. While aspects of the speech were moving and inspiring, much of it was devoted to contrasting “the world” with the Latter-day Saint faith, a familiar narrative that has been in voked by LDS leaders for decades.

Nelson began by assuring listeners that they could “over come this sin-saturated, self-centered and often exhaust ing world.” Shortly afterward, he provided a lengthy list of worldly “plagues,” including arrogance, anger, immorality and greed. Throughout the address, he continued to contrast the peace and stability of LDS teachings with the “distrac tions and distortions” of the world and urged the faithful to “trust the doctrines of Christ more than the philosophies of men.”

Although leaders since the church’s inception have con trasted LDS teachings with “the ways of the world,” this narrative especially gained momentum in the decades fol lowing World War II, with the rise of the sexual revolution, pro-communist ideologies and civil rights struggles. In or der to defend discriminatory belief systems and practices that were receiving intense public scrutiny—such as the priesthood and temple ban on people of African descent— church leaders began positioning their institutional norms and policies as antithetical to the “secular” and “sinful” ten dencies of the world. They have even described Satan as the author of social justice movements that have fought against racism, patriarchy and heteronormativity.

This ideological framework has undoubtedly influenced the modern LDS Church and continues to shape the rheto ric of its leaders. Nelson is among those who frequently el evates church teachings above the “sin-stained world,” a

framework that I believe has several unhealthy effects on the church and its members.

First, this kind of rhetoric enables an us-versus-them mentality, which has the potential to taint and distort the way that members interact with their non- or former-LDS friends and family members. I am aware of several instances in which LDS parents have prohibited their children from visiting their non-LDS friends’ houses. Even worse, I am aware of devoted church members ostracizing and even dis owning family members who are “living in sin.”

As part of my graduate research in Mormonism and sexu ality, I have interviewed dozens of current and former LG BTQ+ members of the LDS Church. Tragically, countless individuals have described heinous acts of marginalization and othering from their own orthodox family members. I am certain that the “church vs. world” framework exacerbates this type of abuse, especially when leaders like apostle and LDS First Counselor Dallin H. Oaks frequently position queer identity and activism as oppositional to God’s teachings.

In addition to harming relationships and fueling abuse, decrying worldly ills also impacts the way that many church members feel about science and current events. In 1993, the late Elder Boyd K. Packer warned of three groups that constituted the “greatest threat to the church”: feminists, homosexuals and intellectuals. And although most current leaders no longer express such hardline positions at the pul pit, this way of thinking still occupies space within church leadership.

The anti-intellectual sentiments of Packer and other leaders can be clearly observed in a general skepticism among members toward science and public health, most recently demonstrated by a widespread reluctance to wear masks and get vaccinated in response to COVID-19. Similarly, framing feminism and homosexuality as insidious threats has caused many members to demonize LGBTQ+ individuals and delegitimize the struggle for gender and sexual equality.

Lastly, rhetoric that denounces the “ways of the world” prevents many members from thinking critically about

harmful church teachings and practices. By creating a con struct known as “the world,” LDS leaders have been able to label those who criticize oppressive aspects of the church as being “worldly”—and according to Nelson, worldliness comes with a slew of negative attributes including pride, an ger and hatred.

This toxic framework is an example of what psychologists refer to as “poisoning the well,” in which members of an ingroup create an adverse narrative about out-groups, such that any criticism made by a member of the out-group is im mediately discounted.

Despite the harm caused by pitting “the world” against “the church,” more members than ever are beginning to think critically about harmful LDS teachings, especially those of younger generations. For instance, LDS sociologist Jana Riess found in her “Next Mormons” survey that younger members are significantly more likely than older members to believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society. Her data revealed other hopeful trends in which millennial and Gen Z members of the LDS Church demonstrate greater willingness to examine and scrutinize social injustices and oppressive ideologies, both within and outside of the faith.

As the 21st century church continues to grow and evolve amid contemporary sociocultural norms, framing the world as antithetical to LDS teachings will become increasingly unacceptable to rising Latter-day Saint generations. Worse, it will enable more orthodox members to continue othering people with different beliefs and provide ongoing justifica tion for the abuse of marginalized groups, most notably LG BTQ+ individuals.

I challenge LDS leaders and members to think more care fully about the ways they speak of the world, with the hope that the church will move toward a more inclusive and uni fying perspective of their relationship with broader culture and society. CW

Private Eye is off this week. Send feedback to comments@city weekly.net.

HITS&MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE @kathybiele

MISS: Pray the Gay Away

Let’s see how this works. We should leave it up to individual doctors wheth er they use bloodletting—oops—we meant conversion therapy in their prac tices. But it’s OK to ban medical profes sionals from offering gender-affirming medical care, according to a Salt Lake Tribune report. Oh, and let’s not forget how doctors should never, ever per form an abortion. In the eyes of the Legislature and the GOP, it’s important to get the gay out of people, prevent them from becoming their best selves and put a halt to women aborting ba bies because they are simply murder ous trollops. As politicians attempt to socially engineer their world, real peo ple suffer the consequences. No matter how much you might want it to work, conversion “therapy” is more like conversion torture. “Efforts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity are associated with poor men tal health for LGBT people,” concludes a 2019 report from UCLA School of Law.

HIT: Late but Great

Every week, we hear something new about how lawmakers are working to save the Great Salt Lake. Joel Fer ry thinks we can just twiddle along, tweaking water usage here and there, and all will be fine. “What you’re talk ing about is a rigid approach, all or nothing,” Ferry, director of the De partment of Natural Resources, told The Salt Lake Tribune. “We need to be flexible and mindful and adaptive to a condition we find ourselves in.” In oth er words, Utah’s not going to mandate any kind of water restrictions. Ferry has determined a “sweet spot” level for the lake, and it will have to rise 11 feet to hit it. Strangely, he’s still talking about a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean. The University of Utah is offering prize money to innovate and address climate change. Even Utah’s 3rd District Rep. John Curtis is getting on board. His Conservative Climate Caucus in Con gress could move the needle for rightwing climate deniers. Will it be in time? Climate doesn’t change overnight.

MISS: Nursing a Grudge

Burgess Owens was miffed. A Pat Bagley political cartoon has been eat ing at him for a long time. The Deseret News notes that he’s been chewing on what he calls the “racist cartoon” for the past year, which he expects from a “liberal outlet” like The Salt Lake Tri bune. The straw that broke his back was editor Lauren Gustus being named to moderate a debate between him and his challengers. But wait—this wasn’t the first debate Owens has ducked out on. He demurred on the pre-primary debates, too. They were held by the Utah Republican Party because the GOP wanted to choose its own modera tors. Apparently, the moderators didn’t make any difference, and neither did Owens’ disdain for the public process. He handily beat his GOP opponent Jake Hunsaker, and deep red Utah will like ly give him another term in office to do whatever it is he does.

Fall Transitions

It’s nice to have autumn finally upon us. After a seemingly endless streak of 100-degree days and record-breaking temperatures, it feels more than just a re lief to have this past summer behind us.

In Utah, especially, autumn has al ways been a season of transition. You can practically hear camera shutters clicking across the valley as leaf peepers travel through such color-changing scenes as Millcreek Canyon or the Alpine Loop.

But you can find plenty of transitions in Salt Lake City without having to leave the urban core—if you know where to look. Green spaces like the large Wasatch Community Gardens, located in the central portion of the city at 800 South and 600 East, is a great spot to catch the fleeting nature of things.

The collage above shows a series of aerial photos at this particular garden throughout the growing season from May until October. What starts as a mostly col orless arrangement of planter boxes and ground cover becomes more green and lush as the months pass by until, inevita bly, returning back to their brown hues, post-harvest.

Unlike the routine of a plant’s life cycle, the change in graffiti scattered through out the city is mostly unpredictable. You never know when or where a fresh coat of paint will be sprayed onto a wall.

The collage below captures the evolu tion over the past year of the Pyramid Wall , one of the last legal graffiti walls in the city. Located across Genesee Avenue from the iconic Summum Pyramid on 700 West—another well-known, unusual SLC site—this wall has seen decades of chang es as generations of artists have added their work on top of this unusual canvas. I’d imagine it is more paint than wall at this point.

Of the nearly 1,000 quirky Salt Lake sights I’ve photographed so far, I’d es timate that one-third no longer remain in their original form. Nothing gold can stay, after all. CW

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Maggie Stiefvater: Greywaren

The stereotype of the quiet, introverted writer may apply to some, but not to New York Times bestselling young-adult fiction author Maggie Stiefvater. She’s opened up her process as a writer on a series of “how I write” blog posts, and her non-writing activities include composing original music to accompany her book series like The Raven Cycle, and even stunt driving.

But she most certainly appreciates her work as a writer, especially after a diagnosis with the pituitary disorder Addison’s disease entered her life. As she told Interview Magazine in 2021, “I would sit at the computer for 16 hours and sometimes I would return the next day, reread what I had done, and … the sentences didn’t make any sense at all. … Eventually I found my way back to health. … Every day that I sit down and the words come easily is an amazing thing.”

Thankfully for her many fans, the words are still coming, including her new novel Greywaren, which completes the “Dreamer Trilogy” built on the world of The Raven Cycle. It focuses on the Lynch family, including Ronan, who has the ability to create reality from his dreams. But that reality only continues so long as the dreamer lives, and his world is already a damaged one.

Stiefvater visits The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. for a ticketed in-person event. The $35 ticket includes admission and an autographed hardcover copy of Greywaren. Visit kingsenglish.com for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

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Utah Arts Festival Studio Tour

Every year, the Utah Arts Festival gathers art ists in one location where guests have a chance to experience amazing finished work. This year, for the first time, the UAF is also promoting an opportunity to learn about local artists by visit ing them in their own studio spaces.

The first annual Utah Arts Festival Studio Tour opens up the worlds of more than 130 participating artist, working in every medium from painting to sculpture, from photography to jewelry. According to UAF director Aimee Dunsmore, an event like this offers a unique opportunity to connect with artists’ work in a new way.

“Getting a glimpse into an artist’s studio to see their tools and materials, how things are organized, and maybe even how they’re not, provides additional perspective as well as an appreciation for what it really takes to be a working artist,” Dunsmore says via email. “It’s fascinating to see the creative process in action or gain a better understanding of how that process takes place and how different artists approach their work. It’s always created a deeper connection and

meaning for me to both the pieces I select and the artist who created them.”

The Utah Arts Festival Studio Tour runs Oct. 21, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. and Oct. 22 – 23, 10 a.m. 6 p.m., at various studio locations. Checkins at multiple studio locations through the online passport can earn guests prizes, includ ing free general admission and VIP credentials to the 2023 Utah Arts Festival. Visit uaf.org/ studiotour for full list of participating artists and additional information. (SR)

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Ballet West: Onegin

In 2019, Ballet West fulfilled a long-held wish of artistic director Adam Sklute when it finally obtained the rights to John Cranko’s 1964 bal let Onegin, based on the 19th-century narrative poem Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin.

Three years after that local premiere, it almost feels like Onegin has a home in Salt Lake City— not just because it’s hitting the local stage once again, but because Ballet West is now the only company in the country to own a complete set of costumes, design elements and props for Onegin

As wonderful as those technical components might be, however, it’s still the story and the dancers’ interpretation of it that will carry audiences away: Haughty aristocrat

Onegin,rejects the romantic overtures of simple peasant girl Tatiana, only to realize years later the foolishness of his actions. “How many of us fell head over heels in love with someone when we were young, and say you wrote that person a love letter,” Sklute told City Weekly in 2019. And that person ignored it, or worse yet, mocked you for it. Then 25 years later, you go to your high school reunion, and that person says, you were the only person who understood me, and I missed that ... You don’t have to know the story in advance to get it when you see it in dance.”

Ballet West’s Onegin visits the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) for five performances, Oct. 21 – 29. Tickets are $25 - $114; visit arttix.org for specific dates and showtimes, to purchase tick ets, and for additional event information. (SR)

Alt Press Fest @ Main Library

For many years, the Salt Lake City Public Library has been home to the largest collection of zines and alternative press publications at any public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. After two years off due to the COVID pandemic, the SLCPL brings back the in-person Alt Press Fest, as a chance to further demonstrate the library’s commit ment to this unique creative form and the voices it brings to a community.

“Zines open up the door for creatives who aren’t looking to get published by a big publish er but just want to share some thoughts with their community,” says SLCPL Adult Services Library and Alt Press Fest coordinator Pablo Abarca. “It is important to have alterna

tive sources of media accessible to our com munities, for it gives a platform to voices that mainstream media outlets usually do not cover and gives marginalized communities a chance to convey their own ideas and culture.”

More than 50 creators will be participating in this year’s Alt Press Fest, showcasing their work at tables and through art installations, and providing input to aspiring creators who may be considering creating their own work.

Artist panels and workshops will provide further support for potential self-publishers, including specialized workshops for kids’ zines.

The 2022 Alt Press Fest takes place at the Salt Lake City Main Library atrium (210 E. 400 South) on Saturday, Oct. 22, from noon – 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public; visit slcpl.org for additional event information. (SR)

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Puppy Poses

Random hugs and excitable subjects are all in a day’s work for Utah pet photographers.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

In a Salt Lake City back alleyway, against a colorful mural of classic book spines, Dawn McBride prepares to shoot her subject. Out of nowhere, a girl of around 4 years old rides up on her bike, dismounts, and runs up to hug that photo subject, hav ing just met him a few minutes earlier; “He really loves me,” the girl says.

All artists have their unique challenges. This is just one that you might deal with as a pet photographer, and your subject is a friendly golden retriever named Scout.

McBride has operated Fuzzy Love Pho tography since 2017. But despite photogra phy being something of a family business, she really didn’t expect it would become

her calling as well. “My dad was a photog rapher, and he was always trying to get us interested,” McBride recalls. “And I tried … sort of. There was so much to learn, and I just didn’t care enough—until I adopted my dog Milo [nine years ago]. When he got a little older, I wanted some good photos of him, and there just wasn’t anyone [doing pet photography] at that time. So I dusted off my old Nikon and tried to figure it out. And yeah, the photos were really bad. … But the more I did it, the more I thought about doing it.”

While McBride couldn’t find any options a decade ago in the local pet photography marketplace, it’s a growing one. Kim Kuhl man, who runs Chile Dog Photography out of her Sandy home, relocated to Utah 18 months ago for her husband’s job as a vet erinary internist, hoping to continue work she’s been doing for more than 20 years.

Originally trained as an engineer, Kuhl man tried out photography around the same time her husband was transitioning to his second career in veterinary medi cine. “It turns out that dogs were the pas sion first,” Kuhlman says. “My husband has bred springer spaniels and competed with them for 20 years. I got my first pay ing gig, and it wasn’t very much, shooting for a competition 21 years ago. My husband bought me a film camera off of eBay to keep me entertained while he was training.”

Both Kuhlman and McBride empha size the need to have a good understand ing from the “pet parent” about what they want from the photo shoot—studio setting or outdoors, posed or more candid. Then it comes time for the session itself, and for the photographer to let the animal and the setting help shape the shoot.

At her home studio, Kulhman says, “I let [the dogs] run around the room and explore. Occasionally we have a ‘marking’ problem, but that’s a hazard of the job. I get down on the floor with them to get them comfortable with me. Treats are usually in volved. And it involves a lot of making crazy noises. I buy squeaky toys from Amazon by the bagful.”

“I make the most obnoxious noises out of my face,” McBride of her own photo shoots

with a laugh. “You can only use those nois es so many times, but it takes just a split second that I need them to look at me with head tilted and ears up.”

Not surprisingly, the job involves work ing with subjects who aren’t aways perfectly cooperative. For a home photo shoot with a retriever named Snoop, Kuhlman deals with a dog who seems too excited to sit for a photo. To an untrained observer, it seems impossible that she got anything worth using as Snoop darts repeatedly from his mark to sniff around the room— but the shots Kuhlman provides from that shoot are delightful.

So too are the ones McBride gets of Scout on the streets of downtown SLC, though it helps that she has worked previously with Scout and owner Brandy Chenoweth, oper ator of the pet-centric website DogFriend lySLC.com. Having worked with multiple photographers, Chenoweth believes there are some specific qualities that make for a great pet photographer.

“Those who only photograph pets are dif ferent, in terms of understanding how dogs need to be photographed,” Chenoweth says. “It requires a different mindset. … You have to be quick, and you have to work with the animal where they are. People as

sume you have to have this perfect dog who understands ‘stay,’ and knows all those commands. You just have to meet him where he is, and be flexible.”

After the shoot itself, there’s still work to be done in selecting the best images and working on the photo-editing process. But as uniquely challenging as the job is, pet photographers still face internal and ex ternal voices about whether the work they do is a real art form.

“I project stuff like that on myself,” Mc Bride says. “My partner is actually a land scape photographer, published in National Geographic. He’s legit. And sometimes I have a hard time not comparing myself to what he does. I do puppies!”

“I’ve been at Park Silly Market with my booth,” Kuhlman says, “and will occasion ally hear someone make a snide remark: [sarcastic voice] ‘Oh a pet photographer.’ But I’ll also get [excited voice] ‘Oh, a pet photographer!’”

That’s the kind of energy inspired by working with beloved pets—even if it means interruptions in the middle of a job. CW

Kim Kuhlman in a photo session with Snoop at her home studio

SCOTT RENSHAW

A photo of Scout by Dawn McBride

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County Seats

Meet the candidates running for Salt Lake County Council, Auditor, Clerk, District Attorney and Sheriff.

By Benjamin Wood bwood@cityweekly.net

Election Day 2022 is fast approaching—on Nov. 8—and Utahns face many important decisions on the ballots mailed out to them.

Among the state’s marquee federal races, the only real question is whether independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin can eke out a gamechanging victory by finding enough Republicans turned off by incumbent Sen. Mike Lee’s role in the plot to overthrow the government. Oth erwise, all four incumbent GOP congressmen are virtually assured their re-election victories thanks to the state Legislature’s outsize commit ment to partisan gerrymandering.

But in ever-purple Salt Lake County, competition remains alive. Democrats hope to bounce back from losses in 2020 that left the county council with a 6-3 Republican supermajority. Third-party candidates look to establish a cen trist foothold near the state’s capital. At a time of rampant misinformation around election security, longtime County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is retiring, leaving an open-seat contest for the first time in three decades. And spikes in vio lent crime during the pandemic, nationally, have added to simmering political tensions, locally, around policing and criminal prosecution.

Ahead of the voting, City Weekly reached out to the 15 candidates running in county elections [note: Republican Sheldon Stewart is running unopposed in Council District 5] and asked them to introduce themselves, to name a favorite res taurant in the county, to describe the government improvements they intend to affect if elected, and to choose from a list of questions on housing, transportation, public health, water conserva tion, ranked-choice voting, ballot access, public safety and law enforcement accountability.

Responses were received via email and edited for length and clarity.

Salt Lake County Council at-Large Seat B

Suzanne Harrison vs. Richard Snelgrove

Name: Suzanne Harrison (Democrat) City: Draper

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Royal India Campaign website: votesuz.com

Who are you?

I’m a medical doctor, not a politician, and I’ve dedicated my life to helping people who are strug gling. At Riverton Hospital, I make science-based, life-and-death decisions every day. As Utah’s state representative for Sandy and Draper, I’ve led on air quality, blown the whistle on mismanagement of the pandemic and helped lead the campaign to repeal the food tax increase.

Why you?

For the last two years, Republicans have held a vetoproof supermajority on the county council and are becoming increasingly extreme. Instead of waging partisan culture wars, the council should be focused on actually helping people by reducing our cost of living, improving our air quality and conserving our water supply.

On transportation

Transportation is such a huge factor in our cost of living and air quality. We should invest more in pub lic transit, especially those that make east-west trav el more convenient. In the Legislature, I proposed expanding the free-fare pilot program to boost UTA ridership. We should also be more aggressive about supporting and protecting cyclists.

On COVID

As a doctor, it was hard to watch state politicians override recommendations of doctors and experts.

“Local control” in Utah is a myth. COVID won’t be our last crisis, so we must elect officials who will lis ten to experts and make common-sense decisions that prioritize people over politics. I criticized nobid pandemic contracts and will keep fighting deci sions that fail to put people first.

Name: Richard Snelgrove (Republican) City: Murray

Favorite SLCo restaurant: El Pariente taco stand Campaign website: richardsnelgrove.com

Who are you?

I was raised in the Sugar House area and graduated from the University of Utah. I’m a volunteer baseball and soccer coach, an experienced business executive and the founder of several companies, including Snel grove Travel Centers Inc. I have been serving on the county council since 2011.

Why you?

We must stop the gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I am an outspoken critic and leader in the fight to stop this billion-dollar boondoggle and environmental di saster. It is up to the Legislature to appropriate funds to build it—that’s where we stop it! I am advocating that some of the gondola money be used to fund “no fare UTA” during the winter months, and ultimately yearround, to meet our transportation needs and air pollu tion concerns.

On housing

I support increased housing density along with meet ing proper zoning criteria. I have voted to support every effort to expand housing availability and affordability, most recently supporting a $26 million appropriation to increase our housing stock and specifically target the most vulnerable populations. We must do more, how ever, including the permitting and incentivising of ac cessory dwelling units.

On water

I am opposed to the proposed rock quarry in Parleys Canyon. Our canyon watershed must be protected. We have led by example in taking major steps to reduce wa ter consumption at county facilities. There are specific steps we must take to save the Great Salt Lake in order to maintain our “lake effect” snow which is so vital to our water supply.

Suzanne Harrison

Richard Snelgrove

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Salt Lake County Council District 1

Arlyn Bradshaw vs. Richard D.M. Barnes

Name: Arlyn Bradshaw (Democrat)

City: SLC-Marmalade

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Arlo Campaign website: arlynbradshaw.com

Who are you?

I live in the Marmalade neigh borhood with my partner, Neil, and our dogs, Brass and Roddy. While working as a Salt Lake County employee, I earned my MPA from the University of Utah. This ex perience led me to run for, and win, a seat on the county council, becoming the first openly gay county official.

Why you?

We are facing a housing cri sis. On the county council, I fought to utilize federal funds to invest $27.5 million into af fordable housing. This isn’t enough; the county needs to continue to make significant investments into this critical need, and I have the experi ence to ensure that happens.

On housing

I am a proponent of increased density, particularly in areas that provide access to transit. Workers that make our com munity a thriving place to live, work, shop, eat and play should be able to afford to live in the areas where they work and serve. Smart density is vital to making that an afford able reality.

On transportation

The county, with its regional focus, is best situated to pro vide comprehensive trans portation planning—not just roads and transit but integrat ed, protected urban trails and bike routes—to allow residents to move throughout the valley in a safe, efficient and environ mentally responsible way.

Name: Richard D.M. Barnes (Republican)

City: SLC-Rose Park

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Chubby’s Mexican Restaurant Campaign website: N/A

Who are you?

I’m a sixth-generation Utahn born in Salt Lake City and raised in Davis County. I graduated from the University of Utah, where I studied geology. I’m an Eagle Scout, a colonel with the Com memorative Air Force, and I’ve been married to my wife Brenda for 24 years, so far.

Why you?

“Better, Quicker and Cheap er” was my dad’s (now age 97) Air Force B-17 during WWII. I worked at the old Salt Palace Center and have run my own tourism-based small business for more than 40 years. I’m ac tive in the community, arts, politics and religious work.

On transportation Transportation in Salt Lake County should be cheap, avail able to all, and seamless. We should encourage trains, bus es, motorcycles, private cars and systems, commercial and hourly air options, aerial tram ways, scooters, bikes and UTA on Demand’s shared minivans in all of Salt Lake and many neighboring counties.

On water

Clean, pure water is life. Salt Lake County must protect and maintain our Wasatch Mountain watersheds, reser voirs and wilderness areas at all costs, including substan tial water connection fees for new buildings. Older resi dents should not suffer for in creasing density, and prices should be determined by free market forces.

Salt Lake County Council District

Aimee Winder Newton vs. Ashley Liewer vs. Kerry Soelberg

Who are you?

I love serving on the county council and was the first woman elected as chair of the council. I’m a former planning commissioner, city com munications director, executive for a biotech company and 2020 candidate for governor. I’m also a small business owner, a mom to four young adults and an advocate for mental health resources, safer neighborhoods, cleaner air, open space and affordable housing, and for working across the aisle.

Why you?

Name: Aimee Winder Newton (Republican)

City: Taylorsville

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Blue Iguana Campaign website: voteawn.com

We all know someone dealing with mental-health issues. My own fam ily has struggled. I’m proud of the work I’ve done to fight for more mental health resources. I’ve made decisions regarding our crisis line and advocated for our new mental health receiving center.

Who are you?

I am a paramedic and a health care consultant with a passion for serving underrepresented communities. My background provides me with insight to have difficult conversations and develop innovative solutions. I look forward to addressing is sues such as housing and food insecurity, air quality and ac cess to substance-use disorder and mental health treatment.

Why you?

Name: Ashley Liewer (Democrat)

City: Murray

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Tea Rose Diner Campaign website: ashleyliewer.com

We need to address challenges regarding mental health and substance use. We need a lead er who understands the health care system, can build partner ships to expand access to care, has insight on case manage ment and can foresee the finan cial impacts of long term care.

On transportation

I represent Salt Lake County on the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the transportation planning organization for our county. Long-range planning is key—not just for cars, but for bikes, walkability and transit.

On COVID

I was one of the two Repub licans who crossed over to vote with our Democratic colleagues last January dur ing our omicron surge. When House leadership couldn’t con vince me to change my vote, I watched as the Legislature overturned our mask mandate.

At the county council, I will continue to do what I think is right, regardless of political consequences.

On transportation

We need more partnerships to expand access and make transit more accessi ble to the entire county. I believe that frequent, reliable and affordable pub lic transportation is a necessity. Reli able transportation provides better access to essential services, employ ment opportunities and more. Howev er, these transportation options must be environmentally friendly.

On housing

I believe that every potential solution for the housing crisis needs to be con sidered with facts and data to deter mine if it supports the surrounding community. I will work to ensure that housing in Salt Lake County is truly affordable by finding creative solu tions for transitional housing, repur posing county-owned properties and working with developers to incentiv ize more affordable units.

Who are you?

I am a proud Utahn, husband and father of five children and 16 grand children. I earned a master’s of public administration at BYU, am a 38-year employee of the state of Utah—as an administrative servic es manager—now retired. I man aged and balanced multimillion dollar budgets. I hike, bike, moun tain bike, ski and spoil grandkids.

Why you?

Name: Kerry Soelberg (United Utah)

City: West Jordan

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Spaghetti Factory Campaign website: kerry-soelberg.com

My differentiating characteristic is that I am not tethered to either the Republican or Democratic parties, which frees me from the need to balance my loyalty between party and the people. I consider our twoparty system broken, with both parties dedicated to contention

and division and controlled largely by their unhealthy fringes. I am one of the 60-70% of moderate Republi cans, Democrats and Independents whose voice is often drowned out by the extremes. If you love gerryman dering, divisive rhetoric and party politics, I suggest you vote for one of my opponents.

On the issues

I care keenly about transporta tion, housing density, water and drought, police and public safety, poverty and homelessness, public health and the pandemic, etc., and discuss them on my website listed above. We must foster the ecosys tem of citizens, government, pri vate business, church and volun teer organizations.

Richard D.M. Barnes

Arlyn Bradshaw

Aimee Winder Newton

Ashley Liewer

Kerry Soelberg

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A&E

Salt Lake County Auditor David Muir vs. Chris Harding

Name: David Muir (United Utah)

City: Cottonwood Heights

Favorite SLCo restaurant:

Market Street Grill

Campaign website: davidmuir4auditor.com

Who are you?

Raised in east Millcreek, I met my wife, Cheri, at the University of Utah and raised our family in Cottonwood Heights. I have 26 years of experience in county and city gov ernment finances and nine years in private sector accounting and audit management. I’m always willing to volunteer and lead out in local efforts to improve our community.

Why you?

Being an auditor is certainly not glamor ous. No one knows what inefficiencies or misappropriations exist until we go look ing. My deep knowledge of government finances will help me know where to look. With my love of data, I will find problems that need to be resolved.

On auditing

Having an independent—meaning neither left- or right-leaning—auditor has distinct advantages. Auditing requires a willing ness to follow the facts, sometimes in the face of opposing pressure from other elect ed officials. I will collaborate with other county officials to find opportunities for greater efficiencies.

Name: Chris Harding (Republican)

City: South Jordan

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Ginza Japanese Shabu Shabu Campaign website: chris4auditor.com

Who are you?

I am “Candice’s husband” and father of five remarkable kids. I am an expert auditor with a bachelor’s in accounting from the U of U and an MBA from Weber State. I am a CPA, CIA and CFE. I have dedicated my pro fessional life to the study and practice of auditing.

Why you?

Audits, performed in compliance with gen erally accepted government auditing stan dards (GAGAS) must be performed to give residents, taxpayers, management and those charged with governance an assur ance of transparency and a general sense of how taxpayer funds are being spent. I am the only CPA candidate with experience performing GAGAS-compliant audits.

On auditing

I’ll seek to obtain a first-ever peer review, become GAGAS compliant, establish an audit committee and increase profession ally licensed staff. I bring over 16 years of experience auditing in a GAGAS-compliant manner. I will advocate for auditor inde pendence by working to pass legislation to change state statute.

Salt Lake County Clerk Goud Maragani vs. Lannie Chapman

Name: Goud Maragani (Republican)

City: Riverton

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Redemption Bar & Grill Campaign website: goud4clerk.com

Who are you?

I am a compliance attorney practicing law for almost 20 years and a veteran. I study compli cated systems, find potential failure points, design transparent programs to prevent those failures from happening and ensure compli ance with the law.

Why you?

We need to ensure our elections are run accord ing to state law. I believe the clerk’s office violated state law during the June primary by including my opponent’s name on the instruction sheet in cluded with every mailed ballot. I will make sure we run elections according to state law and en sure free and fair elections in Salt Lake County.

On voting

Municipalities—not the county clerk—decide whether to implement ranked-choice voting. I will implement elections as requested and will make sure those elections are as transparent and accurate as possible. Because we have a vote-by-mail system, casting a ballot is quite easy for most people. One focus of the clerk’s office should be to make sure its services are accessible for those with disabilities. We need to make sure that accessible voting equipment is tested every day and that malfunctioning equipment is replaced quickly.

Name: Lannie Chapman (Democrat)

City: SLC-East Liberty Park

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Chunga’s Campaign website: lannieforclerk.com

Who are you?

I have served as the chief deputy under out going Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Sw ensen for the last three years, after previ ously serving as a Salt Lake County deputy district attorney. I am committed to ensur ing that every voter in Salt Lake County knows how their public officials can sup port and protect their fundamental rights.

Why you?

I will increase voter education and out reach, not just by presenting what elec tions are happening, but also by educating on which candidates are running. I’ll work with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to en sure that voters understand who the candi dates are depending on the race.

On voting

I fully support municipalities holding elections using either traditional voting or the pilot project of ranked-choice voting. As the county elections office, we will continue to support municipalities and the choice of safe voting. Ensuring that we protect voteby-mail and continuing to have multiple ways that people can vote is crucial to high voter turnout.

David Muir

Chris Harding

Goud Maragani

Lannie Chapman

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Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill vs. Danielle Ahn

Name: Sim Gill (Democrat)

City: SLC-Foothill

Favorite SLCo restaurant: La Frontera

Campaign website: votesim.com

Who are you?

My name is Sim Gill, I was born in India and moved to Utah when I was 10. I believe in fairness, justice, equality and truth. I have been a prosecutor for 27 years. Criminal justice reform is possible without compro mising public safety.

Why you?

I will expand our environmental crimes unit. This year, the District Attorney’s Of fice prosecuted the largest environmental crimes case in county history, with a $2 million fine against a corporate polluter. I will expand our trauma-informed support for Camp Hope, helping children who have endured violence, and increase therapeu tic diversion programs.

On law enforcement

My job is to work with law enforcement, not for law enforcement. I work for the residents of Salt Lake County. I plan to hold bad actors accountable by upholding the rule of law. I will do the right thing, even when it isn’t popular, as we continue to change laws and policies to ensure accountability.

Name: Danielle Ahn (Republican) City: Midvale

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Pho 33 Campaign website: da4da.com

Who are you?

I was born and raised in Utah and want to bring law and order back to the justice system. I graduated from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law with a certificate in international and business law, and I have experience as both a litiga tor and transactional attorney. I have over come many challenges that have given me a unique perspective on homelessness, men tal health and crime.

Why you?

We must end plea deals for repeat violent offenders if we want to address the 46% in crease in homicides that our county has ex perienced in the past four years. The impact of crime on the community is immeasur able, and we can’t afford not to dedicate re sources to holding criminals accountable.

On public safety

Violent crime is skyrocketing because of my opponent’s soft-on-crime policies and lack of leadership. It’s time we get tough Ahn crime! I’m committed to ending plea deals for repeat violent offenders, reforging rela tionships with law enforcement and priori tizing victims’ rights and voices.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Nick Roberts vs. Rosie Rivera

Name: Nick Roberts (Republican)

City: Sandy

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Market Street Grill Campaign website: votesheriffnick.com

Who are you?

I am Nick Roberts, a 45-year public servant to Salt Lake County. I started as a fireman EMT for Salt Lake City Fire in the ’70s, then served with Riverton Police Department, Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Unified Police Department. I am a gradu ate of the FBI National Academy, was Range Master and am now a sergeant in Millcreek and Holladay.

Why you?

In the past five and a half years, Unified Po lice Department has lost three cities, caus ing the taxpayers to pay more for policing. Crime has increased. Cooperation with police departments is crucial for reducing crime. The county jail needs to be changed and criminals need to be held accountable. Citizens and officers should be supported.

On public safety

The primary public safety issue is the coun ty jail. Currently, offenders are released and back on the streets within hours. This allows them to reoffend, and those who need to be held are not. The county jail can not have a revolving door. The voices of vio lent crime victims need to be heard.

Name: Rosie Rivera (Democrat)

City: Riverton

Favorite SLCo restaurant: Salsa Leedos Campaign website: rosieforsheriff.com

Who are you?

I have 29 years in law enforcement and 24 years in leadership positions. I oversee the state’s largest jail and I am the CEO over the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake. I am the first and only female sheriff in the state. I am a mother of three adults and grandmother of six grandchildren.

Why you?

We are seeing individuals booked into jail who need alternative resources. It is expen sive to have these individuals cycle over and over again into the system. Our jail is reach ing capacity, and we need to ensure there a re available beds for violent offenders. Our Medication Assisted Treatment program and our Jail Reentry Resource Program are examples of the progress we are making. We continue to arrest and hold accountable vi olent offenders and will do so in the future.

On public safety

Law enforcement is understaffed. I am working with chiefs and sheriffs across the nation to address this problem. Increasing wages and benefits and thinking outside the box will help with hiring and retaining our officers. We need the manpower to en sure our communities are safe. CW

Sim Gill

Danielle Ahn Nick Roberts

Rosie Rivera

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Heart and Sol

Sol Agave’s sophisticated take on Mexican food.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

In the Jungian school of thought, the idea of synchronicity—the hidden sig nificance of seemingly insignificant co incidences—draws a lot of water. While I don’t consider myself much of a subscriber to destiny manipulation, I do try to pick up the strands of fate that seem to connect the synchronicities that cross my path, espe cially when food is involved.

I only bring this up because it was syn chronicity that led me to American Fork’s Sol Agave (749 W. 100 North, Ste. CRA8, 801-6921758, solagave.com). A few weeks ago, I was reading up on the highlights of this year’s Sugar High Dessert Festival while watch ing a particularly tone-deaf episode of The Great British Baking Show; yes, I read about desserts while watching TV shows about des serts. Anyway, as I read that Sol Agave won the Fan Favorite award at this year’s festival, while cringing at the episode’s casual igno rance toward Mexican culture, I knew that a sophisticated spin on traditional Mexican food was in my near future.

I suppose it was the realization that we’re lucky to have such a close connection with Mexican food and culture here in the United States that really prompted this visit. I love our variety of Mexican restaurants, and I also love that Sol Agave’s concept is built around introducing mainstream diners to the history and complexity that exist within

Mexican cooking. Strolling down the menu feels like a trip through a familiar neigh borhood—until you start seeing things like slow-roasted Kurobuta pork belly bites and chorizo mashed potatoes, that is.

Obviously I was here to try some of that now-famous butter cake ($15) that won over the hearts of the Sugar High attendees, but I know better than to eat dessert first. The Chef’s Specials section of the menu is filled with great options, but I ended up going with Our Famous Carnitas ($24) to comple ment the butter cake’s heavy rep. These carnitas were made famous when Sol Aga ve’s first location in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. burst onto the scene, and it’s easy to see why. This is primo braised pork that simply falls apart with the slightest touch of your fork. The dish is also decked out with rice, refried black beans, guacamole, sour cream, a lovely salsa cruda , served with some homemade corn tortillas.

I’m always a sucker for the build-yourown taco model, but I did sneak a taste of these carnitas before they headed into my taco, and just wow. Completely tender, juicy and packing just a hint of acidity, it’s an absolutely heavenly bite for fans of car nitas, or really any type of slow-braised protein. Even when you shred it up and add it to a hefty taco, that lovely flavor remains in center stage. An honorable mention must go to that salsa cruda , a beautiful creation of green chilis, onion and a sharp kick of ja lapeño that tasted fresh out of the garden.

Sol Agave also has an insane cocktail and spirits menu with heavy emphasis on te quila. The sticky sweetness of a margarita seemed like a good call to contrast with the acidic, salsa-drenched wallop of my carni tas, so I ordered a flight of four ($24). They arrive on a custom wood serving dish, and they are gorgeous. I was a little crestfallen to see that the virginal quartet only came

with one shot of tequila that you had to di vide into each glass, but this is the heart of American Fork, after all. It was pretty easy to get over the disappointment—even with just a tad of tequila, the margaritas were sharp, sugary and refreshing.

I’m a big believer in the idea that if you want to finish a meal off with dessert, you must let your stomach know of your plans before you enter the restaurant. This is how I was able to secure room enough for Sol Agave’s butter cake after eating a heap of carnitas. It’s a beautiful dish—golden yel low cake topped with a giant scoop of va nilla ice cream and dusted with cinnamon. The cake is warm on delivery, which causes the ice cream to melt and soak into the sponge and create a tres leches vibe.

The flavor of the cake itself dips its toes into butterscotch territory but pulls back before things get too intense. The sides of the round cake are encrusted with a thickgrained sugar that adds a welcome crunch to the gooey dessert. All in all, this is a spec tacular way to end a meal, and I recommend saving room for butter cake during every visit.

All things considered, Sol Agave has plenty of reasons to make a trip down to American Fork—it’s right by a movie the ater, so there’s date night solved. Its menu succeeds in showing how solid culinary technique can take inspiration from tra ditional Mexican food to put something vi brant and delicious on your plate. CW

AT A GLANCE Open: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat., 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Best bet: The carnitas are famous for a reason Can’t miss: Commit to the butter cake

ALEX SPRINGER

onTAPonTAP

2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Less- West Coast IPA

Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: Gluten Reduced Kolsch

Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com

On Tap: Do Less - West Coast IPA

Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap: Red Butte Bitter on Nitro

Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Toasted Coconut Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout

Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: Fisher Beer

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

On Tap: Extra Pale Ale

Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Basic Witch - Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Stout

Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Wet El Do-Rye-Do Pale Ale

Wednesday Bingo Jackpot at $4,000!

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap: Squeaky Bike Nut Brown

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Sweet Herbed Hard Cider

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/

On Tap: DOPO IPA

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

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan prodigy-brewing.com/

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com

On Tap: East Side Paradise - Rice Lager

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Red Rock Kimball Junction Redrockbrewing.com 1640 Redstone Center

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: FRESHIES IPA

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations

RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com

On Tap: 10 Ton Truck West Coast IPA

Salt Flats Brewing

2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Top Gear Imperial Pilsner

Scion Cider Bar

916 Jefferson St W, SLC

Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Sweet Herbed and Wet Hopped Hard Ciders

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer

On Tap: Prickly Pear Sour Ale

Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

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

Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com

On Tap: Lake Effect Gose

TF Brewing

936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com / On Tap: Edel Pils

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Witches Brew- Wassail Inspired Kolsch

Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com

On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com

On Tap: Trail Rye’d - Amber Rye Ale 5% abv

Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com

Wasatch

2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC WasatchBeers.com

Zion Brewery

95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

OPENING SOON!

Helper Beer 159 N Main Street Helper, UT 84526

Apex Brewing 2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115

Strap In

We go on a wild ride in Utah County

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Believe it or not, if you want local craft beer made in Utah County, you do have a single brilliant option at Strap Tank Brewing Company. Originating in Springville, Utah in 2016 (the Lehi location in 2019), the vintage motorcycle-themed brewery’s goal has always been tasty Utah County-made suds for the locals. Though most of the beers are draft-only, there are quite a few higher alcohol options. Here are two of their newest beers.

Strap Tank - Gin Barrel Aged - Saison : Aged in barrels provided by Utah’s Holy stone Distillery, this beer pours a hazy, me dium golden-amber color. A tower of puffy, loosely frothy and slightly creamy egg shell-white head is present, and it quickly recedes, leaving some thick streaky and sudsy lace behind. It has a strong gin aroma right away, along with juniper, an obscure spice and my own bad judgments. It also has a bready, pale caramel malt aroma, as well as notes of black and white pepper mill grist, lemon rind and mildly green, weedy and floral hop bitters.

Gritty and grainy wheat malt start off the taste. More free-range honeyed caramel sweetness from the aroma combines with lemon zest, some diminished gin-adjacent botanicals—mostly vegetal juniper and spruce needles—huddling yeast, tasteless table-top ground pepper, and leafy, herbal and grassy green hoppiness all present in the flavor. The body is a solid middleweight and so-so smooth, as the yeast, lemon gin esters and actual hops all appear to not give a shit about running roughshod here. The bubbles are quite low-key after their initial explosiveness and given their already wan

ing frothiness. It ends off-dry with plenty of different malt, honey and tangy fruit re maining to balance out any residual green astringencies.

Verdict : The brewers pretty much got it right; if you had to mix the flavors of gin into a Saison, you might expect something like this to happen. You really have to be into the guest flavors to consider taking this one out on a second date. I mean, it’s not exactly a kitchen-sink approach, and I don’t intend to throw the remainder of this down one either.

Strap Tank - IPA : This Imperial IPA pours an unfiltered, moderately fizzy pale amber with a short-lived, medium, slight ly pebbly off-white head; lacing is good and appears as intricate, fine-grained lacy bands. The medium-intensity aroma is characterized by a fair blend of mildly sweet citrus, pine and candy-like flowers with some bready malt notes, hints of juicy pineapple and light alcohol overtones. It’s fine, but needs more presence.

The flavor is powerful and serious, and it starts with very bitter, resinous pine and hints of citrus. By the middle of the tongue, the citrus flavor has started to emerge, but the pine flavor is still dominant, and the bitterness increases. On the back of the palate, the bitterness had developed to wonderfully high proportions, especially for the style. The bready malt foundation appeared around the edges before fading away. After a sharp, slightly alcoholic and extremely dry finish, a bitter, resinous rebound bitterness that lingers for a time follows. The texture is somewhat creamy and quite peppery from the strongly pro nounced carbonation, and the mouthfeel is consistent with the medium body.

Verdict : This beer is an unapologetic hop-hammer, but it makes up for its lack of finesse with power. If you’re searching for a dry, pine-bomb IIPA, this is it.

The Saison dials in at 11.6 percent, and the brewers recommend laying a few down for at least a year, while the7.0 percent IPA is at its peak and ready to be crushed today. Both are available at either Strap Tank lo cation. As always, cheers! CW

MIKE RIEDEL

ALEX SPRINGER @captainspringer

The Training Table Returns

After an enigmatic Training Table Restaurant website (thetrainingtable.com) surfaced several weeks ago, we’ve got confirmation that this “Utah original” is kicking things into high gear. At the moment, they have announced a fleet of food trucks that will be bringing the classic menu of burgers, cheese fries and sauces back to the Wasatch Front. It may be a bit silly to start getting excited about a burger restaurant in a sea of burger res taurants, but I’m a big fan of a comeback. Plus, I don’t care how refined your palate is, the Training Table’s ultimate dipping sauce on top of their cheese fries is gotdam delicious.

Dia de Muertos at Thanksgiving Point

Thanksgiving Point (3003 N. Thanksgiving Way) will be hosting a Day of the Dead celebration on Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Attendees can celebrate this slightly spooky, slightly sweet Latin and Central American holiday with all the traditional trimmings. Decorative calacas and calaveras—both edible and otherwise—will be on display, along with live music, dancing, storytelling and shopping. There will also be no shortage of marigolds and pan de muerto, the bread of the dead. It’s a great way to celebrate those who are no longer with us while enjoying the lives of ourselves and others.

Meathook BBQ Co. Opens

I recently heard about Meathook BBQ Co. (3380 S. Redwood Road, 801-938-3773, meathookbbqco.com) which has graced West Valley with its presence. I’m excited about this place for a few different reasons, most of which appear on their sandwich menu. The Southern Philly sounds like a savory mix of barbecue and cheesesteak that doesn’t skimp on the spicy sauce; then there’s the BLFGT. which is a BLT served with fried green tomatoes. They’ve also hopped on the birria taco trend train—theirs are made with brisket, which sounds lovely. On top of these new additions, Meathook promises to deliver all the barbecue staples with multi-meat combo choices to boot.

Quote of the Week: “You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.” –Charles Kuralt

Her Too

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

In the opening scene of Tár, conductor/ composer Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett)— sitting for an on-stage interview— downplays the notion that her career has suffered much by virtue of being a woman in a male-dominated field. She’s supremely confident in her skills and her artistic bona fides; she isn’t interested in being defined by her identity as a woman or as a lesbian, which she makes clear later when she tears apart a non-binary BIPOC Juilliard stu dent for their moral qualms about certain canonical composers. For Tár, it’s all about the work—which makes sense, since we soon learn that her own personal behavior isn’t exactly beyond reproach.

An intricate, magnificently-performed character study, Tár digs around in the messy area of the extent to which we are willing to separate artists’ work from their lives. Writer/director Todd Field has craft ed an almost ideal portrait of an abuser, be cause he’s making it clear that such behav ior has been primarily identified with men to the extent that men have primarily held the positions that allowed them to take ad vantage of those positions. And by doing so, he’s captured a gender-blind notion of the old saw that sexual assault isn’t about sex, but about power.

Power is something Lydia Tár has a lot of as a giant in her field, running scholarship programs and serving as maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. Her domestic situ ation seems stable—she’s married to the Philharmonic’s first violinist, Sharon (Nina Hoss), and they share a young daughter— but there are clearly secrets she keeps. One of those secrets in particular bubbles to the surface when a former student of Tár’s

takes her own life, and the trail of respon sibility begins to lead towards Tár’s door.

It’s also clear that whatever happened with that student, it was unlikely to have been an isolated incident. Field builds a terrific scene in which Tár and her Phil harmonic colleagues are conducting blind auditions for a cello position, but upon the applicant’s exit, Tár recognizes the shoes as those of an attractive young woman (So phie Kauer) she spied earlier in the bath room; Tár quickly erases the notes she had been making, likely to favor her new target.

While the dead former student exists in the narrative primarily as a ghostly pres ence haunting Tár—including a great mo ment that evokes The Telltale Heart—the new cellist establishes the pattern. Lydia Tár is a predator.

But in the tradition of all the best char acter studies, it’s also not that simple. Blanchett’s imperious demeanor is a per fect fit for Tár’s sense of herself, but what she conveys best is the extent to which Tár’s sexual manipulations are merely one manifestation of the ways in which she rev

els in showing off her power over others. When she learns that her daughter is be ing bullied at school, Tár approaches the young bully in the schoolyard and basi cally threatens to do her harm, reminding the child that no one would believe her if she claimed such a threat had been made. She dangles the possibility of promotion in front of her long-suffering assistant, Fran cesca (Noémie Merlant), and she works to force out her assistant conductor, for rea sons that seem primarily connected to what the ability to hire for the post allows her to do. Blanchett delivers these moments with the kind of supreme confidence character istic of those who leave those around them unsure whether they’re witnessing force of personality, or flat-out force.

Field isn’t shy about immersing viewers into the world of classical music, includ ing jargon-filled conversations between colleagues and plenty of references to the particulars of the field. There’s a risk of los ing laypeople with such an approach, and indeed the first hour of Tár is so dense that it might seem a little alienating. But it’s also

Cate Blanchett in Tár

a crucial way of emphasizing that Lydia Tár is a kind of genius—and that being a genius shouldn’t grant a “get out of consequences free” card. All the way up to the fantastic final shot, Tár makes it clear that the protagonist’s passion for her work is limitless, no matter what kind of music she’s con ducting. That ferocity, as is the case with so many people in positions of power, is both what got her there and what turns her into a particular kind of monster, and there’s no particular restriction on the kind of face that monster might have.

BBB

Cate Blanchett

Merlant Nina Hoss Rated R

in theaters

Tár leans into a gender-blind notion of abuse of power.

FOCUS FEATURES

Silver

Lining

The Starkillers emerge from the realities of the pandemic.

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net

Admitting that some good has come out of the pandemic leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It was such a dif ficult time for the world; we’re still not back to normal, and may not ever be. Despite being plunged into chaos, however, some people were able to start spending their time differently, and focus on things they may not have been able to otherwise.

The Starkillers’ frontman Jon Omen shares how forming the band was crucial for the four-piece rock group making it through the hard times. A well-known solo artist in the SLC music scene, Omen was set to head out on tour before the world plunged into disarray.

“We had 20 shows lined up that we had the van packed and everything. And a week before we left, everything started getting canceled. It sucked,” he said.

After months of planning, Omen and his crew found themselves full of energy, but with no way to use it. Thus, The Starkillers were born. This group wouldn’t have come together had it not been for the pandemic, according to Omen. He teamed up with Chris Panic (bass), Doc Taylor (drums) and Mike Fidel (guitar), and together they be gan to write new material.

“We started playing more rock-and-roll type of stuff, and songs just started coming from it, and it 100% would not have hap pened if it wasn’t for the pandemic, which in some ways, I’m sad about, but other ways I’m grateful for because this project has just been very easy. It felt like there’s been no frustrations and everything has just come together very smoothly,” Omen said.

The Starkillers became a safe haven for the group, using music as an escape from what was going on around them. Taylor and Panic had worked together in the past, so there was already good chemistry to work

from. Inspired by the likes of The Killers, Foster the People and The Foo Fighters, The Starkillers buckled down and wrote a ton of material. “All of us agreed during the pandemic that everybody narrowed their social circles, that we were going to be each other’s social circle for a while. And so we really did just lock ourselves in the studio and we just wrote so much,” said Omen.

Currently the band has one single out, “Are You Thinking of Me,” but there’s plenty more slated for the coming year. “Are You Thinking of Me” is an anthem dedicated to those who have ever struggled with a toxic relationship. Whether you’ve seen a loved one go through a relationship like this, or have been through one yourself, it’s a frus trating and emotional experience that often leads to heartbreak.

“I’ve seen that firsthand, looking at that friend that is going through that cycle of the really-highs in a relationship and the really-lows, and almost there’s a sense of self-abuse that happens [where you’re] like, ‘Why are you still with this person? You see how they’re treating you?’ And after a while, they got stuck in all of our heads. So we decided to make that the central theme,” said Omen. The single is made for singing along; it’s heartfelt and has catchy hooks that will be stuck in your head for days.

While The Starkillers enjoy creating music that audiences can have fun and reso nate with, they also love being huge nerds; the group is soaked with sci-fi, space and cyberpunk vibes. They especially lean into the cyberpunk theme, and how the aesthet ic pairs with the ideas of a scary dystopian future. “It is almost parallel to the feeling today, where it feels like everybody in some sense feels very stressed about the future,” said Omen. “It feels like we just can be a cog in a giant machine that we have no control of. So we really settled into those aesthetics … because I feel like it connects with a lot of people and it’s almost where we’re headed.”

The Starkillers are feeling excited as they gear up to release more music and play live for fans. Omen explains that one of their main goals as a band is to create music that helps listeners forget their wor ries, even for just a few minutes. “We want ed to write songs that when we perform for them live, people would have a great time and love that,” he said. “By the end of the

show, hopefully they’ll be fans and have made a few friends from the show, and then we’ll come back to the next one.”

It’s important to stay tuned and watch for more from The Starkillers. According to Omen, they’re getting ready to release more material, and feedback from fans is appreciated. “People can come and talk to us. Which songs do you like? What type of songs do you want us to write more of? I really just love hearing from people,” he said. “I just want people to have a great time with us and that’s the most important

thing, because I think music is a great form of connection.”

New music from the band will be re leased steadily on streaming services, but if fans want to hear The Starkillers’ debut album in its entirety from the beginning, they can purchase it from the band’s web site, thestarkillers.com. The next chance to catch The Starkillers live will be at the Il luminate Festival in Salt Lake Nov. 11 - 12 at Library Square and The Leonardo. Find information for this free event at illumi natesaltlake.org. CW

The Starkillers NATALIE SOLOMON

By Emilee Atkinson

Blending a unique combination of genres, Struggle Jennings stops by SLC to show off his fusion of country and hip-hop. As the selfproclaimed black sheep of the country-music royalty Jennings family, Jenkins has carved his own path in the world of country. The grand son of country music icon Waylon Jennings, Struggle has made his name by fusing outlaw country, hip-hop and rock in an attempt to cre ate his own legacy. The tour supports his 2021 release Troubadour of Troubled Souls, released via his self-owned record label, Angels and Outlaws. “It was 2020 when we were last on the west coast, so I’ve been highly anticipating this tour,” Jennings told Broadway World this month. “It’s full of some of my favorite cities in the world and I’m hyped to see so many friends and fans that I haven’t seen in so long.” Joining Jennings are label mates Caitlynne Curtis and Brianna Harness. Curtis has been steadily releasing singles since her 2021 release Sad Girl Energy. One of the most notable is “I Will Survive,” an emotional and heartfelt track that pays tribute to the hardworking and resilient women of the world. Harness, mean while, is also part of the Jennings family tree, the step-great-granddaughter of Waylon. She and Struggle have collaborated on her latest release, “Not the Blues Again.” She comes from a musically rich family, but holds her own with a strong voice and relatable bluesy tracks. Catch this trio of unique acts on Thursday, Oct. 4. Tickets for the 21+ show are $45 and can be found at metromusichall.com (Emilee Atkinson)

Southern California quartet Movements are passing through Salt Lake on their latest tour, sharing some of their most emotional work yet. The post-hardcore group have gone through a lot in the last five years, and lis teners can hear that on the band’s 2020 release No Good Left to Give. According to the Movements’ bio with their label Fearless Records, “Not only does the music address the emotional push-and-pull of relationships, but it also explores loss, love, mental health and even intimacy through a prism of new found clarity soundtracked by post-punk grit, alternative expanse, heartfelt spoken word, expansive rock and subtle pop ambition.” No Good Left to Give marked a pivotal moment for the group, cementing their storytelling, musi cianship and vision, and following the heartfelt 2020 release, Movements have released two new singles in the same vein. The new tracks are packed with energy, and will be refreshing to hear live. Joining Movements is another emo/post-hardcore group, Downward, who are celebrating the release of their latest EP The Brass Tax. “ The five tracks that appear on this EP show a matured band taking more risks sonically in song structure and even leaning into near pop-like sensibility. The Brass Tax is clearly the product of three musicians spending hours together in a living room work ing on creating timeless music,” according to Downward’s Bandcamp profile. Catch them on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m., where tickets for the all-ages show are $22 in advance and $22 the day of the show. Find tickets at 24tix. com. (EA)

Struggle Jennings, Caitlynne Curtis, Brianna Harness @ Metro Music Hall 10/20

Movements, Downward, Portraits @ The Beehive 10/22

Struggle Jennings

CHOPSKI

MUSIC PICKS

Pixie and the Partygrass Boys, The Pickpockets @ The Commonwealth Room 10/23

Utah favorites Pixie and the Partygrass Boys hit the road again this fall, with several dates around the state. Like many modern artists, Pixie and the Partygrass Boys don’t find themselves fitting narrowly into one specific style. They blend a variety of genres, cre ating their own unique sound. “Partygrass isn’t exactly bluegrass or newgrass, or pop or punk, or rock and roll. They fall somewhere between it all, and that’s the way they like it,” according to the bio on their website. Pixie and the Partygrass Boys prove just as infec tious in their recorded material as they are live. Their high energy and just-plain-fun music will have you up and moving as soon as they start playing. The group started out with sets featuring a lot of covers, but now have a pretty large catalog of original music for listeners to enjoy. The group mesh so well together as songwriters, they have an abundance of talent. “Every member of the band is a composer,” guitarist/vocalist Ben Weiss told Salt Lake Magazine in March. “We all write songs then get together as a band to arrange them.” Joining Pixie and the Partygrass Boys are another great local band, The Pickpockets. Formed in 2018, the group started out as an informal weekly jam morphed into something more. They released their first EP this year, Pickin’ Pockets, Stealin’ Hearts. The five-track EP is a small taste of the repertoire of songs the group has built up since they formally began as a band. These two local favorites play on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $31-$50 and can be found at thestateroompresents. com. (EA)

Experimental pop artist Spellling has finished up a busy sum mer of shows to start up a headlining fall tour, not slowing down as we head into the new season. Spelling (born Crystia Cabral) has been applauded for her most recent release, The Turning Wheel, which ended up at number 36 on NPR’s 50 best albums of 2021 list. “On her third album as Spellling, the Bay Area-based wizardess Chrystia Cabral employs the language of myth, magic and fancy to illuminate her reality as an empathic artist negotiating the realities of a world that’s multifariously on fire. Exchanging the dark languor of previous synth-based sets for the dappled expanses of orch pop, Cabral finds power in the language of forebears like Minnie Riperton and Kate Bush while staying true to her own restlessness and sense of delight,” NPR said last year. Even though the major chaos of the pandemic is behind us, COVID-19 is still rearing its ugly head and causing difficulties for musicians as they travel. Spellling had hesita tions about touring, but ultimately decided there were too many opportunities to pass up. “It was too hard to turn it down [because of] my eagerness to share the music that I spent so long writing. I’m like, I just want to do it,” Spellling told Georgia Public Broadcasting in September. Each show involves some risk for musicians and show-goers alike, so it’s important to still be careful while heading out to see your favorite artists. Spellling will be at Kilby Court on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $15 in advance and $17 the day of the show. Find tickets at kilbycourt.com. (EA)

Lila Downs @ Live at the Eccles 10/26

Celebrated Latin American singer Lila Downs brings her talent and unique voice to SLC this week. Her music spans genres combining boleros, jazz and hip-hop, as well as popular American music. The subject matter of her songs reflects themes of social justice, immigration and women’s rights. “I think it’s not something new, but now they give us more microphones. That does not necessarily mean that we are still free to express the truth, but I think there is a greater dialogue and that society already looks at young girls with more respect,” she told La Voz de Galicia this month. Heavily inspired by her heritage, Downs draws inspiration from her family. She’s taken a lot of advice from her mother, who was also a singer. “I even started paying attention to my mother’s words; she told me ‘Lila, sing with feel ing or don’t sing at all,’” Downs told Mexican News Daily in September. Downs is also a gifted dancer, incorporating beautiful outfits and choreography with her music, creating an immersive experience for attendees. The singer has been compared to a chiltepin—a wild chili pepper known for producing intense heat despite its diminutive size. Catch this enigmatic and talented artist on Wednesday Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30-$70 and can be found at live-at-the-eccles.com. (EA) CW

SUSAN

THEIS

Spellling, Spacemoth @ Kilby Court 10/25

CARLOS ROSILLO

Pixie and the Partygrass Boys

Lila Downs

By Emilee Atkinson

How To Talk With a Utah Budtender

GETTING THE MOST OF YOUR DISPENSARY VISIT

By Cole Fullmer

For those many first-time visitors in Utah, one look at the dispensary menu board can make the head spin. Even having a casual conversation with a cannabissavvy friend can feel like speaking a foreign language to the inexperienced. Navigating through a Utah medical cannabis pharmacy is significantly easier when you know how to communicate with your budtender.

A budtender (we call them pharmacy associates in Utah, but some habits are hard to break at Salt Baked City) is a sales associate responsible for helping you select the best cannabis-related products to suit your medical needs. Most Utah pharmacy employees are highly trained professionals who can help with product information and consumption recommendations. Their goal is to help you become a loyal customer by matching you with products that meet your needs, and the best way for them to help make that match is through meaningful conversation.

Here are some things to ask yourself, and your budtender, before your next pharmacy visit.

Personalize Your Visit

Medical cannabis consumers in Utah come from all walks-of-life and visit their local pharmacies for a variety of reasons. Some are patients undergoing chemotherapy looking for specific relief, while others are simply looking for rest and relaxation. Whatever spurred your visit to one of the state’s new cannabis shops, going in with purpose can help you and your budtender select the most effective products.

Let the Budtender Know It’s Your First Visit

It’s always a smart idea to let your budtender know if you’re a greenhorn to cannabis. Don’t worry, you’re not alone in Utah. Once informed, they can suggest lower THC doses and recommend various tools they sell for easy consumption, like vaporizers and distillate cartridges.

How Do I Want To Consume?

We recommend using your specific medical needs as a guide to choosing your consumption method. For example, if you suffer from arthritic pain, a topical cream

might be the best selection. For headaches or inflammation, a tincture or vaporizer can provide instant relief. Insomnia? A highTHC concentrate or some potent cannabis flower might do the trick. If you want to just get relaxed without vaporizing, edibles are also an excellent choice too.

How Do I Want To Feel?

Forget everything you’ve ever heard about Indica, Sativa, or hybrids. Indica strains are known for their relaxing, sedative effects and are recognized for helping relieve pain and anxiety, while Sativas have been identified as more uplifting and energetic. All of those feelings are dependent on the individual cannabinoids and terpenes found in each cannabis strain. Of course, you already know this because you read our previous articles found here.

How Long Do You Want The Effects To Last?

Each type of product you’ll encounter in a Utah medical cannabis pharmacy will have its own timeline of impact. Edibles, for example, sometimes take 1.5 hours for the full effects to kick in and those effects can last up to six hours. Tinctures, vaporizers, and cartridges will have more immediate effects that last for only a few hours.

Don’t Be Shy!

Don’t be shy, this is a new industry for everybody in Utah. Medical cannabis products are changing by the day, new science is being discovered, and the Utah pharmacy shelves are ever changing – so there’s never a bad question. The happy budtenders you’ll meet are knowledgeable and eager to answer any inquiries you may have. Stay medicated and educated – and don’t forget to read Salt Baked CIty for more Utah cannabis news.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

Gotorealastrology.comforRobBrezsny’sexpandedweeklyaudiohoroscopesanddailytext-messagehoroscopes. Audiohoroscopesalsoavailablebyphoneat877-873-4888or900-950-7700.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Aries mythologist Joseph Campbell said that, and now I’m passing it on to you just in time for the Sacred Surrender Phase of your astrological cycle. Make sage use of Campbell’s wisdom, Aries! You will generate good fortune for yourself as you work to release expectations that may be interfering with the arrival of new stories and adven tures. Be brave, my dear, as you relinquish outdated attach ments and shed defunct hopes.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes before being discarded. Then they languish in our soil or oceans, degrading slowly as they cause mayhem for animals and ecosystems. In alignment with current cosmic rhythms, I’m encouraging you to be extra discerning in your relationship with plastic bags—as well as with all other unproductive, impractical, wasteful things and people. In the coming weeks, you will thrive by focusing on what will serve you with high integrity for a long time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Achilleas Frangakis is a professor of electron microscopy. He studies the biochemistry of cells. In one of his research projects, he investigated how cells interact with the outside world. He didn’t learn much about that question, but as he experimented, he inadvertently uncovered fascinating new information about another subject: how cells interact with each other when they heal a wound. His “successful failure” was an example of what scientists sometimes do: They miss what they looked for, but find unexpected data and make serendipitous discoveries. I suspect you will experience comparable luck sometime soon, Gemini. Be alert for goodies you weren’t in quest of.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Renowned Brazilian novelist Osman Lins was born under the sign of Cancer the Crab. He wrote, “I will now live my life with the inventiveness of an engineer who drives his locomotive off the tracks. No more beaten paths: improvisation is the rule.” In the coming weeks, I am all in favor of you, my fellow Cancerian, being an inventive adventurer who improvises liberally and departs from well-worn routes. However, I don’t recommend you do the equivalent of running your train off the tracks. Let’s instead imagine you as piloting a four-wheel-drive, all-terrain vehicle. Go off-road to explore. Improvise enthusiastically as you reconnoiter the unknown. But do so with scrupulous atten tion to what’s healthy and inspiring.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

In recent years, art historians have recovered numerous master pieces that had been missing for years. They include a sculpture by Bernini, a sketch by Picasso, a drawing by Albrecht Düre and a painting by Titian. I’m a big fan of efforts like these: searching for and finding lost treasures. And I think you should make that a fun project in the coming weeks. Are there any beautiful creations that have been lost or forgotten? Useful resources that have been neglected? Wild truths that have been buried or underestimated? In accordance with astrological potentials, I hope you will explore such possibilities.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

The most important experience for you to seek in the coming months is to be seen and respected for who you really are. Who are the allies best able to give you that blessing? Make vigorous efforts to keep them close and treat them well. To inspire your mission, I offer you three quotes. 1. Franz Kafka said, “All the love in the world is useless if there is a total lack of understanding.” 2. Anais Nin wrote, “I don’t want worship. I want understanding.” 3. George Orwell: “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Libra poet Wallace Stevens said that the great poems of heaven and hell have already been written, and now it is time to gen erate the great poems of earth. I’d love to invite all Libras, including non-writers, to apply that perspective in their own sphere. Just forget about heaven and hell for now. Turn your attention away from perfection and fantasylands and lofty heights. Disregard pathologies and muck and misery. Instead, explore and celebrate the precious mysteries of the world as it is. Be a connoisseur of the beauty and small miracles embedded in life’s little details. Find glory in the routine.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Here are two top Scorpio pastimes: 1. exploring and deploying your intense, fertile creativity; 2. spiraling gleefully down into deep dark voids in pursuit of deep dark riches. Sometimes those two hobbies dovetail quite well; you can satisfy both pursuits simultaneously. One of my favorite variations on this scenario is when the deep dark void you leap into turns out to actually be a lush wonderland that stimulates your intense, fertile creativity. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, that’s likely to happen soon.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

“I don’t want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going.” Sagittarian filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow said that. With the help of this attitude, she became the first woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Director. Her film was The Hurt Locker, about American soldiers in Iraq who dispose of unexploded bombs while being harassed by enemies. Anyway, Bigelow’s approach is usually too hard-ass for me. I’m a sensitive Cancer the Crab, not a bold Sagittarius the Centaur like Bigelow and you. But I don’t want to assume you’re in the mood for her approach. If you are, though, the com ing weeks will be a favorable time to deploy it. Some marvelous epiphanies and healing changes will be available if you forswear stuff that makes you pacified or comfortable.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Author Jan Richardson tells us we can’t return home by taking the same route we used when we departed. This will be wise advice for you to keep in mind during the next nine months. I expect you will be attempting at least two kinds of homecom ings. For best results, plan to travel by different routes than those that might seem natural and obvious. The most direct path—the successful passage—may be circuitous.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

In the coming days, maintain strict boundaries between yourself and anyone or anything that’s not healthy for you. Be ultradiscerning as you decide which influences you will allow to affect you and which you won’t. And rather than getting sour and tense as you do this, I recommend you proceed with wicked humor and sly irony. Here are three saucy self-protective statements you can use to ward off threats and remain inviolable. 1. “The cur rent ambiance does not align sweetly with my vital soul energy; I must go track down some more harmonious karma.” 2. “This atmosphere is out of sync with my deep precious selfness; I am compelled to take my deep precious selfness elsewhere.”

3. “The undertones here are agitating my undercurrents; it behooves me to track down groovier overtones.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

While asleep, have you ever dreamt of discovering new rooms in a house or other building you know well? I bet you will have at least one such dream soon. What does it mean? It suggests you want and need to get in touch with parts of yourself that have been dormant or unavailable. You may uncover evocative secrets about your past and present that had been unknown to you. You will learn about new resources you can access and provocative possibilities you had never imagined.

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

Spooky Streets

Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front are rife with tales of haunted houses, graveyards and spooky streets. My wife and I had our own spooky street ex perience the other evening after leaving an event downtown.

After supporting a local eatery close by, we made the short walk to Symphony Hall where we enjoyed a speaker but bugged out during the Q-and-A to get home a little earlier. As we walked down the stairs out side, we encountered a young man who was sitting at the edge of the building and he asked us if we had any change.

It was dark, but I could tell he was as tall as a small tree and just as strong. His clothes were sparse but not dirty and he looked to be a senior in high school who had just left his football practice.

Last week’s answers

When I lived in New York, my dad would always give street people change. At times, over the years, I have vacillated from walk ing right by them or stopping and engaging them by offering a few bucks and maybe the leftovers I was bringing home from a local restaurant, or offering to buy them a bottle of water or food item if we were near a bo dega. For me, it usually would boil down to “Do I have the time to stop for this person?.”

Nowadays, I have decades of experience of living and working downtown. Giving a few bucks to that hungry panhandler with out shoes on is just part of daily life. I don’t judge. The Downtown Alliance doesn’t want me and others to enable more beg ging and so, a few years back, installed red meters across city blocks. (This was when SLC got rid of coin-operated parking me ters and had many to recycle).

You’re supposed to put your spare change into these meters and not into the hands of the needy. However, I have never seen anyone stop to feed the “homeless me ters.” I know that people do donate—and the Alliance does give all proceeds to ser vices helping the unsheltered in our area via the Pamela J. Atkinson Foundation—but we need to do a better job telling the public about the red meters and how they help.

My wife struck up a conversation with the young man and found out he was from New Orleans. It was 9:30 at night, and we couldn’t think where to refer him to for shelter. There wasn’t anything downtown we could think of that was open and the men’s shelter was out south (and we were headed north).

We gave him more than enough to cover bus/TRAX fare south and when he asked for my wife’s half-empty water bottle, she gave it gladly. These streets are going to get scarier for the unsheltered as it gets colder and yet, we still haven’t made a sustainable dent in this problem, making it a spooky fu ture for all of us. n

Overstimulated

A British artist known as Mr. Doodle (real name: Sam Cox) has doodled throughout his entire mansion in Tenterden, Kent, United Press International reported on Oct. 4. Everything is covered: walls, furniture, kitchen appliances, textiles, floors, ceilings.

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS McMEEL

Cox shared The Doodle House with the world on a YouTube video, taking viewers through the process from stark white to completely doodled. It took him two years, 240 gallons of white paint, 401 cans of black spray paint and almost 2,300 black pens to complete the project. His wife, Alena, is all in with the doodle decor.

The Other Border

KTUU-TV reported that on Oct. 4, a small boat carrying two men landed near the community of Gambell on northern St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. According to town clerk Curtis Silook, the men told villagers they had sailed over 300 miles from Egvekinot in northeastern Russia and were trying to escape the Russian military draft. Sen. Dan Sullivan conferred with the Department of Homeland Security, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy said they were transported to Anchorage, where federal authorities were sorting out their status. “We don’t anticipate a continual stream of individuals or a flotilla,” Dunleavy said.

The American Tourist

On Oct. 5, an American man who appeared to be about 50 years old asked to see Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome, CNN reported. When he was told that would not be possible, he hurled a Roman bust to the floor in the Museo Chiaramonti, then upset a second one as he rushed out. The man was detained by Vatican police and turned over to Italian authorities. Both stat ues were around 2,000 years old. Press office director Matteo Alessandrini said the busts were “affixed to the shelves with a nail, but if you pull them down with force they will come off.” He said restoration work had already begun.

Inexplicable

n Tyler Monk, 34, an exterminator in Kinder, Louisiana, is ... changing. That is, his skin is darkening from white to black, apparently because he briefly tried Prozac in January 2021 to help with anxiety, the New York Post reported. “The fact is, (doctors) don’t know why I’m changing colors,” Monk said. After two months, Monk’s arms and face took on a grayish tone that continued to darken even after he stopped the drug. “First they thought it was photosensitivity ... but I’ve been covering up and I’m still getting darker,” he said. He has seen eight specialists, and more appointments are on his calendar. His family is sup portive: “We really don’t mind the color change, as long as he’s healthy and OK with it,” said his wife, Emily.

n Time to decorate the man cave? Three men were arrested on Sept. 24 in Hernando County, Florida, after an off-duty detective spied them using saws to cut traffic lights off the poles, WFTV reported. By the time deputies arrived at the scene, the men had put three lights into their van. Aaron Wood, James Donnelly and Oleksiy Naumenko were arrested for theft and admitted to stealing the lights. Each is valued at $5,000.

Oops

The Bay County (Florida) Sheriff’s Department has declared it’s “officially out of the bonfire business” after an incident at A. Crawford Mosley High School in Lynn Haven on Oct. 5, the Panama City News Herald reported. Although the agency has assisted with bonfires for many years, the 2022 homecoming event blew up when the bonfire literally exploded. No one was injured, and firefighters were already on hand as a precaution.

Sheriff Tommy Ford said it was unclear what had caused the explosion, but his agency would take responsibility for the inci dent. The district also announced that they would no longer host bonfire events.

Great Art

Keith Tyssen of Sheffield, England, has maintained a striking topiary he calls “Gloria” in his front garden since 2000—the bush depicts a woman lying back in a reclining position with her knees bent. But, MSN reported, Tyssen has a problem with random “drunken louts” entering his yard, usually during the night, and becom ing intimate with the shrub. For one thing, he said, the noise wakes him up. But more disturbing, the “act” damages Gloria’s figure. “Someone will squeeze the breasts,” he said, “so that will damage it. They’re climbing on top of her and pulling her legs apart—you know, it’s disgusting.” Now Tyssen is begging his community to leave Gloria alone; one Twitter user suggested he grow a thorny vine through her to deter the assaults.

Least Competent Criminal

An unnamed 32-year-old woman didn’t get far in the Mini Cooper she stole in Lakewood, Washington, on Sept. 19, Fox News reported. The driver, who had her 4-year-old son in the back seat and a bottle of whiskey in her hand, steered the car right into a section of wet cement that had just been poured by city crews. When she emerged from the car, she threw a television and an Instant Pot out of the car before trying to walk away. All items were stolen from the suspect’s mother’s home. After her arrest, crews went back to work on the pavement.

Wait, What?

Two men were arrested in Palm Coast, Florida, on Oct. 6 for a heist of goods valued at $5,000, Fox35-TV reported. Rui Gen Lin, 48, and Rong Chen, 41, were caught red-handed by a deputy making a security check at Woody’s Bar-B-Que; the two men wore headlamps as they transferred a substance from a vat behind the restaurant into a box truck with large storage containers inside. Here’s the weird: They were stealing used cooking oil, about 7,000 pounds of it. Lin owns L&L Recycling, a company that buys and recycles cooking oil. “But in this case, they tried to increase their profits by stealing the oil,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. Who knew used cooking oil was so useful? It can be recycled for use in diesel fuel and other substances, Staly noted.

What’s in a Name?

Brian Taylor, a custodial and grounds worker for the Wayne Township Public School District in New Jersey for the last 27 years, has filed a lawsuit against the district, NJ.com reported on Oct. 6. In the suit, he claims his performance evaluations were always “superior or above average” and that he earned a manager certificate from Rutgers University—but he was still passed over for promotions. Why? Taylor asserts that his man agers gave higher-paying jobs to people with Italian last names. For example, he says, his groundskeeping duties, which offered more opportunity for overtime, were transferred to the ItalianAmerican brother-in-law of a supervisor. “This unfortunate reality makes working for the (district) very difficult for a person like Taylor, as he is a man of integrity,” the suit reads. The board of education “disputes all allegations made by Mr. Taylor and looks forward to presenting the district’s case in court,” attorney John G. Geppert Jr. said.

Is It Genius? Or Is It Sad?

A Lithuanian potato chip company called Chazz has just intro duced a new limited edition flavor that’s intended to cater to sexstarved millennials, Indy100 reported on Sept. 22. The P---- Flavour crisps will transport consumers to “your wildest love adventures, your first real love,” reps for Chazz promise. “The Chazz team is young, bold and socially responsible,” and the snack is meant for those who are “brave” and “free.” The com pany also suggests the chips can be a humorous gift or can “initi ate a romantic evening.” Unfortunately, at this time, they’re available only in Europe.

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