City Weekly August 8, 2024

Under the Radar

One-third of Utah homes contain dangerous levels of radon. Testing, mitigation and regulation aren’t keeping up.

By Jared Blackley

Blackley

S AP

BOX

Faster, Higher, Stronger … Hotter

The recent extreme weather as a result of climate change is impactful around the world, from the heat wave in Utah to the extreme temperatures at the Olympics.

The Los Angeles Times writes: “Researchers worry that Paris represents the latest in an Olympic trend that has winter athletes scrambling to find enough snow and their summertime counterparts facing health risks—cramping, vomiting, heat stroke—caused by peak temperatures,” showing how these extreme conditions can affect even the best athletes.

With this in mind, it is important to consider the effects on not just the Olympians, but also people around the world. Here in Utah, temperatures are on the rise as well, bringing with them other climate disasters such as flash floods.

That is why, during this Olympic season, Citizens’ Climate Lobby urges you to take action against the climate crisis that affects us all, and protect the future games as well as their spectators from around the world.

RAIN XU Millcreek

Free the Market

When discussing the causes of Utah’s high housing costs, some point to the free market as the culprit.

“This is what you get with an unregulated market,” and “The free market has failed to provide housing affordability” are common refrains.

I would assert that high prices often indicate a strong demand exceeding supply. In a free market, these elevated

prices signal to builders to construct more housing, sufficient in numbers to meet any shortages.

It is my view that the housing market is far from free and is constrained by many government regulations.

For example, zoning laws commonly prohibit residents from building small cottages in their backyards, require a specific amount of land to surround each home and limit the number of homes that can be built in a given area.

These regulations reduce builders’ ability to respond to market signals, exacerbating housing shortages and keeping prices high.

Therefore, instead of blaming the free market, it would be more productive to explore ways to reduce regulatory barriers and increase market flexibility.

In my opinion, a less restricted market could better respond to the needs of Utah’s growing population, easing the pressure on housing costs.

LEE SANDS Libertas Institute

With Friends Like These

The old adage that you can tell a lot about a person by the company she/he keeps says a great deal about Gov. Spencer Cox. While he may appear to be a decent Christian, Mormon man, his endorsement of a convicted felon, rapist and lying con artist who tried to overthrow the government speaks volumes.

TED OTTINGER

Taylorsville

“Talk of the Town,” Aug. 1 Cover

That [downtown] entertainment district would be a great pair with the Rio Grande Plan.

RIOGRANDEPLAN Via Instagram

Thank you for considering and including the Japanese American experience for this article! SLCJAPANTOWN Via Instagram

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

THE WATER COOLER

If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore who would it be; why?

Benjamin Wood

Honestly, I think I’d rather remove all the faces than add another. The history of Mount Rushmore is kind of nasty—built on land stolen from the Sioux Nation.

Katharine Biele

Wrong person to ask. I just came up from Utah County and saw the Mt. Rushmore replica in Lehi—peeking menacingly onto the freeway. I’m the kind of person who thinks statues and faces in rocks are just creepy.

Kayla Dreher

My cat Bean because it’s his world and we are just living in it.

Scott Renshaw

I’ve actually been there, and it’s pretty impressive. But maybe instead of adding to it, it would be a better idea just to give the Black Hills back to the Sioux.

Bryan Bale

If I could, I’d restore that mountain to the way it was before the faces were carved. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux. They call that area “The Heart of Everything That Is.” Those 4 busts represent the breaking of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and the desecration of a spiritual site.

OPINION

BY CHRISTOPHER SMART

Drag Queen Olympics

We can’t start planning soon enough now that Salt Lake City has secured the 2034 Olympic Winter Games. As old-timers know, when the 2002 Games came to town it was simply amazing.

The events, of course, are spectacular. But when a city hosts the Games, excitement and fun are off the charts as visitors pour in from around the globe. Salt Lake City has always been a welcoming place. We love immigrants and gays and investment bankers.

A special committee is now working to ensure that drag queens not only feel accepted at our Games but will take a prominent role in the festivities. The celebration will make the so-called “Drag Queen Last Supper” at the Paris Olympics look like “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Many newcomers may not realize that drag queens played an important role in Utah’s history. Brigham Morris Young, one of Brigham Young’s sons, was a famous drag performer who was widely known as Madam Pattirini. In the late 1800s, drag shows were quite popular and Olympic organizers will focus on the cultural aspects of Utah’s history and weave together such things as drag queens and polygamy.

Imagine an Opening Ceremony where 26 bearded men on ice skates dressed as Brigham Young’s wives welcome the entire world on satellite TV. It just takes your breath away.

Like Your Black Job?

What is a “Black job”? The term conjures up all sorts of things, like janitor, maid, dishwasher—but doctor, lawyer, engineer, not so much.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles was all over it: “I love my Black job,” she said, trolling Donald Trump, who told the National Association of Black Journalists that undocumented immigrants are stealing “Black jobs” and it’s all the fault of Kamala Harris.

Black jobs? You’re right Wilson, it recalls Jim Crow and segregation—nasty stuff. Willy Horton, where have you gone—Trump campaign headquarters?

Down in MAGAville, they’re talking back to the TV. See there, Irene, there’s millions of them illegal Mexicans coming in here and taking all them Black jobs, and then what’s all them Black people going to do? Them people are going to want our White jobs.

It is, of course, Trump Theater: chaos, racism, xenophobia with more than a dash of B.S. tossed in for flavor. No surprise, the Orange Man’s performance got a lot of headlines and airtime—success! Who said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”?

Step right up to the big tent, see the famous bearded lady with your own eyes and Kamala Harris the Indian woman who is not Black. Hey MAGA World, it’s an usversus-them world, so don’t forget who “us” is.

“They’re Just Weird”—Don and J.D. Get Tattooed

OK Wilson, you and the guys in the band have known your share of weird people. So check this out—everyone is picking up on vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s analysis of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance that they’re just “weird.” It does have a ring to it.

Since 2015, pundits and politicians have tried to label Trump. Books, news stories and magazines have labored, without success, to come to grips with the inexplicable Orange Man and his comb-over Teflon. Well, Walz did it in just one word—“weird.”

It was one of those “the-emperor-has-no-clothes” moments, when suddenly everything comes into focus. Trump is nasty, dishonest, creepy, self-important and on and on. But nothing sticks to his angry jowls like “weird.” The moniker is so right-on that Trump has repeatedly

denied it, insisting that he and Vance “are not weird people.” Right, and Barack Obama was born in Kenya.

In something of a schoolyard comeback, the former president, referring to Democrats, sneered,“they are the weird ones.” Vance, Trump’s new Mini-Me, put the icing on the cake when he labeled women without kids as “childless cat ladies.” Ooh baby! That’s a bell that doesn’t un-ring—he alienated women and cat lovers all in one swipe. Team Trump is on a roll—if the weird shoe fits ...

Postscript—That’s going to do it for another scorching week in Hot Lake City, where the staff here at Smart Bomb keeps track of Mount Rushmore, so you don’t have to.

Hey Wilson, remember when Republicans wanted to put Ronald Reagan on Mount Rushmore, as well as on the $5 bill. The Utah congressional delegation just couldn’t shut up about it.

Well, maybe it’s a good thing that didn’t succeed. Today’s GOP—aka MAGA Mob—wants Donald Trump on Mount Rushmore and thinks Ronald Reagan was some kind of elitist who hated Russia and favored clean air.

Times change. Ronald Who?

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is a big proponent of The Donald on Mount Rushmore and even gave 45 a miniature Mount Rushmore with his image next to Washington and Jefferson. But then she wrote about shooting her puppy because ... well, because he was acting like a Democrat. Since then, we haven’t heard much about Trump’s likeness carved into a mountain, but as someone once said: It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.

If he gets reelected, we may get his picture on all of our currency. And what about a nice monument near the Lincoln Memorial in D.C? A huge Donald Trump carved in stone watching TV and eating a Big Mac. MAGA World would just love it. CW

Private Eye is off this week. Christopher Smart writes the weekly “Smart Bomb” column, available online at cityweekly. net Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net.

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE

MISS: Dan’s Bans

If you’ve ever wondered what a “preborn baby” is, ask a legislator. Really, ask one. Most people of science understand a fetus is a fetus until it is born, when it becomes a baby. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, is ready to call a special session to keep hordes of uppity women from murdering babies. Well, not quite babies. And not quite murder. McCay, flanked by the “Eagle”-eyed Gayle Ruzicka, was apoplectic that the Utah Supreme Court has put a halt— however temporarily—on the Legislature’s trigger bill to make abortion all but illegal in Utah. Lawmakers were waiting for an end to Roe v Wade (1973), when they’d fire a legal round at pregnant women. When they did, Planned Parenthood of Utah sued and won an injunction, which still stands. But the fight continues. It happened in Idaho, where legislators tried to change every instance of fetus in the law to “preborn.” There’s little doubt that the long game is to give personhood status to fetuses and zygotes. In the meantime, McCay and others are sure women will abort at will if given the chance. If only he could bleed like a woman, he’d know it’s neither easy nor convenient.

MISS: Replacement Parts

Speaking of babies, Utah may be running out of them. Maybe this is the reason for the forced-birth movement. In 2022, the birth rate—1.85—dipped below what’s considered the “replacement rate”—2.1—and it sent chills up the spines of religious adherents who believe that women should be pushing out children as fast as they can. That said, there is no one reason that women are not producing like they once did. Education, vocation and even home prices are at play. There used to be a belief that overpopulation would spell doom. A “predicted dystopian future— deadly famine, depleted resources and debilitating pollution—stemmed from an out-of-control birth rate and helped spark an enduring preoccupation with population control,” wrote Paul Ehrlich in his book The Population Bomb It could be that underpopulation comes from the same fears—famine, depleted resources and debilitating pollution. Who wants to bring a child into that?

HIT: Ill Literates

Meanwhile, the state of Utah came out with a fascinating reading list. Pick up these 13 books (see: kuer.org/ education/2024-08-02/these-are-the13-books-now-banned-statewidefrom-utah-schools) for your children because, at least for the near future, they won’t be checking them out at school. Never heard of Sarah J. Maas? Her fantasy books were targeted six times in the list of 13. And if you live in Davis County, you can be sure you won’t find them there. In each case, Davis was one of three school districts reporting salacious materials. Nebo and Washington don’t much like reading, either. The good news is that the books will be gaining a huge fan base now. And the coalition Let Utah Read has sent out alerts to make sure voters let their

Hey there, Utah! Ready to shake up the political scene? Rumor has it the young people of Utah are not voting. It’s time to mobilize our youthful candidates and ignite a movement in Utah’s political arena. Here’s how we can make voting as cool as hitting up the slopes in Park City:

School Spirit, Political Style

Ditch snooze-fest lectures and bring on political pep rallies! Schools and colleges, listen up—host workshops that actually get students pumped about voting. Show them how their votes can rock the boat and change the game right here in our awesome state. I’m likely dating myself, but remember when MTV did “Rock The VOTE”?!

Swipe Right for Politics

Social media isn’t just for selfies, folks. Let’s flood Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat with stories about why voting is a vibe. Do they know what rights are at stake? Snappy videos, meme contests and Q&A sessions with local politicians? Let’s scroll with a purpose.

Texts, Tunes and Turnout

Rally your squad! In 2008 (when Barack Obama won), the U of U brought me up as a featured artist and my banners hung across campus to get young people excited about voting. Where are the young voters hanging out? Be there and engage with them. Not all of our young voters are at colleges—table at events, concerts, art fests. Also, show them the numbers! Remember that election when Salt Lake County Councilwoman Suzanne Harrison won by 3 votes in her Utah House race? Every. Vote. Matters.

Culture, Diversity and Democracy

Utah’s got flavor (it is not all green jello here) and we’re all about celebrating it. Let’s reach out to every corner of our diverse community—whether it’s through cultural festivals, languagespecific outreach or pumping up the volume on issues that matter to everyone, from St. George to Logan.

Fight for What’s Right

We’ve got the power to make change happen, Utah. Let’s dive into issues that hit close to home—like student debt, climate action (we want to save that Great Lake of ours and clean up our air) and making sure everyone gets a fair shot. By backing policies that rock our world, we’re turning our voices into action. Ask these young people what matters to them.

Vote Like You Mean It

Voting should be as easy as ordering pizza at 2 a.m. Let’s push for early voting, polling stations on campus (because who wants to trek across town on Election Day?) and rocking the mail-in ballots like pros.

Let’s show ‘em how it’s done. It’s time to flip the script, crank up the civic pride and make our mark on the political landscape. Voting isn’t just a right—it’s our chance to shine like the Utah rainbow whale. My Princess Leia plea to young people everywhere: please vote, you are our only hope and the Rebellion was built on hope. CW

Shannen Doherty in The Rendering

The Shannen Canon

Shannen Doherty may be gone, but her movies (the good and the bad) live on in the streams.

BY BILL FROST comments@cityweekly.net

Last month, we lost America’s smirky sweetheart, Shannen Doherty. Everyone knew her from Charmed and Beverly Hills, 90210, and maybe even the 2000 classic Satan’s School for Girls (available only, in all its low-res bootleg glory, on YouTube). She also starred in dozens of flicks you’ve never heard of, playing professional women of wildly different stripes. Here are some Doherty deep cuts currently available to stream.

Almost Dead (1994; Tubi, Plex): Still sporting her peak 90210 hair, Doherty stars as a psychologist specializing in twin research and micro-skirts in Almost Dead. She’s also haunted by her late mother’s ghost—and, even worse, has to share scenes with Costas Mandylor in deep-Stallone cosplay mode. Almost Dead is ostensibly a supernatural horror movie, but the laughs outweigh the scares for 92 ridiculous minutes. Tagline: “She’s a brilliant psychologist. He’s a streetwise cop. Together, they’re … Almost Dead.”

The Rendering (2002; Tubi, Prime Video): Ten years after being brutally assaulted in art school, police sketch artist Sarah (Doherty) is horrified to learn that a rash of new cases follows her still-jailed attacker’s M.O. Then, somehow, her law-

yer husband is framed for the recent crimes, and her abuser launches an elaborate blackmail scheme for an early parole. The Rendering’s villain is an “intellectual” killer, á la future Republican Vice President Hannibal Lecter, but the mulletted marauder is no match for Shannen!

Kiss Me Deadly (2008; Tubi, Prime Video): Years after they parted ways, international spies Marta (Doherty) and Jacob (Robert Gant) are reunited when Marta suffers amnesia and has no idea why malicious goons are following her. Kiss Me Deadly is a decent action thriller, in a cheap-o “We have The Bourne Identity at home” fashion, but it may have had bigger ambitions/delusions: The original title was Kiss Me Deadly: A Jacob Keane Assignment, alluding to an ongoing franchise. The universe in reply: “Nope.”

Striking Poses (1999; Tubi, Pluto TV): Tabloid photographer Gage (Doherty), stalked herself by a camera-wielding psycho,

plots to change her identity to escape him.

Several WTF story twists later, the movie builds into a byzantine con-job switcheroo with a sizable body count and Doherty assuming the identity of impossibly named wealthy heiress Margaret Mudge. Striking Poses is a stoopid made-for-TV feature that believes itself to be cinematic genius, but Doherty (as usual) makes it tolerable.

Growing the Big One (2010; Tubi, Prime Video): The title would lead you to think that Doherty had finally set her sights on an AVN award, but Growing the Big One is just a Hallmark movie with a saucy name.

Radio talk show host Emma (Doherty) not only inherits her late grandfather’s pumpkin farm, but also the debt that comes with it (thanks, gramps). To pay it off, she teams up with her hunky new farm neighbor to win a pumpkin-growing contest, which apparently has a bigger payout than the Super Bowl.

Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys

(2014; Tubi, Crackle): There was a time in the cable wars of yesteryear when Animal Planet actually dabbled in original horror movies, the first being Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys. When the lampreys of a small lakeside town go aggro and decimate the lake’s fish population, the killer lamps start chomping on people via the water system. (Maybe just stay away from pipes?) Doherty scream-acts while Christopher Lloyd does his Jaws mayor impression. Hot Seat (2022; Tubi): Doherty doesn’t get much screen time as a gum-smacking FBI chief in Hot Seat, but the movie is too nonsensical to exclude. A master hacker (Kevin Dillon) finds his gamer chair rigged with a bomb, and is forced to steal millions from banks lest he be blow’d up by a ruthless Fed gone rogue (Mel Gibson, replete with power mustache). It’s Speed in an ergonomic seat; it’s Swordfish on a tuna budget; it’s the unfortunate pinnacle of Sam Asghari’s (Britney Spears’ ex) acting career. CW

Osher Foundation 20th Anniversary Open House

You’re never too old to learn, businessman Bernard Osher thought, when he established a national learning institution network for people “age 50 and better.” Utahn Fred Esplin’s friendship with Osher Foundation President Mary Bitterman helped launch the program at the University of Utah 20 years ago, when Utah’s Osher classes included 100 students—people over 50 taking various Lifelong Learning classes. Today, 1,600 lifelong-learning students study everything from Dungeons and Dragons to Kayaking on Whitewater.

“At the University of Utah, we enjoy one of the largest and fastest growing Osher institutes in the country,” says director Jill Meyer. “Osher changes lives every day by offering more than continuing education courses. For four terms, we also offer classes, tours and field trips annually.” She adds, “We serve individuals as far north as Logan, as far south as Lehi, as young as 50, and as old as 99. We host and nurture a community of curious adults who value education highly.” And if you’re not 50 yet, there are still ways to participate—anyone can register online for Lunch and Learn to hear Zoom talks from local celebrities such as Matt Gephardt, Sterling Poulson, Rod Decker and Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. Meyer says that lifelong learning can improve mental health, add variation and excitement to life, build a more extensive network, and make yourself essential in an ever-changing world.

Osher celebrates its anniversary with an Open House event at the Red Butte Garden Orangerie (300 Wakara Way) on Aug. 8, 10 a.m. – noon. Admission is free for those over 50. Visit continue.utah.edu/osher. (Carolyn Campbell)

Craft Lake City DIY Festival

The quarantine months of the COVID pandemic didn’t turn people into creators— but maybe it unleashed the creator that was already inside so many people, that they didn’t previously have time to explore or express. Combine that with an internet era that allowed people to monetize their creativity without as many financial barriers to entry, and you’ve had an explosion in the DIY marketplace.

Craft Lake City, however, has been well ahead of that curve, as it now celebrates the 16th year of its annual DIY Festival. The centerpiece remains the vendor marketplace, with more than 500 participants offering their artisan handiwork, food products, upcycled vintage products, STEM maker creations and more, serving the organization’s mission of supporting small businesses and creators while offering inspiration to attendees who might want to become creators themselves. The Google Fiber STEM Building provides hands-on creative experiences, as does the kids’ area and other DIY stations. Music and dance performances come to two stages and busking locations throughout the festival, plus headliner performances including Kacy Hill, Talia Keys & The Love and Tolchock Trio.

The 2024 Craft Lake City DIY Festival comes to the Utah State Fairpark (155 N. 1000 West) Aug. 9 (5 – 10 p.m.), 10 (noon – 10 p.m.) & 11 (noon – 6 p.m.). Individual day tickets are $13 through Aug. 8, $15 weekend of festival. “Dog tickets” are also available for the pet-friendly event (complete with “dog oasis”), with VIP tickets available for Friday only. Visit craftlakecity.com for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

AUGUST 8-14, 2024

Amanda Bellows: Rewriting the West

Most of us in America grew up, as a result of school history lessons, with a concept of “exploration” that was overwhelmingly White and male. But as has often proven to be the case, the reality is more complicated—and far more diverse—than the few names like “Lewis & Clark” or “Daniel Boone” that we can cite from memory. And historian Amanda Bellows has dedicated herself to bringing that reality to light. In her 2024 book The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions, Bellows charts a course through reframing the archetype of American exploration. Some of those stories might be slightly more familiar, like that of astronaut Sally Ride or aviator Amelia Earhart, though the extent of the obstacles they faced might still be surprising. There are also names much more often lost to history, like borninto-slavery James Beckwourth who was one of the pioneers of the California Gold Rush, or Matthew Henson, the Black man who might have been the actual first person to reach the North Pole. It’s a tale that spans continents and centuries to bring a fuller perspective to the act of going where no one has gone before Bellows shares some of these stories and more, in conversation with University of Utah history faculty member Julie Ault, for the presentation Rewriting the West at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) on Friday, Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. The in-person event is free and open to the public, but registration is required via Eventbrite. Visit kingsenglish.com for registration and additional event information. (SR)

C.S. Lewis On Stage: Further Up & Further In

C.S. Lewis is one of the most compelling literary figures of the 20th century. The Irishborn author’s fantasy series

The Chronicles of Narnia has enchanted young readers for more than 70 years, yet he also spent much of his writing career addressing the subject of faith and belief following his return to Christianity after time as an atheist as a young man. Those “apologetics” were far more compelling than mere polemics—and they form the foundation for the one-man theatrical presentation created by writer/performer Max McLean in C.S. Lewis

On Stage: Further Up & Further In

The 90-minute show uses Lewis’ own words to investigate his years spent in defense of Christian belief. It finds McLean’s Lewis addressing the audience, touching on subjects including the wartime-era BBC radio talks that brought his views to the country, the effect of Nazism and Adolf Hitler on the creation of his epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters and the influence of his beliefs on the creation of The Chronicles of Narnia. And it does so while offering up the wit that characterized Lewis’s voice as a writer. “I didn’t go into religion to make me happy,” McLean’s Lewis shares at one point; “I always knew a bottle of port could do that.”

The touring production of C.S. Lewis On Stage: Further Up & Further In visits the J.Q. Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. Currently available tickets are $65 - $99; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

Winning Combinations

A pair of Sundance prize-winners and a heist-comedy reunion among this week’s new releases

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

Dìdi BBB1/2

You can spot pieces of a dozen other coming-of-age tales in writer/director Sean Wang’s debut feature, but he melds them so deftly with the specificity of his characters’ time, place and cultural background that it never feels like you’ve seen it all before. That time and place is 2008 Fremont, California, where the summer before Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) enters high school finds him dealing with uncertainty about friends, nascent crushes, the impending departure of his older sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) for college and tensions in the household as Chris’ mother (Joan Chen) raises her kids mostly solo while Chris’s father is working abroad. Dìdi certainly capitalizes on the unique adolescent experience of Millennials, with friendships and potential romances revolving around early social-media—it’s easy to forget that MySpace was once a pretty big deal—and the first generation growing up with cell phones and attempts to shape their online personas. But the filmmaker also wants to touch on more universal insecurities of being young and not yet sure about your place in the world, especially when those around you keep emphasizing your ethnicity as a defining part of your identity. Young Izaac Wang nails a sweet spot between likeable and kind of typically 14-year-old-boy dickish, while the story finds warmth in the fact that the parents you think will never understand you might be the only people who will ever care unreservedly about you. Available Aug. 9 in theaters. (R)

The Instigators BBB

A creative team with a previous pedigree in fleetfooted capers is, of course, no guarantee that they’ll get it right another time, but director Doug Liman (Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and co-stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck (reunited from the Ocean’s trilogy) prove that they understand the assignment. It’s the

tale of an attempted robbery of the election-night shindig for a corrupt Boston mayor (Ron Perlman), with cash-strapped Marine vet Rory (Damon) and inveterate screw-up ex-con Cobby (Affleck) joining the crew—which, as these things will, doesn’t quite go according to plan. Heist-gone-wrong narratives tend toward gritty consequences, but the script by Affleck and Chuck MacLean opts instead for a lighter tone, emphasizing the mismatched dynamics between the taciturn Rory and motor-mouthed Cobby. The chemistry proves effective, even if the hand-wave explanation as to why they’d stick together doesn’t feel particularly convincing, because Liman knows to keep the action moving from set piece to set piece, and effectively use callbacks. The killer supporting cast—Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Hong Chau, Ving Rhames, Paul Walter Hauser, Toby Jones—tends to make the movie feel a bit overstuffed, and the token attempts at filling out the protagonists’ emotional lives don’t quite land. And fortunately, all of that matters little when The Instigators just keeps putting a smile on your face. Available Aug. 9 via AppleTV+. (R)

Daughters BBB

It won the overall audience award for Sundance 2024, and it’s easy to understand why; there’s undeniable emotion in the story of incarcerated men in a Washington D.C. prison getting a rare one-day opportunity to spend time with their daughters as part of a “Date With Dad” dance event. There are also some structural decisions that both add to the complexity of the story and make it slightly less powerful than it should be. Co-directors Natalie Rae and Angela Patton (the latter of whom co-founded this program) open in 2016, focusing on four men who opt to participate in the seven-week parenting program that’s a pre-requisite for the visit, as well as their children, who span a range of ages and feelings about their incarcerated fathers; 5-year-old Audrey is such a delightful dynamo of personality that an entire documentary could be built around her alone. As it turns out, splitting focus presents part of the challenge, as does the way in which the filmmakers follow up on these families over the subsequent seven years, as we see both success stories and sadder developments. The centerpiece sequences involving the dance itself are so emotionally intense that it’s understandable the filmmakers might not want to linger too long over the coda, yet it feels like more of that material might have been helpful to get a full picture of where this event succeeded, and where the system fails. Reader, I cried, make no mistake—and I also wanted a chance to explore these stories in the depth they needed. Available Aug. 14 via Netflix. (NR) CW

The day began like most others. Jan Poulsen drove to work at Canyon Travel, where, as a travel agent, she helped people plan vacations and adventures to far-flung places across the globe.

The cough, at first, was barely noticeable. It was, she thought, probably just allergies or the beginning stages of a cold virus. But it persisted. Days became weeks and then a month passed. After a couple months, she decided she needed to consult a doctor.

A chest X-ray led to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan (or MRI), which showed an obvious mass in her lung. And a biopsy confirmed her fears—she had lung cancer. Stage 4. Her options were limited. If she did nothing, she would likely be dead within a few months.

“I was puzzled,” she said. “I had never smoked in my life. How could I have gotten lung cancer?”

When she met with an oncologist a short time later, he mentioned the likely culprit: radon.

The odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that is a known carcinogen was first discovered in 1900 by a German chemist named Friedrich Ernst Dorn, who was studying the chain of decay in radium. Several studies conducted on miners in the 1970s and 1980s showed a correlation between increased exposure to radon and increased risk for lung cancer.

But it wasn’t until 1984, when an engineer named Stanley Watras tripped the radiation monitors at the nuclear power plant he worked at in Pennsylvania, that the scientific and regulatory communities would begin to consider the threat radon posed to the community at large.

“[Watras’ employers] didn’t know where the radiation was coming from at first,” said Eleanor Divver, who heads the Utah Radon Program at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). “The levels on his clothes were so high, I imagine he must have been kind of like that scene from The Simpsons, where Homer and Bart turn green from radiation exposure.”

After testing Watras’ home, officials were stunned. It was filled with extremely high levels of radon. They wondered: how many other homes, not only in the area but throughout the country, also had high levels of radon in them?

For Poulsen, radon had not been a concern. She and her husband had tested for it when they bought their home 15 years earlier, and levels were below the threshold that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had deemed “actionable.”

They hadn’t taken into account that renovations made a few years later—including the creation of a walkout basement—could dramatically change the radon level in their home.

“After my diagnosis, we tested the basement again,” she said. “And the readings were 24.9 picocuries per liter (pCi/L).”

A picocurie is a measurement of radioactive decay. At .037 disintegrations per second, it is equal to one-trillionth of a curie, which is to say it is pretty small. No matter where you are in the

Under

Radar

By Jared Blackley | comments@cityweekly.net

world, you are likely breathing in radon at a level of at least 1 pCi/L. Because radon is heavier than air, it tends to pool in the lowest levels of homes.

The EPA has determined that a measurement at or above 4 pCi/L is where action should be taken to mitigate. Data from the DEQ shows that 35% of all homes that have been tested for radon in Utah have levels above 4 pCi/L.

The DEQ estimates that the average level in Utah homes is 3.5 pCi/L, but the average radon level of tested homes within the state is 5.3 pCi/L. The highest recorded level found so far in a home in Utah is 664 pCi/L.

The EPA estimates that 25% of people consistently exposed to the levels found in the Poulsen home will develop lung cancer in their lifetime.

But these numbers are not without controversy. Garth Haslem—a certified structural engineer and home inspector for more than 30 years—is an outspoken critic of any legislation requiring mitigation of radon, which he called “a spade.”

Haslem claimed that radon mitigators and home inspectors are incentivized to manipulate radon data all the time, because “they’re not in the business of measuring data; they’re in the business of installing mitigation systems.”

“No matter who you talk to,” he said, “if they are a stakeholder, they need there to be a problem with radon. For example, if you provide evidence that radon is not a problem to a radon mitigator, that threatens his job.”

Haslem also sees a problem with the methodology the EPA has used to arrive at the threshold for when action needs to be taken, and considers the action level to be “too conservative.”

Calculated Risks

Because the potential effects associated with radon exposure are chronic, the EPA didn’t have any longterm data from household radon exposure to calculate the risks and establish the action level when it released A Citizen’s Guide [to radon] in 1986. The action level relies on data from studies on 11 different groups of miners, equaling 68,000 individuals, in a number of areas throughout the world.

All 11 of the miner cohorts demonstrated “a statistically significant elevation in lung cancer mortality with increasing radon exposure.”

Extrapolating the data from the miner cohorts to households was complicated and messy. In addition to radon, the miners were often exposed to a number of other toxic materials, such as lead, arsenic, silica and diesel fumes, all of which, according to a 2003 EPA report, “might be a source of positive bias in the risk estimates.”

Genetics, lifestyles and a wide host of other variables also had to be considered. Not all of them could be measured. In the end, the EPA concluded that “about one-fourth of the [estimated 21,000 annual] radon-related lung cancers [in the United States] could be averted by reducing radon concentrations in homes that exceed EPA’s recommended 4 [pCi/L] action level.”

And while the methods used to arrive at that number may carry some controversy, the conclusions

“I had never smoked in my life. How could I have gotten lung cancer?” —Jan Poulsen

seem to have been validated by several additional studies, including one that analyzed data from 13 peer-reviewed, European case-control studies with more than 21,000 participants within home environments. The results: prolonged exposure to radon, even at relatively low levels, increases one’s risk of developing lung cancer.

Based on that report, the World Health Organization recommended mitigation occurs at or above 2.7 pCi/L. The EPA’s recommendations didn’t change, but the agency admitted its gas action level might be flawed, just not in the way most skeptics seem to think it is. A report by the EPA from the 1990s states the current radon action level leaves “millions of Americans at risk from radon gas.”

James VanDerslice, PhD, is the Chief of the Division of Public Health at the University of Utah. In an email to City Weekly, he said the EPA generally sets health guidelines to protect the most vulnerable subgroups in society, such as children. But the EPA action level has remained where it is mostly as a matter of practicality.

“The EPA chose 4 pCi/L as the action level,” he wrote, “because it is a level that can usually be achieved with standard mitigation measures (such as sub-slab depressurization) at a cost that is comparable with other home improvement projects.”

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

No legislation focused on the dangers of radon was attempted in Utah until 2013. The summer prior to that, a number of homeowners in Utah County had become upset after discovering high levels of radon in their newly constructed homes.

They contacted KSL, who contacted then-state Sen. John Valentine (R-Orem). He contacted Michael Siler, who was then the director of government relations for the American Cancer Society in Utah.

“It was at that point,” Siler recalled, “I discovered that radon was really flying under the radar. The only people who were really providing any information about the dangers of radon were the radon mitigation companies, which, in my opinion, was kind of

“It would be awesome if data was shared more openly between organizations.”

—Eleanor Divver

like the fox guarding the henhouse.”

Siler formed the Utah Radon Coalition and the Utah Radon Policy Coalition—both of which are non-profit organizations—and, with Valentine’s help, submitted a bill that echoed legislation in several other states, including requirements for radon-resistant new construction.

But the bill was killed before even being drafted.

“We were beaten to death by the building industry,” Siler said. “Their rationale was that every additional requirement adds to the cost of the home, which exacerbates the problem of making homes affordable.”

The cost to mitigate a single-family home can range from between $1,500 to $4,000. Most homes can have an active mitigation system, with a fan, installed for under $2,000.

Because ductwork and flues are easily accessible during the course of construction, installing a mitigation system in a new home is cheaper than in an existing home. Adding a mitigation system that costs $2,000 to a 30-year mortgage on a new home would increase the monthly payment by $5.56.

“There are three things we need to do with radon,” Siler observed. “Radon awareness is the big thing. Radon testing is the second thing and, of course, radon mitigation—when needed—is the third thing.”

To Siler, it became obvious that the state was not going to do much about the issue, so the Utah Radon Coalition took it upon itself to raise awareness. So far, they’ve provided more than 2,000 free tests.

“This may not seem like a lot,” he said, “but frankly speaking, our efforts have been the most concentrated efforts that have taken place in Utah.”

Divver, who happens to be the only employee with the DEQ’s Radon Program, said that the state started collecting radon data in the late 1980s. “Utah is considered a gold standard in data collection,” she asserted. “The DEQ has over 100,000 data points, so it has a pretty good picture of where radon is.”

Even with those numbers, the DEQ has data for only 11% of homes in Salt Lake County, 6% of homes in Davis County and 8% of homes in Utah County.

She explained that the DEQ only reports data that have been reported to its Radon Program from the

“Our efforts have been the most concentrated efforts that have taken place in Utah.”

—Michael Siler

laboratories that conduct the tests, and that the data include both tests done before and after mitigation.

The DEQ doesn’t accept data from mitigators or other entities, including the Utah Radon Coalition.

“It would be awesome if data was shared more openly between organizations,” she admitted. “But in the eyes of data experts, data from mitigators or other parties could be tainted.”

Getting a charcoal test through the state is relatively cheap through the DEQ’s website. “Right now the cost of a charcoal-based test is only $11,” Divver said, “but that price might be increasing soon, as our contract with the laboratory is set to expire and needs to be renegotiated.”

“You want to make sure [the test] is an area where you spend a good amount of time,” she continued. “A lot of people will place it in their crawl space, because that is the lowest level of their home. But no one spends much time in a crawl space. They would want to place it in the lowest level that is lived in.”

Full Disclosure

In 2021, the State Legislature passed HB45, which, among other things, requested the Utah Geological Survey write a report on ways to “increase public awareness about the risks of radon gas and ways to mitigate Utah residents’ exposure to radon.”

The report, which was provided to legislators in August 2022, lists six recommendations on both of those points. The Legislature enacted none of them. One of those recommendations was to require radon testing in public schools, daycares and prison facilities. Enter associate professor of Political Science, Tabitha Benney, PhD. As a trained economist, Benney has spent most of her career working on climate-based economic issues, such as carbon markets, pricing and tax.

She realized that the risks associated with radon exposure were as much a political issue as a science and research issue.

“Because I have an understanding of the behavioral and political side of radon,” she explained, “I began to lean into that side of the story.”

Benney mentioned the parallels that Utah has to

“People tend to say, ‘but that’s not my home’.”

—Tabitha Benney

Colorado. “We have similar geological features,” she said, “similar extractions and similar elements in the ground.”

But of course, Utah is not Colorado. In 2023, Colorado’s Legislature passed SB23-206, which requires landlords and sellers to provide state-approved written disclosures to tenants or prospective buyers. They must also provide any knowledge of radon levels in the dwelling. Failure to do so could result in the seller/landlord being held liable and paying for testing and mitigation.

In Utah, some of the largest gaps in the data come from dwellings occupied by tenants. Landlords are not required to test, nor mitigate, nor even disclose known radon levels to tenants.

Discovering high levels of radon in one’s apartment is not enough to get out of a lease agreement. On a seller disclosure form in Utah, radon is mentioned in the same sentence as asbestos and leadbased paint, but there is no legal recourse if a seller fails to disclose known levels of radon in a home.

Some of Benney’s main objectives with starting the Utah Radon Lab at the University of Utah were to fill some of the gaps in the data and get the appropriate information to the right people.

“We’ve really tried to tailor the information we share with people, so that it resonates with their circumstances,” she reported. “When we say one in three homes in Utah has [elevated levels of radon], people tend to say, ‘but that’s not my home.’ When we show them information to their zip code, people tend to be affected more by the numbers.”

With the help of several undergraduate students and the direction of the DEQ, the Radon Lab began a grassroots campaign to test public schools.

Fewer than 10% of the schools in the state had ever been tested for radon. Only four districts regularly test for radon.

With a small amount of funding from the DEQ, University students during the lab’s debut semester tested all 43 schools in the Salt Lake City School District, as well the Headstart programs and community centers attached to those schools.

“We were finding areas in some schools within a 60 to 80 [pCi/L] range,” Benney said. “As a research-

er, it was quite shocking. We’ve also been able to come up with low-cost interventions for several of the schools that have areas with high levels of radon, things like putting a $5 cover over the drains in janitorial spaces when not in use.”

This coming semester, the lab will be conducting tests in the Price and Morgan school districts, as well as in several tribal nations.

The lab has also gotten permission from the largest radon lab in the U.S. to create a space where data can be stored.

“We just need an interface for it, and that requires funding,” Benney stressed, “so securing funding is also something [the lab] will be working on.”

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

The Utah Radon Program at the DEQ is also trying to secure additional funding from outside the state. A bunch of red tape currently holds up a large grant from the EPA.

“We’re waiting on a federal grant, in partnership with the DEQ,” Siler said. “If it is approved, it will be the first time the EPA has actually provided funding for mitigation. We hope that it will triple the number of [free mitigation systems] we can provide in underserved and low-income areas.”

It is unlikely Utah’s legislature will pass anything significant, anytime soon, to help prevent radon-induced lung cancers in the state.

Emails requesting interviews sent to several legislators with known ties to the real estate industry all received no response.

“Having worked in a number of developing nations,” Benney observed, “it is common to see a large region lacking the knowledge or infrastructure to deal with these types of issues, but to have that in the United States is quite shocking. And that fact became very motivating for me, not only as researcher, but also as a mom with a young child in school in the region and as a member of the community.”

Divver said she frequently hears from people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer, or whose loved ones have developed lung cancer, even though they have never smoked.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Divver said, “when people call me and say ‘if I had known I needed to test, I would have tested.’”

For travel agent Poulsen—and approximately 200 other Utahns annually who are diagnosed with radon-induced lung cancer—testing for radon is key and the cost of mitigation is far better than the cost of cancer treatments.

After she had recovered from having her right lung completely removed, Poulsen underwent chemotherapy for the next five years. A short while after she was told she was cancer free, it re-emerged in the form of brain tumors. She is cancer free today, but has recently begun to show signs of dementia— likely a side effect of cancer.

“Testing your home should be considered a part of general maintenance,” Poulson emphasized. “Do it every two to five years, because levels can change. Even if your neighbors remodel or new construction occurs down the street, levels can change within your own home.” CW

COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

DINE

Let’s Taco ‘Bout Organic Tacos

Contento Cafe offers a little something for everyone.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

As the food scene in Utah continues to evolve, I’ve seen plenty of different culinary concepts get either a plantbased or a more sustainable glow-up. Obviously, this is good for several reasons; getting a comfort-food fix from a place that knows how to blend flavor and wholesome ingredients is always a win. Recently, I had the opportunity to check out Contento Cafe, a new South Salt Lake spot that has been making waves with its considerate take on classic Mexican fare. I’ve always been a fan of anywhere that dedicates itself to making a great taco, and Contento Cafe’s progressive take on this cuisine is top notch.

Contento Cafe’s menu is entirely gluten-free, they only use avocado oil for their frying and they’ve got plenty of plant-based options for fans of Mexican classics. It’s fitting that their current digs used to belong to our friends at Vertical Diner, one of Utah’s most beloved plantbased pioneers. The Contento Cafe team has done wonders with the space—that trademark counter space is still getting plenty of love today. New diners are typically welcomed by a friendly staff member who is more than happy to extol the organic virtues of the restaurant’s menu. Whether you’re after a hearty breakfast with some locally-roasted coffee or looking for a spot to enjoy some tacos with a cocktail or a cold beer, Contento has you

covered. Their breakfast menu is served from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most of their ingredients are organic (just look for the little asterisk that tells you so). The Huevos a la Mexicana ($18) and the chilaquiles ($16) are among the heartier options; the former offers a choice among grassfed steak, organic chicken, shrimp and salmon, both of which are wild-caught. Those wanting a plant-based breakfast experience will want to check out the vegan mushroom chorizo tacos ($18), which definitely takes advantage of the earthy combo of mushrooms and achiote.

If you’re after something in the later hours of the day, you’ve got plenty of classics to choose from. Everything from nachos ($22) to fajitas ($22) can be found on the list, each one offering the same proteins available for their breakfast dishes. As selecting the right protein is a big part of dining at Contento Cafe, my recommendations are the steak or the salmon, though plant-based diners can’t go wrong with the mushroom chorizo. I am a fan of the Contento Bowl with salmon and pineapple ($24) at the moment, which delivers a nice encapsulation of everything that Contento Cafe is doing right.

The Contento Bowl offers a vibrant arrangement of black beans, red rice, queso fresco—made in-house!—pico, guacamole, pickled onions and a spicy take on esquites. The salmon and pineapple are considerately placed among this assembly of fresh and colorful ingredients, and you get a few house-made blue corn tortillas for taco-making purposes. While Contento Cafe’s prices might raise a few eyebrows, the portion sizes are great, and you’re getting plenty of organic produce for good measure. When it all comes together on the plate, it’s spectacular.

As a street taco fan, I am always stoked to see a rosy tangle of pickled onions show up for the party. I could have used a third tortilla to help me finish off the

bowl’s plentiful contents, but if you’re like me and order chips and guac ($13) for one, it’s easy to use those crunchy tortilla chips—which are way better than they have any right to be—to mop up the rest.

Those feeling decadent when they visit will want to check out the Drunken Mussels ($32), a coastal special served only during dinner hours. Like the name implies, this dish features sauteed mussels swimming in a tequila nopal chipotle broth. It also comes with two tortillas, which are ideal for either whipping up a few tacos or soaking up some of the leftover broth. This one’s a bit of a treasure; I haven’t really seen anything like this around town, and it’s definitely worth checking out.

Each of Contento Cafe’s signature proteins can be ordered up in taco form, which I recommend for anyone who has been there enough to choose a favorite. I’m already leaning toward the salmon tacos ($24). Fish tacos are amazing, but Contento’s signature blend of shredded cabbage, pineapple and avocado bring the dish into summer dining Valhalla.

Though it’s a fairly new addition to our local restaurant scene, Contento Cafe already has a lot going for it. Not only is its approach to a more inclusive menu a savvy move for appreciative Utah diners, it’s also something they believe in. From the tableware to the decor, you walk into Contento Cafe knowing that they’re offering a unique take on classic Mexican cuisine. Their accommodating menu full of organic, gluten-free ingredients appeals to more conscientious diners, and its restaurant space and staff work hard to communicate their concept. CW

The Contento Bowl

2 Row Brewing

73 West 7200 South, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: Lollygaggin’ Farmhouse Ale

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Limited Pride release, “Gei Effect”: a mango and pineapple Gose, 5%

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap:  Cerveza De Mayo for Bewilder.

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

On Tap: California Steam Lager, Hans Gruber Export Lager

Bonneville Brewery

1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer

On Tap: Pie Hole; Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Ale

Craft by Proper

1053 E. 2100 So., SLC properbrewingco.com

On Tap: “Proper Yasuke” dark rice lager 5%, Mamachari Strawberry Serrano kombucha (NA)

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap:  Ay Curuba! Curuba Sour

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Hopsters IPA

Etta Place Cidery

700 W Main St, Torrey www.ettaplacecider.com

On Tap: All-American Cider, Raspberry-Hibiscus Session Mead

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works

333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

On Tap: Cask Nitro CO2

Helper Beer

159 N Main Street, Helper, UT  helperbeer.com

Hopkins Brewing Co.

1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Pico Rico

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Tap: Blackberry Sour Slushie; Key Lime Cerveza Slushie

Level Crossing Brewing Co.

2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake

LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Sun Slope Sour

Live Music every Sunday, 5 to 8pm

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST

550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC

LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Philly Sour Fruit Bat Live Music every Saturday, 3 to 6pm

Moab Brewing

686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap:  Arnie (Co-Lab with 2 Row brewing): cream ale base with Lychee black tea and fresh pasteurized lemon juice.

Mountain West Cider

425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Pineapple Ginger hard cider

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company

358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com

On Tap: Monte Crispo (Collab with Melvin Brewing); West Coast Pilsner

Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: Cold IPA dry hopped w/ Mosaic, Amarillo, and Chinook

Policy Kings Brewery

223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Prodigy Brewing

25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: Mango Milkshake IPA

Proper Brewing/Proper Burger 857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com

Proper Brewing: Limited Pride release, “Gei Effect”: a mango and pineapple Gose, 5%

Proper Burger: “Whispers from Santa Maria” Helles lager with peach and jalapeno

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab properbrewingco.com

On Tap: “Bermuda Blonde” keylime blonde ale 5%

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

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 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: Red Snake Harvest Ale

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Pineapple Sour Seltzer

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

On Tap: Chipotle Lager

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Prickly Pear Kolsch

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Colorado Grasshop-ah 6.5% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Pineapple Mango 6.5%

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Slushies; Harvey Wallbanger Sour Ale

Shades On State

366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Salud Mexican Lager; Spring Fever Grapefruit Radler

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

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co.

147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/ squatters

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. European Vacation Czech Pils

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery

1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Bulletproof Zest Lemon Kolsch

Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: The Baroness (Munich Helles); Leviathan (Vienna Lager)

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: German Pilsner

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Japanese Style Rice Lager

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: American Light Lager

Top of Main Brewery 250 Main, Park City, Utah topofmainbrewpub.com On Tap: Top of Main Brewery –Off The Tree Juicy IPA

Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Golden Grant 5% ABV.

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

Wasatch Brew Pub 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/ wasatch On Tap:  Top of Main Brewery –Big U Pilsner Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

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

BEER NERD

Combined Efforts

Collaborating

breweries bring lagers home

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

We tend to keep things local here in the Beer Nerd pages of City Weekly—and we still are for the most part. This week, we look at two local breweries that have teamed up with their cousins to the north from Melvin Brewing in Alpine, Wyo. Over the long Pie and Beer Day (Pioneer Day) weekend, Melvin hit the Wasatch Front hard with a bunch of new beer releases. Here are the Melvin collaborations with locals TF and Ogden Beer. Ogden Beer/Melvin Brewing - Monte Crispo: This West Coast-style pilsner pours a pretty, clear goldenrod color. This puppy has a thick, light white head that settles to a thin pillowy layer with lace all about the glass—pretty solid and quite attractive.

This is what a beer should smell like, with nice resinous herbs and fruity citrus hops bursting in the nose. It’s kind of like that reminder of the first time you drank beer, and you encountered hops for the first time—crisp, spicy and lightly sweet, featuring a bready lager-like mix. It makes me eager to take a swig. Its shocking crispness wakes the palate right up with a burst of saliva thanks to citrus and dry lager notes. It’s not overly sweet like many of Monte Crispo’s IPA cousins, though I may be preferring West Coast pilsners over IPAs as a rule since the former have more approachable drinkability with those grassy herbal hops, pine, light citrus and fruit notes. This is a nice light/medium-bodied brew. The carbonation is bright, and

the beer is quite dry without being cloying. I love the dryness, and that “thirsty again” feeling right after is impressive.

Verdict: Just when you think beers were maxed out towards perfection, this one came along and changed my mind all over again. For me, this is setting the bar really high for a fine craft lager. A must-have for anybody.

TF Brewing/Melvin Brewing - OxBlood: This collaboration is a take on the amber Mexican lager. The beer’s color is an amber-brown with ruby hues; the clarity is quite brilliant, with a creamy and frothy two-finger head and excellent retention. The initial aromas I get from the beer are fresh rye bread and a little hint of something like coffee or dark chocolate. Toffee, toasted malts, caramelized sugar are also present.

On the first taste, I get nuttiness, bread crust, caramelized sugar and earthiness. Moving the beer around yields herbal, spicy phenols with some grassy dankness. Toffee, a hint of chocolate, and roasted malts round it out. The finishing flavors show a hint of char, roasted malts and a touch of floral hops. The mouthfeel of the beer is soft, creamy and carbonated. If you’re looking for a Mexican session beer that doesn’t require a lime, this is your beer right here.

Verdict: The beer does follow the guidelines for a Munich Dunkel to the letter—and yes, this beer is a lager. I did enjoy Oxblood, and will be drinking it as long as it’s around.

Melvin launched a pretty wide release of these beers, along with a double dryhopped version of their Star Valley IPA with Anchovy hops, Double dry-hopped Pils with Nectaron hops, a Huckleberry Pie ale and a Shandy with Grapefruit. As far as Monte Crispo is concerned, you can find it at Ogden Beer and many of the better beer pubs along the Wasatch Front. Oxblood is not available at TF as of this writing, but it can be found on draft at various pubs just like Monte Crispo

As always, cheers! CW

BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Deadpan Sandwich Opens in Sugar House

Anyone who has visited Deadpan Sandwich in Woodbine Food Hall (545 W. 700 South) has likely fallen in love with their sandwich-crafting wizardry. The first time I tried their Oh Schnitzel! Sandwich, with its ranch kraut and dill, I knew there was something special about the place. Though they had a brief hiatus, popular demand brought them back to us and fueled their expansion into Sugar House. Just last week, Deadpan Sandwich announced the grand opening of their second location (556 E. 2100 South), which is in the south building of Izzy Apartments. If you haven’t checked out their eclectic mix of gourmet sandwiches, now is a great time to join the Deadpan fan club.

Myungrang Hot Dog Closes

In more melancholy news, I recently learned that Myungrang Hotdog shuttered its South Jordan storefront (11428 S. Parkway Plaza Drive #300). It wasn’t the first place where I tried the apex snack known as Korean corn dogs, but it was the place that I felt embodied the spirit of this fantastic piece of junk food. Though it was always busy when I visited, I’m sure that it’s a pretty high premium to be part of South Jordan’s The District Shopping Center. It’s not the first spot I’ve seen close its doors in that part of my neighborhood, and it won’t be the last, but this one stings just a bit more than some of those other spots. RIP, Myungrang Hotdog.

Buca di Beppo Leaves Utah

I also got wind that national Italian food chain Buca di Beppo has closed both of its Utah locations. This is part of the organization’s decision to permanently shutter 13 of its restaurants across the country due to its financial struggles. Though I personally wasn’t a huge fan of Buca di Beppo, both the downtown SLC and Midvale locations had been operating for years, so my heart goes out to all those local Buca di Beppo fans who were hit with this news. There are still three locations in Las Vegas for those who need to get their fix. Nothin’ like a debauchery-filled Vegas weekend full of breadsticks, alfredo sauce and cheap wine to mix things up, after all.

Quote of the Week: “Enjoy every sandwich.” –Warren Zevon

THE BEEHIVE

Energi Boost

Das Energi Fest brings core values of EDM to The Great Saltair

BY ARICA ROBERTS comments@cityweekly.net

The largest and most anticipated electronic dance music (EDM) event in Utah, hands down, is Das Energi. Since 2012, local production company V2 Presents has thrown this festival at The Great Saltair, a historic Utah icon. Das Energi (also known as “Das”) continues to grow exponentially in both the number of attendees and its overall production value. Das Energi embodies the unique energy captured through a fusion of music and the core values of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect (PLUR).

Some of the biggest names in EDM have headlined at Das Energi, including Kaskade, Tiësto and Diplo. This year, Seven Lions and Subtronics will headline Friday night while Above & Beyond and Rezz will headline Saturday night.

Ian Hiscock, the artist relations manager, public relations manager and talent buyer, explains the process behind curating the vibes for each night. Of the headliners, he said, “For Das, it’s always important to have a diverse lineup of various genres. We try to cover old-school sounds and a lot of new artists.” Thus, attendees can expect a good mix of both familiar artists as well as up-and-comers.

There is truly something for everyone at this festival, but Hiscock shared who he’s most excited for: Cassian and Layton Giordani, who were added last-minute. “That’s one of our first bigger bookings in melodic techno, which is getting a lot of attention right now, and it’s their first ever back-toback, so I’m stoked on that!” he said.

The local DJs also have an important

role in shaping Das Energi. “We put a lot of thought into that. Local artists are super important for the local scene and local culture. I feel like we have a good chunk of new artists, as well as some older ones. I was really happy to get a lot of those names who have never played a festival before,” Hiscock added.

Beyond selecting artists, V2 also curates each stage and each night for a specific sound. Courtney Coles, the creative marketing director for V2 Presents, explained the general layout of Das, which boasts three stages.

“There’s a stage inside the Saltair, then our main stage in the amphitheater, and then for Das Energi we take over the beach of the Salt Lake outside of the Saltair,” she said.

However, it’s not just the stages that comprise the festival.

“We have a ton of vendors,” Hiscock notes. “We have food trucks. It’s truly a music festival.”

This year at Das Energi, there will also be more food and drink options than ever before. Attendees can support local vendors like Lucky Slice Pizza from Ogden, or Common Ground Eatery from Davis County. The improvements each year are also noticeable, from the newly added paved bar outside that overlooks the main stage amphitheater, to continual improvements in transportation. For example, the new Uber pickup area and shuttle bus turnaround have exceedingly helped the venue that has just one way in and one way out.

Beyond the artists or the venue, Coles remarks, Das Energi is special because of the attendees. “One of the things I love about EDM in Utah, and one of the things I hear from people, especially people coming into Das Energi, is our community. I think Utah has kept a lot of the old school PLUR kind of vibes; there’s still a lot of kandi-trading [exchange of colored bracelets] that happens, there’s still a lot of sitting down and talking with your friends and talking with new people. We are super

MUSIC

welcoming and truly living that PLUR lifestyle, and for those who don’t know what that is, it’s peace, love, unity and respect … the core values that really push EDM events forward and that’s something at V2 that we really try to put a spotlight on from the staff to the DJs and everyone else involved.”

Hiscock agrees. “People here are really warm and welcoming. That’s something I hear from artists who come here all the time. They’re like this crowd, this energy here,” he said, “there’s something special going on … the energy is unmatched when I play in Utah.”

After many years of hearing this sentiment sincerely expressed by so many people, Hiscock is convinced Utah has something special.

“What’s cool about Das is that as important as the artists and headliners are, I feel like there’s a big chunk of people who just come because of the Das Energi vibe. The artists playing sometimes are almost secondary to most people, it’s just the energy

as a whole that is something really special that people enjoy coming to regardless of who’s playing,” he added.

Few venues can match the atmosphere of The Great Saltair, overlooking the stark beauty of the Great Salt Lake with the backdrop of the Wasatch mountains.

“Something we’ve prided ourselves on is that about 30-40 percent of attendees are from out of state, and it’s really cool to see that number grow,” Hiscock said. “We really appeal to people out of state. Obviously people in the state as well, but there is something really special about the Saltair just with the sunsets and lakefront.”

Put on some rave attire and come take photos with friends at the beach at sunset. Check out the vendors and dance your heart out. Or join some cuddle puddles on the grass while taking in all the lights, lasers, flow artists and bass music. All are welcome.

Go to dasenergifestival.com for a lineup of the Aug. 9th & 10th event and tickets. CW

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS THE BEST HIP HOP IN SLC

SHARK SUNDAYS

POOL TOURNEY HOSTED BY TANNER

MONDAYS

REGGAE MONDAY WITH DJ NAPO

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE

BEST BAR IN UTAH!

GREAT FOOD

MUSIC PICK S

Killer Mike @ Ogden Amphitheater 8/8

All success that comes Killer Mike’s way is massively overdue. Michael Render (aka. Killer Mike) has been putting it down since his killer verse on Outkast’s “Snappin’ & Trappin’.” Anything that he has to say or rhyme about, I make time for, and return to again and again. There are few more sophisticated, challenging and open minds in the public domain today. His 2024 Grammy Award-winning Michael is an important album—personal, frequently poignant, filled to the brim with his signature wordplay and featuring some great guest spots as well. “I made, in rap’s 50th year, the best representation of hip-hop as an album. And I say that with no shame. I say that with no disrespect or shade,” Mike told GQ. “I say that because I did that, and I did that because I’m a proud student of this art form.” I’m glad Killer Mike is finally getting recognition for his tireless grind. Michael is the product of a mutual-appreciation society that doesn’t involve the emcee or producer straining to fit into a style which doesn’t really suit them. He seems to have found a space that he is comfortable in, and the quality of the music reflects that. And look, his song “Reagan” off 2012’s R.A.P. Music aged like fine wine. Give it a listen. This is real rap, so enjoy. Hippo Campus and Bad Luck Brigade open. Catch these musicians on the Twilight Concert Series at the Ogden Amphitheater on Thursday, Aug. 8. Gates open at 5 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $15 at 24tix.com (Mark Dago)

UPCOMING SHOWS

Briana Grand

Toto

Oxygen Destroyer

Children Of Atom

Welcome Back

Family Worship Center

Killer Mike

MUSIC PICK S

Danielle Nicole @ The State Room 8/9

Danielle Nicole makes music informed by the blues, yet not constrained by it. The electric bassist and singer debuted with siblings Nick and Kris as Trampled Under Foot in 2000. After honing both her considerable chops and stage presence with that group for well over a decade, Nicole released her solo debut, Wolf Den, in 2015. While her work has long had its foundation in the blues, Nicole often uses the idiom as a jumping-off point for her musical excursions. In her solo career to date, Nicole has had no difficulty finding quality musicians with whom to work. 2018’s Cry No More featured an array of guest stars, including Luther Dickinson, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Walter Trout. But her strong musical vision and force of personality means that even among those stars, she easily holds her own, never getting overwhelmed or overshadowed. And while Cry No More displayed her affinity for (and understanding of) the classic Stax Records soul vibe, on her latest, The Love You Bleed, Nicole aims toward a more mainstream classic-rock character. Varied throughout, The Love You Bleed can serve as a sampler of the artist’s wide-encompassing approach to her craft; it’s also a very pleasing listening experience. Nicole visits The State Room on Friday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets for this 21+ show are $27 at thestateroompresents.com (Bill Kopp)

Danielle Nicole

MUSIC PICK S

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band @ Park City Institute 8/10

While the term “Americana” is widely referenced these days, in truth it had its origins in the seminal rock and roll sounds of Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and other denizens of the Sun Records roster. When, in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, popular music furthered that crossover, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played a key role in the transition and trajectory. Originally a California jug band, they delved deeply into the fertile roots of traditional music with Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a landmark album that found country music’s archival architects—Earl Scruggs, “Mother” Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Norman Blake and Doc Watson included—reaching across a cultural divide with younger musicians who had an obvious appreciation for those prominent pioneers. It broke down barriers, marking a true milestone in the annals of Americana. The band went on to score a steady succession of hits throughout their nearly 60-year career—“Mr. Bojangles,” “Make a Little Magic,” “Some of Shelley’s Blues,” “House at Pooh Corner” and “Fishin’ in the Dark,” among them. They also became the first American band to tour the USSR, resulting in a TV special viewed by an estimated 145 million people. Though touting this current excursion as their farewell tour, they also promise good times can continue. An evening in their company proves that point. All the Good Times: The Farewell Tour with Very Special Guest Jerry Douglas comes to Park City Institute Saturday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show cost $72.08 at parkcityinstitute.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

Nitty Gritty Dirt

MUSIC PICK S

Gary Clark Jr. @ Red Butte Garden 8/11

There are few people (dead or alive) who could play guitar as ferociously and effortlessly as Gary Clark Jr.— and the Austin-based guitar hero treats us to some blues, rock and soul this weekend. Long-time fans will remember his Grammy for Best Traditional R&B performance for the song “Please Come Home” in 2014, as well as a Grammy for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for “This Land” in 2020. However, he hasn’t slowed down; his newest album, JPEG RAW, is full of the same soulful energy and his signature mix of hip-hop elements. The album’s title is an acronym for Jealousy, Pride, Envy, Greed, Rules, Alter Ego, Worlds. It begins with guitar riffs and Clark Jr. rapping on “Maktub,” and includes a collab with ParliamentFunkadelic leader and legend, George Clinton called “Funk Witch U;” Stevie Wonder appears on the song “What About The Children.” It’s fair to say that Clark Jr. is a once-in-a-generation musician, mostly because he won’t let himself be put in a box. Clark Jr. isn’t just the guy that plays guitar; he sculpts the bass drum, kick drum, bass tones, cymbals, the whole thing. And lest we forget, he also has smooth vocals. There’s a certain type of confidence Clark Jr. brings to the stage, so come through and listen Sunday, Aug. 11 at Red Butte Garden. Doors open at 6 p.m., performance at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $70–$75 at redbuttegarden. org. (Arica Roberts)

JPEGMAFIA @ The Depot 8/11

JPEGMAFIA’s collaborative album with Danny Brown Scaring the Hoes, which dropped last year, was a perfect example of hip-hop craft—focus, brilliant rhymes, mind-melting production, no gimmicks, not even larger-than-life emcees. Even though both mic-controllers here are true originals, Scaring the Hoes represents the entire form, and projects like this can sometimes slip out of the mainstream’s eyeline. However, there’s an audience out there for something a bit rawer, noisier and grittier. “I want to master my domain. I have a domain in experimental hip-hop that is my own. I’ve created a lane that’s just my own, and I want to double down and set myself in stone,” Barrington Hendricks, aka JPEGMAFIA, told Stereogum.com. “This is my thing. You can’t do this thing.” The thing is, Peggy’s music production is exciting. His collection of chaotic musical freakouts are all things low- and high-brow coming straight for your cerebellum. The way he chops and loops hyper-dense samples is masterful at times, and runs into copyright issues other times. On his album LP!, he couldn’t clear some of the musical samples on particular songs, which resulted in him releasing two versions of the effort, online and offline. Hip-Hop is a sampling sport, and if the culture isn’t about the music and merely about a look or an aesthetic (DIY, etc.), then it’s just reduced to a fad or a fashion. JPEGMAFIA’s career has been escalating for a while, and it’s easy to see why he gets maximum respect like Dapper Dan. Catch this artist on the Lay Down My Life tour at the Depot on Sunday, Aug. 11, doors at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $48 at livenation.com (Mark Dago)

Gary Clark Jr.

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Legend tells us the first person to drink tea was Chinese Emperor Shennong in 2437 BCE. As he lounged outdoors, tree leaves fell into his water and accidentally created an infusion. Good for him that he was willing to sample that accidental offering. It took centuries, but eventually tea drinking spread throughout the world. And yet the first tea bag, an icon of convenience, didn’t become available until 1904. I don’t expect you will have to wait anywhere near that long to move from your promising new discoveries to the highly practical use of those discoveries. In fact, it could happen quickly. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to ripen your novel ideas, stellar insights and breakthrough innovations.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

I hope that in the coming months, you will be refining your skills with joy and vigor. I hope you will devote yourself to becoming even more masterful at activities you already do well. I hope you will attend lovingly to details and regard discipline as a high art—as if doing so is the most important gift you can give to life. To inspire you in these noble quests, I offer you a quote by stage magician Harry Blackstone Jr.: “Practice until it becomes boring, then practice until it becomes beautiful.”

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)

Wohlweh is a German word that means “good pain” or “pleasurable pain.” It might refer to the feeling you have scratching a mosquito bite or rubbing your eyes when they’re itchy from allergies. My favorite use of the word occurs when describing a deep-tissue massage that may be harrowing even as it soothes and provides healing. That’s a great metaphor for the wohlweh I expect for you in the coming days. Here’s a tip: The less you resist the strenuous “therapy,” the better you will feel.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

I earn my living as a writer now, but for many years I had to work at odd jobs to keep from starving. One of the most challenging was tapping the sap of Vermont maple trees during the frigid weather of February. Few trees produce more than three gallons of sap per day, and it takes 40 to 50 gallons to create a single gallon of maple syrup. It was hard work that required a great deal of patience. According to my analysis, you Cancerians are in a metaphorically comparable situation these days. To get the good results you want, you may have to generate a lot of raw material—and that could take a while. Still, I believe that in the end, you will think the strenuous effort has been well worth it.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

I love the fact that Antarctica doesn’t belong to anyone. Thirty nations have research stations there, but none of them control what happens. Antarctica has no government! It has a few laws that almost everyone obeys, like a ban on the introduction of non-indigenous plants and animals. But mostly, it’s untouched and untamed. Much of its geology is uncharted. Inspired by this singular land, I’d love for you to enjoy a phase of wild sovereignty and autonomy in the coming weeks. What can you do to express yourself with maximum freedom, answering primarily to the sacred laws of your own ardent nature?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Babylonia was an ancient empire located in what’s now Syria, Iraq and Iran. Among its citizens, there was a belief that insomnia was the result of visitations by ancestral spirits. Their urge to communicate made it hard for descendants to sleep. One supposed cure was to take relatives’ skulls into bed, lick them and hold them close. I don’t recommend this practice, Virgo. But I do advise you to consult the spirits of deceased family in the coming weeks. I suspect they have a lot to tell you. At the very least, I hope you’ll explore how you might benefit from studying and pondering your ancestors’ lives.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Libran tennis player Naomi Osaka is one of the highestpaid women athletes ever. She is also a staunch political activist. That blend of qualities is uncommon. Why do I bring this to your attention? Because now is an excellent time to synergize your pragmatic devotion to financial success with idealistic work on behalf of noble causes. Doing both of these activities with extra intensity will place you in alignment with cosmic rhythms—even more so if you can manage to coordinate them.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Scorpio actor Sally Field told a story about an agent early in her career. In those formative years, all her roles were on TV. But she aspired to expand her repertoire.

“You aren’t good enough for movies,” the agent told her. She fired him, and soon she was starring in films. Let’s make this a teaching story for you, Scorpio. In the coming months, you will be wise to surround yourself with influences that support and encourage you. If anyone persistently underestimates you, they should not play a prominent role in your life’s beautiful drama.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

One Sagittarius I know is building a sculpture of a humpback whale. Another is adding a woodshop to her house so she can fulfill her dream of crafting and selling furniture. Of my other Sagittarian acquaintances, one is writing a narrative poem in Greek, another is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Northern California to the Columbia River in northern Oregon, and another has embarked on a long-postponed pilgrimage to Nigeria, the place of her ancestors’ origin. Many Sagittarians I know are thinking expansively, daring challenges and attempting fun feats. Are you contemplating comparable adventures? Now is an excellent time for them.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

When I opened my fortune cookie, I found a message that read, “If you would just shut up, you could hear God’s voice.” I laughed, then got very quiet. I ruminated on how, yes, I express myself a lot. I’m constantly and enthusiastically riffing on ideas that are exciting to me. So I took the fortune cookie oracle to heart. I stopped talking and writing for two days. I retreated into a quiescent stillness and listened to other humans, animals and the natural world. Forty-five hours into the experiment, I did indeed hear God’s voice. She said, “Thanks for making space to hear me. I love you and want you to thrive.” She expounded further, providing me with three interesting clues that have proved to be helpful in practical ways. In accordance with your astrological omens, Capricorn, I invite you to do what I did.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Scientists at the University of California devised a cheap and fast method for unboiling an egg. Their effort wasn’t frivolous. They were working with principles that could be valuable in treating certain cancers. Now I’m inviting you to experiment with metaphorical equivalents of unboiling eggs, Aquarius. You are in a phase when you will have extra power to undo results you’re bored with or unsatisfied with. Your key words of power will be reversal, unfastening, unlocking and disentangling.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Every week, I imbibe all the honey in an eight-ounce jar, mostly in my cups of hot tea. To create that treat, bees made a million visits to flowers, collecting nectar. I am grateful. The work that I do has similarities to what the bees do. I’m constantly gathering oracular ideas, meditating on the astrological signs and contemplating what messages my readers need. This horoscope may not be the result of a million thoughts, but the number is large. What’s the equivalent in your life? What creative gathering and processing do you do? Now is a good time to revise, refine and deepen your relationship with it.

Data Engineer III (DE3-RP) in Midvale, UT. Partner w/arch, engrs, info analysts, business & tech stakeholders for dvlping & deploying enterprise grade platforms that enable data driven solutions. Telecommuting permitted within area of intended employment. BS+4yrs rltd exp. Send resumes to Zions Bancorporation at ZionsCareers@zionsbancorp.com. Must reference job title & code in subject line.

Need a New Hive?

urban LIVING

Smarter Than Us

Everyone I know seems to be traveling abroad this summer, and not just to the Olympic Games.

We Americans think we are the GOATS (Greatest Of All Time) but from what my friends tell me, we have a lot to learn about how to do things better in this country. Here’s some observations we might consider incorporating into our world:

—Glow-in-the-dark road lines, with phosphorescent paint, so you can see them better when driving at night.

—Gas pumps that hang from the station roof so you don’t have to figure out which way to line up at the pump.

—Bus stops with benches and covers topped with solar panels so they are lit up at night and provide charging stations for people’s phones/tablets. They could have heated benches for colder days and nights.

—Elevator buttons on the floor as well as on the wall that can be activated with your foot to open and close the doors.

—Crosswalks projected onto the street at night or when the roads are covered with rain or snow.

—Massage chairs replacing regular chairs in movie theaters.

—Stickers on avocados that have a color chart to tell you when it’s ripe. Some stores in Mexico have bins for avocados that are ripe today and ones that will be ripe a few days later.

—Vending machines/ATMs that scan your face instead of using a credit card.

—Different types of vending machines that offer condoms/lube, pizza, fries, fresh bread, meats/groceries.

—All cell towers disguised as trees.

These are all practical ideas we could easily add on a local level, and many would be terrific additions because the world will be coming here in 10 years for the Winter Games!

Instead of countless signs, we could use projections on the ground, on streets and highways and on buildings to give out information/directions for customers and visitors. These projections could then be changed on a regular basis as the need arises.

We’ve added charging stations all over our new airport but there are few if any located downtown or across our city. There aren’t many drinking fountains for humans and animals either, and if you’re unsheltered you know there is only one public bathroom downtown on 500 West between 200 and 300 South.

Salt Lake City is once again going to remodel Pioneer Park, but their new design for a “ranger station/bathrooms” building has only a few toilets and with the current plans will likely encourage people to camp out in the actual toilet or even do nefarious things due to the floor-to-ceiling doors. You can’t see what’s going on or just how many people are in one stall.

So kudos to Millcreek and their new public plaza—Salt Lake could learn a lot from their design and ideas as they seek to reimagine Pioneer Park! n

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. Bottle of whiskey

6. Bob’s “The Price is Right” successor

10. Fiery gemstone

14. College founder Yale

15. Took a Lyft, perhaps

16. Sugar source

17. *”I’m headed onstage,” or an introduction to the first letter?

19. Fish in a can

20. Broccoli part

21. Hydrogen and oxygen, e.g.

22. *Tagline for hopeful lottery winners, or a question of the second letter?

26. Gave a big smile

27. Not that frequent

28. Choir section

29. Book in many a hotel room

31. Progressive spokescharacter

34. Treble, e.g.

35. *Mount in Exodus, or write down the third letter?

36. Like some news days

37. Boxing wins, briefly

38. “The Big Sick” actress Zoe

39. Whatsoever

40. Kingly title

41. Escargot

42. *Of change, or the segue to the fourth letter?

47. “___ in Toyland”

48. Bitter feeling

49. Together, on sheet music

50. *Executed perfectly, or closed with the last letter?

55. Ability to charm, slangily

56. Stink bug’s defense

57. Rainforest vine

58. Tailor’s concern

59. Facebook’s parent company

60. Slip-up

DOWN

1. Disgusted utterance

2. Spot in the Seine

3. Pacific Northwest tree

4. Words before “All Fears” or “its parts”

5. Moves fast

6. In a boring way

7. Mid-1990s animated wallaby on Nickelodeon

8. School-based URL ending 9. Little, in Glasgow

10. Pump reading

11. Remote function?

12. Architectural addition

13. Slightest amount

18. Anti-D.U.I. org.

21. “Chicago” actor Richard

22. Quartet member

23. Hall’s erstwhile songwriting partner

24. ___ Decay (cosmetics brand)

25. South Pacific island

26. Returned

29. “Carmen” composer

30. TV chef Garten

31. Thrash about

32. Ice ___ (popsicle, in the U.K.)

33. Head-turning birds

35. Draped garment

36. Stuffy atmosphere

38. “Best ___” (longtime MTV Movie Award category)

39. French author ___ France

40. “Gesundheit” precursor

41. Unsettled state

42. Letter-shaped ski lifts

43. Spokes of a circle

Last week’s answers

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

44. Full of activity

45. Fails to be

46. Puccini performance

50. Actor DeLuise

Literary tribute

Street sealer 53. Ambient composer Brian

Canal site

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Creme de la Weird

In China, the highly competitive practice of mukbang eating large quantities of food for viewers’ enjoyment— is a wildly popular streaming subject, Oddity Central reported on July 19. Successful mukbang streamers make good money and are showered with gifts from their followers. The trend took a sad turn on July 14, however, when 24-year-old Pan Xiaoting, a former waitress, lost her life during her livestream. As Pan’s following grew, she took her overeating to greater extremes, pushing her weight to around 650 pounds. An autopsy reportedly showed that her stomach was full of undigested food and her abdomen was severely deformed.

Ewwwwww!

Gizmodo reported on July 19 that a few days before in Portoviejo, Ecuador, doctors removed an obstruction from a 24-year-old woman’s stomach that had caused her pain, vomiting and difficulty eating. The object was a 16-inch-long hairball that weighed 2 pounds, Verdi Cevallos General Hospital announced. The mass was so large it could be detected “by touch from the outside,” said lead surgeon Pedro Lovato. It had started to move into the woman’s intestines, but doctors said it had not caused serious injury to her stomach and she would recover. The hairball was likely caused by trichophagia, a form of disordered eating where people swallow their hair. The patient is receiving comprehensive treatment.

That Escalated Quickly

On July 16, Talanye Carter, 41, returned to a St. Louis Jack in the Box restaurant she had visited three days earlier to complain that she’d been shorted one chicken strip, Yahoo! News reported on July 22. The store manager replaced the chicken strip, but that didn’t satisfy Carter; she spit in the manager’s face over inadequate ranch dressing. When Carter went to her vehicle, the manager took photos of her license plate, and Carter noticed. She put the car in reverse and ran into the woman, knocking her to the ground and injuring her foot and ankle, then left the scene. She was charged the next day with second-degree and fourthdegree assault.

Least Competent Criminals

n Tara and James Lyles of Louisville, Kentucky, where weed is not legal, showed their hand a little too publicly, WAVE-TV reported on July 23, when they posted videos of their marijuana production processes to TikTok. They were arrested on July 22 after a detective arranged to meet Tara in a Kroger parking lot to buy some devil’s lettuce. During the exchange, she told the detective she “packages the product on a thousands level scale and just completed a 1,000 pack order over the weekend.” Police seized 218 pounds of marijuana, worth $450,000 on the street—again, in a state where weed is not legal.

n Social media also took down a foursome of 20-something criminals in Los Angeles County on July 23, KTLATV reported. Charles Christopher, 24; Jordan Leonard,

25; D’Angelo Spencer, 26; and Tazjar Rouse, 22, were arrested in connection with a crime spree involving 7-Eleven stores. Leonard couldn’t resist the chance to brag: He posted on Instagram, “love my bros we go hit every time,” with a photo of stacks of cash, and he tagged his co-defendants Christopher and Spencer. All four face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each count—hardly justifying the $7,600 they netted.

Florida

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office had to remind Floridians on July 18 not to “approach black bears at any time,” United Press International reported. The bear in question was hanging out near Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach, looking “depressed,” and onlookers were getting too close for comfort trying to take a selfie with it. Deputies borrowed a song title, “If Not Friend, Why Friend Shaped?” to discourage residents from cozying up to the sad-looking guy. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist visited the scene, but the bear wandered back into the woods.

Awesome!

Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off New South Wales, Australia, on July 23 when a 10-foot-long great white shark bit off his leg, the BBC reported. When he was washed back to shore, an off-duty policeman applied a tourniquet, and minutes later, McKenzie’s leg washed ashore. Onlookers put the severed limb on ice and transported it and the surfer to the hospital, but it was ultimately not reattached. McKenzie is in stable condition.

Reality No More

Reality show contestants Spencer “Corry” Jones and Oliver Dev were booted from USA Network’s production of Race to Survive after an incident involving a protected New Zealand bird, BoingBoing reported on July 23. Jones said he knew he was breaking a rule when he caught, killed and ate the flightless weka bird during episode eight, but he was “desperate and hungry. Survival in the bush of New Zealand is not easy,” he noted. Punishment for killing the bird could be up to two years in prison or a fine of about $60,000 (U.S.).

Irony

Did they not see this coming? A psychic reading business and a crystal business were damaged during a “tricky” overnight fire in Minneapolis on July 24, KSTP-TV reported. Crews were hampered by the lack of working fire hydrants (because of nearby construction); one person was in the building but was able to get out safely. “We had too much fire for how much water we were going to be able to put on the fire, so we had crews go defensive,” said Minneapolis Deputy Fire Chief Rita Juran. They were able to keep the fire from spreading.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com