City Weekly December 26, 2024

CITY WEEKLY salt lake FREE PROJECT CENSORED

The story being censored could be yours (whether you know it or not)!

By

Paul Rosenberg, Random Length News

S AP

BOX

Utah Values

I read that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox wants to support President-elect Donald Trump in deporting 25 million undocumented migrants by calling out the State National Guard. Perhaps he’ll ride the lead horse as they barge into homes and places of work.

Will he tear people away from their family members? Will these stormtroopers hit D.I. stores and kitchens in restaurants? Will construction workers be hauled off job sites? Sad that our Trumpian governor has no sexual

assaults in his record. If he did, he would likely be considered for a cabinet position. I realize that one does not have to be very bright to obtain high government jobs in Utah. If one is a temple-worthy, white, GOP male, he is usually a shoo-in. But whatever happened to Mormon family and Christian values when most members support Trump? They have supported him now for three elections.

So, being a convicted felon and rapist, along with trying to overthrow an election, is all okay with Mormons, including the governor? That water streaming off of Mormon temples is from Moroni’s tears.

TED OTTINGER

Taylorsville

Anti-Mandates

On Dec. 16, NBC News showed a clip of President-elect Donald Trump saying about vaccines: “I don’t like mandates.”

So, Mr. Trump, you don’t like the mandate for children to attend school? Or the mandate for citizens to pay taxes? You don’t like the mandate at your golf

courses and hotels for folks to get up and go to work if they want a paycheck?

Our armed forces, excluding the Navy, require high school graduation for entry. Without mandatory education, we would have no Army or Air Force, Mr. Commander-in-Chief.

Did you hear about the pandemic in 1346-1353, when one-third of the people of Europe perished in the Bubonic Plague? In 1350, you didn’t hear any politicians whining, “I hate mandates.”

KIMBALL SHINKOSKEY Woods Cross

“City Council approves … Power District development.”

Dec. 12 online News

People are rightfully gonna hate on this but the river boardwalk vibe is pretty cool.

PRESCOTTMCCARTHY Via Instagram

Tax-funded corporate welfare.

DONALDGFLEURY Via Instagram

All these homeless neighbors and we’re getting this? Cool.

FLOWEROFTHEAGES Via Instagram

What a beautiful vision for the future. RIOGRANDEPLAN Via Instagram

Meanwhile these pot holes be chillin. HAPPYVALLEYCOMEDY Via Instagram

What’s with all the negative comments? This is awesome. Salt Lake needs some more vibrant vibes going on downtown. ERIEROSS Via Instagram

How wonderful for rich people. JEFF STAKER Via Facebook

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

What 2024 trend do you hope doesn’t return in the New Year?

Katharine Biele

Really wide legged anything.

Bryan Bale

The wealth gap has been trending in the wrong direction for some time now. The results of recent elections signal the unfortunate continuation of that trend.

Ben Wood

Not sure if this counts but people really need to stop acting like they know how urban transportation systems work. I’ve flown in a plane but I don’t know shit about air traffic control. Stay in your lane folks (pun intended).

Krista Maggard

I think low rise jeans made a comeback this year - those can definitely stay in the 2000’s archives if you ask me!

Paula Saltas

Guilt tipping is out of control. Pretty soon McDonald’s will be asking for a tip. I don’t want to tip for tap water in a restaurant.

Wes Long

Incessant AI boosterism, treating social media influencers and podcasters as leading lights on anything, normalized violence, trivialized cruelty, fascism, and most appalling of all: broccoli hair.

PRIVATE EYE

BY JOHN SALTAS

Tisn’t The Season

As a lifelong sufferer of SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—I’ve never fully enjoyed this time of year. SAD affects about 5% of all Americans, or about 10 million people like me who mal-adjust to there being less sunlight in the fall and winter months and who sleepily find themselves more sad, more tired, less motivated and less optimistic, all looped together by the belt that finds its way around our growing waistlines. It’s depression.

It’s a period when the sugar I’ve avoided all year long comes home to daddy. Solace resides in misery, I say. So, here it is just a few days before Christmas and I’m coasting along with nibbles of fudge (thanks Wes and M’Lisa), sugar cookies (thanks new neighbors, the Hodgson family), plus red and green gumdrops thanks to me (via an impulse buy this morning at Sprouts). I avoid sweets, astutely, all year long, but gobble them each December.

Additionally, I’ve eaten plates of bowtie pasta (thanks Kristen), a giant bag of caramel popcorn (thanks Atkinsons), nearly a loaf of warm sourdough bread (thanks Mr. Howell) and a good number of homemade toddies sourced from my friends at Sugar House, Ogden’s Own, and High West Distilleries. My fridge is full of local brews and ciders. And never mind the recent breakfast meals that I usually confine to a either potatoes or toast. During SAD I feast on both. With ketchup.

Did you watch the series Ted Lasso? Episode 9 of Season 2 follows Coach Beard (basically the composite of every attribute, fear and failure of the Ted Lasso cast) as he navigates an evening of insecurity, self-depravity and self-

discovery. During a long night his inner demons torture him through London’s dark alleys. The episode befuddled Lasso fans, but perhaps less so others like me who know that depression is that maze of personal dark alleys.

Coach Beard’s misadventure lasted that single night. My own begins just after Halloween and ends sometime into the new year, with Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day all tucked inside.

Staying upbeat when the sun rises late and falls early presents certain challenges. I first became aware of them on my 13th birthday, when my mother presented me with the bow and arrow I had begged for from the aisles of Grand Central—which is now Chinatown—at 3400 S. State Street. I spent that day shooting arrows straight up into the air, then dodging them as they plunked all around me.

But today is December 21, 2025, the Winter Solstice. The sun tilts as far south as I ever want it to be and today it begins to journey northward. It’s the shortest day of the year, as bad as it will get. Another corner has been turned and gradually the days will become longer, the hot-tubbing will occur in brighter hours—both morning and night—and the hummingbirds will again suck from the trumpet vines just a few feet from my wet toes.

The garden will produce another bounty of produce. The garlic—nearly 200 bulbs comprising four varieties that were planted in late October—will be the first to pierce the spring soil. I can’t wait.

I’ve revealed little of my inner self on this page over the past 40 years and I can’t really explain why I am now. But I do feel compelled—likely due to a recent Ted Lasso binge and watching everyone heal just by talking and looking deep into their mirror.

City Weekly has always exposed this nefarious criminal or that waste of flesh politician. That’s all nice but the most meaningful work this newspaper ever did, the Ted Lasso work, were the reprisal stories of David battling Goliath, the stories not of creepy lust, sinful greed

or reckless power, but the ones that spoke to the needs, desires and lives of everyday people. Those stories make me happy.

But it’s also been lonely. Although I write in what some say is the lazy first person, except for snippets I’ve seldom written about my inner me. Except for being nakedly open before perhaps three people ever, I’ve never been able to talk about my own dark alleys without shielding behind a goblet of strong whiskey.

Our David stories were always about someone else, yet they were actually for me. Though I don’t mind fighting bullies, I’m not David, and I’m not that tough, truth be told. It has been via those David stories that I’ve been able to find lightness and good in people even when I was challenged to be equally good myself. It’s been a vicarious ride in other words.

Thus becomes today, which will brighten just a few minutes more in the next 24 hours that I feel needing to just expose a little more of myself than I was willing to only yesterday. It’s been quite a journey, a lifetime of fighting what I can blessedly say is “mild” depression and feeling so badly for those who struggle more than myself.

My own depression magnifies during SAD, getting worse while ironically making it also seem to be temporary. Nuking it all with 40 years of newspaper publishing has been a counterintuitive palative. It’s too late to start over, but honestly, I’d rather have been a troubadour.

So, I’ll just resolve to stay alert in 2025 against all our demons, to be less affected by SAD, and to use my Happy Light more often. I’ll try to somehow aid others who are similarly affected, to savor the sun, and to oppose those bastards now elevating to power who enjoy knifing the free press while also exploiting it.

They’ve become Goliath and we can’t let them do that. Losing to petty, greedy, selfish gnomes would be SAD. CW

Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

SKATEBOARDS

FURNITURE CONSIGNMENT

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele BY BILL

MISS: Drying Out

A recent meeting of the Alliance for a Better Utah featured a visiting speaker who admitted he did not know much about the threats to the Great Salt Lake. He’s probably not alone. A 2023 BYU report calls the lake “a keystone ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere” and concludes that water conservation is the answer. Now, the urgent message is being called a hoax—even by the governor. A three-part series in The Salt Lake Tribune highlights the threats but also minimizes the solutions, according to BYU’s Ben Abbott in an open-letter response to the Tribune. Abbott believes that the series presents climate change as the main cause of the lake’s decline, which he says is untrue. The upshot, based on the reporting, is that you may as well sit back because there’s nothing you can do to stop the decline. “Many of the world’s saline lakes are facing a double whammy: People are taking more water from the tributaries that feed the lakes, while a hotter, drier climate means it takes longer to refill them,” Science News reported. Doing nothing is an easy answer to a complicated problem.

HIT: Rule of Law

Booze-Free Booze

As we’re staring down another Dry January—a popular month to abstain from alcohol after overdoing it through the holidays—consider this: What if you could enjoy your drinks and still participate in the 31day booze-free challenge?

Also consider this: Dry February? It’s three days shorter and, therefore, better. It’s literally math.

But if you insist on sticking with the dreariest of all months to dry out, you might want to try a non-alcoholic beverage that mimics the taste and feel of the real thing.

Non-alcoholic spirits have come a long way since the “near beer” you scoffed at in the ’90s, and trade sites like TheDrinksBusiness.com project that no- and low-alcohol drinks will account for almost 4% of the global spirits market by the end of 2024.

Maybe our lawmakers see climate change as taking too long to fix. Better to just ignore it. Environmentalists in Montana are taking a swing at that kind of thinking. And they won, as litigation against governments and corporations becomes a powerful strategy. 2023 was the hottest year in the planet’s history, and 2,796 climate cases have been filed since 2011—1,850 of which were filed in the U.S., according to Earth.org. The Montana teens sued based on the state constitution, which requires agencies to “maintain and improve” a clean environment. Their governor signed a law last year restricting environmental reviews considering climate impacts, but the court calls that unconstitutional. Montana has work to do now, since the case cannot be appealed to SCOTUS.

MISS: Stop the Presses

‘Tis the season as the Legislature gets Grinchier. Your lawmakers don’t like all the noise that Whoville makes, so they’re grabbing all the presents. Think of it this way: the reporters who make possible the public’s right to know are way too noisy—and nosey— for the Legislature’s delicate sensibilities. Lawmakers are chipping away at such citizen presents as sending notes to lawmakers in session and having physical access. Now they’ve come for more. Bryan Schott—a reporter who created an independent website after being kicked from the Tribune—has become the face of Whoville. He calls himself “the most feared journalist in Utah,” although that’s likely a stretch. Still, after decades of covering the Legislature, Schott was denied press credentials. “Utah Capitol media credentials are currently not issued to blogs, independent, or other freelance journalists,” an email said. It’s all just too much noise for the Grinch. CW

Now for the Utah angle: Locally, NA booze is flying off the shelves, and it’s not just religious folks who are buying. According to BeverageDaily.com, 43% of no- and low-alcohol drinkers are “substitutors,” tipplers who switch between full-strength, lowand no-alcohol beverages depending on the occasion. Kind of like intermittent fasting, Don Draper-style.

“We’ve sold over 3,000 cases through October,” says Lance Lee, retail sales manager for Salt Lake City wine and spirits distributor Vine Lore (and, full disclosure, a friend of mine long before he got into the booze biz). “An increase of 213% year-to-date.”

Even though that total doesn’t account for the November–December holiday party rush, Utahns still drank a sobering amount of NA cocktails this year. From a sales perspective, Vine Lore only supplies NA products to a limited number of local outlets: Big boxes like Harmon’s and Whole Foods on the macro side; and smaller shops like Rocky Mountain Mixers and Boozetique on the micro.

“Imagine if Smith’s, Target, Trader Joe’s, WinCo and all the Associated Foods locations jumped on board,” Lee adds. “We’ve just scratched the surface of what’s possible.”

But most importantly, is a tasty drink possible with booze-free booze?

NA wines, which come in zero-alcohol and alcohol-subtracted varieties, can pass the tongue for the real thing, but faux whiskey, tequila, or gin is best served in a mixed cocktail. Unless you’re drinking on a hyperironic level, put the shot glasses away.

Just think: Instead of white-knuckling it through Dry January, you could enjoy some nightly mocktails, wake up refreshed with a decaf coffee and relax in the afternoons with THC-free gummies. We’re talking Peak Utah here, people. CW

FROST

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT PICKS,

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

DECEMBER 26-31, 2024

Shrek the Musical

It’s not uncommon to find a highly successful blockbuster film translate into a hit Broadway show, and then, in turn, morph into a popular touring musical. That’s practically an everyday occurrence within today’s entertainment environs. Consequently, it’s hardly surprising that the superb stage production of Shrek the Musical—based on DreamWorks’ hit animated Shrek film series (which was itself originally adapted from an obscure 1990 children’s picture book)—reaped reams of critical acclaim after making its debut on Broadway in 2008 and subsequently throughout the world, with a book by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and songs by Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo). And yet, there’s a far more important lesson to be learned as well, given this tale of a young green ogre who, despite the odds, embarks on a life-changing journey with his wisecracking donkey pal as he attempts to rescue a precocious princess. It’s all about overcoming persistent prejudice and emerging virtuous and victorious, by simply staying true to oneself. In a world where doubt, distancing and distrust seem all too common, the musical’s innocent and unassuming namesake offers audiences some much-needed inspiration, while also demonstrating the rewards of patience and perseverance in pursuit of honorable intents. Given its great music and superb staging, it not only brings this adventure back to its roots, but provides an exceptionally entertaining, family-friendly offering as well.

Live at the Eccles presents Shrek the Musical at Delta Hall at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) Dec. 27 – 29 (showtimes vary). Tickets cost $19.50 - $67.50 at saltlakecountyarts.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

Brenda Hattingh Peatross: Perfectly Imperfect

One could list all the many artistic talents of Utah resident Brenda Hattingh Peatross, but it would almost be easier to list the artistic endeavors in which she’s not engaged. As an actor, she’s performed regularly with local companies, including Pygmalion Productions and the Salt Lake Acting Company. As a visual artist, she applies her skills to painting, textile art and illustration. She entertains kids of all ages as a clown and magician, and she’s ventured into making short films. And now, she’s added children’s book author to her résumé, after writing and illustrating the new release Perfectly Imperfect

“From the time I was a kid, everything I did had to be perfect,” she shares about the origins of the story. “But as I got older, I realized how limiting that actually is. … So this book is really a letter to myself. But when I finished writing it, I spoke to a friend, whose 4-year-old daughter was struggling with perfection. She was getting frustrated with kids in her class not coloring inside the lines. And I thought to myself, this book is for her too. I actually think it’s for all children, including the little kid inside of many of us who was always ‘pushing’ to be perfect.”

Brenda Hattingh Peatross visits The Golden Braid bookstore (151 S. 500 East) on Monday, Dec. 30 from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. to read from and sign copies of Perfectly Imperfect. The event—which is free and open to the public—will also include an interactive magic show for attendees. Visit goldenbraidslc.com for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

Big Shiny Robot

Best in Geek 2024

Games, comics, TV, movies and more to mollify your existential dread

BY BRYAN YOUNG comments@cityweekly.net

It’s the end of the year, and naturally we’re looking at things introspectively, taking stock of the year. Things are terrible in many ways we’d rather not look at—the disastrous presidential election which may well spell certain doom for our country, for one. World events. Genocide. War. The state legislature. But at least we have our preferred opiate of the masses to look back on fondly: our favorite geeky pain-killers. It’s been a good year for that, at least. Here are some of the best things to come out of this year. If you’ve missed them, I hope you seek them out and give them a try. May they be a balm on your soul during these absurdly trying times.

Star Wars: Outlaws: My favorite video game this year has easily been Star Wars: Outlaws. Cast as a ne’er-do-well in the underworld in the time period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, you have a blaster, your wits and an adorable pet that will help pick pockets of hapless Imperials. You vie for favor among the major factions of the underworld, pull heists, and try not to get killed. I’m not usually a fan of open world games, but this game was intuitive and utterly gorgeous. I’ve completed it, but still keep going back for more just to luxuriate in the Star Wars universe and all the extra DLC. Ignore the online hate and give it a shot.

Arcs: Conflict and Collapse in the Reach: I mentioned this one in a recent gaming column, but I’m still playing this board game obsessively. It combines trick-taking, wargame strategy, area control and other deep layers of strategy into one deliciously complex game. Get your hands on it and find three friends to play with. You’re not going to regret sitting around the table. It’s easy enough to learn in under an hour, but complex enough that the problems of the world will melt away while you’re playing.

Dungeons and Dragons – Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Masters Handbook 5E (2024): The minds behind the most popular roleplaying game of all time released an update to the Fifth Edition of the game, streamlining some aspects

and offering new guidance to dungeon masters to make the game more inclusive and easier to play. More than that, it offers tools to make the game more fun. There’s nothing like getting a great game together, and these new books facilitate that beautifully. Pick them up and make the leap quickly. Do it now before Elon Musk threatens to buy them and ruin them again. He’s spiteful, foolish and brainless enough that he just might do it.

Batman Resurrection by John Jackson Miller: One of my favorite books this year was the direct sequel to Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) that I didn’t know I wanted. Written by John Jackson Miller, this book brings us the immediate aftermath of the Joker’s attack on Gotham City, capturing the spirit of the movie and answering all of the questions that I didn’t quite realize I needed answered. This book is dynamite, and makes me want to watch the two best Batman movies ever made all over again. It’ll do the same to you. Promise.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: George Miller is a mad genius, and his Mad Max movies have only improved with age over the years. Furiosa is a prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the role originated by Charlize Theron, and leads directly into Fury Road. It’s a wondrous magic trick of a film that left me with a smile on my face. Chris Hemsworth’s performance is a mold-breaking triumph. To my mind, it’s by far and away the best genre film to have hit theaters this year and it’s not even close; it keeps giving more and more depth with every viewing.

Star Wars: The Acolyte: Though it caught the most flak this year for a number of reasons—chief among them that YouTube grifters needed a new target to latch onto and the culture war told them women and people of color were bad. It’s a stunningly well-wrought mystery show that peels back layer after layer. Deliberately written, every episode deepens the mystery and adds layers of complexity, plus some of the best moments meant for fans I’ve seen in Star Wars without pandering. It also had some of the most dynamic fight scenes ever seen in a galaxy far, far away. It was utterly stupendous, and still deserves a continuation to the story. There was so much more to come out in 2024 I’d love to shout out, but that’s what I have room for. You’ll have to be content with this list of the best of the best to mollify your existential dread. For what it’s worth, I hope it works. CW

DÉLICE FRENCH BAKERY AND CAFÉ

New Year’s Eve Celebrations

Whether your personal 2024 was terrific or you’re joining with many for whom it proved deeply depressing, there are reasons either to wish the year a fond farewell or hope the door smacks its ass on the way out. Around the Wasatch Front and Back, there are several solid options for making that experience a communal one.

In Salt Lake City proper, the big party takes place at The Gateway (400 W. 200 South, atthegateway.com) with Last Hurrah 2024, free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by The Gateway and Downtown Alliance, the event on the main plaza at the north end of the mall begins at 8 p.m., and includes pop-up bars, food and drink options at Gateway merchants (with extended operating hours), buskers and headline music performances by Juniper Honey and Indigo Waves, all culminating in the city’s only official midnight fireworks display.

In Lehi, Thanksgiving Point’s holiday Luminaria display at Ashton Gardens (3900 Garden Dr., thanksgivingpoint.org) turns into a New Year’s Eve celebration where the programmable light show and music gets capped off with a midnight fireworks display. The event begins at 9:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 - $27.

Every year, some of the most popular New Year’s Eve celebrations take place at local resorts. Park City Mountain Resort at The Canyons (4000 Canyons Resort Dr., Park City, parkcitymountain.com) offers live music and fireworks, with events kicking off at 2 p.m. Snowbird Resort (Little Cottonwood Canyon) offers fire pits and hot chocolate from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m., with a torchlight parade and fireworks from 6 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Contact other resorts for their offerings. (SR)

Christmas Gifts

Sex, music and vampires for your holiday movie-going.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

Babygirl BBB

Writer/director Halina Reijn is hardly the first filmmaker to address characters exploring a submissive kink—Secretary and Phantom Thread, among others, beat her to that punch—but she’s still able to find a couple of unique angles in the psychology of desire. Her protagonist is Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman), a corporate CEO with a husband (Antonio Banderas) and two daughters who finds herself drawn to new intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson) when he provides her with the chance to release her inner bottom. That’s obviously tricky territory to cover without exploitation, and Reijn is careful to make it clear both that Samuel is no dangerous sadist and that Romy’s sexual needs can co-exist with being a woman in a position of power. Reijn is also unafraid of nakedness both of a literal and psychological variety, serving up steamy sex scenes as well as showcases for Kidman to wrestle with feeling that her preferences mark her as somehow broken. Most interestingly, it contends with the barriers to true marital intimacy when you fear that your partner won’t be able to deal with the thing that turns you on. There’s a bit of redundancy in the narrative arc, and Samuel feels a bit to sketchily drawn to emerge as a vital character in his own right. Still, it’s satisfying any time a storyteller recognizes the messy complexity of who we are in public relative to who we want to be when the lights are out. Available Dec. 25 in theaters. (R)

A Complete Unknown BB ½

James Mangold has had 17 years to live with the knowledge that his previous musical biopic—2005’s Walk the Line—in part inspired Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story to skewer the cliches of its genre. So how did he respond when deciding to profile Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet)? By learning a few lessons, but not enough of them. Wisely, he focuses on a narrow timespan, beginning with 20-year-old Dylan’s 1961 arrival in New York to meet his ailing idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), through his rise to fame and infamous performance at the 1965

Newport Folk Festival. Along the way, we also meet Dylan’s first New York girlfriend (Elle Fanning), Pete Seeger (Edward Nordon) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro)—all impressive performances, but also often relegated to Mangold zooming in on their faces expressing awe at being in the presence of Dylan’s genius. Those moments are pretty crucial, since Mangold and co-screenwriter Jay Cocks take their chosen title literally, emphasizing Dylan as a musically adventurous enigma blasting through the lives of those around him, rather than trying to plumb psychological depths. Yes, Chalamet impressively mimics Dylan, and he’s anchoring a sturdy, often satisfying story of what it’s like to be in the orbit of a magnetic talent. But even knowing there had already been a genre-busting cinematic exploration of Dylan—Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, released the same year as Walk Hard—Mangold mostly opted for convention. Which is certainly one way to show what you’ve learned in 17 years. Available Dec. 25 in theaters. (R)

Nosferatu BBB

I’m not convinced that Robert Eggers has anything new to contribute to the Dracula mythos aside from his own particular cinematic aesthetic—but man, that is one hell of an aesthetic. He takes as his foundation F. W. Murnau’s famous/infamous 1922 ripoff of Bram Stoker’s story, set in 1838 Germany and concerning a young woman named Ellen (LilyRose Depp), her new husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) who threatens to bring a supernatural terror to their lives. Vampire stories have been used as metaphor for many things over the years, and it sometimes feels like Eggers is trying to play catch-up by packing several into one movie: freeing women to express their agency and sexuality; the collision between modernity and ancient evil; vampirism as communicable disease, perhaps inspired by our own recent pandemic. It’s a thematic jumble, made more awkward still by Eggers’ use of archaic diction—and fortunately, there are so many amazing things to look at that it’s easy not to care very much. Indelible images appear at regular intervals, from a driverless coach appearing at a crossroads, to the shadows that appear without any apparent source, to the firelit inn captured by cinematographer Jarin Blaschke. Throw in the wheezing menace and distinctive visual design of Skarsgård’s demonic presence, and you’ve got a creepy feast for the eyes, even if it offers relatively little for the mind. Available Dec. 25 in theaters. (R) CW

PROJECT CENSORED—PART I

THE STORY BEING CENSORED COULD BE YOURS (WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT)!

BY PAUL ROSENBERG, RANDOM LENGTH NEWS COMMENTS@CITYWEEKLY.NET

With any “Top 10” list, there’s a natural tendency to look first at number one, and neither I nor Project Censored would discourage you from doing that when it comes to their annual list of the top censored stories of the year.

This year, the top story is about workplace deaths and injuries—with striking racial disparities, particularly for much-maligned foreign-born workers.

Injury rates for southern service workers— predominantly Black—are especially alarming; 87% in one year, according to one poll. Sensationalized deaths and injuries make the news all the time, but workplace deaths and injuries (nearly 6,000 and 2.8 million, respectively, in a year) are another matter altogether. They’re a non-story, even when advocates strive to shine a light on them.

But this pattern of what’s deemed newsworthy and what isn’t leads to a deep point. In the introduction to this year’s list, Associate Director Andy Lee Roth writes that “readers can only appreciate the full significance of the Project’s annual listing of important but underreported stories by stepping back to perceive deeper, less obvious patterns of omission in corporate news coverage.”

And I couldn’t agree more. This has always been a theme of mine as long as I’ve been reviewing their lists, because the patterns of what’s being blocked out of the public conversation are the clearest way of seeing the censoring process at work—the process that Project Censored founder Carl Jensen described as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method … that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in its society.”

It’s not just that, somehow, all the news assignment editors in America overlooked this or that story. Where there are patterns of omission so consistently, and year after year, they can only be explained by systemic biases rooted in the interests of particularly powerful special interests.

What’s more, in addition to patterns of omission in the stories as a whole, one can also find intersecting patterns within individual stories. The above description of the top story is an example: race, class, region, citizenship status and more are all involved.

At a big-picture level, there are three stories dealing with cyber issues and four that are each clearly dealing with the environment, corporate misconduct, harm to consumers and race. Or perhaps I should say seven dealing with race, the more I think about what “clearly” means.

Two of the four stories I counted as dealing with race involved global environmental issues, which almost always have an obvious racial component, while a third, “Abortion Services Censored on Social Platforms Globally,” disproportionately impacts minorities in the U.S., as well as globally.

Those I counted as “clearly” with no problem. But another three are pretty damn clear, too, with a moment’s thought.

For example, story number seven— “Military Personnel Target Gen Z Recruits with Lurid Social Media Tactics”—clearly involves cyber deception of social media consumers with the aim of luring them into a dangerous workplace from which they cannot simply resign once they realize they’ve been lied to or conned. But in addition to cyber, consumer and workplace harm, the target audience and resulting recruits are undoubtedly disproportionately non-white, though that’s not explicitly dwelt on.

The same could be said for two other stories: “New Federal Rule Limits Transcript Withholding by Colleges and Universities” and “Controversial Acquitted-Conduct Sentencing Challenged by US Commission.”

Anything involving education or the criminal justice system is bound to involve disproportionate harm to minorities, as statistics invariably show. In fact, all 10 stories could well reflect this reality. But that’s enough to make my point clear.

I’m dwelling on race because it’s important, but also because it’s easily highlighted in this context. But there are other hidden connections to be found in these stories as well. I’ll leave those as an exercise for the reader, as they say in the trade.

But the point is, as you do more than just simply read these stories—as you reflect on them, on why they’re censored, whose stories they are, what harms are being suffered, whose humanity is being denied—you will find yourself seeing the world more from the point of view of those being excluded from the news, and from the point of view that you’re interconnected with them at the least, if not one of them too.

1. Thousands Killed and Injured on the Job, with Significant Racial Disparities in Deaths and Injuries

Working in America is becoming more dangerous, especially for minorities, according to recent studies reported on by Truthout and Peoples Dispatch, while the same isn’t true for other developed nations.

Workplace fatalities increased 5.7% in the 2021-2022 period covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Tyler Walicek reported for Truthout. “Nearly 6,000 U.S. workers died on the job,” he wrote—a 10-year high—while “a

startling total of 2.8 million were injured or sickened” according to another BLS report.

The racial disparities were sharp. The average workplace death rate was 3.7 deaths per hundred thousand full-time workers, but it was 24.3% higher (4.6 deaths) for Latiné workers and 13.5% higher (4.2 deaths) for Black workers. The majority of Latiné deaths (63.5%) were of foreign-born workers, and 40% of those were in construction.

“It’s not hard to imagine that communication lapses between workers on an active construction site could feasibly create dangerous situations,” Walicek noted.

Transportation incidents were the highest cause of fatalities within both groups. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals were second highest for Black workers; for Hispanic or Latiné workers it was falls, slips or trips.

Black people and women were particularly likely to be homicide victims. Black people represented 13.4% of all fatalities, but 33.4% of homicide fatalities—more than twice the base rate. Women represented 8.1% of all fatalities, but 15.3% of homicide fatalities—a little less than twice the base rate.

The non-fatal injury rate for service workers in the South, particularly workers of color, is also alarmingly high, according to an April 5, 2023 report by Peoples Dispatch summarizing findings from a March 2023 survey by the Strategic Organizing Center or SOC. The poll of 347 workers, most of whom were Black, “found that a shocking 87% were injured on the job in the last year,” they reported.

In addition, “More than half of survey respondents reported observing serious health and safety standard [violations] at work,” and “most workers worried about their personal safety on the job, most believe that their employer prioritizes profit over safety, most do not raise safety issues for fear of retaliation, and the vast majority (72%) believe that their employer’s attitude ‘places customer satisfaction above worker safety.’”

“Compared to other developed countries, the United States consistently underperforms in providing workers with on-the-job safety,” Project Censored noted. “Walicek argued that this is a direct consequence of ‘the diminu-

tion of worker power and regulatory oversight’ in the United States.” U.S. workplace fatality rates exceeded those in the UK, Canada, Australia and much of Europe, according to a 2021 assessment by the consulting firm Arinite Health and Safety, Walicek reported.

“Workers are increasingly organizing to fight back against hazardous working conditions,” Project Censored noted, citing a civil rights complaint against South Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or SC OSHA) filed by members of the recentlyformed Union of Southern Service Workers (or USSW) for “failing to protect Black workers from hazardous working conditions,” as reported by the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina.

The USSW complaint alleged that “from 2018 to 2022, SC OSHA conducted no programmed inspections in the food/beverage and general merchandise industries, and only one such inspection in the food services and warehousing industries.”

On April 4, 2023, when it filed the complaint, USSW went on a one-day strike in Georgia and the Carolinas, to expose unsafe working conditions in the service industry. It marked the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination while supporting a sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee. Then, on Dec. 7, USSW sent a petition to federal OSHA requesting that it revoke South Carolina’s state OSHA plan “because the Plan has failed to maintain an effective enforcement program.”

Neither the BLS findings nor the conflict between the USSW and SC OSHA have received much corporate media coverage. The BLS fatalities report was released in December 2023, with no U.S. daily newspaper coverage when Project Censored’s analysis was done.

There was a story on the Minnesota findings by Fox in Minneapolis-St. Paul the month the report was released. And a full story appeared on Green Bay ABC affiliate WBAY on April 12, 2024, “as part of its coverage of ‘Work Zone Safety Awareness Week,’” Project Censored noted.

“Corporate coverage of the conflict between the USSW and SC OSHA has also been scant,” they noted. While independent nonprofits like

DCReport, “have consistently paid more attention,” there were but two corporate examples cited covering the second action: Associated Press and Bloomberg Law, but neither addressed the issue of racial disparities.

In conclusion, Project Censored noted, “The corporate media’s refusal to cover the harsh realities of workplace deaths and injuries— and the obvious racial disparities in who is hurt and killed on the job—makes the task of organizing to address occupational safety at a national level that much more difficult.”

2. A “Vicious Circle” of Climate Debt Traps World’s Most Vulnerable Nations

Low-income countries who contributed virtually nothing to the climate crisis are caught in a pattern described as a “climate debt trap” in a September 2023 World Resources Institute report authored by Natalia Alayza, Valerie Laxton and Carolyn Neunuebel.

“After years of pandemic, a global recession, and intensifying droughts, floods and other climate change impacts, many developing countries are operating on increasingly tight budgets and at risk of defaulting on loans,” the authors wrote. “High-interest rates, short repayment periods, and … the coexistence of multiple crises (like a pandemic paired with natural disasters) can all make it difficult for governments to meet their debt servicing obligations.”

“Global standards for climate resilience require immense national budgets,” Project Censored noted. “Developing countries borrow from international creditors, and as debt piles up, governments are unable to pay for essential needs, including public health programs, food security, and climate protections.”

In fact, The Guardian ran a story describing how global South nations are “forced to invest in fossil fuel projects to repay debts,” a process critics have characterized as a “new form of colonialism.” They cited a report from antidebt campaigners Debt Justice and partners, which found that “the debt owed by global south countries has increased by 150% since 2011 and 54 countries are in a debt crisis, having to spend five times more on repayments than on addressing the climate crisis.”

Like the climate crisis itself, the climate debt trap was foreseeable in advance. “A prescient report published by Dissent in 2013—Andrew Ross’s “Climate Debt Denial”—provides a stark reminder that the climate debt trap now highlighted by the World Resources Institute and others was predictable more than a decade ago,” Project Censored notes. But that report highlighted much earlier warnings and efforts to address the problem.

The concept of an ecological debt owed to the global South for the resource exploitation that fueled the global North’s development was first introduced “in the lead-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,” Ross noted. Subsequently, “The Kyoto Protocol laid

the groundwork for such claims in 1997 by including the idea of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ among nations, but climate activists did not fully take up the call for debt justice until the Copenhagen summit in 2009.”

Prior to that summit, in 2008, NASA climatologist James Hansen estimated the U.S. historical carbon debt at 27.5% of the world total, $31,035 per capita.

While a “loss and damage” fund “to assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change” was established at the 2022 Climate Summit, its current commitments ($800 million) fall far short of the $100 billion more each year by 2030, which the 14 developing countries on the fund’s board have argued for. Some estimates place the figure much higher, “at around $400 billion,” according to a Euronews story last June.

The climate debt trap “has received limited news coverage,” Project Censored notes. Aside from The Guardian, “independent news coverage has been limited to outlets that specialize in climate news.”

Neither of the two corporate media examples it cited approached it from debtor countries’ point of view. In May 2023, Bloomberg’s “analysis catered to the financial interests of international investors,” while a December 2023 New York Times report “focused primarily on defaults to the United States and China, with less focus on how poorer countries will combat deficits, especially as climate change escalates.”

3. Saltwater Intrusion Threatens U.S. Freshwater Supplies

Sea-level rise is an easy-to-grasp consequence of global warming. And yet, the most immediate threat it poses—saltwater intrusion into freshwater systems—has only received sporadic, localized treatment in the corporate press.

“In fall 2023, saltwater traveling from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River infiltrated the freshwater systems of the delta region, contaminating drinking and agricultural water supplies as well as inland ecosystems,” Project Censored notes. “This crisis prompted a scramble to supply potable water to the region and motivated local and federal officials to issue emergency declarations.”

While outlets like Time, CNN and CBS News covered the saltwater intrusion at the time, they “focused almost exclusively on the threat to coastal Louisiana,” but “a pair of articles published in October 2023 by Delaney Nolan for The Guardian and [hydrogeologist] Holly Michael for The Conversation highlighted the escalating threat of saltwater intrusion across the United States and beyond.”

“Deep below our feet, along every coast, runs the salt line: the zone where fresh inland water meets salty seawater,” Nolan wrote. “That line naturally shifts back and forth all the time, and weather events like floods and storms can push it further out. But rising

seas are gradually drawing the salt line in,” he warned. “In Miami, the salt line is creeping inland by about 330 feet per year. Severe drought—as the Gulf coast and midwest have been experiencing this year—draw the salt line even further in.”

“Seawater intrusion into groundwater is happening all over the world, but perhaps the most threatened places are communities on low-lying islands,” such as the Marshall Islands, which is “predicted to be uninhabitable by the end of the century,” Michael wrote. Here in the U.S., “Experts said the threat was widespread but they were especially concerned about cities in Louisiana, Florida, the Northeast, and California,” Nolan reported.

“Fresh water is essential for drinking, irrigation and healthy ecosystems,” Michael wrote. “When seawater moves inland, the salt it contains can wreak havoc on farmlands, ecosystems, lives and livelihoods.”

For example, she wrote, “Drinking water that contains even 2% seawater can increase blood pressure and stress kidneys. If saltwater gets into supply lines, it can corrode pipes and produce toxic disinfection by-products in water treatment plants. Seawater intrusion reduces the life span of roads, bridges and other infrastructure.”

While Time, CNN and CBS News focused narrowly on coastal Louisiana, Project Censored noted that some news outlets, “including FOX Weather and Axios” misreported the threat as “only temporary rather than a longterm problem.” More generally, “corporate media typically treat saltwater intrusion as a localized issue affecting specific coastal regions,” they wrote. “Aside from a brief article in Forbes acknowledging the growing problem for coastal regions in the U.S. and around the world, corporate media have largely resisted portraying saltwater intrusion as a more widespread and escalating consequence of climate change.”

4. Natural Gas Industry Hid Health and Climate Risks of Gas Stoves

While gas stoves erupted as a culture war issue in 2023, reporting by Vox and NPR (in partnership with the Climate Investigations Center) revealed a multi-decade campaign by the natural gas industry using tobacco industry tactics to discredit evidence of harm, thwart regulation and promote the use of gas stoves. While gas stoves are a health hazard, the amount of gas used isn’t that much, but “house builders and real estate agents say many buyers demand a gas stove,” which makes it more likely they’ll use more highvolume appliances, “such as a furnace, water heater and clothes dryer,” NPR explained. “That’s why some in the industry consider the stove a ‘gateway appliance.’”

In a series of articles for Vox, environmental journalist Rebecca Leber “documented how the gas utility industry used strategies previously employed by the tobacco industry to avoid regulation and undermine scientific

evidence establishing the harmful health and climate effects of gas stoves,” Project Censored noted.

“The basic scientific understanding of why gas stoves are a problem for health and the climate is on solid footing,” Vox’s Leber reported. “It’s also common sense. When you have a fire in the house, you need somewhere for all that smoke to go. Combust natural gas, and it’s not just smoke you need to worry about. There are dozens of other pollutants, including the greenhouse gas methane, that also fill the air.”

The concerns aren’t new. “Even in the early 1900s, the natural gas industry knew it had a problem with the gas stove,” Leber recounts. It was cleaner than coal or wood—its main competition at the time, “but new competition was on the horizon from electric stoves.”

The industry avoided scrutiny for generations, but, “Forty years ago, the federal government seemed to be on the brink of regulating the gas stove,” she wrote. “Everything was on the table, from an outright ban to a modification of the Clean Air Act to address indoor air pollution.”

The gas industry fought back with a successful, multiprong attack that’s being mounted again today, and “Some of the defenders of the gas stove are the same consultants who have defended tobacco and chemicals industries in litigation over health problems.”

Documents obtained by NPR and CIC tell a similar story. The industry “focused on convincing consumers and regulators that cooking with gas is as risk-free as cooking with electricity,” they reported. “As the scientific evidence grew over time about the health effects from gas stoves, the industry used a playbook echoing the one that tobacco companies employed for decades to fend off regulation. The gas utility industry relied on some of the same strategies, researchers and public relations firms.”

“I think it’s way past the time that we were doing something about gas stoves,” says Dr. Bernard Goldstein, who began researching the subject in the 1970s. “It has taken almost 50 years since the discovery of negative effects on children of nitrogen dioxide from gas stoves to begin preventive action. We should not wait any longer,” he told NPR.

“By covering gas stoves as a culture war controversy, corporate media have ignored the outsize role of the natural gas industry in influencing science, regulation, and consumer choice,” Project Censored noted. Instead, they’ve focused on individual actions, local moves to phase out gas hookups for new buildings and rightwing culture war opposition to improving home appliance safety and efficiency, including the GOP House-passed “Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act.” CW

Paul Rosenberg is a California-based writer/activist, senior editor for Random Lengths News, and a columnist for Al Jazeera English and Salon. Read Part 2 of Project Censored’s annual Top 10 list next week, in the Jan. 2 issue of Salt Lake City Weekly

All Aboard

Rouser at Gateway’s Asher Adams Hotel is one of Utah’s best new restaurants.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

One of my favorite local commercial glow-ups has to be The Gateway. In the years since its big revamp, it’s welcomed some of my favorite new restaurants, and has recaptured its place as one of my favorite downtown hangouts. The recent addition of Asher Adams—a new hotel from The Athens Group and Davidson Hospitality Group—may just be the jewel in the shopping district’s crown.

The hotel has converted the Union Pacific Depot into a swanky hotel that retains the former event space’s historical connections to Salt Lake City.

I had a chance to visit Rouser, the hotel’s restaurant proper, and it did not disappoint. Rouser is on the first floor of Asher Adams, just behind the front desk; it’s got cool black-on-black signage that makes you feel like you’re entering a railroad speakeasy. Like the hotel itself, Rouser pulls its interior design from the Union Pacific Depot’s historical aesthetic, even incorporating the idea of coal-burning train engines into its charcoal rotisserie and grills.

Given the fact that Rouser’s menu really favors these chic pieces of culinary hardware, you’ll want to keep an eye on anything that is roasted or grilled for your main course—but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Rouser’s menu is designed to whet your palate with a few of its small plates before you dive into the mains and veggie sides.

If you’re feeling spendy, you can kick your meal off with the charcoal-roasted seafood tower ($88). The “tower” portion

of the name is no exaggeration, as this is a bounteous collection of grilled oysters, crab cakes, Australian king prawns, herb-grilled lobster and some littleneck clams for good measure. Not only will this showstopper provide plenty of premeal enjoyment, but it’s also a good representation of the spectacular, shareable grilled items that Rouser does so well.

On the slightly more demure side of things, the roasted Spanish octopus ($22) and beef tartare ($22) are also excellent. The octopus arrived on a bed of butter lettuce, with a gorgeous-looking char on the edges. Each meaty slice has been roasted to textural perfection, and it’s got a marvelous bite to it. The dish comes with some starchy smashed potatoes, which complemented the protein nicely. There’s really nothing to complain about with this dish—the crispy charred edges and the perfectly cooked meat come together for a lovely contrast of flavors and textures.

The beef tartare also demonstrates a gorgeous assembly of rich, meaty flavor and silky-smooth texture. It’s served with toasted sourdough bread, which is an ideal delivery method. I think what I liked most about this dish was that it really emphasized the flavor of the beef; it’s a rich celebration of primo meat, with the capers and shallots adding enough acid to prop all that flavor up in just the right ways.

If you’re like me, it just feels like something is missing if you don’t have a bread course, which is why I’d also recommend the Parker House rolls ($9). They arrive in a pull-apart style, piping hot in their own skillet and served with a drizzle of honey along with butter sprinkled with cultured ash. The rolls themselves are composed of a dreamlike softness, and that aforementioned cultured ash imparts a great smoky note to the butter.

Moving on to the large plates, you’ll want to turn your attention to the rotisserie section. For starters, you’ve got a piri piri heirloom chicken ($38 for a half, $68 for a whole) served with an Asianinspired collection of cabbage kimchi and linguica fried rice, and you can’t go

wrong here. On Sundays, you can get the “Just On Sundays” prime rib ($74) made with dry-aged prime rib and served with scorched broccolini.

During my visit, however, I went with the Duroc pork porchetta ($49). I feel like having a porchetta on your rotisserie menu is quite the flex, as this Italian dish requires plenty of time and preparation. The pork loin itself is tender and flavorful, and the skin has a delightful crunch to it. The protein is served with some charred broccolini, roasted potatoes and a nice carrot and fennel salad for acidity. You can’t really go wrong with anything from the rotisserie, but this is the one to get when you want something truly unique.

Along with the large plates, Rouser has a veggie menu that makes for great side dishes. I tried a few of them—the buried potatoes ($12), the roasted beets ($12) and the charred carrots ($12)—since it’s a proven fact that vegetables absorb calories, right? Don’t let the unassuming names fool you; I could easily see making a whole meal of these supporting acts. The buried potatoes come with a slightly spicy bravas sauce, and are an excellent starchy supplement to any dish. I liked them a lot, but they didn’t hold a candle to the charred carrots, which come with Rouser’s homemade mole sauce. I wouldn’t have thought a carrot could carry a dish, but it turns out all they need to take the spotlight is some flavorful mole. The roasted beets were also stellar, as they are perfectly tender and served up with some whipped ricotta.

In retrospect, my meal at Rouser was the perfect way to end another year of exciting culinary experiences. Amid the rotisserie-focused mains and the thoughtfully composed side dishes, I found myself seeing Rouser as just the right mix of past and future. CW

2 Row Brewing

73 West 7200 South, Midvale

2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: Piney Peaks “West Coast IPA”

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC

BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: Belgian Pale Ale, Cosmic Pop IPA, Lord of the Ryes Stout

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

On Tap: Cali ‘Steam’ Lager, ‘BrewSki’ German Pilsner, Munich Dunkel

NEW: ‘Czechulator’ Doppelbock (9% ABV)

Chappell Brewing 2285 S Main Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84115

chappell.beer

On Tap: Playground #13 - Hazy Pale with Lemondrop and Sultana

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

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

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: 2024 Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stouts

Etta Place Cidery

700 W Main St, Torrey

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

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: Spidey Senses Red Ale

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Now with a full bar license & draft beer cocktails!

On Tap: Gluten Free Peach Bellini Sour

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: 11 rotating taps as well as high point cans and guest beers

Park City Brewing 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: Tiny Kickturn - Hazy pale with Mosaic, Strata, Cashmere, 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: 302 Czech Pilsner

Proper Brewing/Proper

Burger

857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

Level Crossing Brewing Co.

2496 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Rising Hope White

20% Off all gift cards for holidays

Level Crossing Brewing Co.,

550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Fresh Hop Little Suss 20% Off all gift cards for holidays

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: Cranberry Rosemary

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

On Tap: Blizzard Wizard Hazy Pale Ale

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: Task Manager CTRL+ALT+BEIR

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Roosters Piney Pale Ale

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

On Tap: Psycho Killer Juicy Pale Ale

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Winter Amber with notes of Vanilla and Brown Sugar

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

On Tap: SCION MOSH PIT (Hopped) - 8.4% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider. com

On Tap: Pear Rosemary 6.5%

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Fresh Hop IPA (with homegrown local hops)

Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com On Tap: Hellion Blonde Ale; Black Cloud Lager

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. – Holiday Nut Brown Ale

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com

On Tap: 20 beers with 12 rotating small batch releases: Black Tea English Porter,

Hazelnut Brown Ale, and more! Small Batch Series Release: Back Abbey Double Belgian Ale

Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi

3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: Redeemer Rauchbier, God of Thunder Roggenbier

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: Candy Cap English Mild

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Strata Fresh Hop Pale Ale

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Witches Brew

Top of Main Brewery

250 Main, Park City, Utah topofmainbrewpub.com On Tap: Top of Main Brewery –Hop Carousel Rotating 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 – Salt Lake Brewing Co. Hef Baum Hefeweizen

Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

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

BEER NERD

Champagne Is Fine, But Beer Is Divine

Celebrate your New Year cheer with beer

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

For your New Year’s Eve celebration, we here at the Beer Nerd desk have been researching the perfect beers to welcome in 2025. What we found was a classic malty IPA and a slightly soured Belgian farmhouse ale.

Hopkins - Sixth Anniversary Rye IPA: It pours a caramel-white head of a foamy, frothed consistency over a moderately hazy red-amber body. Thin specked sediment generates mild cloudiness and carbonation is moderate; retention is above average and the lacing is medium. Most rye malt lovers can easily identify the bready, spicy characteristics of rye up front, with a mellow sweetness and subtle graininess. Other aromatic notes include a light herbal hop profile with subtle bitterness and fruitiness. Lightly toasted grainy caramel and peppery, spicy rye collectively form a flavorful malt body, fairly clean despite its assertiveness. Hop notes are herbal, peppered and slightly citrusy, although fainter by comparison with a moderate bitterness. The graininess of the malt bill seems to generate the most balance to the subtle sweetness of the brew. Subliminal undertones include lightly roasted coffee beans and herbal tea. The texture is smooth, mildly dry and peppery. Carbonation is soft, forming a smooth, lightly frothy mouthfeel. Body is medium for the style, but medium/heavy overall, and the 6.6% alcohol presence is moderate.

Verdict: An enjoyable beer by Hopkins and Fisher. They manage to pack a lot of malt flavor into this can, as the rye makes for a thicker, spicier and more peppery body than typical IPAs. This is a worthy try for anybody who wants an

IPA with a bit more malt character. I recommend enjoying it as freshly as possible, as the hop flavors do not take long to drop off.

Templin Family - Giddy up Grisette: Chockful of complexity, The Templin Family’s latest Grisette spent 16 months in Chardonnay barrels with Rosé must. It starts innocently enough with a canaryyellow appearance, slightly hazy and propped up with light seltzer-like carbonation. Layers of aromatics start off with wild yeast, then move on to citrus peel before rounding out with chardonnay barrels and a whimsy of Rosé must. The Grisette continues with an earthy mustiness, a wine-like tone and a host of citrus, orchard fruit and dried woods.

To taste, the wheat is soft and pillowy, as the faint sweetness evokes sourdough and raw graininess. As the sweetness fades from the tongue, the woodsy earthiness gains command of the middle palate. The spices strike first, but a quick follow-up of lemon and orange are joined by a medley of pear, green apple and white grape for a balance that falls in line with witbier. But its wine barrel treatment brings those vinous chardonnay nuances, along with oak and a pungent taste of attic-like dried oak. It’s medium-to-light-bodied, featuring considerably more alcohol (6.5%) than a typical Grisette. That alcohol works well with the fine acidity of wine; the dustiness of fermentation and the oak tannins all suggest a taste built around drinkability, dryness and refreshment. The ale trails with weathered citrus, a dusty woodsiness and a cast of leather and oak.

Verdict: This one is right in the allday-drinking honey hole: so much citrus flavor, really pale malt presence, and all the funk you could ask for. A little lime dominated, but I think Rosé must was spot-on, and love this where it stands.

Giddy up Grisette is in a 16-ounce can; previous versions came in 750ml. bottles, so the portability option is much improved. Sixth Anniversary Rye IPA is also in a 16-ounce can, and is a one-time-only offering—when it’s done, it’s gone. Both beers are available at their respective breweries.

As always, cheers! CW

the BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Ritual Chocolate Opens for Tours

If Utah had a chocolate factory equivalent to that of Willy Wonka, it would be Ritual Chocolate (ritualchocolate.com). It’s fitting then that this local chocolate factory has decided to open its doors for public tours–and you don’t even need a golden ticket to get in. On Fridays and Saturdays, Ritual Choclate’s Heber factory (2175 W. 3000 South, Ste. 100) will host guided experiences that give chocolate enthusiasts a peek into the factory’s operation. Friday tours will take place at 11 a.m. and Saturday tours will be held at 1 p.m. All reservations should be made in advance at Ritual’s website.

Yoko Taco Closes

The Granary District lost one of its coolest restaurants as the team at Yoko Taco announced its closure. This hip neighborhood eatery was a cozy way to spend taco Tuesday–I was a fan of all of Yoko’s pork tacos. It will be sad to bid farewell to the pork belly taco with its kimchi-infused pico de gallo, its carnitas and even its pig ear tacos which were way better than they had any right to be. The team’s ramen joint Yoko Ramen continues to be in operation, so Salt Lake denizens can still get a taste of the team’s culinary creativity, but Yoko Taco will be greatly missed. Vaya con dios, amigos.

Bobby’s

Burgers By Bobby Flay Opens in Orem

I’ve been following the opening of a Bobby Flay property in Orem for a while, and it looks like that particular flavor bomb has dropped. Yes, our friends in Utah County have officially welcomed Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay (bobbysburgers.com). The restaurant recently opened in University Place, the Orem mall on 575 E. University Parkway. Bobby’s Burgers is known for its trademark Crunchburgers which include some crumbled up potato chips in addition to the traditional burger fixins, and the menu also includes Tex-Mex options like the Nacho Burger. Bobby’s Burgers has a good-sized breakfast menu and its fried chicken sandwich looks pretty tasty as well.

Quote of the Week: “I love the culture of grilling. It creates an atmosphere that is festive but casual.” –Bobby Flay

Local Music Scene Wrap Up 2024

Locals share their highlights from the year

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

As we head into 2025, we asked several folks in the local music scene to reflect on how they’ll remember 2024.

The Last Gatsby: This year was truly a year filled with joy, triumph, sorrow, determination and fun. Starting earlier this year—when the band decided that we would release our “final” song, “Life Lessons”—we were determined to give the song the release it deserved. Given all of the circumstances around the band, it was something that we all wanted to get behind. Getting the band back together and reigniting this special friendship was really wonderful. Deciding to release the song forced us to prepare for a song release, which has a lot of individual elements. One of the biggest accomplishments was the music video and later the release, but the music video especially because of the logistics that went into accomplishing it. In preparation for the release, we were devastated when we learned that Josh’s cancer came back. It really sucked, but we all knew that he would fight it head-on and that the band was a way of carrying him through. Lastly, the release of “Life Lessons” was truly special. The amount of support that we received from the community, reigniting old fans, finding new fans, getting the song played all around

the world—it was all really special and honestly overwhelming at times. We are so grateful for a great 2024. We’re grateful for the new friends we’ve made. We’re grateful for the love we’ve felt from all over the world. Thank you for taking the time to help share our story with others.

Ebay Hamilton: I have many highlights from 2024, but the first one to come to mind is the Andre 3000 New Blue Sun show at the Eccles Theater. Andre 3000 is one of my favorite emcees of all time, so when it was announced that he would be putting out a flute album, I was surprised ... and excited to hear it. Ambient music isn’t really my thing and his album didn’t exactly connect with me in the ways I had hoped that it would. This left me hesitant to see the show, but still excited to see one of my heroes. The show ended up blowing me away! Entirely improvised from the very first note, it was like a sci-fi soundtrack created in an alien jungle on another planet, with each musician completely committed to every note that they played. The stage lighting also added to the immersive sonic experience in ways that I rarely get to see live. It definitely wasn’t for everybody, but I walked away feeling extremely grateful for the opportunity to take a ride on this strange spaceship, captained by Andre and his various flutes. What a trip! I’ve thought about that show almost every day since and am thankful that he included Salt Lake [City] on the tour. Other highlights included Swan Lake with Ballet West, Jungle at the Gallivan Center as part of the Twilight Concert Series, and the return of KRCL’s Day in the Park at The International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake.

Pdubba-U: We think the release of our Past Lives album is definitely the highlight for our 2024. That album was a long time coming and it’s good to have it out. We have a new single coming soon called “Hidden Valley” that will definitely kick off a new chapter for us!

Theoretical Blonde: Our highlight

MUSIC

for the year was putting out our new EP called The EP. We’ve been playing those songs at shows all year, and it feels great to now have them out in the world. When we finally did get into our studio (our bass player’s bedroom) to record them, we experimented with our arrangements and with live-tracking to create a sound that emulates that of our live shows.

Loom: The highlight for us would have to be the end of year wrap-up with two solo headlining performances at Metro Music Hall in November and our very special headlining return to the State Room on Dec. 21. We love that the State Room has gotten behind us since the beginning and given us the space and opportunity to grow our fan base and community within their wonderful walls. Having performed the Snowbasin Summerfest, Snowbird Grand Oktoberfest and ending the year with these two wonderful SLC venues, as our fan base continues to expand, is something we are truly grateful for. We look forward to seeing what is in store for the new year and we wish ev-

eryone involved in the scene a happy holiday season and prosperous New Year! Spirit Machines: This year has been really big for us. We expanded our lineup to five members, released our single “Kincaid” along with a music video filmed at the Utah State Capitol with fencers from Salt City Swords fencing club. Our biggest highlights were opening for Alien Ant Farm at the Metro and In The End’s “Linkin Park Experience” at The Depot. We love warming up the stage for big bands and we hope to do more of it next year. We also released a track in collaboration with Aaron Gillespie from Underoath called “War Paint,” along with a five-song EP called The Pearl. We had been working on it for more than a year, so it was great to finally get it out there. Overall, we really grew as artists and musicians. Salt Lake is really growing up, and we have more amazing local musicians per capita than anywhere else, I feel—and I think this year has pushed everyone to create and have fun at their highest level. CW

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS

BEST BAR IN UTAH!

GREAT FOOD

MUSIC PICK S

Opiuo @ Soundwell 12/27

We are nearing 2025, yet there is still a collective nostalgia for pre-pandemic times when perhaps things seemed simpler. The 2016 EP Sneakers by New Zealand native Opiuo (Oscar Davey-Wraight) exemplifies the celebration of positivity with the lyrics, “I like your sneakers / I like your boom box / I like your head band / I like your fanny pack…” then repeats throughout the song. At first glance, the lyrics may appear simplistic and repetitious, but their repetitive nature, which is common in electronic music, is purposely emphasized to show importance. Sneakers symbolizes movement and self-expression through fashion. Additionally, the repetition of the other fashion accessories such as the headband and fanny pack further emphasize these traits which pretty much sum up the electronic scene’s core values. The album for this EP, Omniversal, was nominated for “Best Electronica Album” at the New Zealand Music Awards and solidified DaveyWraight as a funkadelic artist with serious talent. He’s come a long way since his childhood, where his parents lent their land to festival promoters, which gave him formative experiences in the music industry. He continues to keep the positivity in the present, with many new releases in collaboration with fellow producer ASHEZ, such as “Underground,” “Bobby Dazzler,” “Ricochet,” and “My Love.” Opiuo’s booty-shaking bass and mix of funk, soul, psychedelia is not a show to miss! Doors open at 8 p.m. for this 21+ show on Friday, Dec. 27; general admission is $26 at tixr.com. (Arica Roberts)

WEEKLY LINEUP

MUSIC PICK S

Pink Talking Fish @ The State Room 12/27

What do Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish have in common? One of the most successful bands of the rock era, Pink Floyd pioneered space rock and concept albums. During the new wave era, Talking Heads incorporated dance, funk and world music textures into art rock. And as the post-rock era dawned, Phish picked up the jam band torch of the Grateful Dead (along with the music of that group’s fanbase) and ran with it. Put simply, to the uninitiated, there’s virtually no overlap among the aesthetics of the three aforementioned bands. But clearly no one explained that to the members of Pink Talking Fish. This tribute/fusion act draws from the repertoire of all three landmark acts, leaning into a free-for-all jam style that allows room for the arrangements to breathe, stretch out and take on an exploratory character. Pink Talking Fish—Cal Kehoe (guitar), Eric Gould (bass), Richard James or Stephen Learson (keyboards) and Zack Burwick (drums)—serves up both well-known classics and deep album cuts, weaving them into a setlist in which the band highlights previously unnoticed connections between the music. Pink Talking Fish plays a 21+ show at the Commonwealth Room Friday, Dec 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $32 at axs.com. (Bill Kopp)

Pink Talking Fish JARON

Linda

Royal Bliss @ Leatherheads 12/28

I’m not a fan of musicians being stifled by the business of music. You know, artists being sidelined by labels or companies who at one point bought into their vision, but whether it be from a lack of commercial success since then and/or any of the other industry rules, in the public eye, they were here today and gone today. Salt Lake City’s Royal Bliss has been putting it down since 1997, formerly signed to Capitol Records and growing (again) as an independent outfit. After years and years of ups and downs they are not just a rock band, but artists who keep moving forward. “We have our own record label, doing everything on our own 100% independent,” vocalist Neal Middleton told CrypticRock.com. “We feel like we are out of the storm. It is our time to shine, just keep chasing that dream.” Their major label debut, Life In-Between, dropped back in 2009, and while they easily found spots on rock radio, this did little to push Royal Bliss into rock super-stardom status. Music connects us with other places, ideas, trends and social movements. Those who

know, know that Royal Bliss were killing it locally in the late ’90s. Throughout their trials and tribulations, they have stayed true to themselves and are still going strong. Catch these acts at Leatherheads Sports Bar on Saturday, Dec 28, doors at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $20 and can be found at 24tix.com. (Mark Dago)

The Last Wild Buffalo, The Rockees, Madison Ware @ Kilby Court 12/28

Four-piece stop-and-holler band The Last Wild Buffalo offer listeners a unique experience: They blend folk, bluegrass, rock and a hint of punk effortlessly, a feat not easily forgotten. More than just their sound, the group also makes each performance an intimate experience, feeling like you’ve been friends for years. “More than just a band, The Last Wild Buffalo is a family,” they say on their website. “With each performance, we invite you into our home, creating a welcoming and upbeat environment that fosters genuine connections. We have a commitment to creating a sense of community in every show we play, and we hope to see you at one

MUSIC PICK S

soon.” Their 2024 self-titled debut album is a joy to listen to from beginning to end. The group has a lighthearted feel and sound that make it easy to listen all the way through. They also boast amazing musical ability that will have you continuously impressed. Their latest release is a three-song EP titled Sincerely, and it contains much of the same, but it doesn’t get boring. Don’t miss The Last Wild Buffalo with The Rockees and Madison Ware on Saturday, Dec 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

Pixie & the Partygrass Boys @ The State Room 12/31

When music is made to entice and entertain, a hoot and holler is often indication enough that the musicians involved have made their mark and the audience is responding in kind. That’s clearly the case with local favorites Pixie & the Partygrass Boys, who make music for the fun of it and make it a point never to take themselves too seriously. Some

six years on since turning pro, they still pay homage to their origins as musically-inclined ski bums who spent time on the slopes during the day while entertaining at house parties after hours. Now nationally-known and with four albums to their credit, they’ve transitioned from being a cool cover band to their status as skilled songwriters, adept instrumentalists and awesome entertainers. Their songs may find a basis in bluegrass, but their inspiration is gleaned from their own idyllic environs, specifically, the peaks and high desert plateaus that Utah has to offer. Their song titles offer more than a hint of that devotion (“Ski and Party,” “Snow Day,” “There’s No Friends on a Powder Day,” and especially, “Utah Maid”) as does the credibility that comes with being festival favorites and shared stages with Billy Strings, The Brothers Comatose, the Infamous Stringdusters and Lake Street Dive. What better way to ring in the new year than with fun, festivities and Pixie and his pals’ frivolous finesse? Pixie & the Partygrass Boys perform a 21+ show with special guests The Pickpockets at The State Room on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $43 - $60 excluding taxes and fees at axs.com.

(Lee Zimmerman)

COURTESY PHOTO Royal Bliss

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

In 2025, I would love for you to specialize in making new connections and deepening your existing connections. I hope you will summon extra creativity and panache as you regularly blend your beautiful energies with others’ beautiful energies. I predict you will thrive on linking elements that should be linked but have never been before. What do you think, Aries? Does it sound fun to become a playful master of mixing and combining? Would you enjoy generating splashy unifications that serve your dreams?

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)

“Confidence is 10 percent hard work and 90 percent delusion,” declared Taurus comedian Tina Fey. But I believe you will disprove that assessment in the coming months. The work you do will be unusually replete with grace and dynamism. It will be focused and diligent work, yes, but more importantly, it will be smart work that’s largely free of delusion. That’s why I’m inclined to revise Fey’s formula for your sake. In 2025, your brimming levels of confidence will be primarily due to your fine, conscientious, effective work.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)

In the 1960s, a Swedish journalist tried an experiment. He wanted to see if art critics could distinguish between abstract paintings made by skilled artists and those created by a four-year-old chimpanzee whose pseudonym was Pierre Brassau. Surprise! Many of the critics treated all the paintings with equal respect. One even gave special praise to Pierre Brassau, describing his strokes of color as having “the delicacy of a ballet dancer.” I’m authorizing you to unleash your inner Pierre Brassau in the coming months, Gemini. Be an innocent rookie, a newcomer with great instincts, an exuberant amateur who specializes in fun experiments. Do you know what beginner’s mind is? You approach every experience with zero assumptions or expectations, as if you were seeing everything for the first time. For more, read this: wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Ohio’s Cuyahoga River used to catch on fire regularly. The cause was pollution. For a hundred years, industries had poured their wastes into the waterway. The surface was often dotted with oil slicks. But after a notorious river fire in 1969, the locals decided to remedy the situation, aided by the newly established Environmental Protection Agency. Today, the Cuyahoga still isn’t 100% clean, but it’s far better. It hosts kayaking, fishing and paddle boarding. I propose we use its rehabilitation as a symbol for you in 2025. You will have welcome opportunities to clean up messes that have lingered for far too long. Please take full advantage of these cosmic invitations to sweep karmic debris out of your life.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22)

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple computers, said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” I propose that you make this one of your mottoes in 2025. More than ever before, you will have exceptional power to transform the environments you share with others. You will have an enhanced ability to revise and reinvigorate the systems and the rules you use. Don’t underestimate your influence during the coming months, Leo. Assume that people will be listening especially closely to your ideas and extra receptive to being affected by you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

I will give you four related terms to describe your key motif in 2025: 1. Your Soul’s Code; 2. Your Master Plan; 3. Your Destiny’s Blueprint; 4. Your Mission Statement. All four are rooted in this epic question: What is your overarching purpose here on earth, and how are you fulfilling it? The coming months will be a time when you can make dramatic progress in formulating vivid, detailed visions of the life you want to live. You can also undertake robust action steps to make those visions more of a practical reality. I encourage you to write your big-picture, long-range dreams in a spe -

cial notebook or a file on your tech device. Keep adding to the text throughout the coming months.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

People in India were the first to discover diamonds buried in the earth. Most historians believe it happened in the 4th century BCE. For the next two millennia, India remained the only source of diamonds. Finally, new stashes were found in Brazil in 1725 and in South Africa in the 1870s. Let’s use this 2,000- year gap as a metaphor for your life. I suspect that far too many months have passed since you have located a fresh source of a certain treasure or bounty you crave. That will change in 2025. Here come long-delayed blessings!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

In my vision of your life in 2025, you will dramatically enhance how togetherness works for you. Below are four questions to help guide your explorations and breakthroughs: 1. Is it feasible to change yourself in ways that enable you to have a more satisfying relationship with romantic love? 2. Will you include your intimate relationships as an essential part of your spiritual path—and vice versa? 3. What work on yourself can you do to heal your old wounds and thereby make yourself a better partner and collaborator? 4. Can you help your best allies to heal their wounds and thereby become better partners and collaborators?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

In Japanese, the word for “frog” sounds similar to the word meaning “to return.” That’s one reason frogs have been lucky in some circles of Japanese culture. They symbolize the blessing that occurs when travelers return home safely, or when health is restored, or when spent money is replenished. I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, because I suspect 2025 will be a time when satisfying and enjoyable returns will be a key theme. Consider keeping the likeness of a lovable frog in your living space.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Since 1985, musician David Gilmour has led Pink Floyd. The band has sold over 250 million records. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in both the UK and the US. But my favorite thing about Gilmour is that he’s a passionate activist who has crusaded for animal rights, environmentalism, poverty and human rights. A few years ago, he auctioned off 120 of his guitars, raising over $21 million for an environmentalist charity. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose we make him one of your inspirational role models in 2025, Capricorn. May he mobilize you to use your stature and clout to perform an array of good works that are of service to your world.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Aquarian author Virginia Woolf extolled the virtues of cultivating a supple soul that thrives on change. She pledged to be relentless in her commitment to be authentically herself and not succumb to groupthink. I recommend you make these two of your featured themes in 2025. To inspire your efforts, I will quote her radical perspective at length: “Movement and change are the essence of our being; rigidity is death; conformity is death: let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fantastic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.”

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

In 1992, two friends promised each other that if either of them ever won the lottery, they would share it with the other. Twenty-eight years later, that’s exactly what happened. In 2020, Thomas Cook bought a ticket that turned out to be the winner of the Powerhouse jackpot in Wisconsin. He called Joseph Feeney with the good news. After paying taxes, both men were $5.7 million richer. I am not predicting the exact same sequence for your future, Pisces. But like Cook and Feeney, I expect you will glean pleasing

planted in the past.

University of Utah Health and the Moran Eye Center will be destroying medical records created prior to 01/01/2002 for all patients. UUH and Moran will also be destroying medical records created prior to 01/01/2014 for deceased patients who passed away prior to 01/01/2014 and who were over the age of 18 at the time of death. If you would like to request a copy of your records prior to destruction, or if you have a legal right to access a deceased relatives medical information and would like a copy of their records, you must contact the facility at 801-581-2704 before 01/01/2024. After that date, records will no longer be available.

urban LIVING

WITH BABS DELAY

Broker, Urban Utah Homes & Estates, urbanutah.com

Get the Lead Out!

I

f you purchase a home built before 1978, the seller is required by federal law to disclose whether or not they know if there is lead-based paint (LBP) in the property. I can tell you, in my 40 years as a realtor, I’ve had only two buyers test for LBP.

I remember, back in the 1960s, Walter Cronkite on the CBS evening news sharing reports of poor children living in low-income housing in NYC being diagnosed with lead poisoning … from eating the paint peeling off the walls in their home. Apparently, it tastes sweet, but it also causes brain damage!

Most homes that have LBP aren’t toxic, because the surface has most likely been painted over with non-toxic paint. My home inspectors say that as long as it’s not friable and gets in the air, and you don’t eat or ingest it, you’re safe.

The news last week reported that the owners of North Aspen Apartments at 1722 W. 400 North in Salt Lake City agreed to pay a $74,00 penalty and modify its lead disclosure practices to settle allegations that it violated the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. This requirement ensures that home buyers and renters of most housing built before 1978 have the right to know whether lead-based paint and associated hazards like contaminated dust and soil are present before signing a contract or lease.

The settlement is part of EPA’s ongoing national strategy to protect communities from toxic lead paint hazards. Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint, which was banned from use in 1978 due to its harmful health effects. Infants, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to lead exposure.

Despite lead’s toxic characteristics, it has been used for centuries in products such as paint, gasoline, ceramics, pipes, batteries, cosmetics, toys and pesticides. The presence of lead hazards in our environment resulting from these uses creates a problem that is still considered a major public health concern.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. “___: The Hands of Fate” (“MST3K” classic)

6. Helpers, briefly

11. Relay section

14. Dangly throat thing

15. Antique photo tone

16. “___ just figured it out”

17. Portable brain?

19. Outburst

20. Bigger than big

21. 1967 spelled-out #1 hit

23. Jackie’s second married name

25. Microscopic

26. Arouse, as curiosity

29. Little kid

30. Progressive character

31. Color in the AtlÈtico Madrid logo

32. Haunted house noise

33. Spock’s home planet

36. “Annabel Lee” poet

37. Keep up

39. Raw mineral

40. Certain ticket buyers

42. 1,000-plus-year realm, for short

43. “Hook” sidekick

44. ___ de parfum

45. Feeder user

46. “People tell me ...”

47. H.S. exams

49. Glow

51. Wedding cake specification

53. Bagel varieties

57. Live mascot of the Bulldogs

58. Dub some DJ turntablism over a Pixar movie?

60. “I finally made it through ___ school”

(“Like a Surgeon” opener)

61. Actress Watts

62. Catherine who played Moira Rose

63. “___ XING”

64. Eye-related

65. “Grand” mountain

DOWN

1. G.H. ___ (name on champagne bottles)

2. Converse competitor

3. “Sister Act” group

4. Someone wise beyond their years, it’s said

5. Nicole Kidman’s role in “Moulin Rouge!”

6. Hazardous fireproofing material

7. Sun. lecture

The EPA reports that lead enters the body through swallowing or breathing lead particles and can then accumulate in the blood, tissues and organs. There is no known safe blood lead level, and irreversible health damage can occur, with consequences such as headaches, stomachaches, sleeping or eating disorders, attention deficit disorders and weakness or clumsiness. Even where physical symptoms are not present, there can be significant health and brain damage.

Luckily, we don’t have many lead water pipes here in Utah, like they do in Detroit, Michigan. In the Detroit during 2016, 2,000 children under 6 years old (8.8%) were found to have elevated blood lead levels. They are spending millions of dollars in that state to replace lead pipes.

If you are worried about lead paint or pipes, ask your home inspector for a referral to a testing company, or lead paint detection kits are cheap and available at local hardware stores.

8. Budget airline that filed for bankruptcy in late 2024

9. Fork points

10. Sinks under pressure

11. Your future?

12. Boot out

13. California art museum, with “the”

18. Eggs in a lab

22. Dispensary unit

24. Placated

26. Largest of the Three Bears

27. Polo shirt producer

28. Line up for first dibs using the plus sign?

30. A good time (hopefully had by all)

32. City transit

33. “La ___ en rose”

34. Measure of coverage

35. ___-do-well

37. “Rugrats” father

38. Skilled at sculpture, perhaps

41. “The ___ of Us”

43. Encase, as a sword

45. Bird in a Monty Python sketch

46. Summer complaint

47. Baffle

48. “Shucks, stop it!”

49. Quickly review

50. Agcy. spawned by the Manhattan

55. Word on Dutch coins

56. Bridge section

59. “What ___, made of money?”

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.

Project

52. “Money ___ object” 54. Medieval defense feature

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Grinch

If you were hoping to extend your holiday spirit to your automobile and you live in Wyoming, think again. United Press International reported that the Wyoming Highway Patrol is reminding motorists that colored Christmas lights are not legal on civilian cars. The statute says that “no person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device thereon capable of displaying a red or blue light visible from directly in front of the center thereof.” In other words, only cops get red and blue lights on their cars. The WHP posted a photo on Dec. 2 with a car completely covered in Christmas lights being pulled over. Bah, humbug!

Questionable Judgment

A mushroom hunter identified only as “Helen” stumbled upon a new “dogging” destination in Kent, England, in early December, Kent Online reported on Dec. 17. Dogging, for those of you not up on your Brit slang, refers to open-air sexual activity. Helen was following a footpath along the A29 highway when her dog pulled her farther into the woods, where she discovered a large sex toy tied to a tree with string. “I looked from a distance and then I just left, as I was really disgusted and a bit freaked out by it,” Helen said. A local councilor said he is preparing a report about the issues; Kent Police said they haven’t received any reports of criminal activity there.

Rude

Ten- and 11-year-old students at Lee-on-the-Solent school in Hampshire, England, were traumatized in midDecember after Rev. Paul Chamberlain visited to conduct a religious education class, The Guardian reported. The good vicar started his discussion with the birth of Jesus, but he went on to tell the kids that Santa Claus is not real and that their parents buy the presents and eat the biscuits left out for the jolly old elf. Some students started to sob. “Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgment, and ... he apologized unreservedly to the school, to the parents and to the children,” said a spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth.

■ In April, Christina Sivilay of Kent, Washington, suffered a stroke, which left her in a coma, KIRO-TV reported. When she woke up, she was greeted with an eviction notice from her apartment. The stroke has caused her to lose some movement and strength in parts of her body, so she’s unable to work. “When I came home from the hospital, I felt useless. I’m a worker,” she said. Sivilay is concerned about her two sons, 12 and 7 years old. “I just want them to know they’re OK, and that we don’t have to live in the street or a shelter,” she said. Relatives are helping, but when KIRO reached out to the apartment manager, there was no comment.

Least Competent Criminal

An unnamed man in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, allegedly caused a multi-vehicle crash on Dec. 4, KKTV reported. When officers arrived, they asked him how many drinks he had consumed, to which he answered, “probably 10. Hey, hey, hey, I’m gonna tell you right now, like, I’m a professional drinker,” he said. Police administered a breathalyzer test, which showed the man’s blood alcohol content was more than four times the legal limit. He was handcuffed and charged; no one was hurt in the accident.

You Had One Job ...

Commuters in Samut Prakan, Thailand, were flummoxed upon arriving at a newly renovated bus stop, Nation Thailand reported on Dec. 7. The floor of the stop was concrete, which had been poured up to the bottoms of the seats of the brand-new green plastic chairs, causing riders to sit on the ground. While the contractor has

acknowledged the mistake and vowed to fix it, online commenters have had a field day: “Designed for people to sit Thai-style, neatly and politely,” one said. “I love the concept behind this work,” said another.

Wait, What?

OK, first of all, who knew that grain silos have basements? But I digress. In El Dorado County, California, a horse fell through a narrow opening in the floor of an abandoned grain silo and into the structure’s basement, United Press International reported on Dec. 17. El Dorado Search and Rescue came to the animal’s rescue and used a pulley system to hoist Matsie the mare out of the basement, after which she was “reunited with her family and friends.” To which she responded, “Neeiiiiggghhhhh.”

Animal Antics

On Dec. 14, at a rugby match in Buckinghamshire, England, between the Marlow Rugby Club 2nd XV and the Rams Rugby Club 3rd Team Centaurs, a Marlow player was flattened when a small deer ran onto the field and collided with him, the BBC reported. Neither the player nor the deer were injured, and Marlow went on to win the contest 19-17.

Risky Business

Police in Long Island, New York, arrested Gladys Serrano, 70, in early December for practicing dentistry without a license from the kitchen of her one-bedroom apartment. A search of Serrano’s apartment revealed many of the tools of a legit dental practice, including drawers full of dental instruments and extraction tools, a dental treatment chair situated near the sink, impression molds, needles and vials of medication. The one victim identified by authorities (so far) had five “rotting” teeth extracted by Serrano. Myriam Kai, a neighbor who, like Serrano, hails from El Salvador, told WABC-TV New York, “I don’t know why they’re making this a big deal. She has a degree in El Salvador. She’s a great dentist.” Serrano faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Reunited

Do you remember your fourth grade lunchbox? Tracy Drain of Virginia is getting reacquainted with hers. It went missing 40 years ago and was found in early December by a plumber, who discovered the vintage Heathcliff-themed memento hiding in a pipe chase while he was working at Fairview Elementary School in Roanoke. A tag inside was adorned with Drain’s name, and a former co-worker of Drain’s reached out to her after reading about the lunchbox find in a Facebook post from the Roanoke City Public Schools. Drain told WDBJ-7, “I’m definitely going to treasure it because of mom’s writing on it and the way she took care of us as kids and how she raised us.”

Keeping Spirits Up

In “What could possibly go wrong?” news, an Ohio funeral home may soon be able to serve alcohol to grieving families. Evergreen Funeral, Cremation and Reception, in Columbus, applied for a liquor license earlier this year and could be serving as soon as January, reported ABC-WSYX on Dec. 16. Evergreen’s owner, Hunter Triplett, says he wants to shed the funeral industry’s dark, morbid reputation. One way to do that? Let mourners raise a toast to their lost loved ones. “My role in this position is to kind of be a party planner for the dead,” Triplett said. If approved, the facility would receive a D3 liquor license, which in Ohio allows the sale of beer, wine and hard liquor for consumption on-site. Interestingly, the property used to be a chocolate factory; perhaps Triplett could consider giving mourners truffles rather than Tito’s. That might keep “RIP” further away from “DUI.”

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