City Weekly December 14, 2023

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UTAH'S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

One of Utah’s bestknown police chiefs has had a decadeslong side career defending police misconduct.

BY SAM STECKLOW, INVISIBLE INSTITUTE

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CONTENTS Cover Story USE OF FORCE

One of Utah’s best-known police chiefs has had a decadeslong side career defending police misconduct.

By Sam Stecklow, Invisible Institute

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Cover design by Derek Carlisle

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STAFF Publisher PETE SALTAS News Editor BENJAMIN WOOD Arts & Entertainment Editor SCOTT RENSHAW Contributing Editor JERRE WROBLE Music Editor EMILEE ATKINSON Listings Desk WES LONG Executive Editor and Founder JOHN SALTAS

Editorial Contributors KATHARINE BIELE ROB BREZSNY MARK DAGO MIKE RIEDEL ARICA ROBERTS ALEX SPRINGER SAM STECKLOW LEE ZIMMERMAN Art Director DEREK CARLISLE Graphic Artists SOFIA CIFUENTES, CHELSEA NEIDER

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

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S AP BOX @SLCWEEK LY

@CITY WEEKLY

An Eye for an Eye

@SLCWEEK LY

As the body count in Gaza rises exponentially, America doublesdown on Israel Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu’s “screw-Palestine” carnage. And we do it in the name of democracy, justice and religious freedom. What immense hypocrites we are.

Where are America’s Christian leaders who say they love Jesus, God and the scripture? The scripture says “an eye for an eye” as the

standard for punishment of criminal acts. But Netanyahu has already exacted 15 Palestinian eyes for one Israeli eye in this war.

We are proving God’s warning to Ezekiel, “Are not my ways equal, are not your ways unequal?” We think Republicans are bowing to an anti-Constitution rogue in America, but Democrats are bowing to a far-right, anti-international law impostor in Israel.

It is absurd for any democratic nation to believe one Palestinian Muslim life is not worth the same as one Israeli Jewish life. Shame, shame on American congressional leaders, CEOs, education and church leaders and media moguls.

History will remember your shallow self-interest in a time of humanitarian crisis. You did nothing.

KIMBALL SHINKOWKEY

Woods Cross

Without a Clue

John Saltas and I go back a number of years, and I’ve followed him through the Private Eye days and now, the City Weekly. It’s been a great run. I can’t thank him enough for consistently providing our community with solid news stories coupled with sweeping stories on our local food, drink and entertainment options. I also appreciate the paper’s much deserved attention to our local performing and visual arts.

Without getting too carried away, let me add that Katharine Biele’s Hits and Misses and the Small Lake City column are hard to pass up.

Hell, I even end up reading Saltas’ Opinion pieces.

With all of this being said and it being true, I need to let you know why I bothered to write in. For quite some time now, your paper has

truly frustrated me. Your crossword puzzle, composed by David Wilk, is always a challenge, and I end up wasting a great deal of time completing it. It doesn’t help that you consistently allow 22, 23 and 24 Across to be so faded that it’s damn near impossible to read the clues, let alone solve them.

This isn’t a “one off.” This has been the case for at least the last year ... every issue! Please tell your printer to load up on the ink.

You do that, and I’ll buy John Saltas a few beers. Keep up the good work.

JIM BRADLEY

Salt Lake City

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 It’s 10 p.m. on Friday night.

What are you doing?

Wes Long

Either sleeping, watching a movie with loved ones or, if I’m really feeling it, working on a Rewind installment for the paper. I’m one wild party animal indeed.

Kelly Boyce

Yelling at my friends for taking too long to get ready to go out.

Benjamin Wood

Honestly? I’m probably watching TV at home. Salt Lake’s zoning doesn’t allow for any businesses within walking distance of my house and the colder and darker it gets, the more of a drag it becomes to get downtown. Someone take my money!

Eric Granato

I am most likely slipping into slumber.

Scott Renshaw

Nine weeks out of 10? Going to bed.

Katharine Biele

Wine, popcorn, news—how sad is that?

Paula Saltas

Watching Squid Game, more than likely.

Derek Carlisle

Hopefully checking out a show at the Urban Lounge or grabbing a slice of za at The Pie Hole after a Depot show.

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PRIVATE

BY JOHN SALTAS

Unfinished Work

A

mong the notable, rock-steady true things in life, we know the sun rises in the east. We know water flows downhill. We know the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs are the only Major League Baseball teams worth rooting for, principally because both are so lovable.

We know tomatoes grown in Greece taste better than anywhere else in the world. We know that with or without tomatoes, the best skiing in the world is in Utah.

We also know that on any given day, Utah Sen. Mike Lee will soil himself on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter. He does that constantly, Xcreeting all sorts of panicked and divisive nonsense at all hours of the day and night using the handle of @basedmikelee. On much rarer occasions, he will even use his official U.S. Senate account on X, I presume to remind us all that he once regarded his elected position as being of some importance.

But alas, as @basedmikelee, he is more comfortable these days revealing his inner child in the same manner a flasher exposes his weakest attributes from behind a stack of hay or along a sanguine hiking path. He just comes out of the dark and lets loose, never minding that women and children might be witness to his insecurities that he is only making worse and more obvious.

This is not the same Mike Lee whom I never supported in the first place. I don’t know who this @basedmikelee is, but he sure is creepy.

So, there’s one more thing you should all know by now that is another rock-steady true thing in life: I believe now and for all time and eternity that Mike Lee is a weasel. I say that with some caution, wondering if he might be ill (for which he’d get a hall pass from me).

But he barely resembles the healthier and more-full-

@johnsaltas

EYE

head-of-hair fellow who I thought was a weasel from Day 1, but who at least seemed like a virile weasel at the time.

I guess being U.S. Senator wears one down. For instance, Google a photo of 42-year-old Chuck Grassley. Good works take a toll, apparently.

It’s best I leave Mike Lee alone this week—leave him to his quixotic fight to ensure that he forever retains his personal freedom to subvert our democracy. Given his proclivity to far more frequently act “based” instead of senatorial, more opportunities will come. Besides, even a goodnatured fellow such as me—one with 40 years of negative snail mail, email, texts, online and social media commentary—can barely take another broadside questioning my mostly Democratic Party bona fides.

I frequently get emails that assail me for being an uneducated, brainwashed libtard who should stop trusting the MSM and “do some research.” What can I say? I’ve always been a poor student.

I don’t really mind the name calling and weak assumptions about who I am. I do mind, however, that those who write nearly always decline to have their opinions published in City Weekly’s letters to the editor. I respect those who aren’t afraid to sign their names to their thoughts. But the rest? Not so much.

I guess they expect me to grab a beer (the drinkers do, anyway) and tune into Infowars for Alex Jones, or to check out Bannon’s War Room podcast to make sure I “see both sides.” Ain’t gonna happen. There was never an adult figure I respected—not a teacher, member of the clergy, supervisor or historical icon—who ever came close to endorsing the kind of dangerous and hateful rhetoric espoused by just those two men, and they are in a class of many these days.

Whatever became of decent role models? I don’t like it that so many Americans cannot remove themselves from the flypaper nonsense of Bannon and Jones.

I do like the idea of a beer, though. Just this past weekend I was in New York, where our group happened upon some very, very good German food. Trust me.

As a Greek, it’s very difficult for me to endorse anything harder to pronounce than kolokithokeftedes, but certain items on a German menu rise to the occasion. And like all things mysterious, they are surprisingly tasty more often than they are not.

It’s no surprise then that our table enjoyed the bratkartoffeln (German cottage potatoes)—especially since among the beer offerings was none other than Bud Light. What a pairing! It was such a relief to learn that Bud Light remains in favor in certain parts of this country.

Sure, there were German pilsners available, too, but ahh, Bud Light. Fully reassuring!

The only thing I’d have done differently is make sure there was a Spicy V-8 juice to go along with it. That is one helluva combination, folks.

I’ve said before that I’m not the biggest fan of boycotts of any kind, but I’m especially raw to the sorts of boycotts that hurt American companies and American workers. Some Americans have no qualms about that, or at least they do not until it’s their own paycheck that is affected. In their world, there are only two types of Americans, anyway: Them and not-them.

That is not an unusual precept if one grew up in Utah. But at least—so far—Utah’s “thems” have not tried too hard to eliminate the “not-thems” in the same manner that the irrational political “thems” tried to eliminate Bud Light.

Oops, that does discount that certain ancestral relatives of Mike Lee laid waste to the Baker-Fancher Party in Southern Utah at the Mountain Meadows massacre. Based Mike makes me think he wants to finish the job. CW Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

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HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE |

@kathybiele

MISS: White Back At You

Rep. Trevor Lee can’t wait to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Never underestimate the power of hate, fear and fragile egos. Although a 2023 bill restricting DEI didn’t pass, here comes 2024 and a legislative session to try again. Lee, a Layton Republican, is spreading the word on XTwitter, reposting a screed from when the 2023 bill was introduced to “ban diversity statements, which function as loyalty oaths to left-wing racialist ideology.” Lee says the Supreme Court agrees because, apparently, there is no more inequality in the nation. And arguing about test scores, Lee says the two-parent family is the best indicator of good grades—now if we could just force people to marry and stay married.

There were, of course, commenters who hailed an end to DEI. There were many who suggested he “misses segregation” and who understand that DEI “makes white people feel bad.”

MISS: To Speach Their Own

Now on to another higher education issue—free speech. Actually, we’re talking about free dialogue, the give-andtake students get when they engage in debate on controversial issues. It’s something the governor is struggling to clarify. While there have been violent exchanges on some college campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Utah has yet to see anything quite like that. Students recently were criminally charged after disrupting an event by an anti-transgender group.

But Utah Gov. Spencer Cox seems focused on college presidents and policies, which he says must be neutral. He didn’t mention the transgender issue but did call out abortion and the Israel-Hamas war. “Surveys traditionally show that the American people have strong support for free speech in general, but that number decreases when the poll focuses on particular forms of controversial speech,” the American Bar Association writes. The lines of free speech are still being drawn on Utah campuses.

HIT: Bundle Up

Baby, it’s cold outside. And therefore— Code Blue. The Utah Department of Health came to the shocking realization that unhoused people are going to freeze to death pretty soon, as temperatures fall below 15 degrees. The “Code Blue” alerts, according to Gephardt Daily, started for the first time in November and allow homeless shelters to increase capacity and expedite intake procedures, and it allows private organizations to provide temporary shelter, among other new provisions. And here is the practice that was highlighted in the Rocky Anderson campaign: “A state or local government entity, including a municipality, law enforcement agency, and local health department may not enforce an ordinance or policy to seize from individuals experiencing homelessness any personal items for survival in cold weather, including clothing, blankets, tents, sleeping bags, heaters, stoves and generators.” Now all that’s left is for doors to open and housing to finally happen. CW

BY WES LONG

Goodnight, Gail

S

ome months ago, I attended a meeting for the Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (UCAN) in preparation for a Sept. 20 cover story in City Weekly, “Giving Peace a Chance.” One of the rich rewards of journalism is the opportunity to meet fascinating people from varying backgrounds. It was with UCAN that I made the acquaintance of Gail Blattenberger.

Gail Blattenberger passed away recently, and while I did not have the pleasure of lengthy interactions with her, I would be remiss if I did not remark upon her life and example.

Born in 1947 and raised in New Jersey, Blattenberger received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and became an economist who joined the faculty of the University of Utah in the late 1980s after stints as a visiting professor. “A lot of problems are related to economics,” she once told me.

But it was peace work that remained a guiding star throughout her life, thanks to her Quaker background. She reckoned she wouldn’t have developed an interest in economics were it not for her lifelong interest in peace, for in her view, peace issues “don’t go away.”

Starting with efforts to “ban the bomb” in the 1950s, Blattenberger was involved with such activities as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, protesting the Vietnam War and teaching at Black schools in the segregated South. A volunteer at the Guadalupe School and involved with environmental causes like the Utah Rivers Council, Blattenberger is an example of one who leaves a place better than they found it.

When I interviewed her, she observed that the landscape of our world today was indeed discouraging, with “many old prejudices” on the ascendency in the form of astonishing levels of violence, greed and hatred. Looking over her life, she wondered if she had made a difference.

“But it’s the only way to be honest with yourself,” Blattenberger said of her activities.

This tiny woman—whose mobility became complicated after she developed multiple sclerosis—has nevertheless remained engaged in the cause of peace and justice. She lived life on her own terms, and we are all the richer as a result.

My last sight of her, in fact, was of her wheeling over to the bus stop after a UCAN meeting. Her commitment touched me.

Goodnight, Professor Gail Blattenberger. Have a peaceful rest. Your students will have a lot to do in the years to come. CW Small Lake City is home to local writers and their opinions.

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From the Inside Incarcerated artists share their individual selves through the Arts & Justice Lab.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

T

his is not a “white savior” story. Mollie Hosmer-Dillard doesn’t come at her work that way.

It would be easy to see things from the perspective of that pop-culture trope, as Hosmer-Dillard—Art Manager for the University of Utah’s Arts & Justice Lab— works with incarcerated adults and youth teaching visual-art programs. But she never wants it to be all about what she’s doing for others from some elevated perch.

“My perspective now is, human beings are a community,” Hosmer-Dillard says.

“I feel like I learn a lot from my students about the ills of society. I think tuning in to that keeps everything in check and keeps me on a course to make this about everyone’s liberation.

A trained painter, Hosmer-Dillard lived and worked in Berlin and New York before attending graduate school with a goal of teaching. While at her first postgrad-school job teaching at Utah Tech, she learned about their program in higher education for incarcerated youth—“and it really spoke to me,” she says.

She has always been conscious, however, of the extent to which the system in which she’s working isn’t a level field.

“Even before I was teaching in these spaces, I was gaining and cultivating a sensitivity to power dynamics in teaching,” Hosmer-Dillard says. “And that exists in any teaching situation. In carceral spaces, that power differential is way extreme. I go in, and I’m a white woman being paid to teach, and my students are disproportionately non-white, disproportionately with

disabilities of various kinds, disproportionately from low income, and they aren’t able to leave. My goal has been bridging that gap. I’m no longer the person doling out information; I’m providing critical aesthetic feedback at every step.”

The Arts & Justice Lab classes work with both adults and juveniles, and while many of the processes are similar, there are some differences in the respective demographics that can affect the instruction process.

In the juvenile centers, my experience is that sentences tend to be shorter, so I’ve had students released during my classes,” Hosmer-Dillard notes. “Adults tend to have longer sentences, so those things impact the classes in different ways. There’s a lot of effort in my classes, and culturally in terms of youth, to provide opportunities for engagement towards higher education.”

The idea of incarcerated persons as people with potential is still one that HosmerDillard realizes still often collides with the preconceptions and prejudices of the general public. She paraphrases writer Derecka Purnell when saying that “I think most people’s perception of incarceration comes from a general idea that we need prisons in the same way that we need a Post Office.”

“But,” she adds, “the more time I spend in these places, the more I think this is an awful idea, quite frankly. Even if people have really done harm, incarceration does not help. I think also people have perceptions from movies where these are really dramatic and scary people. My perspective, and this comes from a quote by Bryan Stevenson [in the book Just Mercy] that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve done. My students are human; they’re funny and smart and interesting, they want to spend time with their friends and families and loved ones. That’s something that’s missing a little bit from the public understanding.”

This month’s exhibition at the Salt Lake City Main Library is in part an attempt to change that understanding. It show-

A&E

cases what Hosmer-Dillard describes as “metaphorical self-portraits,” allowing the incarcerated artist to create work that captures the way they see themselves. And while the literal faces of the artists might not be in the works, they do evoke the unique experience of being imprisoned.

“Incarceration itself deals a huge blow of shame to any individual,” she says.

“There are structural issues to incarceration that have nothing to do with what a person has done. My mom was a lawyer who investigated fraud, these were white people involved in millions of dollars and never spent a day in prison. In this classroom, a teacher has the capacity to set a tone. If you go into a classroom, and you respect your students and set high standards, you get results.

“These self-portraits not literal, but how they wanted to represent themselves to the world, and a teacher’s bearing that really influences that. Part of my goal with a project like this, and one of the problems with incarceration, is that it’s invisible; people don’t see it, and don’t know the

people who are inside. These are people with very specific passions and interests, and part of the goal was to make them more visible as individuals.” CW

UTAH ARTS & JUSTICE LAB: REINVENTING PORTRAITS Salt Lake City Main Library 210 E. 400 South Dec. 6 – Jan. 14 Reception Dec. 13, 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. artsandjusticelab.com

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Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: Synthesis (Young Artist Showcase)

STUART RUCKMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Utah’s rich dance tradition involves multiple levels, from the teachers of young dancers to the exceptional programs at local universities to the professional companies that provide amazing programs for audiences. This week’s program at RirieWoodbury Dance Company serves to fold some of those levels together, as Synthesis offers not just the phenomenal work of the company’s dancers, but a chance to celebrate young dancers from high schools around the valley.

Over the course of three nights, dancers from several high schools—including Cottonwood, Davis, Hillcrest, Kearns, Provo, Taylorsville and the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts—take to the stage to present pieces choreographed by their teachers. The program also features choreography by company dancers created during high school choreographic residencies, as well as RWDC Artistic Director Daniel Charon’s 2011 work Storm. “Utah’s vibrant dance community is truly unique,” says company Education Director Ai Fujii Nelson in a press release. “Within this close-knit artistic circle, the legacy of dance educators holds a special place as an invaluable heritage that continually serves to inspire, lead, and support the creative pursuits of emerging young dancers. …

Through events like Synthesis, a collaborative and multi-generational celebration of dance, you can witness that the legacy of Ririe-Woodbury is not a relic of the past.”

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Synthesis – Young Artist Showcase comes to the Rose Wagner Center’s Leona Wagner Black Box Theater (138 W. 300 South) Dec. 13 – 15 at 7:30 p.m. nightly, with $35 general admission tickets. Individual schools perform only on select nights; visit ririewoodbury.com for schedule information and to purchase tickets. (Scott Renshaw)

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Sam Jay

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Comedian Sam Jay wants us to have empathy—but she’ll push buttons to make the point that real empathy isn’t easy. That’s one of the delightfully offcolor central notions in Jay’s 2023 HBO special Salute Me or Shoot Me, in which the one-time Saturday Night Live writer addresses the complexities of being in a relationship, and dealing with people who are different.

“Autism gets the worst rep,” Jay says, “It’s like, ‘Oh, they don’t understand social cues.’ … Oh, so they don’t know how to lie? Because that’s all ‘social cues’ are, it’s this unwritten agreement we have to be liars with one another.”

And she accepts the idea that “there’s shittiness in all of us”—including herself. “I was watching a documentary about these, like, suicidal walruses. … They climb up cliffs trying to get food, but they get up, then they can’t get down. … I watched this for like 30 minutes, and I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit.’ … I just don’t have room in my life for suicidal walrus shit. I know it’s bad, but I just don’t fucking care. … I don’t think the average white person wakes up and thinks, ‘How do I ruin n----rs’ lives today?’ I just think they wake up and … be white. Black people are like, ‘See my pain!’ And white people are like, ‘Mmm, I gotta get to Target, so …’”

Sam Jay stops in at Wiseguys Jordan Landing (3763 W. Center Park Dr., West Jordan) on Dec. 15 – 16 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $25; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

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When Utopia Early Music cofounder Emily Nelson spoke to City Weekly earlier this year, she noted that a group performing music from centuries ago offers a unique opportunity for musicians. “It gives us a huge amount of freedom and creative agency,” Nelson said. “We can shape it to sound how we want. There’s not very much on the page, so I can almost be like a co-composer.”

Audiences can once again experience that sense of discovery as the group present its annual program of holiday-themed music.

The program is scheduled to feature songs and instrumentals in a solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, the Isle of Man and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Utopia co-founders Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by local artists Monica Hymas (alto), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Bronwen Beecher (fiddle), Ben Spigle (Irish flute and whistle), Eleanor Christman Cox (cello) and Cindy Spigle (bodhrán); visiting artist Therese Honey (Celtic harp) joins Utopia from Houston. Selections will include chant from Medieval Ireland, Welsh Christmas carols, Scottish and Irish lullabies, Cape Breton fiddle tunes, and Robert Burns’s original version of the venerable “Auld Lang Syne.”

Utopia Early Music’s presentation of A Celtic Christmas includes performances at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark (231 E. 100 South) on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m. Admission is pay as you are able at the door, on a first-come/first-served basis, with a recommended donation of $20 general admission and $15 student/senior. Visit utopiaearlymusic.org for additional event information. (SR)

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One of Utah’s best-known police chiefs has had a decadeslong side career defending police misconduct.

BY SAM STECKLOW, INVISIBLE INSTITUTE | comments@cityweekly.net

K

The following was reported by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with the Invisible Institute and Salt Lake City Weekly. en Wallentine is one of Utah policing’s most high-profile figures. He frequently gives testimony to legislative committees considering bills affecting the criminal justice system, and he’s served as president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, in addition to his role as chief of police for West Jordan, Utah’s third-largest city.

Defining ‘Reasonable’

Since 2010, Wallentine has worked for LexiPol, a company founded by Bruce Praet, a California lawyer and former police officer. After Praet defended police departments in misconduct lawsuits in the 1990s, he began writing policy manuals to reduce liability for police.

DECEMBER 14, 2023 | 17

said in a deposition. Street Legal, his guide to criminal procedure, has been published by the American Bar Association since 2008.

Wallentine was former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s chief of law enforcement, overseeing investigative bureaus and acting as Shurtleff’s “representative to law enforcement executives throughout the state,” he once said. He returned to the office in 2016 to develop its virtual reality training program.

Wallentine also has at times seemed supportive of police reform. He wrote a statement in early 2023 to “unequivocally condemn the circumstances that resulted in the death of” Tyre Nichols, who was killed by five Memphis police officers. He sends

Wallentine testified in 2015 that LexiPol policies relating to “use of force, firearms, a use of force review board,” and other related topics don’t “go out the door without my fingerprints all over” them.

During that time period, LexiPol’s use of force policies strictly adhered to what’s known as the “Graham standard.” This standard is named for a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which set out that police use of force is not excessive if it is “objectively reasonable” given the information available to the officer at the time.

It has been criticized for years by some legal scholars and police officials, who feel it doesn’t go far enough in limiting when and how police can use deadly force.

But to LexiPol, encouraging police departments to restrict their officers’ use of force beyond what the Supreme Court requires was contrary to its mission of reducing liability for its clients.

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His stature is perhaps a natural denouement to a lengthy career in law enforcement, which he began in the 1970s working as a security guard while a student at Brigham Young University.

Since then, Wallentine has worked as a Provo patrol officer, a prosecutor and reserve deputy sheriff in Uintah County, and a chief of the investigations bureau for the state Peace Officers Standards and Training Division, before becoming West Jordan’s chief in 2018. He’s also had a significant hand in shaping police policy and regulation, in Utah and nationwide.

Wallentine was hired in the early 2000s to develop a new curriculum for the state’s “entire basic training program,” he once

officers to trainings that encourage them to analyze their own thought patterns and internal biases, because officers with those skills “are those who can pursue paths of peace,” he told the West Jordan Journal in 2020.

Yet Wallentine also has a well-paid side gig as a consultant and expert witness, in which he has faced accusations of working to stymie reform efforts.

He’s repeatedly testified in defense of police officer behavior that judges later found violated the Constitution or resulted in millions of dollars in settlements and judgments.

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USE OF FORCE

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Hurricane Police officers claimed that Brian Cardall was in a state of “excited delirium” when they shocked and killed him with a Taser in 2009.

Such policies “box officers in,” a 2018 LexiPol white paper co-authored by Wallentine and Praet reads, and are “likely to create—not solve—legal issues for the agency.”

The company strongly opposes rules that would prohibit officers from taking actions like chokeholds or firing at moving vehicles.

“By producing policies and trainings that are silent on … alternatives known to reduce police violence, LexiPol provides no structure for participating agencies to consider these alternatives,” UCLA law professors Ingrid Eagly and Joanna Schwartz wrote in a 2022 article titled “Lexipol’s Fight Against Police Reform.”

Wallentine was also closely tied to LexiPol’s backing of “excited delirium” protocols, which led to the deaths of George Floyd, Elijah McClain and Brian Cardall, a Utah man who died after being tased in 2009 by Hurricane police.

Medical professionals questioned the methods for decades, but until last year, LexiPol explicitly endorsed the concept. As recently as 2019, Wallentine gave a webinar on “excited delirium” protocols developed by the Institute for Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, a for-profit Nevada company co-founded in 2005 by an attorney for Taser to help defend the stun gun manufacturer against claims that its weapons were deadlier than advertised. Wallentine sits on the institute’s board of directors.

In October 2017, a year before he was appointed chief of police in West Jordan, Wallentine stepped away from his role overseeing policy for LexiPol to one he still has today— writing a regular column about the law and policing for LexiPol’s in-house publication, Police1.

Shannon Pieper, LexiPol’s senior director of marketing and content, wrote in an email that “Chief Wallentine is a part-time employee with LexiPol focused on writing and speaking engagements. He does not have a direct role in developing LexiPol law enforcement policy content.” She did not respond to follow-up questions.

Defending Misconduct

In addition to his work in writing policies and interpreting police obligations under Supreme Court precedent at LexiPol, Wallentine has also pursued another side career as an expert witness consultant in police use of force and other misconduct lawsuits. In all but one of dozens of cases, he was hired to produce a report exonerating police actions.

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project and Invisible

Institute identified a total of 77 lawsuits—spanning from 2002 to several that are still pending—for which Wallentine served as a police expert witness.

These civil cases do not prove guilt or innocence but provide families with awards or settlements if juries are convinced the police actions were unjustified. There were 25 cases where a person died at the hands of police or in police custody—plus a miscarriage allegedly caused by police negligence.

Wallentine has defended police actions in overturned wrongful convictions in Phoenix and Kansas City, Missouri; alleged excessive force related to police K9 bites in Las Vegas and suburban Los Angeles; in-custody deaths in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Navajo Nation; and fatal shootings everywhere from tony suburbs of Chicago and Santa Barbara, California, to rural northern Utah and a highway outside Nashville, Tennessee.

In depositions, he’s noted that both LexiPol and the Utah Attorney General’s Office either discouraged or outright forbid him from testifying on behalf of those filing lawsuits against law enforcement, aka the plaintiffs.

Multiple plaintiffs’ attorneys interviewed said that they viewed Wallentine as being part of the policing world’s “cottage industry of exoneration,” as a 2021 New York Times investigation termed it.

Cases for which he’s testified to defend police officer or department actions have still cost taxpayers more than $37.5 million in payments to plaintiffs, either through settlements or jury awards, according to a tally of federal and state court cases by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project and Invisible Institute. (Another $650,000 jury award was later overturned on a technicality; there are also six settlements the news organizations could not obtain amounts for.)

That includes $10 million that an Iowa jury awarded in 2013 to Jarvis Boggs, who was paralyzed at 18 after a Waterloo police officer responding to a potential burglary crashed into his car while speeding through an intersection without the use of lights or sirens (the actions of a “reasonable and well-trained officer,” according to Wallentine’s report).

In another Iowa case, the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, settled for $8 million in 2021 with Jerime Mitchell, a Black man paralyzed during a traffic stop by an officer who had killed a man during a traffic stop just over a year prior. It was reportedly the largest police misconduct settlement in the state’s history.

Ken Wallentine, West Jordan chief of police

VIDEO FILE PHOTO STILL

COURTESY PHOTO

Policies that restrict the use of force by law enforcement “box officers in,” Wallentine wrote in 2018, and are “likely to create— not solve—legal issues for the agency.”

In this case, Wallentine was hired by the city, which reportedly spent another $600,000 defending the officer in court, only to later fire the officer for dishonesty in his reports about the shooting.

Other seven-figure settlements and judgments in cases for which Wallentine was hired to produce a report exonerating police actions include: —A $2 million settlement with the family of Brian Cardall, the Utah man whose 2009 death after being tased by Hurricane police officers on the side of the highway prompted a statewide conversation about mental health training for police. The officers’ decision to tase Cardall twice as they tried to stop him from running into traffic nude was reasonable, Wallentine wrote, because Cardall was suffering from “excited delirium,” which the officers had been properly trained to respond to with Tasers. A federal judge found that Cardall was at best a “nonthreatening misdemeanant” who was not resisting arrest and did not warrant a use of force being used against him.

—A $3.2 million settlement with Robert Swofford Jr., a Florida man who was critically injured by Seminole County Sheriff’s deputies in 2006 after he exited his house with a handgun to investigate a disturbance on his property— which turned out to be the deputies pursuing a burglary suspect. Swofford’s “decision to go into his field, armed with a handgun was unreasonable and negligent,” Wallentine wrote. A federal judge disagreed, finding that “every reasonable officer … would conclude that the use of deadly force against Mr. Swofford was unlawful.” The decision was upheld by a panel of appellate judges.

—A $2.45 million settlement with the mother of Sariah Lane, a 17-year-old who was shot in the head in 2017 by then-Mesa, Arizona, detective Michael Pezzelle, during an ill-advised police maneuver to bring an acquaintance of Sariah Lane’s in on domestic violence charges. Officers boxed the car in and fired into it when they thought her acquaintance was reaching for a gun; no gun was found in the car.

Wallentine unsuccessfully argued that “a reasonable and well-trained officer” would have taken the same actions.

In each of these lawsuits, settlements were reached after judges rejected the police departments’ claims that they or their officers should be afforded qualified immunity. Under this judicial doctrine, those bringing the suit must prove officers violated a “clearly established” constitutional right and that the officers knew or should have known that their

Burnham had allegedly had sexual contact with while on-duty—despite having enough information to locate them.

Then-SSLPD Chief Theresa Garner even testified during her deposition that she believed the allegations against Burnham constituted a pattern, but did nothing to increase supervision before he allegedly raped the teen. The case settled for $125,000.

‘Can Do No Wrong’

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DECEMBER 14, 2023 | 19

Sam Stecklow is a journalist with the Invisible Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit public accountability journalism organization, where he works on the organization’s Civic Police Data Project and its investigations. He was also a member of the award-winning team behind the “Shots Fired” project, produced by The Salt Lake Tribune and PBS Frontline.

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It’s not clear if West Jordan—which pays Wallentine over $200,000 a year in salary and benefits—is aware of the extent of his work as an expert witness.

On city disclosure forms—required under his employment agreement—Wallentine wrote that he engages in “occasional shortterm consulting.”

He has consulted on at least 17 cases since beginning work at the city five years ago.

Meanwhile, his consulting fees as of 2022 were a flat $300 an hour with travel ranging from $1,200 to $1,750 a day.

In lieu of a response to requests for comment and a detailed list of questions sent a week before publication, Wallentine responded through West Jordan spokesperson Tauni Barker that he was on family leave and unavailable for an interview.

Barker also declined to make West Jordan Mayor Dirk Burton available for an interview, but wrote in an email that “the City of West Jordan requires employees to disclose outside employment. This policy, adhered to by all employees, including Police Chief Ken Wallentine, helps maintain transparency and accountability.” Barker said that Wallentine’s disclosure “has not been flagged for any potential policy violations” in response to a follow-up question.

She provided a statement from Mayor Dirk Burton that lauded Wallentine for his experience and dedication to public safety, calling him “an invaluable asset to our city.”

The statement also credited Wallentine for “maintaining staffing levels and fostering an exceptional workplace culture that prioritizes equity, inclusion and policing with an outward mindset.”

Todd Macfarlane is a Kanosh attorney who opposed Wallentine while representing the family of Brandon Eric Chief, who was killed by West Valley City Police in 2010. He said Wallentine’s mindset, in his experience, is centered around finding the evidence to justify police actions, no matter how egregious their conduct.

Macfarlane, who clerked with Wallentine for a Utah appellate judge early in both of their careers, continued, “He’s one of those guys [whose] worldview is that law enforcement officers, as a general rule, can do no wrong.

“Truly, in my view,” Macfarlane said, “the way he is hard-wired is to always look for and find the evidence that will support the law enforcement position.” CW

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behavior was unconstitutional, a burden of proof that experts say can be prohibitively difficult to achieve.

In many instances, plaintiffs must find a near exact copy of their case with a favorable ruling in the same federal circuit.

Despite this strict limitation, federal judges in 24 of the suits in which Wallentine testified on behalf of the police rejected the qualified immunity defense and found plaintiffs had legitimate grounds to argue that their “clearly established” constitutional rights were violated.

In another six cases for which Wallentine served as expert witness, a federal district court judge or appellate panel found that qualified immunity should be denied, but were contradicted by another judge elsewhere in the process.

In six cases where Wallentine spoke on behalf of qualified immunity (but was denied), juries still found in favor of police. By contrast, judges in 15 lawsuits Wallentine was brought in on granted police qualified immunity. There’s no data about police expert witnesses and how their testimonies affect the ultimate outcome of cases.

When qualified immunity is denied, “it’s often because there are factual disputes that a jury needs to decide,” said Schwartz, the UCLA law professor. If the plaintiff successfully argues that a constitutional violation of a “clearly established right” may have occurred, “then it should be for the jury to decide.”

Wallentine’s testimony didn’t turn the tide on a number of state-level cases he was hired for. The Orange County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office asserted a “stand your ground” defense in a state court lawsuit over the fatal shooting of William Charbonneau, who was having a mental health crisis, in suburban Orlando.

In that case, the state judge found in 2019 that Wallentine’s argument—that Charbonneau, while lying prone on his lawn, could have flipped around a shotgun that was pointed at his own head to shoot at the deputies within a “fraction of a second”— was “not credible based on common sense, physiology, and physics.” That lawsuit was later settled for $125,000.

Wallentine has also asserted that police department officials had exercised proper oversight over rogue officers, in clear contradiction of other evidence.

In 2005, a lawsuit alleged that South Salt Lake Officer Gary Burnham had raped a 19-year-old, and claimed that his police department was negligent for allowing Burnham to continue working after both of his ex-wives filed criminal charges alleging domestic violence and rape, sexual conduct while on duty, and sexual assault of one of their children.

Not so, Wallentine argued, finding that the department had thoroughly investigated the claims. He dismissed the claims of the officer’s ex-wives as “largely unsupported.” Wallentine also noted that Burnham’s “ecclesiastical authority … spoke highly of him” during the hiring process, and that a polygraph showed that he “held traditional values.”

Utah federal Judge Clark Waddoups, however, found holes in the department’s investigation, ruling that investigators never attempted to interview women whom

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Rewind Vo l u m e 17 : 2000 t o 2 0 0 1 years of

salt lake

CITY WEEKLY

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

I

n a fresh and shiny new century, a future Salt Lake City was taking shape. And filling the pages of City Weekly in its 17th year were many instances of this process in action—whether great or small, discordant or harmonious.

The growth of the city’s Latino population had awakened an effort by fearfuls to push a ballot initiative discouraging multilingual governmental materials. The Deseret News vied for controlling interest in the Newspaper Agency Corporation after The Salt Lake Tribune’s owners sold the paper and attempted to buy it back in a federal tax dodge. Teachers along the Wasatch Front walked off the job in protest of dismal perpupil funding, and the ragtag indie venue Kilby Court was nearly shut down by the city for operating without a license.

A massive mall by the airport was under consideration, the old Murray smokestacks came down, and the relocation of the Hansen Planetarium became a political football.

And of course, there was some dispute over the presidential election results between George W. Bush, Al Gore and Ralph Nader.

Among the highlights of City Weekly’s cover stories included Rich Tuttle’s twopart series on the changing demographics of Salt Lake’s west side, Mary Dickson’s report of a proposed deal to store radioactive waste between Private Fuel Storage and the Goshute Reservation, and Anne Golden’s profile of those living with the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.

There was a story by Deborah Botté on KUER FM’s cancellation of Gene Pack’s (1932-2019) beloved classical music radio program, Scott Renshaw’s piece on West Valley’s Redwood Drive-in Theatre and Alexander Nibley’s well-received article addressing the stranglehold of Republican politics upon local Mormons despite their church’s directives against one-party rule.

John Saltas mourned his family’s beloved Doberman, Sadie, and developed a love for the Mexican chelada, Nesreen Khashan followed the war between Flower Patch proprietor Greg Parrish and Grand America Hotel’s Earl Holding, and Ben Fulton profiled the Minnesota indie rock band Low.

If you needed something to help focus your mind or calm your nerves, City Weekly had you covered—crossword puzzles were featured in the weekly newspaper beginning in this year.

Remembering Vol. 17: In the bills

Throughout City Weekly’s 17th year, political reporter Katharine Biele covered the intricacies and fallout surrounding HB320.

Drafted by honchos at Questar Corporation (since acquired by Dominion Energy), HB320 did away with the Committee of Consumer Services and created a hybrid regulator that by law could argue a case from both sides.

It passed into law unsigned by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt, whose father happened to be a director within Questar’s organization.

“Here’s a company that makes some really bad business decisions and then writes its own bill so regulators will pretty much be neutralized, leaving the company to charge what it pleases,” Biele wrote on Nov. 9.

Thanks to the sustained efforts of local consumer advocates like Claire Geddes, Betsy Wolf and Jeff Fox, the outcry against this law was so strong that lawmakers agreed to revisit it in the subsequent legislative session. “By putting pressure on us, you brought those people to the table with a full deck of cards,” burnished then-Rep. David Ure, the bill’s sponsor. “People now are sick enough of this [HB] 320 that they’re willing to work.”

Biele was less than enthralled by this particular gloss of the pressure campaign.

“Take this argument to its logical conclusion,” she observed on Aug. 24, “and you have legislators passing laws they don’t understand, and working on the details only under duress.”

Lawmakers floated the idea of making the Committee of Consumer Services an independent entity, which sounded nice on the surface until one realized it was still affected by whatever the governor-appointed head of the Department of Commerce chose to do with governmental pay rates.

“In the world of politics,” Biele concluded, “independence is a puppet on some-

body’s string. And Utah legislators, you may have noticed, are loath to cut the string called influence while ignoring the one labeled oversight.”

Biele ran a “Questar Watch” in her weekly column, tracking the company’s stock prices in the aftermath of HB320. “The weekly Questar Watch has been driving ’em nuts on Capitol Hill, not to mention over at Questar HQ,” Christopher Smart remarked on Feb. 1. “We even got a letter from one Questar official [Chad Jones] calling ‘Questar Watch’ irresponsible journalism. Then we knew we were on to something.”

After natural gas rates skyrocketed and the public pressure continued unabated, HB320 was at last repealed by the Legislature. But as is always the case with consumer victories, the struggle never ceases.

By March of 2001, Ure had inserted a line into an appropriations bill funding governmental department salaries, stipulating that the Committee of Consumer Services was to be moved away from the physical locations of the Division of Public Utilities and the Public Services Commission.

“Having failed to eliminate the Committee of Consumer Services,” Biele wrote on March 8, “Ure apparently settled for sending it packing. Literally.”

In the walls

“If you want an idea of precisely how ineffectual we have been over the years, how ineffectual all of the media have been and how ineffectual our historical preservation groups have been at saving historic landmarks, just look around,” wrote John Saltas on Feb. 1. “Now that you’ve seen the glass and the metal, the parking lots and empty lots, look while you can at what had been a battle cry building of all those concerned about historical preservation: the Brooks Arcade at the corner of 300 South and State.”

That venerable building of sculpted masonry in the Richardsonian Romanesque style had graced the cityscape since 1891.

But with its sale to the Arizona-based AlphaGraphics, only the outward facade would remain while all else would be replaced.

“The Arcade’s facade is being preserved only to make the powerful feel better about the beneficence of their rule,” Bruce Baird fumed on May 10, comparing it to the stories of old Potemkin villages that supposedly impressed Russia’s Catherine the Great.

The Brooks Arcade was far from the only structure with a wrecking crew appointment, as the Shubrick Building (1912) at 400 S. West Temple also had its fate sealed this year. Long known as the home of the Port O’ Call private club, the Shubrick was slated for demolition to make way for an expansion of the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse.

This subsequently set the City Weekly offices for future relocation, as they had been operating in this area at 60 W. 400 South since the early 1990s. At the very least, the 1891 Odd Fellows Hall (26 W. Market St.) was spared, albeit moved and rotated from its original location.

In one quote

“Materialism and morality have an inverse relationship. When one increases, the other decreases.”—Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma, to a University of Utah panel, as quoted in an April 5 editorial.

In production

“If everything went well last night at the press, you should have no trouble reading this,” wrote John Saltas for the March 1 issue. “We are now in our second week of printing City Weekly at a new facility, one as modern as any in the country. Many of you have already commented on the marked improvement in the quality of our paper.”

Having outgrown the printing facilities in the immediate area, City Weekly relocated its production to Ogden. Using the presses of the Ogden Standard Examiner, City Weekly was now fully digital, transmitting its pages electronically to the folks up north.

“So, for a while some of our data may not be talking correctly to their equipment,” Saltas informed the Weekly’s readers. “That could mean funky looking ads, or even pictures missing, like in last week’s Zephyr ad.

Sorry, Sam.” CW

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Fry, Fry Again When a sushi chef sets his eyes on fried fish, you get the magic of Ty’s Fish and Chips.

Protect Your Loved Ones

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

are great, but it’s really all about the fish here at Ty’s. I’m hoping they offer a combo of sorts in the future; I could see going for a box that had a couple crab balls along with some signature fish and fries.

Wherever your journey takes you at Ty Fish and Chips, you may notice along the way that they also offer a side of modestly-priced coleslaw ($1.50). During my first visit, I thought the inclusion was a little strange; I just haven’t seen slaw served with fish and chips before. The cashier suggested it, so I snagged some—and let me tell you, this unassuming side dish is the ultimate supporting character. It’s on the more acidic side of the slaw spectrum, but that sharp flavor and crunchy cabbage is a spectacular complement to the many fried menu options.

Whether receiving unexpectedly considerate service or trying stellar flavor combos, each of my visits to Ty Fish and Chips has been punctuated with pleasant surprises. If fish and chips has ever occupied a soft spot in your heart, you’ll want to check this place out. CW

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honey wasabi is ideal for those after a little kick. The miso garlic sauce is the dark horse of this group; I liked it, but it’s rolling with some strong flavors that might throw the unprepared for a loop.

I feel like most iterations of fish and chips treat the fries as just something to take up space in the basket of fish, but that’s not the case here. These are of the steak-fries variety, and their crispy girth is an ideal complement to the wonderful fish. Like the dipping sauce you get to select, the fries can be dressed in a variety of ways, including a pickle jala garlic cream sauce, a truffle parmesan sauce or a Japanese miso-and-ketchup combo. The former two are excellent, but their aioli foundation can make them a bit heavy in an already rich basket of food. For my money, the Japanese miso and ketchup mix is the way to go, combining the excellent umami flavor of miso with a spike of sweetness from the tomato ketchup.

Once you’ve had the fish, you have my permission to indulge in some of the other fried seafood offerings. The fried shrimp ($12) are plump and juicy, the crab balls ($7) reimagine the crab rangoon as arancini, and the seafood eggroll ($7) packs fresh chopped shrimp and calamari in a bite-sized package. All of these options

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TY FISH AND CHIPS 9411 S. 700 East 385-274-2760 tyfishnchips.com

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30 east Broadway, SLC

801.355.0667

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DECEMBER 14, 2023 | 23

’ve noticed that society has slowly started to banish the term “guilty pleasure” over the past few years, and I think that’s a net gain. Life is a big enough pain in the ass without having to somehow rationalize the things that bring us joy on this bumpy ride.

This is why I love to see professional, accomplished chefs like Chef Ty Hoang investing in the casual seafood concept Ty Fish and Chips. If you’ve ever wondered what a sushi chef’s take on this deepfried classic would be like, you’re in luck.

Followers of our local food scene will likely recognize Chef Hoang from his work as co-founder of Chopfuku, the Taylorsville sushi restaurant that has no shortage of local and national accolades. A sushi chef for over 20 years, Chef Hoang brings a wealth of experience to the humble yet universally adored concept of fish and chips.

While I’m sure the comparison of sushi and deep-fried fish might garner an eyeroll or two from the foodie snobs among us, the core magic of both dishes comes from letting the ingredients speak for themselves.

When done with the level of care that Chef Hoang provides, a golden-brown slab of fried fish has plenty to say.

Ty Fish and Chips is a fairly recent addition to the Sandy Village Shopping Center, and its corner shop location has been renovated into a casual, welcoming space.

As one might guess from the restaurant’s name, the menu is built around fish and chips, the classic one-two punch of deepfried decadence. There are a few other notable entries within the fried seafood theme, but a visit to Ty Fish and Chips should include their signature dish.

It comes in a two-piece ($11) or threepiece ($14) box with a heap of fries that get dressed with one of three different sauce combos. One of the great things about fish and chips is you can deep fry any piece of whitefish and it usually comes out okay. Chef Hoang has brought his affection for red snapper to his menu, and it really lends itself to the frying process. It’s hearty enough to hold up under Hoang’s generous coating of batter, and juicy enough to provide excellent contrast between the crispy exterior and the luscious interior.

As delightful as that fried red snapper is on its own, don’t miss the opportunity to snag a few dipping sauces during your visit. The Ty Signature Tartar sauce is excellent for traditionalists—supercreamy, with just enough acid to cut through the savory richness. The mango curry is great for those who like a bit of sweetness in their condiments, and the

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2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com On Tap: Midnight Especial- Dark Mexican Lager Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: ESB - English Amber Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

TWO LOCATIONS 550 S. 300 W. SUITE 100 SLC 2496 S. WEST TEMPLE, SLC LEVELCROSSINGBREWING.COM @LEVELCROSSINGBREWING

Chappell Brewing 2285 S Main Street, Salt Lake City, chappell.beer On Tap: WarPig - Cascadian Dark Ale Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com On Tap: Purple Rain - Marionberry Helles Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: La Playa-Mexican Style lager Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: 2023 Big Bad Baptist BarrelAged Imperial Stout Variants 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: Rye Pilsner Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Down the Road - West Coast IPA Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 So. 300 West #100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: You-Tah Coffee Uncommon Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Golden Sprocket Wit Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Wet Hopped - Infused with Cascade and Citra Hops

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: Crisper Drawer Golden Ale Roosters Brewing, Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Identity Crisis Session West Coast Hazy Cold IPA – the name says it all!

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

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Deep Dive Series - Rice Lager Draft

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Oktoberfest Vienna Lager

Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com On Tap: Peanut Butter Porter

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com On Tap: Scion Mircantersh 7.1% ABV

Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Pear Pink Peppercorn & Tarragon Cider

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com On Tap: Cached Out Hefeweisen -Now available to go!

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Whispers from Krakatoa - Helles Lager with Habanero and Mango Proper Burger: Sour Ranger - Blackberry and Lemon Sour Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191 Moab, Utah 84532 On Tap: Angus McCloud- Scottish Ale Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Slim Shady Gluten Friendly Light Ale Live Music: Thursdays Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com On Tap: Foggy Goggle Winter Lager Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co. 147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/squatters On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co.’s Grandma’s Cookies Nitro Stout

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West Utahbeers.com On Tap: Tree Beard IPA w Fresh Spruce Tips and Simcone, Citra & Ekeanot Hops Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: Wake-Up Call Coffee Stout. Collab with KBER 101 and Kings Peak coffee.

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: Bananza Hefeweizen Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com On Tap: Yacht Rock Juice Box Juicy IPA TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Dunkel Lager Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Witches Brew Top of Main Brewing 250 Main, Park City, Utah saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch On Tap: Top of Main’s Warmer Winter Spiced Ale 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’s Mother Urban’s Parlor Blonde Ale Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

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DECEMBER 14, 2023 | 25

evel Crossing - Nitro Fruit Bat (Peach): Showing that craft beer aficionados don’t have to get all sour over fruit beer, the Level Crossing Brewing team embraces the tang while celebrating the classic American orchard fruit— peach—then topping it off with nitrogen conditioning instead of the standard CO2.

Pouring a slightly clear goldenrod, this nitro ale has the typical tall and lathery foam head that maintains its froth throughout the session. Racy aromatics fill the nose with tart peach and a cast of light lemon. Gentle sweetness layers on the tongue, with a wafer thin maltiness that’s suggestive of sourdough, saltwater taffy and hard candy.

The sweetness fades nearly as quick as its froth, while the sourness begins to build upon the middle palate. Peach flavors float gently above the natural fruitiness of lime and lemon. This one is light and easy-drinking, neither too sour nor too peachy, and a beer you could really get into on a hot day. It’s nice to see some innovation from these guys, though this is not radical enough to be polarizing at all, and should have real wide appeal. It drinks like a clean sour done in stainless steel—fresh but not mature, tart but not funky, and with the essence of the peach throughout. It’s also not sweet or overdone, which I have to confess, I expected it to be. The peach is pretty natural, too, I suppose there is a little bit of a candied or concentrated peach thing going on, but the proportion is light enough that it never becomes too much to be drinkable. I like the tang and non-assertive sourness.

Verdict: Some sour beers you’ll find

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L

ki

Two beers designed for summer that will thaw your winter.

throughout the country have gotten really acidic, so this is pleasant. It’s not as dramatic, partially due to the Philly Sour Yeast and the nitrogen. Very drinkable, and just interesting enough on the yeast side. Good stuff.

Proper – Kōkua: One hundred percent of the proceeds from this beer will be donated to the Legacy of Aloha, Makai Foundation for fire relief. A classic combo with great clarity, it pours a translucent, sunflower-gold body topped with a finger and a half creamy, slightly off-white foam. Solid head retention yields a slim layer of cap, a thin, frothy collar and a generous spattering of soapy, webbed lacing caked across the walls of the glass. The aroma finds fresh mango pith with an apricot tinge upfront, easing to earthy melon accompanied by notes of grapefruit, pine, and grassy resins. A soft, doughy malt undertone is revealed quietly alongside a subtle passionfruit inflection.

I’m not sure of the hop bill here—perhaps Citra & Mosaic hops—but it brings orange and ruby red grapefruit to open the taste, with melon softened by mango esters over the mid-palate as a flaky, bready malt settles through the back end of the profile. Mouthfeel shows a deft, light body and a rounded, silky fluff of moderate-to-full carbonation, leaving a pseudo-bittering sensation phasing to slick resins through the mid-palate.

Creamy interludes preclude a dryness prevailing on the finish.

Verdict: Soft, attenuated nuances shine here, as a potently resinous undercurrent builds on this subtle malt foundation in some great fruity malt texturing. The result is another highly quaffable pale ale offering from Proper Brewing.

As Kōkua is a charitable beer, you should hit up all of Proper’s locations and snag some. This beer is only on draft, but you can get your growler and crowler fill no problem at Proper’s main brewery. Of course, I prefer the in-house enjoyment of most brews. Because Nitro Fruit Bat is only available on the nitro tap, no growler or crowler fills will be available. Nitro beers just don’t jive well with those containers. As always, cheers! CW

Hop

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the

BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER |

@captainspringer

Bix Bakery and Cafe Opens

Sugar House denizens may have noticed a bit of a change to their location of Saffron Valley: It now includes 100 percent more bakery. Bix Bakery and Cafe (479 E. 2100 South, 385-259-0359, bixbakeryandcafe.com), the latest venture from Saffron Valley owner Lavanya Mahate, is a colorful foray into the world of baked goods in the same vein as South Jordan’s Biscoff Bakery. Its breakfast and lunch options make it a nice counterpart to Saffron Valley, which really shines as a dinner destination. Bix serves everything from breakfast sandwiches to smoothies, and their popular claim to fame is the cappuccino machine that will imprint a foamy version of your favorite phone pic right on your coffee.

Egg Break Opens

Speaking of breakfast, a spot called Egg Break (193 W. 2100 South, eggbreakbreakfast.com) recently opened its doors just a few blocks west of Bix. Their concept revolves around high-class breakfast sandos, which are becoming a welcome trend in the metropolitan area, to be sure. Their current lineup features some truly mouthwatering options, from the Egg McMuffin-killer known as Farm Boy, to the Pastrami Nom Nom, which welcomes Utah’s favorite cured meat to the realm of breakfast sandwiches. On the side, diners can snag some hot breakfast tots or berries-and-cream brioche French toast. As far as breakfast joints go, Egg Break doesn’t look like it’s messing around.

Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cuisine Workshop

Craft Lake City is hosting Chef Wendy Juarez of catering company Prime Corn (primecornfood. com) as part of their ongoing New Americans Workshop Series. In this workshop, Chef Juarez will show attendees the relationship between food and culture, as she focuses on pre-Hispanic Mexican ingredients like cocoa beans, nopales and tejocote. As the cultural significance of these ingredients is both fascinating and important, attendees will also learn about Chef Juarez’s own cultural background and how it relates to the culinary techniques and ingredients that will be featured. The class takes place at the Salt Lake City and County Building (451 S. State Street) on Dec. 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and tickets can be purchased via EventBrite.

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REVIEW Impure Imagination

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

B

efore a single image from the actual movie Wonka appears on screen, director Paul King sets a stage that I’m not convinced should have been set. A few tinkling notes emerge on the soundtrack, from the song “Pure Imagination”—one of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse tunes featured on the soundtrack of the 1971 classic Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the song that accompanies our first look at the candy-filled central room.

This Willie Wonka, those notes inform us, isn’t just any Willie Wonka, not some completely distinct interpretation of the Roald Dahl character like the one in Tim Burton’s 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

This Willie Wonka is Gene Wilder’s Willie Wonka—younger, sure, but a younger version of that guy.

And I simply do not buy it, not for a single solitary second.

It bears saying before progressing too much farther that director Paul King’s Wonka is a perfectly enjoyable piece of family-friendly cinema, full of energy and some lively enough tunes as crafted by Irish songwriter Neil Hannon for the musical production numbers. The same zippy charm that King brought to his two wellloved Paddington features is on full display, without collapsing into the excesses of so much IP-driven Hollywood movie-making. But this is a movie that lays its foun-

28 | DECEMBER 14, 2023

CINEMA dation as part of a specific chain of events that will eventually result in Wilder’s Wonka tumbling his way to the front gates as he invites Golden Ticket-winning children into a tour of his wondrous factory.

Which, at the risk of repeating myself, is a mistake.

That foundation introduces us to young Willie (Timothée Chalamet) as he prepares to put his years of globe-trotting study of candy-making to use, landing in an unnamed but vaguely European town. There he hopes to set up shop as a chocolatier, but many obstacles stand in his way, from an inadvertent agreement to indentured servitude at the hands of a nasty laundress (Olivia Colman), to the manipulations of the chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key) by the local candy cartel run by Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) and Prodnose (Matt Lucas).

There’s a lot going on as the story unfolds, including Willie’s growing friendship with his fellow involuntary laundry workers like the young orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), and his conflict with a justice-seeking Oompa Loompa (a digitally diminished Hugh Grant). Mostly, though, Wonka avoids feeling over-stuffed, thanks

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to King’s light touch and a breezy pacing through even the most expository scenes, like the flashback to Willie’s childhood relationship with his mother (Sally Hawkins). The supporting performances similarly walk a delicate line, evoking the exaggerated types required of this kind of fantasy without falling into over-the-top grotesquerie which would have weighed the whole enterprise down.

Chalamet’s Willie, on the other hand, presents a different problem. There’s nothing wrong conceptually with suggesting a more naïve confectionary wizard-in-the-making, though the boat that this character is fresh off of—having spent years as an explorer—might tend to make someone a bit more worldly than this Willie seems. But the attempts to craft Willie as a sympathetic, innocent figure, including making him illiterate when we first meet him, blunt the mischievous edge that made Wilder’s 1971 version of the character so indelible. Chalamet might bring plenty of showmanship to his performance, giving his all to being a song-anddance man, but the screenplay—by King and his Paddington 2 collaborator Simon Farnaby—asks him to play someone who

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is simply too nice to be at all believable as a future genial madman.

Once again, to be excruciatingly clear: A different concept of Willie Wonka isn’t inherently problematic, unless you’re making a deliberate effort to connect your version with that previous version. When Grant breaks into the “Oompa Loompa” song, it’s a specific callback that works because we know it’s connected to a finger-wagging lesson. And you can’t have it both ways, which is what Wonka wants. In this film’s scene where Willie first opens up his elaborately-appointed shop to customers, it’s a lovely and light-hearted moment that gets its very own original song.

Perhaps that’s the vibe King should have stuck with, instead of cuing his audience with “Pure Imagination” that what we’re expected to imagine is a prequel. CW

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MUSIC

FEATURE Happy Accident The Van Sessions podcast brings Ogden’s local music scene to the world

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

B

ob Ross was right about happy accidents. Since the early ’80s, we’ve been quoting the joyful TV painter, and finding reasons to call mishaps in life “happy accidents.” Ogden’s Van Sessions was started as one such example. Some would maybe say that shoving an entire band into an ’87 Dodge van along with a sound guy is a mistake, but they would be very wrong.

It’s just another delightful, happy accident.

The first Friday night of each month in Ogden is a night many look forward to—from 6 to 9 p.m., the First Friday Art stroll brings members of the community together to enjoy, admire and appreciate art of all types from their friendly O-Town neighbors. These days, the Art Stroll has a great turnout each month, but in the early days, it was a challenge to establish all of the ins and outs of the events.

The origins of Van Sessions can be traced back to when announcements needed to be made so attendees knew where to go, and how to get their stroll on. Van Sessions cofounder Brandon Long volunteered to be the voice of the Art Stroll, but during those cold months, sitting outside to do it would be no fun.

That’s where the ’87 Dodge comes in.

Having a sound system just for announcements at a fun event is kind of boring, so the Ogden City Arts Advisory Committee (which Long serves on) spitballed about other uses for the van. “What if we had a band come or a musician come and play?”

Long asked the committee.

Everyone agreed it was a great idea, but this brought more logistical questions.

Where would the van be parked? Would it be too far away from the rest of the events?

How do you involve multiple bands, as well as make the necessary announcements?

In order to get more ears on the bands performing, it was decided a show should be made about it in the form of a podcast.

“I thought if we’re going to have the bands there, I might as well record them,” Long said. “We have the equipment to record them, so let’s just make it a podcast. We’ll call it Van Sessions. … We recorded with one mic in a van down by the railroad tracks in the cold for years.”

Long had radio and podcast experience with co-host and co-founder of Van Sessions, Todd Obendorfer, so he had experience with recording conversations—but not recording full bands. Long didn’t have to fret, however; the community has been very helpful with advice and tips. “That industry was so welcoming to what we were doing, and I was shocked,” Long said.

“No one was ever mad that I didn’t know where to put a mic or anything. In fact, the opposite. They were helping.”

Things were going well, until the pandemic reared its ugly head (story of our lives, right?). All of a sudden, having a band and Long together in a tight space recording music became impossible. Live streaming, on the other hand, became the go-to during these times, so Van Sessions hopped on the bandwagon—which also meant learning how to record video on top of audio. The performances went from inside the van to in front of the van. “The greatest thing to come out of a pandemic is the fact that everyone’s got to pivot and learn new things,” Long said.

All of this has led to what Van Sessions is now—a solid, fun production that features incredible local musicians. If you’re in Ogden and can stop by the Art Stroll to see performances live, it’s fun to be there.

But if you can’t make it, the astounding

MUSIC Imag!nary Friendz at Van Sessions

production value of the videos will make you feel like you were there.

It’s fun to watch local bands playing their original music, but it’s even more fun because the bands who show up are having the best time. “Our experience with Van Sessions was phenomenal. It is a great opportunity for local artists to come together and perform in front of an audience, and out of a van!” said Ogden rock trio Imag!nary Friendz. “That makes it ten times cooler. The people at Van Sessions are so warm and welcoming, it keeps making us want to come back and work with them. The idea of all of our equipment and the recording all coming from that van is crazy, and we hope more people get to experience the same thing we did.

The way we look at it is that it is similar to the Tiny Desk Concert series, but playing in front of that van is something else.”

There are no signs that Van Sessions will come to an end anytime soon. “We’d like long-term to be a music discovery platform,” Long said. “Maybe across America with the internet, people could tune in weekly or monthly to see what bands are hot and new coming out of Og-

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den, Utah. That would be the dream come true. It would be amazing.”

The show is open to experienced bands, but those who haven’t had as much exposure can still throw their hat in the ring.

“We hit a nice pocket there for those that are quality, but they’re new, they’re fresh.

They don’t have a lot going on as far as not booking a ton of gigs, but we can give them that opportunity,” Long said. The best way to inquire about being featured is to message on Instagram, @vanessions.

At the end of the day, Van Sessions is a lot of work, but every minute is worth it. “When I’m in the van and these musicians are playing and there’s a crowd out there and they’re digging it, it’s like the coolest fricking thing ever, like ever,” Long said. “I’m not a musician, I don’t play. But I’m literally backstage. I’m right behind them producing it, and I can hear them in my headphones and sometimes I’ll tear up. … It’s so fun.”

Long story short: Embrace the happy accidents. You never know where they’ll lead. Tune into Van Sessions on YouTube (@vansessions) and don’t miss another majestic show in front of that iconic ’87 Dodge. CW

THURSDAYS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15

SHARK SUNDAYS

POOL TOURNEY HOSTED

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“Fur Foxen sounds like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Jenny Lewis showed up with a case of whiskey and a cello at a Texas bar in the 1980s,” the band describes themselves on their website. It’s scientifically impossible to be sad while listening to Fur Foxen’s music. That’s obviously an exaggeration, but the band really knows what they’re doing in terms of having a sound that’s familiar, but uniquely theirs at the same time. Hyperbole aside, there’s probably something for everyone in Fur Foxen’s library. They’ve treated us to a few singles this year, but one of their most recent singles, “Traveler,” is one to highlight. It’s the perfect track for rambling down a desert road, dust kicking up behind you and sun beating down as the heat surrounds you. That’s just their most recent release; there’s plenty of fun to be found digging through their previous releases to find something that really speaks to you. Joining Fur Foxen is Hooch, a self-proclaimed “frog rock” band from SLC. Also in tow is Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust, who perform “existential folk punk.”

Their debut release Purple House is all about change and finding yourself again after hard times.

It features a great variety of sounds, and is perfect for listeners who have a soft spot for acoustic string instruments, well-placed electric guitar riffs and a need to heal. Catch this great local lineup on Thursday, Dec 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com.

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It seems like many hiphop artists have a brief window of popularity before they are considered out of touch. You don’t see those kind of epic career arcs where emcees repeatedly absorb new shit that comes on the scene, filter it through their own established sensibility and come out with something that’s still recognizably them but also completely new and of the moment. California supergroup Living Legends have been slanging tapes and CDs since the ’90s, and are back with their first new LP in almost two decades, The Return. But why did it take so long? “Life happened,” member Luckyiam told Rockthebells.com in October. “We are a group made up of solo artists and inner crew groups. People did their own things. We went on a long hiatus, some one-off shows and tours/festivals happened, but we never stopped recording music here and there. We just never seriously focused on an album.” The Return features guest spots from Del the Funky Homosapien, Reverie and Atmosphere (among select others), and music production from the crew’s own Eligh, as well as the likes of Amplive, Voodoo Lion, Statik Selektah and more. With their DIY spirit and over the top live performances, Living Legends continue to show that they are one of the most enduring acts in the genre’s rich history. Brother Ali and Ocelot open. Catch these acts on the How The Grouch Stole Xmas tour at the Depot on Thursday, Dec.. 14. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $35 at livenation.com (Mark Dago)

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Many know Shaquille O’Neal, aka Shaq, for his legendary basketball career, impressive 7’ 1” height, his sense of humor and, last but not least, his philanthropy. Many may not know, however, that he is also a DJ, and a rather good one at that.

He’ll be bringing his beats to SLC this week in an unforgettable show. The self-proclaimed “Dubstep Dad” has been active as DJ Diesel since 2015, and has continued to explore the entertainment industry. He has released four solo albums as a rapper, starting with Shaq Diesel (1993) soon after he was drafted as the first overall pick to the Orlando Magic in 1992. His new dubstep album Gorilla Warfare (2023) includes bangers like “Bang Your Head” and “Watch Ur Back.” While the transition from NBA champion to EDM headliner is unprecedented, O’Neal has loved DJing since adolescence.

He bought his first turntables at age 14, and regularly played at local high-school and college parties. There is also something to be said about the similarities of both these careers: whether it’s in a basketball arena or an EDM festival, Shaq knows how to hype up a crowd. Come see Shaq aka DJ Diesel perform at Sky SLC on Dec. 15. Doors open at 9 p.m.; general admission is selling out fast, so grab them while you can. GA tickets are $60 at skyslc.com. (Arica Roberts)

It’s fun when artists have fun—not only with how their music sounds, but the way they arrange it and present it to listeners. Indie dance band Crewless hit the scene with their first release Elevator earlier this year, showcasing two tracks: “Elevator - Going Up” and “Elevator - Going Down.” Not only do you get a fun and interesting concept, you get exciting and catchy music from a new local band. Both tracks completely encapsulate the idea of heading up and then coming back down.

“Going Up” is upbeat, lively and has an excitement about it. It also incorporates so many different musical elements that will keep you hooked with its great combo of electronic elements, drums and squealing guitar.

“Going Down,” on the other hand, is more relaxed. It has more mellow vocals, and ditches the guitar for a steady drumbeat reminiscent of your favorite R&B tracks. While there may only be two songs to the collection, it tells an interesting story that will have you coming back for more.

Joining the indie dance group is Staycation, a young indie group whose soothing tracks will have you feeling comforted in no time. Rounding out the bill is Sydney Rian, who has an entertaining library full of rock/ pop punk vibes that offer a lot of nostalgia to fans of those sounds from the early aughts. Catch this great trio of local artists on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com. (EA)

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Jerry Joseph is a reliable rocker, whether on his own or at the helm of his long-standing band the Jackmorons. He’s a heartland hero with a stoic reputation and populist appeal, spawned from a combination of grit, gravitas, passion and purpose. He’s always been tough, tenacious and prone to speak his mind, no matter how gruff or uncompromising the music he makes might seem. His latest album, descriptively titled The Beautiful Madness, makes that clear, given that it finds Joseph tackling issues ranging from the rancor raised in response to the Black Lives Matter movement to the seemingly endless roller-coaster rides that life has become in the wake of today’s turbulence and turmoil.

He dispenses with triviality and doesn’t allow sentiment to shade his perceptions—and when he lets loose with some scathing invective, it simply serves to assert his intent. On the other hand, Joseph has put himself in the trenches, both literally as well as figuratively. His charity, the Nomad Music Foundation, brings music instruction to children in war zones and refugee camps, and he has no qualms about sharing the cold realities of those dark and dire circumstances with those who care to listen. Driven and determined, assertive and steady, Joseph offers a reality check he hopes will be heeded. Jerry Joseph plays The Pearl on Main at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 20 and 11:30 p.m, Thursday, Dec.. 21. Tickets cost $25 for a single show, $40 for both dates, at tix. com (Lee Zimmerman)

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free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped enslavement on a plantation in Maryland. She could have enjoyed her new freedom, but instead resolved to liberate others. During 13 bold forays into enemy territory, she rescued 70 enslaved people and ushered them to safety. She testified that she relied on her dreams and visions to help her carry out her heroism. They revealed to her the best routes to take, the best times to proceed, and information about how to avoid the fiendish “slave catchers.” In alignment with astrological omens, I invite you to be like Tubman and seek practical guidance from your dreams in the coming weeks—to solve problems or seek bliss.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Jack Nicholson has often played mavericks and antiheroes in his movies. His life away from the silver screen has also been less than steady and predictable.

For example, he has fathered six children with five different women. His fellow actor, Carrie Fisher, said Jack was “fun because he doesn’t make sense.” A person with casual knowledge of astrology might be surprised that Nicholson is a Taurus. Your tribe isn’t typically renowned for high eccentricity. But in his natal chart, Nicholson has the brash planet Uranus near his sun in Taurus, indicating he’s quirky. Aside from that, I have known plenty of Tauruses whose commitment to being uniquely themselves makes them idiosyncratic. These themes will be in play for you during the coming weeks.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Have you taken a refreshing break lately? Maybe a soothing sabbatical? Have you treated yourself to a respite from the grind? If not, do so soon. And while you are recharging your psychic batteries, I ask you to give

I believe you Scorpios are the zodiac sign most likely to benefit from being empathetic. By that I mean you have substantial power to thrive by reading other people’s moods and feelings. You are often able to figure out angles that enable you to gather what you want while helping others to gather what they want. You are potentially a genius at doing what’s best for everyone and getting paid and rewarded for it. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this knack of yours will soon be operating at peak levels.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun died 3,300 years ago.

When his entourage placed him in his tomb, the treasures they left included honey, which was meant to sweeten his travels in the afterlife. In the early 20th century, archaeologists excavated the site. They dared to sample the honey, finding it as tasty and fresh as if it had just been made. Amazingly, this same longevity is a characteristic of honey. I propose we use this as a metaphor for your life. What old resources or experiences from your past might be as pure and nurturing as they were originally? And how could they be of value now?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Screenwriter John Patrick Shanley writes, “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” I predict a comparable miracle for you, Capricorn, though I suspect it will arise out of confusion rather than darkness. My advice: Don’t be so bogged down that you miss the signs that a great awakening is nigh. Start rehearsing how you will feel when deliverance arrives.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Before he reached the height of fame, Aquarian Charles Dickens experienced financial instability. When he was 31, the situation got desperate, and he resolved to take extreme measures. For six weeks, beginning in October 1843, he obsessively worked on writing A Christmas Carol. It was published on Dec. 19 and sold out in a few days. Within a year, 13 editions were released. Dicken’s economic worries were over. Dear Aquarius, I think the near future will be a favorable time for you, too, to take dramatic, focused action to fix a problem you’re having.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Many religious people believe God can hear their prayers and intervene in worldly affairs. Others think God can hear prayers but may not intervene. Then there are non-religious folks who don’t believe in God and think praying is useless. Wherever you are on the spectrum, Pisces, I’m pleased to reveal you will have extra access to support and benefaction in the coming weeks— whether from God, fate, nature or other humans. Seek out blessings and assistance with alacrity. Be receptive to all potential helpers, even unlikely ones.

Go to realastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes.

Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

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I want to prepare you for the delights of the coming days. I want to make sure you are fully alert for them and primed to appreciate them. So I give you the thoughts of Leo psychologist Carl Jung. “It is important to have a secret, a premonition of things unknown,” he said. “We must sense that we live in a mysterious world—that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable; that not everything can be anticipated; that the unexpected and incredible belong in this world.

Only then is life whole.”

My Uncle Ned advised me, “The best gift you can compel your ego to accept is to make it your servant instead of your master.” A Buddhist teacher sounded a related theme when she told me, “The best things in life are most likely to come your way if you periodically shed all hope and practice being completely empty.” The girlfriend I had at 23 confided, “You may get more enjoyment from the witty ways I confound you if you don’t try to understand them.” I offer these ideas to you, Libra, because you’re in a phase when the moral of your story is no apparent moral to your story—at least until you surrender your notions of what the moral is.

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“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy,” wrote Cancerian author E. B. White. “If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” According to my analysis, your fate in recent weeks has been more challenging than seductive. You’ve been pressed to work on dilemmas and make adjustments more than you might like. But this rhythm is about to change. Up ahead, life is seductive, welcoming and appealing. Are you prepared to drop any unconscious attachment you have to your interesting discomfort so you can smoothly make the transition to more ease?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

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The platitude says that if life gives us lemons, we should make lemonade. I’ve got a variation on this. Consider the Neva River in northwestern Russia. It freezes every winter. During the frigid months of 1739-1740, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered her workers to cut huge blocks of ice and use them to construct a magnificent palace on the riverbank. She filled the place with furniture and art, making it a hub of festivities celebrating Russia’s triumph over the Ottoman Empire. I bring these themes to your attention, Gemini, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will have substantial redemptive power. Whether you make lemonade from lemons or a palace from a frozen river is up to you.

your fantasy life ample room to wander wildly and freely.

In my astrological opinion, your imagination needs to be fed and fed with gourmet food for thought. For the sake of your soul’s health, I hope you dream up fantastic, unruly, even outrageous possibilities.

© 2023

PRO

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

13. “Help!”

18. Many modern Christmas bulbs, in brief 21. Pouters extend them 23. “Not guilty,” say 24. Easy victories 25. What A.I. is trained on 26. NBA periods 27. Ampere or gram 28. Flashy hoops highlight, for short 30. Popeye’s ____’Pea 33. It’s human, they say 34. Golf Hall-of-Famer Isao ____ 35. Twosome 36. Eke ____ living 37. Blueprint detail, DOWN in brief 1. South Africa’s largest city, familiarly 38. Lawrence ____ 2. “Same” (Mr. T’s real name) 3. Farfalle shape 39. Minecraft block with 4. Copy of an orig. a fuse 5. Place for a stud or a hoop 43. Abound (with) 6. Bert and Ernie, for one 44. Overseas 7. ____ Trotter (frontman of the Roots bet- 45. Less worldly ter known as Black Thought) 46. 1840s White House 8. Farewell that’s bid family 9. One-named “Baby Beluga” singer 48. “Rappa Ternt Sanga” 10. Letters on a sunscreen bottle artist 11. Hartsfield-Jackson airport code 49. Having too much 12. Initialism often following “4G”

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Greener Garbage

50. Rizzo of “Midnight Cowboy” 53. ____ emoji 54. Legendary Spanish knight El ____ 55. Game with Wild cards 56. Channel that airs old MGM and RKO films 57. Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er ____” 58. Network supported by “Viewers Like You” 59. ____ Grande

Last week’s answers

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

1. Triangular sail 4. Color at a traditional Chinese wedding 7. Ankle bones 14. Prefix with meter 15. ____ de cologne 16. Get comfortable with 17. New Year’s Day football game aficionado?

19. Flips (through) 20. Verbalize 21. Willingly 22. ____ rage (juicer’s problem) 23. In favor of Latin words that start with “Q”?

29. Proceeds with caution 31. “____ additional cost!”

32. “I know you ... from that thing that time” 34. Take ____ down memory lane 35. Raise a glass to a Major Leaguer?

39. Grayish brown 40. Streamlined 41. Evening, in advertising 42. Princess’ pea, e.g.

47. Person who knows everything there is to know about John Deere?

51. Online market since 1995 52. iPhone forerunners, for short 53. Danger 54. Fish alternative?

58. “Your decision there was an excellent one” ... or this puzzle’s theme 60. How to pay for penny candy, say 61. “About Me” info 62. ____ Lingus 63. One of The Three Tenors 64. Soak (up) 65. Pediatricians, e.g.: Abbr.

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38 | DECEMBER 14, 2023

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Who knew a single head of lettuce can take up to 25 years to decompose in a landfill! Momentum Recycling— which picks up paper waste in Salt Lake County—wants to educate us about the gases, such as methane, which are given off by food waste as it decomposes.

The greenhouse effect of methane gas is 23 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Food waste in landfills also emits ammonia, which only makes our already atrocious winter-inversion air even worse.

So far, we haven’t had home pickup service specifically for food waste.

But recycling-minded individuals in Salt Lake County can dispose of their food scraps at Hello!Bulk Markets, a local dry goods and refill store at 1185 S. 300 West; The Front Climbing Club at 1470 S. 400 West; and Wasatch Resource Recovery at 1370 W. Center St. in North Salt Lake.

Wasatch Resource Recovery has Utah’s first anaerobic digester, which processes organic and food waste into sustainable natural gas and fertilizer.

For less than $20 a month, you can get a bucket delivered to your home and a roll of compostable bags. Collect your food waste and then place it on the curb every week, and voila! The waste will be turned into good gas. Momentum Recyling will also collect your waste and transport it to Wasatch Resource Recovery for a monthly fee.

Certainly, you can also throw scraps into your garden. But if you’re not one who possesses the passion bestowed upon those born with a green thumb, sign up for the service or get your waste to one of the collection sites.

Salt Lake City suspends curbside collection of its brown yard waste bins from Jan. 22 to March 3 to save fuel costs and reduce emissions in the valley, with the exception of Christmas trees.

While freshly cut Christmas trees can last between four and five weeks if properly watered, once the holidays are over, you can cut up your tree and place it out in your brown bin to be composted. Be sure to remove all ornaments, lights and tinsel before loading it in the bin and don’t overpack the bin so nothing shakes out.

If you live along the Wasatch Front but outside Salt Lake City, your tree will be picked up the day after your regularly scheduled collection day between Jan. 4 and Jan. 31. Do not put the tree in your waste cans or recycle cans. Also note that flocked trees are no bueno for any kind of recycling.

If the tree is over 8 feet tall, cut it in half and leave it by the curb. And if snow covers it up—uncover it?

Murray, Draper, South Jordan and Cache Valley have tree drop-off sites.

Provo will pick up trees on the curb, and St. George accepts trees at the Reuse Center at 575 E. Brigham Road.

For more tree disposal information, visit: pickyourownchristmastree.org/ UtahTreeRecyclingDisposal n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

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NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Awesome!

Get those pens and pencils—OK, Google forms—ready!

The Tampa Bay Times is inviting its readers and anyone else around the world to submit their grievances, the best of which the Times plans to publish in an upcoming issue to celebrate Festivus on Dec. 23. United Press International reported that this will be the eighth year for the Times’ Festivus Airing of Grievances. The custom is one feature of the holiday, which was introduced on a “Seinfeld” episode in 1997. (You might also remember the unadorned metal pole and feats of strength.) Happy Festivus, everyone!

Precocious

Ann Arbor, Michigan, police chased a stolen 17-ton forklift through city streets for an hour on Nov. 25, NBC News reported, in what they called “a very dangerous situation”—especially so, since the driver was a 12-year-old boy. The boy allegedly found the construction vehicle outside Forsythe Middle School with the keys inside.

While no one was injured, the forklift struck 10 cars as it crawled through neighborhoods with law enforcement in pursuit; at one point, officers warned other cars that he was “lowering the hooks—don’t go in front” of it. The boy was taken into custody and moved to a juvenile detention center.

The Passing Parade

Unconventional Weaponry

n Kansans, emboldened by their vote to keep abortion legal in 2022, have spoken again: On Nov. 28, Gov. Laura Kelly announced that the state will halt production on the “ugly as sin” new license plates that were supposed to roll out in 2024. Fox News reported that some drivers

A woman flying from Orlando to Philadelphia on Nov. 20 on Frontier Airlines apparently couldn’t hold it another second, WKRC-TV reported. “Sorry, everybody,” she said in a video captured by traveler Julie Hartman, before pulling her pants down and squatting in the aisle to urinate. According to the woman, she had been told by a flight attendant that she couldn’t use the restroom; one woman on the video can be heard saying, “That poor little boy” about a child sitting next to the spot where the woman squatted.

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Wait, What?

A 35-year-old man from Vietnam went to the hospital in Dong Hoi on Nov. 24 with severe headaches, fluid discharge and loss of vision, Metro News reported. When doctors did a CT scan, they discovered two broken chopsticks that were penetrating into his skull from his nose. Apparently, the man had been in a fight several months before and didn’t remember much about it—but said he thought something might have been stabbed into his face. Surgeons removed the chopsticks, and the patient is recovering.

Yikes!

As a man in Xiamen, China, used the “smart” toilet in his home on Nov. 10, he first smelled smoke—right before the toilet burst into flames. He didn’t have time to pull his shorts back up, but he did manage to capture pictures of the toilet with flames emerging from the bowl.

Oddity Central reported that the owner believed a short circuit was to blame; other incidents of toilets bursting into flame in China have been reported over the last two years. Burning ring of fire, indeed.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Christopher Boyd, 32, was riding in a car on Nov. 27 in Evansville, Indiana, when the car was pulled over for an obscured license plate, The Smoking Gun reported.

Boyd was patted down, and officers found a “small bag with multiple pills” tucked into his sock. Boyd told the authorities that he uses Percocet for pain from a bullet lodged in his spine. But police noticed he “tensed up” when being searched in his groin area; they asked if he had anything stuffed in his groin or buttocks, and he said he did not. But when they arrived at the station, Boyd was “walking with a limp and appeared to be clenching his buttocks.” A trip through a scanner identified a large object—a Smith & Wesson handgun of about 5 inches in length—in his rectum. (The manufacturer does claim the pistol is “perfectly suited for concealed carry” ...) It was not reported whether the weapon was loaded. Boyd also had two plastic bags of marijuana “tucked” next to his scrotum. He was booked into the Vanderburgh County jail.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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St. Paul, Minnesota, into a unique expression of her individuality more than 30 years ago, the Associated Press reported. But the St. Paul city inspector is fed up with her stones, statues and decorative art and has given her until Dec. 22 to clear it out. “I’m a rock lover,” Logan said. “If I see a rock I like, I try and roll it in my car on a 2-by-4.” A petition supporting Logan gained 150 signatures. “It’s not just about aesthetics,” said Justin Lewandowski, a community organizer. “It’s about our identity and how we, as residents, engage with each other and with city policy.”

The Golden Age of Air Travel

Julie “Bella” De Lay

| CITY WEEKLY |

Government in Action n Iris Logan, 70, began converting her front yard in

Only in 2023. On Nov. 28, as a big gust of wind whirled through Washington, D.C., the fully decorated National Christmas Tree was blown over, WUSA-TV reported. The National Park Service had to replace a snapped cable and install reinforcement cables and concrete blocks to secure the tree, but the lighting ceremony went on as planned on Nov. 30.

| COMMUNITY |

Sandra Jimenez, 44, is cooling her heels at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, Florida, after she attacked her boyfriend of eight years on Nov. 25 at their home, Fox35-TV reported. According to the victim, as the couple argued about him “looking at other women,” Jimenez allegedly jumped on him as he lay on the couch and stabbed him in the right eye with one of her dog’s rabies shot needles. She then left the house and he called the police, who took him to the hospital. Officers later found Jimenez asleep in a vehicle outside the home and arrested her for aggravated battery. Jimenez told them her boyfriend’s injuries were “self-inflicted.”

The Continuing Crisis

ELVES ON THE SHELF!

| CITYWEEKLY.NET |

“I’m having it my way!” appeared to be the message from a large, inflatable Burger King Whopper balloon that came loose outside a restaurant in Newberg, Oregon, and took off through the windy streets. KOIN-TV reported that the sandwich began its journey around 7 a.m. on Nov. 11 and crashed into a smoke shop before hitting an American flag and another business. Amy Kepler of the Newberg Police Department said that strangely, they didn’t receive any 911 calls about the burger, and no injuries or damage were reported to police. “It happened very quickly and did not affect traffic,” she said.

balked at the design because it too closely resembled the University of Missouri’s colors; others thought the gold-and-black plate was Kelly’s nod to New York, her home state. Others called it “slapdash and dull.” The governor promised a future public vote on possible new designs.

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40 | DECEMBER 14, 2023

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Temple of Poseidon

Monastiraki flea market

801-683-3647 • WWW.UTAHDOGPARK.COM Woods Cross: 596 W 1500 S (Woods Cross) | Airport Location: 1977 W. North Temple

Join out 8th Annual

Hosted by City Weekly Founder John Saltas

ALPHA GROUP

SEPT. 7 - SEPT. 20, 2024 ATHENS • CEPHALONIA • LEFKADA

801-972-2525

3211 S Highland Drive 3676 S Redwood Road 3421 Airport Road MILLCREEK UT WVC UT OGDEN UT

2024

BETA GROUP

SEPT .21 - OCT. 3, 2024 ATHENS • LESBOS • CHIOS

FOR INFORMATION OR TO HOLD A SPOT EMAIL JOHN@CITYWEEKLY.NET