City Weekly April 11, 2024

CITY WEEKLY

BY WES LONG

Lightning in the Hand

Turning 50 and still growing, Salt Lake’s Urban Indian Center honors tradition, memory and vision.

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BOX

Rolling Coal

For decades, two coal-fired power plants in Emery County have shored up Los Angeles County’s power grid. These two power plants—Hunter and Huntington, both owned by PacifiCorp—have proven to be controversial in recent times due to Los Angeles County’s decision to move away from coal-fired power generation.

As the leading cause of global overheating, coal power generation has remained a target for more progressive environs such as LA County

in the quest to upgrade to cleaner sources of energy. Despite the loss of the power plants’ primary customer within the next few years, PacifiCorp has refused consistent calls to shut the plants down.

Both of the power stations faced an Environmental Protection Agency regulation designed to slash carbon pollution and increase visibility at Grand Canyon National Park, a regulatory move that was countered by both recent presidential administrations. Recently, a memorandum to close both plants down by 2032 was rescinded back to the original date of 2036. This is in spite of the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages attributable to the carbon emissions from both plants.

The Utah Legislature, PacifiCorp and other stakeholders would do well to heed the economic costs of these unforeseen externalities and reverse the decision to move the closure of the plant back four years to avoid

further damages. The gained opportunity benefit should instead focus on revitalizing the communities the plants are in to charter a cleaner, more reliable and affordable method of power generation to ensure continued economic growth and communal prosperity.

ANDREW BRODD Draper

College Should Wait

College tuition is going up … again. Add in rising inflation and a burgeoning student debt crisis and the situation gets critical.

A college student’s money isn’t going as far as it used to, and far too many students are graduating with crippling debt. This is especially true in Utah, where the average salary for a college graduate in Utah is $37,328.

Considering that the average college debt is $32,750, the average fouryear degree is $52,652 and 34% of

college graduates could have gotten their job without a degree, the return on investment seems … deficient.

That isn’t to say that college isn’t necessary for some. There are many fields where college is required— medicine, for instance. But, in an age where information is just a few clicks away, college may not be the golden ticket it once was.

Entrepreneurship, coupled with self-directed learning, has the potential to provide a better path to success for many. So, can we stop pushing kids who aren’t ready into college?

Let them take a year or two to explore their interests. Some of them will find success without college.

JON ENGLAND Libertas Institute

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

THE WATER COOLER

What’s your favorite spring break memory?

Pete Saltas

When my parents unknowingly took us to Cancun for spring break, and my 6-yearold brother ended up carrying around playing cards of naked women that were handed to him at the hotel swimming pool. Good times.

Scott Renshaw

Junior year in college, my roommate and I went to Honolulu. Nothing bacchanalian, just a delightfully relaxing time seeing the sights.

Wes Long

My family’s flight to Boston and road trip back was a particular highlight. We have quite a remarkable country around us.

Carolyn Campbell

My best spring break memories involve going to Disneyland—as a kid myself and with my own kids.

Bill Frost

If it was a good spring break, I shouldn’t remember it.

Benjamin Wood

At USU, we did a week in Los Angeles and made it onto The Price Is Right. My buddy, Trevor, made it on stage, and the rest of us got to be those friends in the crowd shouting wrong answers. And by pure happenstance, we caught the 2010 reopening of the Angels Flight Railway.

PRIVATE EYE

BY JOHN SALTAS

Just Getting Along

In late 2023, it was announced that the former Utah State Prison site in Draper may become the home of a 300-foottall aluminum monument to be named the Statue of Responsibility. The statue was originally targeted to be constructed somewhere along the California coast—where it never found a home—as an offset to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Together, those statues would represent the conjoined twins of freedom: liberty and responsibility. Sounds nice.

Three of my grandparents, each entering the United States via Ellis Island from Greece in 1906, were the first among my family to view the Statue of Liberty. Like nearly everyone, they were duly impressed, and that’s saying something since the homeland they left behind knows a thing or two about symbolism and has left plenty of statues to history for the world to admire and gain inspiration from.

I’m a fan of monuments myself, to the point that I’ve even become mildly enamored of the Great Whale tail in the 9th & 9th area. I wasn’t at first, but it grew on me—like a barnacle.

Time will tell about the Statue of Responsibility. But, at first pass, I’d liken my initial reaction to that of the whale, which was, “Huh?”

The statue itself is basically two hands, each grabbing the other at the forearm, the symbolism of companionship, unity, assistance and community very easy to discern. I like simple things like that and especially don’t like to think too hard about the meanings of any particular piece of art, knowing full well that art, in the end, is interpretive.

I had barely thought of the Statue of Responsibility since

November 2023, when the idea of placing it in Draper took hold, and I gave it little mind until mentions of it recently began appearing in my social media feeds.

I grew up in the era when young men learned of sexuality by sneaking peeks at the dirty magazines on the racks at the local barber shop. I don’t know where girls of my era did similar learning, but I do know that sexuality in most forms was not something put on brazen display as it is today. So, I was taken aback when some people on social media began making claims that they interpreted the Statue of Responsibility as being an overt representation of a particular sexual act that I am shy to describe in this family newspaper.

Intrigued, I had to take a look. Sure enough—at least in some of the images I found online—one can view the clasping hands at certain angles and fairly wonder why Utah would announce to the world that it is wide open for business and that pleasure awaits all who enter here, so to speak. Like most of you, I grew up in ever-moral Utah, in a Christian home, in a town with no known atheists (not counting a fair number of returned war veterans), so the very notion that Utah might construct a giant assemblage is a tough notion to swallow.

For the record, I think it’s silly of folks to think of the Statue of Responsibility in a sexual way. Other depictions I’ve seen, especially those adorned in bright colors, are very clearly not sexual. But it’s art, and you know it’s only a matter of time (me speaking as a Utah native who has seen this very outcome time and again) before some do-gooder will set marching on an agenda to remove the statue, lest our children be scarred for life.

As that same Utah native who has seen this outcome on repeat for decades, I can thus predict that when that dogooder arrives, he or she will be deeply troubled about their own sexuality but will cast the first stone anyway.

I think it’s a tad large—it’s not like there’s any other massive statuary around to compete with it—and that the angle can repose somewhat, but it’s not my money that’s

going to build it. So let them do what they want. I’d rather gaze upon the Statue of Responsibility instead of other such inland man-made manifestos like Mount Rushmore or the Gateway Arch.

I mean, who among you have been to Mount Rushmore and can name the faces upon it—John Lennon, Barbie, Mr. Peanut and Barack Obama? Bonus points to you folks reading this from faraway Alabama: Which state is home to Mount Rushmore?

And the Gateway Arch? Pffft. It was conceived to be a living memorial to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of greater opportunities for men of all races and creeds, which fails to explain locating it in St. Louis and revealing that Jefferson was not a great enough visionary to predict modern-day tilts to include genders besides male. Setting it straight, however, the arch designer, Eero Saarinen, said it “symbolized the gateway to the West, the national expansion and whatnot.”

Gotta love the whatnot!

Conceived over 60 years ago by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, the Statue of Responsibility—in the not-so-whatnot words of designer and sculptor Gary Lee Price—represents that, “We are all one. We’re all united. Sometimes, we’re the hand reaching up; sometimes, we’re the hand reaching down.” Yes, we are, and that’s nice. But too many Utahns don’t really practice hand holding or helping Utahns not of their stripe—especially the morally upright and many of our elected politicians.

Here’s an image to consider. In the Statue of Responsibility, may one see the arm of a gay man, a Black woman, a Hispanic immigrant mother, a Native American, a displaced and disparaged LDS youth, a Catholic, a Jew, a Hindu, a Muslim, a family from Syria, Columbia, Korea, Egypt or India—all reaching from above, tugging at and encouraging those below to join them on the higher path, not the lower. That would be responsible. CW

Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele BY CAT PALMER

MISS: Newsworthy

Given the digital world we live in, it might be hard to judge what “newspapers” think is important. During The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ general conference, of course, go to any of the Utah newspapers and you’ll be confronted by Mormon news. But let’s look back at the week when The Salt Lake Tribune felt it necessary to give readers a heartwarming story from The New York Times that highlighted two families deciding against abortion. Titled “A chance to live,” the front-page story detailed the difficult if horrifying stories of babies born with trisomy 18, most of whom don’t live beyond two weeks and fewer than 10% beyond a year. Front page news, supposedly relevant to readers. The next day, this story appeared on an inside page: “Justice Department sues Utah, saying it discriminated against incarcerated transgender woman.” Discrimination aside, that trans woman’s gender dysphoria caused her to cut off her own testicles.

MISS: Under Where?

Speaking of Latter-day news—how about those garments? It was back at the beginning of March when the church offered “new garment options for women.” Who even knew that women could choose between waisthigh and navel-ish garment designs? But then, as the recent general conference revved up, the messages of hope and inspiration were punctuated by a call to wear these holy garments all the time under clothes. The church “recently came out with an online video about temple garments, asking people to drop the ‘magic Mormon underwear’ label” and give the vestments “the same degree of respect and sensitivity that would be afforded to any other faith by people of good will,” according to the California public forum LAist. It’s all about transparency—for the religion, not the body.

HIT: Demolition Man

Better late than never. The historic Fifth Ward Meetinghouse may still survive a near-catastrophic blow from a bulldozer and an apparently clueless developer. While this is not the first historic teardown in the city, it is one that brought unexpected angst from residents and city government. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but that listing doesn’t protect these kinds of buildings. A 2016 law made it more difficult to create local historic districts and national designation is primarily symbolic. Still, the Salt Lake City Council came out in force, and the mayor is proposing more stringent rules around the demolition of important landmarks, according to Building Salt Lake. Penalties would cover the city’s 16 historic districts and 165 landmark sites. Time will tell whether history or development wins in an era of high need for affordable housing. CW

My Favorite Things

For skin: I use Olio tattoo oil exclusively. I am in love with the earthy scents that they offer and the quality of their soaps. Olio offers a full line of skincare, beard care, tattoo care and handcrafted soap for those who give a damn about what goes onto their skin. (2065 E. 2100 South, SLC, olioskin.com)

For drinking: Asobu to-go coffee mug—this fits everywhere. It does not spill and stays hot or cold. It is my favorite, and I have bought it for my best friends—truly a superior cup. (asobubottle.com)

For feet: While in Paris, my friend, Kate, turned me on to Allbirds. My feet have never felt better, and I love that this is a sustainable shoe company. They are working to reduce beyond carbon neutrality, with ambitions to eventually become climatepositive. (allbirds.com)

For inspiration: Anna Hansen of The Hex Press is a brilliant local artist. Her studio is in The Bogue Foundry and you can find her at the Downtown Farmers Market, Fisher Brewing’s artist market and all over town! (boguefoundry.com, follow @thehexpressprinting)

For java: Jack Mormon Coffee. This is the place … for great coffee! Whether you want a nitro brew or our favorite, Texas pecan, you will not leave disappointed. Also, they ship. (82 E St. SLC, jackmormoncoffee.com)

For sleep: We sleep on a Purple mattress, with Purple pillows. I even travel with their sheets because they are so damned soft. They do not need to be put on a Purple mattress to work. Can you be in love with a sheet? Well, I am. (purple.com)

For beauty: Got Beauty is womanowned, and we love Tammy Taylor! It is my go-to place for pedicures and fun gifts for friends. (904 E. 2100 South, gotbeauty.com)

For hair: Cult & King makes some of the most high-performance and clean products for hair, skin and scalp in the whole world—but they are doing a lot more than just that. Join them in a movement of positive, disruptive change where conscience meets style. Six years ago, I let my silver hair come in, and I started paying closer attention to what I was putting on my body. I was excited for this brand and the barbershop that I go to started carrying their product for me. (cultandking.com)

For art: Lance Everil is creating art that is accessible for any budget or space. I love that Lance is trying to help with a little handmade art, inspiration, humor, civility and love. (Follow @lanceeverill) CW

Down the Rabbit Hole

The new opera A.L.I.C.E. connects the Lewis Carroll story to the composer’s experience living with autism

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

For those who are most familiar with Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland from Disney movies, the story might seem to be all about fantastical absurdity. For composer Amy Scurria, who decided to turn the story into the opera A.L.I.C.E., it provides a unique connection to her realworld experience.

As an adult, Scurria was diagnosed with autism—but as she puts it, “I was born autistic, but spent most of my life not knowing. … I didn’t know how to approach the world. It all felt ridiculous to me. The world just didn’t make sense to me; so many people didn’t make sense to me.”

She recalls being drawn to Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories as a child, and later, upon joining online groups for adults with autism, realized that she was not alone among her autistic peers in feeling this affinity. “I’m still unpacking why,” she says. “I was always so literal, and Alice is always so forthright and literal. … If you put yourself in Alice’s position, Wonderland is this odd and very dark experience. She keeps missing things and misunderstanding the characters, and they’re misunderstanding her.”

Still, when she began thinking about A.L.I.C.E. as a libretto for an opera, it wasn’t immediately clear to her how to find the dramatic hook for the story that would work in that art form. She credits

her husband and librettist, Zane Corriher, for helping to unlock that component. “We came to The Caterpillar’s question of ‘Who are you?’” she says. “Zane sort of focused on that; what if we make it about identity? Identity had become so important in my life, and in everyone’s life; it’s the most important journey you can take.”

The development of A.L.I.C.E. has taken several years, including a festival version with a chamber orchestra. But for its first production with a full orchestra, A.L.I.C.E. will be coming to the University of Utah, directed by the university’s Director of Opera, Robert Breault. Breault recalls encountering the work—and Scurria—for the first time at the 2023 conference of the National Opera Association in Houston, where Scurria had a table set up.

“I was running around because I’m also the official photographer for the convention,” Breault says. “Every time I looked at Amy, I saw this person who was reaching out and wanted to talk. So I stopped, and was absolutely enamored with the project. … I just felt an affinity for Amy herself, and working with her. You have to have that kind of connection with a human being, and think it’s going to be rewarding to spend time with this person.”

Yet Breault also acknowledges that there’s a particular risk that goes into producing a brand-new work, for any arts organization. “If you bring in a bomb, and the students hate it, that’s a lot of resources to spend on a project like that,” he says. “In the arts, we have to be very nimble with how we use our resources. So I weighed that risk against the opportunity: to re-create, or to create.”

That creation has involved ongoing collaboration between all parties involved, to the extent of bringing Scurria and Corriher into video chats during rehearsals. Breault says this provides a unique creative opportunity for the student artists that doesn’t exist when working on classical operas. “The students can create their own unique takes on the characters,” he says, “but with the guidance of the actual composer.”

Scurria adds that the process has been

Rehearsal from University of Utah’s production of A.L.I.C.E.

just as satisfying for her. “As a composer, when you create, there’s an aspect of yourself that goes into your work,” she says. “I’ve been really lucky with this work, because I feel like so far, everyone that’s grabbed onto it has seen it for what it is, and has seen me. Working with [Breault] has been very easy, and I do trust him completely. And he keeps checking in with me, and I don’t think there’s anything I’ve said no to yet.”

That collaborative component is one that Scurria values tremendously, considering how personal the story of A.L.I.C.E. is to her, and how much she connects it to her own experience. While it might seem more obvious for someone to share such personal material in an artistic form that doesn’t require the interpretation of other artists, Scurria thinks of it in a very different way, one that brings it back to wanting to be understood and heard.

“I got into writing music because I felt often like I couldn’t communicate well enough with the world,” Scurria says. “And I still feel that way. Finding my way into opera, having this be collaborative, is such a needed and powerful experience for me, because it’s how I connect—having people who want to connect to me pouring my soul into the music, and they want to be part of that. It’s healing for that little girl who’d stand on the playground and not know how to join in.” CW A.L.I.C.E.

U Opera with the Utah Philharmonia Kingsbury Hall

1395 E. Presidents Circle

April 12, 7:30 p.m.

April 13, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

$20 general admission artstickets.utah.edu

ROBIN FARNSLEY-BECKER

theESSENTIALS

Plan-B: Bitter Lemon

There’s a rich history of Shakespeare plays inspiring other creative artists to explore the supporting characters more deeply—and it’s a history that continues with Bitter Lemon, in which Utah playwright Melissa Leilani Larson takes Macbeth’s Lady Macduff, and attempts to dig beyond the single scene and 19 lines in which she appears. The premise finds Macbeth and Lady Macduff trapped together in a kind of purgatorial waiting room.

“There is a lot of pressure, a lot of expectation, when you adapt an existing work,” Larson says via email. “People know and love the Shakespeare, so when someone like me approaches the text and starts to play with it, it’s only natural that audiences will be wary. But when a text has been around for so long, it’s only natural that will be studied and examined, and that questions will come up. … I have always found the story of Lady Macduff very moving. She is one of those iconic, Shakespearean characters that you only see in one scene but that you remember long after. The tragedy of Lady Macduff is that she finds herself, by no choice of her own, on a collision course with Macbeth.  Bitter Lemon  is an attempt to reframe Macbeth as a figure who inflicts tragedy rather than someone who suffers from it.”

Plan-B Theatre Company’s production of Bitter Lemon runs April 11 – 28 at the Rose Wagner Center Studio Theatre (138 W. 300 South). Tickets are $15 - $25, and remaining tickets are limited at press time. Visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson could be called a cosmic crusader. An astrophysicist, astronomer, author and philosopher, he’s also a direct intellectual descendent of Dr. Carl Sagan as far as his musings on the universe and its connection to humanity. He’s become a popular pundit in advocating for exploration of the cosmos, while putting those findings into spiritual context.

“When I say spiritual, I’m referring to a feeling you would have that connects you to the universe in a way that it may defy simple vocabulary,” he once stated. “We think about the universe as an intellectual playground … but the moment you learn something that touches an emotion rather than just something intellectual, I would call that a spiritual encounter.”

Yet he’s also fully grounded. A staff scientist at the Hayden Planetarium, founder of the Department of Astrophysics for the American Museum of Natural History, a researcher who served at the behest of President George W. Bush, NASA associate and host of various scientific series on PBS, Fox and the National Geographical Channel, he’s become one of the nation’s most visible and vocal exponents for extraterrestrial research. He’s been awarded many honors, but the one that impresses us the most is his accreditation as Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive courtesy of People magazine. His upcoming presentation, “The Cosmic Perspective,” may suggest that his head’s in the clouds, but his mind remains on what matters.

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks at Delta Hall at the Eccles on Weds, April 17 at 7:30 pm.

Tickets cost $50 - $95; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (Lee Zimmerman)

Ballet West: Love and War

There’s a certain irony in the history of Kurt Jooss’s 1932 work The Green Table, one of the centerpieces of Ballet West’s seasonclosing production titled Love and War. The anti-war work, inspired by medieval woodcuts and the stark sensibility of German Expressionism, won a 1939 German ballet competition, inspiring Adolph Hitler to invite Jooss to become the national choreographer for German—if he would dismiss his company’s Jewish members. Jooss refused, and not just because Hitler clearly missed the point of his creation. “It never preaches right or wrong,” says Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute, “simply that the ultimate winner in war is always only death.”

In addition to The Green Table, the program features a revival of Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, featuring four dancers and a Richard Einhorn score for electric violin performed by its original interpreter, Mary Rowell. Finally, there’s the Utah premiere of William Forsythe’s Blake Works I, a full-company piece set to the music of British songwriter James Blake. “Forsythe’s way of moving demands a great deal of athleticism and speed,” says Sklute. “His work requires dancers to change direction in an instant and extend movement beyond what they are physically used to. This is what makes the work exciting both for the artist and the audience.”

Ballet West closes out the 2023-2024 main stage season with its production of Love and War at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) April 12 – 20, for five performances only. Tickets run $29 - $104; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

RDT: Gamut

“Gamut” is one of those fun words that we only tend to see/hear in one specific context—something “runs the gamut,” meaning that it covers the entire range or spectrum of something. It feels unnecessarily limiting, though, to say that something can only run the gamut. As Repertory Dance Theatre’s spring production demonstrates, you can also dance the gamut.

Gamut offers a program that does exactly that, featuring a repertory classic, a recent favorite and a brand-new commission. The latter comes in the form of Trinidad and Tobago-based artist Yusha-Marie Sorzano’s “Solfège,” the title of which comes from the musical term for assigning syllables to the notes of the musical scale (á la “do re mi fa so la ti do”), and features quirky movements, according to the press release, “inspired by creatures both real and mythical.” Ihsthan Rustem’s 2021 RDT commission “Hallelujah” joins the fun with a joyous work set to the work of American composer John Adams, inspired by emerging back into the world after the pandemic lockdown. And the program also showcases Lar Lubovitch’s 1978 work “Marimba,” described in 2009 in Altitude Magazine as “Continuous, unison, circular, it explores humanity and togetherness.” Combined in one evening of dance, these three pieces run the … well, you get the idea.

RDT’s production of Gamut runs April 11 – 13 at the Rose Wagner Center Jeanne Wagner Theater (138 W. 300 South), with performances at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $30 general, $15 students and seniors; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

BEAU PEARSON STARTALK SLASH C. PICADAS

Beavers and Spiders and Thieves, Oh My

Three new films cover a wide range of styles.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW

scottr@cityweekly.net

@scottrenshaw

Hundreds of Beavers BBBB

All things considered, it would be best for anyone to go into co-writer/director Mike Cheslik’s rollicking comedy knowing as little as possible, because discovering just how inventive he’s willing to get in the service of a joke plays such a huge role in why it’s so effective. At its most basic level, it’s the tale set in the 18th-century Canadian wilderness, where down-on-his-luck former purveyor of applejack Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Cheslik’s co-writer) must pivot to working as a fur trapper to survive. What ensues in the black-and-white, super-lowbudget production is an inspired mix of Road Runner-vs. Coyote anarchy, old-school video-game plot mechanics and retro silent-film aesthetics á la Guy Maddin, utterly singular in being able to turn those ingredients into something cohesive. This is the kind of movie that takes a gimmick like using human actors in full-size, sportsmascot-like costumes to represent animals, and finds every possible way to exploit it for laughs. In fact, that’s really the defining quality of Hundreds of Beavers: It’s a comedy that manages to take several running gags, develop multiple variations on each one that’s just as funny as the last one, then figure out how to connect those running gags in ways that are even funnier. Movies like this shouldn’t be able to sustain their comedic momentum for nearly two hours, but that’s what you get here with one of the biggest barrels of laughs in years. (NR) Available April 15 via FilmHub on AppleTV and Amazon Prime Video.

La ChimeraBB1/2

Throughout writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s drama, you can feel her reaching for complexity and profundity in the narrative, but somehow what emerges instead is merely muddled. It opens with Englishman Arthur Harrison (Josh O’Connor) recently released from prison and returning to Tuscany, where he and his cohorts plunder Etruscan tombs for valuable antiquities, found as a result of Arthur’s almost mystical ability to locate buried treasures. That’s only one of the odd components Rohrwacher inserts into the narra-

tive, occasionally employing upside-down camera angles or silent comedy-style fast-motion in a way that adds an almost farcical component. Yet there’s also an attempt to wrestle with when abandoned things become fair game for others to make use of, and an odd sub-plot involving a houskeeper pointedly named Italia (Carol Duarte) who hides her children from her employer (Isabella Rossellini). It’s all generally engaging but quite messy, and isn’t helped by a lead performance from O’Connor that’s meant to be somewhat haunted by a lost love, but simply comes off as internalized to the point of invisibility. Rohrwacher’s films have often been sprawling, ambitious tales bursting with thematic ideas; whether that approach strikes one as pleasingly dense or merely muddles is very much a “your mileage may vary” situation. (NR) Available April 12 at Broadway Centre Cinemas.

StingBBB

It takes only minutes into writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner’s monster movie to realize you’re in the hands of someone who understands how to have a blast with the premise of a giant alien spider terrorizing a Brooklyn apartment building. In the opening shot, the camera pans up a long strand of thread … only to reveal it’s knitting yarn rather than spider web; the opening credits find the eight-legged critter in its justhatched form creeping around a dollhouse, the scale of things hinting at the giant-alien-spider excitement to come. The plot involves the creature initially becoming a kind of pet for troublemaking 12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne), and there’s a subplot involving Charlotte’s complicated relationship with her stepfather (Ryan Corr) that is given far more attention—and taken far more seriously—than a movie of this kind really needs. But when the carnage gets rolling, it’s loads of fun, as Roache-Turner demonstrates a keen sense not just for jump-scares, but for building tension through camera movement and the use of off-screen space. Meanwhile, all of the Chekhovian guns are placed in just the right places so that it’s satisfying when they eventually fire. Simply put, this is the work of someone who just plain gets how to direct a monster movie built on practical effects—and on a realization that it should make you shriek and giggle in equal measure. (R) Available April 12 in theaters. CW

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Lightning in the Hand

Turning 50 and still growing, Salt Lake’s Urban Indian Center honors tradition, memory and vision.

By Wes Long comments@cityweekly.net

BALLPARK—The Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake probably doesn’t attract as much public attention as some of its neighbors. However, the warm, brown brick building located at 120 W. 1300 South in Salt Lake City—facing Smith’s Ballpark to one side and the Lucky 13 Bar & Grill to the other—has as many stories to tell (if not more) than any of them.

Just ask the guests who filled the center’s main hall on Feb. 29, in celebration of the 50 years that have passed since the Urban Indian Center (or alternatively, the Indian Walk-In Center) first opened.

“We had powwows down here every month, if not every weekend it seemed,” former director Dena Ned, Chickasaw/Choctaw, told those assembled. “I remember learning from the most amazing women how to actually make fry bread down in that little kitchen. The walls were all smoky and greasy, and it was a wonderful way to create a home when my family was in Oklahoma.”

Jacob Crane, Tsuut’ina, recalled growing up at the center in his youth. An entrepreneur and producer, Crane credits the people at the center for guiding him like an older sibling at many crucial moments.

“If it wasn’t for places like this,” he said at the gathering, “I wouldn’t be on the career path that I am now.”

While staff, donors and board members—past and present—mingled, and old friends hugged one another, Mary Louise Santacaterina, the center’s grants manager, welcomed everyone with the program for that day’s appreciation luncheon.

“This event is for all of you and for everyone who has walked these great halls before us,” she stressed.

Rose Jakub, Navajo, offered the prayer, current division directors gave status updates on their operations and executive director Alan Barlow, Navajo, along with members of the center’s board, offered their thoughts on the center’s progress. The guests, too, had their turn to share stories and reminisce during an open mic portion of the luncheon.

“We’ve got a great future ahead,” Barlow remarked to his tablemates.

That future will include a series of events throughout the year, as the center and its patrons celebrate the milestone of a half-century in operation with the theme “Honoring tradition, memory and vision.” In recognition of the anniversary, City Weekly conducted interviews and combed through archival materials to explore how the Urban Indian Center came to be and where it goes from here.

Neither Bright Nor Pleasant

The lands that came to be known as Utah have hosted indigenous inhabitants for at least 10,000 years. The successive arrivals of Spanish explorers, fur traders, Latter-day Saint pioneers and the U.S. government further complicated the terrain, with peaceful interactions

as well as violent clashes occurring between the different groups with regularity.

Subsequent federal policies forcing Native Americans into reservations fostered additional strain while efforts at Native American assimilation into white cultures through boarding schools produced cultural erasure.

“Everything has been screwed up since 1492,” said Dena Ned, summarizing the historic and generational legacies of settler colonialism, wherein “there was no other voice, there was no other way” beside that of those with the power.

By the middle of the 20th century, efforts of forced assimilation took on a new tack when the U.S. government began its process of “termination,” whereby it no longer recognized the sovereignty of assorted tribes, sold off reservation lands and forced those it displaced into urban areas. Add to this picture the natural birth rates, poverty conditions often afflicting rural reservations and an inflow of students during school years through initiatives like the Indian Placement Program, and, by the 1960s, Utah’s urban Native population had nearly tripled in size, with almost half of the state’s overall population located along the Wasatch Front.

Mary Ellen Sloan, in a 1973 study, divided Salt Lake’s urban Native American population between residents, migrant workers and transients—representing by her estimation over 40 different tribes. While housing discrimination existed generally, the migrant workers especially had to “contend with substandard housing and housing shortages, a lack of formal education, inadequate medical and dental care, and various legal problems,” Sloan wrote.

The United Council of Urban Indian Affairs—a conglomeration of local Native American organizations using seed money from “Great Society” programs—elaborated on these challenges in 1972: “Urban adjustment, finding employment, or a house, transportation, legal assistance, problems of alcoholism, police relations, education, health, cultural and spiritual deprivations— one or more of these problems exist for almost all of the 4,000 to 5,000 Indians in the Salt Lake Valley,” it stated. “Many of them face a future which is neither bright nor pleasant. Many of them are in need of social and eco-

nomic services which they are not receiving because many of them, when they come into the city, are not aware of the facilities and services already available.”

A Dream Begins

Resources were offered through state Family Services, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Salvation Army and assorted religious congregations. The University of Utah’s Alcoholism Training Center was particularly popular. But the United Council proposed something even more accessible and all-encompassing—a place where one could find all these scattered services in one location and which fostered Native American culture to boot.

Reaching not only Native Americans in Salt Lake but also those in Fort Duchesne and Fort Hall, this was the dream that would become the Urban Indian Center. And such a dream’s success would be realized, as Council coordinator Frederick Harden (1936-1992), Winnebago, said in the Model Neighborhood News, “when the Native American can retain his culture and function comfortably in a different society.”

Harden later explained the idea to the Deseret News in 1973: “In one room, a man would be seeking a job through the employment service. In another, a married couple would be seeking financial advice. Upstairs an alcoholic might be receiving therapy. Downstairs Native American women could be weaving a rug while youngsters play pingpong.”

Harden had already founded the Storefront Walk-In counseling center (at 11 S. 400 West, razed to make way for the Delta Center), and with Dr. Dan Edwards, Yurok, established an alcohol therapy program through the Salt Lake City & County jail at the start of the 1970s.

They were not alone in such activities—as with so many others, they were proponents of the renewed consciousness of Native American culture that was bubbling across the country. This consciousness took differing forms, from quiet interactions and coalition building to dramatic events like the Occupation of Alcatraz (1969), the Trail of Broken Treaties (1972) and the Occupation of Wounded Knee (1973).

Above: Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake director Alan Barlow greets guests at a 50-year anniversary celebration in February. Right: Community members gather at the center throughout five decades.

WES LONG

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“It is not uncommon to have families arrive [in the city] with no extra clothing, no food, no jobs, no fuel, no housing and no prospects for employment.”—

Courtney Reddoor Sr. (right) to The Salt Lake Tribune in 1981.

Edwards remembers Harden as “tough,” “smart” and “a nice guy” with a knack for repairing radios. Nola Lodge, an Oneida elder, added that Harden was a “fearless and articulate” activist “who knew his history.”

Intertribal and Multiethnic

Working with the Salt Lake County Commission, and with the support of Gov. Calvin Rampton (1913-2007) and Sen. Frank Moss (1911-2003), the United Council sought out a suitable location for their proposed center. Should they build? Should they use an abandoned school building? These options neither seemed feasible nor desirable.

Additional grants and the fundraising efforts of university students got the word out, but it was when Carpenters’ Hall—a former union meeting place—became available that the dream at last became a reality. With the passage of an appropriations bill at the Legislature in early 1974, $185,000 was supplied for the purchase of Carpenters’ Hall with the express purpose of it becoming a Native American center. By July, the building was being leased at $1 per year for United Council operations.

“Up until about 1980,” Lodge recalls, “There was a revolving series of directors,” with several coming from out of state. Private funding was often spotty and that which came from government entities tended to fluctuate depending on who was in charge.

Lodge vividly recalls when the Reagan administration severely cut funding to Native American programs upon its ascent to power, subsequently impacting the center’s job training, food bank and dentistry operations as well as their monthly powwows.

“It was really tough,” she said.

Speaking with The Salt Lake Tribune in 1981, then-center director Courtney Reddoor Sr. (1924-1987), Assiniboine, agreed with Lodge, adding that because of severe underfunding of the reservations, even more Native Americans were then coming to the city and seeking aid.

“It is not uncommon to have families arrive with no extra clothing, no food, no jobs, no fuel, no housing and no prospects of employment,” he reported.

Lodge explained that these kinds of dire straits—then as now—are most common for Native Americans in urban areas, caught as they are between the frictions of state, federal and reservation policies.

“The center is primarily funded by the Indian Health Service, and you have to be legally enrolled in a tribe to take part in their programs,” Lodge said. “For urban Indians, that’s sometimes not possible. Each tribe has the right to establish their own rules about who can be enrolled.”

While tribes are generally supportive of urban Indian centers, many opportunities to meet a person’s needs can be missed as a result of such complexities. Such were the circumstances routinely experienced by the center’s staff and clientele over the next several decades. But they made do with what they had, and still managed to foster services and cultural events.

From art shows and voter drives to rodeos and film screenings, the center has been a driver for so much local activity over its 50 years. It has even leased out its space for punk rock shows and wrestling matches.

Former center director Gail Russell (1933-2021), Chemehuevi, was particularly instrumental in securing funding for the center as well as making spiritual and health practices like the sweat lodge more available to Utah’s urban Native Americans—particularly those who were incarcerated. And by 1992, the building was owned outright by the community.

“It’s really intertribal and multiethnic,” Russell told the Tribune. “There are a lot of different tribes in the Salt Lake City urban area, and it is their community center. They choose to share it.”

COVID Reset

And share it they do. Directors have come and gone over the years. In that time, generational, cultural and tribal tensions have arisen; health and economic disparities have shown up; and the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be particularly difficult to recover from. But there are indications that the center’s future is indeed bright. A new medical clinic in Murray is slated to open this

June, and many cultural events are set for the remainder of this year.

“COVID helped us get a little bit of a reset,” remarked Kristina Groves, Ute/Hopi.

Heading up the center’s behavioral health programs, Groves remarked upon their ongoing efforts to integrate Native practices with mainstream health programs.

“Accessing mental health services is often difficult for anybody,” Groves said, “but especially for Native American people.”

Encouraging community interaction and the act of storytelling particularly goes a long way for a person to find healing and wholeness, organizers say.

“You’re really trying to ensure that you’re meeting [people’s] expectations but also that you’re being culturally appropriate and humble,” stated Community Health Services director Penelope Pinnecoose, Ute/Shoshone/Arapaho. “A lot of times our tribes differ in terms of values, and so when we look at our programs, we have to take a holistic view.”

Among the community’s Wisdom Keepers—a group of elders who routinely meet to socialize, plan activities and provide cultural guidance—dialogue continues with Barlow, the current executive director, to find a spiritual leader who will be able to conduct the sweat lodges once again. Barlow and his staff appear attentive to the needs of the Wisdom Keepers as well as to the numerous other people of varying ages who visit, recognizing that the entire center was built by the determined vision of countless people who had less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand, as the Apache saying goes.

“The collective efforts with our board and our staff are to make sure that this vision continues,” Barlow told luncheon guests. “Even when we don’t always agree— especially when we don’t agree.”

That’s a sentiment whose application encompasses more than just the center’s staff, as Groves asserts. She invited the public to look into visiting and volunteering at the Urban Indian Center as but one way to get in touch with that spirit of mutual connection and support.

“We live in a society that is very polarized right now,” she observed, “and figuring out how we’re similar goes a long way.”

Or, as Fred Harden once said to the Tribune, quoting Sitting Bull: “Let us put our minds together and see what kind of lives we can make for our children.” CW

The Urban Indian Center is planning a series of events for its 50th anniversary, in addition to its regular monthly programming. Highlights are listed below, with additional information and updates available at uicsl.org.

April 13: Weaving Communities & Making Connections Powwow, with the University of Utah American Indian Resource Center (Huntsman Center)

April 27: Humor Healing Comedy Show (Urban Indian Center, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.)

June 1: Intermountain Championships Powwow and Community Blessing (Rivers Edge Deer Park, Heber)

June 27: Family Field Day (Murray Park Pavilion No. 2, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.)

July 19-20: Fashion Show and Native Market Days (Thanksgiving Point Electric Park, Lehi)

September: Defend the Sacred Powwow (TBD)

Additional Dates TBD: Code Talkers Memorial, Cultural Fire Events, Adopt-aNative-Elder Gathering of Elders, “Dedication Wall” Unveiling and Gala

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Neighborhood Chic

Downtown sensibilities meet neighborhood comfort at Salt Lake City’s Roux.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

Visiting someone’s house to share a meal with them has always been one of those commonplace yet intimate events that make us humans feel more human. This has always been fascinating to me, and that fascination is even more distinct when I check out a restaurant space that was once somebody’s home. While there is no shortage of spaces like these around town, only a few of them really lean into that feeling that you’ve just popped over to a friend’s house for a lovely dinner— and the recently opened Roux is one of them.

Dining at Roux truly evokes the sensibilities of a cool pal who just so happens to be an expert in the culinary arts. The cool pal, or pals, in this case, are Chef Adam Cold and Chef de Cuisine Dominuquee Roberts. They’ve gone above and beyond to convert Roux’s repossessed domicile into a welcoming restaurant space with no shortage of style.

The menu at Roux does plenty to fit in with the cozy environs with plenty of familiar menu items prepared with some dramatic flair. It’s designed to help you build a three-course meal for yourself, or simply create some tasting plates while enjoying some local beer or wine. I’ve done a bit of both since Roux opened its doors, and both options will have no problem leading you to greatness.

The majority of the starters celebrate hale-and-hearty vegetables like roasted baby carrots ($12) with coriander yogurt, and harissa Brussels sprouts ($13). The latter represents some of the finest preparation of this beloved cruciferous veggie that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. The harissa gives the dish a nice red pepper kick, but it’s the drizzle of local honey that ties the whole thing up in a spectacular culmination of sweet and spicy. You start to get a sense of the chefs’ sense of humor when you get to the funeral potato pave ($9) and the Nashville hot oyster mushrooms ($15). I’ll always appreciate a local fine dining establishment that recognizes the humble funeral potato as Utah’s culinary claim to fame, and the Nashville hot mushrooms once again prove how well a mushroom can substitute for an animal protein; this will be a must for plant-based diners who pay Roux a visit.

The pasta side of the menu is replete with scratch-made options—you can see the kitchen staff whipping up all their agnolotti, pappardelle, gnocchi and even some bubbly foccacia through the diningroom wall cutout. The standouts here are the pappardelle pasta with fennel sausage ($24) and the enchilada gnocchi ($21). Yeah, you read that last one right. Fans of pasta dishes that are on the lighter side will gravitate toward the pappardelle for the ways in which the preserved lemon plays with the fennel sausage and wilted kale; this one is perfect if you’re planning on adding a third course to your dinner. And what more can be said about enchilada gnocchi? Two rich, flavor-forward powerhouses of cuisine unite for something truly original.

When you get to the mains, it’s really a toss-up that depends on several factors. Those after something on the light and fresh side will want to check out the brown butter rainbow trout ($32). Anyone

who’s fished Utah’s local waters knows the delights of a freshly cooked rainbow, and these trout from Payson’s Spring Lake Trout Farm perfectly capture that essence. Those seeking a fish dish with a bit more umami oomph will dig the miso maple black cod ($42), with its rich sesame vinaigrette and earthy purple sweet potato puree. On the more punk-rock side of things, you’ve got the lamb shank birria ($30), which will quickly rise to the top of your favorite local birria list; lamb shank works a little too well with this traditional Mexican stewing process.

There’s also the smoked pastrami and charred cabbage ($36), which absolutely sent me. I get a little weepy when someone takes comfort food like a Reuben sandwich and turns it into some highlevel gastronomy, and that’s exactly what is happening here. Your thick medallions of house-smoked pastrami are stacked against a beautifully charred hemisphere of cabbage, then placed on a liberal dollop of Roux’s “Big Mac” sauce before getting sprinkled with a rye crumble. Of course, Roux gets brownie points for recognizing how awesome Big Mac sauce is, but tracing it back to its Russian dressing roots to create this gorgeous deconstructed Reuben shows culinary genius spiked with a welcome sense of humor. It’s dishes like these that make me feel seen as a diner, and Roux is full of moments like this for those cut from that same cloth.

Thanks to the experience level of Chefs Cold and Roberts, Roux has been able to hit the ground running. Its inviting interior does a lot to welcome diners to the table, and its menu of spruced-up comfort food does a lot to show diners that this team isn’t afraid to have a good time. CW

2 Row Brewing

6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Midnight EspecialDark Mexican Lager

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap:  Irish Lager

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

On Tap: Boho Extra Dry Lager

Bonneville Brewery

1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

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

On Tap: Liquid Lunch - IRANW India Red Ale

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

On Tap: Sinday - Pale Ale Our brand new Helles!

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 So. 300 West #100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Our Kolsch is back!

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap:  Bulliet Bourbon barrelaged Brown

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

On Tap: Orange & Cardamom Resolutions Cider 6.9% Abv

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, P ark City offsetbier.com

On Tap: DOPO IPA

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

On Tap: Gungan Sith LordDark Lager

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: Horchata Cream Ale!

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: The Hunter: Kölsch

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Tap: Limited Release IPACitra & Nelson Hops - 7.0% ABV

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

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: The Raven Blackberry Wheat

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Cyclops Irish Stout

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

On Tap: Anko - Rice Lager now available in stores

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Luau Rider - Coconut Chocolate Milk Stout

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com

On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: Jalapeno Ale

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

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

On Tap: Cached Out Hefeweisen -- Now available to go!

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

Proper Brewing: SLC Pils - Pilsner

Proper Burger: Salted Caramel Porter - Porter Brewed with Caramel and Salt

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

On Tap: YRJB - Juicy IPA

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

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

On Tap:  Easy Rider: Blackberry Amber Lager collab with Proper Brewing

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT

StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: Flyin’ Shoes: Rye Kellerbier

TF Brewing

936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com

On Tap: Japanese Style Rice Lager

Talisman Brewing Co.

1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com

On Tap: The Griffen- Citrus Wheat Ale in collaboration with the 419th at Hill AFB

Top of Main Brewing

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

On Tap: Shacksbury Yuzu Ginger - 6% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek secondsummitcider.com

On Tap: White Sangria Cider

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

On Tap: Foggy Goggle Winter Lager

Live Music:  Thursdays

Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Hellion Blonde Ale

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 Mr. Melling’s Nitro Cream Ale

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115

Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Wasatch Apricot Hefeweizen – Fruited Wheat Beer

250 Main, Park City, Utah topofmainbrewpub.com

On Tap: Top of Main’s Utah Beer Vienna Lager

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 Coalition Hellfire Chili Pepper Ale

Zion Brewery

95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

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

Citrus Delights

Dreary days are chased away as the flavors of summer come early.

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

This week’s beers are citrus-driven, to the edge of what many beer-lovers would consider to be beer. Rest assured, though, these are beers and they fill a niche you probably didn’t know needed to filled until you’re presented with one.

Epic - Utah Margarita: As the name implies, this beer is chasing the margarita-lover. It pours a cloudy gold, with two fingers of white head that quickly fades to nothing and leaves very little lacing. It certainly does do a nice job of mimicking the aroma of a margarita, as I’m picking up on aromas of lime juice, orange zest, sea salt, sweet bready malt and a touch of agave.

Made with real lime, the taste is natural to me, and contributes a bright acidity of its own to the beer, which goes along well with the overall sourness here. It’s not super-clean, but properly refined as front-side sours go. There are more lime flavors than salt for me—zesty and even a bit perfume-y. It’s moderately salty as well, and I can appreciate it all the way though; it seems to make the beer more substantial, like it calls up the malt body a bit and seems to extend the fruit— more than just an accent here. This is the kind of beer I think of when I think of Epic Brewing; it’s pretty innovative. A light-to-medium body pairs with gentle prickly carbonation, resulting in a crisp and refreshing beer that finishes almost entirely dry, but still with a nice sweetness.

Verdict: The aroma and flavors are indeed very close to a margarita. It has a great lime notes without being bitter, while the clean sourness and light, salty finish make the beer super refreshing

and easy to drink. This is a wonderful session beer, and I’ll have to get more for warmer weather days.

Shades - Citrus Circus: This is part of Shades’ Kveik series, and features real blood orange, tangerine, grapefruit and citra hops. It pours a tarnished golden body, with enough haziness that it makes seeing through the glass impossible, but not enough to create a murky mess. The nose is citrus right off the bat, as the fruit is certainly noticeable. Blood orange is the most prominent of the added citrus, bringing with it that sour tangerine/lime mix. The citrus overall leans more toward the sour than the sweet, and I can fully get behind that. A nice floral quality runs through the middle, reminding me a bit of hibiscus, while a soft, damp citra hop profile wraps it up.

The tartness of the flavor grabs right away along the inside of the cheeks and under the tongue. The blood orange pops up mid palate and pushes through the finish, adding a sensation of sweetness. That floral note again pops up just before the swallow. The weight of the body sits at the medium end of the spectrum; the carbonation is high, which is to be expected for the style, but oddly enough it doesn’t add much to the body. It doesn’t create that airiness that’s always so nice in beer of this sort. Tartness runs from front to back, and a small amount of residual sugar is left behind after each drink.

Verdict: This is another good beer from the team at Shades, and I really appreciate their use of such fun fruits in the Kveik Series. Again, it’s not the most complex beer—mostly straightforward sour, as a matter of fact—but it’s bright, juicy and enjoyable.

On a dreary and rainy April day, these will brighten your outlook for sure.

Epic’s 12-ounce cans of Utah Margarita are available at the brewery, and will be popping up in grocery and Maverik stores. Citrus Circus is in 12-ounce cans as well, but its 6.5 percent alcohol will require this small batch to be sold at the brewery and better beer pubs around the Wasatch Front. As always, cheers! CW

MIKE RIEDEL MIKE RIEDEL

the BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Local Chefs Make Honored as James Beard Finalists

With six local restaurants landing on the semifinalist list for this year’s James Beard Awards, Utah had some pretty decent representation this year. Of that original six, two chefs have moved forward to the finals for the category of Best Chef: Mountain Region, which encompasses Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Congratulations to Chef Nick Zocco from Urban Hill (510 S. 300 West, Ste. 100) and Chef Ali Sabbah from Mazza Cafe (1515 S. 1500 East), who have moved on to this year’s group of finalists who will be honored at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards on June 10.

New Executive Chef at Pendry Park City

Pendry Park City (2417 W. High Mountain Road) recently appointed Chef Kevin Lee as the restaurant’s executive chef. This puts Lee in charge of the resort’s popular Japanese-American steakhouse KITA, along with Aprés Pendry and The Pool House, the two lounges located onsite. Lee is a South Korean immigrant, whose pedigree started at Le Cordon Bleu and has taken him to resorts like Makani in Los Angeles. His focus on Asian cuisine and fusion have already started to take effect at the resort, and his culinary talent and impressive resume will fit right in at Pendry. We’re excited to see what he does next.

Aqua Terra Steak and Sushi Closes

The swanky Aqua Terra Steak and Sushi located at City Creek (50 S. Main Street, Ste. 168) recently announced its closure via social media. It filled a much-needed dining niche in the City Creek area, as options for destination dining around that part of town are few and far between. The combined concept of a high-end steak and sushi restaurant was definitely intriguing, and I didn’t get a chance to check the place out before its closure this month. It originally opened at the tail end of 2022, so it had only a year under its belt before closing its doors.

Quote of the Week: “I don’t like gourmet cooking or ‘this’ cooking or ‘that’ cooking. I like good cooking.” –James Beard

Rewind

CITY WEEKLY

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

John Saltas never fancied himself to be good at new beginnings. “It’s an easier path to just keep morphing and moving forward than to start all over,” he mused in January 2018. In his 30-plus years with City Weekly, Saltas considered how so many people had come and gone as the paper continued to morph and move.

“For those past decades, we’ve held in our minds—and hoped the larger expanse of readers and supporters felt similarly— that we are vitally important to this community,” he continued. “We fairly escaped the turmoil that hit most newspapers a decade ago, but during the past three years, the turmoil has hit us, too. ... Some papers have gone to online only, some to paywalls, some to just selling their assets and leaving their towns lurching.”

Through Copperfield Media, Saltas’ organization had by this time leaned into e-commerce, acquired papers like Planet Jackson Hole and produced magazines like Devour Utah and Vamoose Utah. The egress of classified ads and the ingress of marketing algorithms had indeed produced “nervous nights” and “high-blood-pressure days,” Saltas confided. Longtime dining critic Ted Scheffler made his exit, as did writers Stephen Dark and Dylan Woolf Harris. Alex Springer subsequently assumed the food beat, Michael S. Robinson Sr. emerged as a frequent opinion columnist and Kelan Lyons joined the team as our new reporter.

While the paper’s crew was changing, its stories were unique within a shifting landscape. Thomas Sorenson toured Logan’s Zootah attraction while Dylan Woolf Harris explored the derelict ruins of Salt Lake’s historic Warm Springs Plunge. Ray Howze disclosed a remarkable rescue of a Holocaust survivor and Sarah Arnoff spotlighted local activists raising awareness of missing and/or murdered indigenous women.

An attentive and critical voice was vital in a rising sea of festering resentments and amid a world overheating thanks to climate change and post-truth puffery. The Trump administration canceled the DACA immigration policy and issued a travel ban on majority-Muslim countries. Violent white supremacist activity erupted on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia. And in the Beehive State, the century-old partnership between the LDS church and the Boy Scouts of America came to an end.

The old Granite High School came down while Murray City began its underhanded effort to raze the historic Murray First Ward meetinghouse and Carnegie Library. Speaking of underhanded, the Charles Koch Foundation—in keeping with its practice of shaping institutions to conservative-libertarian views—donated millions to create an economics institute at the University of Utah.

St. George lawmaker Jon Stanard resigned after using taxpayer money for liaisons with a call girl. District Attorney Sim Gill controversially cleared police officers involved in the shooting of Patrick Harmon (1967-2017). Congressman Jason Chaffetz resigned to become a Fox News talking head and Sen. Orrin Hatch—in what some suggested was overdue since the 1980s—opted against re-election. Utah lawmakers, many of whom received donations from EnergySolutions, voted to give a $1.7 million break to the company. While that deal put lawmakers’ judgment in question, their attempt at a hip-hop music video only confirmed it.

The tides of circumstance morph and change, and friends like Vasilios Priskos (1964-2017) might leave us, but some things remain the same. “We will continue to do what we’ve always done—poke holes, reveal truths, tell stories others haven’t told, remove rascals and sully for those who cannot,” Saltas wrote. “It’s really all we know how to do.”

Remembering Vol. 34: In the boundaries

“Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke listened to gripes surrounding Bears Ears National Monument, but will he read the rave reviews?” wondered Dylan Woolf Harris in a July 26 cover story. “While the deadline to voice opinions on Bears Ears has passed, the Utah Diné Bikéyah advocate group is ‘cautiously optimistic’ that Zinke will abandon his preliminary suggestion of shrinking the 1.34 million-acre monument.”

Having undertaken a four-day listening tour of the region, Zinke’s office established a short window to receive public input on the fate of Bears Ears. Woolf Harris reported that the Interior Department nevertheless received more than a million comments and, according to analysis by the Center for Western Priorities, more than 98 percent of commenters liked the monument as it was.

“Gov. Gary Herbert ... often says sup-

port is split and the closer one travels to the monument, the more opposition one will hear,” Woolf Harris noted. Such claims were refuted by those who led the designation in the first place, namely, Utah’s Native American tribes. “They want to go after coal,” Navajo Nation spokesman/Bears Ears commissioner Davis Filfred told John Dougherty in an accompanying feature. “They want to go after petroleum, uranium, potash. They want to clear all the timber.”

Dougherty observed that mostly overlooked was how the monument was the first guided by tribes themselves. With the Bears Ears Commission, five Southwest tribes would have seats at the table in collaborative management with the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. Tribal leaders did not appreciate attempts to roll everything back, nor the insinuation from people like Sen. Hatch that the tribes had been “manipulated” into championing something they didn’t “fully understand.”

“Members of the Bears Ears Commission ... said that opposition to the monument and Trump’s review of Bears Ears in particular is rooted in distrust, lack of knowledge, disrespect of tribal governments and, in some instances, racism,” Dougherty wrote. Indeed, tribal efforts to work with local leaders during initial development of the monument had been met with silence. “The whole Utah delegation is against us, and they have been for many years,” Filfred said.

By the end of 2017, the administration had reduced Bears Ears by more than 80% along with halving the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Former state Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, gleefully proposed renaming the Utah National Parks Highway after Donald J. Trump. In response, former Democratic state Sen. Jim Dabakis proposed naming an off-ramp after adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

“Documents recently released ... show that when drawing the new boundaries, Trump and his Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, ignored not only the pleas of five Native American tribal nations, but also proposals from local county commissioners and the state of Utah,” wrote Jonathan Thompson of High Country News in May of 2018. The new boundaries correlated with known deposits or coal, oil, gas, uranium and potash. In 2021, the Biden administration restored both monumnet’s original boundaries.

In the Port

Targeted for a failed housing development in 2010 and later for a relocated prison, the northwest outskirts of the Salt Lake area were now slated for an inland port. Critics decried the effect such a development would have on air quality, Salt Lake City sued the state over a purported loss of control and, as Dylan Woolf Harris pointed out on Feb. 14, “the biggest group impacted by changes to the land south of the Great Salt Lake might be those without a voice,” namely, the thousands of birds who nest and migrate through the area.

Why was the inland port pushed through?

Katharine Biele provided two illustrative glimpses in her Hits & Misses column:

“The best outcome for the Northwest Quadrant would be if no one developed it at all. You know, with its fragile ecosystem and rapidly shrinking wetlands. But that’s not the view of House Speaker Greg Hughes, who is just righteously indignant about anyone—especially Salt Lake City—questioning his intentions and making what he sees as false statements, according to the Deseret News. The Inland Port Authority is supposed to be Hughes’ lasting legacy, one with lots of zeros and dollar signs—all for the state to manage. The city quickly moved in to create deals with developers. ‘Since the area was going to be developed, the thought was that the city would be more [conscious] of environmental factors than if the state were in charge, so we tried to get in front of it,’ Councilman Charlie Like told City Weekly via email. But under the new law, the state can veto any city decisions.” (April 19, 2018)

“Meet Jeff Hartley, a ‘jokingly’ self-described ‘dirty lobbyist’ who works for oil and gas, Rocky Mountain Power and other energy giants. Hartley is the working face of the inland port ... . Hartley, speaking to a Vernal Energy Summit, sang its praises while salivating over ‘3,500-4,000 acres of developable land.’ Oh, it will be wonderful, just like a photo he took of the Singapore port, but without the ocean. It’s all good because Utah’s a right-to-work state, and shippers wouldn’t have to wait at a real port to go through customs. There’s a pipeline already permitted, too. Hartley so loves the industry that he sent his son to school with a report on how fantastic and safe fracking is. Thing is, he couldn’t remember how old his son is.” (May 24, 2018) CW

Local Music Spotlight April 2024

New tunes from Blood Star, Standards and Substandards, Raspberry Protocol, LOAFA and Mars Highway

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

It’s never a bad time to refresh your music library. Stop listening to those same 10 songs on repeat, and add these great songs from locals to your library—and maybe throw them on a few of your favorite playlists while you’re at it.

Blood Star, First Sighting: I have a soft spot in my heart for fist-pumping, righteous metal, even though the music itself isn’t soft. That’s doubly true if there’s a badass lady at helm, as is the case with Blood Star. If you’re into that classic heavy metal sound and you haven’t heard Blood Star, you need to spend some time listening to them. Their debut album First Sighting is chock full of heavy, melodic tunes that hearken back to the glory days of ’80s metal, but sounds so crisp and clean, making it a perfect modern metal masterpiece. The sounds are great, but there’s also fantastical imagery present in the lyrics; á la Dio, Blood Star sings of fearless priestesses, ice queens, Charon coming for your soul, and some heartbreak for good measure. Of course, you can also expect ripping guitar solos and heavy chugging throughout. Listening to Blood Star is an experience in itself, so don’t sleep on these guys if you need a metal fix.

Standards and Substandards, Videos of Us in Handcuffs: There’s nothing quite like sinking into a live album, especially when it’s a fun and delightful band like Standards and Substandards. This jazz quartet knows how to bring the party— and if you’re unable to see them live, Videos of Us in Handcuffs is the next best thing. It opens with their twist on a classic, “Creep” by Radiohead. This version is slower, more sultry and adds that classic jazz vibe and feel to it. Vocalist Caryn Crowley absolutely nails the more carnal parts of the song with ease and power. This song has been reimagined countless times, but this version is an essential listen if you’re a fan of the original. Even if you’re not big into jazz, you’ll have a fun time diving into this version—clean, powerful and easy to listen to on repeat. As you continue through the EP, you’ll find more incredible covers like “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 and “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. If you’re looking to get more into jazz and want to hear some great reimaginings, Videos of Us in Handcuffs is the perfect collection for you.

Raspberry Protocol, “Maybe Tomorrow”: This new entrancing track from Raspberry Protocol is so fulfilling. That’s not a typical way to describe a song, but “Maybe Tomorrow” is hard to describe, in the best way possible. Immediately upon pressing play, you’re greeted with a wall of sound. The song doesn’t have a build-up; you’re tossed right into the action, and it’s so great. The song is incredibly wellproduced and just feels full, if that makes sense. You might need to hurry and listen to it to see what I mean. Acoustic and electric guitars meld together perfectly, and the soft vocals lull you into a sense of relaxation. As you get to the chorus, it builds a bit, offering a great chance to sing as loud as you can along with

MUSIC

the track. It’s also a perfect anthem for anyone who has struggled with mental health issues. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that there’s a tomorrow, but you’re not alone, and “Maybe Tomorrow” highlights that.

LOAFA, Identity Crisis:

Alternative punk rockers LOAFA have been releasing singles that have led to their latest release Identity Crisis, which is a romp from beginning to end. If you’re in need of something energetic and exciting, look no further—LOAFA knows how to bring it. Throughout the album you’ll find catchy choruses, loud guitar and even moments where things slow down. It all comes to an end with the pretty bow that is “Overdriven.” The album takes you on a delightful alt/punk journey that culminates nicely in this last song; “Overdriven” is perfect for when you need to shout at the top of your lungs, or you want to do it with your friends on a night out. Any

song from Identity Crisis is worthy of your music library though, so check it out.

Mars Highway, Fire Inside: There’s nothing quite like settling in to listen to a great bluegrass album, especially if you’re huddled around a campfire with family and friends. The string instruments and storytelling lyrics always pair beautifully with the outdoors. Soon, we’ll be out of the “fake spring” cycle, and you’ll have the chance to spend some time outside, so you’ll want to be sure to bring Fire Inside with you. Mars Highway is a five-piece bluegrass group who know their way around a great song. This EP contains so much, but still leaves you wanting more, which makes it easy to listen to it a few times in one go. The songs are beautifully crafted, leaving you with a feeling of peace and calmness. You can hear each instrument clearly, but they all come together in perfect harmony. If you need to get lost and relax for a while, Fire Inside is just the ticket. CW

J. DONOVAN MALLEY

Direct from Sweden - Music of ABBA @ Abravanel Hall 4/12-13

No band deserves tribute treatment more than ABBA. Granted, that may seem a bold statement, considering the many musical megastars that have earned iconic status over the past century or so. Yet with sales in the multi-millions, songs that became instant standards (“Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo,” “Money Money Money,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” “Fernando” and “Dancing Queen” among them), over a billion streams worldwide, a successful Broadway show and two hit movies—and the fact that they are the only group from a non-English speaking country to achieve induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—the recognition is well deserved. In attaining that international success, they made their mark as one of the most successful musical acts of the ’70s, ’80s and well beyond. Sadly, aside from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, Benny, Bjorn, Frida and Agnetha made the decision to retire in the early ’80s and put their live performances to rest. However, that doesn’t mean that being out of sight means they’ve been out of mind. The Utah Symphony has joined forces with the internationally popular ABBA tribute band Direct From Sweden, and in so doing offers local audiences an excellent opportunity to revisit those musical memories. The group’s spectacular singing, glittery garb and infectious energy effectively recreates ABBA’s essence. After all, that’s an “ABBA-gation.” Direct from Sweden and the Utah Symphony perform at Abravanel Hall at 7:30 p.m, April 12-13. Tickets cost $23.50 - $75 at usuo.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

JOHNY

BYNX @ Soundwell 4/13

If you like a mix of hip-hop, trap, and rage music, then BYNX is the artist to see this weekend. The Philadelphia producer BYNX—AKA Benjamin Saint Fort—has only been in the music scene full-time since 2018, but has already produced music for big names like Drake, Yeat, Lil Uzi Vert, Ty Dolla Sign and Travis Scott. He ended 2023 named the “Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive” for the year, and is continuing into 2024 strong. He first reached a global audience with his nostalgic edit of “The Veldt and Cinema” produced by Benny Benassi, Gary Go and Deadmau5, reaching over 100 million plays on all social media platforms. His personal production in electronic music falls into tech and melodic house, and is heavily influenced by electronica, drum and bass and nu disco sub-genres. For example, his song “Touch Me”—released only a few weeks ago with vocalist Veronica Bravo—gets you in the groove with a deep, minimalist tech vibe with lovely vocals to the structure of the song. He also has a talent for fusing melodic house into a high energy drum and bass, showcased in his song “Thank You.” It’s fun to see an artist like BYNX who, with so much talent and success, is really only getting started. LNE Presents is bringing BYNX to Soundwell on Saturday, April 13. Doors open at 9 p.m.; general admission costs $20 at tixr.com (Arica Roberts)

Talib Kweli @ Urban Lounge 4/15

Whenever there’s talk about Talib Kweli doing this or that, everybody’s referring to those glory Rawkus Records days (circa 1998). It’s like Kweli records are never bad because they’re actually bad, but because they’re simply not like the old ones. He’s too conscious, too conformed, too whatever. Talib Kweli is probably one of the most qualitatively consistent hip-hop artists of the last 20 plus years, and it isn’t unfair to say he’s underappreciated. On his best stuff, he sounds like he’s so full of ideas he doesn’t want to waste time stopping for breath, and as an emcee, Kweli’s indisputably among those who constantly try and succeed. “When I first started rapping, I didn’t have any fans; no one cared what I had to say,” Kweli told NPR. “So I can’t do it just because I have fans or just because people care what I have to say. If I don’t have the fire burning on the inside, then it’s not for the fans, it’s for me.” He is the king of indie rap, but too smart to ever have that club hit that some seem obligated to want him to have. I still think it’s a bit of a shame that he couldn’t really capitalize on the moment of zeitgeist attention he had after “If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli.” Wes Burke, Cig Burna and DJ Juggy open. Catch these acts at the Urban Lounge on Monday, April 15. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $28, and can be found at 24tix.com (Mark Dago)

Cool Banana Single Release ft. Kid Kawali @ Urban Lounge 4/17

Cool Banana is their own microcosm in the rock band puppet genre. Celebrating their brand new three-song single that explores sounds and captures something special (yet again), the entire opus should work if they are written as they are: creating from a cartoon’s perspective. VHS Vic makes “smiley music.” There are no rules, and he always comes up with so many fun ways to push a song forward. The unexpected recipe for “Love Again” is hopeful—an optimistic piece about falling in love again with the world, a new crush and the ideas you create. “The way the song came together in the end was a big joy,” Victor Blandon said. “A live take was used as the pizza dough, then we added a lot of experimental toppings in post-production to make our combo slice come to life.” There’s real craftsmanship to the lyrics; they’re just delicious to say. The other two compositions on the single offer instant nostalgia: a maggot brain-style interlude, “Jelly” flows into a remix of “Volcanic Lipstick” that will be on the album titled Jet Star II. VHS Vic is a consummate song artisan, but he has a great sense of humor and is able to satirize what he loves where and when he wants with pure eardrum-punching bombast. The Umbells open. Catch these musicians at the Urban Lounge on Wednesday, April 17. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com (MD)

The California Honeydrops @ Commonwealth Room 4/16

As their homespun handle implies, the California Honeydrops can claim humble origins. They began by busking on the streets of San Francisco, but quickly developed a loyal local following that rapidly expanded courtesy of nonstop international touring. In addition to opening for the likes of Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Allen Toussaint, Buddy Guy and Dr. John, they regularly sell out their headlining shows at venues throughout the country, in addition to contributing to the soundtracks of numerous network TV series and performing at many major music festivals, among them, Outside Lands, Monterey Jazz, Edmonton Folk Music Festival and High Sierra. Naturally, the pundits have also taken notice, some comparing singer Lech Wierzynski’s voice to that of Sam Cooke while also praising their irrepressible groove. That’s hardly surprising, considering that they draw from a myriad of musical influences, including R&B, funk, delta blues and the street beat of the Big Easy itself. Even so, they manage to create an infectious energy all their own, one which builds on the enduring connection they maintain with their fans and followers. “The whole point is to erase the boundaries between the crowd and us,” Wierzynski says on their website. “To make people become a part of the whole thing by dancing along, singing, picking the songs and generally coming out of their shells.” It’s also an opportunity to soak up the succulent sweetness these homey Honeydrops always have to offer. The California Honey Drops perform at the Commonwealth Room at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16. Tickets cost. $40 - $65 Go to tix.axs.com. (LZ)

Talib Kwell

Cool Banana

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Now is a time to make inquiries, ask for free samples and enjoy window shopping. But it’s not an opportune time to seal final decisions or sign binding contracts. Have fun haggling and exploring, even as you avoid making permanent promises. Follow the inklings of your heart more than the speculations of your head, but refrain from pledging your heart until lots of evidence is available. You are in a prime position to attract and consider an array of possibilities, and for best results you should remain noncommittal for the foreseeable future.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Author Betty Bender said, “Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death.” Painter Georgia O’Keeffe confessed she harbored chronic anxiety—yet that never stopped her from doing what she loved. Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Anyone who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” I hope these testimonials inspire you to bolster your grit, Taurus. In the coming days, you may not have any more or less fear than usual. But you will be able to summon extra courage and willpower as you render the fear at least semi-irrelevant.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Richard the Lionheart (1157–1199) was a medieval king of England. Scholars say his nickname was because of his skill as a military leader. But legend tells an additional story. As a young man, Richard was imprisoned by an enemy who arranged for a lion to be brought into his cell. As the beast opened its maw to maul the future king, Richard thrust his arm down its throat and tore out its heart. What does this have to do with you, Gemini? I predict you will soon encounter a test that’s less extreme but equally solvable by bursts of creative ingenuity. Though there will be no physical danger, you will be wise to call on similar boldness. Drawing on the element of surprise may also serve you well.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Will the adventures heading your way be unusual, amusing and unprecedented? I bet they will have at least some of those elements. You could encounter plot twists you’ve never witnessed or imagined. You may be inspired to dream up creative adjustments unlike any you’ve tried. These would be very positive developments. They suggest you’re becoming more comfortable with expressing your authentic self and less susceptible to the influence of people’s expectations. Every one of us is a unique genius in some ways, and you’re getting closer to inhabiting the fullness of yours.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

At least for now, help may not be available from the usual sources. Is the doctor sick? Does mommy need mothering? Is the therapist feeling depressed? My advice is to not worry about the deficiencies, but rather to shift your attention to skillful surrogates and substitutes. They may give you what you need—and even more. I’m reminded of The Crystal Cave, a novel about the Arthurian legend. The king, Ambrosius Aurelianus, advises the magician Merlin, “Take power where it is offered.” In other words: not where you think or wish power would be, but from sources that are unexpected or outside your customary parameters.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

The rest of the story is not ready to emerge, but it will be soon. Be patient just a while longer. When full disclosure arrives, you will no longer have to guess about hidden agendas and subtexts. Adventures in the underworld will move above ground. Missing links will finally appear and perplexing ambiguities will be clarified. Here’s how you can expedite these developments: Make sure you are thoroughly receptive to knowing the rest of the story. Assert your strong desire to dissolve ignorance.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

In the coming weeks, you can ask for and receive more blessings than usual. Be aggressive and imaginative about asking! Here are gifts to seek out: 1. Vigorous support as you transform two oppositional forces into complementary influences; 2. Extra money, time and spaciousness as you convert a drawback into an asset; 3. Kindness and understanding as you ripen an aspect of yourself; 4. Inspiration and advice as you make connections that will serve your future goals.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Read the two help-wanted ads below. Meditate on which appeals to you more, and treat this choice as a metaphor for a personal decision you face. 1. “Pedestrian, predictable organization seeks humdrum people with low-grade ambitions for tasks that perform marginally useful services. Interested in exploring mild passions and learning more about the art of spiritual bypassing?” 2. “Our high-octane conclave values the arts of playing while you work and working while you play. Are you ready and able to provide your creative input? Are you interested in exploring the privilege and responsibility of forever reinventing yourself? We love restless seekers who are never bored.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

What is a gourmet bargain? What is a discount marvel? How about an inspiring breakthrough that incurs no debt? Themes like those are weaving their way into your destiny. So be alert for the likelihood that cheap thrills will be superior to the expensive kind. Search for elegance and beauty in earthy locations that aren’t sleek and polished. Be receptive to the possibility that splendor and awe may be available to you at a low cost. Now may be one of those rare times when imperfect things are more sublime than the so-called perfect stuff.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in,” wrote novelist Graham Greene. For me, it was near the end of third grade when I wrote a fairy tale about the adventures of a fictional kid named Polly. Her wildness was infused with kindness. Her rebellions were assertive but friendly. For the first time, I realized I wanted to be an unconventional writer when I grew up. What about you, Capricorn? When you were young, was there a comparable opening to your future? If so, now is a good phase to revisit it, commune with your memories of it, and invite it to inspire the next stage of its evolution in you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Even when you are your regular, ordinary self, you have a knack and fondness for irregularity and originality. And these days, your affinity for what’s unprecedented and uncommon is even higher than usual. I am happy about that. I am cheering you on. So please enjoy yourself profoundly as you experiment with nonstandard approaches. Be as idiosyncratic as you dare! Even downright weird! But also try to avoid direct conflicts with the Guardians of How Things Have Always Been Done. Don’t allow Change Haters to interfere with your fun or obstruct the enhancements you want to instigate. Be a slippery innovator. Be an irrepressible instigator.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Below are truths I hope you will deepen in the coming months: 1. Negative feelings are not necessarily truer and more profound than positive ones. 2. Cynical opinions are not automatically more intelligent or wellfounded than optimistic ones. 3. Criticizing and berating yourself is not a more robust sign of self-awareness than praising and appreciating yourself. 4. Any paranoia you feel may be a stunted emotion resulting from skills you have neglected to develop. 5. Agitation and anxiety can almost always be converted into creative energy.

Mixed Use

I went to a friend’s new office at 95 S. State in Salt Lake City—the all-glass, 25-story building that sits on the corner of 100 South and State—just west of Harmons. It’s a beautiful building inside, but what really impressed me was the four-story meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints at the base of the tower.

Upon learning about it, I did a palmto-forehead slap and said to myself, “Brilliant!” You can tell when walking or driving by the building that the first four floors look much different than the glass tower. Look closer, and you’ll see a church steeple not on top of the glass tower but coming up from the street in between the building (heading north on State Street) and the canopy covering the tunnel entrance under State Street on historic Social Hall Avenue. The original Social Hall for gatherings was there and used until 1922.

Many forward-thinking developers like to see a variety of uses in a project, and many cities require joint-use spaces in their zoning rules and regulations. For example, it’s common to have retail on the street level of highrises that cater to pedestrian traffic such as restaurants, bars, convenience stores, boutiques, etc.

The building at 100 South and State currently hosts six congregations (wards) for their weekly worship meetings—one of them for young single adults and another one for Spanishspeaking members. There are two chapels, which can host two congregations at the same time as well.

This meetinghouse was built to accommodate all the saints who are renting downtown in the new apartment buildings that have gone up recently and to promote a walkable community. If you’re familiar with downtown Salt Lake City, think for a minute … where are the ward houses and stake centers?

There are very few of these buildings for worshippers in the heart of the city, so it only makes sense to have a mixeduse for business and worshippers in the same space. During nice weather, there’s a roof terrace for office tenants during the day and for church groups at night and on the weekends as well as a Sunday school room and a place for the women’s Relief Society to meet.

The church has stated that tithes were not used to construct the office tower and that it was instead developed by City Creek Reserve, the real estate arm of the church.

It isn’t unusual for the church to capitalize on mixed-use designs. Due to high rents, the church has created joint-use spaces in New York; Alexandria (Virginia), London and Brussels. The office towers provide revenue for the meetinghouses.

offering

15. “Somewhere Only We Know” performers (2004)

16. Stopped oneself

17. Element #18

18. Up against it

19. West of “Futurama”

20. Helper, for short

21. “Agreed”

22.

VISIT

In New York City, the church’s Manhattan location at 125 Columbus Ave. is under renovation, so members will be sharing space for the next few years in the beautiful and historic West End Collegiate Church on the corner of West End Avenue and 77th Street. n

34. Mandatory 37. Spots for scritches

39. “___ are rarely the protagonists in the English novel, but they are oddly abundant in its margins.” (2017 essay in The Conversation)

41. “Still ___” (1999 track ft. Snoop Dogg)

42. Off-schedule

43. H, as in Greek

45. Pastor’s nickname

46. Fashion

9. Nitwit, to a Brit

10. Take a course?

11. Resists squirminess

12. Airing when old networks would’ve signed off for the day, maybe

13. Found to be

14. Snake with a puff variety

24. Goddess, box, and cornrow, for example

25. Radical that’s C8H17 (with more focus on the 8)

28. “All done”

29. Robins, outside of the U.S.

30. Optimally

DOWN

1. Musicians that suggest you pick it up?

2. Actress with the autobiography “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood”

3. Vision of near-perfection?

4. Unstable chemical compound

5. Lotte ___ of “The Threepenny Opera”

6. Long-necked wader with about a fivefoot wingspan

7. Deep sleep states

8. Edwards and Lackland, e.g.

32. Netflix series that spawned a Netflix reality show

33. Full of wordplay

35. Like some Internet searches and surreal art, these days

36. Prospectors’ reaction after striking gold, maybe

38. 53 minutes past

39. Brawl setting in Westerns

40. Like jigsaw puzzles and some lumber

42. 2017 role for Margot

44. Set a price at

47. Start again

48. Twistable cookie

49. Seriously harm

51. Deli sandwich

53. ___ y tierra burrito (steak and shrimp option)

Last week’s answers

X

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to

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.

NEWS of the WEIRD

Creme de la Weird

NBC News reported on March 21 about a Tennessee man suffering from prosopometamorphopsia, also known as PMO—a neurological disorder that causes victims to perceive faces in distorted shapes, size, texture or color. In Victor Sharrah’s case, he sees faces as demonic. The 59-year-old of Clarksville said it started in November 2020: “My first thought was I woke up in a demon world,” he said. “You can’t imagine how scary it was.” Sharrah sees the distortions only in person, not in pictures or on computer screens. Consequently, he was able to work with researchers at Dartmouth College to create a visual representation of what he sees vs. reality. There are fewer than 100 reported cases of PMO; symptoms can continue for years, as Sharrah’s have, or can resolve after just a few days.

Awesome!

Punxsutawney Phil and his wife, Phyllis, have big news: They are parents to two healthy babies, the Associated Press reported. “Phil and Phyllis have started a family,” said Thomas Dunkel, president of The Inner Circle, part of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. “I talked to Phil with my cane, which lets me speak Groundhogese, and Phil could not be more excited.” (OK, Thomas.) Phil and Phyllis live in climate-controlled quarters at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library, but plans are in place to move them to larger quarters on the grounds now that their family is growing. Dunkel said the offspring will not become Punxsutawney Phil, because Phil is immortal, having drunk “The Elixir of Life,” which Phyllis is prohibited from imbibing. (Uh, yeah, OK, Thomas.)

Police Report

In 2024, California started prohibiting police departments from sharing photos of suspects in nonviolent crimes, United Press International reported. Accordingly, the Murrieta Police Department started using emojis, characters from movies and, most recently, Lego head images to cover the faces of suspects when they posted on social media. But now, Lt. Jeremy Durrant said, the Lego heads have to go. “The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content, which ... we understand and will comply with.”

Bright Ideas

A 47-year-old man was arrested in Parowan, Utah, on March 17 after multiple drivers reported him from I-15, KSL-TV reported. Callers said the man’s pickup truck had “red and blue flashing lights and they were getting other vehicles to move out of their way,” police said. What tipped them off? The pickup also had a construction company logo on the side. The suspect indicated he was only trying to get through traffic faster, not pull anyone over. He also tested positive for “cannabis, amphetamines and methamphetamine,” and he had a small bag of white powder that he said he uses “to stay awake while driving.” He was booked into the Iron County Jail.

■ Emma Keen, 42, of Wales, was on the fourth day of her trek to Mount Everest Base Camp in March to raise money for the Kidney Wales Foundation, Wales Online reported. As she FaceTimed with her brother and sister-in-law, she showed them a yak standing about 2 meters away. “Without warning I could hear the hoofs pounding toward me, a sharp stabbing pain in the top of my leg,” Keen said. The yak was readying for another run at her when she was helped away and airlifted to a hospital, where she got 10 stitches. She later rejoined the group to finish the hike on horseback. “My charity means a lot to me as my brother Peter is currently on the transplant list,” Keen said. “It was important that I continue with the trek.”

Wait, What?

Dairy cows in Kansas and Texas have recently tested positive for bird flu, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Associated Press reported that while the virus is affecting cows in those states and in New Mexico, officials say there is no danger to the commercial milk supply because of production regulations and pasteurization, which kills flu viruses. USDA officials think the cows caught the virus from wild birds. They appear to have cold-like symptoms, but typically recover within 10 days.

Government in Action

■ A state Senate panel in South Carolina is investigating a mystery involving $1.8 billion, the Associated Press reported on March 26. The significant sum has accumulated over the last decade in a bank account, but authorities don’t know where the money is coming from or where it’s supposed to go. “It does not inspire confidence,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “But the good news is no money was lost.” Meanwhile, state officers are pointing fingers at each other, and South Carolina lawmakers are annoyed that the money is sitting idle while requests from state agencies are going unfulfilled. “There is no need to hurry up and try to spend it,” McMaster said.

■ In Oakland, California, 102-year-old Victor Silva Sr. received a citation earlier in March from the city about the graffiti on his fence, KTVU-TV reported. Silva was told that if he didn’t remove the graffiti, he’d face a $1,100 fine, plus $1,277 for each failed reinspection. Before Silva started using a wheelchair, he would paint over the graffiti himself. But now, Silva Jr., 70, has that task. “It’s hard to keep up with it because as soon as we get it painted, it’s gonna be graffiti on it again, and it won’t last,” he said. The family owns a business nearby that has reportedly been broken into three times in the last year. “It’s hard to understand where our tax dollars are going,” Silva Jr. said. “They can’t answer 911, but they can come out and hassle you about a fence?” The city inspector is expected to review the case and, most likely, cancel the citation.

The Continuing Crisis

Easter is obviously not a good time for an egg shortage, as Norwegians are finding out this year. The Associated Press reported that as a result of bird flu outbreaks and overproduction, which led the country to ask farmers to reduce their production, eggs are not only hard to find, but are expensive when you can get your hands on them. So in response, Norwegians are crossing the border to Sweden, where 20-packs of eggs are readily available and cost about $3.70—30% less than in Norway. The Maxi-Mat food store in Sweden about 62 miles south of Oslo has been filled with “desperate” shoppers, the Norwegian news outlet Nettavisen reported. Wonder if any of them had large ears and a colorful basket?

It’s Come to This

Remember the life-saving door at the end of Titanic? The one that Rose and Jack couldn’t both fit on? At Heritage Auctions in Dallas on March 23, the Balsa wood panel used in the movie sold for $718,750 to an anonymous buyer, The New York Times reported. The auction liquidated a large trove of items from Planet Hollywood, including Indiana Jones’ whip and Jack’s ax from The Shining . No word yet on whether the new owner has tested the door’s width to see if Jack might have, after all, survived.

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