City Weekly June 26, 2024

CITY WEEKLY salt lake FREE

Walking the Beat

On Main Street and in Salt Lake City’s hardesthit neighborhoods, the Downtown Ambassadors are here to help.

BY BENJAMIN WOOD

SLC FORECAST

S AP

BOX

“Follow the Money,” June 20 Cover

I’m all for public restrooms for the homeless, but don’t be giving Nomad Alliance any grant money. The executive director has a history of abusing her clients while taking grants. And she likes to lie to her volunteers claiming she doesn’t take a salary from grants when she has.

CHRIS JAMES Via Facebook

We should pay our mayor and City Council more!

SLINDIVISIBLE Via Instagram

All for everything else, not the pay raises.

DING_DANG_DANE Via Instagram

“I’m MAGA,” June 20 Private Eye

I’m done with Donald Trump and his followers. This time, vote to get government control out of our libraries, our school curriculum and our doctor’s office! Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush were pro-choice for that reason.

I decide what my kids read, what subjects are in our schools and private issues with my health are between me and my doctor! I will vote for the issues and person who supports these issues.

MARY SEQUIM Via Facebook

“Hair Loss Lee,” June 6 Private Eye

Mike Lee needs to be voted out in 2028. He needs to go … now!

APLUSANDMINUS Via Instagram

2029 cannot come fast enough! Mike Lee never got my vote!

JANEYUTAH Via Instagram

Mike Lee is such a tool.

JEENYUSJAY Via Instagram

Lee is such a putz.

KGB1919 Via Instagram

Mike Lee’s announcement: “I am a slave to billionaires and have zero respect for the justice system. Instead of solving America’s problems I’m going to do nothing until all billionaires are above the law.” He is useless to us.

RETREATMENTWELLNESS Via Instagram

Mike Lee, John Curtis, Burgess Owens— all crooks. The only time you hear of anything they do is during reelection time.

TMTHEBIGFINISH Via Instagram

Trump boot licker! He needs to go!

GT_AT145 Via Instagram

Lee—hey, he’s the guy that shut down the government to try to stop healthcare?

DENNIS OGDEN Via Facebook

The Mango malfeasant promised Mike Lee a Supreme Court seat.

AARON MITCHELL Via Facebook

Correction: The June 20, 2024, Private Eye column, titled “I’m MAGA,” incorrectly described the candidacy of State Auditor John Dougall, who is currently running for election to Utah’s 3rd Congressional District.

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 are your favorite podcasts? How much time do you spend listening to them?

Krista Maggard

“My Favorite Murder,” “H3,” “We’re Here to Help,” “TigerBelly,” “HasanAbi”—not all are truly podcasts, but content just the same. I’d say at least 5-plus hours a day— it varies depending on the day for sure!

Benjamin Wood

I listen to every episode of “On the Media,” “99% Invisible” and “Pod Save America” and maybe one episode per week of “The Daily” and “City Cast Salt Lake.” Every so often I do “The Rewatchables,” particularly on long road trips.

Katharine Biele

I love the Slate “Political Gabfest.” It’s smart and funny. Comes on every Thursday, so I can’t listen all the time. But it’s worth every minute.

Sabina Lowe

My favorite podcast is “The BFFs Podcast” from Barstool sports!

Eric Granato

“Small Town Murder,” “Your Stupid Opinions,” “Strictly Anonymous.” I listen to a few hours a day.

Kayla Dreher

I usually opt for music but here are my favorites—“City Cast Salt Lake,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “Hidden Brain” and “In Retrospect.”

BY SHERYL L. ALLEN AND DAVID R. IRVINE

OPINION Rigged Elections

Utahns like to believe we are exceptional. Unfortunately, our mostly single-party state flunks when it comes to representative government.

In each election cycle, the disconnect gets bigger between what most voters want our government to be and what the state’s elected officials actually deliver. A glaring example is the Legislature’s transfer of public-school tax revenue to private and home schools. It’s not supposed to work like that in a functioning democratic republic.

If those who govern us consistently falter, then a majority of the rest of us could throw the bums out. But in Utah, we can’t, and it isn’t because of illegal voting, or mail-in ballots.

We have allowed our Republican-dominated Legislature to hand control of the candidate nomination process over to a tiny slice of the Utah electorate: radical Republican zealots. Utah’s decrepit and anti-majoritarian nomination system is rigged to limit the average voter’s ability to meaningfully participate. Furthermore, its structure guarantees that most GOP voters’ preferred candidates will consistently lose to extremist, right-wing candidates in nominating conventions dominated by delegate zealots. Republican leaders schedule precinct caucuses in venues that are too small to accommodate all registered Republicans. Then they provide little information about when and where caucuses occur. If you participated during the previous election cycle, you might receive an email; if not, then you better hope you drive past one of the three lawn signs scattered somewhere in the neighborhood.

Caucuses occur on weekday evenings, excluding those who work night shifts or those who have kids but no babysitter. They use arcane registration and voting procedures, which rapidly lengthen what could be one-hour meetings to three hours or more. When it’s finally time to vote on delegates, complete strangers have one minute to convince you that they are neutral, even though they frequently have a preferred candidate or ideological bias.

In Bountiful’s Precinct 32, the school classroom hosting the caucus meeting was filled to standing-room-only capacity, and the meeting ran slightly more than an hour. Most attendees were there for the first time.

Several privately said on their way out, “This is the stupidest waste of time.”

They won’t return in 2026. That’s exactly the way the far-right likes it. In their telling, only they know how to really vet candidates.

Then, alas, there are the conventions. First, conventions are where reasonable candidates—and particularly women—are eliminated. If they fail to get more than 40% of the delegates’ votes, then they get the right-wing boot.

Second, conventions are not representative. In 2016, fewer than 25% of convention delegates were women, even though women made up 56% of the overall Republican electorate.

Third, conventions run excessively long. The 2024 state Republican convention held in April ran from 8:00 a.m. to nearly midnight.

Fourth, conventions eliminate delegate accountability, as delegates vote by secret ballot. Caucus advocates are fond of comparing the system to “sound republican representational practice,” except that it’s not comparable. Congress doesn’t vote in secret. Legislators’ votes are recorded and are publicly available.

Caucus attendees never know how and for whom their elected precinct delegates voted.

At the 2024 state GOP convention, far-right favorite

Phil Lyman, a state legislator from Blanding, trounced Gov. Spencer Cox with 67% of the vote to Cox’s 32%. A statewide poll published three days later in Utah Policy showed Cox shellacking Lyman with 81% of the Republican voters at large. The only reason Cox was on the June primary ballot is because he strategically collected 28,000 Republican voter signatures—an expensive undertaking—to ensure a ballot spot.

The idea that a broader group of Republican voters will produce a more representative candidate than preferred by convention delegates drives the zealots crazy, which is why so much heat is generated by SB54, the law that created the signature path to the primary ballot. The farright constantly agitates to repeal the signature nomination option, because it removes their veto power over primary candidates.

Utah has 990,500 registered Republicans. During the March precinct caucus meeting, fewer than 9% of all Republicans showed up to select 4,000 state convention delegates, 2,680 of whom voted to kick Gov. Cox off the primary ballot. That’s three-tenths of 1% of registered Republicans who could have vetoed Cox’s candidacy! Making democracy function better shouldn’t be impossible, but the Utah way of rigging elections will continue until either the Legislature adopts direct primaries (don’t bet on that) or the backers of Count My Vote sponsor a successful voter initiative to do so. That effort will require generous financing by civic-minded Utahns with deep pockets and broad vision. CW

Sheryl Allen and David Irvine cumulatively represented Bountiful as Republican legislators for 23 years and have been GOP convention delegates, many, many times. They decry what their party has become.

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

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele

MISS: Send in the Clowns

It was two hours of torture, waiting for a foregone conclusion and listening to legislators parrot their approved talking points. Call it the special session, emphasis on “special.” Gov. Spencer Cox called lawmakers into session “to address several matters of urgent state business.” That was fun stuff, essentially all about disregarding the dastardly federal government. To list a few items: keeping a coal-fired plant running; ignoring Title IX changes meant to prevent discrimination; and affirming the state’s ultimate sovereignty. We got to hear the esteemed epidemiologist and physician Dr. Kera Birkeland— oh sorry, she’s not a doctor—falsely tie Utah’s high instances of sexual assault to transgender youths using public bathrooms. Rep. Birkeland, R-Morgan, has also blamed a family shooting allegedly committed by a transgender youth on “unnatural hormone concoctions.” House Democrats made impassioned arguments to deaf ears. But for the Republicans, it was a clarion call about federal overreach on things like management of public lands, which the state wants to do exclusively. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to listen to the entire floor debates, and yet hope springs eternal that at least one Republican might surprise us.

MISS: Shades of Red

Are we tired yet of the endless pre-primary campaign ads? Utah Republican candidates are doing their best to show how they can wield a gun, keep undocumented migrants out of our country and fight Biden’s “woke” agenda. The strangest ads are those pitting one GOP candidate against another—specifically the ads about Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs. Who, you ask? Staggs is the Trump-endorsed candidate to replace Sen. Mitt Romney, and who also won the fringe-oriented nominating convention with 70% of the delegate vote. In reality, he is a long shot to beat Rep. John Curtis, who according to polls leads the primary with 34% to Staggs’ 16%. That hasn’t stopped the Curtis-aligned Conservative Values for Utah PAC from spending $1.5 million, according to the Deseret News. If you’ve seen their ads, they are depicting Staggs as “too liberal” for Utah. When you stop laughing, you might feel his pain.

HIT: Higher Learning

Despite the heavy hand of the Legislature, the University of Utah isn’t giving up. You might remember that lawmakers are doing their best to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from educational facilities. “Under HB 261, ‘Equal Opportunity Initiatives,’ student services must be available to all students and not provided to individual students based on ‘personal identity characteristics,’” the U wrote on June 20. Of course, they complied with the law, centralizing student resources and closing the Women’s Resource Center, the Center for Equity and Student Belonging and the LGBT Resource Center. But hold on—the U will continue to work with tribal nations and keep the Black Cultural Center building for a gathering space. CW

Election Season

Is the election cycle already stressing you out? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the constant barrage of political news, polarized debates and social media discussions. I feel like folks sometimes forget there is a human on the other side of that screen.

Alright, listen up—it’s time to lay down some ground rules. Establishing boundaries? That ain’t up for debate. You’ve gotta put a cap on the amount of political junk food you’re consuming daily. Sure, staying informed is like basic survival in today’s world, but overdosing on news updates? Can we say Anxietyville?

Consider locking away your phone (or shutting off the telly) and scheduling specific times to catch up on the latest drama. And for the love of beauty sleep, steer clear of political debates before hitting the hay.

Mindfulness isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a lifeline. Embrace your inner peace warrior with some deep breathing, meditation or yoga. Take a breather whenever you need it.

Whether it’s a stroll through the park, vibing to your favorite tunes or diving headfirst into your guilty pleasure hobby, make time to recharge those batteries. You will often find me in silence creating art at my studio—art is therapeutic. Your health? Non-negotiable. You gotta treat your body like the VIP it is. Get those endorphins pumping with some regular sweat sessions, feed yourself something green once in a while and remember quality sleep is essential.

Oh, and don’t forget to hydrate. Seriously, water is your best friend.

What’s lighting up your life? Find your joy, whether it’s dancing like a maniac in your living room or belting out your favorite tunes in the shower. When it comes to saving my sanity after a hellish week, local music is my jam. In Salt Lake City, we’re swimming in a sea of killer talent.

Are you protecting your energy? Limit your exposure to individuals or social media accounts that consistently contribute to negativity and divisiveness.

Finding ways to stay engaged in causes that light your fire can be your ultimate power move during this election frenzy. Whether you’re rolling up your sleeves for a local campaign, hitting the streets for some protesting, or just passionately advocating for what matters most to you, you’re not just making noise, you’re making waves in your community.

And hey, don’t forget to sprinkle a little self-love on top of all that activism. It’s totally normal to feel like you’re drowning in the chaos of politics, but trust me, beating yourself up over every little misstep won’t win you any medals. Practice some self-compassion, cut yourself some slack and remember, it’s okay to hit pause and prioritize your own well-being. Trust me, take a breather before you clap back. Buckle up, because this political rollercoaster ain’t for the fainthearted. Take a deep breath because we’re all in this hot mess together.

Let’s make a pact to come out the other side stronger than ever, shall we?

And hey, speaking from the trenches of the last four years of pandemic chaos, one thing’s crystal clear: Community is the cure.

Together, we’re unstoppable. CW

Don’t Call It a Comeback

After a few tumultuous years, the Utah Arts Festival finds stability in providing something for everyone.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

For a few years in the aftermath of the COVID year of 2020, the Utah Arts Festival was in a period of transition. Aimee Dunsmore was replacing longtime festival director Lisa Sewell; the traditional four-day festival was shortened to three days. So is the UAF now at a point where they’ve found enough stability to simply say “we know what we’re doing now, and how we’re doing it, so let’s just make it the best we can?”

“I feel like we’re close,” Dunsmore says. “I feel probably the best so far [since 2020] coming into it. Sponsorships haven’t come back the way they were—we’re still adjusting—but I wouldn’t say that’s a negative. We’re just trying to use every dollar the best possible way we can. I think it’s still going to take a little bit of time to get back.”

There are indications, however, of an event closer than ever to the pre-COVID version of itself. One such signifier is the return to the festival grounds of street performances, including stilt-walkers and aerialists, which had been absent for a few years while the festival focused on core concerns. Additionally, the festival has been able to bring in an international performing artist in Korean performer Seo Jungmin, who plays the 25-string Gayageum

Asked if it’s fair to say this programming choice represents an organization that’s emerging from mere “survival mode,” Dunsmore says, “That is accurate. We can’t do exactly what we’ve done before, or at the scale we’ve done before, but with the feedback we got, it was important to get back to that. … We’re slowly but surely trying to bring all those things back.”

Feedback from attendees has always been important in terms of making the right decisions for the festival programming, and that includes the live performances. Yet there’s still a challenge with how to respond to feedback that could point you in two different directions, including whether to keep the same performing groups from year to year or change things up. According to Performing Arts Coordinator Dayna McKee, “There are people who want to see the same thing every year, their favorite, and then those who say, ‘it’s always the same thing, why should I spend my money again.’”

Finding that balance is one of the challenges of programming the festival, but Dunsmore and McKee both believe that mixing things up and providing opportunities for different artists is a key component of UAF’s mission. The application process—which this year found around 300 applicants for around 65 performing arts spots—includes ratings from a volunteer jury as well as a process for assessing the diversity of the program along a variety of criteria.

“The jury process is so important, but representation is also important,” Dunsmore says. “If the same people get in every year, it can stop people from applying. … We instituted that, after three years [of a group performing at the festival], we reserve the right to rest an artist in any program. You’re definitely going to see people you know and love, but you’re also going to see new people—and that’s part of our mission, and what we’re here to provide.”

Feedback was also part of the decision to move to a three-day festival—in this

A&E

case, feedback from participating artists, who in some cases were more inclined to attend a three-day festival—but that was only part of the package. Dunsmore notes that Thursday attendance had been declining in the years before the change was made, and there were rising production costs to consider. But also, there was the matter of considering how best to manage the resources—and the well-being—of the festival staff.

“Many of our crew have been here for years and years, so the burnout potential is real,” Dunsmore says. “I think three days is healthier for all of us. It’s still a full festival and there’s still a lot to see and do. It’s a bit more responsible with our time and resources.”

And in the big-picture analysis, maintaining the health and long-term viability of the festival is paramount. The artist marketplace remains healthy, with Dunsmore indicating that sales have remained fairly consistent—a little under $2 million annually—even with one less day. The

programming still includes a wide range of offerings, from urban arts to the Fear No Film Festival to hands-on workshops. For many attendees, the idea that there was ever anything for the Utah Arts Festival to get back to might not even have crossed their minds.

“When the marketing team came to us with ‘The Great Utah Get-Together’ [as a slogan], that really resonated,” Dunsmore says. “It’s a real challenge to market, because every program we have could stand on its own. The artist marketplace and performing arts are our two biggest [draws], but there’s also all this other stuff, and maybe that’s the thing you go for next year. There really, truly is something for everyone.” CW

UTAH ARTS FESTIVAL Library Square

210 E. 400 South June 28 – 30 uaf.org

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, JUNE 27-JULY 3,

Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Film festivals come in all shapes and sizes—and so do the people in them. At least, that’s one of the principles behind the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, a presentation of the Utah Film Center’s Black, Bold & Brilliant program in conjunction with Outdoor Auntie. According to Russell Roots, Director of Film Exhibition for the Utah Film Center and program manager for Black, Bold & Brilliant, “When you look at the outdoor sports or recreation industry overall, it tends towards a particular kind of person and body type. This is a celebration of all that we’re looking for when we turn to the outdoors. … The outdoors is for everybody. Just because you don’t see yourself in traditional marketing doesn’t mean you can’t survive or thrive in the outdoors.”

Curated for touring presentations by the national Wild & Scenic organization, this third annual festival shifts the focus to stories of BIPOC individuals, the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities and those with body types not typically associated with outdoor activities. The approximately two-hour program features 10 short films covering a range of issues and experiences—including Apayauq, director Zeppelin Zeerip’s profile of Apayauq Reitan (pictured), the first trans woman musher ever to complete the legendary Iditarod sled-dog race.

The 2024 Wild & Scenic Film Festival takes place at Tracy Aviary (589 E. 1300 South) on Friday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m. Food and drinks will be available for purchase on-site, and alcohol for those 21+ with ID. Tickets are $15 per person; visit utahfilmcenter.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information.

(Scott Renshaw)

Kevin James @ Delta Center

Kevin James has made his mark on screens both big and small. The former found him cast as the hapless delivery driver on the hit sitcom The King of Queens, which ran for nine seasons on CBS and garnered him an Emmy nomination. In addition, he found success as the producer, co-writer, and star of the hit movie comedies Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Zookeeper and Here Comes The Boom, all of which found him playing a clueless character who was lovable and irrepressible despite falling prey to preposterous predicaments.

That said, his dumb guy-makes-goodimage is decidedly at odds with his real-life achievements. He starred in and executive produced The Crew, a sitcom set in the world of NASCAR. He and his pal Ray Romano delved further afield with the HBO sports special Making the Cut: The Road to Pebble Beach, which garnered him a Sports Emmy nomination. In addition, he produced two critically acclaimed stand-up specials—Sweat the Small Stuff for Comedy Central and Never Don’t Give Up on Netflix—and scored significant roles in several films, among them Hitch (alongside Will Smith), Pixels (with Adam Sandler), Grown Ups, Grown Ups 2 and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. His humble demeanor off-camera is often overshadowed by his forthright persona onstage, but no matter. James may have abdicated his throne as King of Queens, but his comedy still rules.

Kevin James’ Owls Don’t Walk tour comes to the Delta Center (301 S. Temple) on Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $56 - $96; visit seatgeek.com. (Lee Zimmerman)

Amy Low: The Brave In-Between

What do you do with a terminal cancer diagnosis? Amy Low, a mother of two, faced that question in the summer of 2019, when she was informed that the health problems she’d been experiencing were connected to Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, and that the prognosis for survival was very slim. She began sharing parts of the ensuing journey with her friends, eventually turning it into a blog titled Postcards from the Mountain. And nearly five years after that grim initial diagnosis, Low is still here, sharing the lessons she has learned in the new memoir The Brave In-Between: Notes from the Last Room.

The Brave In-Between is a chronicle of the kinds of emotions so many people face when dealing with such prospects—anger, grief and trauma—and an attempt to navigate the good days without getting too high, and the bad days without getting too down. Low addresses how to navigate a path seeing both joy and sorrow as part of the same journey, and live in a space of forgiveness as a way to make the best of every day.

Amy Low appears in person to discuss The Brave In-Between at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) on Saturday, June 29 at 4 p.m. The event is free to the public, but registration is required via Eventbrite; copies of the book may be purchased at the event or pre-ordered, and places in the signing line are reserved for those who purchase the book from The King’s English. Visit kingsenglish.com to register and for additional event information. (SR)

CITY WEEKLY

DRIVER WANTED

A pair of ambassadors stop to talk with a man on 300 South.

Walking the Beat

On Main Street and in Salt Lake City’s hardest-hit neighborhoods, the Downtown Ambassadors are here to help.

BY BENJAMIN WOOD BWOOD@CITYWEEKLY.NET

It’s a sweltering, 100-degree afternoon as Becca Rieger heads out of the Downtown Ambassadors’ office—in the historic Newhouse Realty Building—and toward Washington Square. She’s hard to miss in her bright yellow uniform, pushing a rolling garbage can across State Street, and she makes a point to smile, wave and say hello to everyone she passes.

There are roughly 30 people and six dogs resting in the shade to the north of City Hall. Rieger makes her way toward and through them, picking up any stray trash she sees and stooping to check on a man lying facedown in the grass, who rolls over and assumes the polite stranger is telling him to move along.

“I’ll be on my way,” he says, disoriented and half-asleep.

“No, you’re good,” Rieger replies. She invites him to a resource fair the next day at Pioneer Park, then continues along the sidewalk.

Typically, ambassadors like Rieger make this walk alone, providing outreach to the unsheltered, picking up litter and answering whatever questions they might encounter from visitors—like how to use Trax, where to find parking, which restaurants offer a good lunch menu

and what special events are happening around the city. But today she’s trailed by two supervisors—Landon Olsen and Kristina Olivas—a consequence of the City Weekly reporter who also asked to tag along.

Olsen steps in to clarify that it’s not necessarily the ambassadors’ role to remove people from public spaces—though they will help to clear out folks who are impeding business and private property.

Rather, Olsen says, the ambassadors are there to provide information and support and, when necessary, to report larger issues to the appropriate city departments. They do make a point to wake people who are sleeping on the street, he says, to confirm the person is capable of waking.

“That’s just to check on them and make sure they’re alive and well,” Olsen says.

Rieger gestures to the fanny pack around her waist and explains that she’s carrying Narcan, the brandname version of the anti-overdose medication Naloxone. She says she has only needed to administer the medication once, relating an experience from last year when she was walking near a large encampment on 500 West and asked to help a man who was overdosing.

“He was OK, thank God. He woke up right there, but it took a couple doses,” Rieger said. “It was really scary, adrenaline was high. But it was awesome that we were there and able to do something about it.”

Rieger’s story is indicative of the work the Downtown Ambassadors do, which meets a critical need in the city’s operational ecosystem but is difficult to fully define and apt to go unnoticed by day-to-day residents, office workers and guests. Program staff and city officials say the ambassadors are making a difference, boosting both safety and vibrancy—but those intangible benefits don’t always resonate with Salt

Lakers who are weary of the city’s seemingly intractable challenges.

“I’ve seen them pick up some garbage,” said Pete Marshall, owner of Utah Book & Magazine. “I don’t know what the hell their job is supposed to be.”

Marshall has been on Main Street for nearly 40 years—the family store is more than 100 years old—and he said there’s more unsheltered individuals downtown than ever.

He’s spoken to the ambassadors, who tell businesses to call them when they need help, and he’s made his share of calls to the police. But he’s skeptical that conditions downtown are improving.

“A lot of businesses around here just got tired,” Marshall said. “You call and no one shows up.”

Launched in 2017 by the Downtown Alliance, the Ambassadors program has since contracted with the city to expand into Central City and Ballpark—where homeless resource centers are located—and to the North Temple and Rio Grande areas. Michelle Hoon, program

Becca Rieger prepares for a shift in front of a map of service areas.

Continued from page 17

manager for the city’s Homeless Engagement and Response Team (HEART), said roughly $1.5 million from the city’s homelessness mitigation funds (state dollars awarded to cities that host resource centers) is used to support the program’s expansion, which she described as money well spent.

“They’re super beneficial,” Hoon said of the ambassadors. “They’re kind of like the first line of defense for problems that could come up.”

Hoon described the Downtown Ambassadors as “eyes and ears on the street.” And however one might perceive the state of the city—good or bad, declining or improving—Hoon said conditions would be worse without them.

“It keeps the problems manageable. It keeps the problems from really spinning out of control,” Hoon said. “They still do—there are places where you can get overwhelmed. But for the most part, we have got a pretty clean, pretty safe city. And I think a lot of that and the maintenance of these areas has a lot to do with the fact that we have the ambassadors there.”

It Takes a Village

Before the walk to Washington Square, Rieger and her fellow ambassadors met for their daily huddle. In a quick debriefing, Rieger noted the next day’s resource fair and a Family Fun Night happening that evening at Gallivan Plaza, and reminded the team to wear their uniforms correctly—including to “remove your yellows” during breaks from the summer heat—and to “stat” the bags of trash they collect.

After that, the group stood in a circle and was led through a warm-up routine of twists, leg raises and toe-touches by an ambassador named Solomon while a Fergie playlist ran in the background.

“Alright, let’s go do some good,” Solomon said, sending the ambassadors scattering like busy, yellow bees.

“Stay hydrated!” Kristina Olivas called out after them.

The ambassadors collect a lot of data, which is shared with the city’s HEART team on a weekly basis. Block by block, they’re directed to log everything from the number of people they encounter and the services offered to them to the amount of garbage they collect, which is then run up the ladder as both a quantitative and qualitative measure of the trends and hotspots taking shape in the city.

“If you can address an encampment when it’s small, you’re way more likely to be able to get that person or those couple of people into a service that’s going to support them,” Hoon said.

The ambassadors make regular use of the SLC Mobile app, while encouraging businesses and others to use it as well. The app functions as a clearinghouse for maintenance and enforcement requests, with users able to report everything from a malfunctioning sprinkler in a park strip to an illegally-parked car—each report already sorted to the appropriate jurisdictional entity.

“If there’s a broken streetlight, broken sign, graffiti, a pothole, you name it— we’ll put it on SLC Mobile,” Olivas said.

Ambassadors do a warm-up routine before walking the city.

The ambassadors only recently added trash collection to their roles, and both Hoon and Olivas credited that with boosting the program’s visibility and helping to build bridges with local business owners—it’s a visual indicator of the work they’re doing and their impact on the community. While the city has its routines for trash removal, it can be challenging for that work to address the detritus that accumulates not just day by day, but hour by hour as tens of thousands of people make their way through the city.

“The light trash pickup that they have been doing has been phenomenal,” Hoon said. “It’s worked wonders to help keep those neighborhoods more maintained.”

The program also relies on local businesses to dispose of that trash, as the ambassadors do not have their own dumpster. Olivas said that’s just one example of the partnerships they rely on to effectively do their work.

“We have had better communication, better connection and better buy-in to our service from the businesses than we’ve ever had before,” Olivas said. “You don’t need to communicate with us every single day. But if you ever need us, we’re here.”

As Rieger made her way up the sidewalk at Washington Square, several of the people resting there began gathering up their trash and approaching her to throw items away. Olsen noted that many of the areas where the unsheltered congregate don’t have garbage cans nearby and that it can be difficult to avoid littering when you’re carrying all of your possessions.

“The majority of people want to have a clean space,” he said. “I’m not sure the general population realizes that.”

Asked about trends in the city, Olivas noted the increased amount of resources for the unsheltered that came online over the winter, like the micro-shelter community on 600 West and other support programs.

Having those additional resources gave ambassadors more and better options to offer to the people they encountered on the street, she said, and that in turn has led to more people accepting those offers and taking advantage of the help that is available to them.

“Those shelter resources have continued to stay open through the summer, so it’s really assisted our team and the individuals who are unsheltered,” Olivas said. “We’ve seen the trend of people saying ‘yes’ to shelter and ‘yes’ to getting into that safe space continue, because those options are available.”

And with talk of a new entertainment district around the Delta Center and Salt Palace, and the Power District taking shape along North Temple, the footprint and needs of Salt Lake’s urban core are ever expanding. Both Olivas and Hoon said there have not been formal discussions about adding new ambassador teams to those areas, but both also acknowledged the program could be a benefit to those development efforts.

“Especially as we grow and we continue to create these areas of entertainment, our services are going to be needed more and more,” Olivas said. “We’ve seen our team grow into neighboring areas and we would love to continue to be that good neighbor and provide that support wherever it is needed.”

BENJAMIN WOOD

Light trash pickup was recently added to the ambassadors’ services.

Looking for fun things to do downtown? Ask an ambassador.

Lone Rangers

There are currently 25 ambassadors, up from six when the program first launched. They hit the streets from 7 in the morning until 11 at night in the summertime and until 7 p.m. in the winter. While some areas—particularly those outside of downtown—will see a pair of ambassadors working together, most go out alone in order for the program to cover as much ground as possible.

“It is an individual job, they are out there by themselves,” Olivas said. “But there’s someone always close by where they can get that help.”

It’s atypical work that rewards a unique set of skills—comfort in both isolation and diverse social interactions and a high tolerance for the unpleasant, from weather extremes to the realities of urban living often ignored by polite society.

“We’re really transparent about the job from the very beginning. They are told exactly what to expect—the pretty stuff and not so pretty stuff,” Olivas said. “We work in all weather and that’s what the team is told from the very beginning. We’re out there with the purpose of helping everyone at any time of the day.”

Fern Aguirre, general manager of Gracie’s, said she’s called the ambassadors for help several times. With the bar’s patio and entrance facing out onto West Temple, she said there have been instances where a person on the street or sidewalk might be shouting profanities, asking for money or otherwise disturbing her customers.

“We find ourselves in situations like that where a police presence might not be necessary,” Aguirre said. “Especially if they’re out on the street, that’s not something where I feel comfortable sending my staff out there to handle.”

She said the ambassadors have been prompt to respond on the occasions she’s reached out for help, typically arriving within 10 minutes. And she added that while she regularly sees the ambassadors making their rounds, it’s been some time since she had to proactively reach out to them for assistance.

“It definitely seems like—as far as the high-traffic areas downtown—we have seen improvement over the years,” she said. “The big scope, what do you attribute it to? Can you really say that this is the cause and effect? But I know that they’ve been great for us.”

Several ambassadors have a personal history with homelessness and addiction, which Hoon said gives them a lived experience that sets them apart from other public officials.

“I think that gives them a different perspective on the work that they’re doing,” she said. “They’re really able to approach it with a lot of empathy and understanding and to speak the language of those who are out on the streets.”

Residents and businesses may not always see a full picture of the work the ambassadors do, but Hoon said the feedback she’s received has been nearly unanimous in praising their efforts.

“I have never heard anything but positive things to say about the Ambassador program,” Hoon said. “I think it’s really awesome that they’re able to get out there and provide a friendly face both for people who are unsheltered and also people in the business community.”

Aguirre noted that she’d like to see the program—or something similar to it— extend beyond 11 p.m. on weekends, at least around downtown’s nightlife spots.

“With the bars it’s kind of hard, because that’s kind of when a lot of the problems start,” she said.

In the late hours, when the ambassadors are not available, businesses like Gracie’s turn to the police for help. And while Aguirre emphasized that she has a great working relationship with the city Police Department, she added that having cops stationed outside of a bar doesn’t make for the best customer experience—even if no one is doing anything wrong—and that law enforcement isn’t necessarily the best solution to what people on the street are experiencing.

“A lot of times, these people are already in a tough situation,” she said. “I know that having them arrested is not going to do me, the police officers, the city or anybody any favors.”

Unseen Effort

It takes about an hour for Rieger to complete a full lap of Washington Square, with much of the work concentrated around the northeast corner, where 400 South reaches the Main Library and 200 East. Rieger heads back toward the Newhouse Realty building, to dispose of both the container of trash she’s collected and the City Weekly reporter shadowing her.

While Rieger and Olsen punch in the code to a gated dumpster, Olivas notes how much was accomplished in a short amount of time, and how unlikely it is that a typical Salt Laker would notice.

“The impact that we have in that hour—we collected a whole bag of trash, we connected with more than 20 people, we informed them of the resources,” Olivas said. “It’s all of these things happening in that hour that no one really sees or understands unless they’re with us or we can show them through the data that we collect.”

Olsen comments on how face-to-face interactions have decreased in modern society, with fewer opportunities for chance encounters that nudge people out of their comfort zones. He says it’s one of the reasons he loves working for the Ambassador program, whether that interaction takes the form of offering aid to someone in need or simply helping an out-of-town visitor find their way through an unfamiliar city.

“The overall message is that we’re here to make this a vibrant community,” he says, “through cleanliness, through a friendly face, through connecting people to resources and being that walking knowledge base.”

Aguirre said the Downtown Ambassadors illustrate the bigger challenges at play in Salt Lake City—challenges like keeping the city clean, getting help to those who need it and finding the right spaces for those with nowhere else to go. The ambassadors may not be capable of solving all of those problems, but she said their presence adds to the quality of the city.

“Ultimately, we’ve found benefits from it,” she said. “All of the people who have come out, we’ve had good interactions with. They’ve helped us.”

Mass Hysteria

Kinds of Kindness aims a daringly misanthropic adult tale at multiplex audiences.

BY MARYANN JOHANSON comments@cityweekly.net

It’s not that there aren’t plenty of films being released all the time that are adventurous, challenging or just plain odd. But they tend to be small, niche and aimed at arthouse audiences. Beyond the outrageous, brutal daring of Kinds of Kindness itself is the rather shocking fact that it’s being pitched to multiplex audiences as a summer event film. That surprise announcement earlier this year was clearly intended to ride the coattails of the success of Poor Things, last year’s collaboration between writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Willem Dafoe and Emma Stone—and, particularly, Stone’s Oscar win for Best Actress.

And here’s Kinds of Kindness getting a wide release? Just in time for a major holiday weekend traditionally big for moviegoing? Honestly, I didn’t think an industry leaning so hard on comic-book and kiddie-animation fantasies had this kind of risk-taking in them nowadays.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this gambit plays out. Are mainstream audiences ready again for a movie that isn’t only unambiguously adult—in all senses of the word; hello, polyamorous partner-swapping sex scene!—but also this bleak? Because Poor Things—for all its bonkers, explicit, weird Frankengirl feminist fancy—was practically a Disney fairy tale next to this mad monstrosity of

a movie. Poor Things was, in many ways, a kind film. The title of this one deploys the word “kind” in ways that are nothing but supremely ironic, and stretch the meaning of the word almost out of all recognition. It’s part of Lanthimos’ typical grotesque humor, on display here like never before— which, given his filmography, is saying something.

Three separate short stories come together here in ways that are loosely connected thematically (matters of control and coercion, twisted devotion and desperation for love and connection weave through them) and tonally (all three tales are surreal, nihilist and profoundly misanthropic). Yay for a movie that actually attempts to capture how wretchedly so many of us are scrambling for meaning, identity and belonging, no matter in what hellhole we might find it.

All three stories are, paradoxically, both not really about plot, yet also tightly reliant on unsettling you with what happens next. Even the most veteran movie lover or most experienced devourer of any kind of storytelling will be hard-pressed to guess what bizarre link will be added next to these separate chains of events. Which

isn’t to suggest that these are stories that rely on “twists,” either. The peculiar genius of Lanthimos in this case (he cowrote the script with his frequent collaborator Efthimis Filippou) is that the course of each story is perfectly reasonable and logical taken on its own terms. It’s just that those terms are so wildly, wonderfully absurdist, eerily esoteric and profoundly perverse that they tickle with their delicious unpredictability.

It is so rare for a movie to surprise someone like me, who sees a ridiculous number of films each year, yet sitting in the dark with Kinds of Kindness was just nonstop novelty, in the best way. We can call this an “original” film, but that almost demands a redefinition of the word to encompass the downright feral inventiveness at work here.

The three stories are presented anthology-style, one short film after another, not as three entwined tales. Which means— more deliciousness—that we get to savor a brilliant cast in different roles in each story, each character so distinct from the other ones they portray that it becomes an embarrassment of creative riches. These artistic badasses, clearly having a ball,

are: Stone, Dafoe, Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn and Mamoudou Athie. The stories they slot into are about—loosely, and to varying degrees metaphorically—the oppression of corporate employment, the mysteries of marriage and the grip of cultish belief. So, again: lots of 2020s angst and anxiety to play with.

Tangentially intriguing is how Kinds of Kindness also plays with some of the things that have kept many moviegoers who are hungry for sophisticated substance out of cinemas: the pleasure of bingeing quality visual storytelling at home. Because in some ways, with its serial stories, this feels very much like that. Will all the recent industry handwringing about how to get butts back in multiplex seats be solved by a movie that feels, in some ways, like prestige TV? CW

KINDS OF KINDNESS

Emma Stone

Willem Dafoe

Jesse Plemons

Emma Stone and Joe Alwyn in Kinds of Kindness

Vessel Kitchen’s New Groove

A local fast-casual spot turns old favorites into new favorites.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

The fast-casual world was a bit of a one-trick pony back in 2016 when Brian Reeder, Roe’e Levy and Nick Gradinger opened the first location of Vessel Kitchen. Sure, we all enjoyed spots that filled that slightly classed-up the fast food model, but all those rice bowls and burritos left a bit too much to the imagination. So, when this local trio of restaurateurs opened Vessel Kitchen with its well-rounded menu that knew what to do with the food pyramid, it was a humongous hit.

In the eight years since Vessel first opened its doors, it’s expanded to seven locations throughout the Wasatch Front, with an eighth scheduled to open in American Fork later this summer. Its takeout menu and wide range of plantbased options helped keep it afloat throughout the 2020 pandemic, but it’s recently undergone a significant facelift. I was able to chat with co-founder Brian Reeder at the Ninth and Ninth location of Vessel to discuss the logistics of how a brand with seven different locations can change up the menu while keeping its fanbase happy. (Spoiler alert: It’s pretty damned tricky.)

This recent shuffle isn’t the first time Vessel has changed things up. In fact, it used to happen much more frequently before 2020. “Menu changes were al-

DINE

ways a part of our first few years in business,” Reeder says. “It’s always hard, because you want people to get excited about something new, but some of them have wild amounts of passion and rage if you remove their favorite thing from the menu.”

Though I’m the type of diner who loves getting the new cool thing, I can definitely sympathize with the customer who, as Reeder puts it, “broke down and started sobbing because the roasted Brussels sprouts were off the menu.” We just assume that our favorite dish will always be there to be an anchor in a world swirling with chaos, so it’s a shock when that little bit of consistency suddenly disappears. And, to whomever this customer was: The roasted Brussels sprouts are back on the menu, and it’s going to be okay.

My take on the new menu was mostly positive. For example, the new signature bowl known as the Uncle Rico ($15)—yes, it’s named after that Uncle Rico, you Napoleon Dynamite nerds—is a stark improvement over the Good and Plenty bowl that served as its foundation. It keeps the creamy mashed potatoes, but adds a bright chile verde to the pulled pork, then tops it off with Vessel’s new macha corn, guajillo crema and some cotija cheese. I was a longtime fan of the Good and Plenty before, but like most of the changes on Vessel’s new menu, this one is better than the original.

The new menu features a more prominent Latin influence, which is thanks to Vessel’s new culinary director, Andrew Shrader. “He has such a varied background,” Reeder says. “It’s like Southern California-meets-Mexico with some Asian influence, and we really wanted him to own the menu and put his stamp on it.”

Shrader has plenty of experience with innovative fast-casual concepts; before joining the Vessel team, he was the re-

gional chef for Southern California’s Crack Shack. “He fits in really well with the team,” Reeder says. “We all take what we do seriously, but we also try to have a good time and not take ourselves too seriously. Andrew really fits in with all of that.”

After getting a taste of Vessel’s updated menu, our conversation eventually turns to logistics. One of the reasons Vessel Kitchen is so popular is because it’s carved out a very specific fast-casual niche for itself. Replicating these specific flavors and dishes across seven different locations is no easy task, which is why Vessel’s core culinary team occupies a central commissary, where they can prep and ship specific dishes to each location as needed.

In the five years since Vessel has changed up its menu, the brand has grown considerably. “We always wanted to grow, but … without sacrificing quality and consistency,” Reeder says. “We use a hub and spoke model—if it can be made better at the store, we’re making it there. But if it can be made more consistently at our central kitchen, we’re going to do it there.”

As Vessel Kitchen continues to evolve to meet the needs of modern diners while remaining true to the roots that its founders have established, Reeder and his co-founders remain enthusiastic. This passion for making food that tastes great while providing a bit more balance than fast-casual diners are used to has had a pronounced influence on the local options that we have today. Thanks to Vessel’s influence, our local dining scene has grown to include several options for fast-casual dining on the healthier side of the spectrum. CW

E 2100 S Sugar House

2 Row Brewing

6856 S. 300 West, Midvale

2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: “Dos Filas” Mexican Lager

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

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

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC

BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap:  Cerveza De Mayo for Bewilder.

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

On Tap: California Steam Lager

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: Crispy Boi - cerveza-ish Cream Ale

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

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

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap:  Ay Curuba! Curuba Sour

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: HOPEulent IPA (A portion of proceeds are donated to Project Rainbow)

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: Black Sesame Stout

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Tap: Tropical Haze IPA - HBC 1019 Hops with Heavy Notes of Peach

Level Crossing Brewing Co.

2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake

LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Sun Slope Sour

Live Music every Sunday, 5 to 8pm

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST

550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC

LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Philly Sour Fruit Bat

Live Music every Saturday, 3 to 6pm

Moab Brewing

686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

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

Mountain West Cider

425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Mango Pride Cider and Ruby’s Gay

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

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com

On Tap: Mastero of None Italian Pilsner

Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: El Jeffe Hefeweizen

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

Prodigy Brewing

25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: Golden Hour Belgian Sour

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

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

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

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

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

A

of

Red Rock Brewing

254 So. 200 West

RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: 7C’s Thiolized IPA (Last Call)

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Pineapple Sour Seltzer

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

On Tap: Eddy Out Imperial Pilsner

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Luau Rider - Coconut Chocolate Milk Stout

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

On Tap: Highpoint Prairie Punch 6% ABV

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

On Tap: Blueberry Amchur

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

On Tap: Spring Fever Grapefruit Radler

Shades On State

366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Salud Mexican Lager, Six Wheat Under Hefe

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. Lucky 7’s IPA

Squatters and Wasatch

Brewery

1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Holy Haze IPA 5% Love Local new release April 26

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

On Tap: ”Let’s Gose” [Gose with smoked salt, pineapple and lime]; “Yojimbo (The Wandering Ronan)” [Japanese Toasted Rice Lager with White Tea].

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville

596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: My Beer My Choice (Dry Hopped American Sour w/pink boots blend), Cream Ale

TF Brewing

936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com

On Tap: Chamomile Wit Bier

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 Brewery

250 Main, Park City, Utah topofmainbrewpub.com

On Tap: Top of Main Brewery Blue Corn 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 Brewery Coalition Hellfire Chili Pepper Ale

Zion Brewery

95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

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

BEER NERD

The Same, But Different

New brewing techniques create two very different IPAs

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

TF - Daisy Chain: This New England IPA features a relatively new hop called Anchovy. It’s a terrible name for a hop; it actually features no fishy tastes or aroma. The brew pours a hazy golden color, with a small head of white foam. The head has a moderate level of retention, fading over time and leaving a touch of foamy lace on the sides of the glass. The killer aroma is punchy up front with dehydrated pineapple, pristine wet lawn—like an early morning fairway. Hints of coconut and melon emerge—bold yet delicate, with an insane degree of freshness. You don’t get much from the malt at all—just a soft honey note that works with the hops, holds a resinous texture, but stays mostly in the background.

The taste begins with a crisp cracker and bready malt flavor, paired with a rather strong showing of nectarine and peach. There are some lighter notes of melon, berries and papaya, along with a bit of lemon. Up front, there is also a bit of a floral hop taste, along with some graininess. The hop and grain grow a bit stronger, all while the sweet fades a tad, leaving one with a crisper, rather easynatured citrusy taste to linger on the tongue. The body of the 7.3 percent brew is pillowy with an average carbonation level, great for making an approachable and easy-drinking brew.

Verdict: Crushable, but there’s enough flavor to be satisfying as a slow sipper, and the way this has come together overall is extremely impressive. It’s about as good as it gets for me, resplen-

dent and exceptional.

Helper - Idea Shower: This cold-style IPA has a very pale straw color with a rocky white head. Vigorous carbonation features small, medium and largersized bubbles. The beer is quite clear; any haze will likely be chill haze. Nice aromas include dank notes with passion fruit, mango and pineapple, plus strawberries and a hint of chewable vitamins. There’s also some pepperiness, and a subtle, doughy malt profile in the background.

Tons of grapefruit hit from the start of the taste, but the citrus character is less about juiciness than about the pithy, rindy, bitter nature of the citrus, bringing a lot of aromatics. There is some juiciness, but not a lot. The beer is pretty simple in its flavors, and everything works well together—a dry, crisp lager with lots of citrusy hop character. Pretty interesting that it can be so citrusy without any Citra hops. And as much bitterness as you get, it does not linger long on the finish. There’s a subtle sweetness that comes through from the cracker-like malt, especially after the quick finish from the hops subsides.

The 6.8 percent beer also has a touch of juicy acidity, which is nice. The beer is light- to medium-bodied, nicely carbonated with a clean, crisp, dry finish. Very drinkable and refreshing.

Verdict: It can be difficult to tell the difference between a West Coast pilsner, an Imperial pilsner (IPL), and a cold IPA.

I previously thought that IPLs and cold IPAs were very similar; now I think that a West Coast Pilsner and a cold IPA are even more similar. I think what distinguishes the cold IPAs is that they have more malt balance coming through. This beer would be amazing on a hot day.

Idea Shower will take some effort to track down if you’re outside of Helper, Utah. Beer pubs like The Bayou and Slackwater will have it, but when it’s gone, it’s gone. Daisy Chain is available for sure at TF’s brewery, but it’s a limited run as well, so don’t delay on either of these new brews. As always, cheers! CW

the BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

This summer, the Kimpton Hotel Monaco (15 W. 200 South) will be hosting a series of beer dinners in partnership with Epic Brewing Company (825 S. State Street). The food portion of the event will be overseen by Bambara chef Max Goodrich, and the menu includes a house beer, focaccia, scotch eggs, cavatelli, and halibut & chips, followed by a banoffee pie. Each course will be paired with a specific beer from Epic Brewing, and brewer Ryan Kluh will be on hand to offer an explanation of each beer and their overall brewing process. The first event of the series takes place on June 28 at 7 p.m., and reservations can be made via OpenTable.

International Rosé Tasting at the Leonardo Those craving a similar experience, but with rosé at the forefront, will want to check out this week’s Leo Libations Flights and Bites event at the Leonardo (209 E. 500 South). Utah Wine Academy sommelier Jim Santangelo will be on hand to pour a variety of international rosé wines and provide a bit of background about their regional flavors. The wine tasting will be paired with a Thai-inspired menu that includes veggie spring rolls, green curry and mango sticky rice. This event takes place June 27 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.; tickets can be purchased via theleonardo.org.

Tuk Tuk’s Opens Draper Location

I became a fan of Tuk Tuk’s vibrant menu of Thai cuisine at its West Valley location (2222 W. 3500 South, Ste. B7), and was thrilled to learn that it has opened a second location in Draper (541 E. 12300 South, Ste. A), which is a bit closer to my home base. It’s always a difficult task to stand out among Utah’s excellent Thai restaurants, but Tuk Tuk’s has distinguished itself among its peers. All of your favorite Thai dishes are present at Tuk Tuk’s, but it’s their special menu that really makes this place a prime destination. From its pineapple curry fried rice that is served in a fresh, bisected pineapple to its panang curry with salmon, this place is a must-try for Thai food fans.

Quote of the Week: “Wine is bottled poetry.” –Robert Louis Stevenson

Hotel Monaco Kicks off Beer Dinner Series

THE BEEHIVE

SLC Psych

A

roundup of local bands evoking the groovy vibes of the 1960s.

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

The 1960’s seemed to be quite a time to be alive. I personally would not know, as I would miss them by three and a half decades, but looking back at the music of those days is always insightful. The counterculture, the civil rights issues and pop culture of the decade led to some pretty incredible tunes—especially when we talk about psychedelic music.

The decade saw a rise in rock music as well as tons of bright colors, flower power and, of course, copious amounts of hallucinogenic drugs. Psych music is characterized by the use of electronic sound effects, long instrumental solos and plenty of improvisation. Artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and many more paved the way for today’s psych bands. SLC has a flourishing psych scene, and if this genre is your thing, you need to check them out.

Casio Ghost: It’s safe to say that Casio Ghost is an SLC favorite, and not just when it comes to the psych genre— they released their first EP in 2021, and have been captivating the local scene since. This four-piece really knows how to bring the noise and put on great shows. Their brand of psych music is fused with surf rock, offering reverbsoaked rhythms and solos on top of clever electronic elements; “The band’s sound combines modern garage and surf elements with psychedelic sounds of yesteryear,” their website describes. Their 2023

release, Postmodern Blues, is some of their best work yet—it’s fun, it’s floaty, it’s trippy and will perfectly scratch any psychedelic itch you may have. Casio Ghost plays around town on the regular, so follow them on their socials to watch for dates, and stream Postmodern Blues everywhere.

Von Masse: Von Masse is an interesting group that has unfortunately been MIA for a while, but hopefully we’ll hear back from them soon. In the meantime, they have great music for you to dive into when you need a little psych in your life. As described on their Instagram page, they create “audio-visual psychic manipulations.” Their brand of psych is mixed with dream and shoegaze elements, creating a sound that’s entirely their own. Their 2022 EP Voider takes you on an exciting ride that feels long-lasting, despite only having five tracks; the tracks are on the longer side as well, so that helps the journey not go by too fast. They posted the inspirations behind some of their tracks on Instagram, giving us insight on how the songs came together. “In the writing of ‘Intersecting,’ I focused on the ideas of connectivity we have with our world,” they said of the song “Intersecting of Points.” “All of our lives are determined by the links we make with other people. These can dramatically change the direction of our paths. We can directly map our life story to the people we intersect with at any given point. No one exists in a vacuum.” As previously mentioned, Von Masse hasn’t been seen around for a bit, but hopefully they’ll be back with some more psych music for us to sink our teeth into. Stream Voider for now, though, and enjoy the journey.

Muskies: What do you get when you mix folk, psych and sea shanty vibes together on a song? Say it with me everyone: “pike psych!” Muskies are a charmingly fun sixpiece in SLC who lend their crafty fun to

the psych genre in their own unique way. Muskies swam onto the scene last year and have been making a splash ever since (okay, I’m done with the fish puns...). They debuted with “Out on the Water!,” the track that started it all. Its ripple effect (... or am I?) has had a lovely effect on the local scene—there’s always more need for bands who bring their silly fun to shows. That’s not to say that Muskies can’t be taken seriously. On the contrary, in their music you’ll find beautifully-crafted songs that offer new elements to discover upon each listen. Muskies have a few singles out that are streaming everywhere, so give them a listen.

The Lingo: If Muskies bring the lighthearted, silly fun from the water, The Lingo serve up the fun in the sun. They only have one single out so far, but it’s all about those desert vibes. If

MUSIC

anything on this list sounds like it’s out of the ’60s, it’s The Lingo’s “Melted Coyote.” There are no vocals aside from a few “ah’s” here and there, but the song is still so full and rich without them, with reverb cranked to 11 and immaculate soloing. The next time you find yourself cruising through the desert, you’ll want to throw this one on. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a hot, summer drive.

Psych Lake City: If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll want to be sure to hit Psych Lake City in August, a festival dedicated to the genre with tons of amazing local bands. You’ll be able to catch Casio Ghost as well as Magic Sword, The Shivas, Over Under, Mopsy, Antela and many more. There’s three days of rocking starting on Thursday, Aug 8. Check out tickets before they’re gone at 24tix.com.

SLC is full of talented bands who play just about any genre you can think of. There’s something for everyone, and there’s plenty to be discovered. Take a listen if you haven’t already. CW

THURSDAYS

FRIDAY JUNE 28 DJ CELLY CEL

SATURDAY JUNE 29 THE BEST HIP HOP IN SLC

SHARK SUNDAYS POOL TOURNEY HOSTED BY TANNER

MONDAYS

REGGAE MONDAY WITH DJ NAPO

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE

MUSIC

PICK S

SPECTRUM @ Plumhouse 6/28

You may know the saying that “sexuality is a spectrum,” which allows for more fluidity in sexual identity and expression. This Friday is a Pride rave called SPECTRUM, where everyone can feel safe and celebrate their authentic selves. There is a fully queer lineup of DJs and performers, including local DJs Moonchiild (Gabriela Sadler) and Lazer Kitten (Kat Fechner), as well as Boost (Andrei Spirin), from Austin, Texas. Boost is known for his pup kink aesthetic and plays everything from melodic house, progressive house to drum ‘n’ bass. For this event, expect House music into the wee hours of the morning and non-stop entertainment, from flow performers to drag queens. Salt Lake City is definitely queer, and SPECTRUM showcases the vibrant diversity of our city. It’s not all about partying, though: Ten percent of all proceeds will be donated to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide-prevention non-profit for LGBTQ+ individuals. Pride isn’t over yet. Check out SPECTRUM on Friday, June 28 at a new warehouse called Plumhouse (733 S. 400 West). Tickets cost $33 for this 21+ event. Space is limited and the cost to RSVP goes up as availability goes down, so hurry for the best deal! Go to ten4.club (Arica Roberts)

WEDNESDAY,

MUSIC PICK S

Marc Broussard @ Egyptian Theater 6/27

Many artists claim that they relish their roots, but few nurture and appreciate them as much as Marc Broussard. The son of legendary Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard, Marc honed his musical talents at an early age within the vibrant Lafayette, Louisiana music scene. After releasing a highly successful independent EP at the age of 20, Marc Broussard made his major-label debut with Carencro, an album that catapulted him into the national spotlight. He then released a steady string of critically-acclaimed releases, including several charitable efforts under the auspices of his S.O.S. (Save our Soul) Foundation. His philanthropic efforts began with his self-released album Bootleg benefitting victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he subsequently organized the Momentary Setback Fund to provide financial assistance to those displaced by both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. He also took part in a USO tour to entertain troops in the Middle East. Broussard’s current tour celebrates roots of another sort—specifically, the 20th anniversary of the release of Carencro, the album which took its name from that of his hometown. Broussard has never been content to mine any single strain of music; he’s dabbled freely in rock, R&B, soul, blues and zydeco. “I’ve always had a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder,” he recently told the Maryville Daily Times. “I’ve always tried to let the muse take me where it wanted to take me.” Marc Broussard performs at 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 at Egyptian Theatre, Park City. Tickets cost $33 at tickets.egyptiantheatrecompany.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

Marc Broussard

Andy Frasco & the U.N. @ Utah Arts Festival 6/29

The electrifying and energetic Andy Frasco & the U.N. will be rocking the “The Great Utah Get-Together” Saturday night on the Utah Arts Festival’s Amphitheater Stage. I listen to the blues with respect and enjoyment, but not as much understanding as I’d like, and Frasco’s approach has been recognized regularly as “Party Blues.”

However, after giving 2023’s L’Optimist several listens, that moniker seems rather simplistic. In music filled with all-around influences, thoughtful lyrics and genuine personal self-discovery, Frasco seems like he is figuring it all out while having the most fun. “I want music for our next generation to be more authentic than it is now. I’m not saying that it isn’t authentic now, but I want us to keep on finding ourselves,” Frasco told Liveforlivemusic. com. “We’re so afraid to find ourselves and be exactly who we want to be.” Be sure to check out the other artists and musicians that are set to move the crowd over the Utah Art Festival’s 3-day 2024 run. It all starts on Friday, June 28 with the musical experience of the Grateful Dead/ Steely Dan mashup, Steely Dead. On Sunday, catch local DIY pop darlings future.exboyfriend and the in-their-own-universe rock ‘n roll band

The Plastic Cherries. Come out all weekend to celebrate arts that connect us. Catch Andy Frasco & The U.N. at the Utah Arts Fest at Library Square in downtown SLC on Saturday, June 29. Show starts at 9:30 p.m. Single day tickets for the allages show range $8 - $18 and can be found at uaf.org/tix (Mark Dago)

New Kids on the Block @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre 6/29

Repackaging hip-hop for a pop audience, New Kids on the Block were a genuine 1980s phenomenon. A slow-burn success, NKOTB began in 1985 as a manufactured group assembled by entrepreneurs seeking to create a white act to build on the success of black vocal group New Edition. The classic lineup of youngsters—brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood—was an early example of the so-called “boy band” trend, scoring triple-platinum (more than three million units sold) with their self-titled 1986 debut album. NKOTB’s sustained success arguably paved the way for a raft of other boy bands including Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. The group’s second album—1988’s Hangin’ Tough—moved a staggering 8 million units, and its two follow-ups were commercial successes as well. Along the way, the group placed 11 singles on the Billboard Top Ten charts. NKOTB landed numerous music industry awards, headlining and co-headlining successful concert tours. The group split by 1995, but all five members reunited in 2008, and have remained mostly active since then, albeit with more measured commercial success. Today they’re neither new nor kids (Wahlberg was 15 when he joined; today he’s 54), but their latest album—2024’s Still Kids—received critical praise for its brand of timeless, accessible pop music. New Kids on the Block appear Saturday, June 29 with opening acts Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre. Tickets start at $41 at livenation.com. (Bill Kopp)

Xana @ Kilby Court 7/3

We may be waving goodbye to 2024’s Pride Month, but let’s keep the party going the rest of the year with incredible queer artists. West Coast pop artist Xana is well-known for her gritty, dark pop-rock vibes and relatable subject matter. Paired with her ferocious honesty, you’ve got a recipe for something great. Her music encompasses themes of LGBTQ romance, female empowerment, sexpositivity, self-reflection and discovery. Xana is on tour celebrating her latest release The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t, with the tour aptly titled The Sex Was Good tour. The sophomore album for the singer is full of the hard truths and soul-bearing subject matter she’s known for; the album represents Xana “pulling my heart apart and serving it on a silver platter,” as described on her Spotify bio. Her most popular song, “Goddess,” perfectly exemplifies all of the traits and characteristics above, not only in the subject matter, but the writing process for the song itself. “I was just really pissed off one day, and, well, actually for a long time,” Xana told Finessed Media last June. “I just sat down on my piano and I started writing it. I knew how I wanted it to sound like, I knew what I wanted it to be: this abrasive empowering ‘don’t fuck with me’ kind of song. I wrote it on my piano and I made sure that the melody would work with that vibe.” Luckily, a lot of people have been able to relate to that “don’t fuck with me” energy and have made the song a hit. Come hang with Xana on Wednesday, July 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $18 and can be found at kilbycourt.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

Andy Frasco New Kids on the Block

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

This may sound weird, but I think now is a perfect time to acquire a fresh problem. Not just any old boring problem, of course. Rather, I’m hoping you will carefully ponder what kind of dilemma would be most educational for you—which riddle might challenge you to grow in ways you need to. Here’s another reason you should be proactive about hunting down a juicy challenge: Doing so will ensure that you won’t attract mediocre, meaningless problems.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Now is an excellent time to start learning a new language or to increase your proficiency in your native tongue. Or both. It’s also a favorable phase to enrich your communication skills and acquire resources that will help you do that. Would you like to enhance your ability to cultivate friendships and influence people? Are you interested in becoming more persuasive, articulate and expressive? If so, Taurus, attend to these self-improvement tasks with graceful intensity. Life will conspire benevolently on your behalf if you do. (PS: I’m not implying you’re weak in any of these departments; just that now is a favorable time to boost your capacities.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Barbara Sher and Barbara Smith wrote the book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. I invite you to think and feel deeply about this theme during the coming months. In my experience with Geminis, you are often so versatile and multi-faceted that it can be challenging to focus on just one or two of your various callings. And that may confuse your ability to know what you want more than anything else. But here’s the good news. You may soon enjoy a grace period when you feel really good about devoting yourself to one goal more than any other.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

You are entering a phase when you will be wise to question fixed patterns and shed age-old habits. The more excited you get about re-evaluating everything you know and believe, the more likely it is that exciting new possibilities will open up for you. If you are staunchly committed to resolving longstanding confusions and instigating fresh approaches, you will launch an epic chapter of your life story. Wow! That sounds dramatic. But it’s quite factual. Here’s the kicker: You’re now in prime position to get vivid glimpses of specific successes you can accomplish between now and your birthday in 2025.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

How many different ways can you think of to ripen your spiritual wisdom? I suggest you choose two and pursue them with gleeful vigor in the coming weeks. You are primed to come into contact with streams of divine revelations that can change your life for the better. All the conditions are favorable for you to encounter teachings that will ennoble your soul and hone your highest ideals. Don’t underestimate your power to get the precise enlightenment you need.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Border Collies are dogs with a herding instinct. Their urges to usher, steer and manage are strong. They will not only round up sheep and cattle, but also pigs, chickens and ostriches—and even try to herd cats. In my estimation, Virgo, Border Collies are your spirit creatures these days. You have a special inclination and talent to be a good shepherd. So use your aptitude with flair. Provide extra navigational help for people and animals who would benefit from your nurturing guidance. And remember to do the same for your own wayward impulses!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

We have arrived at the midpoint of 2024. It’s check-in time. Do you recall the promises you made to yourself last January? Are you about halfway into the frontier you vowed to explore? What inspirational measures could you insti -

gate to renew your energy and motivation for the two most important goals in your life? What would you identify as the main obstacle to your blissful success, and how could you diminish it? If you’d like to refresh your memory of the longterm predictions I made for your destiny in 2024, go here: tinyurl.com/Libra2024. For 2023’s big-picture prophecies, go here: tinyurl.com/2023Libra.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Scorpio-born Gary Hug was educated as a machinist and food scientist, but for many years he has worked primarily as an amateur astronomer. Using a seven-foot telescope he built in the backyard of his home, he has discovered a comet and 300 asteroids, including two that may come hazardously close to Earth. Extolling the joys of being an amateur, he says he enjoys “a sense of freedom that you don’t have when you’re a professional.” In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I encourage you to explore and experiment with the joys of tasks done out of joy rather than duty. Identify the work and play that feel liberating and indulge in them lavishly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Your power spots will be places that no one has visited or looked into for a while. Sexy secrets and missing information will be revealed to you as you nose around in situations where you supposedly should not investigate. The light at the end of the tunnel is likely to appear well before you imagined it would. Your lucky number is 8, your lucky color is black, and your lucky emotion is the surprise of discovery. My advice: Call on your memory to serve you in amazing ways; use it as a superpower.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Happy Unbirthday, Capricorn! It’s time to celebrate the season halfway between your last birthday and your next. I hope you will give yourself a fun gift every day for at least the next seven days. Fourteen days would be even better. See if you can coax friends and allies to also shower you with amusing blessings. Tell them your astrologer said that would be a very good idea. Now here’s an unbirthday favor from me: I promise that between now and January 2025, you will create healing changes in your relationship with your job and with work in general.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

While sleeping, my Aquarian friend Janelle dreamed that she and her family lived in a cabin in the woods. When dusk was falling, a strange animal put its face against the main window. Was it a bear? A mountain lion? Her family freaked out and hid in a back bedroom. But Janelle stayed to investigate. Looking closely, she saw the creature was a deer. She opened up the window and spoke to it, saying, “What can I do for you?” The deer, who was a talking deer, said, “I want to give you and your family a gift. See this necklace I’m wearing? It has a magic ruby that will heal a health problem for everyone who touches it.” Janelle managed to remove the necklace, whereupon the deer wandered away and she woke up from the dream. During subsequent weeks, welcome changes occurred in her waking life. She and three of her family members lost physical ailments that had been bothering them. I think this dream is a true fairy tale for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

A psychologist friend tells me that if we have an intense craving for sugar, it may be a sign that deeper emotional needs are going unmet. I see merit in her theory. But here’s a caveat. What if we are currently not in position to get our deeper emotional needs met? What if there is at least temporarily some barrier to achieving that lovely goal? Would it be wrong to seek a partial quenching of our soul cravings by communing with fudge brownies, peach pie and crème brûlée? I don’t think it would be wrong. On the contrary. It might be an effective way to tide ourselves over until more profound gratification is available. But now here’s the good news, Pisces: I suspect more profound gratification will be available sooner than you imagine.

urban LIVING

Traveltime

Summertime and traveltime go hand in hand. The weather warms up and folks want to get out and explore, and since the COVID pandemic stopped so many travel plans, Americans have been on the web booking trips to near and far-off places. Many of those destinations require passports and luckily, Utah is going to get one of six new passport agencies opening in the country.

It appears that more Americans are traveling abroad today than at any time in our history. In 1990, only 5% of us had a passport but in 2023, the Department of State issued over 24 million passport books and passport cards—more than ever before.

The world’s first standardized passport was issued in 1920, following an agreement among the League of Nations to begin standardizing passports. Governments met in France and agreed to the design, layout and size of the document for 42 nations.

Back then, the booklet showed not just the face and home address of the traveler, but also their occupation and a space for a photo of the person’s spouse and photos of their children; because back then, the protocol for a passport was based on the idea that the passport owner was a married man traveling at times with their family. The booklet was dubbed “Old Blue” due to its color, but then in 1988 it changed to a burgundy color.

Nowadays, you can walk into a FedEx office and use RushMyPassport for expedited travel passports, quick renewals and expedited travel visa services. You can go online at fedex.com to start your application, and it’s about $15 to get the two required passport photos taken there.

You can then print all of your documents and, with the photos, send them via FedEx to RushMyPassport.

What’s different about the news of a Utah passport agency is that we’re going to actually get a walk-in center for folks seeking last-minute passports and travel documents, with a direct connection to the government’s Department of State.

It will certainly save a lot of time and heartache for future travelers.

You might remember that back during the pandemic, folks were waiting up to six months to get their passports and visas because offices were closed around the country.

I had to renew mine this year and it took about 30 days to get the booklet and card back.

It’s $160 if you want a new passport and passport card. The card, which looks a bit like your driver’s license, can be used when crossing borders to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and Caribbean countries, but is not valid for international travel by air.

The card alone is only $30, and the passport without the card is $130. It’s $100 for a child’s passport book and $15 for the card. If you want to rush the application, add $60 for expedited service and another $20 to get it back in 1 to 2 days once the passport is completed. n

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. Begs for kitty kibble

6. Device that kept Blockbuster in business

9. Can’t-miss experiences

14. Move slowly

15. Random suffix

16. “Ah, I’m such ___!”

17. Pre-Internet library feature

19. Hooded snake

20. “But before ___ ...”

21. “Pet” that actually requires seeds

23. Actor McDiarmid

24. “Dang straight”

29. Mini-albums, for short

30. Word beginning a lot of Lil Wayne album titles

31. Grass rolls

32. Hacker’s language, in the early aughts

34. Leave off

37. “Superstore” actor Santos

40. Tutor’s task

44. Dispensers that may now be interactive

45. Where frisbees may get stuck

46. Fox show with choral versions of pop

songs

47. Columbus sch.

49. 1970s-’80s sitcom planet

51. Sick

52. Browser issue that might slow your computer down

58. Football position

59. Like some gummy worms

60. “Didn’t I tell ya?”

61. Second tries

63. Tests of numerical aptitude

68. Millionaire intro

69. ___ Dew

70. Former capital of Nigeria

71. Observe secretly

72. Up to now

73. Comes down in a blizzard

DOWN

1. 1200, to Tiberius

2. Memorable period

3. “___ the ramparts ...”

4. Collective acknowledgement from a room of beatniks, maybe

5. Coffee urn attachment

6. Quick clip

7. From Prague

8. Singer Bebe

9. Cheese partner

10. Eerie flyer

11. 1925 Edna Ferber novel

12. Bar mitzvah reading

13. Point of view

18. “Man’s ___” (viral 2018 song)

22. Part of FWIW

24. Reviewing website

25. “Nixon in China,” for example

26. Fitness motto opening

27. Less lurid

28. Checking proof

33. June Cleaver or Maggie

Seaver, e.g.

35. Lance of the O.J. trial

36. Girl Scout group

38. Eyelashes

39. Deli counter qty.

41. Ninja, e.g.

42. In a new way

43. Toothpaste options

48. Colorful card game

50. Poses to propose

52. Contract conditions

53. Outdo showily

54. In a weird way

Cut (the lawn) 67. Punctured tire sound

Last week’s answers

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

55. Delicious

56. Make speeches

57. Like Whataburger’s headquarters

62. Prefix with scope

64. Explosive compound

65. Some time ___

66.

NEWS of the WEIRD

Creme de la Weird

On June 6, when Farida, 45, went missing from her village in South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, her husband and other residents started searching for her—but found only her belongings, the Daily Mail reported. They did, however, spot a “python with a large belly,” village leader Suardi Rosi said. “They agreed to cut open the python’s stomach. As soon as they did, Farida’s head was immediately visible,” he said. She was found fully clothed inside the python, which was about 20 feet long. Farida’s husband, Noni, 55, lamented her fate: “I am forever sorry that I let my wife go out alone. If I had been with her that day, the snake would not have dared to touch her.” Farida was taken away for a religious burial.

Perspective

Real estate developer Sekisui House in Osaka, Japan, has announced that it will demolish a nearly completed condominium building in Kunitachi, Tokyo Prefecture, because the structure is blocking neighbors’ view of Mount Fuji. United Press International reported that the 10-story building was just weeks away from opening to new residents. “We were aware of the culture that values scenery, but we failed to consider it adequately,” the company said. People who had bought condos will be compensated financially, they said.

Animal Antics

Paisley Toten, 2, was riding in a pickup bed through the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas, on June 1 with her parents when their interaction with the animals took an unexpected turn, the Associated Press reported. The family stopped their truck to feed a giraffe, but the giraffe nibbled instead on Paisley’s shirt, lifting her several feet into the air. When Paisley’s mom shouted, the giraffe dropped the toddler into her mother’s arms, leaving her unhurt. After the incident, the park changed its rules to disallow riding in an open truck bed. Paisley got a stuffed giraffe from the gift shop for her trouble.

End of an

Era

If your July 4 traditions include watching Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, steel yourself: Joey Chestnut is out. The contest in Coney Island has taken place since 1916, and Chestnut has prevailed a total of 16 times and every year since 2016, the New York Post reported. His record, set in 2021, was 76 dogs and buns. Sadly, Chestnut won’t compete this year. Major League Eating (MLE), which runs the event for Nathan’s, said Chestnut’s recent deal with Impossible Foods to rep their vegan dogs was beyond the pale. “He’s the Michael Jordan of competitive eating,” a source said. “But imagine if Michael Jordan said to Nike, ‘I love being the face of Nike, but I want to do commercials for Adidas, too.’” MLE commented, “It seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different brand over our longtime relationship.”

Bright Ideas

n The ancient statues at China’s Yungang Buddhist Grottoes have taken a back seat to a new installation: Timers installed above a row of toilet stalls in the women’s restroom show whether the cubicle is occupied and, more controversially, how long the door has been locked. CNN Travel reported that the timers were installed to help mitigate the increased number of visitors: “We aren’t setting a time limit ... It’s impossible that we would kick someone out midway.” But one user said, “I found it a little embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.”

n On June 5, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ex-mayor Cesar Maia, 79, took a seat to join a Zoom meeting of the city councilors, the Daily Mail reported. Unfortunately, his seat was the toilet, and he was caught with his pants down on the video feed. Maia quickly brought his computer closer to his face, but his fellow councilors couldn’t control their reactions. Pablo Mello, who was leading the meeting, is shown on the feed laughing into his hand before he asked Maia to “turn off the camera, please.”

Crime Report

The Golden State Water Company in Los Angeles is installing locked shields over fire hydrants in response to a surge in thefts, CBS News reported on June 3. The company said the thefts happen daily; because the hydrants are made of iron and brass, company officials think they’re being sold as scrap metal on the black market. Replacements cost $3,500 a piece; so far, the company has lost $1.2 million. “It’s mind-boggling that someone would just come into a neighborhood and steal a fire hydrant,” said resident Krystail Cousins. “You’re now putting a whole neighborhood in danger.”

Least Competent Criminals

n Christy Turman, 37, called 911 to let the Lee County (Florida) Sheriff’s office know that she was trying to steal a car from a dealership, WFLA-TV reported on June 6. “I’m trying to steal a car that’s not legally mine,” she said on the call. “So y’all better come make a report.” Sure enough, when deputies arrived, they found her getting out of a stolen Toyota Corolla. Turman said she was training in a game of Black Ops to nick the car, but she called authorities so it’d be legal. Joke’s on her: She was arrested on trespassing charges.

n Thanks to tracking devices in two Lamborghinis, a couple of car thieves are now in custody in Wyoming, KDVR-TV reported on June 12. The two supercars were stolen in Salt Lake City and headed east on I-80, where Wyoming State Patrol officers tracked them near Rawlins. When troopers caught up to them, one of the vehicles was going over 100 mph; both drivers were taken into custody.