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2 | MAY 3, 2017
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VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 17 | MAY 3-9, 2017
13 COVER STORY
WYOMING’S COAL CONUNDRUM Despite President Trump’s executive order, the market is retreating from the Cowboy State’s cash cow.
Cover illustration by Josh Scheuerman
4 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
18 MUSIC BOX
6 DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS
24 IMBIBE
7
THE NEW WEST
20 CREATIVE PEAKS 28 COSMIC CAFE
8-11 THE BUZZ
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May 3-9, 2017 By Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey May has arrived and warmer temperatures are on the horizon. The bad news is, May is the wettest month of the year in Jackson, on average. Since we have already had a wet year, so far in 2017, let’s hope this May keeps its precipitation closer to normal. May is not known for big snowfall, averaging just one inch. That being said, we are still not exempt from seeing snow accumulate in town this month. The snowiest May in Jackson was in 1942, when almost 15 inches of snow fell during the month.
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Long-term average low temperatures during this week are still just below freezing, standing right at 30-degrees. The record low temperature this week is 11-degrees, which occurred on the morning of May 4th, 2001. Another cool year happened 10 years later, in 2011, when the high temperature on May 9th was only 35-degrees, which also set a record for the coldest maximum temperature during this week in May.
Last Monday through Friday, April 24th to 28th, 2017 the high temperatures in town were only in the 40’s each day, running 10 to 15 degrees below normal. The low temps most mornings were in the 20’s. Average high temperatures this week have finally reached the 60-degree mark, hooray for that! Now let’s hope we see some average highs! The record high temperature this week is 82-degrees, set quite a while ago, on May 7th, 1934.
NORMAL HIGH NORMAL LOW RECORD HIGH IN 1934 RECORD LOW IN 2001
60 30 82 11
THIS MONTH AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.8 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 6 inches (1980) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 1 inch RECORD SNOWFALL: 14.5 inches (1942)
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MAY 3, 2017 | 3
Jim has been forecasting the weather here for more than 20 years. You can find more Jackson Hole Weather information at www.mountainweather.com
WHAT’S COOL WHAT’S HOT
THIS WEEK
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JH ALMANAC
Legal, Educado & Enojado People marched in solidarity with ‘those in the shadows’ while Mead dodged their message. BY SARAH ROSS
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n Monday about 200 people gathered in downtown Cheyenne to march to Governor Matt Mead’s office with a letter asking that he take measures to protect the undocumented workers of Wyoming. Chants of “no ban no wall” and “undocumented and unafraid” grew louder as rain, and eventually hail, fell. Marchers occupied one lane of traffic, holding signs with messages that read, “We’re not going anywhere,” “No human is illegal,” and “Legal, educado and enojado” (educated and angry). Members of Juntos, an immigrant rights
organization, headed the procession, leading chants in English and Spanish and handing roses to observers. Cristal Serrano, the vice-chair of Juntos, explained that the march was in solidarity with laborers across the country, especially the most vulnerable among them. “We’re fighting for those in the shadows. We want our mayor to make Cheyenne a sanctuary city.” Members of Serrano’s own family live in the shadows of the state’s capitol. “Half of my family is undocumented,” she said. “They’re scared to come into Cheyenne because they don’t want to drive on the highways.” Eric Zamora, a lifelong Cheyenne resident, spoke to the high stakes of the march in this political moment: “It’s to save our people. They’re trying to send our people down, and away. People are afraid.” One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to construct a border wall between Mexico and the United States, and to greatly expand the power of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target individuals suspected of crimes. Trump has already made good on some of these promises. According to Politico, ICE arrested 21,362 immigrants from January
through mid-March, a 32 percent increase over the same period last year. This number included 5,441 non-criminals, double the number arrested last year. May 1st has been an international day of solidarity with laborers since 1886, when workers in Chicago held strikes for an 8-hour work day. Charlie Hardy, former Democratic candidate for the Wyoming House, gave a speech after the march. He explained to the crowd that people were killed during those strikes, but that their struggle ensured more equitable labor laws. The issue of immigrant rights, he said, is close to his heart. His parents were immigrants from Austria who didn’t speak English when they arrived. He called it patriotic to advocate for the labor rights of immigrants. “Don’t leave today without promising you’re going to keep fighting,” he told the crowd. Gonz Serrano, a Juntos organizer, recited two poems during the event. In one, he suggested native-born citizens take the labor of immigrants for granted: “They want paved roads, pretty parks, and clean pools, Whole foods, organic produce, beautiful yards, Kentucky
blues, but no burden of brown hues. The green but no paid dues. The dynamite but no fuse. They refuse the human.” Cheyenne residents for more than 40 years, Becky Evans and Lynn Achter came to march to demonstrate their solidarity with undocumented workers and their resistance to Trump’s policies. “I don’t like the idea of people being rounded up and put on buses. That’s not what we do here,” Achter said. Evans agreed, calling it hypocritical to target new arrivals: “Everybody besides first nation people are immigrants in this country. We should embrace migration.” Representatives from Juntos and the American Civil Liberties Union hand-delivered their letter to Mead asking that he formally agree to protect undocumented workers. They were told he was in meetings all day and would not be available to see them. In her speech after the march, immigrant rights advocate Melanie Vigil told the crowd not to be deterred: “Justice demands that we resist our own authorities.” PJH
SARAH ROSS
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REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
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Fragmented Fighting BAYNARD WOODS
Resistance movements need to see the larger picture and come together accordingly. BY BAYNARD WOODS @demoincrisis
T
wenty years ago I was arrested for occupying the office of Senator Pete Domenici in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The senator and one-time segregationist Dixiecrat presidential candidate Strom Thurmond had threatened to defund the Environmental Protection Agency if it did not approve the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The idea was that if you put nuclear waste in a big hole in the ground, it could be contained, sealed, and isolated for thousands of years. Some studies showed it would work, but EPA wanted additional studies. The senators wanted to move forward sending waste in trucks through our cities and then burying it deep in salt caverns in New Mexico, where some at EPA worried it could leak. We said we wouldn’t leave the office until they arrested us. But then the police officers burst in, redfaced, and started screaming there was a bomb threat in the building. This was shortly after right-wing white supremacist terrorist Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. “Come on!” the officers yelled. I didn’t know what to do. Were they tricking us? Were they going to blame the threat on us? Was there a bomb? I thought about that moment a lot as I trudged through the rainy Washington, D.C. streets with an estimated 40,000 people—many of them scientists—a couple weeks ago as part of the March for Science. It was on my mind partly because living in the world feels like waiting in a building that might be blown up by right-wing terrorists, as cops yell in your face and senators politicize science. But this march, like my WIPP sit-in, seemed largely inspired by attacks on EPA, whose budget Trump is proposing to cut by more than 30 percent. A week after being sworn in as the head of EPA, Scott Pruitt—who sued the agency more than a dozen times in his previous position as Oklahoma attorney general—said at EPA, “The future ain’t what it used to be,” quoting baseball’s Yogi Berra. Given Pruitt and Trump’s radical regulatory rollbacks, denial of climate science, removal of protections for federal lands, and belligerent foreign policy, a lot of us are worried that the future ain’t gonna be
Code Pink Einsteins take to the streets in D.C. for the March for Science April 22.
nothing at all. That’s why people were out protesting for science all around the world. “It’s a little surreal,” said Rob Hart about the idea of having to march for science. Hart is majoring in aerospace engineering at Penn State. He drove to Washington to march in his lab coat and goggles. He was right—it was bizarre. There were thousands of people like him wearing lab coats and goggles, carrying signs with scientific puns and equations dripping down poster boards in the rain. There was someone dressed like Beeker from the Muppets, and there was the Order of the Raven—a goth-looking crowd going for a “mad scientist” look, according to Erzsebat Ruhig, one of their members, who donned stark black hair, pale sunken cheeks, and a pin on her lapel that pictured a pentagram and the scientific popularizer Carl Sagan on it. But Code Pink, an activist group marching as Einstein Scientists Against War, seemed to be the only ones to acknowledge the complicated relationship between science and our problems. They carried masks of Einstein and signs with his words printed on them. Medea Benjamin, the founder of the group, read Einstein’s anti-war quotes through a megaphone. Like Einstein, she recognized the potentially destructive nature of science. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction,” read one of the signs quoting Einstein. Sure, to have thousands of people in the streets calling for evidence-based decision-making and protesting budget cuts for science is pretty fucking cool. And we need to keep the pressure on the White House day after day. But are we also marching for the scientists of the military-industrial complex? Or for whoever is toiling away right now on the next model of nuclear missile? Don’t they, too, use the scientific method? This march was about politics—not science. And that is not a bad thing. The scientific method cannot convince someone to apply it or to “believe” in it. Marching is not objective or peer-reviewed. And no
one actually expects Trump to understand E=mc2. But when scientists take to the streets, they hope to send a political message. “You know it’s bad if I’m out here,” as one sign read. But when we march, we should be clear what we are marching for. The week after the March for Science, there was a long-planned Climate March. It may have been more politically effective for the scientists to come together to support the Climate March rather than holding a separate event—because it is climate science, specifically, that we need to stand up for right now. And not because we love science for its own sake, but because we love the world and it is in mortal danger. “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking,” read one of Code Pink’s Einstein signs. “And thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” That’s what made me think of my fight against WIPP back in the 1990s. In 2014, a drum of nuclear waste exploded inside WIPP’s underground chamber, causing an untold amount of ecological damage—its cleanup is estimated to cost $2 billion—and exposed a number of workers to airborne polonium. WIPP was designed to last 10,000 years and barely made it 20. Using science well requires wisdom—it is just a tool, not a panacea. Trump’s disavowal of science is almost precisely the same as his attacks on other forms of authority, such as the press and intelligence agencies, that might limit his power. And in the same way he had me uncomfortably defending CNN—cable news brought us Trump in the first place—he now has us marching for “science.” But Trump doesn’t need science, he needs ethics. PJH
Baynard Woods is editor at large for Baltimore City Paper. His work has appeared in publications from The Guardian to The New York Times. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy, focusing on ethics and tyranny, and became a reporter in an attempt to live like Socrates. Email democracyincrisiscolumn@gmail.com.
When Green Groups Go Missing In the absence of conservation leaders, a musher thinks of his kids and leads a climate march. BY TODD WILKINSON @BigArtNature TODD WILKINSON
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Outdoor businessman Jason Matthews co-organized a Climate March in Bozeman because global warming is eating into his bottom line.
Noah’s ark. Gianforte claims the science of climate change is unclear and vows to fight to resurrect America’s dying coal industry. A few weeks ago, he intended to take Donald Trump Jr. out for an afternoon of recreational prairie dog shooting but apparently they settled for flyfishing—on streams where cold-water trout species already have been affected by the deepening impacts of climate change. One thing Matthews said at the Climate March struck many. Even though Bozeman, like Jackson Hole, has one of the highest per capita concentrations of professional (paid) conservationists in the U.S., not one mainstream group stepped forward to make the march happen. Matthews did so out of frustration and his cause resonated with many. Quammen spoke about climate change impacting species and helping to spread diseases dangerous to humans. “There are two main things we can do: scream bloody murder, which is what we’re doing today,” the writer said. “The other thing that’s important is to look in the mirror. Every plane we take, every mile we drive and child we have increases our impact on the Earth. So how can we dial back those impacts? Look ourselves in the mirror.” PJH Todd Wilkinson has been writing his award-winning New West column for nearly 30 years. It appears weekly in Planet Jackson Hole. He is author of the recent award-winning book Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, An Intimate Portrait of 399, the Most Famous Grizzly of Greater Yellowstone, featuring photographs by Jackson Hole’s Thomas D. Mangelsen. Special autographed copies are only available at mangelsen.com/ grizzly.
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of Helena for a Women’s March (held the morning after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president and his selection of Scott Pruitt to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency), Bozeman residents went back to the street again on April 29. This time they took part in a Climate March organized by Matthews. The crowd was left fired up by a wide range of speakers, including acclaimed science writer David Quammen; Vietnam Green Beret medic turned grizzly bear activist Doug Peacock; as well as a downhill skiing/snowboard outfitter, a solar power entrepreneur, a cattle rancher, a food-growing vegan and others. Designed to coincide with hundreds of other Climate Marches held across the country, the Bozeman event was greeted by a noisy, affirming clamor of honking motorists as citizens made their way down Main Street toward the city’s version of a downtown square. It was also met by the noxious fumes of men in pickup trucks—vehicles in obvious need of new mufflers—showing their disapproval by revving engines to drown out chants and saluting marchers with middle fingers. No doubt these counter-protestors will be voting for Montana’s GOP Congressional candidate Greg Gianforte, who is hoping to win the House seat vacated when Ryan Zinke became Donald Trump’s new Interior Secretary. While Gianforte is a successful high-tech entrepreneur, he and his wife donated a large sum of money to help build a Creationist-focused natural history museum in Montana, whose exhibits teach that the Earth is only a few thousand years old and that dinosaurs accompanied other animals in climbing aboard
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ason Matthews makes his living on snow and ice. During winter, he purveys dogsled rides to tourists who come from around the world to experience mountain adventure in Big Sky, Montana. During summer, he guides clients down the Yellowstone River on float trips. In recent years, Matthews and those employed by his family business have watched the mushing season—and revenues derived from it— shrink. Last August, because of warmer temperatures causing snowpack to melt out earlier with reduced summer rain not making up the difference, he saw the state of Montana close down Yellowstone to all recreational and commercial users. The cause of the latter? An outbreak of a rare infectious fish disease, linked to low, warmer water, which left thousands of whitefish in the Yellowstone dead. Later, the same pathogen turned up in rivers throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The closure of the Yellowstone alone, which extended into fall, cost millions of dollars in damage as a human-caused natural disaster. For those who claim that climate change isn’t happening, Matthews has numerous bottom-line data points to prove otherwise. Last Saturday, he mentioned them in front of a couple hundred people in Bozeman, Montana, adding that he’s also come face to face with hungry polar bears in the Arctic, forced to scrounge for food in native villages because disappearing pack ice in the ocean is severely impairing the big white bruins’ ability to hunt for seals. But you don’t have to go far, he says, to experience effects. The changing climate has compelled Matthews to move from being merely an ardent conservationist to marching for the cause of political action. For him, it’s not only about feeding his family and sending kids to college; it’s about being able to look his offspring in the eye a quarter century or more in the future when they ask him if he did all he could to make a difference. One week following a large community Earth Day March in support of science, and three months after 10,000 Montanans descended upon their capital city
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THE BUZZ Humanity vs. Legality Sifting through the barriers to citizenship that Jackson’s undocumented immigrants face. BY SARAH ROSS
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ector Flores* spent the first six years of his life in Tlaxcala, Mexico. He says his parents struggled to find work and he remembers his father crying the day the family had just 10 pesos left. But his father promised the family he wouldn’t let them starve. Soon after, they left for Jackson Hole. Although it has been 16 years, Flores can’t become a legal resident. At six years old, Flores says he was given a label he didn’t understand or choose. He became “an illegal alien in a foreign country.” Wyoming is his home, but no matter how hard he and his family work, they feel the weight of that categorization: “We will care for your children, cook your food, mow your lawns, build your homes and pick your crops … but at the same time you just feel like an outsider, you feel useless no matter how hard you try, you will always be a wetback.” Elisabeth Trefonas, an immigration attorney with a law practice in Jackson, calls what Flores is facing “the 10-year problem,” an immigration catch-22 that makes it extremely difficult for undocumented residents to become documented. In fact, seeking documentation for these folks is near impossible, even for those who desperately want legal status. “I believe the system is set up to have undocumented people working illegally,” Trefonas said. “This could be fixed if we wanted it fixed.” She argues that the country and county rely on the cheap, loyal labor of undocumented workers who can’t vote, who tolerate low wages and difficult work environments, and who pay taxes and contribute to Social Security but can’t benefit from it. “We need to be honest about the labor we need … we like cheap labor,” she said. Employers face few consequences for employing undocumented people. The burden falls on their employees. Trefonas says that many of the people she represents have lived and worked in Jackson for a long time. “They have more claim to be here than I do,” she said. However, many have no path to claiming legal residence.
‘I need you and I’ll pay you well’ In the mid-90s, there was an influx of immigrants to Jackson, the majority from Tlaxcala, Mexico. For years, these workers were able to legally go back and forth across the border, accessing work visas. In 2001 after the September 11 attacks, in most respects the
border closed behind them, Trefonas said. It was no longer possible to move freely between countries. Now, if a worker in the United States is undocumented for six months, they have to leave for three years to be eligible to seek any form of documentation again. If someone is undocumented for more than a year, they have to leave the United States for 10 years to regain eligibility. Prior to 2001, immigrants could pay a $1,000 fine to avoid the 10-year penalty. Since this legal provision expired, Trefonas says many Jackson residents have become trapped in a bind: “There is no way out of the system.” Most undocumented residents in Wyoming have families and careers they can’t leave for three years, let alone 10. Therefore, most stay and live in limbo. Another policy change in 2007 also impacted immigrants, making it more difficult to obtain work visas. Trefonas explained that at that time, the United States relied heavily on workers on visas from all over the world. Teton County specifically relied on workers with visas from Mexico. Each year, 65,000 new work visas were provided to incoming laborers. In addition, there were roughly 200,000 workers who returned to the States each year on pre-existing worker visas. Most in Teton County would lawfully return annually to work for peak winter and summer seasons, and then leave in the spring and fall. That year, the law changed so that the 200,000 returning workers lost the ability to reclaim previous visas. After 2007, the cap for worker visas remained at 65,000, but an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 returning workers and their families were stripped of their ability to work legally in the States. Employers put pressure on those workers to stay in the States. Trefonas explained that undocumented workers faced a difficult decision: “The law said you don’t get a visa to return, but the employer said, ‘I need you and I’ll pay you well.’” Now, young people are faced with this decision. As Trefonas said, “The three- and 10-year problem starts at 18 years old. Prior to that age, undocumented children are deportable. But as soon as they turn 18 they also begin acquiring the three- and 10-year problem before they can obtain permission to re-enter the United States lawfully.” They have to choose between returning to a place often totally foreign to them, or risk working without documentation. Trefonas says she and her colleagues visit local schools each year “to have really real conversations about their choices.” They encourage students to think about pursuing degrees outside of the U.S., because it is easier to obtain a work visa to the States as a professional.
Lingering fears Undocumented residents live in fear of deportation, though local officials have emphasized that they won’t be targeted for immigration enforcement unless they’ve committed dangerous crimes, sought re-entry into the United States multiple times, or have posed a consistent threat to the community.
However, an executive order signed by Trump says ICE can target anyone who has “committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.” This could drastically expand the number of people targeted. Trefonas calls the order “extremely frightening,” though so far, many local ICE offices have yet to follow its language. Still, the doors are open for ICE to expand its reach. David Leopold, an immigration attorney in Ohio, told USA Today that this policy “is a blueprint for mass deportations.” ICE has sometimes employed questionable practices in Jackson. Between 2006 and 2011, for example, hundreds of undocumented residents were detained and transferred from Teton County. Some did not have criminal histories, and many only had misdemeanors. Until 2006, the closest ICE facility was based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. At that time, the form ICE gave immigrants when they were arrested was usually provided in English only. That form gives arrestees the option to check one of three boxes—either they agree to deportation, request a hearing for their case, or state that they fear for their safety if they return to their country of origin. Trefonas found that prior to 2006, the box agreeing to deportation was regularly pre-checked. Now, the ICE office is based in Casper, and its practices have changed. The forms are no longer prechecked, and they’re available in Spanish. Trefonas says she’s known ICE officials to be respectful and have stuck to their word. However, she fears for the future of immigration enforcement in Teton County under the Trump administration.
‘The last time she would ever see her family’
Flores didn’t understand what was happening when he left Mexico. He remembers his mom tightly hugging her siblings and parents: “She knew that it would be the last time she would ever see her family,” he said. Now, Flores sometimes comes home to find his mom locked in her room with tears rolling down her face. “My grandad is getting older and we all know he doesn’t have much life left … I daydream about the day I will see my mom and dad hug their families again.” Leaving Mexico was painful. Now, it’s painful for Flores to feel that people in his community see people like him as a problem. He “loves this country more than life itself,” but believes that many in Teton County benefit from and rely on undocumented labor without viewing these workers as valuable, or understanding how difficult it is to become documented. “[The United States] has always used slavery or cheap labor to be the country it is today,” he said. Flores says many of the undocumented residents he knows have escaped abject poverty to devote their lives to their work, but they receive few benefits, and never get to truly belong. “People will say you chose this, no one told you to come here illegally, but then again, no one is complaining about the revenue cheap labor brings. The truth is, laws won’t stop a father from feeding his family.” PJH *His name has been changed. SEND COMMENTS TO EDITOR@PLANETJH.COM
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Housing Watch Council moves closer to relaxing affordable housing standards while continuing discussion on workforce camping. BY SHANNON SOLLITT @ShannonSollitt
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s summer approaches and the town braces itself for record-breaking visitation, relaxing affordable housing standards and workforce camping remain housing items on center stage. The text amendment exempting new apartment buildings of 20 units or more from affordable housing standards made it to third reading at Monday’s town council meeting. It was the second-to-last hurdle the ordinance had to pass before it becomes law. Restaurateur Joe Rice and housing consultant Christine Walker introduced the text amendment with a specific project in mind: a 90-unit apartment complex on 550 West Broadway. Rather than apply for individual exemptions from affordable housing standards, however, Rice and Walker decided to challenge Land Development Regulations for all future high-density apartment buildings. Doing so, they argued, would incentivize developers to build more apartment buildings and make a dent on the housing supply. The amendment was initially contested among electeds, even those who supported Rice’s development. Mayor Pete Muldoon and Councilman Jim Stanford worried that deed restrictions, which mandate that 25 percent of new developments be designated “affordable” housing, are the only way to ensure that housing units actually remain affordable. Walker contested that high-density apartment buildings are inherently affordable and workforce occupied, and that adding more supply will increase market rent value throughout town. The ordinance in question last night includes amendments of its own that helped alleviate Muldoon’s and Stanford’s concerns. The original
amendment proposed exemptions for buildings of more than 10 units. Muldoon changed it to 20, arguing that extra density will dissuade wealthy second-home types from moving in. The ordinance also has a five-year sunset clause, giving future councils the ability to evaluate it in five year’s time, and adjust or rescind as necessary. While the council unanimously supported the ordinance as it was presented Monday night, Teton County School District board chair Kate Mead reminded councilors that each new unit of housing added to the town also adds approximately two new students to the district. She cautioned of a snowball effect: new housing leads to new families, which necessitates more housing and schools. “Every time we do this, we get a lot more kids in the community,” she said. “People get upset.” “There’s a sort of blindness about what the ultimate impacts are,” Mead said. “People want housing, businesses want housing, because they don’t want to pay their employees enough to live here … An apartment building sounds great, but it doesn’t come without impacts.” Former mayor Mark Barron, who has supported the amendment from the beginning and voiced his support at every opportunity, said that while Mead’s argument may be true, “I’m not sure that’s a completely fair concern.” Most of those new kids, he said, come from outside of Jackson, while the goal of this project is to house families that already live and work here. “I’m asking you not to put another barrier up to getting some apartments built,” he said. Barron said that he had just watched town councilors “sweat bullets” over a conversation about workforce camping. “You’re bending over backwards for workforce housing,” he said, and every piece of evidence he has seen suggests that market rental apartments are affordable. “I would ask you to really consider this strongly,” Barron said. “Do you really want to add a barrier, or do you want to add workforce housing?”
Housing, err car camping for all Councilors did, in fact, discuss workforce car and RV camping again during Monday’s meeting, but no definitive action was taken. The discussion will continue at the May 15 meeting, and all councilors but Hailey Morton-Levinson expressed tentative support for a pilot program this summer.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
THE BUZZ 2
Before Jackson’s workforce camping solutions including RVs and motor vehicles.
“I’d like to see it go forward with more information, and whatever else we need to get it going,” said Councilman Bob Lenz. If it were implemented this summer, the pilot program would allow for overnight camping in a designated parking area. Campers would have to reserve their spot in advance, provide proof of employment, and pay a full summer’s deposit and campsite fees totaling $2,700. Originally, staff proposed using the lot in between the Rec Center and the Home Ranch lot. At Monday’s meeting, Parks and Rec director Steve Ashworth proposed allotting 13 camper spots in the town lot behind the Rec Center and Davey Jackson Elementary School. Those spots, he said, would grant campers access to water and limited power, but at a cost to the town. Pumping sewage and grey water would cost approximately $6,000, and electrical hookups could cost up to $30,000. While no one offered public comment on the workforce camping discussion Monday night, the issue has been hotly debated for years now. MortonLevinson said her objections to this year’s program are the same as they were last year: It’s too late in the game to implement anything successful for this summer. The town only has one chance to get it right, she said. “I still think there are too many things up in the air, too many items I’m not comfortable with. It’s going to tax staff to get it up and going for this summer.” Instead, Morton-Levinson said she would like to see this discussion continue in the summer of 2018. But proponents argue that something as simple as allowing people to sleep in their cars would alleviate a lot of stress for seasonal workers. It would save them the hassle of driving up to Curtis Canyon late every night, or being woken up by law enforcement
in the middle of the night because they were parked illegally. Lieutenant Cole Nethercott said he’s often fairly lenient on people sleeping in public parking lots, but “if we had a place to refer them to, it would certainly be helpful. Anything is.” Frank agreed that the proposal wasn’t “fully baked,” but said he could support a “minimal” pilot program where “all we have to do is master leases and electricity.” His main concern was cost. Grey water and septic tanks, he said, are usually the campers’ responsibility. Why not keep it that way and save money? “The sanitary condition of campers is the responsibility of the person that owns the camper,” he said. Muldoon echoed Frank’s concerns, and said that as an “RV owner and previous resident” himself, the most important thing to provide is electricity. “I’m hopeful there’s a way to do this with a lower level of capital investment,” he said. “Electric is the main thing, but some very low level. You don’t need 30 amps.” Not everyone was on board with the new location. Stanford said he preferred the original site, and would be even happier with a spot outside of town. He said he could “support information gathering for a pilot program, and could even support a pilot program, but I’m not sure this is the best location.” Muldoon wants to keep working on a plan that could be implemented this summer. He plans to take a look at the site this week, and said he would meet with Ashworth and town manager Bob McLaurin to work out details for a simplified program. If the council were to move forward with a pilot program for this summer, they would need to pass an ordinance allowing for overnight camping in designated sites. PJH
THE BUZZ 3 Little Lives, Large Concerns Children’s Learning Center appeals to town and county for financial support, warning that budget cuts will impact community at large. BY SHANNON SOLLITT @ShannonSollitt
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MAY 3, 2017 | 11
of kids dropping out, getting involved with drugs … all goes way up. Those are all expensive to our community.” Teton County Commissioner Mark Newcomb explained that town and county funds come from revenue from sales and property taxes, PILT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) grants and special revenue funds. The pot isn’t endless. Over the next couple of weeks, town and county electeds will deliberate each budget presented to them and decide how much to grant. “We have to prioritize,” Mayor Pete Muldoon said. Just how they will prioritize, however, is not yet clear. The county foots more of the bill— approximately 75 percent. But its scope of responsibility is also higher, Commissioner Natalia Macker pointed out. Town and county cannot eat all of the losses from state budget cuts, but they can realize that many organizations are “in crisis.” Boyd said CLC is doing all it can to ensure that services are not impacted. They have raised tuition for the childcare program for working families, decreased the number of budget scholarships, frozen salaries, and tapped into funds reserved for such a crisis. They’ll be OK this year, Boyd says, but “it’s not sustainable over the long-haul.” Meanwhile, Hough worries about his staff burning out. “Everyone has to step up, even though they were already stressed before,” he said. His program staffs 16 people, and “needs to retain that level” to sustain. “There are other places staff can go,” Hough said. “But they love this organization. They’re willing to step up to the plate.” That perseverance, coupled with community support, gives Hough hope for CLC’s future. “We get so much support from our county and community, and that’s what keeps us going,” he said. “Our best interest is in their best interest, and that’s’ what we’re trying to maintain.” PJH
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
he Children’s Learning Center is grappling with state budget cuts that could have a “ripple effect” on the community. To dull the impending pain, CLC is asking for $337,500— almost $100,000 more than it requested in 2016—from the town and county. It is funding that would sustain the only pre-kindergarten special education program in the county. “We come to you asking for more money with a very heavy heart,” said CLC executive director Patti Boyd at a town and county budget meeting last week. Boyd explained that human services are most effective the earlier recipients access them. “[The health and human services council] all agree that the earlier you support families who are at risk … the better their outcomes are.” This year’s budget cut is a result of statewide cuts to the Department of Health, and is based on the number of students CLC serves. Across the state, special education programs are facing an approximate 8 percent cut in funding per child. Problematic for CLC is that it is legally mandated to provide its services, regardless of its budget. “Just because they cut the budget doesn’t mean we can cut our services,” Boyd said. “We can’t decrease services to children and families, we’re required by federal law to provide those services,” echoed special education director Davey Hough. And as the only early childhood special education program in Teton County, the services CLC provides are “vast.” They include therapy, education, family programming and
developmental screenings, all at no cost to families. “If they qualify, we’re the ones that service them,” Hough said. CLC provides developmental screenings to more than 500 children per year in Teton County. Hough estimates that close to 100 of those children enroll in CLC’s special education program, which serves children from infancy until they enter kindergarten. “The sad and good thing about special education is that it really works,” Boyd said. Studies show that between 15 to 20 percent of children who are treated for a disability before kindergarten will no longer need services by the time they enroll in kindergarten. An even higher percent will no longer need special education services by the time they enter third grade. Every dollar spent on a child before they enter kindergarten, Boyd said, saves the community seven dollars down the road. Maggie Rojas’ son is one such success story. Thanks to his time at CLC, Rojas said he was able to enroll in a regular classroom in kindergarten. “[His condition] is not as bad as it would be if CLC didn’t get involved,” Rojas said in a testimonial. CLC is not the only human service provider in financial stress. The overall budget requests from human service and community development organizations reflect a $383,000 increase. The Community Counseling Center, Teton Youth and Family Services, Curran Seeley and Community Entry Services are among the other organizations requesting more money from the town and county. Town and county electeds have yet to decide how much they can afford to grant each organization. But the level of service CLC is able to provide, Boyd said, impacts each of those organizations. “Those without care early on need services later in life,” she said. “The likelihood of people having trouble in school goes way up, the likelihood
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
12 | MAY 3, 2017
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NEWS OF THE
Mother of Invention
WEIRD
Robotic models of living organisms are useful to scientists, who can study the effects of stimuli without risk to actual people. Northwestern University researchers announced in March that its laboratory model of the “female reproductive system” has reached a milestone: its first menstrual period. The “ovary,” using mouse tissue, had produced hormones that stimulated the system (uterus, cervix, vagina, fallopian tubes, liver) for 28 days, reaching the predictable result. Chief researcher Teresa Woodruff said she imagines eventually growing a model from tissue provided by the patient undergoing treatment.
Chutzpah!
Henry Wachtel, 24, continues in legal limbo after being found “not criminally responsible” for the death of his mother in 2014, despite having beaten her in the head and elsewhere up to 100 times—because he was having an epileptic seizure at that moment and has no memory of the attack. A judge must still decide the terms of Wachtel’s psychiatric hospitalization, but Wachtel’s mind is clear enough now that, in March, he demanded, as sole heir, payoff on his mother’s life insurance policy (which, under New York law, is still technically feasible).
Epic Smugglers
In February, federal customs agents seized 22 pounds of illegal animal meat (in a wide array) at the DallasFort Worth International Airport. Among the tasty items were raw chicken, pig and cow meat, brains, hearts, heads, tongues and feet—in addition to (wrote a reporter) “other body parts” (if there even are any other edible parts). In a typical day nationwide, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizes about 4,600 smuggled plant or animal products.
Animal Rights
Over the years, News of the Weird has covered the long-standing campaign by animal-rights activists to bestow “human” rights upon animals (begun, of course, with intelligent orangutans and gorillas). In March, the New Zealand parliament gave human rights to a river—the Whanganui, long revered by the country’s indigenous Maori. (One Maori and one civil servant were appointed as the river’s representatives.) Within a week, activists in India, scouring court rulings, found two of that country’s waterways deserved similar status—the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which were then so designated by judges in Uttarakhand state. The Ganges’ “rights” seem hollow since an estimated one billion gallons of waste still enters it every day despite its being a holy bathing spot for Hindus.
Too Easy
Yet another intimate accessory with weak security drew attention when hackers broke down a $249 Svakom Siime Eye personal vibrator in April, revealing a lazily created default password (“88888888”) and Wi-Fi network name (“Siime Eye”). Since the Eye’s camera and internet access facilitate livestream video of a user’s most personal body parts, anyone within Wi-Fi range can break in (and be entertained) by just driving around a city looking for the Siime Eye network.
Ewwww!
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By CHUCK SHEPHERD
Luu Cong Huyen, 58, in Yen Giao, Vietnam, is the most recent to attract reporters’ attention with disturbingly long fingernails. A March OddityCentral.com report, with cringe-inducing photos, failed to disclose their precise length, but Huyen said he has not clipped them since a 2013 report on VietnamNet revealed that each measured up to 19.7 inches. Huyen explained (inad-
equately) that his nail obsession started merely as a hobby and that he is not yet over it. (The Guinness Book record is not exactly within fingertip reach: 73.5 inches per nail, by Shridhar Chillal of India.)
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
In February, a pet welfare organization complained of a raid on a home near Lockhart, Texas, that housed more than 400 animals (and, of course, reeked “overpowering(ly)” of urine). The inventory: 86 snakes, 56 guinea pigs, 28 dogs, 26 rabbits, 15 goats, 9 doves, 8 skinks, 7 pigs, 6 pigeons, 4 gerbils, 3 bearded dragons, 2 ducks and 1 tarantula—plus about 150 rats and mice (to feed the menagerie) and 20 other animals whose numbers did not fit the above lyric pattern.
Updates
For more than a decade, an “editor” has been roaming the streets at night in Bristol, England, “correcting” violations of standard grammar, lately being described as “The Apostrophiser” since much of his work involves adjusting (or often obliterating) that punctuation mark. On April 3, the BBC at last portrayed the vigilante in action, in a “ride-along” documentary that featured him using the special marking and climbing tools that facilitate his work. His first mission, in 2003, involved a government sign “Monday’s to Friday’s” (“ridiculous,” he said), and he recalled an even more cloying store sign—”Amys Nail’s”—as “so loud and in your face.”) n New York City health officials have convinced most ultra-Orthodox Jewish “mohels” to perform their ritual circumcisions with sterile tools and gauze, but still, according to a March New York Post report, a few holdouts insist on the old-fashioned way of removing the blood from an incision—by sucking it up with their mouths (and thus potentially passing along herpes). Some local temples are so protective of their customs that they refuse to name the “offending” mohels (who are not licensed medical professionals), thus limiting parents’ ability to choose safe practitioners. n A “locked” cellphone (tied to a particular carrier), though a nuisance to purchasers, is only a several-hundred-dollar nuisance. A more serious crisis arises, as News of the Weird noted in 2015, when farmers buy $500,000 combines that they believe they “own,” but then find that the John Deere company has “locked” the machines’ sophisticated software, preventing even small repairs or upgrades until a Deere service rep shows up to enter the secret password (and, of course, leaves a bill!). Deere’s business model has driven some farmers recently to a black market of fearless Ukrainian hackers (some of the same risky dark-net outlaws believed to pose online dangers), who help put the farmers back on track. Eight state legislatures are presently considering overriding Deere’s contract to create a “right to repair.” n Paul Cobb (also known as Craig Cobb) continues to look for a tiny North Dakota town in which he (and, potentially, fellow white supremacists) can buy enough land to establish a Caucasian enclave. News of the Weird first noticed his work in 2013 when he was eyeing (unsuccessfully, it turned out) Leith (pop. 16) and Antler (pop. 28), but recently he purchased an old church in bustling Nome (pop. 61), likely renewing his quest. (His Leith plans ended badly after locals convinced him to prove his whiteness with a DNA test, which revealed him to be 14 percent “sub-Saharan African.”) Thanks this week to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
Wyoming’s
Coal
By Patrick Chadwick @PatrickChadwick
Despite President Trump’s executive order, the market is retreating from the Cowboy State’s cash cow.
Conundrum
O
A dubious order
In the near term, President Trump’s action on the Clean Power Plan will not change policy. The plan was tangled up in the Supreme Court and the compliance periods for emissions were not scheduled to begin until 2022. Rob Godby, director of the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming, argued that the plan was also shaky from an economic standpoint. “The Clean Power Plan was not the first, best way of dealing with carbon,” Godby said. “It was a very high cost way of getting there, and the only reason that the Obama administration pursued it was because they couldn’t do more cost effective ways, because they would have to go through Congress.” David Wendt, president of the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs, also conceded that the Clean Power Plan had its flaws, but he noted that its absence will be felt on the energy market. “You lose that kind of policy forcing mechanism, which can be an incredibly important reinforcement to market forces,” Wendt said. “Secondly, you lose the central mechanism from the U.S.’s standpoint of its commitments at the Paris climate change convention.” Trump’s executive order also lifted the Obama administration’s moratorium on coal leases on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, including Wyoming’s Powder River
MAY 3, 2017 | 13
“We have a moral obligation to our children to protect them—that means preparing for and tackling climate change now,” said Craig Benjamin, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, in response to Trump’s executive order. “This means breaking our addiction to fossil fuels.” But for the Wyoming coal industry and its supporters in federal and state government, the Clean Power Plan was blasted as a job-killer and an unfair, unrealistic regulatory burden. “The Obama administration’s punishing regulations have done far more harm to our economy than good for the environment,” said U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “I applaud President Trump for taking action on behalf of America’s families and energy workers. Federal agencies will now have the opportunity to identify ways to improve the environment without hurting job growth.” In Wyoming, Trump’s executive order accentuates the divide between tree-huggers and coal-diggers. But ultimately, his moves may be powerless against a more potent war on coal coming from the free market. At the same time, even Jackson Hole’s most staunch environmentalists must grapple with the fact that Teton County’s public education—including science— is largely funded by coal, and that revenue source is dwindling.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n March 28, the coal mecca of Gillette, Wyoming, rejoiced as President Trump declared an end to the purported “war on coal” led by his predecessor. Across the state in Jackson Hole, where hundreds marched for science on April 22, many citizens instead viewed the president’s “Energy Independence” executive order as an affront to the fight against climate change. Trump’s executive order will set in place a review and rewriting of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossilfuel-fired power plants and boost the use of renewable energy. For Wyoming, the Clean Power Plan dictated a 44 percent reduction from the state’s 2012 level of CO2 emissions by 2030. This target represented Wyoming doing its part, based on its share of emissions, to lower the United States’ total power plant emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The Clean Power Plan was designed to meet America’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change, which seeks to prevent the average global temperature from warming by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial temperatures. There is scientific consensus that conditions at that temperature would likely bring more droughts and heat waves, as well as rising ocean levels. Scientists have predicted consequences ranging from bad to catastrophic.
On April 18, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked a federal court to delay consideration of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Already in effect, the rule requires power plants to reduce their emissions of airborne toxic substances like mercury and arsenic. Older coal-fired plants are the biggest culprits.
A market in retreat
Following Trump’s executive order, Stacey Moeller, a shovel operator at Peabody Energy’s Caballo Mine in Gillette, told the Associated Press that she thought the action would remove unwarranted limitations on coal compared to other energy sources. “That’s all I ever thought was fair, was that we would be allowed to compete in the market,” Moeller said. “And that’s what I felt was being taken away from us.” State Rep. Marti Halverson, R-Etna, agreed that federal policy has been an inhibitor for coal, but she noted the market is also a problem. “The coal industry has suffered recently for two reasons: markets and politics,” she said. “President Trump and Secretary [of the Interior] Zinke seem to be working on the politics of fossil fuels. The domestic market for coal still exists, although it’s pretty anemic at this time.” On the other hand, State Rep. Andy Schwartz, D-Jackson, pointed out that Wyoming coal has also benefited from the
political climate and resulting federal regulations over the years. “My personal perspective is it’s as much about a global market as it is about EPA regulations,” he said. “If you go back historically, part of the reason Wyoming coal became so popular was because of EPA regulations that required cleaner air, and Wyoming coal burns cleaner than Appalachian coal.” Coal has also received substantial financial support at the state level. Benjamin of the Conservation Alliance pointed to the $1 billion in bonding authority that the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority received from the state legislature in 2015 to pursue coal ports in the Northwest. “That’s specifically to build coal export facilities in other states—where they’re not even wanted—that the private sector itself won’t fund because they’re way too risky,” Benjamin said. Right now, coal’s biggest nemesis is another fossil fuel: natural gas. It has boomed for more than a decade without an influx of subsidies from the federal government, even enduring its own regulatory hurdles. Not without its own environmental controversies that include contaminating drinking water, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has produced a surplus of natural gas that has led to significantly lower prices for fuel. Natural gas also has the added benefit of emitting much lower levels of CO2 than coal when burned. Wyoming may be the No. 1 producer of coal, but it was also the No. 4 producer of natural gas as of 2015. “We understand that we still have a market-driven commodity, and if natural gas [pricing] stays ... wherever it is today, people prefer to burn natural gas versus coal,” said Von Flatern. In 2016, natural gas surpassed coal for the first time ever in share of U.S. electricity generation, rising to 34 percent compared to coal’s 30 percent. Before the rise of natural gas this century, coal had hovered at around a 50 percent share of electricity generation since the 1950s. These market conditions were evident after Black Hills Corporation, one of three major utilities that operate coal-fired power plants in Wyoming, retired two of those plants in recent years. The company opted to replace that coal-generated electricity with a new natural-gas-fired plant in Cheyenne in 2014.
The March for Science in Jackson Hole
YOUTUBE
An aging coal fleet
“[MATS] resulted in about 5 percent of the coal fleet being shut down in the past few years, but, that fleet was producing far less than 5 percent of the total coal electricity,” Godby said. “These were typically old plants. They were smaller. They were less efficient. They weren’t being used as often as other plants that were retrofitted, and a lot of plants were [retrofitted] with these new controls.” By now, most utilities in the U.S. already comply with MATS. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that only a few of the country’s coal plants had filed an extension through April 2017 to meet compliance versus having already made necessary changes, switching to natural gas or shuttering completely. According to EIA, most active coal plants—88 percent of all coal-fired electricity capacity—were built before 1990. With these plants having an average capacity-weighted lifespan of 39 years, many are scheduled to close in the not-too-distant future, regardless of the MATS requirements.
MATT STECH
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
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Basin, which supplies about 40 percent of the country’s coal. The 14-month moratorium was intended to be a review of the lengthy leasing process, which hadn’t seen drastic changes since the 1980s, to determine whether BLM was securing fair market value for land owned by the American people. While praising Trump’s executive order, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., singled out the moratorium, condemning it as “nothing short of a war on coal miners and their families.” But existing coal lease applications were still moving forward during the moratorium, and the demand for new leases has been slow to emerge following the widely anticipated lifting of the pause by the Trump administration. A Wyoming BLM spokesperson told Planet Jackson Hole that the agency was processing 12 coal lease applications as of April 24, but only one—a small lease for the Jim Bridger Mine near Rock Springs—had been submitted since the moratorium was lifted. Of the remaining 11 applications, just one was received during the past 10 years, a lease accepted in 2016 for Cloud Peak Energy’s West Antelope III mining area in the Powder River Basin. While State Sen. Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette, thinks that Trump’s executive order gives the coal industry some breathing room for more production and jobs in the short term, he added that, “There’s nobody beating down the doors to lease coal.” Godby explained that the lifting of the moratorium was largely symbolic. “Did it make a big difference? Not really,” he said. “The big downturn in coal wasn’t due to a lack of coal to mine. It was due to a lack of customers.”
Despite the increasing demand for natural gas, its prices have remained below or competitive to those of coal during the past year. “When just the fuel cost is that low—natural gas already has advantages in terms of lower emissions costs, the plants are cheaper to build, they’re cheaper to maintain and run—it made no sense to generate electricity with coal in a lot of places if you had natural gas assets to generate electricity,” Godby said.
Clean energy comes of age
Even without factoring in the federal subsidies pushed by the Obama administration, during the past seven years the utility-scale prices of solar and wind have dropped by 85 and 66 percent respectively. Those “unsubsidized” figures come from a December 2016 report from the financial advisory firm Lazard, which also found that facilities for both wind and solar are now cheaper to build, operate and maintain than coal plants on average. On top of those cost considerations, utility companies have had to adjust their sources of electricity to satisfy renewable energy portfolios in 29 states, not to mention the 65 percent of Americans who now prefer an expansion of clean energy over fossil fuels, according to Pew Research. Rocky Mountain Power, among the big three utilities with Wyoming coal plants, announced on April 4 that it is investing nearly $3 billion to upgrade its existing wind turbines, create up to 1,100 megawatts worth of new turbines, and develop a transmission line in the southwest part of the state. While its investment is partially motivated by the looming expiration of the federal renewable electricity production tax credit for wind facilities in 2020, Rocky Mountain Power will also eventually need to replace the electricity generation from its coal-fired Jim Bridger Plant, which was built in 1974. Wyoming does not have a renewable energy portfolio, and, in fact, the state has placed a $1-per-megawatt-hour tax on wind power production in the state since 2012. Nonetheless, wind power grew to cover roughly 8 percent of Wyoming’s
electricity production by 2015, up from practically zero a decade earlier.
Coal and carbon capture
The third major utility with coal plants in Wyoming, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, has made a longer-term investment into coal. In 2011, the company teamed with the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency to open the $1.35 billion Dry Fork Station coal-fired plant just north of Gillette. Though it incorporates other environmental and costsaving measures, the Dry Fork Station currently emits roughly 2,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour, placing it only slightly below the average coal-fired plant’s output of 2,200 to 2,500 pounds. By comparison, modern natural-gas-fired facilities release CO2 at a rate of approximately 1,000 to 1,200 pounds per megawatt hour. Still, the Dry Fork Station may have an ace up its sleeve when construction of the Wyoming Integrated Test Center is completed on-site this summer. Funded by $15 million approved by the Wyoming Legislature and another $6 million in private investment from the energy industry, the Integrated Test Center will host research of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technology. Successful implementations of CCUS could significantly reduce a coal plant’s CO2 emissions while identifying new uses for the captured carbon. Researchers will be able to open a steel duct connected to the Integrated Testing Center from the Dry Fork Station plant, accessing flue gas from which CO2 molecules can be captured and utilized. While CCUS works in theory, the costs of implementing and operating these projects continue to be a major barrier. “Like any relatively new technology, not that it’s rocket science, but these technologies haven’t been deployed on a massive scale, and so the first couple projects have had very serious cost overruns,” explained Wendt of the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs. “It is a question of getting the bugs out— getting the technologies out there—getting the costs down.”
JH CENTER FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Climate consequences
As market forces play out, Wyoming still has plenty of coal reserves for the coming years, and with Trump’s orders, a few of the country’s older coal plants may be able to stay open a little longer to help burn them. While employment at Wyoming mines is still down almost 700 workers, the state’s coal production increased by about 23 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to a dismal first quarter last year. Of course, in Wyoming, the environmental impact of this reprieve for coal production varies from person to person depending on their political and socioeconomic lenses.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
David Wendt meets with climate and energy leaders in China.
In a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, Maria T. Zuber, the vice president for research at MIT and chair of the National Science Board, suggested that Trump is uniquely suited to push for support for CCUS. “Helping coal country is an issue with bipartisan support,” wrote Zuber, whose coal-mining grandfather died of black lung. “Still, to succeed, strategies such as these may require a champion who, like President Trump, has widespread support in coal country and can address skepticism from coal communities.” Von Flatern concurred that CCUS likely needs help from Washington. “I think the federal government needs to be involved at some point as far as maybe some seed money,” he said. “Right now, because coal has gotten a dirty name like its black color, there’s no financing available.” The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs explored the viability of CCUS for more than 10 years, organizing delegations between industry leaders and legislators in Wyoming and China’s largest coal-producing province, Shanxi. It has determined, in Wyoming at least, that the path of least resistance for reducing emissions and creating jobs points in a different direction. “We’re turning our attention to other opportunities in wind power and economic diversification, which we feel are more cost effective at this time,” Wendt said.
MAY 3, 2017 | 15
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16 | MAY 3, 2017
“Just cutting off cold turkey right now and saying we’re not going to use coal anymore would be very expensive, and to be honest with you, it wouldn’t gain anything because climate change is a creeping problem, not an immediate catastrophe,” said Godby, as an energy economist. Wendt conveyed a greater sense of urgency with climate change. “The depressing reality is that the curve [of carbon emissions] is not bending down—the curve is continuing to go up,” he said. “The real concern is the tipping point when that warming process begins to trigger other non-carbon-dioxide emissions, such as methane emissions from the permafrost, which is already happening.” As a pilot who has watched from the sky as Wyoming’s glaciers have melted over the years, Von Flatern firmly believes in climate change and man’s role in exacerbating it. But he doubts that coal is a main contributor, or that environmentalists would even be satisfied if coal were emissions-free. “If we had 100 percent clean emissions, where it was just pure steam coming out that stack, you’d still have people opposed to coal because they want to leave it in the ground,” he said. Even the head of Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy, one of the largest coal companies in the country, acknowledged the existence of climate change when he recently encouraged Trump to keep the U.S. in the Paris Agreement. However, his intent appears to renegotiate the country’s terms for CO2 emissions. “As a coal producer, we do not want to ignore the two-thirds of Americans who believe climate change is happening and that [CO2] emissions play a role,” wrote Cloud Peak Energy CEO Colin Marshall in an April 6 letter to the president. “By remaining in the Paris Agreement, albeit with a much different pledge on emissions, you can help shape a more rational international approach to climate policy.”
Coal hits the classroom
While there is still some uncertainty surrounding the timeline and extent of climate change, there is no doubting
Wyoming’s funding shortfall for K-12 education, which could soon rise to $400 million per year. The majority of Wyoming’s education funding comes from federal mineral royalties and state taxes related to coal, oil and natural gas. As demand for coal has declined and natural gas prices have dropped, so too has the associated revenue for education. The Wyoming Legislature recently approved $34.5 million in cuts to education for the 2017- 2018 school year, with Teton County slated to bear about $1.4 million of those reductions. “I don’t think people understand how important coal, oil— and gas as well—have been to Teton County,” Schwartz said. “All the schools we build come from coal money—a lot of the education resources come from coal money. People here kind of tend to see coal as a negative and yet are more than happy to take the benefits.” In addition to the operating funds coming from mineral royalties and taxes, Wyoming has long used bonuses collected from coal leases to fund the construction and maintenance of school buildings. With little to no demand for new coal leases, the bonuses have essentially dried up, but not before Teton County School District No. 1 secured $29 million to start building the new Munger Mountain Elementary School south of Jackson. “Munger Mountain got funded, the question is going to be what the next school’s source of funding is going to be, because the coal mining won’t be there,” said Teton County School Board Chair Kate Mead. “Right now, there’s been no revenue stream identified to pay for new construction or maintenance.” Because Wyoming does not collect corporate or personal income tax, the emergence of new industries and the jobs they bring do not directly produce new revenue for education. “Our tax structure is such that we can create new jobs, but it doesn’t solve the state’s revenue problem,” Schwartz explained. “To be honest, we need to be looking at what’s our future after coal, because one way or another, whether it is now or in 50 years, Wyoming needs to be looking at it.” Mead agreed that the state legislature will have to start moving beyond coal to fund education. “I think they suffer
from having had a lot of money for a lot of years, and not much creativity down there, so we’ll see what happens,” she said. Halverson noted the legislature may need to come up with a new funding source to replace coal lease bonuses, but she is more bullish on the existing tax structure. “For all the talk about ‘diversifying our economy,’ we must remember that nothing can equal the revenue Wyoming derives from that which we take out of the ground,” Halverson said. “New companies may come in, but at some point the new workers become a net cost to the state and the community without the cushion of mineral taxes and royalties.” In Gillette, Von Flatern cited Atlas Carbon, which uses coal to manufacture activated carbon for filtration systems, as an example of a forward-thinking company that creates new jobs, but actually ends up costing the state more under the existing tax structure. He suggested a potential gross receipts tax on businesses that would exempt mineral companies that are already paying a severance tax. “I think it’s a combination of cuts and additional funds,” Von Flatern said. “The funding source that we have today is dried up, and it’s going to be very limited.” Speaking at the University of Wyoming’s Energy Innovation Center on April 21, another energy economist, Trevor Houser of the Rhodium Group, predicted that the Wyoming coal industry will not recover to previous levels. “It’s time for folks to have a serious conversation about economic diversification and what comes next, and what can create sustainable sources of job creation—pathways for kids growing up in Wyoming that will keep them in state,” Houser said. He estimates that, at most, only about 4 percent of coal’s recent 30 percent production decline can be pinned on federal regulations. Whether that regulatory weight was real, perceived or politicized, Trump has lifted it with his executive order and other related actions. Now, he must decide—along with the coal industry, the Wyoming Legislature, and yes, even Teton County residents—how coal’s biggest challenges can be addressed in a free market that favors lower emissions. PJH
THIS WEEK: May 3-9, 2017
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3
THURSDAY, MAY 4
SEE CALENDAR PAGE 17
n Major Zephyr 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Salsa Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500
FRIDAY, MAY 5
n Teton County ‘Practice Safe Tech’ Multimedia Contest Teton County Middle & High Schools, Free, 307-690-5096 n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Silicon Couloir and Central Wyoming College presents Leadercast Jackson Hole 8:00am, The Center Theater, $67.00 - $97.00, 307-733-4900 n Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $1,995.00, 307-733-7425 n Portrait Drawing 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307733-6379 n Open Studio Modeling: Portrait Model 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307733-6379 n Friday Tastings 4:00pm, The Liquor Store of Jackson Hole, Free, 307-7334466 n FREE Friday Tasting at Jackson Whole Grocer 4:00pm, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-7330450 n Dancers’ Workshop Summer Kick-Off Party 5:30pm, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Free, 307-733-6398 n Pam Drews Phillips Plays Jazz 7:00pm, The Granary at Spring Creek Ranch, Free, 307733-8833 n JHHS Presents Oklahoma! 7:00pm, Jackson Hole High School Auditorium, $10.00 $15.00 n Water by the Spoonful 7:00pm, Black Box Theater at the Center for the Arts, $15.00 - $25.00, 307-733-3021 n Cinco De Mayo with Boondocks 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939
MAY 3, 2017 | 17
n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $1,995.00, 307-733-7425 n Beginning Throwing Morning 9:30am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $184.00 $220.00, 307-733-6379
n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-6379 n Storytime 10:30am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-6379 n Storytime 11:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-6379 n Teton Toastmasters 12:00pm, Teton County Commissioners Chambers, Free n Growing Through Grief 1:00pm, St. John’s Medical Center, 307-739-7483 n TiPS Training and Certification 2:00pm, Elks Lodge, 307-7334211 n After School Monthly Workshops 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $180.00 $216.00, 307-733-6379 n Music Video Production: GR 4-8 3:45pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $99.00 $118.00, 307-733-6379 n Chance Meeting 5:00pm, Hayden’s Post - Inside Snow King Hotel, Free n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-690-6539 n Tips for Jackson Hole Gardeners 6:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $15.00, 307-739-9025 n Seminar on Landlord & Tenant Rights 6:00pm, St John’s Episcopal Church – Hansen Hall, Free, 307-734-9023 n Spread Love for Habitat Families 6:00pm, Teton Habitat ReStore, Free, 804-380-6728 n Introduction to Wildlife Photography 6:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $175.00 $210.00, 307-733-6379 n Jackson Hole Community Band 2017 Rehearsals 7:00pm, Center for the Arts, $10.00, 307-200-9463 n JHHS Presents Oklahoma! 7:00pm, Jackson Hole High School Auditorium, $10.00 $15.00 n Water by the Spoonful 7:00pm, Black Box Theater at the Center for the Arts, $15.00 - $25.00, 307-733-3021
Compiled by Caroline LaRosa
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Digital Photography 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, 307733-7425 n Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $1,995.00, 307-733-7425 n Fables, Feathers & Fur 10:30am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-7325417 n Youth Job Fair 2:00pm, Jackson Hole High School, Free, 307-733-4091 n Independent School Fair 5:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-3729 n Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group 6:00pm, Eagle classroom at St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-732-1161 n Barbara Trentham Life Drawing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307733-6379 n Beginning Throwing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $215.00 $258.00, 307-733-6379 n Open Studio Modeling: Figure Model 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307733-6379 n Game Night 6:00pm, Snake River Brewing, Free, 307-739-2337 n College Match Workshop 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n KHOL Presents: Vinyl Night 8:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
18 | MAY 3, 2017
MUSIC BOX Grey Days, Neon Nights The DJ scene at The Rose sizzles into the off-season. BY JASON SUDER
T
he lights drop low and a moody romance sets over the plush red booths. While a conversation ensues, the floorboards rattle with bass, the lifting gain—the roar of the Friday night DJ. Jackson Hole’s island-like wonder can be suffocating at times, so what Pink Garter entertainment manager Ethan Oxman and his crew at The Rose provide is the closest escape: a smattering of urban grime. “We’re two things,” Oxman said. “We’re a craft cocktail bar, but we’re also heavily involved in the music scene.” More than five years ago Oxman and venue owner Dom Gagliardi felt the beat reverberating around Jackson Hole. There was a burgeoning DJ scene. Players like Brian James, better known as Cut la Whut, Chris Howell, or DJ Whipple, Jeff Stein, a.k.a. Dj Jefe, and Rocky Vertone, or DJ Vert-One, were giving the mountain crowds a taste of the city, even hosting allstar acts before they made bigger stages. “There was this contingent,” Oxman said, “and that’s when Pretty Lights came and played 43 North to 100 people, and Bassnectar played the Q. That crew I think was a big part of creating the DJ scene. It’s kind of just gone and built from there.” Today, Town Square Tavern frequently turns its stage over to the local DJ crew Wyobass. Locals laud Thursday’s disco night at the Stagecoach. Stein of Nomadic Events took it further with a Saturday night special at Lotus that packed a dance party beyond
An anecdote to off-season doldrums: The Rose pumps the bass through May.
capacity. But consistently over these past 60 months, the Pink Garter has played home and host to Jackson’s vinyl scientists. As Oxman likes to extol, the off-season is the real time for this scene to shine. “The DJs who I’m booking are who are here and want to play and also who are excited by the idea of playing in the off-season,” Oxman said. “You’re playing to a smaller group of people, a smaller house, but it’s probably going to be the majority of your friends, a core group of Jacksonites.” The Rose is poised for this musical flavor. It’s romantic atmosphere splits at night. Consider the blend and precision of the speakers in the same confined area where Jackson’s finest dance parties happen in the front section while patrons carry conversations in the back corners of the bar, sipping on the artifice of mixologists. “It works so well ... because it’s a tight space,” Oxman said. “People feel comfortable. You can bring
a girl or a guy and sit in that booth and have a private conversation and still be in that scene.” Other venues where Oxman has traveled allow visitors a similar sonic experience, but because of the larger spaces, the farther they go from the source, the further they feel from the scene. The Rose offers intimacy, romance, dance and rage. Mr. Whipple electrified the schedule last Friday with his signature dance style. Senior Hun follows this week with Park City’s DJ Dolph keeping it going with a May 12 return to town. Elliott “E.R.A.” Alston kicks the bass on May 19, and Fiesta Bob finishes out this shoulder series on May 26. “A lot of establishments change their service due to the fact that they rely on tourists,” Oxman said. “We ignore the fact that it’s off-season.” Speakers pump 10 p.m. Fridays this month at The Rose.
Aural pleasures all summer There’s no lack of alternative musical tastes this summer as concert announcements continue to pour in. The Center for the Arts announced Lyle Lovett, the country crooner that plays to the town’s Western sensibilities. Town Square Tavern is taking May with EDM dynamo Phutureprimitive playing Saturday, May 6. Some may remember Phuture’s brand of psychedelic dubstep from the 2016 Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine party. Then on May 19, ska-reggae-punk band Opskamatrists touch down at the Tavern. For those looking to find their indie fix, the Pink Garter added another artist to its summer lineup of city-inspired instrumental experimentation with the announcement of Future Islands. The band’s elegantly toned studio tracks take on an entirely different tune when performed live. It’s a much edgier and
WEDNESDAY Vinyl Night (The Rose) FRIDAY Senior Hun (The Rose) SATURDAY Phutureprimitive (Tavern) Seis de Mayo Latin Dance Party (The Rose) Cary Morin’s acoustic finger-pickings (Silver Dollar) SUNDAY Songwriter’s Alley featuring Maw Band, Robert Infanger and Pearson Beasley (Silver Dollar) Church with the “World Famous Stagecoach Band” (Stagecoach)
Phutureprimitive
aggressive show than Spotify acknowledges. “Sometimes you listen to their tunes, and they almost sound like 80s synth pop, and then you go see them live and the singer is growling on stage like a metal singer,” Oxman said. JacksonHoleLive unveiled the first concert of its outdoor summer series at Snow King: The New Orleans Suspects perform with Boondocks June 18. The bands will be the soundtrack to the annual Crawfish Boil with RaptorFest happening before the music. Then come Idahome heroes Reckless Kelly at the Pink Garter August 5. Austin-based band founders Cody and Willie Braun grew up under the auspices of their White Cloud Mountain father, picking country with their younger brothers and reaching commercial success as cowboys playing bluegrass backups to country poetry. PJH
MONDAY Silent Space (St. John’s Episcopal Church) TUESDAY One Ton Pig (Silver Dollar)
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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
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MAY 3, 2017 | 19
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
20 | MAY 3, 2017
CREATIVE PEAKS
Curious Notions Dance maven sifts through found objects and moments in time to envision a bigger picture. BY KELSEY DAYTON @Kelsey_Dayton
B
abs Case is a collector of things—a piece of paper torn from a deteriorating long-forgotten poster she sees in an alleyway while traveling; moose hair collected on a branch she spots while hiking; paper from an abandoned wasp nest she stumbles across in a yard. They might warrant barely a glance from most passersby. But for Case, they inspire her multimedia art. “I definitely have an endless curiosity,” she said. “I love the previous story these objects bring with their very existence. Anything that comes from something else, whether an embroidery pattern, moose hair or piece of fragmented paper, has a previous reason for existing. When I use them in my work that previous story informs what I’m creating.” Case’s most recent show, “Ladder Chair Birdcage Rope,” features multimedia collages from found items, and hangs at Tayloe Piggott Gallery until Monday. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Contemporary Dance Wyoming, a professional modern dance company, kicks off Dancers’ Workshop’s summer season with a performance in the gallery. Case is artistic director of both the dance company and Dancers’ Workshop. Case created the dance performance to work as an improvisational piece anchored to her art. She knew she wanted to use a ladder, teacup, rope, birdcage and chair, and explore the idea of how objects can take on different metaphorical meaning. A ladder might represent ascension or work, a teacup fragility or sharing,
a rope connection or capture, a chair presence or absence, and a bird cage freedom or prison. While the dancers move the objects, viewers will be asked to participate and share what they see. For Case, the dance shows how she creates both her performance pieces and her collages. She has always used collage as a form of visual journaling. Her pieces are based on personal experiences, told in an abstract and modern form. “My object is to open that world to the experience of being human,” she said. A piece titled “Doubt vs. Knowing” explores learning how to be uncomfortable when you don’t know what might happen next. “I Can, Can” embodies the morning when Case wakes with a surge of energy for whatever challenges await and she feels the sense of “I can do this. I can.” It’s about passion, finding something you love and going for it, she said. Pieces in a series called “I Speak French” feature characters on wood depicting people Case actually knows, as well as depicting characters representing American culture. “They originated from a moment in time,” she said. Case’s feeling of turmoil in the world and politics inspired “Raise Your Right Hand.” She kept thinking about the idea of truth and where to find it. “It’s something that should be black and white, but it’s not,” she said. “Battle of the Self” features a child’s drawing of a boat layered with an image of a knight in armor. For Case it represents the internal battle of being playful and also doing the work needed to get things done. Case even installed part of her living room, including two chairs and a table, in the gallery. “I consider my whole house a collage,” she said. Everything has a specific place. The living room set up will be disassembled and objects in it used for the dance. When the gallery asked Case about a visual show,
she at first insisted she didn’t have time. A walk through the studio found she had a ton of work that just needed finishing. Case works on her art every day and often starts pieces and works on them intermittently so they develop over a period of time. The work became so engulfing after she agreed to the show, she secretly canceled a trip to New York, not telling anyone she was in town, so she had full days to work on the show. “Babs’ work is really sophisticated and her collages are very worldly,” said Alex Keenan, director of art at Tayloe Piggott Gallery. Case has the patience to collect things and keep them until she’s working on the perfect piece. Her studio is full of thousands of odds and ends she pulls from when she creates, Keenan explained. Her work, like her studio, conveys a sense of nostalgia and time passing. “It feels like a time warp,” Keenan said. Case’s work hangs alongside pieces from Maria Porges, who also creates collages inspired by writing, and one hand colored and painted print by Jane Hammond, an internationally recognized artist whose work is part of the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Everything really is talking to each other in one small space,” Keenan said. “Everything has a sense of nostalgia to it, a sense of time, and a sense of pulling at the heart strings a bit.” PJH Ladder Chair Birdcage Rope, a show by Babs Case at Tayloe Piggott Gallery hangs through Monday, May 8. Contemporary Dance Wyoming performance 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 5 in the gallery.
“Everything has a sense of nostalgia to it, a sense of time and a sense of pulling at the heart strings a bit.”
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A Cosmic Implosion Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn’t as uniquely edgy as it thinks it is.
MARVEL STUDIOS
Football is over. Let the BRUNCH begin! Sat & Sun 10am-3pm
BY MARYANN JOHANSON @maryannjohanson
“Y
ou were insufferable to start with,” groans Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the badass green chick who should be the hero of the Guardians of the Galaxy series. She says this, rolling her eyes, about “hero” “StarLord,” a.k.a. doofy Earther Peter Quill, after a revelation about his parentage that is at the center of the tedious, beenthere-bought-the-T-shirt plot of Vol. 2. See, Peter (Chris Pratt) had already been living the fulfillment of a fantasy that lots of kids have: that we don’t belong in whatever dull place we’re stuck in, that nobody understands us, and that clearly we are destined for greatness. Born on 1980s Earth, his father, a mysterious spaceman, Peter now lives and works out in the big wide galaxy, the vindication of that childhood escapism: “See? My dad was from another planet!” But that’s never enough, is it? Luke Skywalker was never just a bored farmboy, Neo was never just an unappreciated hacker and Peter, it turns out, is not just any old ordinary doofus with a spaceman for a dad. I won’t spoil the big secret of Peter’s space dad (Kurt Russell), except to say that while it has nothing to do with Peter’s backstory in the GotG comics, it is something dragged in from elsewhere in the Marvel universe. Suffice it to say, it is a ridiculous ego boost for Peter, and an even more, well, yes, insufferable and— worse—very familiar male fantasy. This is the overarching problem with
Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista (with Groot and Rocket) in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Guardians of the Galaxy, which was somewhat true of the first movie but is really a problem with Vol. 2: This is a series that thinks it’s weird, edgy and transgressive, something like the punk little brother of all those other stodgy comic-book movies, but it isn’t. It may be slightly more candy-colored, but it’s just more of the same space battles, ravenous monsters, expolsions, ironic posturing and monologuing villains. It’s got poop jokes. It has sexy sexbots and sure, women (or women-coded androids) as commodities is so unexpected. As a flight of fancy, Vol. 2 is shockingly limited in its imagination. Vol. 2 also thinks it’s a comedy. It wants Fleetwood Mac songs scoring space battles to be amusing, or a Cat Stevens song scoring a sentimental moment to be touching, but that just feels like a way to sell a compilation soundtrack. It’s got geeky cameos that are intended as surprising and clever, but they just feel like stunts. All the snarky references to cheesy 80s TV shows and retro technology feel like eating the pop-culture seed corn; if we don’t start telling some new stories that can become tomorrow’s nostalgia, what the hell are we going to make ironic snarky allusions come the 2040s? But another major issue with Vol. 2 is how writer-director James Gunn has gone overboard in attempting to remedy the “it’s not about anything”
TRY THESE Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Kurt Russell Kim Cattrall Rated PG-13
Super (2010) Rainn Wilson Ellen Page Rated R
problem of the first film. This one is all about family, and in case you missed the idea that Peter and his team— Gamora, Rocket the cyborg raccoon (CGI with the voice of Bradley Cooper), muscleman Drax (Dave Bautista), and tree-creature Groot (CGI with the voice of Vin Diesel)—are an ad hoc family, someone will be there to remind us. (Funny how Luke and Han and Leia and Chewie and the droids never felt the need to keep telling one another how they were just one big family.) It starts to sound a bit ominous and creepy, like when Don Corleone says “family.” Family? Except for Peter’s dead Earth mom. She’s still dead. Of course mega-budget blockbuster movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are carefully calculated and constructed, but they shouldn’t feel like they are. We shouldn’t see the puppet strings tugging on all the characters. We don’t need to have the themes explained to us. For all the monster ichor and alien gardens and quite a bit of human(oid) blood flying around, nothing here feels organic. PJH
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 BB Chris Pratt Zoe Saldana Kurt Russell Rated PG-13
Thor: The Dark World (2013) Chris Hemsworth Natalie Portman Rated PG-13
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Chris Pratt Zoe Saldana Rated PG-13
n Friday Night DJ Featuring Senior Hun 10:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free, 307-733-1500 n Hot Pass 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886
SATURDAY, MAY 6
SUNDAY, MAY 7
n First Sundays 11:00am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-7335771 n Quilting - Circles 12:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $100.00, 307-733-7425 n Wine Tasting on a Budget 3:00pm, Dornans, $10.00, 307-733-2415 n Stagecoach Band 6:00pm, Stagecoach, Free, 307-733-4407 n Songwriter’s Alley 7:00pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939
MONDAY, MAY 8
TUESDAY, MAY 9
n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n REFIT® 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $20.00, 307-7336398 n Teton Plein Air Painters 9:00am, Outdoors, Free, 307733-6379 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307-733-2164 n Toddler Time 10:35am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n Toddler Time 11:05am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-6379 n Photography Open Studio 12:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, Free, 307-7336379 n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-690-6539 n Intermediate Throwing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $154.00 $184.00, 307-733-6379 n iMovie Editing Basics 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $140.00 $168.00, 307-733-6379 n Beer Making and Brewing at Snake River Brewing 6:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $40.00, 307-733-7425 n The Resilience Gym: Mental Performance Training for Athletes 6:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $25.00, 307-733-7425 n Advanced Photography Techniques 6:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $65.00 $78.00, 307-733-6379 n One Ton Pig 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939
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MAY 3, 2017 | 23
n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Digital Photography 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, 307733-7425 n Art Education: Kindercreations 9:30am, Art Association Borshell Children’s Studio, $16.00, 307-733-6379 n Beginning Stained Glass Design With Light 3:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $176.00 $211.00, 307-733-6379 n After School Kidzart Club: Grade K-2 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $165.00 $198.00, 307-733-6379 n Free Public Planetarium Programs 3:30pm, Teton County Library, Free, 844-996-7827 n Studio Sampler 3:45pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $264.00 $316.00, 307-733-6379 n Intermediate Stained Glass - Design With Light 5:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $230.00 $276.00, 307-733-6379
n Hootenanny 6:00pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Resident Writer Nina McConigley writing workshop 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-690-6171, x 229 n Writing Workshop: Creating Compelling Characters 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n Film Fundraiser Dinner 6:00pm, Pizzeria Caldera, $55.00,
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n Jackson Hole Spring Runoff 5K Run/Walk 7:30am, North Park (Murie Family Park), $10.00, 307-7399025 n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n REFIT® 9:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $20.00, 307-7336398 n Summer Job Fair 2017 9:00am, Elks Club, Free, 307733-4091 n Women Build WeekHabitat for Humanity 9:00am, Alpine Meadows Project, Free, 307-734-0828 ext. 102 n St. John’s Medical Center Community Health Fair 9:00am, Teton County/ Jackson Parks and Recreation Center, Free, 307-739-7493 n Jackson Summer Job Fair 9:00am, Elks Lodge, Free, 307-733-4091 n Women Build Week Habitat for Humanity 9:00am, Alpine Meadows Project, Free, 307-734-0828 n Contemporary Dance Wyoming Master Class with Fran Romo 10:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $25.00, 307-733-6398 n Community Bike Swap & Sale 10:00am, The Hub, $0.00 $10.00, 207-200-6144 n Library Saturdays: Mini Music & Movement 10:15am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-6379 n Sherwood’s Post 1st Birthday Bash 6:00pm, Sherwood’s Post, $14.00 - $25.00, 208-7870998 n Jackson Hole Juggernauts vs. Portneuf Valley Bruisers 7:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $10.00, 3076901982 n Water by the Spoonful 7:00pm, Black Box Theater at the Center for the Arts, $15.00 - $25.00, 307-733-3021
n Jackson Hole Community Band presents Around the World in 80 Minutes 7:00pm, The Center Theatre, Free, 307-733-4900 n Cary Morin 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Saloon, Free, 970-690-4048 n Seis De Mayo Latin Dance Party 9:30pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free, 307-733-1500 n Phutureprimitive 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, $10.00, 307-733-3886
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
24 | MAY 3, 2017
BEER, WINE & SPIRITS
Rock the Rosé The delicious truth about pink wine. BY TED SCHEFFLER @Critic1
M
uch to my surprise, having flown its flag for decades, rosé wine has suddenly become hip and trendy. Increasingly, people know that rosé wines aren’t typically sweet; fewer and fewer confuse them with white zinfandel. Whereas production in France led the way to its popularity—followed by Spain, Italy and the U.S.—pink wines are now made in places as far flung as Morocco, Lebanon, India, Bulgaria, Slovenia, The Republic of Georgia and Brazil. I usually take the opportunity to write about rosé this time of year, since it is such a compelling spring and summer wine—although I hope you don’t
limit your intake to only warm weather drinking, since it tastes great in autumn and winter, as well. After all, you don’t abandon white wines in winter, do you? Most rosé has as much, or more, heft as white wine. Katherine Cole, wine columnist for the Portland Oregonian, is a fellow rosé reveler. Her book, Rosé All Day: The Essential Guide to Your New Favorite Wine makes a strong case for the charms of pink wine. It’s not the standard dull wine book read. In Rosé All Day, Cole suggests that its recent popularity is a pop-culture phenomenon. According to Nielsen and the Wine Marker Council, rosé sales and value soared some 60 percent in 2015—a trend not seen since the days when Sideways made pinot popular. Cole namechecks hip-hopper Flo Rida, who sings, “Two in the morning I’m zoned in / Them rosé bottles foaming,” and Wiz Khalifa requesting “rosé in my Champagne glass.” “And then there is Rick Ross with his black bottle,” writes Cole. “Rozay’s rosé entered 66 international markets in its first three years of existence, becoming the
Local is a modern American steakhouse and bar located on Jackson’s historic town square. Serving locally raised beef and, regional game, fresh seafood and seasonally inspired food, Local offers the perfect setting for lunch, drinks or dinner.
Lunch 11:30am Monday-Saturday Dinner 5:30pm Nightly
HAPPY HOUR Daily 4-6:00pm
307.201.1717 | LOCALJH.COM ON THE TOWN SQUARE
IMBIBE top-selling sparkling wine on Amazon. Between 2013 and 2014 alone, sales grew by 340 percent.” It’s true that it used to be crap, but now it’s cool. Yet, that’s not why you should drink it. I love rosé for its versatility. There are higherand lower-alcohol rosés, lighterand heavier-bodied ones, sweeter and dryer. They range from nearly raspberry in color to faint creamy pink-colored, resembling white zin. They are terrific pairing partners for a wide range of foods, from delicate sushi to brawny barbecue. Rosé can be slightly sweet, bone-dry or in-between. After years of bombarding my palate with tannins, oak and alcohol, they come on like a summer breeze. They’re also relatively inexpensive. Since it’s rosé season, I’ve been tasting my way through a roster of them. Here are some standouts. Château Minuty is a family estate in Provence on the
Saint Tropez peninsula. Jean-Etíenne and François Matton produce topnotch wine there utilizing chemical-free, sustainable practices, and 2016 “M” de Minuty Rosé ($19) is a good example. It’s a light-salmon colored, bone-dry wine with bold orange and currant fragrances and fresh acidity. Enjoy it with spring pea soup and grilled shrimp. A pair of organic, sustainable and FairTrade rosé wines recently knocked me out: De Bos Walker Bay 47 Varietal Rosé ($17) from South Africa, and Spain’s Raimat 2015 Rosé ($12). Both are luscious and affordable. I also love the 2016 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé ($14)—one of the meatier new examples. Meiomi Rosé 2016 ($25) is delicate, dry, and delightful. But my favorite this spring has been Kim Crawford Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2016 ($18), from New Zealand. It’s gorgeous and well worth tracking down. PJH
CLOSED FOR THE OFF SEASON. RE-OPENING MAY 10. 733-3912
160 North Millward | Jackson, Wyoming
Featuring dining destinations from buffets and rooms with a view to mom and pop joints, chic cuisine and some of our dining critic’s faves!
ASIAN & CHINESE TETON THAI
Serving the world’s most exciting cuisine. Teton Thai offers a splendid array of flavors: sweet, hot, sour, salt and bitter. All balanced and blended perfectly, satisfying the most discriminating palate. Open daily. 7432 Granite Loop Road in Teton Village, (307) 733-0022 and in Driggs, (208) 787-8424, tetonthai.com.
THAI ME UP ®
Large Specialty Pizza ADD: Wings (8 pc)
$ 13 99
Medium Pizza (1 topping) Stuffed Cheesy Bread
for an extra $5.99/each
(307) 733-0330 520 S. Hwy. 89 • Jackson, WY
ELY U Q I N U PEAN EURO
F O H E‘
TH
R DINNEAGE I H LUNCTETON VILL I T S IN FA BREAKE ALPENHOF AT TH
AT THE
CONTINENTAL ALPENHOF
Serving authentic Swiss cuisine, the Alpenhof features European style breakfast entrées and alpine lunch fare. Dine in the Bistro for a casual meal or join us in the Alpenrose dining room for a relaxed dinner experience. Breakfast 7:30am-10am. Coffee & pastry 10am-11:30am. Lunch 11:30am-3pm. Aprés 3pm-5:30pm. Dinner 6pm-9pm. For reservations at the Bistro or Alpenrose, call 307-733-3242.
THE BLUE LION
A Jackson Hole favorite for 38 years. Join us in the charming atmosphere of a historic home. Ask a local about our rack of lamb. Serving fresh fish, elk, poultry, steaks, and vegetarian entrées. Live acoustic guitar music most nights. Closed for the off-season. Re-opening May 10th. Reservations recommended, walkins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com
CAFE GENEVIEVE
Serving inspired home cooked classics in a historic log cabin. Enjoy brunch daily at 8 a.m., Dinner Tues-Sat 5 p.m. and Happy Hour TuesSat 3-5:30 p.m. featuring $5 glasses of wine, $5 specialty drinks, $3 bottled beer. 135 E. Broadway, (307) 732-1910, genevievejh.com.
ELEANOR’S
Enjoy all the perks of fine dining, minus the dress code at Eleanor’s, serving rich, saucy dishes in a warm and friendly setting. Its bar alone is an attraction, thanks to reasonably priced drinks and a loyal crowd. Come get a belly-full of our two-time gold medal wings. Open at 11 a.m. daily. 832 W. Broadway, (307) 733-7901.
Local, a modern American steakhouse and bar, is located on Jackson’s historic town square. Our menu features both classic and
MAY 3, 2017 | 25
LOCAL
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
307.733.3242
Home of Melvin Brewing Co. Freshly remodeled offering modern Thai cuisine in a relaxed setting. New tap system with 20 craft beers. New $8 wine list and extensive bottled beer menu. Open daily for dinner at 5pm. Downtown at 75 East Pearl Street. View our tap list at thaijh.com/brews. 307-733-0005.
specialty cuts of locally-ranched meats and wild game alongside fresh seafood, shellfish, house-ground burgers, and seasonally-inspired food. We offer an extensive wine list and an abundance of locally-sourced products. Offering a casual and vibrant bar atmosphere with 12 beers on tap as well as a relaxed dining room, Local is the perfect spot to grab a burger for lunch or to have drinks and dinner with friends. Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30am. Dinner Nightly 5:30pm. 55 North Cache, (307) 201-1717, localjh. com.
LOTUS ORGANIC RESTAURANT
Serving organic, freshly-made world cuisine while catering to all eating styles. Endless organic and natural meat, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices. Offering super smoothies, fresh extracted juices, espresso and tea. Full bar and house-infused botanical spirits. Serving breakfast, lunch & dinner starting at 8am daily. 140 N. Cache, (307) 734-0882, theorganiclotus. com.
Two- fer Tuesday is back !
Two-for-one 12” pies all day. Dine-in or Carry-out. (LIMIT 6 PIES PER CARRYOUT ORDER, PLEASE.)
MANGY MOOSE FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE HOUSEMADE BREAD & DESSERTS FRESH, LOCALLY SOURCED OFFERINGS TAKE OUT AVAILABLE
11am - 9:30pm daily 20 W. Broadway 307.201.1472
PizzeriaCaldera.com
Dining room and bar open nightly at 5:00pm (307) 733-2460 • 2560 Moose Wilson Road • Wilson, WY
A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965 THE LOCALS
FAVORITE PIZZA 2012-2016 •••••••••
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
Reservations at (307) 733-4913 3295 Village Drive • Teton Village, WY
26 | MAY 3, 2017
Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally FRESH FOOD at reasonable prices, is a always a FUN PLACE to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel RIGHT AT HOME and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit.
LOCAL & DOMESTIC STEAKS SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK @ 5:30 TILL 10 JHCOWBOYSTEAKHOUSE.COM 307-733-4790
www.mangymoose.com
$7
$5 Shot & Tall Boy
LUNCH
SPECIAL Slice, salad & soda
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
TV Sports Packages and 7 Screens
Under the Pink Garter Theatre (307) 734-PINK • www.pinkygs.com
Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally fresh food at reasonable prices, is a always a fun place to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel right at home and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit. Teton Village, (307) 733-4913, mangymoose.com.
MOE’S BBQ
Opened in Jackson Hole by Tom Fay and David Fogg, Moe’s Original Bar B Que features a Southern Soul Food Revival. Moe’s Original Bar B Que offers award-winning Alabama-style pulled pork, ribs, wings, turkey and chicken smoked over hardwood served with two unique sauces in addition to Catfish and a Shrimp MoeBoy sandwich. Additionally, a daily rotation of traditional Southern sides and tasty desserts are served fresh daily from recipes passed down for generations. With a kitchen that stays open late, the restaurant features a menu that fits any budget. While the setting is family-friendly, there is a full premium bar offering a lively bar scene complete with HDTVs for sports fans, music, shuffle board and other games upstairs. Large party takeout orders and full service catering with delivery for any size group for parties, business lunches, reunions, weddings and other special events is also be available.
MILLION DOLLAR COWBOY STEAKHOUSE
Jackson’s first Speakeasy Steakhouse. The Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse is a hidden gem located below the world famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Our menu offers guests the best in American steakhouse cuisine. Top quality chops and steaks sourced from local farms, imported Japanese Wagyu beef, and house-cured meats and sausages. Accentuated with a variety of thoughtful side dishes, innovative appetizers, creative vegetarian items, and decadent desserts, a meal at this landmark location is sure to be a memorable one. Reservations are highly recommended.
SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT
America’s most award-winning microbrewery is serving lunch and dinner. Take in the atmosphere while enjoying wood-fired pizzas, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and
desserts. $9 lunch menu. Happy hour 4 to 6 p.m., including tasty hot wings. The freshest beer in the valley, right from the source! Free WiFi. Open 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 265 S. Millward. (307) 739-2337, snakeriverbrewing. com.
TRIO
Owned and operated by Chefs with a passion for good food, Trio is located right off the Town square in downtown Jackson. Featuring a variety of cuisines in a relaxed atmosphere, Trio is famous for its wood-oven pizzas, specialty cocktails and waffle fries with bleu cheese fondue. Dinner nightly at 5:30 p.m. Reservations. (307) 734-8038 or bistrotrio.com.
ITALIAN CALICO
A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965, the Calico continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in the Valley. The Calico offers the right combination of really good food, (much of which is grown in our own gardens in the summer), friendly staff; a reasonably priced menu and a large selection of wine. Our bar scene is eclectic with a welcoming vibe. Open nightly at 5 p.m. 2560 Moose Wilson Rd., (307) 733-2460.
MEXICAN EL ABUELITO
Serving authentic Mexican cuisine and appetizers in a unique Mexican atmosphere. Home of the original Jumbo Margarita. Featuring a full bar with a large selection of authentic Mexican beers. Lunch served weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nightly dinner specials. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 385 W. Broadway, (307) 733-1207.
PIZZA DOMINO’S PIZZA
Hot and delicious delivered to your door. Handtossed, deep dish, crunchy thin, Brooklyn style and artisan pizzas; bread bowl pastas, and oven baked sandwiches; chicken wings, cheesy breads and desserts. Delivery. 520 S. Hwy. 89 in Kmart Plaza, (307) 733-0330.
PINKY G’S
The locals favorite! Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole 2012-2016. Seek out this hidden gem under the Pink Garter Theatre for NY pizza by the slice, salads, strombolis, calzones and many appetizers to choose from. Try the $7 ‘Triple S’ lunch special. Happy hours 10 p.m. - 12 a.m. Sun.- Thu. Text PINK to 71441 for discounts. Delivery and take-out. Open daily 11a.m. to 2 a.m. 50 W. Broadway, (307) 734-PINK.
PIZZERIA CALDERA
Jackson Hole’s only dedicated stone-hearth oven pizzeria, serving Napolitana-style pies
using the freshest ingredients in traditional and creative combinations. Five local micro-brews on tap, a great selection of red and white wines by the glass and bottle, and one of the best views of the Town Square from our upstairs deck. Daily lunch special includes slice, salad or soup, any two for $8. Happy hour: half off drinks by the glass from 4 - 6 daily. Dine in or carry out. Or order online at PizzeriaCaldera. com, or download our app for iOS or Android. Open from 11am - 9:30pm daily at 20 West Broadway. 307-201-1472.
SUMMER 2017
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE POCKET-SIZED CALENDAR
DISTRIBUTED JUNE THRU SEPTEMBER 10,000 COPIES PRINTED DIGITAL VERSION ON THEHOLECALENDAR.COM INSERTED INTO THE PLANET’S 6/28 ISSUE To find out what’s happening in the Hole, savvy locals visit www.TheHoleCalendar.com. Whether you’re looking for something to do tonight, this weekend, or next Wednesday morning, our exhaustive event calendar has you covered. And it’s way too good to keep to ourselves. Now, every visitor and local alike will have a chance to enjoy our all en-compassing summer 2017 pocket calendar. Stash this handy 4 x 9 foldout in your glove box, camera case, or back pocket. It’s the perfect resource for in-depth coverage on Jackson Hole’s signature summer events, as well as info on rodeos, art shows, festivals, fairs, concerts, cookouts, shootouts, and shout outs. When a last minute event pops up, we’ll have that updated on our interactive and easy-to-use website, too.
AD RESERVATIONS DUE MAY 12 | PUBLICATION DATE JUNE 7 | INSERTION DATE JUNE 28 EMAIL SALES@PLANETJH.COM OR CALL 307.732.0299
MAY 3, 2017 | 27
This summer’s 2017 Hole Calendar, found at hundreds of locations across the valley, includes helpful insider tips on where to avoid the crowds, what to do on a rainy day, where to hear local tunes & so much more. If it’s happening in the Hole, we’ve got you covered.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
> > > >
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
28 | MAY 3, 2017
Evolutionary Films & Television
story of Daniel Tammet, one of the world’s savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. The film follows Tammet as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.
C
Happy Critically acclaimed and inspiring, this documentary talks to people from all walks of life about what makes them happy to understand the secrets of happiness. Everyone from scientists, monks, Southerners, and rickshaw drivers in Calcutta chime in and give their take.
urious minds love to expand their horizons. Here’s a selection of easy to find films related to Cosmic Café topics for your enjoyment.
Documentaries Free Energy: The Race to Zero Point “Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities… This new power...would be derived from the energy which operates the Universe...the cosmic energy.” – Nikola Tesla Now theoretically and mathematically proven, the question no longer is: “Does this zero-point energy exist?” but rather, “Can we tap this inexhaustible resource of free and unlimited energy and manifest new technologies which are both inexpensive and environmentally safe?” Catching the Sun Exploring the triumphs and challenges of workers and entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of the clean energy economy (solar), produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.
10 Questions for the Dalai Lama Filmmaker Rick Ray poses philosophical questions to the Dalai Lama during a visit to his East Indian monastery.
Television Outlander This beautifully filmed British-American television drama series is based on the historical time travel Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon. Every set and costume detail is impeccable, as is the acting. Following the characters as their relationships intersect across time is mesmerizing. You might want to catch up on all the compelling seasons of this one on Starz.
The Living Matrix The documentary brings together academic and independent researchers, practitioners and science journalists whose work reveals scientific evidence that energy and information fields, not genetics, control health and wellbeing. These include internationally known healer, Dr. Eric Pearl; cellular biologist and former Stanford University professor, Dr. Bruce Lipton; author Lynne McTaggart, and former U.S. astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, among others.
Film: Relevant oldies
Gregg Braden videos
Film: A new gem
Braden is a New York Times best-selling author, and leading edge scientist. Check out the following of his fascinating talks on Youtube: Missing Links, Living in the Divine Matrix, Your Heart is Stronger than Your Brain. Search Gregg Braden 2017. The Boy with the Incredible Brain Directed by Steve Gooder, this documentary is the
Frequency Serious disruptions to the earth’s magnetic field by solar flare activity alters the normal fabric of time and space, making it possible to time travel and alter events in the past. Defending Your Life Accounting for your life after you die. Lots to reflect on in this moving story starring Meryl Streep. Arrival The earth is on the verge of another cataclysmic war. Non-terrestrial intelligences appear in 12 different locations around the world. A scientist and a linguist work against time and with time to figure out how to understand their obvious attempt to deliver a potentially game changing message to humanity. PJH
Carol Mann is a longtime Jackson resident, radio personality, former Grand Targhee Resort owner, author, and clairvoyant. Got a Cosmic Question? Email carol@yourcosmiccafe.com
WELLNESS COMMUNITY These businesses provide health or wellness services for the Jackson Hole community and its visitors.
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MAY 3, 2017 | 29
To advertise in the Wellness Directory, contact Jen at Planet Jackson Hole at 307-732-0299 or sales@planetjh.com
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
30 | MAY 3, 2017
WELLNESS COMMUNITY
SUDOKU
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.
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L.A.TIMES “FRENCH CONNECTION” BY PAUL COULTER
SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2017
ACROSS
1 Starbucks serving 6 Pound foot? 10 Busy co. on Mother’s Day 13 Put forward 18 Get too close to 19 Françoise’s friend 20 __ moment 21 Capricious 22 Outcome 24 Outcome 26 It’s a long story 27 Advanced legal deg. 28 Souvenirs with three holes in them 30 Is down with 31 Dr.’s order 32 Keisters 35 640 acres: Abbr. 37 Hosea contemporary 38 “Win some, lose some” 41 “Win some, lose some” 44 Legal agreement 45 Countryman of Gary Player 47 Training group 50 One may be named for a president 51 Spread out 52 Mount delivery 53 Onward in time 56 Often elided pronoun 58 Grandpa Walton portrayer 60 Like Perot in the 1992 pres. election 61 The ’70s, in a Tom Wolfe essay 63 “When We Were Kings” subject 64 __ club 65 Bare 68 Bare 70 Put __ appearance 71 Org. with lanes 72 Elegantly, to Vivaldi 74 Offense
75 Bell curve figure 76 Like a quarter’s edge 77 Coagulates 81 Rifled 83 In the cards 84 Routine first baseman? 85 Go after 86 Mushers’ transports 89 “I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie” author 91 “Confidentially ... ” 94 “Confidentially ... ” 96 Gospel singer Winans 98 Coup target 99 The 3rd Avenue line was the last of them to operate in Manhattan 101 Beatle bride 102 Actress Garner, familiarly 103 Fill past full 105 Singer DiFranco 106 Sorts 110 Fine dining aficionados 113 Fine dining aficionados 116 Senescence 117 Even so 118 Take-out order? 119 Snowy __ 120 Holds up 121 News letters 122 Cheek 123 Chinese toys, for short
DOWN 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10
Some SLR displays Side squared, for a square Chinese secret society Feature of many Broadway musicals Email ending 1975 Jackson 5 hit Autobiographical subtitle Time div. Actress Davis Make out
11 12 13 14 15
Site of Mount Olympus “__ Kapital” Name of 12 popes Fall mo. Whole alternative, in Nottingham 16 Ecuadoran province once famous for its gold 17 Patron saint of France 21 Swing wildly 23 Island near Corsica 25 Resistance units 29 Co-star of Bea, Betty and Rue 33 Amber __ 34 Erotic 36 Parts of gals. 37 A long way off 38 Pitch indicator 39 Architect Saarinen 40 Coal-rich German region 42 Get better 43 Champagne bucket, e.g. 46 Apple variety 48 Actress Blakley 49 Cut off 52 Watch word? 54 Fed after tax evaders 55 Worked (up) 56 __ Buena, town that became San Francisco 57 Continental divide? 58 Surgical dressing 59 Castilian hero 62 Had 64 Canterbury pen 65 Bridal path 66 Wedding 67 They go by in a flash 68 Banker’s bane 69 Pres. advisory team 72 Prepares
73 It holds the line 75 Face 76 Popular pasta topping 78 Actor Wilson 79 By way of, briefly 80 Tipplers 82 Air 83 One may echo in an alley 86 Chain letters? 87 Obstructs the progress of 88 Batting positions 89 Poetic dusk 90 Surround 92 Superman player 93 It towers over Taormina 95 2012 Nintendo debut 96 Early computer language 97 __ Gay: WWII bomber 100 West Yorkshire city 102 Sprightly dances 104 Italian wine center 107 Frolic 108 Cap site 109 Retired fliers 111 Winery sight 112 Manhattan sch. 114 Patch grower 115 Gym unit
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
WINDSHIELDS
BY ROB BREZSNY
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) When poet Wislawa Szymborska delivered her speech for winning the Nobel Prize, she said that “whatever else we might think of this world—it is astonishing.” She added that for a poet, there really is no such thing as the “ordinary world,” “ordinary life,” and “the ordinary course of events.” In fact, “Nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone’s existence in this world.” I offer you her thoughts, Taurus, because I believe that in the next two weeks you will have an extraordinary potential to feel and act on these truths. You are hereby granted a license to be astonished on a regular basis. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Would you consider enrolling in my Self-Pity Seminar? If so, you would learn that obsessing on self-pity is a means to an end, not a morass to get lost in. You would feel sorry for yourself for brief, intense periods so that you could feel proud and brave the rest of the time. For a given period—let’s say three days—you would indulge and indulge and indulge in self-pity until you entirely exhausted that emotion. Then you’d be free to engage in an orgy of self-healing, self-nurturing, and self-celebration. Ready to get started? Ruminate about the ways that people don’t fully appreciate you. CANCER (June 21-July 22) In a typical conversation, most of us utter too many “uhs,” “likes,” “I means,” and “you knows.” I mean, I’m sure that … uh … you’ll agree that, like, what’s the purpose of, you know, all that pointless noise? But I have some good news to deliver about your personal use of language in the coming weeks, Cancerian. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you’ll have the potential to dramatically lower your reliance on needless filler. But wait, there’s more: Clear thinking and precise speech just might be your superpowers. As a result, your powers of persuasion should intensify. Your ability to advocate for your favorite causes may zoom. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) In 1668, England named John Dryden its first Poet Laureate. His literary influence was so monumental that the era in which he published was known as the Age of Dryden. Twentieth-century poetry great T. S. Eliot said he was “the ancestor of nearly all that is best in the poetry of the eighteenth century.” Curiously, Dryden had a low opinion of Shakespeare. “Scarcely intelligible,” he called the Bard, adding, “His whole style is so pestered with figurative expressions that it is as affected as it is coarse.” I foresee a comparable clash of titans in your sphere, Leo. Two major influences may fight it out for supremacy. One embodiment of beauty may be in competition with another. One powerful and persuasive force could oppose another. What will your role be? Mediator? Judge? Neutral observer? Whatever it is, be cagey.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The versatile artist Melvin Van Peebles has enjoyed working as a filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, composer, and novelist. One of his more recent efforts was a collaboration with the experimental band The Heliocentrics. Together they created a science-fiction-themed spoken-word poetry album titled The Last Transmission. Peebles told NPR, “I haven’t had so much fun with clothes on in years.” If I’m reading the planetary omens correctly Capricorn, you’re either experiencing that level of fun, or will soon be doing so.
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In what ways do you most resemble your mother? Now is a good time to take inventory. Once you identify any mom-like qualities that tend to limit your freedom or lead you away from your dreams, devise a plan to transform them. You may never be able to defuse them entirely, but there’s a lot you can do to minimize the mischief they cause. Be calm but calculating in setting your intention, Aquarius! P.S.: In the course of your inventory, you may also find there are ways you are like your mother that are of great value to you. Is there anything you could do to more fully develop their potential? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “We are what we imagine,” writes Piscean author N. Scott Momaday. “Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine who and what we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.” Let’s make this passage your inspirational keynote for the coming weeks. It’s a perfect time to realize how much power you have to create yourself through the intelligent and purposeful use of your vivid imagination. (P.S. Here’s a further tip, this time from Cher: “All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others.”) ARIES (March 21-April 19) Beware of feeling sorry for sharks that yell for help. Beware of trusting coyotes that act like sheep and sheep that act like coyotes. Beware of nibbling food from jars whose contents are different from what their labels suggest. But wait! “Beware” is not my only message for you. I have these additional announcements: Welcome interlopers if they’re humble and look you in the eyes. Learn all you can from predators and pretenders without imitating them. Take advantage of any change that’s set in motion by agitators who shake up the status quo, even if you don’t like them.
Go to RealAstrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.
MAY 3, 2017 | 31
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) In addition to fashion tips, advice for the broken-hearted, midlife-crisis support, and career counseling, I sometimes provide you with more mystical help. Like now. So if you need nuts-and-bolts guidance, I hope you’ll have the sense to read a more down-to-earth horoscope. What I want to tell you is that the metaphor of resurrection is your featured theme. You should assume that it’s somehow the answer to every question. Rejoice in the knowledge that although a part of you has died, it will be reborn in a fresh guise.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You may have heard the exhortation “Follow your bliss!”, which was popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell. After studying the archetypal stories of many cultures throughout history, he concluded that it was the most important principle driving the success of most heroes. Here’s another way to say it: Identify the job or activity that deeply excites you, and find a way to make it the center of your life. In his later years, Campbell worried that too many people had misinterpreted “Follow your bliss” to mean “Do what comes easily.” That’s all wrong, he said. Anything worth doing takes work and struggle. “Maybe I should have said, ‘Follow your blisters,’” he laughed. I bring this up, Sagittarius, because you are now in an intense “Follow your blisters” phase of following your bliss.
WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT SPECIALISTS
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Just this once, and for a limited time only, you have cosmic clearance to load up on sugary treats, leave an empty beer can in the woods, watch stupid TV shows, and act uncool in front of the Beautiful People. Why? Because being totally well-behaved and perfectly composed and strictly pure would compromise your mental health more than being naughty. Besides, if you want to figure out what you are on the road to becoming, you will need to know more about what you’re not.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) “Are you ready for the genie’s favors? Don’t rub the magic lamp unless you are.” That’s the message I saw on an Instagram meme. I immediately thought of you. The truth is that up until recently, you have not been fully prepared for the useful but demanding gifts the genie could offer you. You haven’t had the self-mastery necessary to use the gifts as they’re meant to be used, and therefore they were a bit dangerous to you. But that situation has changed. Although you may still not be fully primed, you’re as ready as you can be. That’s why I say: RUB THE MAGIC LAMP!
32 | MAY 3, 2017
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |