Planet Jackson Hole 11.22.17 by Planet Jackson Hole

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JACKSON HOLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALTERNATIVE VOICE | PLANETJH.COM | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

M I R C D E L L I WHO K

? M R O F E R E IN A L J U S TI C

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

2 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Elizabeth Kingwill,

MA/LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor • Medical Hypnotherapist

Counseling: • Individual • Premarital • Marriage/Family • Anxiety, Stress

• Anger Management • Pain Relief • Depression • Stop Smoking

733-5680

Practicing in Jackson since 1980 • www.elizabethkingwill.com Flexible Hours - Evening & Weekends • Now Accepting Blue Cross Blue Shield

DUD e , WHere’s my car?

The Town of Jackson’s overnight parking ban is in effect. SO, if you want to avoid all kinds of hassles, listen up!

PARKING RESTRICTIONS November 1 through April 15, between 3:00am & 7:00am,

it is illegal to park overnight on Jackson streets, including public parking lots, regardless of weather (rain, snow or shine). Crews begin plowing at 3am. Parked cars on town streets make the job of keeping roads clear of snow more difficult. Consequently, cars left on town streets between 3am & 7am will be ticketed and may be towed by Jackson police. To retrieve your car, contact Ron’s Towing at 733-8697, 1190 S. Hwy 89. Overnight parking for 48 hours or less is allowed in the public parking structure at W. Simpson Ave. and S. Millward St. but not on other town parking lots.

SHOVELING REQUIREMENTS Additionally, we would like to remind people: Town residents are responsible for keeping sidewalks shoveled. • The TOJ assists with snow removal in the downtown core and along Broadway. • Residents should not put their garbage cans out the night before, but rather after 7:00am on garbage days. • Please keep trash cans, cars, and other obstacles out of the streets and off of the curbs. This saves your property and makes the streets more clear of drifts and snow. • Residents are also encouraged to help keep fire hydrants clear of snow.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FRIENDLY FOLKS AT THE TOWN OF JACKSON

JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE

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WHO KILLED JUSTICE REFORM?

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VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 45 | NOVEMBER 22-28, 2017

WHO KILLED

CRIMINAL JU

? STICE REFORM

WHO KILLED

CRIMINAL JU

? STICE REFORM

Cover illustration by Vaughn Robison

18 MUSIC BOX

DEMO IN CRISIS

20 DON’T MISS

BUZZ

23 OVER THE HILL

16 CULTURE KLASH

24 EAT IT

THE PLANET TEAM

ART DIRECTOR

COPY EDITOR

Vaughn Robison / art@planetjh.com

Cory Garcia

PUBLISHER

SALES DIRECTOR

Copperfield Publishing, John Saltas

CONTRIBUTORS

Jen Tillotson / jen@planetjh.com

EDITOR

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Rob Brezsny, Kelsey Dayton, Cory Garcia, Helen Goelet, Carol Mann, Scott Renshaw, Ted Scheffler, Tom Tomorrow, Todd Wilkinson,

Angelica Leicht / editor@planetjh.com

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Jim Woodmencey, Baynard Woods

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567 W. BROADWAY | P.O. BOX 3249 | JACKSON, WYOMING 83001 | 307-732-0299 | WWW.PLANETJH.COM

BY METEOROLOGIST JIM WOODMENCEY

THIS WEEK

NORMAL HIGH NORMAL LOW RECORD HIGH IN 1949 RECORD LOW IN 1952

36 13 58 -20

WHAT’S COOL

Average low temperatures this week are in the lower teens, which means we could be a little warmer or colder than that on any given day. No records were broken here this past week, but there were some single digit readings in the valley this past Sunday morning. Record low temperatures during Thanksgiving week are in the negative teens, with the coldest morning bottoming out at minus 20-degrees on November 26th, 1952.

Average high temperatures this week are in the mid-30’s, and average highs in town do not stay below freeing until early December. Note to snowmakers. The record high temperature this week is 58-degrees, and that was set way back on November 25th, 1949. Most of the record highs during Thanksgiving week were set in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Surprisingly, on November 25th, 2010 the high temperature was only5-degrees, setting a record cold high temperature for that date.

AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.3 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 4.2 inches (1988) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 9 inches RECORD SNOWFALL: 40 inches

Carpet - Tile - Hardwood - Laminate Blinds - Shades - Drapery Mon - Fri 10am - 6pm Open Tuesdays until 8pm 1705 High School Rd Suite 120 Jackson, WY 307-200-4195 www.tetonfloors.com | www.tetonblinds.com

Jim has been forecasting the weather here for more than 20 years. You can find more Jackson Hole Weather information at www.mountainweather.com

THIS MONTH

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 3

It is Thanksgiving week and we have had a wide variety of weather this November, some to be thankful for, some not so much. There were days that temperatures were a bit too warm, up to 51-degrees, along with some rain, making it tough on the snowmaking at low elevations. Then there were days that were quite cold, along with abundant snow at high elevations. Water-wise, as of the end of last week, the Town of Jackson had received more than twice the normal November precipitation.

SPONSORED BY GRAND TETON FLOOR & WINDOW COVERINGS

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JH ALMANAC

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2017

4 OPINION

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

4 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

GUEST OPINION Grizzly Gaffe Teton County aces a moment of truth: Hunt grizzlies or protect them? BY KENT NELSON

Allowing WGFD to have a trophy hunt of grizzly bears in Teton County does not reflect our community’s values nor serve our best interests

their paying customers in the most efficient and cost effective way they can. Grizzlies are just an expansion of their product line. To state the point boldly, the WG&F shouldn’t be viewed as a government agency serving all the citizens of Wyoming. In reality it is a government-owned business serving a narrow customer base: hunters, fishers, and outfitters. And once you understand that paradigm, everything that seems askew about WG&F falls right into place.

THE BEST INTERESTS OF WG&F AND TETON COUNTY ARE NOT ALIGNED ast year before grizzlies were

delisted Wyoming Game & Fish spokesperson Renny McKay said “Whenever the grizzlies come off [the Endangered Species List], it means the management of bears is led by people who live closest to the wildlife and by people impacted by the wildlife.” With all of Grand Teton National Park and 40% of Yellowstone National Park within Teton County’s boundaries it would be difficult to argue that anybody is closer to or more impacted by grizzly bears than the residents of Teton County. WG&F has been very careful to say that no decision has been made on hunting grizzlies, but nobody we know actually believes them when they say this. And why not? Because the business model of WG&F is almost completely based on hunting.

Many WG&F programs defy current scientific knowledge. These programs, such as feedgrounds, predator control, wildlife disease control, and conflict management all make sense within a business paradigm because these programs are all actually focused on maintaining marketable quantities of game. And while these programs benefit WG&F, any benefits Teton County receives from them are marginal. In fact, as we and others have argued elsewhere, many of them are detrimental to Teton County’s interests. Teton County’s interests simply are not aligned with those of WG&F. And that brings us to grizzly bears. In Teton County we are facing a moment of truth. Do we allow trophy hunting of the iconic symbol of the wild that is still recovering from the brink of regional extinction, or do we protect them? And who decides? Wyoming Game & Fish, or us?

UNDERSTANDING THE WYOMING GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION The reality is the Wyoming legisFOR HUNTING GRIZZLIES IN TETON lature allocates very little funding to WG&F so they have little choice but to COUNTY operate as a de facto business entity. WG&F doesn’t manage wildlife for the sake of the environment or for biodiversity or natural balance. Those don’t pay their bills. WG&F’s revenue comes from a wide variety of hunting licenses. But saying “they sell hunting licenses” is a bit of an abstraction; their real product is game animals, the kind you can hunt. WG&F manages for game animal abundance because that is where their revenue comes from. THAT is what pays their bills. So of course WG&F is going to hunt grizzlies. That is what they do: like any business they provide product to

There is neither a biological nor ecological justification for hunting grizzlies here. They aren’t overpopulated nor overcrowded. They aren’t starving, nor are they depopulating any other species. Nor is there a scientific basis for the argument that hunting grizzlies makes them scared of humans. A grizzly that has been shot by a hunter isn’t scared, it’s just dead. Or worse, it’s a wounded bear wandering the same woods as we do. Nor is there a scientific basis for the argument that hunting grizzlies increases “social tolerance” for them. But even if there was, that is irrelevant because Teton County has proven itself

the most grizzly-tolerant community in the Greater Yellowstone region. Nor is there a scientific basis for hunting grizzlies in Teton County for the purpose of reducing conflicts. Look at the conflict maps produced by bear managers and what is most striking is how few conflicts actually occur in Teton County compared to other areas with grizzlies. In contrast to the above, there is a simple yet very profound scientific justification for not hunting grizzlies: after decades largely absent from the landscape, they are again performing their ecological functions in dynamic equilibrium with other species. That’s huge.

THERE IS NO ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION FOR HUNTING GRIZZLIES IN TETON COUNTY Over 3 million people a year visit Teton County. They come from all over and they spend over a billion dollars annually. Tourism in Wyoming is $3.2 billion industry. Teton County alone generates $1.02 billion, one third of the state’s tourism total. Travel and tourism is a potent economic engine for Teton County, and wildlife fuels it. Other places have beautiful mountains, forests and rivers. But wildlife is what makes us unique. In marketing terms, wildlife is our brand. Our business community has also taken a strong stand on hunting grizzlies in Teton County. The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, representing nearly 1,000 local businesses, in a letter to WG&F said: n “We are thrilled that grizzly bears have returned in meaningful numbers.” n “Trophy hunting [of grizzlies] could potentially impact our tourism economy that is highly dependent on wildlife watching opportunities.” n “Hunting should be avoided in areas adjacent to our national parks.” And let’s highlight that due to its orientation and the fact that national parks alone represent 45% of the county, the entire county is adjacent to our national parks.

THERE IS NO CULTURAL JUSTIFICATION FOR HUNTING GRIZZLIES IN TETON COUNTY Wildlife is central to our local culture, and it is largely because of our wildlife-centric culture that millions visit Teton County every year.

For nearly a century, we have fostered a culture of conservation and protection. Of stewardship for the wild. Giants of conservation lived here and fought tooth-and-nail to protect this landscape. To many this is sanctified land. Why? Not so much because we cared for it, protected it, and preserved it, but mainly because we still do. Across the planet people are aware of this and they respond to it by visiting Teton County by the millions.

TETON COUNTY’S COURSE OF ACTION IS CLEAR

In Teton County science, economics, and culture align in opposition to hunting grizzly bears. But ultimately this is a very simple risk/reward calculation. On one hand, hunting grizzlies will bring little benefit to our county. On the other hand, bad publicity surrounding a hunt would have major repercussions and damage Teton County’s reputation, potentially for years to come. And due to our considerable contributions to Wyoming’s economy, that damage will ripple across the state impacting jobs, incomes, taxes, quality of life, you name it. So make no mistake, the decision to hunt grizzlies in Teton County is a very big deal. The decision to hunt grizzly bears shouldn’t be left to WG&F to decide because their interests do not align with ours. Teton County needs to stand up to WG&F and tell them in no uncertain terms: in Teton County we don’t hunt grizzlies...we protect them! Remember what WG&F spokesperson McKay said? “Whenever the grizzlies come off [the list], it means the management of bears is led by people who live closest to the wildlife and by people impacted by the wildlife.” That’s us. This is our decision to make. Kent Nelson Founder and Board Chair Wyoming Wildlife Advocates info@WyWild.org

Submit your comments to editor@ planetjh.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line. All letters are subject to editing for length, content and clarity.

Finding the heroes in the global fight against fascism BY BAYNARD WOODS @demoincrisis

Fallen anti-fascist heroes Heather Heyer (Charlottesville) and Pavlos Fyssas (Greece)

sympathize with the far right. While more than 200 people are on trial for protesting Trump’s inauguration, there are no similar conspiracy charges against Vanguard America, the group to which Heyer’s killer belonged. Instead of prosecuting the white nationalist groups to which terrorists like Fields belong, Trump and the American far right are inspiring fascists around the world. “Trump’s policies have given us a new wind of support,” Elias Panagiotaros, a Golden Dawn MP, told The Independent. “It’s validating and reinforcing our nationalistic and patriotic policies…We should reclaim our country and our interests and put them first, just like Trump.” The 60,000 fascists in Warsaw marched under a banner that read “We Want God,” a phrase from a Polish patriotic song that Trump recently quoted. Other signs called for a “white Europe” and an “Islamic holocaust.” Fascists see this as a global struggle, as they did before World War II. In honoring Heyer, European anti-fascists are helping us see the same thing. But while American liberals hate Trump, they have yet to become actively anti-fascist and often demonize the real resistance as extremist. They call themselves the “Resistance” but fail to acknowledge the examples of Fyssas, Heyer and the activists facing decades in jail for organizing against Trump. In order to become a real force, this so-called “Resistance” against Trump needs to recognize its heroes and to take its villains seriously. PJH

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 5

murder. “They are being tried as a crime syndicate for: homicides, attempted homicides, serious intentional physical injuries, explosions, robberies, blackmail, possession of firearms and explosives, drug law offenses,” Golden Dawn Watch, an anti-fascist group monitoring the trial, wrote in a recent post. When asked why his son was killed, Fyssas testified: “Because this organization silences the voices that oppose it. His songs were anti-fascist and this annoyed them.” Fyssas’ mother said that “he had ideas and principles. He wrote what he believed in his songs. Before he died he had taken to helping the homeless. He helped, he was clean, a free spirit with principles; those were his only weapons.” She was asked whether his music bothered anyone. “Yes,” she testified. “Their anti-fascist and anti-racist content did. His wanted to educate younger people.” When the trial began more than two years ago, it was dubbed “the trial of the century.” Now people joke it may last that long. But Golden Dawn Watch argues that, though the trial is slow, the system is working. Golden Dawn has “ceased violent criminal activity [and] removed the terrorist battalion from the street. The parliamentary mantle can no longer cover the odious face of the neo-Nazi organization. The trial frightens the leadership of the [Golden Dawn] and exacerbates the contradictions within it.” This is the same kind of slow work we see happening in the U.S. as anti-fascists and reporters work to expose the racist dealings of fascist groups. But it is has been a hard fight. In the U.S., as in Greece, a great many law enforcement officers

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

couple weeks ago, when tens of thousands of Polish fascists marched in the streets, a smaller group of anti-fascists confronted them—many carrying images of slain Charlottesville anti-fascist Heather Heyer. Heyer’s image also adorns walls in Exarcheia, the anarchist neighborhood in Athens, where 3,000 protesters took to the streets in September, marching to the U.S. Embassy to honor Heyer. In the United States, we don’t know how to honor the martyrs of our political movements as well—we don’t have as much experience. It’s also tricky. Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, told the Guardian’s Lois Beckett that she did not want a park in Charlottesville to be named after Heyer. “Everyone who knows Heather knows that she hated statues of any kind,” she said. “I think it’s a damn shame that a white girl had to die for people to have to pay attention,” Bro said of the spotlight her daughter’s death has cast on racism and the rise of fascism in America. When the Greek protesters marched to the U.S. embassy to honor Heyer, they

were also commemorating the 2013 murder of anti-fascist rapper Killah P (whose real name was Pavlos Fyssas) by members of the fascist group the Golden Dawn, which is both a paramilitary-style criminal organization and a political party. One of their black-shirt “security” groups came to Fyssas’ working-class neighborhood in Athens in order to “sow terror,” according to the group Jail Golden Dawn. Fyssas stood up to them. He was surrounded by a number of black-shirted Golden Dawn operatives with sticks. He fought them in hopes that his friends could escape. Then Giorgos Roupakias, a member of the party, allegedly came up and stabbed him. “The attacks were tactical, launched by two or three people at a time,” Panagiotis Fyssas, Pavlos’ father, said in the subsequent trial. “I don’t know how long this lasted. Until the professional killer Roupakias showed up.” Roupakias is among several Golden Dawn members on trial for the murder of Fyssas. The leaders claim that he was a rogue actor not really affiliated with the party. Some have even claimed he is a communist infiltrator—all of which should be familiar from our own fascists’ attempt to distance themselves from James Alex Fields, Heather Heyer’s killer. Like American Nazis, the Golden Dawn fascists claim they are being prosecuted for their ideas—”free speech,” as Richard Spencer and his racist comrades have put it. But in Greece, the group’s leader and some of its parliamentary members are also facing charges for belonging to a criminal organization involved with the

The Real Resistance

JOCELYN DOMBROSK

DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

6 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

SAM BEEBE

THE NEW WEST

Future West Conference explores future of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem BY TODD WILKINSON @bigartnature

ext week, the Bozeman, Montana-based organization FutureWest is hosting an important symposium focused on trend lines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Whether one is an elected official, public land manager, business person, outdoor recreationist or conservation-minded citizen, the one-day event on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman comes at a timely, pivotal moment in the history of our region. Dramatic changes are sweeping across the landscape right before our eyes and we feel, at a gut level, the character of our communities being transformed. FutureWest’s conference, “Sustaining the New West: Conservation Challenges – Conservation Opportunities,” will bring together a number of big picture thinkers to help us make sense of it all. “Everyone’s talking about how quickly the West is changing, but do we really understand these trends and what they mean for the future of our natural environment?” asked Dennis Glick, founder of FutureWest. Glick said it’s time for leaders to seriously reflect on the pace of growth, rural sprawl, intensive outdoor recreation,

The Madison Valley and its surrounding mountains are seen as one of the most ecologically pristine pockets of the transportation infrastrucGreater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Next week, the Montana-based organization Future West will host a symposium to ture, and climate change. address dramatic changes sweeping across the area’s unique landscape and its surrounding communities. “More important than just calling attention to these issues which cumulatively have Bozeman/Gallatin County, Montana shortages in decades ahead; meanwhile far-reaching consequences for the will be equal in size to Salt Lake City U.S. coastal areas are dealing with risnorthern Rockies, we’ll learn about the proper. By 2030, there will be anoth- ing tidal surges and hurricanes. Where actions people and communities are er 100,000 new homes in Greater will people go? Greater Yellowstone is attractive to taking to overcome these problems,” Yellowstone. In the absence of thoughtpeople of means who can afford to live ful planning, many will be built in critGlick said. “Unless we act we are going here but there could be waves of others, ical wildlife habitat and forested areas to lose this place.” he said. prone to being burned by wildfire. Not long ago, Teton County, Wyoming “The only thing slowing growth The very values that set Greater resident Luther Propst, whose career would be water challenges, particularly Yellowstone apart in America and drive has been devoted to examining growth if we start losing our snowpack,” he said. prosperity—its unparalleled wildlife, trends from Greater Yellowstone to the Unless attitudes change, growth pathigh air and water quality, and inspirSonoran Desert, made the following terns that have harmed other regions ing views—are being jeopardized by observation: will be replicated here, he said. growth and the unwillingness/inability “The problem is that the Lords of “In the middle of a boom, we rareof communities to plan ahead. Yesteryear never disappeared as we Among those giving presentations ly hear about downsides,” Carpenter were promised and the challenges of the New West are far worse than we were are former Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph saidd. “The boosters don’t want to hear promised,” he said. “I don’t want a West Becker on how to prevent planning mis- it. They choose to live in denial and of man-camps and gas field booms, nor takes and Ray Rasker of Headwaters their attitude works as long as it’s not a West of precious tourist towns that Economics on the value of protected challenged. I’ve seen a lot of farms and exist to feed a global cowboy/mountain landscapes for local economies and wildlife habitat disappear but I’ve never man/Disney/ski resort/New Age fanta- budget-busting problems being created seen a subdivision vanish. Concrete, asphalt, roads, traffic, noise pollution— sy, surrounded by busted towns that are for counties in battling wildfires. they are forever. What we forget is that There will also be discussions with ghettos for workers.” the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem isn’t Dr. Steve Running, a Nobel Prize winThe 20 counties of Greater Yellowstone just uncommon. It is an American treaning scientist, on climate change, chats are when combined the fastest-growing sure and the only one of its kind in the about how highways are becoming rural region in the country. Bozeman, world.” death zones for wildlife, unprecedentfor its size, is one of the fastest-growing Readers can find more infored human pressure being exerted on small cities in America. mation about the conference wildlands by outdoor recreation, and Yellowstone and Grand Teton nationat: w w w.future-west.org PJH the need for coordinated city-county al parks continue to meet or set visitation records. Jackson Hole is dealing with planning in confronting sprawl. Todd Wilkinson, founder of Mountain Besides the undeniable growth agonizing affordable housing issues and Journal (mountainjournal.org), is author trends, Randy Carpenter, a planning planning issues spilling over Teton Pass of “Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek” about specialist with FutureWest, says the biginto Idaho. Big Sky is contending with famous Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear gest wildcard facing Greater Yellowstone dizzying real estate development and 399 featuring 150 photographs by Tom is how the region could be inundated by epic water treatment concerns. Mangelsen, available only at mangelsen. climate change refugees. In just two decades, at conservative com/grizzly. The U.S. desert Southwest is expectgrowth rates, the total population of ed to broil even hotter, bringing water

THE BUZZ

Edible Exodus Pot penalties in Wyoming could expand

The two bills are nuanced “Possession of non-plant form marijuana”, known as Draft 33, is substantially the same measure as last year’s HB 197, which died after House and Senate members could not reconcile numerous amendments made during the session. Draft 33 offers lawmakers two options. The first would make it a felony to have 3 ounces or more of marijuana “in a form other than plant form.” The second alternative in Draft 33 is more nuanced but also would provide a felony-penalty definition. It would draw

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 7

of the actual drug. The co-chairmen are bucking a national trend of state marijuana law liberalization. Neighboring Colorado, for example, legalized recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and older in 2014. For border-area residents, including University of Wyoming students in Laramie, the distance between jail-time and legal behavior is 65-miles or less. “I’m not very friendly toward marijuana getting its foot in the door in Wyoming,” Kirkbride said. “One of the things they talk about is how the strength of this stuff has increased since the ’70s and ’80s. I’m

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

he Joint Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider two bills that could close an edible marijuana “loophole,” clearing the way for more felony pot prosecutions. The committee is scheduled to meet Nov. 16-17 in Wheatland to consider measures that would add marijuana laced foods, drinks and other products to the criminal code, thus enabling felony convictions for possession of non-leafy marijuana products. Existing felony possession laws regulate “plant form” of the Schedule I drug, stymying prosecutors and causing judges to balk at anything beyond misdemeanor convictions for possession of other pot products. The bills — “Possession of marihuana products” and “Possession of non-plant form marihuana” — would add felony penalties for the possession of non-plantform marijuana. Those could bring up to 5 years’ prison time. The drug is increasingly consumed as treats and drinks. The bills would distinguish between misdemeanor and felony possession for different amounts of various pot products. The felony edible loophole “has been a problem for several years,” said Rep. Dan Kirkbride, co-chairman of the Joint Judiciary Committee. Co-chairman Sen. Leland Christensen agreed the amendments to existing laws would mend perceived shortcomings. “These bills answer the question

BY ANGUS M. THUERMER JR., WYOFILE.COM

the courts have Lawmakers have been stymied in some cases by members who object to making felons of offenders possessing a small amount of pot mixed with posed,” he said. larger quantities of incidental ingredients. One of those quest ions a bit old-school. I feel threatened by that.” emerged in Christensen said his experience in law 2015 when District Court Judge Steven enforcement — he worked as a sheriff’s Sharpe threw out felony charges against Christopher Piessens, who had been deputy, among other positions — makes stopped with 1.9 pounds of marijuana him wary of marijuana. Keef Cola is available in Colorado and candies, cookies, bread and chocolate is one of the new types of marijuana prodbars. Sharpe pointed to the existing law ucts the Wyoming Legislature seeks to in his ruling, saying “it is undisputed that rein in. Today, Wyoming law makes it the edibles in this case were not in plant difficult to secure a felony conviction for form.” The result brought complaints, includ- possession of anything other than the ing from Sweetwater County prosecutor plant form of marijuana, a loophole lawDaniel Erramouspe, who said only mis- makers seek to close. (Keef) “I’ve seen the long-term effect and how demeanor charges can be secured against individuals “even if you’ve got a van full of it’s impacted people,” he said. “My experigummy bears.” He made his comments at ence has been there’s consequences with a judiciary committee meeting last year. this. It’s a drug that has to be treated The Legislature has so far been unable to carefully.” Both said they worry particularly update the law. Lawmakers have been stymied in about young people. Marijuana advocates point to costly some cases by members who object to and unproductive prison sentences, and making felons of offenders possessing a potential tax revenue from legal sales of small amount of pot mixed with larger the drug as reasons to ease marijuana quantities of incidental ingredients like laws. flour, butter, and sugar. It is difficult and Today in Wyoming, simply being high expensive to determine the amount of the on marijuana is a misdemeanor punishdrug in such mixtures, raising questions able by up to 6 months in jail and a $750 as to whether people would be imprisfine. oned primarily for cookie dough instead

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

8 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Keef Keef Cola, seen here in a company product shot, is available in Colorado and is one of the new types of marijuana products the Wyoming Legislature seeks to rein in. Today, Wyoming law makes it difficult to secure a felony conviction for possession of anything other than the plant form of marijuana, a loophole lawmakers seek to close.

the line between misdemeanor and felonies at 36 ounces for commercially packaged drinks. Thirty-six ounces or more would be a felony. The threshold would be set at 3 grams for resins and 3 ounces for other products, like gummy bears and brownies. Legal ingredients such as water, sugar and flour would count toward the weight totals. The second bill, Draft 31, “Possession of marijuana products,” would set the felony limit at various levels depending on product class. The bill separates baked goods, candies, edibles, ointments, potable liquids, tinctures and similar substances from more refined and potent products. Possession of less than three ounces of baked goods and such would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a 20-day jail sentence and no more than $200, or both. That would be a lesser penalty than for any existing marijuana infraction in Wyoming today. A second offense within 10 years would also be a misdemeanor with up to a six-month, $750 penalty. For a third misdemeanor conviction, the penalty could be up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. A subsequent conviction within 10 years would be a felony punishable by up to 5 years’ prison and $10,000. The more refined products include powders, pills and substances like hashish and hash oil. For those more refined products, possession of three-tenths of a gram or more would constitute a felony, unless the substance was in powder or pill forms. Possession of powders and pills would be subject to felony prosecution starting at 3 grams.

Only one of the two draft bills likely would be adopted because the measures seek to resolve the same issue using different approaches, Kirkbride said.

An uncertain outlook for updating laws

Christensen won’t predict what might happen to the various versions. “I’ve stopped anticipating,” he said. “We need to come up with a solution to plug the loophole.” He’s reserving judgment on the measure that would reduce first-offense penalties for possession of most marijuana products. Today conviction could bring up to a year and a $1,000 fine. Draft 31 would reduce that to no more than 20 days and $200. Lawmakers may not be in the mood to cut penalties. Last year a bill to significantly reduce them “didn’t make it very far,” Christensen said. “I think for now we’re still in the right place.” For Kirkbride, the second alternative in Draft 33 — the 35-ounce misdemeanor limit for commercial marijuana drinks — is the preferable bill. He appreciates that the bill accommodates for “marijuana soda pop,” he said. he said. “If somebody’s [caught] they’re not going to get in [too much] trouble for drinking one can.” He “for sure” anticipates discussion and debate at the committee meeting. And, “we’re going to hear again from the state lab about how this is measured and some of the problems with getting an accurate, affordable measurement.” PJH

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

Sale, $100M ‘clean coal’ project proposed for Two Elk site BY DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER, WYOFILE.COM

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 9

developer says it will buy North American Power Group’s Two Elk property in southern Campbell County. Wyoming New Power has also requested $100 million in industrial development revenue bonding for a clean-coal processing plant at the site. The property is owned by Two Elk developer Michael J. Ruffatto, who pleaded guilty to criminal fraud in October 2016. Federal prosecutors said Ruffatto falsely billed millions of dollars to a Department of Energy stimulus grant for testing the viability of carbon sequestration at the Two Elk site. Ruffatto won a fifth sentencing delay in October to raise money for a large cash settlement with the government. Black Diamond Holdings managing director Patrick Imeson spoke to Campbell County commissioners Tuesday morning. The Denver-based private equity firm owns an interest in Wyoming New Power, which would use a coal-drying and liquefaction process now under development at a testing facility in Oklahoma to remove moisture and increase the heating value of waste

The Two Elk site as it appeared in June 2016, the year its current owner pleaded guilty to criminal fraud. coal from nearby Powder River Now, a developer says it will purchase the site, and Wyoming New Power has also requested $100 million Basin mines. Wyoming New in industrial development revenue bonding for a clean-coal processing plant at the site. Power will market the refined coal as clean energy. IDR bonding must be approved by will benefit from Two Elk’s permitting Waste coal doesn’t meet utility custhe county in which the development work, but will apply for a new air qualtomer quality specifications. Mines takes place, and by the governor’s office. ity permit to emit pollutants from the are typically permitted to rebury the Imeson indicated to Campbell County plant. unused, unmarketable waste coal. commissioners the IDR request has ten“We think if billed as clean power, The plant would be built by Kiewit tative support from Gov. Matt Mead’s we think we can turn that [perception Construction, and the first phase of the office, “with conditions.” of coal as dirty] around, that it has no project would go into operation in about Gov. Matt Mead advisor Jerimiah environmental footprint, essentially,” six months, Imeson said. The eventual Rieman told WyoFile he spoke with rep- Imeson told the commission. goal is to process and market 2 million resentatives of Wyoming New Power Asked whether Ruffatto will have tons of refined coal annually. in April to help make necessary con- anything to do with the new developIn a follow-up interview with nections to apply for the bonding, ment, Imeson said no. WyoFile, Imeson said the facility could but said the governor’s office has no Commissioners said there will be include power generation. But that’s not request before it, nor has it considered skepticism of the project because the part of the current proposal. conditions. coal-drying process has been the basis “It creates a product for export, and The deadline for approval for the next for several proposed coal projects in saves money on shipping by reducing round of IDR allocations is Dec. 10. The Wyoming over the years. None have the weight, and it raises the Btu [British Campbell County commission will hold come to fruition. thermal heating unit] value,” Imeson a public hearing regarding a resolution “That’s not part of our legacy,” Imeson told WyoFile. in support of the bond request Nov. 21. told WyoFile. “We’re essentially buying Two representatives of Piper Jaffray, The state backed North American a piece of dirt. We’ve been investing in an investment bank and asset manPower Group’s Two Elk project with coal technologies since 2001.” agement firm that seeks to raise money bonding authority and sales tax dollars. Coal is one of the few products that is for the facility, joined Imeson at the Two successive Wyoming governors, sold unrefined and, like oil, there’s marCampbell County commission meeting. Republican Jim Geringer and Democrat ket opportunities for refined products, The initial cost of the facility is about Dave Freudenthal, gave North American Imeson said. $100 million, the same amount requestPower Group $445 million from the Wyoming New Power’s coal technoled for industrial development revenue state’s allotment of tax-exempt indus- ogy partner, Clean Coal Technologies, bonding, they said. trial bonds to finance a 320-megawatt Inc., has made significant improvements Each state is allocated a certain coal-fired power plant. Wyoming state to the coal refining process, he said. amount of industrial development reveofficials, meanwhile, ponied up $11 mil- The University of Wyoming recently nue bonding authority, which is intendlion in sales tax dollars to build roads signed a memorandum of understanded to help industrial projects that might and infrastructure to support the pro- ing with CCT to support its research not otherwise gain financing. The state posed plant. in advancing the technology. PJH doesn’t provide or guarantee funds in Roads were built, along with a conissuing IDR bonds. They are allocations crete pad and metal-sided building, but WyoFile is an independent nonprofit for tax-exempt financing, which grantnot the Two Elk plant. news organization focused on Wyoming ees use to secure backing from other Imeson said Wyoming New Power people, places and policy. investors.

Power Struggle

GOOGLE EARTH

THE BUZZ 2

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

10 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

ANY NUMBER OF

THINGS

A LOCAL LISTICLE

BY PL ANE T JACKSON HOLE S TAFF

Walk of Shame

NEWS OF THE

Donna Byrne, 53, of Polk County, Florida, was charged with driving under the influence on Nov. 2, but it was her mode of transportation that earned her an animal neglect charge. Byrne was riding her horse, Boduke, down a busy road in Lakeland in the middle of the afternoon. When officers reached Byrne, she was staggering and had red, watery eyes—explained by her breath alcohol level, which was more than twice the legal limit, Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Brian Bruchey told the Orlando Sentinel. Boduke got a ride to the sheriff’s Animal Control livestock facility, but Bruchey said he’d most likely be returned to Byrne, whose rap sheet includes cruelty to animals and drug possession.

6. Finally being old enough for a promotion from the kids table, and all the food allergies that now plague it. It’s soy nuts. 5. The new seasonal campsite in town. Scratch that, it’s just the new TJ Maxx parking lot on Black Friday. 4. The miracles of life that are food babies. 3. The candy your cool uncle brought to from Colorado. Why is it so good AND WHY CAN’T YOU STOP EATING IT?! 2. A break from fighting with your family on the internet. 1. Knowing that you can go back to fighting with your family on the internet, and not around the dinner table, tomorrow.

n In Darmstadt, Germany, police detained a 19-year-old man on Nov. 7 after they noticed “a significant bulge in his trousers” and discovered he was carrying a baby python in his pants. The unnamed man was carrying on a loud, drunken argument with another man when police were called, reported The Guardian. Officers took the man and the snake to the police station, where the snake was put in a box, and authorities considered whether the “non-species-appropriate transport” could be a violation of animal protection laws.

Nakedly Weird

A family of three were taken from their home and forced into a car on Nov. 7 in Leduc County, Alberta, Canada, by five naked people. The man, who was placed in the trunk, quickly escaped, and his wife and baby also managed to get away, according to The Canadian Press. A passing truck driver picked up the three victims, but then the naked kidnappers’ car rammed his truck from behind, sending it into a ditch. Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught up with the criminals; of the five, two were minors and were not charged. The adults faced charges of kidnapping and resisting arrest. The RCMP gave no explanation for why the five kidnappers were naked, but posited that drugs or alcohol may have been involved.

Smooth Reactions

Tempers flared in Minot, North Dakota, before 33-yearold Cornelius Marcel Young was charged with terrorizing after attacking his fiancee’s brother at a trailer park on Nov. 3. The Minot Daily News reported that Young yelled at the brother, punched him in the face and knocked him into a wall after he had turned up the thermostat in the trailer, according to a Minot Municipal Court affidavit. When the brother threatened to call police, Young brandished a knife, as his fiancee jumped on his back and bit his ear “to distract him.” Two children were in the trailer during the fight but were uninjured.

Ow Ow Ow!

the Original Maxwell Street Polish at about 6 a.m., after a hooded man threatened employees with a small-caliber pistol. One of the employees gave him money from the cash register, according to the complaint against Pouncy, after which the robber stole the man’s cellphone and wallet, and ran outside, stuffing the gun in his pants, but it went off twice, striking his “groin” and thigh. Pouncy kept running and eventually called 911 to report that he’d been shot. He was charged with two counts of armed robbery with a firearm, but couldn’t appear for his bond hearing, as he was recovering at a local hospital.

WEIRD

A presumably humiliated opossum “ran off” in late October after three Pennsylvania men posted photos on social media of themselves giving it beer and kissing it. The Pennsylvania State Game Commission was unamused by the antics of Michael Robert Tice, 18, of Newport; David Mason Snook, 19, of Reedsville; and Morgan Scot Ehrenzeller, 20, of McAlisterville, and charged them on Nov. 2 with unlawful possession of wildlife and disturbing wildlife. According to TribLive, Tice kissed and held the animal while Snook poured beer on its head and into its mouth. The men couldn’t be reached for comment.

Be Kind to Animals

6 THINGS WE’RE THANKFUL FOR THIS THANKSGIVING

By THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

A Chicago wiener stand was the scene of a crime gone south on Oct. 31 when Terrion Pouncy, 19, accidentally discharged his gun, which he was trying to conceal in his pants, and shot himself in a most sensitive location. The Chicago Tribune reported police were called to

Compelling Explanation

The Stardust Ranch in Rainbow Valley, Arizona, has a lot to offer potential buyers: Just an hour west of Phoenix, the property boasts a 3,500-square-foot home with a pool, 10 acres, barns, a gated entry ... and two portals to another dimension: one at the back of the property, and one in the fireplace. Owner John Edmonds and his wife bought the property, now listed at $5 million, 20 years ago to run a horse rescue, but he says he’s killed more than a dozen extraterrestrials on the property (using a samurai sword) and has suffered many injuries in his encounters with them. Edmonds told KPNX TV in October that aliens tried to abduct his wife: “They actually levitated her out of the bed in the master chamber and carried her into the parking lot and tried to draw her up into the craft.” (She won’t enter the room anymore.) Listing agent Kimberly Gero notes: “This isn’t the type of property that you can just place in the MLS and wait for a buyer to come along.”

Who Knew?

Poland has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, so the Polish Health Ministry is using the example of rabbits to encourage its citizens to multiply. The ministry produced a short video with a rabbit “narrator” who explains that members of the Leporidae family enjoy exercise, a healthy diet and little stress. “If you ever want to be a parent, follow the example of rabbits,” the video suggests. The ministry said in a statement to the Associated Press in early November that it was looking for a way to increase public awareness about the low birth rate that “did not offend anyone and was not vulgar.”

Inexplicable

Boriska Kipriyanovich, 21, of Volgograd, Russia, claims that he lived on Mars until a long-ago war wiped out all life on that planet and he has now been reborn on Earth. As a Martian, he visited Earth, where his people had close ties to ancient Egyptians; that’s how he knows there is a mechanism behind the ear of the Great Sphinx of Giza that can unlock it, which will “significantly change” life on Earth. His mother told Metro News in November that Kipriyanovich could read by the age of 1, draw by 2 and has talked about ancient civilizations since he was a small boy, despite not having been taught about them. Among his revelations about Martians: They stop aging at age 35 and are immortal; they grow to about 7 feet tall and breathe carbon dioxide; and they still live on Mars, but underground. No further word about what changes an “unlocked” Sphinx will bring.

Unusual Hobbies

Kung fu master Li Weijun used his bare hands to smash 302 walnuts in 55 seconds on Nov. 1, breaking a Guinness World Record. The previous record, held by a man in India, was 212 walnuts in one minute, according to United Press International. Weijun accomplished the feat in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China, with video cameras rolling to capture the proof, which has been submitted to Guinness for official recognition. Send tips to weirdnewstips@amuniversal.com

CE N

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hen the Wyoming Legislature is in session, and while renovations to the Capitol building continue, Gov. Matt Mead and some of his staff occupy a suite of rooms in the rented Jonah Building, a former Kmart. The Governor’s office is adjacent to the office of the Senate President, and both spaces are several stretches of gray hallway away from committee meeting room L54. Various rooms of the Jonah Building have been converted to legislative committee rooms. L54 is one of the biggest, and is often used for hearing high-profile bills lawmakers anticipate will draw the largest crowds for public testimony. Bills dealing with abortion, guns and marijuana, for example, were all heard in L54 during the last session. The room isn’t always big enough. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 8 a.m. L54 was scheduled to be occupied by the House Judiciary Committee. It was exactly one week into the session and there was only one item on the agenda for that morning: House Bill 94, Criminal justice reform. The House Judiciary Committee members were relatively young — out of nine, five were in their first year on Judiciary. House Bill 94, however, was not. It was a complex piece of legislation designed to curb Wyoming’s rising prison population, and prison costs, and had been a focus of leaders at the Wyoming Department of Corrections and others for 13 years. But agenda aside, House Bill 94 would not be heard in L54 on January 17. It’s eventual fate, bill proponents would later say, was decided the night before around a table in the governor’s office down the hall. The bill did not die then, and in fact 21 days later it would pass out of the House on a narrow vote. However, lawmakers and bill proponents say the spreading doubt — which led a piece of legislation once touted for broadbased support to die without a vote in the desk drawer of the senate president — began with that closed door meeting that Monday evening. The story of House Bill 94’s life and death is a story of the push and pull between different elements of the justice system. It’s a story of prosecuting attorneys and Department of Corrections officials whose goals conflict in stark ways, and of a member of the Board of Parole whose beliefs were so strong he worked against his own colleagues. It’s also the story of how Wyoming’s citizen legislature can struggle to pass complex legislation, particularly when it comes without influential “rabbis” — as legislators sometimes call a bill’s chief proponent — but instead powerful skeptics.

ME S

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

BY ANDREW GRAHAM, WYOFILE.COM

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 11

M I R C D E L L I WHO K

? M R O F E R E C I T S U J L A N I

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

12 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Among the lobbyists that work the temporary capitol building, Anthony Vibbard stood out last session as a new face, and a younger one. Work brought Vibbard to Cheyenne in August 2016. Fresh out of law school, and with a deeply libertarian approach to criminal justice, he’d come to push policy for the think tank the Wyoming Liberty Group. Though maligned by critics as an anti-tax organization funded by wealthy donors, the Liberty Group sees criminal justice as an area where it can push back against state overreach and advance more libertarian ideas of crime and punishment. Vibbard hadn’t been involved in the writing of House Bill 94, but in it he saw a chance to join a meaningful reform effort. From his position of having just entered the debate, the bill was an “incredible first step,” he said. “It was massive.” The 23-page bill used changes in probation, parole and sentencing to slow the number of people entering Wyoming’s prisons and hasten the number leaving. With a focus on providing supervision and treatment for substance abuse before incarceration, the idea behind the reform was that non-violent criminal offenders could be kept in the community with better outcomes for both them and the state. The legislation fit with Vibbard’s new employers’ priorities as well. “Their main concern was overpopulation and overcrowding in the prison and how that was affecting taxpayers,” Vibbard said. Even as a newcomer to the state, it was not hard for Vibbard to see why the Liberty Group might be concerned. The average prison sentence in Wyoming had gone from 60 months in 1980 up to 88.5 months in 2016, according to the WDOC. The proportion of the population incarcerated has greatly increased as well. In 1980, one out of every 878 residents was incarcerated. In 2016, it was one out of every 244. Impacts on the WDOC’s three main prison facilities are predictable. As of July, the State Penitentiary in Rawlins was at 98 percent of its normal operating capacity. The medium security prison in Torrington was near 97 percent. The women’s prison in Lusk was full, at 104 percent of its normal operating capacity. Prisoners there have had to be moved occasionally to the Goshen and Platte County jails to make space. Over the same four decades, the state’s crime rate was nearly halved. The connection between higher incarceration and lower crime rates is clear — offenders can’t commit crimes (against the nonincarcerated public) from prison cells. But reform advocates believe prison sentences, in Wyoming and elsewhere, have lengthened to a point exceeding effectiveness. Between 10 and 35 percent of a national decline in crime in the 1990s was due to increased incarceration, said Jake Horowitz, a researcher and policy adviser with the Pew Charitable Trusts. But as sentences continued to creep up, he said, states and the nation as a whole went “well past” the point of diminishing returns for the various social and fiscal costs. And, of course, there is the question of state budgets. Reform has the potential to wring savings from an agency whose budget has increased right along

with the number of people it houses. Proponents of the bill estimated it could save the state $7.6 million a year. That estimate was conservative, they said, and didn’t include the deferred costs of building new prison space. WDOC director Bob Lampert framed the situation for lawmakers at a meeting in Rawlins this July with a stark choice: Add more alternatives to incarceration to state statute — such as probation, parole and treatment programs — or pay the increasing costs of constructing more prison space and housing more prisoners longer. Vibbard first spoke to the Judiciary Committee in October 2016. After getting familiar with the bill, he had decided to lobby for its passage full-time. He began meeting with committee lawmakers and providing them with research supporting reform. “I didn’t think it stood that much of a chance at first,” Vibbard said. His doubt came from the bill’s size and complexity, and the jam-packed nature of the Wyoming citizen legislature’s short session. Lawmakers face a lot of complex policy options with limited professional staff. Hence, in Wyoming, agency experts, members of the public, lobbyists and professional researchers play an outsized role in educating legislators and supporting or countering policy options with the facts. Arguably as influential are endorsements by a committee or popular lawmaker. “A lot of times people that are bogged down aren’t willing to dissect [23] pages to determine whether or not they agree with it,” Vibbard said. “They just kind of go off whatever their colleagues say.” However, as the session neared and Vibbard realized the judiciary committee supported the bill across the board, he began to think it could become law. Vibbard considered the Jan. 17 judiciary committee meeting a mere formality, given the support he believed he’d seen from legislators, law enforcement and state agencies like the WDOC and Board of Parole. The fight, he thought, would come later in the session, helping the bill’s rabbis explain it on the House and Senate floor. He continued thinking that right up until late on Jan. 16, he said. That night Vibbard got a call from a committee member he said he’d worked closely with, but did not name to WyoFile. He described the call as a courtesy, from someone who had known that Vibbard had been working hard on the bill. The lawmaker told him the bill would not be heard the next morning, and not much else. “I knew that something had happened behind

WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

A new face on an old problem

Light breaks through clouds over Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. In July, the facility was at 98 percent of its operating capacity of about 750 inmates.

closed doors and there was some kind of huge mood switch and somebody was trying to kill it,” he said. “The guy was trying to let me down easy so I didn’t just get heartbroken right there in front of everybody.” Vibbard had reason to be surprised at this turn of events, given the bill’s long runup to the 2017 session. WDOC director Lampert first asked the Legislature to consider reforms 13 years ago, he told WyoFile. The first comprehensive look at reform by a judiciary committee occurred in 2007, when lawmakers conducted a review of sentencing policies. No legislation was written then, however. “In general,” Lampert wrote to WyoFile, “the number of alternatives to incarceration have not increased over the past 13 years.” However, he said, funding for existing programs did increase, at least until an energy revenue downturn forced budget cuts. From 2013 to 2015, the judiciary committee started looking more intensely at interim topics like sentencing, “overcriminalization,” and parole and probation programs. In 2014, Horowitz traveled to Wyoming twice to testify on behalf of PEW, once in Laramie and once in Rawlins. The first comprehensive criminal justice reform bill was brought by the committee during the 2016 budget session. (In even-numbered years, legislative session are usually 20 working days long, during which the primary focus for lawmakers is passing the state’s budget. In odd-numbered years sessions run 40 working days and cover broader topics). The bill was introduced on the Senate side, where it passed through the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees and then died. During the following interim, the committee returned to reform efforts. Lawmakers and WDOC tried to write a more comprehensive bill to avoid a repeat of 2016. Proponents sought input from “everybody you can think of,” with a stake in criminal justice, including prosecutors, victims groups and defense attorneys, Lampert told WyoFile in February.

Critics emerge

to testify publicly. Bills are frequently amended in committee rooms at the session’s start, before going to the House and Senate floor. As the eventual agenda noted, the Judiciary Committee had devoted an entire day to the bill, despite a list of high-profile legislation awaiting its attention. Blonigen did not attend a committee meeting during the session, nor had he during the preceding interim that anyone could remember. He told WyoFile he was never invited. “[Prosecutors] were locked out until we decided to show up,” he said. In fact, Blonigen said he was aware of reform efforts but not familiar with the actual bill until he received a call from the Casper Star-Tribune reporter asking him to comment on it. The WDOC disputes the characterization of prosecutors being “locked out.” Blonigen was involved in efforts at criminal justice reform in 2014 through August of 2015, said WDOC deputy director Steve Lindly. Blonigen also mentioned this in his interview, but says after that year communication from the committee or the WDOC stopped. In 2016, Lindly presented the reform proposal at an annual meeting

The meeting

“Was this a more effective way of going forward?” Blonigen said of the meeting in the governor’s office. “Yeah.”

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 13

of the Wyoming County & Prosecuting Attorneys’ Association, he said. Blonigen is a member of the association. Bryan Skoric, a prosecutor from Cody and chairman of the association in 2015, participated in the interim hearings leading up to the 2016 attempt at passing legislation. Not all discussion of a bill happens in the public forum of committee meetings. However, a review of meeting minutes from the 2016 interim period show that parole board officials, law enforcement groups, drug treatment experts, judges, a group of family and friends of Wyoming offenders, and even a convict inside the Torrington prison shared their views with the parole board. The minutes also show at least one prosecutor, Jeremiah Sandburg of Cheyenne, spoke with the committee that interim. Blonigen described Sandburg as “new” — 2015 was his first year as the Laramie County prosecutor. Blonigen spent much of 2015 wrestling with illness and recovering from a eventual heart transplant. Bill proponents may not have reached out to him because they knew he was going through medical troubles, he said, and so he missed out on some of the bill’s growing momentum. But he doesn’t think that’s all. “Part of the reason they didn’t reach out to me is they were afraid I’d throw a grenade in their camp,” he said. Blonigen told WyoFile he did intend to show up for the Judiciary Committee meeting on Jan. 17. Before that happened, however, the governor gave him a better opportunity “Was this a more effective way of going forward?” Blonigen said of the meeting in the governor’s office. “Yeah.”

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Daniel Fetsco, then the director of the Wyoming Board of Parole, said he was contacted on Jan. 16 by Richard Barrett, the governor’s special consul. There would be a meeting that evening at the governor’s Jonah Building office, Barrett told him, and Fetsco might be interested in coming on behalf of the parole board. Fetsco had been a proponent of criminal justice reform from the beginning, and helped shepherd the bill through the interim period. His views on reform echo those of Vibbard. Over the preceding weekend, members of the governor’s staff had pulled together the last-minute meeting at Mead’s request. Mead wanted the two chairmen of the Joint Judiciary Committee, Sen. Leland Christensen (R, SD-17, Alta) and Rep. Dan Kirkbride (R, HD-4, Chugwater), to sit down with prosecutors who had raised concerns. The governor’s staff selected who to invite, and there was no public notice of the meeting. Concerns from Blonigen, along with Sheridan County DA Matt Redle, drove Mead to call the meeting, the governor’s staff members said in interviews. Blonigen said the governor’s staff reached out to him first, a recollection Mead’s chief of staff Kari Jo Gray agreed with. Mead tries to avoid wading in on legislation early in the process, his staff members say, preferring to let bills develop naturally as various stakeholders argue over the details. But Mead had certainly been watching the criminal justice reform legislation well before he spoke with the Casper Star-Tribune. Emails from his office, obtained by WyoFile, show Mead met with the committee chairmen in November, and later that month asked staff to seek outside opinions on the bill. “The bill was so complicated that you would worry that there might be those kinds of competing principles in it,” Gray said. At least one respondent to staff inquiries, director of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Steve Woodson, blasted the legislation as soft on crime. “Crime rates are increasing around the country,” Woodson wrote. “I would submit that well intentioned ideals, some of which are contained in this legislation have contributed to this increase.” Most policy institutes that study crime, however, note that crime rates have decreased, nationally as well as in Wyoming. The governor in January decided that the prosecutors had sufficiently valid concerns to warrant his office stepping in. “It was a committee bill,” Gray said, “you know a bill that would have a more likely chance than an [individual’s] bill to pass.” Governor’s staff described the ensuing meeting as an attempt by the governor to ensure the legislation would include input from the concerned prosecutors. “That’s a Matt-Mead approach regardless of the issue,” his policy director Mary Kay Hill said. “He has a strong sense of fair play … and so he wanted to be sure that everyone had an opportunity to connect, and that was my instruction … to set up that opportunity.

On Jan. 2, eight days before the session began, the Casper Star-Tribune published an article featuring several skeptics of the legislation. One of them was Gov. Matt Mead, a former federal prosecutor. He had a few concerns, he told the newspaper, but he believed the bill could pass with minor changes. The other, fiercer critic of the bill was Mike Blonigen, the 14-year Natrona County District Attorney and a prosecutor with more than 30 years of experience. Blonigen told the newspaper the bill was driven by “bureaucratic desire, not community need.” He also contested the idea prisons were nearing capacity, despite statistics to the contrary from WDOC. In a recent interview with WyoFile, Blonigen said he thinks the Legislature is hopelessly underfunding the criminal justice system and the community services that helped keep people out of jail. It was one of the main reasons for his opposition to the bill. Wyoming can’t reduce incarceration and cut those services at the same time, he said. Try to do so, and Blonigen thinks the results would be more repeat offenders, more parole violations, less accountability to the public. Today, the state’s budget cuts have already led to criminal offenders leaving prison without the supervision or counseling they need to avoid reoffending, a phenomenon Blonigen calls “the revolving door.” WDOC officials agree with Blonigen about the link between budget cuts and increased reoffending. In April, Lampert warned that budget cuts to substance abuse programs within Wyoming’s prisons would drive the state’s recidivism rate up, perhaps drastically. By July it had increased by 4 percent. House Bill 94 initially included a $2.8 million appropriation from the state’s general fund. Of that money, $1.78 million was to pay for substance abuse treatment as a condition for probation or a suspended sentence. Around another $600,000 was to pay for administrative sanctions and substance abuse treatment for parole or probation violations. Blonigen didn’t think it was nearly enough. Without more funding, Blonigen said, “all we’re doing is increasing the speed of the door.” The WDOC has said those concerns were unfounded and the appropriation would have been sufficient. Sharp public rebukes, like those in the Casper StarTribune article, aren’t out of character for the Casper prosecutor. In April, well after the session’s end, he spoke at Casper’s City Hall at a ceremony to honor law enforcement and volunteers helping crime victims. “We spend too much time reading fine proclamations and making public statements and doing nothing,” he told the audience, according to a report from K2 Radio. “Nowhere is that more true than in this building and our Legislature.” If Blonigen had shown up to lobby against the bill in committee, he doubtlessly would’ve made a formidable opponent. Lawmakers have said the Casper Star-Tribune article was the first they had heard of his concerns. By then, the first draft of the bill was already written, but there was still plenty of opportunity for Blonigen

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

14 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

ANDREW GRAHAM/WYOFILE

Cowboy hats on a coatrack outside the chamber of the Wyoming House of Representatives in the Jonah Building, temporary home to the State Legislature. Wyoming’s citizen legislature is made up of ranchers, bankers, retirees, businessmen and a few lawyers. They have limited staff and rely on the public and agency experts to guide their policy choices. Months after the session, it’s difficult to know all the attendees, as no log was taken and memories are now hazy. Most invitations were made by phone, not email, and so they did not show up in the email records request from WyoFile, Barrett said. Mead did not attend the meeting, but Barrett and Gary Hartman, a former district judge and another of Mead’s policy advisers, did. Fetsco recalls Blonigen as being the only prosecutor in the room. There may have been one other prosecutor present, Barrett said, but Redle was not there. Along with Fetsco, Lampert and Lindly from WDOC were there. Christensen and Kirkbride were the only legislators. There may have been other people WyoFile was unable to identify in the room as well. The meeting was tense, Fetsco said, particularly between himself and Blonigen. “I was on one side with Lindly and Lampert and Blonigen was on the other side,” of the table, Fetsco said. The committee chairmen, particularly Christensen, mirrored some of the dismay that would later be voiced by House Judiciary Committee members, Fetsco said; “Like this is the first I’ve heard of this, where have you been?” Gray, Mead’s chief of staff, also said she remembered bill proponents being “taken aback” and frustrated. “They felt that because [the prosecutors’ association chair] Bryan Skoric was at these [interim] meetings that the prosecutors were represented,” she said. But “Mike Blonigen — who’s pretty much a

thought-leader I think because of his experiences and such with prosecutors — had been sick.” She remembered Blonigen apologizing for coming in to the discussion late, but also that he told the other stakeholders he had nearly irreversible concerns with the legislation. “I think my exact words were this just wasn’t ready for prime time,” Blonigen said. “You haven’t taken into account any of these service issues. You’re cutting stuff.” Blonigen voiced criticisms of the Department of Corrections’ accountability, which echoed those he has made since, Fetsco said. The gathering wasn’t designed to stop the bill’s progress, but it did give Blonigen unfettered access to the judiciary committee chairmen. The meeting ended. Blonigen said he left believing the bill would still be heard in committee the next morning. He spent the night in Cheyenne anticipating that, but later received a call that the chairmen had decided the bill would be held back. Rather than come before the committee in public, Blonigen, Lampert, Lindly and Fetsco met in a basement meeting room at the Idleman Mansion across from the Capitol building — home to the governor’s other temporary office and formerly used as a mortuary. Redle also joined, Fetsco said. Later that week, Lindly, Fetsco and Hartman traveled to Blonigen’s office in Casper for further discussion. Over the course of the meetings, a new bill was drafted to meet the prosecutor’s concerns. The governor’s office was involved in all the meetings strictly as facilitators, staff said. On Jan. 17, Vibbard and other, less-informed members of the public showed up to L54 at 8 a.m. as scheduled. They were met not by the full committee behind its dias but instead by Kirkbride alone, who waited among the public chairs of the spacious meeting room. He explained the bill had been “laid back” after last minute stakeholder concerns, and he did not know if it would be reintroduced. “I don’t know that it’s dead,” he said. “It’s in limbo.” “Are the agency stakeholders interested in the public’s opinion on how the bill shakes out,” Vibbard

asked, “or are they just gonna make their own thing and bring it back?” “You know,” Kirkbride answered, “I guess I can’t speak to that.” Some members of the House were frustrated that day. As Rep. Nate Winters, (R, HD-28, Thermopolis), spoke about the overnight change to a reporter in the hallway outside the House Chamber, the body’s top Democrat, Minority Floor Leader Cathy Connolly (D, HD-13, Laramie), overheard the discussion. “Oh! I am so annoyed,” she said. Connolly served on the Judiciary Committee from 2013-2014, and had worked on reform in the past. Prosecutors “had always been kind of lukewarm and just sitting back watching it,” she said. Winters at the time didn’t know what the prosecutors’ objections were. “With all of the work and discussion I would be very interested to find out what the particulars are,” he said.

New bill

As the legislative session picked up steam and lawmakers dug into dozens of bills each day, the WDOC chiefs, Fetsco, Blonigen and Redle reworked the bill. Emails between Tamara Rivale, the Legislative Service Office attorney assigned to the Judiciary Committee, and the governor’s office show Rivale writing a proposed amendment based on the group’s suggestions. Her draft amendment, along with a copy of the original bill marked-up with a pen, was sent to the group for review on Jan. 25. The amendments made it harder for the court to change or remove conditions of probation, and easier to revoke probation and parole. It also added requirements for prosecutorial consent for some of the incarceration alternatives. Other options for parole violators were removed as well. The amendment also required prosecutorial consent for early termination of parole after an offender successfully completed his or her first year. Some of the original language violated an offender’s right to due process, Blonigen said. The original bill would’ve placed in statute options of a prison stay of up to six months, or confinement to a residential drug treatment center, without involving a judge. It “seemed to want to make sentencing a bureaucratic act” for the Department of Corrections, he said. Blonigen also worried about being accountable to the public, he said. He feared a system in which victims wouldn’t receive the justice a judge had given them. Vibbard, the Wyoming Liberty Group lobbyist, was again tipped before the general public. Someone forwarded him the copy of the original bill with the penned-in edits. He believed the sender wanted him to review the changes and find any severe deviations from the legislation’s original purpose. “They strategically changed language that would put more power in the hands of the prosecutors,” Vibbard said. “Like how do we give more deference to the prosecutors and the judge and less deference to everybody else.” Other bill proponents were less bothered by the changes. The prosecutors’ concerns about due process were valid and kept the bill constitutional, Fetsco

Fight like crazy

ANDREW GRAHAM/WYOFILE

Gov. Matt Mead signs a bill into law at the end of the 2017 general session of the Wyoming Legislature. Mead prefers not to weigh in on legislation too early, his staff says, in order to let the relevant stakeholders hash out compromises.

PJH

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 15

prosecutors’ concerns had affected the bill to make it a compromise. But at the time he was disappointed. “It was my first session so I really didn’t know what’s normal,” he said of the process. “I was frustrated because I just wanted to run, run, run, and move forward.” In the meeting, Olsen echoed Pelkey and Winters, and asked for more transparency. “I would just ask that in the future that the stakeholders bring their concerns thoughts and changes to the committee in an open public forum and present them,” he said to a room devoid of Blonigen, Redle or the governor. “And if they’re good changes and they make good law then they’ll make it through.” Whatever his concerns about the process, Olsen pledged to support the bill. “I’m going to fight like crazy to make sure it gets through the House,” he told his colleagues. “We can’t afford another decade of studying this issue.” The vote to move the new bill out of committee was unanimous. It now had eight working days to pass through the Appropriations Committee and then the House. With more reform opponents preparing to come out of the woodwork as debate moved onto the House floor, Olsen would indeed have to fight like crazy. PJH Continue the saga in part two, as maneuvering against the bill continues in and outside of the halls of the Legislature. -Ed. This story was amended to include a clarification on crime statistics provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The original version described a crime decline as happening since the 1980s, the text has been changed to reflect that the decline occurred during the 1990s. -Ed., Sept. 27, 2017

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

On Jan. 26, with five working days left before a bill must be voted out of committee to survive, HB-94 arrived before House Judiciary. Though upset at the changes, Vibbard showed up ready to continue his endorsement of the bill. “I wanted to go on the record and explain that it was still good,” he said. “The bill itself still stood a purpose and it was still needed in Wyoming, at least as a small first step.” At the meeting Lampert walked the committee through the amendments. His tone was somber, and there were few questions from the lawmakers. Neither Blonigen nor Redle was present. “I’m a little taken aback by the size of the changes that we’ve had,” Rep. Charles Pelkey (D, HD-45, Laramie) said when Lampert finished. But with the bill back in its chamber, the committee was now free to strike back. In a testament to the reform efforts’ bipartisan appeal, Pelkey, a defense attorney and liberal legislator, aligned with Baptist pastor Rep. Nate Winters (R, HD-28, Mountain View) and Rep. Jared Olsen (R, HD-11, Cheyenne), both of whom are social conservatives, to lead a push back. Winters asked Lampert about the change to the bill that required prosecutor consent for early discharge.

Winters called it “veto” power. “Would t his potentially be the most substantive change in the bill in your opinion?” he asked. Agency heads are not allowed to make direct policy recommendations, and Lampert answered with a cautious yes. During public testimony, Olsen asked similar questions of Vibbard when he stood up to speak. “They were grilling everybody,” Vibbard recollected. “I think the guys that I had established some rapport with … were like ‘Dude what happened? I don’t have time to sit down and stare at this for ten hours, but what happened?’” Perhaps sensing the direction the committee was about to take, the Chief Deputy Attorney General, John Knepper, followed Vibbard to the microphone. He asked the committee to think about the value of “cooperation” as they moved forward, calling the bill a compromise born of tension between prosecutors and corrections agencies. “I would just encourage you to think of it as that type of compromise,” he said, asking lawmakers to move the bill forward with prosecutors’ input and build trust between them and the Department of Corrections. Pelkey expressed some skepticism. “You talked about trust on this one, I’m a little bit concerned having been a member of the committee that’s worked on this as an interim topic for two years … I’m curious how or why that level of trust is gonna be able to be reestablished.” Knepper again urged trust. “Disagreements like this don’t get solved with upfront meetings,” he said, “they get solved with people of good faith seeing what one another do.” For reform to move forward, he said, the prosecutors would have to be kept at the table and incremental compromises would have to be made. For the most part, Knepper’s plea fell on deaf ears. The committee voted to create a new substitute bill with the prosecutors’ amendments. Then, Pelkey and Olsen amended the substitute to remove those changes they felt gave the prosecutors too much power. The committee kept some of the changes intact — like the one dealing with due process concerns. But they also didn’t waste a chance to criticize the process. Pelkey called the last minute changes “offensive.” Winters agreed. Olsen, a freshman lawmaker, saw criminal justice reform as a core tenet of his campaign and had requested to be on the judiciary committee, he told WyoFile in a recent interview. Reflecting on the session, he said he was glad the

said. The legislation remained valuable with Blonigen and Redle’s inputs, though the bill’s support among lawmakers was hurt by the interference, he said. To Vibbard, the fact that the changes had been made behind closed doors were particularly vexing. “It all felt a little grimy and it felt like there was some thought behind where the power lies,” he said. According to one national reform advocate, prosecutors in Wyoming played right into a nation-wide narrative of push and pull over criminal justice reform. “It’s classic,” said Kevin Ring, the president of a Washington D.C.-based group called Families Against Mandatory Minimums. It’s typical for prosecutors to oppose reform efforts, Ring said, “and also that they have disproportionate influence over the process.” Prosecutors believe they work in the public interest, he said. They worry about a penal system that is dishonest with crime victims by putting offenders back on the street early. And they argue against reform efforts with the narratives of crimes perpetrated by offenders they put away but who were then released too early. “They’re good at scaring elected officials away from doing anything,” he said, and use arguments best characterized as “our streets are going to be running with blood if you pass this reform.” Blonigen disagrees with the idea that he had any disproportionate influence over the process. “I don’t have a vote in that body, I just had a couple of meetings man,” he said. “The idea that somehow the prosecutors were driving the bus on this thing was kind of ridiculous.” “What usually happens is exactly what happened,” when someone is left out of the process, Blonigen said. “They start speaking up at the last minute, the problems can’t be addresesed, and particularly with a short legislative session like we have…”

COURTESY OF JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

16 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

CULTURE KLASH

Snow Thanks Forget Thanksgiving dinner; ski season is officially open BY KELSEY DAYTON @kelsey_dayton

hanksgiving marks the start of the holidays, but just as (or perhaps more) importantly, it also marks the official start of ski season. Grand Targhee Resort kicked off its season on Nov. 17, when it opened with some of the best snow its ever had so early in the season, said Jennie White, marketing director for the resort. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort follows Targhee, with its opening slated for Saturday, and Snow King plans to open to the public Dec. 2. As of this paper’s deadline, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort hadn’t announced how much of the mountain would open on Saturday, but more than a week before opening day 92 inches of snow had been recorded in Rendezvous Bowl, said Eric Seymour, a spokesman for the resort.

“The upper mountain is skiing superb and filling out nicely,” Seymour said. Resort staff said they had also blown snow on several days to help fill in the lower mountain. While some ski areas in other states are able to only open strips of terrain, Seymour expected JHMR to open a variety of terrain. The resort has increased its snowmaking capacity this year to target areas like the base, Seymour said. They also added a new gondola barn for the Sweetwater Gondola and framed the Solitude Station, a 12,000-square-foot building that will open next year. It will service the mountain sports school, offer lockers and provide dining options when it opens next season. The resort is offering promotions including free ski days when booking qualifying lodging. The resort also offers early season pricing. An adult lift ticket costs $89 opening day. At Grand Targhee, skiing on Thanksgiving is a tradition for some families, White said. The resort opened with the deepest base depth of any ski area in the United States, with almost 50 inches reported days before opening, she said. The ski area had already received about 100 inches of snow before it opened and more continued to fall. All ski lifts opened Friday.

With plenty of snow to be thankful for already, and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s increased snowmaking capacity on the lower mountain, there’s no reason to be an ingrate this weekend.

“This is actually a really good start to the season,” White said. Grand Targhee added two new grooming machines to its fleet this year, as well as a new suite of ski and snowboard rentals. The resort also made lodging improvements and purchased a new wax machine for the repair shop. But the thing that people love most about Grand Targhee—aside from its snow—remains the same. “It’s just that feeling you get when you arrive at Grand Targhee,” White said. “It’s the vibe and atmosphere. Everyone is here because they love to ski and ride. It’s not about being seen, but actually just riding the mountain. We’re not a big corporation. We’re that boutique operation that is true to its roots.” The ski area’s events calendar is packed for the season, including a new slope style rail jam event scheduled March 3-4, White said. Regular season single day adult lift tickets cost $85. Snow King will open to the public Dec. 2, and a new magic carpet at the tube park will make taking tubing laps a little easier and faster, said Ryan Stanley, general manager. The tube park is scheduled to open around Dec. 16.

The ski area also improved its indoor ski school space and added more lights on sections of the mountain open for night skiing. “We’re trying to continue to improve the night skiing,” he said. Snow King will charge those who skin, or ski uphill, $75 for a season uphill pass, which is new this year. In the past, skiing uphill at Snow King was free. But Snow King spends more than half a million dollars to create and blow snow uphill skiers use, and more people each year were using the mountain for free. Those who purchase a regular season pass also get an uphill pass for free, Stanley said. Shortly after opening, Snow King will hold a snocross race, which is slated to happen Dec. 8-9. During the Amsoil Championsip event, Stanley said spectators will get to watch some of the best snocross racers in the country hit jumps as big as 20-feet high, while sharing the track with other competitors. The event will also bring in national vendors. Despite the changes, Snow King is still “the Town Hill,” Stanley said. It’s affordable and easy to get to. There are family activity options like tubing and the Cowboy Coaster. Full day adult lift tickets are $55. PJH

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort lifts are scheduled to start running on Saturday, November 25, and opening day adult lift tickets cost $89.

n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Toddler Gym 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, n Story Time 10:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Baby Time - Youth Auditorium 10:05am, Teton County Library, n Open Hockey - Weekday Morning 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Fables, Feathers & Fur 10:30am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307--733-5771 n Public Skating - Weekday 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Tech Time 1:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Art Association of JH Youth Auditorium 3:30pm, Teton County Library, n Intuition: Your 7th Sense 6:00pm, Medicine Wheel Wellness, n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center,

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 20

ABBY MOORE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24

n Open Hockey - Weekend Mornings 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 4:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Stagecoach Band 6:00pm, Stagecoach, Free, 307-733-4407 n The Minor Keys 7:00pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Hospitality Night - Happy Hour 9:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free,

n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Toddler Gym 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, n Open Hockey - Weekday Morning 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Public Skating - Weekday 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Read to Rover 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n FREE Friday Tasting 4:00pm, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450 n Friday Tastings 4:00pm, The Liquor Store, Free, 307-733-4466 n Game Night 4:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Town Square Lighting 5:00pm, n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Risky Livers 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n FREE Public Stargazing 7:30pm, Center for the Arts, n Friday Night DJ featuring: Fiesta Bob 10:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free, n ALMOST FAMOUS BAND Million Dollar Cowboy Bar,

n Library Saturdays - Youth Auditorium 10:15am, Teton County Library, n App Time - Study Room 4 2:00pm, Teton County Library, n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Risky Livers 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n ALMOST FAMOUS BAND Million Dollar Cowboy Bar,

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27

n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Open Hockey - Weekday Morning 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Public Skating - Weekday 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Maker 3:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Movie Monday 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Monday Night Book Club Meeting Room 2 5:30pm, Teton County Library, n Hootenanny 6:00pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 17

Grand Targhee opened on November 17 with some of the best early season snow on record. Daily adult lift tickets start at $85.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n 25th Annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot Race 7:30am, Teton Recreation Center, 307-739-9025 n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Turkey Trot 8:45am, n Elks Community Thanksgiving Meal 11:00am, Jackson Hole Elks Lodge No. 1713, Free, 307-7331713 n Public Skating - Weekday 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center,

n Writer’s Club 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Build 5:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Jackson Hole Community Band 2017 Rehearsals 7:00pm, Center for the Arts, Free, 307-200-9463 n Salsa Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Changing Seasons, Changing Heart Medicine Wheel Wellness,

COURTESY OF JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22

XXXXX

THIS WEEK: November 22-28 2017

MUSIC BOX

18 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

A Rowdy Thanksgiving Holiday family time will suck less if you skip it and head to the Black Pistol Fire and Mogwai shows instead BY CORY GARCIA @cfaust

We Clean Everything!

307-690-3605 Residential Housekeeping • Daily • Weekly • Monthly • Small & Large Office • Commercial Facilities • Carpets & Upholstery • Windows • Power Washing • One Time Deep Cleanings • Move Outs • Real Estate Closings Closing Cleanings

re you reading this while trying to avoid your family? Me too! Glad we’re hanging out this fine Thanksgiving week. No, I’m not going to make you tell me all the things you pretend to be thankful about as long as you promise not to ask me the same. The next few days are going to rough, I know, full of small talk and avoiding politics and putting up a Christmas tree, unless you’re one of those sociopaths who starts celebrating Christmas November 1, in which case I know I can’t count on you in a crisis. There is good news, news that a lesser writer would tell you to be thankful for, but I am not that writer and you, being the smart, humble reader that you are deserve better than that. But yes, there is good news this week in the form of a pair of a concerts worth your time once you survive playing nice with those people

Black Pistol Fire plays Tuesday, November 28 at Pink Garter Theatre

you were obligated to add on Facebook. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “The best way to wash myself clean of all this turkey and togetherness is to binge is to binge watch The Punisher because guns and bombs and death, whoo hoo!” I get it: celebrating our nation’s love of death seems appropriate after celebrating our first steps as a nation into crippling obesity. However, there is some gun-centric entertainment you can have outside of your home that might be more fun and won’t remind you of the endless mass shootings going on in our country. Black Pistol Fire, despite what the name suggests, are not the latest in a long line of bad cock-rock wannabes. They are, however, exactly what you expect a two member rock band postWhite Stripes to be: loud, familiar and rowdy, the type of band that makes their name less because of their recorded output and more because of their stage show. And you, you’re lucky because you don’t have to see them in the middle of the afternoon at a music festival but up close and personal over at The Pink Garter. Again, not something you have to be thankful for, but something you should appreciate all the same. Hell, if you’ve got a cool uncle or two hanging around for a bit after Thanksgiving, this might just be a great show for some family bonding away from your cousin who keeps using racial slurs in the year of our lord 2017. You’ve got to stop inviting them to dinner; it’s

PLANET PICKS WEDNESDAY Fables, Feathers and Fur (National Museum of Wildlife Art) THURSDAY Salsa Night (The Rose) FRIDAY Fiesta Bob (Pink Garter)

STEVE GULLICK

SATURDAY Almost Famous Band (Million Dollar Cowboy)

Mogwai, 8 p.m. Nov. 27, Pink Garter Theatre, $22-$25 Black Pistol Fire, 8 p.m. Nov. 28, Pink Garter Theatre, $15

MONDAY Mogwai (Pink Garter) TUESDAY Black Pistol Fire (Pink Garter)

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 19

not healthy. But maybe after the holidays you don’t want rowdy. There’s nothing wrong with that, and you’re in luck too. If you’re looking for something prettier, something that speaks more to the soul than the body, you should grab tickets to go see Mogwai. Sorry to disappoint, there will be no jokes about Gremlins here. However, to prove that you’re part of the Super Cool Kids Club For Cool People, I’ll need you to look me in the eye and tell me that Gremlins 2 is one of the best weird movies of all time. Because it is. And I’m glad you agree. If you’ve never heard of Mogwai before, I’m not here to judge; I stopped assuming everyone was well-versed in Scottish post-rock years ago. But these next few days, while you’ve got some holiday related downtime, are as good as any to immerse yourself in the wonders the band creates. And if you’re wondering where to start, I can think of no better spot this time of year than 2001’s “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong.” Post-rock is the sound of landscapes. It’s the post-apocalypse of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the magic hour sunsets of Explosions in the Sky. Mogwai comes in many shapes and many forms, but with “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong” Mogwai wrote pretty much the greatest idealized cold weather song of all time. Maybe you’re so used to it you’ve forgot the majesty of the cold, which is fair, but

this song might just remind you of what cold was before it meant risking a heart attack to shovel. For me, at least, it conjures up images of white blasted landscapes and the relief of knowing there’s a house with a warm glow waiting for me somewhere, I just have to get to it and climb those steps. Your milage may vary, obviously. Maybe you’ll listen to it and think of something completely different. That’s the magic of post-rock: it’s the soundtrack and you provide the movie. Listen, I’m just trying to tell you that there’s a light at the end of the turkey tunnel, on the other side of the weekend. A land without leftovers, a land without piles of Black Friday ads, a land without a house full of people you only see 3 or 4 times a year. And you’ll be there soon. Just keep hanging out with me. Put your headphones on. Did you know Mogwai have a song called “Coolverine” and it’s really good? Now you do. We’re going to make it to Monday. Promise. PJH

Mogwai plays Monday, November 27 at Pink Garter Theatre

SUNDAY Stagecoach Band (Stagecoach)

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

20 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

DON’T MISS n Beginning/Intermediate Jazz Dance 6:15pm, Dancers’ Workshop, $25.00 - $55.00, 307-733-6398 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Mogwai 9:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre,

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28

n Dance & Fitness Classes 8:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Giving Tuesday Yoga Benefit 9:00am, Teton Yoga Shala, $15.00 - $20.00, 307-690-3054 n Engage 2017: Housing, Parking & Natural Resource Event 9:00am, n Public Skating - Weekday 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, n App Time - Study Room 4 2:00pm, Teton County Library, n Theatre with Nicole Madison - Youth Auditorium 3:30pm, Teton County Library, n Tech Time 4:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, n SheJumps Women’s Only Avalanche Awareness Night 6:00pm, TCSAR Hanger, n Wyoming Native Plant Society: Habitat Restoration 6:00pm, Teton County Library, n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, n Cobi 7:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, n The Wood Brothers & Sean McConnell 7:00pm, Center for the Arts, n Bluegrass Tuesdays with One Ton Pig 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307732-3939 n One Ton Pig 7:30pm, Wort Hotel, n Black Pistol Fire 8:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, $15.00,

FOR COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS VISIT PJHCALENDAR.COM

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1/2 Off Drinks Daily 5-7pm

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Bizarre Bazaar Local merchants, artists make holiday shopping easy — and personal BY KELSEY DAYTON @kelsey_dayton

lose your wallet. Pull your finger away from the “buy” button on your computer screen. There’s no need to jump the gun on your Internet holiday shopping, because Jackson’s biggest local shopping events are just around the corner. The Art Association of Jackson Hole offers the ultimate opportunities to shop local with its annual Teton Mudpots Sale and Holiday Bazaar, where people can buy art directly from area artists and vendors. Teton Mudpots, now in its 10th year, will feature 12 potters who will offer thousands of pieces of pottery, said Sam Dowd, the ceramics studio manager at the Art Association. People can buy cups, mugs, plates, bowls, serving dishes and kitchen items like teapots, Dowd said. Artists will sell sculptures, soap dispensers and other creations. “The gallery will be just packed full of things,” Dowd said. Don’t plan on rushing through, but give yourself time to browse the hundreds of gift options, he said. Pottery prices will range from $3 to $100, which should provide gift options for every budget. The sale is a way for artists to make

mone y— “Even if you are weird and don’t buy anything, you’ll still get plenty of entertainment looking at all the fun things.” they keep 70 percent Life skills students from Jackson Hole of their sales—and also help fund, with the other Middle School will sell holiday cards to 30 percent, the Art Association’s ceramics support their program. Sunflower Kids studio. That money goes to new equip- will sell bracelets to support a Tanzania ment and other expenses that are not part orphanage. Other vendors include local companies of the normal budget, Dowd said. Teton Mudpots also is a way to teach like Give’r, which makes outdoor clothing people about pottery and what is possible and is known for its gloves; Teton Tags, with the medium, Dowd said. People will which creates license plate holders; Teton see different styles, glazes and techniques. Alchemy, which makes bath salts; and For the first time, Teton Mudpots will Simply Sweet Confections, which last year also feature work from non-pottery art- sold out of its toffee candies, Fetters said. Most of the vendors are from Wyoming, ists. Four jewelers and about a dozen painters and printmakers will sell their and there are a few regional sellers among work at the event. A portion of their sales the crowd. Admission is free, and prices range from $5 to several hundred dependwill also go their departments. “Every media type will support its root ing on what you are buying, but most items are about $30, Fetters said. studio,” Dowd said. You’ll find gifts ranging from cards to The event is a great way to support the Art Association as well as shop. The books to jewelry to decorations to hand free event is also a perfect way to see embroidered towels. “It’s a pocket-friendly event,” Fetters what local artists have been doing in their said. studios. Jackson Hole Still Works will sell cock“Even if you are weird and don’t buy anything, you’ll still get plenty of enter- tails at the bazaar. This year the bazaar is tainment looking at all the fun things,” expanding beyond the conference center walls. Area businesses are hosting Dowd said. The week after Teton Mudpots, the “Christmas on Scott Lane” with specials Art Association will offer another chance the same day as the bazaar, Fetters said. to stock up on local gifts with its annu- It’s a way to have a larger community al Holiday Bazaar. This year the bazaar event and support local creatives and artwill feature 48 booths, said Molly Fetters, ists, she said. People can plan on perusdirector of events at the Art Association. ing the area businesses and hitting up It’s a little smaller than last year in an the bazaar for one-stop shopping. PJH effort to make navigating easier, Fetters Teton Mudpots, Holiday Sale, 10 a.m. to said. About 1,500 people walked through 7 p.m. Nov. 30 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 1, the event last year, Fetters said. “It’s definitely a hopping scene,” she Art Association Gallery, free. Holiday Bazaar, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. said. Vendors keep 100 percent of the money 9, the Lodge at Jackson Hole Conference from their sales at the Holiday Bazaar. Center, free. Several nonprofits will participate.

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

CINEMA

All the Rage BY SCOTT RENSHAW @scottrenshaw

Pay It Forward (2000) Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment PG-13

In Bruges (2008) Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson R

Seven Psychopaths (2012) Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell R

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 21

TRY THESE

Fargo (1995) Frances McDormand, William H. Macy R

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is a woman with a mission. Seven months removed from the horror of her teenage daughter, Angela, being raped and burned alive along an isolated stretch of highway near her home in Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred is outraged that there has been no apparent progress towards finding the perpetrator. So in an attempt to nudge local police Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), she opts for the nuclear public relations option: She rents three adjacent billboards on that same stretch of highway and offers a provocative message. “RAPED WHILE DYING” “AND STILL NO ARRESTS” “HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY?” Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri offers the set-up for a movie about a scrappy underdog’s righteous war against an uncaring system— except that’s not what the movie is

guilt over the circumFrances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri stances leading up to Angela’s death. What’s McDonagh is a writer first and foresimilarly clear is that, at least in this most—notwithstanding a few great case, the Ebbing police haven’t actually visual moments like the bold design of done anything wrong. Willoughby has those billboards—and there are times been investigating, and has simply run when his big ideas bump up against our into dead ends. Mildred wants someone expectations for real-world behavior. to blame. She needs someone to blame. It might come off as too broad when a Even if it’s a dying, well-intentioned, black supervisor is brought in to deal well-respected police chief. with the rogue elements in the Ebbing What McDonagh explores in Three police force; the exchange of dialogue Billboards is the impact of chain-reacimmediately preceding Angela’s nevtion hate and rage on everyone in its er-depicted death could feel so on-thepath. He takes the riskiest approach nose that the nose would be broken by in the creation of Officer Dixon (Sam the impact. Rockwell), a police officer who has But the mistake would be continuing already been implicated in the beating to think of Three Billboards as a story of a black suspect, and who lives with his that congratulates us for cheering along openly racist mother (Sandy Martin). with acts motivated by fury, even when In 2017, it feels like an act of artistic we think the circumstances warrant it. suicide to suggest that there’s hope for As darkly comic as McDonagh’s words redemption in those who abuse power, might be, there’s a grace and optimism but McDonagh gives Dixon a messy and here that could leave a lump in your complicated arc—played with genuine throat. It takes a lot of nerve in these complexity by Rockwell—that includes times to suggest that anger is rarely some brutal, seemingly unforgiveable righteous. PJH behavior. But again, this is an idealized vision McDonagh is delivering—a sort THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE of foul-mouthed, unsettling spin on Pay It Forward—and he’s as audacious as he EBBING, MISSOURI can be in delivering it. Are we prepared BBB.5 to consider that the worst person we Frances McDormand know could be better if they just let go Sam Rockwell Woody Harrelson of their darkest emotions? R

Three Billboards dares to imagine a world in which anger isn’t righteous.

about at all. Writer/director Martin McDonagh has crafted a story built around the toxicity of anger. In a fundamental sense, it’s an idealized vision of what the world might look like if we could find an antidote for that toxin. That’s certainly not the impression you’re likely to get at the outset. McDonagh employs the same acidic dialogue that has sparked his plays and his previous features In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths as he introduces Mildred’s scorched-earth approach to getting justice for Angela. McDormand’s electrifying performance is all hard edges and caustic interactions, so deep in her own grief that the fact that Chief Willoughby is facing a terminal cancer diagnosis does nothing to shake her determination to publicly shame him into action. When a local priest comes to visit Mildred and her son (Lucas Hedges) to encourage her to take the billboards down, she tears into him over the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals, in the kind of speech that gets audiences whooping in agreement. There’s just the small matter that McDonagh is implicating anyone in the audience who’s still fully on board with Mildred’s behavior. He provides plenty of context for Mildred’s rage over victims not getting justice—including her own history with an abusive ex-husband (John Hawkes)—as well as her

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

22 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

TRUE TV BY BILL FROST

Rated Xmas Screw Thanksgiving— bring on the Christmas TV!

W For all MEETING AGENDAS AND MINUTES WEEKLY CALENDAR JOB OPENINGS SOLICITATIONS FOR BIDS PUBLIC NOTICES AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION

Visit our website

TetonWyo.org The public meeting agendas and minutes for the Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission can also be found in the Public Notices section of the JH News and Guide.

asn’t Turkey Day grand? Anyway: The Christmas season began in August, and you still probably don’t have a holiday viewing plan—so The Only TV Column That Matters™ has put one together for you (it’s OK that you didn’t get me anything). Here are 12 Christmas shows on the ho-ho-horizon: Trolls Holiday (Friday, Nov. 24, NBC): The most adequate kids’ movie of 2016 is now a time-filling Christmas special about the Queen of the Trolls (Anna Kendrick) forcing her holiday traditions upon the Bergens, which sounds suspiciously Christian. Besides, Bergens eat Trolls, don’t they? A Christmas Story 2 (Friday, Nov. 24, CMT): Sequels are always better than the original, and this follow-up to 1983’s A Christmas Story is no exception: A teenage Ralphie needs a sweet Mercury convertible for Christmas, otherwise he’ll never get laid. A major award, for sure. Homicide for the Holidays (Saturday, Nov. 25, Oxygen): Season 2 of the murder-rific Xmas series features truecrime stories ranging from “a botched house fire that led to the uncovering of a triple-homicide to a case that is still classified as the worst family massacre in U.S. history.” Joy!

@bill_frost

Ang r y Angel Moral Orel, “The Best Christmas Ever” streams on Hulu (Monday, Nov. 27, Freeform): A newSeth MacFarlane, Ne-Yo and, duh, Blake ly-dead angel (Brenda Song) is someShelton. It’s gonna be B-A-N-A-N-A-S! how stuck on Earth—well, New York A Christmas Story Live! (Sunday, City—and still hung up on her ex (Ricky Dec. 17, Fox): An even better idea than Mabe), all of which pisses off her boss A Christmas Story 2, A Christmas Story up in Heaven (Jason Biggs). Will she Live! puts the played-to-death holiday ever get off … the terrestrial plane? classic on the Broadway stage, with A Very Pentatonix Christmas Matthew Broderick, Maya Rudolph and Special (Monday, Nov. 27, NBC): Vocal Chris Diamantopoulos. It’s live; an eye group Pentatonix return for another could get shot out. holiday special, with A-list guests like Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time Jay Leno(!) and a teen ventriloquist(!!). (Monday, Dec. 25, BBC America): It’s “A cappella” is Italian for “no real musithe end of the road for 12th Doctor Peter cians will stoop to work with them,” by Capaldi and series writer/producer the way. Steven Moffat, but also the debut of the The Victoria’s Secret Fashion first-ever female Doc, Jodie Whittaker. Show (Tuesday, Nov. 28, CBS): Not so Plus, in a timey-wimey twist … the First much a “holiday” special as a primeDoctor! Breathe, nerds. time half-naked jiggle-fest that makes National Lampoon’s Christmas total sense in the new age of sexual-haVacation (all of December, Freeform): rassment awareness. Rumored musiThe greatest work of the late Chevy cal guests: Hologram David Bowie Chase (wait, he’s not dead?) is the pinand Lemmy dueting on Wham’s “Last nacle of holiday movies (sorry, Bad Christmas.” Santa). And, if ever there were a phrase Drunk History Christmas Special to sum up the country in the dying days (Tuesday, Nov. 28, Comedy Central): of 2017, it’s “Shitter’s full!” Comics reenact ‘Merican holiday Moral Orel, “The Best Christmas events like George Washington crossEver” (streaming, Hulu): God-fearing ing the Delaware on Dec. 25, and Teddy Orel believes his baby brother Shapey to Roosevelt banning Christmas trees be the second coming of Jesus—but he’s in the White House. Bill O’Reilly was also a complete asshole. Meanwhile, his right—the War on Christmas is centuparents are divorcing, and Dad’s at the ries old! bar (“Forghetty’s Pub”) getting loaded Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like on Christmas. Ever hopeful, Orel looks Christmas (Tuesday, Dec. 12, NBC): to the heavens for divine intervention. Everybody’s favorite chipmunk-voiced Nothing happens. Fade to black. Merry ska survivor hosts her very own songsChristmas! PJH and-sketches holiday special, with guests Chelsea Handler, Ken Jeong,

OVER THE HILL

A quick stop in Driggs proves to be well worth the drive BY ANGELICA LEICHT @Writer_Anna

guys have done the same. Next time, just opt for Basin Burger. You’ll come out in the black and won’t hate your life. Back to my burger. Despite the constant stream of customers heading to Basin before closing time, my food arrived in front of me pretty quickly, and with perfect form. One bite and it was easy to see why folks flock to Driggs’ Exxon. The amalgam of perfectly-cooked burger, crispy, thick cut fries and some unexpected — and wholly appreciated — fry sauce make the cheap, quick meal worth the drive over the pass. I don’t know how they do it. Perhaps it’s magic, perhaps it’s hypnotism, or perhaps it’s just some skills in the kitchen that make things work just right at this little gas station out in Driggs, Idaho. Whatever it is, though, one thiing is clear: Basin Burger doesn’t need to be in a standalone building — the combination of quick stop and burger joint works just fine for them. And for me. I’m a convert, Basin Burger. You guys had me at fry sauce. Now just try getting rid of me. PJH Basin Burger is located at 1019 N Hwy 33 in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Pass. Stop whining; the burgers are worth the drive.

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 23

will hook you up. (Perhaps it’s time to rethink your shake — and life — choices, though.) And while the main menu at Basin is limited — burgers come in single, double, triple, or junior— there are unlimited ways to customize those bad boys. Do you like cheese? Sweet — so do I. You can add it to your burger, for free, along with mayo, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, lettuce, pickles, onions, jalapenos and mushrooms, or any combination of the sort. You can also add on sides — fries, munchers or onion rings — which seems like it could be overkill with those shake options. Is your mind blown yet? This is a gas station, you guys. A gas station full of burger manna. Being the simpleton that I am, I opted for cheese, mustard, pickles, lettuce, onions and mushrooms, and opted out of a shake in lieu of fries and a drink. The total? A whopping $6.29 for the burger and fries and another $.99 for a drink. If you’ve ever eaten a meal in Jackson, which I’m assuming all of you who live here have, you know what a deal that is. I recently paid $8 for three of the worst vegetarian spring rolls I’ve ever had (at a place I shall not name), and I know you

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ther than the occasional “desperately hungry and in the middle of nowhere” pit stop, I generally try to steer clear of buying meals at gas stations. Call me what you like, but for me the food in those little gas station haunts feels like a gamble, and there’s something inherently off-putting about buying a meal where the smell of fuel overpowers any enticing aromas. I am what I am, and I eat what I eat. Perhaps I need to broaden my horizons, though. As I learned on a recent trip to Driggs, Basin Burger didn’t deserve my pre-judgment or my trepidation. As with most of my other quick stop meals, the journey to Basin Burger started out of as an act of desperation. Very little — read: basically nothing — is open late for a quick bite in Victor or Driggs, making it quite difficult for my unprepared (yet

Fill your gut and gas tank at Drigg’s premiere gas station burger joint, Basin Burger. And no, we’re not using the word “premiere” lightly here.

Behold Basin Burger

hungry) ass to find sustinence. A quick Google consult yielded little in the way of help. Braulims? Closed. Bangkok Kitchen? No go on the Thai idea either. Bedtimes in the area must be very early. As I scrolled through all of the closed “Driggs food” search results, my desperation grew until one beacon of hope — a thing called Basin Burger — stood out. It was the last option, and I had exactly 23 minutes to get there. Located inside the Exxon right off of Highway 33 in Driggs, Basin Burger is the place to be in Driggs, y’all. Families, friends and other hodgepodge groups of burger-seeking souls lined every single inch of the small space, with folks spilling into the convenience store section of the gas station as they waited for their orders. Nobody seemed to mind, though. Clearly, Basin Burger is the king of this Driggs parking lot. And for good reason. The menu is pretty straightforward — burgers, chicken and hot dogs — with a menu of shakes that could rival just about anyone in the area. Vanilla? Check. Chocolate? Check. Strawberry, black raspberry, butter pecan, lime, orange or banana? Check after check. And as the menu suggests, they’re willing to combine any flavors. I’m not sure who’d be up late in Driggs looking for a banana-lime milkshake, but should one be in search of such a thing, Basin Burger

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

24 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

HELEN GOELET

EAT IT!

Bustling Bangkok Insects, night-clubs and floating markets create welcome chaos on the last stop in Thailand BY HELEN GOELET

e were warned about Bangkok: “It’s crowded,” “It’s loud,” “It’s soooo touristy.” Those warnings weren’t wrong, but they also weren’t totally fair. Yes, Bangkok is certainly the largest, busiest and perhaps most tourist-centric city we’ve been to on this Jackson-meetsThailand trip. But along with the bustle, Bangkok is also full of industry, universities and great food. Our first night there (and consequently our last night in Thailand), we ventured out to Khao San Road, a street

notorious for its nightlife, street food and souvenirs. We met up with a local Thai girl named Pim, a friend of a friend who kindly showed us the ropes. Thank God for Pim. Not only was the street packed with tourists, the stalls were flowing over onto the sidewalks, filled with t-shirts, elephant pants, blouses and more goodies than I can even begin to describe. The vendors on Khao San Road all compete for business with the same wares, so they call out to each passerby, shouting prices and pushing signs in their faces advertising those notorious “ping pong shows” (something we were very unenthralled by), laughing gas, $3 gin buckets, tattoos, bracelets with lewd sayings … the list goes on and on. Behind the stalls, music pounds with heavy, jarring bass from open bars and night clubs, each playing a different song, and each pushing the stereo louder and louder. In the midst of the bar chaos, though, there is a pleasant surprise. Food carts with hot pans roll by us at a leisurely pace, pushing slowly through the

Unlike most papaya salads the author tried on her trip, this one from north-eastern region of Thailand was layered with glass noodles and bits of whole crab.

throngs of people, with signs advertising for pad thai, grilled meats and much more. The one that caught our eyes had bins full of fried insects and signs with cameras with a line through them. We’d have to pay for a photo. “Try the silk worms,” Pim said as she pulled out 40 Baht (the equivalent of $1.20) and bought a bag of about 50 fried worms dusted in salt and pepper. I swallowed hard, grabbed two and popped them into my mouth. “They taste kind of like peanut butter,” I said. She laughed. Americans do love their peanut butter. We also tried a fried scorpion, which I must say wasn’t my favorite. I’ll take the peanut butter worms any day. After a few hours, overcome by exhaustion and overwhelmed by sight, sound, smell and taste, we headed back to our hostel with plans to meet Pim the next day for lunch at Klong Lat floating market.

Located in west Bangkok, this market is only open Saturdays and Sundays, and we realized upon entering its crowded walkways that unlike Khao San, it is not a market frequented by tourists. Hugging the Lat Ta Niao waterway, the market consists of hundreds of food stalls sheltered under a makeshift roof. Each stall sells different food: fresh fish, cooked fish, fresh prawns, cooked prawns, sun-dried pork/beef, noodles, soups and desserts are all options, as is green papaya salad, my personal favorite. Along the railing by the water, shallow boats sit to sell fruits and vegetables to customers who have come for a weekend lunch. After a quick survey of the market, Pim picked a few things for us to eat. The first, a papaya salad from the northeastern region of Thailand, was unlike most papaya salads we’ve had, and was layered with glass noodles and bits of whole crab. We watched as the vendor

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HELEN GOELET

“There’s an old Thai proverb. It says, ‘A meal without dessert is a meal for servants.’ It means that in the old days, only the poor cannot have dessert, so one must always enjoy dessert if you can.”

A street market chef grills skewered chicken to finger-licking perfection.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

threw different ingrediGrilled chicken with a spicy glaze and parcels of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf. ents into a deep, brown bowl resembling a butpouch and taking a bite. “It says, ‘A meal ter churner with a large mortar, and started pounding the salad without dessert is a meal for servants.’ It means that in the old days, only the poor together with a long wooden pestle. cannot have dessert, We also bought a half so one must always of a skewered chicken, enjoy dessert if you which was grilled and can.” covered in a deliciously I took a bite of sticky and spicy glaze as my rice cake — the we waited. It was served perfect mix of toasty, with sticky rice, which nutty, crunchy and was wrapped in banana sweet. leaf parcels. We found a “I think it’s a good table by the side of the saying,” I said, and canal and devoured our popped the rest of the lunch. treat into my mouth, While quite literalsatisfied not only ly licking our fingers with Bangkok, but clean, we were surwith our food tour of prised by a man dropThailand. ping off three plastic Time to head back pouches. Inside were to a world without the crispy rice cakes held hustle and bustle of together by caramel. “There’s an old Thai proverb,” Pim Thailand’s brillant street markets — and said, pulling her rice cake from the back to Jackson. PJH

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Free Coffee with Pastry Purchase Every Day from 3 to 5pm

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 25

PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

26 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

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 1155 S HIGHWAY 89 JACKSON, WY 83OO1 | OPEN DAILY: 7AM - 1OPM | 3O7-733-O45O | JACKSONWHOLEGROCER.COM

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.

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 39 years. Join us in the charming atmosphere of a historic home. Serving fresh fish, elk, poultry, steaks, and vegetarian entrées. Ask a local about our rack of lamb. Live acoustic guitar music most nights. Open nightly at 5:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays until ski season. Off Season Special: 2-for1 Entrees. Must mention ad, dine-in only. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com

PICNIC

Our mission is simple: offer good food, made fresh, all day, every day. We know everyone’s busy, so we cater to on-the-go lifestyles with quick, tasty options for breakfast and lunch, including pastries and treats from our sister restaurant Persephone. Also offering coffee and espresso drinks plus wine and cocktails. Open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm, Wknds 7am-3pm 1110 Maple Way in West Jackson 307-2642956www.picnicjh.com

ELEANOR’S

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

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.

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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

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. Reservations at (307) 733-4913 3295 Village Drive • Teton Village, WY

www.mangymoose.com

LOCAL

Local, a modern American steakhouse and bar, is located on Jackson’s historic town square. Our menu features both classic and 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 locallysourced 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. Dine in for 2-for-1 dinner entrees staring at 5:30pm. 140 N. Cache, (307) 7340882, theorganiclotus.com.

MANGY MOOSE

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 through its awardwinning Alabama-style pulled pork, ribs, wings, turkey and chicken smoked over hardwood served with two unique sauces in addition to Catfish and a Shrimp Moe-Boy sandwich. A daily rotation of traditional Southern sides and tasty desserts are served fresh daily. Moe’s BBQ stays open late and features a menu for any budget. While the setting is family-friendly,

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.

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.

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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.

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.

a full premium bar offers a lively scene with HDTVs for sports fans, music, shuffle board and other games upstairs. Large party takeout orders and full service catering with delivery is also available.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 27

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

28 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

SUDOKU

WINDSHIELDS

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 “OUTSIDE SHOTS” By ERIK AGARD

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2017

ACROSS 1 4

Security gp. with wands They can print rcpts. with check images 8 Hooch 13 __ Spumante 17 Minor league ice org. 18 Asked too much 20 Chinchilla, e.g. 22 Give temporarily 23 Los Angeles athlete 24 *Trademark on Sealy’s home page 26 Lamb pen name 27 “Show me the evidence!” 29 Green Giant morsels 30 Some oral meds 32 Perfect places 33 Nearly 25% of a marathon 34 Marvin Gaye’s label 36 Understand 37 “We need to talk” 38 *Like the “Hunger Games” trilogy 41 Chocolate __ cake 42 Oinker 43 Is yet to be decided 44 Descartes’ sum 45 *1998 Bullock/Kidman film involving sorcery 49 Make it necessary to decrypt 52 Pepper typically hotter than a jalapeño 53 Paddle 54 Conestoga traveler 55 Bars in aisles, briefly 56 Good name for a funeral director? 57 See 80-Down 59 “Ugh, I’ve heard enough” 60 *Certain pie lover 64 *One might help find a lost animal 67 “Law & Order: __” 68 Walk with a pack 69 Brown rectangle?

70 “Ben-__” 71 Outlook alternative 74 Joe dispenser 75 Part-time player 79 Most loyal 80 *Checkout choice 84 “Every kiss begins with __”: jeweler’s slogan 85 Trash 86 Long swimmer 87 Gauge on the dash 88 *Furry, green baseball mascot 93 Toast opener 94 Swanson on “Parks and Recreation” 95 Retract 96 1-Across check 97 Bespectacled “Scooby-Doo” character 98 Downward dog surface 100 Two-part tune 101 Mechanics’ jobs 103 Ends’ partners 104 *Like a 107-Down 108 Came into 109 End of a bed 110 Classic palindrome ending 111 Tuscan hill city 112 “__ takers?” 113 Acronymic anxiety about being excluded from the fun 114 Progress tracker 115 Team of players 116 Veto

DOWN 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9

Rain delay cover Some free downloads “Talk to Her” Oscar-winning screenwriter Pedro Tack on One below quatre Ocean spray Chess player’s pride Lose cohesion “My bad”

10 Tribute in verse 11 Alphabetiser’s ending 12 Puzzles 13 Guinness of “Star Wars” 14 Embarrassingly outdated 15 Tamsui River capital 16 “Gimme one moment” 19 Fools 21 Protective lymphocyte 25 Pay for a pad 28 City named by Cortés 31 Placing, as bricks 33 Ancient wrap 34 Author Morrison 35 Power couple? 37 Swiss high points 38 __ de gallo 39 Board game piece 40 Rabanne of fashion 42 Go to bat (for) 46 Spanish snack 47 Barracks officer, slangily 48 Artist Chagall 49 Another name for abalone 50 God head? 51 Benét or Bellinger of R&B 54 Hip-hop hitmaker Fetty __ 56 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” initials 57 Bingo relative 58 Airport screen no. 60 H.S. exam 61 Novello for whom British music-writing awards are named 62 Former South African monarchy 63 Engine stuff 64 Engine sound 65 Arizona retirement city 66 Comedian Alonzo’s self-named sitcom 69 TV drama partly set on a Louisiana farm 72 Square serving?

73 Refuge 75 What a script may be written on 76 Grouse family bird 77 Pilaf-like product 78 Publisher Adolph 80 With 57-Across, storied hot-porridge eater 81 Pale 82 School gp. 83 Free __: carte blanche 85 The Irons of soccer’s Premier League 88 Remove with force 89 African American folk magic 90 Like Candy Crush purchases 91 Taiwanese PC brand 92 Lines at the door? 93 Jazz devotee 97 Blood lines 99 Regarding 100 Head 101 Long-necked pampas bird 102 River of Hades 105 First character in this clue 106 Bit of body art 107 Shot surrounding the answers to starred clues

COSMIC CAFE WITH CAROL MANN

Family Time for Your Evolution “Spiritual maturity begins when drama ends.” - unknown

BIG PICTURE TRUTH: IT’S NOT PERSONAL Every member of your family has their own soul, their own learning lessons, their own history in this and other lives. They have their own emotional wounds, defenses and filters, skills and talents. Whether or not they are working on upgrading these things in themselves is not about

WHY SOULS ARE IN THE SAME FAMILY Reincarnation teaches that parents, siblings and relatives in our life are together on purpose. Both the positives and negatives which each of these people bring to our life are meant for our evolution. Of course it’s easier to appreciate and to benefit from the good qualities and opportunities family members bring into our experience. The higher purpose in what you wanted from them and didn’t get is to push you to develop those upgrades in yourself. For example, if they were too critical, it’s for you to develop being non-judgmental with yourself and others. If they were not affectionate enough for your liking, it is for you to make sure you are affectionate in your life. If you felt they were not present for you, it is for you to be sure to show up and be present for others. You get the gist. This way of looking at what you did and did not get in your family of origin puts you in the driver’s seat of your life to be the hero/heroine of your own story. Allow and be grateful for what you did get and what you didn’t get to help you become a better human.

FORGET ABOUT FIXING Be aware that trying to fix people is a setup. When people feel the “you’re not good enough,” the “you’re not right” or the “I know better than you” vibe coming at them, that’s just a call for them to defend and attack…even if you are correct. When you let go of inserting any form of disapproval into the mix of the family dynamics, they will no longer feel the need to play the controversy game. You’ll feel better and they won’t bug you. Perhaps they might find someone else in the group willing to engage in their need for drama, and it will not be you.

ALSO FIND YOUR SOUL FAMILY There will also be people who ignite and support your truth, get you and love you unconditionally who are not in your family of origin. These friends of all ages, not connected by blood or race or religion, are part of your soul family. Pursuing relationships with these people will give you the supportive, “on the same wave length” kind of comfort you may or may not have had growing up. Or maybe you did have this at home and you’d like more of the good stuff. We can all benefit from expanding the definition of family, deepening our capacity for love and eventually experiencing that we are all connected. PJH

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

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

oliday season usually includes spending time with the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly of family dynamics and individual personalities. The evolutionary invitation this season is to practice the skills of spiritual maturity. The keys to no longer being at the effect of old family patterns include the following: the ability to accept others for who they are; to let go of trying to fix anyone or convince them of anything; to not take their actions personally; and to no longer get hooked by family members whose points of view or behaviors are not in sync with yours. This will free you to enjoy what you appreciate and to just let go of the rest.

you. Their positive and less noble patterns are not about you. They are doing their best with who they are and what they’ve experienced in life. As a spiritually mature human being, the time is now to no longer take personally what your parents, siblings or relatives say and do. Focus instead on being your best self.

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 29

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

30 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

WELLNESS COMMUNITY

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Professional and Individualized Treatments • Sports/Ortho Rehab • Neck and Back Rehab • Rehabilitative Pilates • Incontinence Training • Pelvic Pain Rehab • Lymphedema Treatments Norene Christensen PT, DSc, OCS, CLT Rebekah Donley PT, DPT, CPI Mark Schultheis PT, CSCS Kim Armington PTA, CPI No physician referral required. (307) 733-5577•1090 S Hwy 89

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HALF OFF BLAST OFF!

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Journalist James A. Fussell defined “thrashing” as “the act of tapping helter-skelter over a computer keyboard in an attempt to find ‘hidden’ keys that trigger previously undiscovered actions in a computer program.” I suggest we use this as a metaphor for your life in the next two weeks. Without becoming rude or irresponsible, thrash around to see what interesting surprises you can drum up. Play with various possibilities in a lighthearted effort to stimulate options you have not been able to discover through logic and reason. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Let’s observe a moment of silence for the illusion that is in the process of disintegrating. It has been a pretty illusion, hasn’t it? Filled with hope and gusto, it has fueled you with motivation. But then again -- on second thought -- its prettiness was more the result of clever packaging than inner beauty. The hope was somewhat misleading, the gusto contained more than a little bluster, and the fuel was an inefficient source of motivation. Still, let’s observe a moment of silence anyway. Even dysfunctional mirages deserve to be mourned. Besides, its demise will fertilize a truer and healthier and prettier dream that will contain a far smaller portion of illusion.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) A snail can slowly crawl over the edge of a razor blade without hurting itself. A few highly trained experts, specialists in the art of mind over matter, are able to walk barefoot over beds of hot coals without getting burned. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Pisces, you now have the metaphorical equivalent of powers like these. To ensure they’ll operate at peak efficiency, you must believe in yourself more than you ever have before. Luckily, life is now conspiring to help you do just that.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) I used to have a girlfriend whose mother hated Christmas. The poor woman had been raised in a fanatical fundamentalist Christian sect, and she drew profound solace and pleasure from rebelling against that religion’s main

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) What exactly is the epic, overarching goal that you live for? What is the higher purpose that lies beneath every one of your daily activities? What is the heroic identity you were born to create but have not yet fully embodied? You may not be close to knowing the answers to those questions right now, Virgo. In fact, I’m guessing your fear of meaninglessness might be at a peak. Luckily, a big bolt of meaningfulness is right around the corner. Be alert for it. In a metaphorical sense, it will arrive from the depths. It will strengthen your center of gravity as it reveals lucid answers to the questions I posed in the beginning of this horoscope. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) We all need teachers. We all need guides and instructors and sources of inspiration from the day we’re born until the day we die. In a perfect world, each of us would always have a personal mentor who’d help us fill the gaps in our learning and keep us focused on the potentials that are crying out to be nurtured in us. But since most of us don’t have that personal mentor, we have to fend for ourselves. We’ve got to be proactive as we push on to the next educational frontier. The next four weeks will be an excellent time for you to do just that, Libra.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) This is your last warning! If you don’t stop fending off the happiness and freedom that are trying to worm their way into your life, I’m going to lose my cool. Damn it! Why can’t you just accept good luck and sweet strokes of fate at face value?! Why do you have to be so suspicious and mistrustful?! Listen to me: The abundance that’s lurking in your vicinity is not the set-up for a cruel cosmic joke. It’s not some wicked game designed to raise your expectations and then dash them to pieces. Please, Scorpio, give in and let the good times wash over you.

Go to RealAstrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

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NOVEMBER 22, 2017 | 31

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) It may seem absurd for a dreamy oracle like me to give economic advice to Tauruses, who are renowned as being among the zodiac’s top cash attractors. Is there anything I can reveal to you that you don’t already know? Well, maybe you’re not aware that the next four weeks will be prime time to revise and refine your long-term financial plans. It’s possible you haven’t guessed the time is right to plant seeds that will produce lucrative yields by 2019. And maybe you don’t realize that you can now lay the foundation for bringing more wealth into your life by raising your generosity levels.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Your lucky numbers are 55 and 88. By tapping into the uncanny powers of 55 and 88, you can escape the temptation of a hexed fiction and break the spell of a mediocre addiction. These catalytic codes could wake you up to a useful secret you’ve been blind to. They might help you catch the attention of familiar strangers or shrink one of your dangerous angers. When you call on 55 or 88 for inspiration, you may be motivated to seek a more dynamic accomplishment beyond your comfortable success. You could reactivate an important desire that has been dormant.

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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ARIES (March 21-April 19) In alignment with the current astrological omens, I have prepared your horoscope using five hand-plucked aphorisms by Aries poet Charles Bernstein. 1. “You never know what invention will look like or else it wouldn’t be invention.” 2. “So much depends on what you are expecting.” 3. “What’s missing from the bird’s eye view is plain to see on the ground.” 4. “The questioning of the beautiful is always at least as important as the establishment of the beautiful.” 5. “Show me a man with two feet planted firmly on the ground and I’ll show you a man who can’t get his pants on.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22) So begins the “I Love To Worry” season for you Cancerians. Even now, bewildering self-doubts are working their way up toward your conscious awareness from your unconscious depths. You may already be overreacting in anticipation of the anxiety-provoking fantasies that are coalescing. But wait! It doesn’t have to be that way. I’m here to tell you that the bewildering self-doubts and anxiety-provoking fantasies are at most ten percent accurate. They’re not even close to being half-true! Here’s my advice: Do NOT go with the flow, because the flow will drag you down into ignominious habit. Resist all tendencies towards superstition, moodiness, and melodramatic descents into hell. One thing you can do to help accomplish this brave uprising is to sing beloved songs with maximum feeling.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Judging from the astrological omens, I conclude that the upcoming weeks will be a favorable time for you to engage in experiments befitting a mad scientist. You can achieve interesting results as you commune with powerful forces that are usually beyond your ability to command. You could have fun and maybe also attract good luck as you dream and scheme to override the rules. What pleasures have you considered to be beyond your capacity to enjoy? It wouldn’t be crazy for you to flirt with them. You have license to be saucy, sassy, and extra sly.

holiday. One of her annual traditions was to buy a small Christmas tree and hang it upside-down from the ceiling. She decorated it with ornamental dildos she had made out of clay. While I understood her drive for revenge and appreciated the entertaining way she did it, I felt pity for the enduring ferocity of her rage. Rather than mocking the old ways, wouldn’t her energy have been much better spent inventing new ways? If there is any comparable situation in your own life, Gemini, now would be a perfect time to heed my tip. Give up your attachment to the negative emotions that arose in response to past frustrations and failures. Focus on the future.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

32 | NOVEMBER 22, 2017

GUESS WHO’S CO M I N G TO

DINNER

Where do you take the picky eater visiting town this ski season, and how do you cater to the friend who crashes your dinner party?

Find out in our 2017 Winter Dining Issue! Whether your guest is a vegan, a meat head or a particularly picky partner, join us as we uncover the valley’s best places to feed your dietary-demanding friends. Plus, we’ll dish on the best places around town to find dinnerware, decor and more for feeding and entertaining on your turf. Serve your message to more than 10,000 hungry readers who know this special issue as the go-to guide for staying fresh FIRST TASTE FIRST TASTE on the valley’s dining scene. DISCOUNTED RATES

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