Planet Jackson Hole March 8, 2018

For years, media outlets desperately chased the clicks promised by Facebook; now the social media giant threatens to destroy them

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

2 | MARCH 7, 2018

March 2018

St. John’s Calendar of Events Most events are free unless otherwise noted.

Health & Wellness

Support Groups Cancer Support Group for Patients Survivors, and Caregivers Led by cancer nurse Beth Shidner, RN, OCN, and social worker Lynnette Gartner, MSW, LCSW Thursday, March 1 Thursday, March 15 4-5 pm Professional Office Building Suite 206

For information, call 307.739.6195

Memory Loss Support Group For those suffering from persistent memory problems; family members and caregivers welcome Thursday, March 8 Noon – 1 pm

For information, call 307.739.7434

Teton Parkies (For those affected by Parkinson’s Disease)

Gather for mutual support, discussion of disease and therapies, and more.

Tuesday, March 13, 4 pm Walk or XC ski at Emily’s Pond.

Dinner to follow.

Tuesday, March 27, 5:30 pm Featuring Perri Stern, Home Care Manager Jackson Whole Grocer Community Room Contact Elizabeth at 307.733.4966, 614.271.7012, or epgerhard@gmail.com

Grief Support Group Led by St. John’s Hospice social worker Oliver Goss, LCSW Drop-ins welcome, but please call ahead Wednesday, March 14 Noon – 1 pm Wednesday, March 28 Noon – 1 pm Professional Office Building Suite 114, 555 E. Broadway, Entrance C

Call 307.739.7463

tetonhospital.org/calendar

Teton Mammas For new babies and their families Wednesday, March 15 1 – 2:30 pm Moose Wapiti Classroom St. John’s Medical Center

For information, call 307.739.6175

Weight Management Support Group Open to everyone interested in weight loss and those considering (or who have had) bariatric surgery Thursday, March 15, 4 pm Professional Office Building Suite 206

For information, call 307.739.7634

Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Group in Spanish In Spanish! ¡En Español!

Zumba with Elvis. Family friendly.

Mondays and Wednesdays 5:30 – 6:30 pm Moose-Wapiti Classroom St. John’s Medical Center

For information, call 307.739.7678

Dinner with a Doc Dr. Tierney Lake will discuss sleep Tuesday, March 20 5 pm Exercise class with Leslie Roberts 6 pm Dinner with a Doc Senior Center of Jackson Hole Free for seniors; $8 for guests

RSVP to Senior Center 307.733.7300

Spine Classes

Joint Classes

Information for people considering or scheduled for spine surgery Tuesday, March 6, 3-4:30 pm Monday, March 12, 1-2:30 pm Tuesday, March 20, 3-4:30 pm Physical Therapy Room St. John’s Medical Center

Information for people considering or scheduled for joint replacement surgery Thursday, March 8, 8-9:30 am Tuesday, March 13, 4-5:30 pm Thursday, March 22, 8-9:30 am Physical Therapy Room St. John’s Medical Center

Please register by calling 307.739.6199

Please register by calling 307.739.6199

Update on the New Living Center with Anderson Mason Dale Architects Watch for date and location at ANewHomeforaNewAge.org

Auxiliary Evening Social Thursday, March 1 5:30 pm Cowboy Village

Monthly Luncheon “Strategic Direction for SJMC,” by guest speaker Cynthia Hogan, chair of the SJMC board of trustees.

Thursday, April 5 noon Moose-Wapiti Classroom St. John’s Medical Center

Foundation Sunday, March 11 9 am Dancers’ Workshop

Register at crowdrise.com RocktheRide2018

For information, call 307.739.7517

625 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY

JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE

VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 8 | MARCH 7-13, 2018

@THEPLANETJH |

@PLANETJH |

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11 COVER STORY FEED FRENZY

For years, media outlets desperately chased the clicks promised by Facebook; now the social media giant threatens to destroy them

Cover illustration by Jeff Drew

5

THE NEW WEST

8 OPINION

19 CREATORS 25 50 BEST DISHES 29 COSMIC CAFE

16 CINEMA

THE PLANET JACKSON HOLE TEAM PUBLISHER

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STAFF WRITER

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EDITOR

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT

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CONTRIBUTORS

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Robyn Vincent / editor@planetjh.com ART DIRECTOR

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Helen Goelet, Carol Mann, Nate Martin, Scott Renshaw, Lisa Van Sciver, Josi Stephens, Tom Tomorrow, Daniel Waters, Todd Wilkinson, Jim Woodmencey, Baynard Woods MEMBER: National Newspaper Association, Alternative Weekly Network, Association of Alternative Newsmedia

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BY METEOROLOGIST JIM WOODMENCEY

I think it is safe to say, “March came in like a lion”, this year. With the three-day storm we had this past weekend, it brought snow depths in town up over a foot deep.

Officially, 13 inches deep at the Jackson Climate Station on March 4th, 2018. That is the deepest the snow depth has been in town this winter. Snow depths in December 2017, January & February 2018 never got deeper than 10 inches. Average snow depth in town this time of year is around 11 inches.

Average low temperatures this week are into the mid-teens. The record low temperature this week occurred over 100 years ago, way back on March 13th, 1917. The low temperature that morning got down to 32-degrees below zero. The afternoon high temperature that day only got up to 15-degrees above zero, which was also a record. That 32-degrees below zero reading ties the temp recorded on March 4th, 1966 for the coldest March temperature.

LOWS

THIS WEEK

NORMAL HIGH NORMAL LOW RECORD HIGH IN 1934 RECORD LOW IN 1966

39 14 61 -32

AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.23 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 4.21 inches (1995) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 11 inches RECORD SNOWFALL: 26.5 inches (1985)

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

MARCH 7, 2018 | 3

The average high temperature this week is 39-degrees. The record high temperature this week is 61-degrees, which also occurred on March 13th, but in the year 1934. Seventeen years after the record low temperature for this week occurred on that same date, March 13th. The earliest in the year that we have ever hit 60-degrees in Jackson was on March 12th, 2007. The low temperature that morning also broke a record, only getting down to 37-degrees.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JH ALMANAC HIGHS

MARCH 7-13, 2018

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

6 DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

18 DON’T MISS

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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

4 | MARCH 7, 2018

EARLY RISER? We Clean Everything!

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Thursday, April 5 7-10 p.m. at Lotus Cafe get your tickets at bestof jh.com

CONTACT PETE@PLANETJH.COM | (801) 413-0936

JH SNOWPACK

SPONSORED BY HEADWALL RECYCLE SPORTS

BY LISA VAN SCIVER

March came in like a lion with stormy weather and great powder skiing. From March 2 through 5, a cold trough of low pressure brought 33 inches of snow to the Rendezvous Bowl weather station at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and 55 inches to the Chief Joe weather station at Grand Targhee Resort. Snowfall rates reached up to three inches an hour.

Strong winds blew from east to west but averaged out of the south. These winds formed widespread pockets of stiff wind slabs. Then as the storm exited, temperatures remained cold and light density powder capped the surface. The high winter sun and warming temperatures could quickly change the cold snow, so enjoy it while it lasts.

This storm also added significant weight to any weak layers buried in the snowpack. At Rendezvous

Bowl there were two and a half inches of water added.

The stubborn nature of these persistent slabs does not negate the fact that crusts and facets exist within the snowpack. Monitor rapid change for deeper slab instabilities.

Outside of our area, epic snowfall finally hit California. In the first several days of March more than six feet of snow fell at Mammoth Mountain’s upper elevations. During this storm cycle, both Squaw Valley Ski Resort and Mammoth Mountain had very large avalanches within the ski area boundaries. Luckily, there were no casualties.

The mountains are always changing. Patience and being dynamic will give the snowpack time to adjust to added loads and passing weather.

NPS.GOV

THE NEW WEST PET SPACE

Pet Space is sponsored by Animal Adoption Center

Not everyone has viewed the Grand Prismatic Spring from a respectful distance.

Explosive Resilience Yellowstone’s geysers are a miracle of survival but humanity hasn’t made it easy

O

@bigartnature

Steingisser and Marcus note that park geysers and hot pools sustained heavy damage in 1946 as the end of World War II brought huge increases in visitation.

And, as late as the 1950s, rangers dubbed the picturesque, rainbow-hued waters of Morning Glory Pool as “the garbage can” because of the amount of debris tossed into it.

Looking back, such behavior seems senseless and stupid, yet when the park implemented strict resource protection rules, informed by science, there were still profiteers who cackled loudly about their livelihoods being affected, their freedoms being impinged upon, and years of beloved, sacred tradition being dishonored by the heavy-handed, paternalistic federal government.

What have we learned? More recently, during the 2018 government shutdown when law enforcement in Yellowstone was lax, rogue snowmobilers drove into the Upper Geyser Basin defying normal restrictions. And there have been a lot of other incidents. Remember the Canadians who in 2016 recorded themselves brazenly tromping across Grand Prismatic Spring and then posted their exploit on social media?

The irrefutable lesson is that whenever natural resource protection or development is left to the whims of the lowest common denominator of our species’ instincts, it suffers. Without human self-restraint, is there any hope for saving what’s wild? PJH

Everyone is jazzed about Jazz who is a 1.5 year old, female, Border Collie. Jazz was found as a stray living in a Walmart parking lot in Riverton, WY before she was brought to the shelter.

She was transferred to the Animal Adoption Center almost two months ago and it was clear that she had sustained an injury that was never properly taken care of. After undergoing intensive hip surgery, Jazz is finally on the up & up! Jazz has a big personality and she is just starting to blossom so we are so excited to see what she becomes once she is fully recovered and pain-free! Call the AAC at 307-739-1881 to inquire more about Jazz since she is usually in her medical foster!

270 E Broadway, Jackson WY 739-1881 animaladoptioncenter.org

MARCH 7, 2018 | 5

Todd Wilkinson, founder of Mountain Journal (mountainjournal.org), is author of Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, about famous Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear 399 featuring 150 photographs by Tom Mangelsen, available only at mangelsen. com/grizzly.

JAZZ

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

As calls are made for America to harness fossil fuel and alternative energy resources, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a philosophical reflecting pool for pondering the tradeoffs of development versus protection. Similar discussions are happening in Russia’s Valley of the Geysers on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Although Yellowstone Park was set aside in large part to safeguard its geysers and 10,000 other geothermal phenomena, human regard for the features historically had been less than admirable.

Earlier generations of modern tourists chiseled off pieces of geyser cones and carved their initials and graffiti into the mineralized surfaces. Tour guides impressing their clients dumped objects—all kinds—into the waters to leave them encrusted with travertine so that trinkets could be peddled to visitors as souvenirs.

Some geyser and geothermal vents were deliberately crammed with stuff to create a spectacle when they erupted, sending debris skyward. It’s amazing how allegedly freedom-loving adults, when given the chance to exercise their free will, are unable to behave responsibly, or consider the next generation.

When park staff learned that some guides were pouring soap and lye into geysers to trigger premature eruptions, they, too, engaged in the practice. Even famed park photographer F. Jay Haynes employed the technique so that geysers would fountain on cue when he thought the light and wind were perfect to create a postcard image.

In short, adults treated the delicate, fragile features in the national park as cheap carnival games for their own immediate enjoyment, never thinking twice about long-term impacts because, frankly, many knew they might never return to Yellowstone again.

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

ne of the greatest rustic hotels in the world, a stadium-sized parking lot and, more recently, a multimillion-dollar visitor center were all built on top of the world’s most famous and, so far, predictable erupting geyser.

To put this in perspective, imagine how a tramline running to the Grand Teton might affect the way we think about the mystique of the largest summit in the Teton Range. Or maybe an escalator running to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Or tourist trollies motoring down the sidewalk in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. That America still has the world’s largest assemblage of still-functioning geothermal phenomena in Yellowstone National Park is nothing short of a miracle.

It’s a cautionary message that was loud and clear in an overview provided a decade ago by graduate student Alethea Steingisser and her professor Andrew Marcus, both geographers from the University of Oregon. Their report, “Human Impacts on Geyser Basins,” appeared in the winter 2009 edition of the journal Yellowstone Science.

“Globally, there are at least 40 locations where geyser activity has been documented but geysers are now extinct in many of those locations,” the report reads.

In New Zealand, which once had the third largest number of geysers, some 220 spread across 20 different geothermal areas, now has only 55. The bulk of the decline is linked to poorly-conceived energy development.

Closer to home, at Beowawe and Steamboat Springs in Nevada, the two largest geyser basins in the U.S. outside of Yellowstone, zero active geysers exist today following the drilling of exploratory hydrothermal energy wells four decades ago.

BY BY TODD WILKINSON |

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

6 | MARCH 7, 2018

DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

The real ‘drug dealers’ responsible for the opioid epidemic have been largely left out of the conversation.

Optics of Addiction The dangerous rhetoric and imagery of the ‘Opioid Crisis’ has become a political tool

BY BAYNARD WOODS |

A

t a White House summit on the “opioid epidemic,” Donald Trump suggested that the death penalty may be appropriate for drug dealers.

“We have pushers and drugs dealers, they are killing hundreds and hundreds of people,” he said “If you shoot one person, they give you life, they give you the death penalty. These people can kill 2,000; 3,000 people and nothing happens to them.”

Then he went on to say that in countries that have the “the ultimate penalty” for drugs, “they have much less of a drug problem than we do.”

This has been the problem with the rhetoric of the “opioid epidemic” that began when increasing numbers of white people were dying from drugs. “Drug dealers” are an easy rhetorical target, and wretched-looking white kids are the perfect victims.

A couple days before the conference, Axios reported that Trump often used this rhetoric among family and staff and you can pretty much imagine how that sounds. “Put drug dealers up against the wall and shoot them.”

Like “The Wall” it’s stupid and simple and perfect for Trump, who has been praising Rodrigo Duterte, whose drug war has killed more than 12,000 people, according to Human Rights Watch. And, of course, Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions probably hates weed more than anything—except Trump, who likes to call Sessions “Mr. Magoo.”

But it is no surprise that Trump associates floated the idea of killing drug dealers at this moment. Days before the Axios story, on Feb 22, Time published “The

Opioid Diaries,” a prestige photo essay showing a bunch of white people in really bad shape. Its web design and presentation screamed out: important!

But what really is important about it?

Is it important to see “Two women, one of whom goes by Pangea, right, openly using on the street in San Francisco on Jan. 26” ? We always love to see the Beautiful People lost, the lost people ugly, the ruined purity of girls who go by Pangea.

Joan Didion probably didn’t start it but she did it well in “Slouching Toward Bethlehem,” her prose equivalent of The Opioid Diaries about the acid heads in San Francisco in 1967 when the country was starting to freak out about the dangers of LSD. The New Yorker’s Louis Menand echoes popular opinion when he claims that Didion “used a vernacular voice that mimicked the laid-back aimlessness of Haight speech” but, despite Didion’s telegraphically beautiful style, this piece comes across primarily as square and gawkerish. LSD had already been outlawed in California by the time she went to Haight-Ashbury, but federal laws were passed a year later—partly as a result of the IMPORTANT stories about the lost acid kids (Didion’s depicts a fiveyear-old on acid).

So, when in Time’s Opioid Diaries, we read about “Gust Andrew Teague II, 42, a deputy sheriff in Montgomery County, Ohio, handcuffing two unidentified men suspected of drug possession in Dayton on June 29, 2017,” we know where all of this realness lands us—in jail.

But addiction is a disease, right? That’s the thing we are all saying now. When we

@demoincrisis

have an outbreak of the stomach flu, do we need graphic pictures of diarrhea to show it? Do we have “important” black and white photos of people trotting, with clenched cheeks, toward the toilet? The washed-out woman, underwear around her ankles, looking down at her TP, postwipe? We are all gross when sick so why do we need all the dehumanizing pics?

Someone like Larry Clark, whose photo series “Tulsa” also depicts people using drugs, might in fact have some great shit pics somewhere. But James Nachtwey—the photographer behind Opioid Diaries— probably does not. His photos, certainly unintentionally, turn the users into grotesque victims and their dealers into mass murderers.

So all of this becomes Trump’s justification for floating the idea of killing all of the drug dealers.

But we know that pharmaceutical companies, not Black or Latinx drug gangs, got these middle-class white kids we’re all worried about hooked.

Check out Sam Quinones’s “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic” to get a picture of the way pharmaceutical companies and physicians paved the way for black tar heroin to sweep the U.S. It is crazy. And now more than 60 U.S. cities are suing pharmaceutical companies over opioid pushing and a number of states have banded together to subpoena more information from them.

Sessions’ DOJ announced last week that would file a “statement of interest” in these suits.

“Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history. It has

cost this nation hundreds of thousands of precious lives. It has strained our public health and law enforcement resources and bankrupted countless families across this country,” the statement read.

“President Trump and this administration have made ending this unprecedented crisis a priority, and the Department of Justice is committed to using every lawful tool at our disposal to turn the tide. We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars.”

Just to step back and spell it out: When it is a big corporation that takes “precious lives,” the recourse is a statement of interest and some lawsuits. But when it is an individual citizen—or even worse, an immigrant—the solution is death. This is the essence of our post-Citizens United world—corporations have all of the privileges of people and none of the responsibilities or consequences. So even if we don’t, say, execute the CEO of Purdue, could we dissolve the corporation?

Since so many Americans have their retirement and savings in the stock market—staking their futures on the jousting matches of the corporate aristocracy— that will never happen. We are all complicit in the corporate misdeeds and we don’t want to look too hard at that. So they’ll be hit with some suits and some fines but they won’t really do anything to hurt the bottom line. Meanwhile, even Democrats will get behind this revivified “tough on crime” approach because they don’t personally know any “drug lords” and so calling for their execution is actually politically safer than calling for harm reduction. PJH

GUEST OPINION Who Runs the State?

Oil lobbyists forced Wyoming legislators to re-vote on an anti-protest bill

BY NATE MARTIN, BETTER WYOMING

DESIREE KANE

T

Wyoming’s oil and gas magnates are worried about a Standing Rock in the Cowboy State.

the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

“Oh yeah, we got the votes,” Lindholm told Jensen in the hallway. The lawmaker grinned and gesticulated like a puppy eager to please his master. “Wyoming is actually conservative sometimes,” he guffawed.

Legislative Farce

Who’s in charge in Wyoming Even in a bona-fide petrol state like Wyoming, where lawmakers openly work at the behest of mineral companies and consider everything else a secondary interest, this situation was a disturbing reminder of who, precisely, is in charge.

It’s one thing, for instance, that the Senate President who’s also the president of an oil company can propose a tax break for oil companies without anyone so much as blinking an eye. But for lobbyists to flagrantly refuse to allow a bill they’re backing to die, and to be able to pressure a committee into re-voting on it according to industry interests, suggests a degree of obedience among our state’s leadership beyond even what cynical observers expect.

One struggles to imagine another type of bill, dealing with another variety issue, that would prompt a scenario like this to play out. No one in the Legislature is bending over backwards, ignoring the rules, and re-voting on behalf of anyone else.

‘Henderson?’ ‘Henderson?’

MARCH 7, 2018 | 7

The mood was generally grim inside the conference room of the Jonah Building this morning where the House Minerals Committee met for the second time in as many days. Sen. Christensen, SF-74’s sponsor, appeared to be in good spirits, however. So did Rep. Lindholm, who sits on the committee.

Legislative leadership had decided the day before that the meeting would

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Numerous groups protested the unbelievable mockery of Legislative procedure that allowed for a re-vote on the bill.

According to the Legislature’s own rules, committee votes must take place while the committee is convened in a public meeting. So, Henderson couldn’t just change his vote after the meeting Monday morning—the committee would have to meet again.

Tuesday was the last day committees could vote on bills during the 2018 session, so the oil lobbyists and legislators had to work it out so the committee could hold a special meeting Tuesday morning.

Again, by the Legislature’s own rules, committee meetings must be public, and public notice of a meeting must be posted by 3 p.m. the day before the meeting takes place. But it took a while for the lobbyists and lawmakers to get their affairs in order. According to WyoFile, the notice for today’s meeting wasn’t stamped until 3:07 p.m. Monday and it wasn’t posted until 3:58 p.m.

Upon hearing protests, the Legislature’s Rules Committee met at around 5 p.m. to consider whether to allow the re-vote.

The committee determined that, because this bill is so important to the oil and gas

industry, they would ignore the rules and allow the special meeting.

be public, but it would not include any kind of discussion among the committee members nor any testimony from the members of the public.

The committee was simply to sit down, shut up, and re-vote on the single bill.

Chairman Greer offered a lame excuse as to why he had not signed the bill jacket yesterday.

“As I was rushing out to the [House chamber] floor, I told [the secretary] we’d do the paperwork later,” he said. He attempted to characterize the re-vote as “not uncommon,” although it’s unclear when this has happened before. Greer certainly didn’t give any examples.

Henderson, for his part, looked as though he was being marched to the gallows. He maintained a hangdog frown throughout the meeting and kept his eyes averted down at the papers in front of him.

It was hard to tell whether he was putting on a stage play for audience members like Lynnette Greybull, executive director of the Wind River Native Advocacy Center, or whether he actually felt like a piece of pathetic garbage for buckling under lobbyist pressure.

Greer asked for the roll-call vote. The “ayes” from the day before reaffirmed themselves: Reps. Lindholm, Greer, Danny Eyre (R-Lyman), and Bunky Loucks (R-Casper). Rep. Crank joined them.

Two committee members maintained their “no” votes when their names were called: Reps. James Byrd (D-Cheyenne) and Aaron Clausen (R-Douglas), the latter jutting out his chin and looking somewhat like a defiant Viking prepared to battle the proposal both with his vote and with his beard.

Finally, the secretary called out: “Henderson?”

He didn’t respond. The committee members turned to him, but he kept his eyes down and didn’t meet their gazes.

“Henderson?” the secretary said again.

After another pause, Henderson inhaled deeply and issued something of a garbled, reluctant-sounding response in the affirmative. The vote was finished.

The bill passed. The lobbyists won.

Henderson got up and walked over to Lynnette Greybull as the room was clearing out. He extended his hand. We hope to God, for his sake, he was apologizing.

PJH

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

he House Minerals Committee killed a bill they weren’t supposed to on Monday, so the oil and gas lobbyists who run the Wyoming State Legislature made them go back and vote on the bill again on Tuesday.

The proposal in question was Senate File 74, a bill written by ALEC to protect the oil and gas industry from protests like the one that took place on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

The bill died with a 4–4 vote Monday after a committee member who was a sure-bet supporter recused himself because of a conflict of interest.

Shocked, the lobbyists jumped into action and began applying pressure to the “No” votes. Committee chairman Mike Greer (R-Worland) conveniently neglected to “sign the bill jacket”—a technical procedure required to make the vote official—giving lobbyists a chance to apply pressure to Rep. Bill Henderson (R-Cheyenne), who agreed to change his vote.

The committee reconvened this morning, where SF-74 officially passed 6–2. The industry convinced Rep. Tom Crank (R-Kemmerer) to change his vote as well.

Greer made sure to sign the bill jacket this time.

“Oh yeah, we got the votes.”

SF-74, “Crimes against critical infrastructure,” would punish pipeline protesters with up to 10 years in jail and a $100,000 fine. It would also punish organizations that “aid or encourage” protesters—like churches, environmental groups, or Native tribes—with fines of up to $1 million.

The legislation sailed through the Senate, with a 25–5 vote. Some of the Legislature’s most powerful Senators are sponsoring the bill, including Senate President Eli Bebout (R-Riverton) and Wyoming Secretary of State candidate Sen. Leland Christensen (R-Alta).

After it passed its final vote in the Senate last week, Better Wyoming overheard Rep. Tyler Lindholm (R-Sundance) excitedly assuring the bill’s chief lobbyist, Robert Jensen, that it would pass the House too.

Jensen is an oil and gas lawyer who lobbies for HollyFrontier, owner of the Cheyenne oil refinery, pipeline company ONEOK, Westmoreland Coal, and

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

8 | MARCH 7, 2018

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THE BUZZ

Cruelty Questions Persist Animal abuse case mired in murky details and limited by lax laws

S

Pointing Fingers Radda’s assertion that Lampton had something personal against the defendant was not the only accusation of bias during the trial. The tables were turned in January when another judge, Wesley Roberts, conducted a hearing to determine if Radda should be disqualified from trying the Stearns case on grounds he was biased against Lampton, according to court documents.

So the prosecutor in the Stearns case, Becket Hinckley, filed a motion to have Radda removed from the case. “I don’t think I had any other option … because of what Mary Wendell Lampton had told me about how she felt she had been treated in that prior civil matter,” Hinckley said.

Roberts, a judge in Riverton, held a hearing and ruled that Radda should continue trying the case, Hinckley told PJH. The incident in question happened a year earlier when Lampton appeared in Radda’s court on an unrelated small claims matter and walked away feeling the judge had discriminated against her.

After that experience and months before the Stearns case, Lampton wrote a letter to the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics. “I was in Judge Radda’s courtroom on January 24, 2017,” Lampton wrote in an email to PJH. “Three months later, I wrote to the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics about what a negative experience it was, and that I had felt discriminated against.

“I am nearly 50 years old and have never felt discriminated against in my life, nor had I ever made a complaint against any person or institution of authority,” she said in the email.

As of press time, Radda had not responded to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, for the defendant, the case has been a source of significant problems, having caused damages to his personal reputation as well as his business, attorney Mulligan said. “The impact on him has been devastating,” he said. “Some individuals went out of their way to spread false statements that harmed my client, and there will be repercussions. They will find out very soon what they are.” PJH

MARCH 7, 2018 | 9

According to statute and Wyoming case law, to be found guilty of animal cruelty, it must be proven the person abused the animal knowingly, and did so with intent to cause death, injury or undue suffering.

It was lack of the second part—intent— that led Teton County Circuit Court Judge James Radda to deliver Stearns’s acquittal.

“The requirement that a person act ‘knowingly,’ simply means that the defendant acted ‘with awareness, deliberateness, or intention,’ as distinguished from inadvertently or involuntarily,” Radda wrote in his ruling. “Without question,

the defendant should be strung from the Wilson bridge.”

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Knowledge and Intent

the defendant Because of acted ‘knowingtheir weight, ly’ when he hanhorses generdled Buddy on ally do not lie August 8, 2017.” on their sides According to for long periRadda, however, ods of time. the prosecution Doing so can failed to show cause trauma to intent on the their heart and part of Stearns. lungs and blood In Wyoming, flow problems. people accused While horses lie of animal abuse down to sleep at for the first times, there is time are subno hard-andject to a $750 fast rule about A still from the video that sparked the investigation. fine, as well how long the as six months animals can in prison, or both. It is an insignificant stay on the ground before suffering sericonsequence compared to other states. ous injury. But most vets agree time is Neighboring Colorado imposes a fine of of the essence when working with a cast $1,000 to $5,000, and/or 18 months in pris- horse. on. In Georgia, those convicted on first Another neighbor, Lindsey Shaw, tesoffense animal abuse could face fines up tified the animal appeared to still be alive to $15,000, and jail time ranging from one and down on the ground “crying” around to 15 years, or both. Like Wyoming, the 8 p.m. Jason Clapp, the farrier Stearns Georgia statute also requires awareness hired, told the court the horse was still and intent. alive around 6:30 p.m. If those times are Radda based his determination on the accurate, it lends doubt to Stearns’s asserfact that Stearns had consulted a veteri- tion that Buddy was cast for only 40 to narian three times during Buddy’s shoe- 45 minutes. That time frame teeters on ing, and several times had administered the edge of humane practice, according sedative drugs intended to calm the ani- to expert testimonies. Two veterinarians mal during the process. Radda also point- testified that keeping a horse on its side ed out the farrier was warned ahead of for more than 40 to 45 minutes puts it in time that the horse would be difficult to danger of injury or death. shoe. Two veterinarians who testified also Radda, however pointed out in his said they believed the horse’s death was decision that Clapp was not wearing a inadvertent, that Stearns did not intend watch and that the time he stated in testo injure or kill the horse, according to timony was only an estimate. He also disRadda’s ruling. missed Shaw’s testimony as non-persuaOne of the prosecution’s key witnesses sive since she admitted she didn’t know sees the matter in a different light. “If you the difference between the whinny of a look at the video there are many telling horse and the braying of a mule, of which things,” Mary Wendell Lampton, a neigh- there was one nearby. Radda also said bor of Stearns who recorded the incident Lampton’s account of the horse’s time of in August and testified during the trial, death was unreliable. Lampton, he said, told PJH. “The video itself … should have was in an agitated state which could have testified as to the language of intent.” impacted her recollection of the events.

Radda also said Lampton was biased against Stearns based on an inflammaVarying Accounts According to Lampton and other wit- tory remark she made in her home while nesses, the horse died around 8:30, or a deputy was present investigating the sunset, that evening. But according to animal abuse allegations. According to Stearns’s narrative, the death occurred court docuements, she said the defenaround 5:45 p.m.. That time discrepancy dant “should have his balls and penis cut off and shoved down his throat and that is a key factor in the case.

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ometimes, to be found guilty of breaking the law, all one must do is break it. In legal terms, that’s called “strict liability.” Other times, a person can’t be guilty of breaking a law unless they intended to do it. Such is the case with Wyoming’s animal abuse statute.

In mid-February, Forest Stearns of Wilson was put on trial for alleged animal cruelty. The charge stemmed from an incident last August at Stearns’s property near Wilson, where a horse named Buddy died after Stearns attempted to put horseshoes on the animal. The incident was recorded by a neighbor, witnessed by several others and investigated by the Teton County Sheriff’s Office. The video depicts Stearns, who owns Stearns Outfitters, tying the horse by its hind legs while outfitted in pack gear. The horse struggles for a moment lying on its side, and then goes still as Stearns walks away. It was found dead later that night.

Stearns was charged with a misdemeanor and the case was tried by a judge; Stearns waived his right to a jury.

“Due to the significant amount of media coverage and the significant amount of social media attention the case received, I had concerns about getting a non-biased jury,” Richard Mulligan, Stearns’s defense attorney, told PJH. Among the “significant amount of social media attention” that turned heads across the country and sparked outrage was a Facebook page, “Justice for Horses of Stearns Outfitters-Wyoming,” which has since been deleted; multiple postings of a video showing excerpts of the incident on Youtube and Facebook and a Change. org petition to revoke Stearns’s outfitting license with more than 26,000 signatures.

BY FW BROSCHART

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10 | MARCH 7, 2018

NEWS Wait, What?

OF THE

along with a new iPhone and a recent haircut. But, according to the Syracuse PostStandard, Filippidis couldn’t tell officers anything about how he had traveled across the country, other than he rode in a “bigrig-style truck” and “slept a lot.” The truck dropped him off in downtown Sacramento, but he was unable to explain how he got to the airport. He was taken to an area hospital.

WEIRD

Police in Mainz, Germany, responded to an apartment building after cries were heard from within one unit early on Feb. 17, The Associated Press reported. When they arrived, officers found two men, the 58-year-old tenant and a 61-year-old visitor, “hopelessly locked up” with a mannequin dressed as a knight and a large remote-controlled car. The men were too drunk to explain how they had become entangled, and one officer remarked that “the whole thing would have remained a funny episode” if the younger man had not become “more than impolite.” He now faces a charge of insulting officers.

People Different From Us

Metro News reported on Feb. 20 that travelers “remained silent” for 20 minutes while a fellow passenger on a Ural Airlines flight from Antalya, Turkey, to Moscow used the air vent above her seat to dry a pair of underwear.

Witnesses reported that the woman showed no shame and that “everybody was looking with interest and confusion.” Debate raged later, however, after video of the woman was posted online, with one commenter speculating that “maybe the takeoff was sort of extreme, so now she has to dry those.”

Least Competent Criminals

Shanghai, China, police posted a video on social media of two men trying to break into a business on Feb. 14 by using bricks to shatter the glass storefront. But as United Press International reported, when Suspect A’s brick bounced off the glass, he bent to retrieve it and ended up squarely in the path of Suspect B’s brick, which struck him in the head and apparently knocked him out. In the video, Suspect B can be seen dragging Suspect A away from the store. Police remarked: “If all burglars were like this, we wouldn’t need to work overtime.” n A drug smuggler from Brazil apparently didn’t know he was under investigation by the National Anti-Narcotics Trafficking Unit in Portugal when he arrived on a flight Feb. 12 wearing a set of false butt cheeks, filled with 2.2 pounds of cocaine, reported United Press International.

The 32-year-old unidentified man was detained at the Tax and Customs Authority and searched, where his unusual derriere aroused suspicion. An accomplice, waiting for him at a Lisbon train station, was also arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The Litigious Society

Crestline, California, resident Claudia Ackley, 46, has teamed with “Discovering Bigfoot” filmmaker Todd Standing to sue the state of California, requesting on Jan. 18 that state agencies acknowledge the existence of a Sasquatch species. Ackley and her daughters, 11 and 14, say they were hiking a trail at Lake Arrowhead in March 2017 when they spotted a large figure braced in a pine tree. “I ran into a Sasquatch -- a Bigfoot. We were face to face,” Ackley told the San Bernardino Sun. Forest rangers insisted at the time that Ackley and her daughters had seen a bear, and Ackley fears that by not acknowledging the presence of the legendary creatures, the state is putting the public at risk. “People have to be warned about these things,” she said. “They are big.”

Inexplicable

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Firefighter Constantinos “Danny” Filippidis, 49, from Toronto, was the subject of a weeklong search by more than 250 people using drones, dogs and helicopters starting Feb. 7, when he disappeared from Whiteface Mountain ski resort in New York’s Adirondacks. When he finally turned up in California at the Sacramento International Airport on Feb. 13, he was still dressed in his ski pants and ski boots, and he still had his helmet,

Compelling Explanation

A woman claiming to be on a mission from God led a Kentucky State Police trooper on a chase at speeds up to 120 mph on Feb. 10, stopping only when another trooper pulled in front of her car. According to the Elizabethtown (Kentucky) News-Enterprise, Connie Lynn Allen, 52, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, told officers that she was Mother Mary, en route to pick up Baby Jesus, and that God had given her permission to speed. She also said that she had died six years ago. She was charged with several offenses and is being held in Hardin County.

The Continuing Crisis

Donna Walker of Linthwaite, England, just wanted a nice night out to celebrate her 50th birthday; she wasn’t anticipating a trip to the emergency room. Walker, along with her husband, Carlton, 45, and their two sons, was waiting for takeout food at the Atlantis restaurant in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, early on Feb. 18 when a brawl broke out. The Walkers don’t know what started the fight, but Carlton told Metro News: “When the fight spilled out of the takeaway, I said to Donna to stay inside. When I turned round my wife was at the doorway being attacked and was covered in blood. My son was being strangled.”

Donna sustained a 2-inch gash on her forehead and was bitten on the arm by the young woman who attacked her, calling for a tetanus shot and antibiotics. “I wiped my eye and saw all the blood,” Donna said. “I had no idea I had been struck.” Police were still looking for the attackers at press time.

Weird History

Union College in Schenectady, New York, excitedly announced on Feb. 13 that a librarian flipping through the brown pages of a 1793 almanac found a real historical treasure: a lock of President George Washington’s hair. Librarian John Myers came upon an envelope with “Washington’s hair” written in script on it, and inside, tied with a thread, were several strands of grayish hair. Keith Beutler, associate professor of history at Missouri Baptist University and the author of a book called “Washington’s Hair,” told The New York Times that in Washington’s day, it was not uncommon to exchange locks of hair as remembrances. “Exchanging locks of hair were like the selfies of the day,” Beutler said. Experts are examining the almanac and its provenance to determine whether the hair likely belongs to our first president, but in the meantime, college officials are learning how to preserve it.

Animal Antics

At 10 Downing Street in London, Larry the cat is an institution, charged with chasing away mice and offering pet therapy to any willing caressers. Meanwhile, at the Foreign Office, Palmerston the cat serves the same purpose. But Larry and Palmerston have a long-running feud, according to The Telegraph, and on Feb. 16, they went at it again. Jezebel reported that fur was ripped and a collar torn off as the two cats duked it out in the street.

Nick Dixon of “Good Morning Britain” said it appeared that Palmerston won this round: “Palmerston seemed to strut out of Downing Street. Larry seemed a bit dazed and confused after the fight.”

Send tips to weirdnewstips@amuniversal.com.

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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

STORY BY DANIEL WALTERS | ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFF DREW

MARCH 7, 2018 | 11

For years, media outlets desperately chased the clicks promised by Facebook; now the social media giant threatens to destroy them

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12 | MARCH 7, 2018

A

s with any toxic relationship, the possibility of a breakup sparks feelings of terror—and maybe a little bit of a relief.

That’s the spot that Facebook has put the news business in. Last month, the social media behemoth announced it would once again alter its News Feed algorithm to show users even more posts from their friends and family, and a lot fewer from media outlets.

The move isn’t all that surprising. Ever since the 2016 election, Facebook’s been under siege for creating a habitat where fake news stories flourished. Their executives were dragged before Congress last year to testify about how they sold ads to Russians who wanted to influence the U.S. election, and so, in some ways, it’s simply easier to get out of the news business altogether.

But for the many news outlets that have come to rely on Facebook funneling readers to their sites, the impact of a separation sounds catastrophic.

“The End of the Social News Era?” a New York Times headline asked. “Facebook is breaking up with news,” an ad for the new BuzzFeed app proclaimed.

When a giant like Facebook takes a step—until recently, the social media site had been sending more traffic to news outlets than Google—the resulting quake can cause an entire industry to crumble.

Consumers, meanwhile, have grimaced as their favorite media outlets have stooped to sensational headlines to lure Facebook’s web traffic. They’ve become disillusioned by the flood of hoaxes and conspiracy theories that have run rampant on the site.

A Knight Foundation/Gallup poll released last month revealed that only a third of Americans had a positive view of the media. About 57 percent said that websites or apps using algorithms to determine which news stories readers see was a major problem for democracy. Two-thirds believed the media being “dramatic or too sensational in order to attract more readers or viewers” was a major problem.

Now, sites that rely on Facebook’s algorithm have watched the floor drop out from under them when the algorithm has changed—all while Facebook has gobbled up chunks of print advertising revenue.

It’s landed media outlets in a hell of a quandary: It sure seems like Facebook is killing jou r na lism. But can journalism survive w ithout it?

“Traffic is such a drug right now,” says Sean Robinson, a 53-year-old investigative reporter at the Tacoma News Tribune. “The industry is hurting so bad that it’s really hard to detox.”

YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

It’s perhaps the perfect summation of the internet age: a website that started because a college kid wanted to rank which co-eds were hotter became a global goliath powerful enough to influence the fate of the news industry itself.

When Facebook first launched its “News Feed” in 2006, it ironically didn’t have anything to do with news. At least, not how we think of it. This was the website that still posted a little broken-heart icon when you changed your relationship status to “single.”

The News Feed was intended to be a list of personalized updates from your friends. When Facebook was talking about “news stories,” it meant, in the words of Facebook’s announcement, like “when Mark adds Britney Spears to his Favorites or when your crush is single again.”

But in 2009, Facebook introduced its iconic “like” button. Soon, instead of showing posts in chronological order, the News Feed began showing you the popular posts first.

And that made all the difference.

Facebook didn’t invent going viral—grandmas with AOL accounts were forwarding funny emails and chain letters when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was still in grade school—but its algorithm amplified it. Well-liked posts soared. Unpopular posts simply went unseen.

Google had an algorithm too. So did YouTube.

Journalists were given a new directive: If you wanted readers to see your stories, you had to play by the algorithm’s rules.

Faceless, mystery formulas had replaced the stodgy newspaper editor as the gatekeeper of information.

So when the McClatchy Company—a chain that owns 31 daily papers including the Tacoma News Tribune

and the Bellingham Herald—launched its reinvention strategy last year, knowing how to get Facebook traffic was central.

“Facebook has allowed us to get our journalism out to hundreds of millions more people than it would have otherwise,” says McClatchy’s Vice President of News Tim Grieve, a fast-talking former Politico editor.

“It has forced us, and all publishers, to sharpen our game to make sure we’re writing stories that connect with people.”

With digital ad rates tied to web traffic, the incentives in the modern media landscape could be especially perverse: Write short, write lots. Pluck heartstrings or stoke fury.

In short, be more like Upworthy. A site filled with multi-sentence emotion-baiting headlines, Upworthy begged you to click by promising that you would be shocked, outraged or inspired—but not telling you why. (One example: “His first 4 sentences are interesting. The 5th blew my mind. And made me a little sick.”)

By November of 2013, Upworthy was pulling in 88 million unique visitors a month. With Facebook’s help, the formula spread.

The McClatchy-owned Bellingham Herald headlined a short crime story about the arrest of a carjacker this way: “Four people, two cars, one gun. What happens next?”

A short Herald story asking for tips about a recent spree of indecent exposure was headlined, “She was looking at her phone, but the man wanted her to watch him masturbate.”

Even magazines like Time and Newsweek—storied publications that sent photojournalists to war zones—began pumping out articles like, “Does Reese Witherspoon Have 3 Legs on Vanity Fair’s Cover?” and “Trump’s Hair Loss Drug Causes Erectile Dysfunction.”

Newsweek’s publisher went beyond clickbait; the magazine was actually buying traffic through pirated video sites, allegedly engaging in ad fraud.

On Monday this week, Newsweek senior writer Matthew Cooper resigned in disgust after several Newsweek editors and reporters who’d written about the publisher’s series of scandals were fired.

He heaped contempt on an organization that had installed editors who “recklessly sought clicks at the expense of accuracy, retweets over fairness” and left him “despondent not only for Newsweek but for the other publications that don’t heed the lessons of this publication’s fall.”

Mathew Ingram, who covers digital media for Columbia Journalism Review, says such tactics might increase traffic for a while. But readers hate it. Sleazy tabloid shortcuts gives you a sleazy tabloid reputation.

“Short-term you can make a certain amount of money,” Ingram said. “Long-term you’re basically setting fire to your brand.”

One strategy throughout the industry is to downplay the location of a story: readers in other markets are more likely to click if they don’t know it happened thousands of miles away.

Robinson, the veteran Tacoma News Tribune reporter, says local cops have complained about crime stories from elsewhere that were being shared on Facebook by local TV stations without context— worrying local readers were being misled into thinking they happened in Tacoma.

Grieve, the McClatchy executive, says that he doesn’t ever want to sensationalize a story. But he also says that “internet and social media are noisy places,” and papers have to sell their stories aggressively to be heard over the din.

“If you’re writing stories that aren’t getting read,” Grieve said, “you’re not a journalist—you’re keeping a journal.”

FAKING IT

There was a time Facebook was positively smug about their impact on the world. After all, they’d seen their platform fan the flames of popular uprisings during the Arab Spring in places like Tunisia, Iran and Egypt.

“By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible,” Zuckerberg bragged in a 2012 letter to investors under the header, “We hope to change how people relate to their governments and social institutions.”

And Facebook certainly has — though not the way it intended.

A BuzzFeed investigation before the 2016 presidential election found that “fake news” stories on Facebook, hoaxes or hyperpartisan falsehoods actually performed better on Facebook than stories from major trusted outlets like the New York Times.

That, experts speculated, is another reason why Facebook, despite its massive profits, might be pulling back from its focus on news. “ A s unprecedented numbers of people channel their political energy through this medum, i t ’ s being

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

MARCH 7, 2018 | 13

Plenty of media outlets have tried to build their business on the foundation of the News Feed algorithm. But they quickly got a nasty surprise: That foundation can collapse in an instant.

As Facebook’s News Feed became choked with links to Upworthy and its horde of imitators, the social network declared war on clickbait. It tweaked its algorithms, which proved catastrophic for Upworthy.

“It keeps changing,” Ingram said, “Even if the algorithm was bad in some way, at least if it’s predictable, you could adapt.”

A 2014 Time magazine story estimated that two to three global algorithm tweaks on Facebook were happening every week.

Six years ago, for example, KHQ, a TV news station in Spokane, Washington, told readers they’d have “an ENTIRE day here on FB dedicated to positive local news” if the post got liked 500 times. It worked. The post got more than 1,200 likes, and KHQ followed through with a puppy-picture-laden “Feel Good Friday!!!”

Under the current Facebook algorithm that tactic could get their entire page demoted. So could using shameless “you-won’t-believe-what-happened-next” style phrases.

Much of the time, Facebook and Google don’t announce their shifts up front. Media outlets often have had to reverse-engineer the changes, before issuing new commands to their troops in the field.

“Oh, they changed their algorithm again?”

Robinson said. “Oh, what is it today, coach? OK, it’s 50-word [headlines] instead of 60?”

A pattern emerged. Step 1: Media outlets reinvent themselves for Facebook. Step 2: Facebook makes that reinvention obsolete.

Big publishers leaped at the chance to publish “Instant Articles” directly on Facebook, only to find that the algorithm soon changed, rewarding videos

Seattle Times reporter Joe O’Sullivan noted on Twitter that of the five stories featured in a screenshot of Facebook’s Olympia test, “NONE OF THEM ARE OLYMPIA STORIES. ZERO.” The Seattle Times and other outlets say they’re taking a “wait-and-see” approach to the latest algorithm, analyzing how the impact shakes out before making changes. They’ve learned to not get excited.

“It just, more and more, seems like Facebook and news are not super compatible,” said Shan Wang, staff writer at Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab. At least not for real news. For fake news, Facebook’s been a perfect match.

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CLICKBAIT AND SWITCH

more than posts and rendering Instant Articles largely obsolete. So publishers like Mic.com, Mashable and Vice News “pivoted to video,” laying off dozens of journalists in the process.

“Then Facebook said they weren’t as interested in video anymore,” Ingram said. “Classic bait and switch.”

Which brings us to the latest string of announcements: The News Feed, Zuckerberg announced last month, had skewed too far in the direction of social video posts from national media pages and too far away from personal posts from friends and family.

They were getting back to their roots.

And now, news organizations that dumped a lot of money into eye-catching pre-recorded video would suffer the most under the latest algorithm changes, Facebook’s News Feed VP Adam Mosseri told TechCrunch last month, because “video is such a passive experience.”

Even before the announcement, news sites had seen their articles get fewer and fewer hits from Facebook. Last year, Google once again became the biggest referrer of news traffic as Facebook referrals decreased. Many sites published tutorials pleading with their readers to manually change their Facebook settings to guarantee the site’s appearance in their news feeds.

“Some media outlets saw their [Facebook] traffic decline by as much as 30 to 40 percent,” Ingram said.

“Everybody knew something was happening, but we didn’t know what.”

It might be easy to mock those who chased the algorithm from one trend to another with little to show for it.

But the reality, Ingram said, is that many of them didn’t really have a choice. “You pretty much have to do something with Facebook. You have to. It’s like gravity. You can’t avoid it.”

Zuckerberg’s comments— stories that sparked “meaningful social interactions” would do the best on Facebook—caused some to scoff.

“For Facebook, it’s bad if you read or watch content without reacting to it on Facebook. Let that sink in for a moment,” tech journalist Joshua Topolsky wrote at The Outline. “This notion is so corrupt it’s almost comical.”

In subsequent announcements, Facebook gave nervous local news outlets some better news: They’d rank local community news outlets higher in the feed than national ones. They were also launching an experiment for a new section called “Today In,” focusing on local news and announcements, beta-testing the concept in cities like Olympia.

But in early tests, the site seemed to have trouble determining what’s local.

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14 | MARCH 7, 2018

used in unforeseen ways with societal repercussions that were never anticipated,” wrote Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook’s product manager for civic engagement, in a recent blog post.

The exposure was widespread. A Dartmouth study found about a fourth of Americans visited at least one fake-news website—and Facebook was the primary vector of misinformation. While researchers didn’t find fake news swung the election—though about 80,000 votes in three states is a pretty small margin to swing—the effect has endured.

Donald Trump has played a role. He snatched away the term used to describe hoax websites and wielded it as a blunderbuss against the press, blasting away at any negative reporting as “fake news.”

By last May, a Harvard-Harris poll found that almost two-thirds of voters believed that mainstream news outlets were full of fake news stories.

The danger of fake news, after all, wasn’t just that we’d be tricked with bogus claims. It was that we’d be pummeled with so many different contradictory stories, with so many different angles, the task of trying to sort truth from fiction just becomes exhausting.

So you choose your own truth. Or Facebook’s algorithm chooses it for you.

Every time you like a comment, chat or click on Facebook, the site uses that to figure out what you actually want to see: It inflates your own bubble, protecting you from facts or opinions you might disagree with. And when it does expose you to views from the other side, it’s most likely going to be the worst examples, the trolls eager to make people mad online, or the infuriating op-ed that all your friends are sharing.

That’s partly why many of the 3,000 Facebook ads that Russian trolls bought to influence the election weren’t aimed at promoting Trump directly. They were aimed at deepening division in American life by focusing on issues like race and religion.

Facebook has tried to address the fake news problem—hiring fact-checkers to examine stories, slapping “disputed” tags on suspect claims, putting counterpoints in related article boxes—but with mixed results.

The recent Knight Foundation/Gallup poll, meanwhile, found that those surveyed believed that the broader array of news sources actually made it harder to stay well-informed.

And those who grew up soaking in the brine of social media aren’t necessarily better at sorting truth from fiction. Far from it.

“Overall, young people’s ability to reason about the information on the internet can be summed up in one word: bleak,” Stanford researchers concluded in a 2016 study of more than 7,800 students. More than 80 percent of middle schoolers surveyed didn’t know the difference between sponsored content and a news article.

It’s why groups like Media Literacy Now have successfully pushed legislatures in states like Washington to put media literacy programs in schools.

That includes teaching students how information was being manipulated behind the scenes, said the organization’s president Erin McNeill.

“With Facebook, for example, why am I seeing this story on the top of the page?” she asked. “Is it because it’s the most important story, or is it because of another reason?”

But Facebook’s new algorithm threatens to make existing fake news problems even worse, Ingram said.

By focusing on friends and family, it could strengthen the filter bubble even further. Rewarding “engagement” can just as easily incentivize the worst aspects of the internet.

You know what’s really good at getting engagement? Hoaxes. Conspiracy theories. Idiots who start fights in comments sections. Nuance doesn’t get engagement. Outrage does.

“Meaningful social interactions” is a hard concept for algorithms to grasp.

“It’s like getting algorithms to filter out porn,” Ingram said. “You and I know it when we see it.

[But] algorithms are constantly filtering out photos of women breastfeeding.”

Facebook hasn’t wanted to push beyond the algorithm and play the censor. In fact, it’s gone in the opposite direction. After Facebook was accused of suppressing conservative news sites in its Trending Topics section in 2016, it fired its human editors. (Today, conspiracy theories continue to show up in Facebook’s Trending Topics.)

Instead, to determine the quality of news sites, Facebook is rolling out a two-question survey about whether users recognized certain media outlets, and whether they

found them trustworthy. The problem, as many tech writers pointed out, is that a lot of Facebook users, like Trump, consider the Washington Post and the New York Times to be “fake news.”

The other problem? There are a lot fewer trustworthy news sources out there. And Facebook bears some of the blame for that, too.

FEAST AND FAMINE

It’s not fair, exactly, to say that Facebook killed the alt-weekly in Knoxville, Tennessee. But it probably delivered the final blow.

The internet, obviously, has been killing newspapers for a very long time. Why, say, would you pay a monthly subscription to the Daily Cow, when you can get the milk online for free?

It killed other revenue sources as well. Craigslist cut out classified sections. Online dating killed personal ads. Amazon put many local mom-and-pop advertisers out of business.

Yet the Metro Pulse, Knoxville’s longtime alt-weekly, was still turning a slight profit in 2014 when the E.W. Scripps Company shut it down. So editor Coury Turczyn and a few other staffers set out to start their own paper.

But in the six months it took to get the Knoxville Mercury off the ground, the market had changed.

“We lost a lot more small-business advertisers than we expected,” Turczyn said. Facebook had captured them.

At one time, alt-weeklies could rake in advertising money by selling cheaper rates and guaranteeing advertisers to hit a younger, hipper, edgier audience.

But then Facebook came along. The site let businesses micro-target their advertisements at incredibly specific audiences.

Like Google, Facebook tracks you across the web, digging deep into your private messages to figure out whether to sell you wedding dresses, running shoes or baby formula.

“You go to Facebook, you can try to pick your audience based on their geographic location, their interests,” Turczyn said. It’s cheaper. It’s easier. And it comes with a report chock-full of stats on who the ad reached.

“Even if it doesn’t result in any sales and foot traffic, it at least has this report,” Turczyn said.

Mercury ad reps would cite examples of businesses who advertised in print and saw their foot traffic double the next day—but the small businesses wouldn’t bite. Attempts to rally reader donations weren’t enough. The Mercury shut down in July.

“It’s just more of the same sad story,” Turczyn said.

“It’s a slaughter, there’s no doubt about it.”

Turczyn said two decades of journalism experience hasn’t helped much with the job search. Journalists aren’t what outlets are looking for.

It’s not fair, exactly, to say that Facebook killed the alt-weekly in Knoxville, Tennessee.

But it probably delivered the final blow.

Yet the convergence of layoffs with the pressure to get web traffic, Robinson said, has influenced coverage. When potential traffic numbers are an explicit factor in story selection and you’re short-staffed, you have to make choices.

Stories about schools don’t get many clicks. Weird crime stories do.

But as a long-time reporter, Robinson knows that bombshell scoops can sometimes begin with mundane reporting. Fail to report on the dull stuff, and you don’t know what else you’re missing.

“The media companies want the traffic, the traffic, the traffic,” Robinson said. “The stuff [readers] need to know—but don’t know they need to know—disappears.”

Asked if there’s any reason for optimism, Ingram, at the Columbia Journalism Review, let out a wry laugh.

If you’re not a behemoth like BuzzFeed, he said, your best bet is to be small enough to be supported by die-hard readers.

“If you’re really, really hyper-focused—geographically or on a topic— then you have a chance,” Ingram said.

“Your readership will be passionate enough to support you in some way.”

The West Virginia Gazette-Mail won a Pulitzer Prize last year for reporting on the opioid crisis.

It filed for bankruptcy last month.

That’s one reason some actually welcome the prospect of less Facebook traffic. Slate’s Will Oremus recently wrote that less news on Facebook would eventually cleanse news of “the toxic incentives of the algorithm on journalism.”

Maybe, the thinking goes, without a reliance on Facebook clicks, newspapers would once again be able to build trust with their readers. Maybe, the hope goes, readers would start seeking out newspapers directly again.

But even if Facebook suddenly ceased to exist, there are other sites with other algorithms that can drive traffic and shape coverage. As traffic referred

by Facebook falls, the focus at McClatchy is already shifting. You can optimize your news coverage to appear high in the Facebook News Feed—but you can also optimize it to appear higher in the Google search results.

“We’re all about Google, again,” Robinson said.

“Google, Google, Google.” PJH A version of this article first appeared in the Inlander.

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

“The single biggest job opening I see consistently is social media manager. Or ‘digital brand manager,’” Turczyn said. “Those are the jobs on the marketplace right now.’

It’s not that nobody’s making massive amounts of money on advertising online. It’s just that only two are: Facebook and Google— and they’re both destroying print advertising.

The decline in print advertising has ravaged the world of alt-weeklies, killing icons like the Boston Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Philadelphia City Paper and the Baltimore City Paper.

Dailies keep suffering, too, no matter how prestigious or internet-savvy.

The West Virginia Gazette-Mail won a Pulitzer Prize last year for reporting on the opioid crisis. It filed for bankruptcy last month. Eleven staffers were cut from the Oregonian on Jan. 31, the same day Silicon Valley’s San Jose Mercury News slashed staff.

McClatchy’s made a lot of cuts in the last year, too, though Grieve declined to say exactly how many positions have been eliminated. He, for one, doesn’t blame Facebook.

“Our newsrooms are smaller than they once were, but because we’re so focused on serving the needs of our communities, we’re actually reaching more readers than we ever have before,” Grieve wrote in an email.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

MARCH 7, 2018 | 15

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

16 | MARCH 7, 2018

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

CINEMA

Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman.

Second Glances Revisiting A Fantastic Woman yields something less than a ‘Best of the Year’ candidate

BY SCOTT RENSHAW |

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wkward things can happen between the first viewing of a film and the second viewing.

For example—and I’m just spitballing here—you could put it on your yearend list of the year’s best films, only to discover that maybe it’s not quite that great.

Such is the dilemma that faces me with regard to A Fantastic Woman, co-writer/director Sebastián Lelio’s Oscar-winning Chilean drama. It’s the kind of story that delivers a visceral impact as it’s unfolding for the first time, anchored by a mesmerizing central performance. But when you know what’s coming, parts of the structure begin to crumble, and some of the filmmaking choices feel clunky rather than potent. It starts to feel less like a great movie than like a kind of movie that you want to be great.

Its protagonist is certainly one that’s rarely seen on screen: Marina Vidal (Daniela Vega), a transgender woman who works as a waitress by day and sings in a hotel lounge by night. She’s in a happy relationship with an older, divorced man, Orlando (Francisco Reyes), but her world crumbles when

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Orlando dies suddenly from an aneurysm. And in case the grief wasn’t enough to disrupt her life, Orlando’s ex-wife and children make it clear that they want to erase Marina from their lives, including making it clear she’s not welcome at the memorial service.

It’s a powerful thing seeing an actual transgender actor tear into a performance the way Vega does here, not fishing for the plaudits cisgender actors almost invariably get for the “brave” transformations they undergo to play trans; just look at 2015, when Eddie Redmayne scored an Oscar nomination for The Danish Girl while Tangerine’s Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor remained on the awards sidelines. Vega conveys a ferociousness built on living under perpetually judging eyes, and understanding the continuum of aggression from uncomfortable glances to overt physical assault. Lelio captures Vega’s almost imperceptible flinch when Orlando’s ex-wife calls Marina by her male dead-name, recognizing the sting of someone’s refusal to recognize you. And in one of the most powerful sequences, Marina—who has not had any top or bottom surgeries—visits a

Boys Don’t Cry (1999) Hilary Swank Chloë Sevigny R

TransAmerica (2005) Felicity Huffman Kevin Zegers R

@scottrenshaw

sauna in hopes of finding something left behind by Orlando, her ability to “pass” as male in the men’s locker room providing a reminder of her strange place in the world.

All of this makes A Fantastic Woman a compelling glimpse into the life lived by a transgender woman—except that it’s such a narrow window on that life.

What emerges in a second look, after the initial gut-recoil horror at the many indignities Marina faces, is what a fine line A Fantastic Woman walks between exploration and exploitation. From the physical confrontation with Orlando’s son, to a police station physical examination that requires her to strip naked, to being abducted by Orlando’s family members because she dared to show up at the memorial, Marina’s life becomes an almost relentless string of transphobic incidents. Of course it would be absurd to suggest transgender people don’t face such hostility on a daily basis; it’s just that this narrative packs so much hostility into its tight story time frame that it defines Marina too much by her victim status, rather than through the entirety of her life experience.

Lelio does at times try to leaven

The Danish Girl (2015) Eddie Redmayne Alicia Vikander R

the sting of A Fantastic Woman with fantasy sequences offering another glimpse into Marina’s state of mind, like a walk into a high wind that turns into something out of a silent-era comedy, or a choreographed dance in a gay nightclub. There’s also the ever-present reminder that this is a love story, through the post-death visions Marina continues to see of Orlando, and a lovely slow dance to Alan Parsons Project’s “Time.” Yet Lelio also goes a touch overboard with the motif of mirrors; it’s clear that the physical body Marina sees doesn’t match the identity in her head the first three or four times. Vega’s performance allows the film to dodge the perception that Marina is simply an object of pity—the triumphant final scene makes that clear—but the return journey towards that ending is bumpier than it was the first time around. PJH

A FANTASTIC WOMAN BBB Daniela Vega Francisco Reyes R

Tangerine (2015) Kitana Kiki Rodriquez, Mya Taylor R

THIS WEEK: June 10-16, 2018

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 17

n All Ages Story Time 11 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n East Idaho Home and Garden Show 12 p.m. Kingston Plaza, n Fun Friday - Youth Auditorium 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, n Film Friday Victor 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Game Night 4 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Taste of Teton Village Best of Après-Ski 5 p.m. Four Seasons Resort Ballroom, $0.00 - $150.00, 307739-8317 n Taste of Teton Village Best of Après Ski 5 p.m. Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole, n WhoDunnit?

5:30 p.m. The Center Theater Lobby, $25.00, 3077336379 n Off Square Theatre’s Chekhov Unchecked 7 p.m. Black Box Theater, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3021 n FREE Public Stargazing 7:30 p.m. Center for the Arts, n Boondocks 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Gin & Juice at The Moose: An Evening of Live Hip Hop 8 p.m. Mangy Moose, n Speakeasy at the JHPH 8 p.m. Jackson Hole Playhouse,

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SATURDAY, MARCH 10

n 36th Annual Mini Hahnenkamm Town Downhill 8 a.m. Snow King Resort, $35.00 - $75.00, 3077336433 n Library Saturdays - Youth Auditorium 10:15 a.m. Teton County Library, n Winter Wonderland Ice Skating on the Town Square 12 p.m. n The People’s Market, A Winter Farmers Market 2 p.m. Teton County Fairgrounds Building, Free, 206-715-9039 n Whiskey Mountain 3 p.m. Old Yellowstone Garage, $0.00 - $85.00, 307-739-8317 n TEDxIdahoFalls: Totality 3 p.m. The Colonial Theater,

MERCHANTS CAN TRADE PRODUCT, SERVICES, OR GIFT CERTIFICATES FOR AD CREDIT TO USE IN THE PLANET OR ON PLANETJH.COM. START ADVERTISING NOW WHILE KEEPING CASH IN YOUR POCKET!

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This Week at The Wort THURSDAY, MARCH 8 PAT CHADWICK TRIO FRI & SAT, MARCH 9 & 10 BOONDOCKS SUNDAY, MARCH 11 MUSTARD TIGER TUESDAY, MARCH 13 BLUEGRASS TUESDAY WITH ONE TON PIG Full music schedule at worthotel.com 50 N. Glenwood St. • 307-732-3939

MARCH 7, 2018 | 17

n Books & Babies Story Time 10 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library,

FRIDAY, MARCH 9

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

THURSDAY, MARCH 8

n Storytime - Youth Auditorium 10:30 a.m. Teton County Library, n Story Time, Victor 10:30 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n START Bus Advisory Board Meeting 11:30 a.m. n Lunchtime Reading with Writer Kali Fajardo-Anstine 12 p.m. Teton County Library Auditorium, Free, 307-413-4096 n The Hawthorne Roots and Tap Takeover with Roadhouse Brewery 3 p.m. The Trap Bar & Grill, n After School at the Library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Kid’s Fly Tying 4 p.m. JD High Country Outfitters, n Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting 5 p.m. n REFIT® 5:15 p.m. First Baptist Church, Free, 307-690-6539 n Open Build 5:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Papa Chan and Johnny C Note 6 p.m. Teton Pines Country Club, Free, 307 733 1005 n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Big Wines, Small Plates 6:30 p.m. Piste Mountain Bistro, $0.00 - $250.00, 307-739-8317 n Armchair Adventures: The Galapagos Islands 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, 307-739-9025 n Armchair Adventures: The Galapagos Islands 6:30 p.m. Jackson Parks and Recreation, n App Time - Computer Lab 7 p.m. Teton County Library, n Pat Chadwick Trio 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n The Women by Clare Boothe Luce 7:30 p.m. Walk Festival Hall, $15.00 - $20.00, n Salsa Night 9:30 p.m. Pink Garter Theatre, Free, n Brown Bag Fly Tying 11:30 p.m. JD High Country Outfitters,

Compiled by Cory Garcia

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

n Toddler Gym 10 a.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Story Time 10 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Baby Time - Youth Auditorium 10:05 a.m. Teton County Library, n Open Hockey - Weekday Morning 10:15 a.m. Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Public Skating - Weekday 12 p.m. Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $8.00, (307) 201-1633 n Read to Rover 3 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n VITA 2018 Free Tax Prep 3 p.m. Teton County Library, n After School at the Library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Beginning Pilates Reformer Workshop 3:30 p.m. Dancers’ Workshop, $100.00, 307-733-6398 n Winter Wonderland Ice Skating on Town Square 4 p.m. n Tap with Savion Glover & Marshall Davis, Jr. 6 p.m. Dancers’ Workshop, $25.00, 307-733-6398 n Ruff Readers 6 p.m. Teton County Library, n Living in the West Lecture Series: Building Jackson Hole, A Historic Review of architecture and community development 6 p.m. Jackson Hole Historical Society, Free, 3077332414 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Stoneflies: The Overlooked Order 6:30 p.m. JD High Country Outfitters, n Nathan Dean 9 p.m. Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, Free, 307-733-2207

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| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

18 | MARCH 7, 2018

DON’T MISS >>>>>>>

Some of the uber serious partygoers from Intergalactic Balls of years past.

Space Babes, Beaus and Beats The Intergalactic Ball turns 10 at Teton Theater

BY KELSEY DAYTON |

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A

nimal Planet, Red, White, Gold, Babies on the Moon, Black Holes, Silver, Galactic Samurai, Space Cowboys. Through the years the Intergalactic Ball’s themes have led to some creative and beautiful costumes, said party founder Jeff Stein.

In its 10th year, partygoers have a chance to revisit their favorites, or the themes they missed. The party’s theme this year is “Stardust”—a tribute to David Bowie and Prince, and also because “we’re all made of out of stars,” Stein said. But he encourages people to select whatever theme they want to create their Intergalactic Ball party outfit.

“This year there is really an opportunity to let your imagination run wild,” he said.

The party began 10 years ago as a way for Stein to celebrate his 35th birthday. Stein wanted a science fiction or space theme. He’d always been drawn to the genre because normal rules of Earth don’t apply and different worlds and galaxies offer endless fodder for the imagination. That’s how he came up with the Intergalactic Ball. “It would

@kelsey_dayton

be like a house party in outer space,” he said of his plan for that first soiree.

It’s a vibe that even as the party has become tradition, it has maintained.

That first year it was at the Jackson Hole Playhouse. Everyone came in costume. “We danced all night,” Stein said.

“It became the most obvious thing—of course I am doing it next year.”

It has since become a spring tradition for Jackson, a town where people are always looking for an excuse to wear a costume and dance, Stein said. This year’s music comes from both local and visiting DJs. Doctor Jeep of Brooklyn, New York is known for mixing everything from dubstep to techno to oldschool house and more. “He has proven to adapt to any vibe and make it his own style of party,” the Intergalactic Ball website reads. DJ Barisone, a staple of the West Coast underground scene, will come from Portland, Oregon. He draws inspiration from the 90s, hip-hop and dance hall music. He focuses on intimacy and, according to the party’s website, “is most passionate about moving people through sound.”

Local DJs SK and Mustang will also provide the dance music. They have built a strong local following and get people moving with nods to hip-hop, bass music, R&B and more, Stein noted on the party’s website.

All the DJs will get people dancing, which is the whole point of the party, Stein said.

“One of the best parts of the event every year is that people are participants, they aren’t just attendees,” he said. “They help make the party and the event feel special year after year.”

In its 10th year, Stein no longer thinks of the Intergalactic Ball as his birthday party. Near the spring equinox it marks the start of a new season and in some ways a new year for Jackson. “It’s like a birthday party for everyone—in space time.” PJH

Intergalactic Ball, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 10 at Teton Theater. Tickets are sold-out but more will be released at the door beginning at 12:30 a.m. based on occupancy. 21 and older; ticket price TBD. w w w.igbx.eventbrite.com

Jeff Stein

The Art of the Party The man behind the Intergalactic Ball is an ambassador of music and people in unique, boundary-pushing environments that have comfort and fun baked in by design. “I was very inspired by experiences I had at places like The Grove in Bend, Oregon, where events felt truly special. With so many little details attended to, like lighting, quality sound and decoration, you feel taken care of. After experiencing that I wanted to create it here in Jackson. Essentially a party that was more than just a party.”

His “Dapper” series, for example, was a monthly party held at The Kitchen with an inventive roster of DJs, rotating art exhibits and a dress code that asked the beanie and flannel crowd to step it up.

Events like the IGB, Contour and Dapper have a few interesting things in common. The main thread seems to be a strong dedication to diversity.

Stein, who DJs under the moniker DJ Jefe, has unilaterally committed himself to “bringing fresh, alternative talent to light” not just from other parts of the world, but from Jackson Hole as well.

“I just wasn’t getting this alternative experience I craved.

Eventually I saw that instead of leaving to get it, I should be bringing it here and sharing it.”

He fosters local DJs, artists and musicians, like this author, by incorporating Jackson talent into nearly every shindig he throws. And by some slight of hand, he has managed to bring world renowned talent to Jackson Hole despite the town’s small number of partygoers.

Many, like turntable royalty Barisone, The Librarian and El Papa Chango, say they come back year after year strictly because Stein has introduced them to a special community here. “Jackson is a town that I will always make time to play in,” said Andrea Graham, a.k.a.

The Librarian. “It’s gorgeous, welcoming and filled with some of the best people around.”

Stein invites new friends and old, Graham said, gathers them together in a stunning mountain town, adds music and sits back while the whole pot simmers. It is party-making with a curated twist that is hard to match.

Ten years on this path, Stein remains impossibly joyful in his endeavors, laughing and shrugging it off when asked how he does it. But even if he makes it seem effortless, it’s hard to ignore the work and dedication that goes into what he creates. That is the magic of it, building worlds in one day that appear to have been there for years.

PJH

MARCH 7, 2018 | 19

art and music experiences for as long as he can remember. “While I was in college I attended my first festival, Bread and Puppet—an East Coast gathering of food, theater, art and music. It was my first experience with art blending into music and culture in a unique and exciting way. I was blown away.” Attending festivals became a huge part of Stein’s life, but when he moved from Vermont to Jackson Hole in 2000 he was constantly hungry for culture. “I just wasn’t getting this alternative experience I craved.

Eventually I started to see that instead of leaving to get it, I should be bringing it here and sharing it.”

One thing you may not notice about a Stein gathering or party is the attention to detail. And that’s how he prefers it. He wants you to leave his events feeling that you’ve been scooped up into a warm embrace without necessarily knowing how or to what end. This ethos is the backbone of what Stein does; he makes it easy to feel at home

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

en years ago, Jeff Stein threw himself a birthday party, invited everyone and told them they were going to outer-space and should dress accordingly. He seeded the party with local and visiting electronic music artists, a strategy that has become his signature move over the years.

“The kind of party that I wanted to attend wasn’t happening in Jackson so it made sense to throw it myself,” he said.

From that the annual Intergalactic Ball was born. The homegrown birthday party with a spacesuit dress code would set him towards a life of fostering music, art and culture in small-town Wyoming.

In the years between that party and tenth annual Intergalactic Ball, Stein has worked tirelessly to build something potent and memorable in the valley and beyond. With the help and support of his friends and community, he launched his production company Nomadic Events. He co-created the multi-day Contour Music Festival, which brought Thievery Corporation and Deltron 3030 in its inaugural year, and curated countless art-, culture- and music-centric gatherings.

For Stein and people like him, they don’t appear to choose the path—necessity and curiosity select the path for them. Stein has been drawn to unique

BY JOSI STEPHENS

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

T

HANNAH HARDAWAY

>>>> NEIGHBORHOOD CREATORS

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

20 | MARCH 7, 2018

LOIS GREENFIELD

CULTURE KLASH

Sole Sounds The Tap Dance Kid teaches and performs in the valley this week

BY KELSEY DAYTON |

S

avion Glover can’t quite explain why he loves tap dance. It’s too hard to separate the art from himself. “It is simply the voice,” he said.

“Tap is everything, because it is my voice.”

Tap has given Glover countless opportunities to meet people who changed his life, to see amazing places, but also to express himself through dance.

Glover always had great rhythm, even as a child growing up in New Jersey. He took drumming lessons at 4 years old and when he was 7 his mother enrolled him in a tap class. “Then my life changed,” he said. “I don’t think I knew whether or not I was good at it, it was just something I loved to do.”

Today Glover is considered one of the greatest tap dancers of all time.

Before he was a teenager he starred in the leading role in the Broadway production of The Tap Dance Kid. As a choreographer, Glover’s work helped keep tap dancing in the limelight in the modern dance world. He starred in and choreographed Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, a Broadway musical

that debuted in 1996 and chronicles African-American history. He won a Tony Award for his choreography for the show.

He’s also choreographed the animated films Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2. He’s been in movies like Spike Lee’s Bamboozled and made several appearances on Sesame Street.

This week he’ll teach tap classes in Jackson Hole, along with renowned dancer Marshall Davis, Jr., who has also appeared on Broadway, performed around the world and taught tap as an adjunct professor at Queens College for more than a decade.

The workshops in Jackson are part of a two-year commitment he’s made with Dancers’ Workshop to help the school build its own tap program.

He hopes the two workshops leave participants with a better understanding of the art form.

“I hope they just walk away with tap dance on their mind,” he said. “I hope they talk about tap dancing and try to do more tap dance. I hope they think about it, and keep the art form part of the conversation.”

@kelsey_dayton

Tap is an important art form intertwined with American culture and history, but sometimes forgotten and left out of those conversations, Glover said.

It continues to evolve and shape people’s lives. Glover wants more people to know about it and understand it as an art form.

He particularly loves teaching multi-generational classes. Age doesn’t matter in his classes, Glover said. He’s there to teach people about tap dance and how to express themselves. That’s something for all ages.

“I believe in the philosophy of one mind, one space,” he said.

The list of who Glover thinks should come to his classes is long: doctors, lawyers, musicians, intellectuals, artists, hunters, rock stars, people who need to pray, people who need therapy, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists.

“Basically everyone should come,” he said.

People just need to come to the classroom ready to learn. A diverse class means they’ll learn from the instructors, but also each other, he said.

Glover also likes mixing up levels and abilities. Even those who are an expert at something can return to the basics and work on honing their skills.

“And those who have never even scratched the surface might be greater than they know,” he said. “I like to bring them together and watch them learn and share.”

Even Glover, one of the best tappers in the world, is still learning and evolving.

“I’m still trying to discover [tap],” he said. “My style is ‘tomorrow.’ I don’t know what my style is, because I’m still, after all these years, trying to figure it out.” PJH

Classes are from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday and Thursday at Dancers’ Workshop for ages 8 and older, $25. Glover and Marshall will also give an informal performance at the Senior Center of Jackson Hole from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday and a lecture demonstration to students at Jackson Hole Middle School from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and to students at Jackson Hole High School 3 p.m. Thursday.

ANNOUNCING!

SUNDAY, MARCH 11

n Open Hockey - Weekend Mornings 11:30 a.m. Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, (307) 201-1633 n Rendezvous Concert on Town Square 5:30 p.m. n The Craic 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

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SATURDAY, MARCH 17

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SUNDAY, MARCH 18

n Useful Jenkins at Grand Targhee Resort 3 p.m. Grand Targhee Resort, n Few Miles South 7 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

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2 BOX OFFICE: 307.733.4900

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 17

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

MONDAY, MARCH 19

n Foreign Policy Lunchtime: South Africa’s Fragile Democracy - Auditorium B 12 p.m. Teton County Library, n Town Council Workshop 3 p.m. n Town Council Evening Meeting 6 p.m. n Foreign Policy: South Africa’s Fragile Democracy 6 p.m. Teton County Library, n Steele River 9 p.m. Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, Free, 307-733-2207

10 Y A TS E M E K L 4 TIC SA H 1 ON ARC PM M 12 AT

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

n SheJumps Get the Girls Out at Grand Targhee Resort 9 a.m. Grand Targhee Resort, n St. Patrick’s Day Party 11 a.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Monat Super Saturday 1 p.m. Snow King Resort, n Hell’s Belles 9:30 p.m. Mangy Moose,

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n CWC Beginner Social Media Circle Sessions!

9 a.m. Center for the Arts, $75.00, 3077337425 n Third Thursday Book Sale 9:30 a.m. Teton County Library,

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n Design Review Committee Meeting 5 p.m. n Great Reads for Girls 6 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Recycle Driggs!

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n Joint Retreat 12 p.m. n Foreign Policy Lunchtime: U.S. Global Engagement and the Military - Auditorium B 12 p.m. Teton County Library, n Maker 3 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Montucky Mondays in March!

3 p.m. The Trap Bar & Grill, n Movie Monday - Youth Auditorium 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, n Movie Monday 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Movie Monday-Driggs 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Snow King Mountain Community Engagement Workshop 6 p.m. Snow King Resort,

n Tech Time 1 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Read to Rover, Driggs 3 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n App Time - Study Room 4 3 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n After school at the library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Aaron Davis 4 p.m. Ascent Lounge at Four Seasons, Free, n Teton Literacy Center Volunteer Training 5:30 p.m. Teton Literacy Center, Free, (307)732-9242 n Teton Valley Book Club 6 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Repair Cafe 6 p.m. Teton Habitat ReStore, Free, 3077340389 n World to Wyoming Lecture Series 7 p.m. National Museum of Wildlife Art, n Cabin Fever Story Slam: Power 7 p.m. Pink Garter Theatre, n Bluegrass Tuesdays with One Ton Pig 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

3 BONUS SHOWS

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MONDAY, MARCH 12

TUESDAY, MARCH 13

n Friends and Family Mental Health Support Group 6 p.m. Eagle Classroom of St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-733-2046 n The Copper Children 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

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n Wyoming Concealed Carry Class 8 a.m. Homewood Suites by Hilton, $99.00, (866) 371-6111 n Rock the Ride, Benefiting Stroke and Cardiac Patients 9 a.m. Dancers’ Workshop, n Revitalize & Restore with Kriyas 12 p.m. Teton Yoga Shala, $30.00 - $35.00, 307-690-3054 n Sled Hockey Sundays 3:45 p.m. Teton Adaptive Sports, n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 4 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Mustard Tiger 7 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Anders Osborne Center for the Arts,

n Foreign Policy Discussion Series 6 p.m. Teton County Library, n Foreign Policy: U.S. Global Engagement and the Military 6 p.m. Teton County Library,

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n Apre Ski w/ Kris Lager Band for 3 days!!

3 p.m. Grand Targhee Resort, n Chanman - SOLO 4 p.m. Teton Mountain Lodge, Free, 307 201 6066 n Valle Nevado Après Party in Jackson Hole!

4 p.m. Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa, n Wine Dinner at 9,000FT 6:30 p.m. Rendezvous Lodge, atop of Bridger Gondola, $0.00 - $500.00, 307-739-8317 n IGB X 9 p.m. Hand Fire Pizza,

HEARD & SCENE

JT is in SLC April 12.

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

Attention Nomads Mark your calendars for these travel-worthy shows BYBY CORY GARCIA |

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22 | MARCH 7, 2018

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

’m a big believer in travelling to see the music you love. Whether that means hopping on a plane to a festival or just making a concert the centerpiece of a long weekend on the road, some of the best memories of my life are nights I caught an amazing show and didn’t sleep in my own bed.

With February having come and gone, I think it’s finally safe to start thinking about not just the spring, but how you’ll spend summer too. Want to get out of town for a bit? Here are some shows on the other side of the borders worth the gas money.

April 12 - Justin Timberlake Salt Lake City

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Whether you enjoyed Man of the Woods (a bad opinion) or loathed it (a very good opinion), one thing is certain: Justin Timberlake knows how to put on a show. Sure, you may have to sit through a few songs you don’t care about, but consider grooving to “Cry Me a River” as a worthy trade-off.

April 19 - 311/Method Man and Redman Denver Just because this show isn’t on April 20 doesn’t mean it won’t be the show of your green dreams. When it comes to 311, you either get it or you don’t; there’s

@cfaust

no such thing as a casual fan of 311, and getting to see them at Red Rocks will likely be legendary. As for Meth & Red, there’s no questioning their lyrical finesse no matter what they rap about.

This is an easy contender for best show you might not remember the next day.

May 1 - Post Malone Salt Lake City

A lot of people wrote off Post Malone when he first started making national headlines, and a lot of people are wiping egg off their face. Who knew he was setting up a run of songs that would lead him to amphitheaters across the country full of fans that hang on his every word? Even if you don’t get it, you probably know someone who does, and they would love to hit the road with you.

May 3 - Eagles Salt Lake City

Is it still Eagles without Glenn Frey?

That’s the question fans of the band are shelling out the big bucks to find out the answer to. This is one of the, relatively speaking, more intimate stops of a tour that sees the band playing stadiums in some markets. If you’ve spent your entire life defending the band, why stop now?

Alas, our efforts to bring Taylor back to Wyoming were unsuccessful, but the dream was nice. She’s the biggest popstar on the planet right now, she’s got a killer opener in Charlie XCX and odds are good you haven’t heard the tracks from Reputation live yet. Just make sure you bring proper ear protection to protect your eardrums from all the screams.

They don’t really make them like Paul Simon anymore, and with this being his last major tour you need to go see him now if you’ve been putting it off the last few decades. Sure, you could gamble that the chance to see him might pop up again, but odds are it’ll cost you an arm, leg and a little more to do so if the chance comes around.

Ask yourself, “Do I really want to spend an entire day standing in the sun for bands I haven’t listened to in over a decade?” You know the answer is, “Hell yes!” This is the final full cross-country

THURSDAY Disco Night Stagecoach Bar

FRIDAY

Intergalactic Ball

Asymbol Goodbye Shindig Asymbol Gallery

SATURDAY

Intergalactic Ball Teton Theater

SUNDAY

Anders Osborne Center for the Arts Asymbol

MONDAY

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy: U.S. Global Engagement and the Military Teton County Library

TUESDAY

Cabin Fever Story Slam Pink Garter Theatre

Redman + Method Man hit Denver in April.

tour for the longest-running touring music festival in North America, and if you have even one fond memory from the days of Warped Tours past, you owe it to yourself to go.

July 3 - Harry Styles Denver If you’ve got a younger family member whose mind you want to blow, get tickets to this show. The best, most interesting member of One Direction is one of the best showmen in modern music, charismatic almost beyond words. If his brand of pop isn’t your style, fear not, because his opening act slays in a different way. Kacey Musgraves is one of the real shining lights in the world of country music right now, and if you’ve never seen her in concert before, she’s just as fantastic on stage as she is in the studio.

July 18 - Tim McGraw / Faith Hill Salt Lake City Two icons in the world of country music, still very much in love, are continuing to tour behind a compelling show that blends the highlights of both artists’ catalogs along with some of their newer duets. The live version of “Break First” will be one of the highlights of your year if you experience it. PJH

MARCH 7, 2018 | 23

July 1 - Warped Tour Denver

WEDNESDAY

Two Days of Tap with Savion Glover Dancers’ Workshop

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

May 30 - Paul Simon Denver

Savion Glover

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

May 25 - Taylor Swift Denver

PLANET PICKS

What to do, where to go

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

24 | MARCH 7, 2018

KICKING & STREAMING

TUESDAY, MARCH 20

n Free Tax Assistance 12:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Community Night - National Museum of Wildlife Art 5 p.m. Hand Fire Pizza, n DIRTBAG: THE LEGEND OF FRED BECKEY Documentary Screening in Jackson Hole 7 p.m. Pink Garter Theatre, $15.00,

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21

n Special JIM - Housing Rules Discussion 2 p.m. n Great Reads for Girls Victor 6 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Turkuaz at Pink Garter Theatre 9 p.m. Pink Garter Theatre, n Galactic Knotty Pine,

Classic Access

THURSDAY, MARCH 22

n Andy Frasco & the U.N. 3 p.m. The Trap Bar & Grill, n WEALTH BUILDING THROUGH REAL ESTATE #1 Idaho Falls,ID 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 23

n Spring Intensive Healing Retreat 7 a.m. Medicine Wheel Wellness, n Dirt Road Band 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-7323939 n Kitchen Dwellers + Rumpke Mountain Boys 8 p.m. Mangy Moose,

SATURDAY, MARCH 24

n 43rd Annual Karen Oatey Pole Pedal Paddle 7 a.m. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to Astoria Hot Springs, $65.00 - $100.00, 3077336433

SUNDAY, MARCH 25

n Jazz Foundation of Jackson Hole 7 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

MONDAY, MARCH 26

n Foreign Policy Lunchtime: Global Health: Progress and Challenges - Auditorium B 12 p.m. Teton County Library, n Foreign Policy: Global Health: Progress and Challenges 6 p.m. Teton County Library, n Sound Bath with Rachel Holmes 6:45 p.m. Teton Yoga Shala, $10.00, 307-690-3054 n Grant Farm The Trap Bar & Grill,

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

n Elegant Community Passover Dinner at The Wort Hotel 7 p.m. The Wort Hotel, $36.00 - $360.00, 3074620847 n Kurt Van Meter 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-7323939

FOR COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS VISIT PJHCALENDAR.COM

A new service will introduce more audiences to cinema’s storied and best

BY CORY GARCIA |

O

ne thing that the internet loves to ding the big streaming services on—and Netflix in particular—is their lack of classic films.

Yes, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu all have a few movies in the archives that were released before 1970, but if you’re someone who is looking to give themselves a crash course in cinematic classics streaming has rarely been where you turned.

For a long while, this is where Hulu shined. Long after I stopped watching TV on the regular, I kept my Hulu subscription specifically because of their deal with the Criterion Collection. If you’re unfamiliar with Criterion, they are the leader in “important” film distribution on this side of the oceans.

Their catalog of films includes classics from Kurosawa, Fellini, Bergman, Chaplin, Welles, Lynch and Kubrick, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

The positive side of Criterion is that it’s good to have a company out there that cares about film history; the downside is its home video releases have historically been very pricey. For many, the only way to buy into the collection is to wait for its biyearly sales to roll around so that its discs go for only $20 a pop.

Criterion arriving on Hulu was a game changer, giving film fans access to a whole world of films that were always hard to come by, especially if you were someone living in a smaller community with video stores not particularly well-versed in foreign classics.

It also meant that you could skip taking that $20 shot in the dark every time you

@cfaust

bought a movie you hadn’t heard of and not have to risk potentially expensive buyer’s remorse.

But nothing good lasts forever, and in 2016 Criterion walked away from Hulu to join forces with Turner Classic Movies in a new streaming venture known as FilmStruck. While most were just happy that the Criterion Collection would still exist online in some fashion, not everyone was stoked about having to sign up for yet another streaming service, especially one that didn’t have the most robust streaming options when it first launched.

Over time, FilmStruck got better; it added more movies to the service, more special features about those movies and the streaming seems rock solid these days. The service hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, but that’s hardly surprising; the thing about classic cinema is that most people would love it if they were exposed to it. Seven Samurai, for example, is one of the easiest movies to watch in history, but a three and a half hour black and white samurai flick in Japanese is still a hard sell for most people. When they see it, they realize it for the genius that it is, but they still must be exposed to it.

While FilmStruck is unlikely to ever become a titan of the streaming world, recent news has set them up to become the destination for cinephiles looking for the perfect streaming service. Early last week, the service announced the classics of Warner Bros. were joining the service, which means in addition to the classics of the Criterion Collection

and Turner Classic Movies, the service would now also be home to legendary works of cinema including Casablanca, Citizen Kane and Rebel Without a Cause.

Classic Hollywood and classic world cinema all in one place, for only $10.99 a month? Insert your favorite “take my money” meme here. This announcement wasn’t just good for film fans looking for a one-stop streaming shop for movies and this announcement wasn’t just good for Filmstruck’s credentials as the premiere streaming service for movie buffs; it was good for cinema as a whole.

Will your average Netflix subscriber just looking for things to watch after a long day of work jump at the chance to subscribe to this new service? Probably not, and that’s OK. What’s important is that those people out there that do want to know more about how the cinema of today got where it is now don’t have to jump through endless hoops or drop tons of cash to find out. In addition to just being a good resource for film fans, the service will help craft the next generation of filmmakers, leveling the playing field between those who had access to these classics when they were harder to come by and those who didn’t.

Sure, “FilmStruck and Chill” doesn’t have the same ring to it, but honestly, you can wait until Singin’ in the Rain is over to get to the rest of the fun stuff.

There are plenty of ways out there to watch today’s blockbuster cinema, but without the films of Filmstruck, those movies wouldn’t exist. PJH

ROBYN VINCENT

50 BEST DISHES

The only kafta kebab in town is done just right.

From Mt. Lebanon to the Tetons No. 44 and 45: Kafta Kebab and Falafel Bites, Figs in Hotel Jackson

BY HELEN GOELET

all, are the main ingredient. Rouche’s falafel, however, is perfectly fried, leaving a crisp, toasty shell, while the center is still moist but not gooey. The flavor is also spot on—herbaceous with just the right amount of cumin, and a touch of heat to round out the sweetness of the chickpeas. I’m dying to know what the house spice blend is. To round out the dish is a tahini and pickle salad. The fresh herb salad, tangy pickles and creamy tahini sauce accentuate the flavors of the falafel while cutting through its textures. This is ideal for a group of four—$10 gets you eight pieces.

The kafta kebab is also fantastic. While these minced lamb, onion and parsley pieces of heaven are usually served as small, sausage-like meatballs skewered on sticks, at Figs they serve one large kebab seasoned and grilled.

®

Open nightly 5:30pm

733-3912 160 N. Millward • Reservations recommended Reserve online at bluelionrestaurant.com

Medium Pizza (1 topping) Stuffed Cheesy Bread

$ 13 99

for an extra $5.99/each

(307) 733-0330 520 S. Hwy. 89 • Jackson, WY

MARCH 7, 2018 | 25

LOCAL & DOMESTIC STEAKS SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK @ 5:30 TILL 10 JHCOWBOYSTEAKHOUSE.COM 307-733-4790

Large Specialty Pizza ADD: Wings (8 pc)

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

“Food is about the love you put into it. It’s about how happy you will be when you give someone food and it makes them happy,” Rouche said in a 2017 PJH interview. “It’s not political. It’s like everyone says kebabs are Turkish. But Lebanon makes kebabs.

Israel makes kebabs. Everyone makes kebabs. I don’t believe you can look at food and say, ‘this is mine.’ Food is for everybody.”

Amen, Chef George.

After nibbling on various dishes, I decided on a tie between the falafel bites and kafta kebab. The falafel bites were the best I have tasted since spending time in Washington, D.C.’s multicultural Adams Morgan neighborhood.

Some folks develop an aversion to the popular Middle Eastern dish when it comes up too dry; chickpeas, after

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

N

estled into Hotel Jackson’s modern lobby, Figs is a refreshing deviation from Jackson’s Thai and Mexican dominated food scene. The clean, sharp lines of the interior and striking artwork contrast the warm smell of spice swirling through the bar and kitchen.

Hailing from the mountains of Lebanon, Chef George Rouche has brought the style of Lebanese home cooking to his new mountain town, encouraging diners to share the menu’s mezze (small plate) dishes in the valley’s sole Lebanese restaurant. And the portions and plating encourage sharing too. Prices hover between $10 and $15, barring a few higher fare options. The menu includes an array of house-made hummus as well as various mezze, kebab, kibbeh and other micro-menus.

Featuring dining destinations from breweries to bakeries, and continental fare to foreign flavor, this is a sampling of our dining critic’s local favorites.

ASIAN

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. Located at 7432 Granite Loop Road in Teton Village, (307) 733-0022 and in Driggs, (208) 787-8424, tetonthai.com.

THAI ME UP 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. View our tap list at thaijh.com/brews. Open daily for dinner at 5 p.m. Located downtown at 75 East Pearl Street, (307) 733-0005, melvinbrewing.com.

CONTINENTAL

26 | MARCH 7, 2018

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ROBYN VINCENT

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

ALPENHOF

A smooth concoction of citrus and St. Germain: the Lebanese lemonade.

It is served with a spiced rice pilaf with vermicelli noodles and garlic sauce.

While lamb has a very rich, distinct flavor, it can often be quite light. This dish accomplishes the balancing act by allowing the flavors of the lamb to stand out with the sweet white onion and bright parsley. The accompanying garlic sauce pairs well with the salty, charred flavors too. At $16, it’s great for a solo meal or it can be sliced for sharing.

Opening its doors in 2015, Hotel Jackson is a family-run business. Owner Jim Darwiche, his wife Safa and sons Sadek and Dorian have done a beautiful job designing a modern, comfortable atmosphere while keeping in line with a Western motif. Indeed, Jim has merged two cultural experiences right in the lobby of the hotel.

When you walk through the doors to people sharing food, there’s an immediate sense of welcome and communality. A large fireplace heats the restaurant-lobby where a mélange of seating and tables lends a comfortable atmosphere even with the space’s stone walls, floors and high ceilings. It says, “Come have a drink with a book, maybe a plate of hummus, we have no demands or expectations of you.”

Tucked into the corner is a charming copper bar where bartenders mix delicious and inventive cocktails like the Lebanese lemonade, made with local Highwater Vodka, St. Germain, orange bitters, rose water, mint and citrus juices.

Together, the drinks, food and atmosphere are a memorable taste of Lebanon and the hospitality the country is known for. PJH

Serving authentic Swiss cuisine, the Alpenhof features European style breakfast entrées and alpine lunch fare. Dine in the Bistro for a casual meal or join us in the Alpenrose dining room for a relaxed dinner experience. Breakfast 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Coffee & pastry 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Aprés 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Dinner 6 p.m.-9 p.m. 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. 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 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends. Located at 1110 Maple Way in West Jackson, (307) 264-2956, picnicjh.com

ELEANOR’S Enjoy all the perks of fine dining, minus the dress code at Eleanor’s, serving rich, saucy dishes in a warm and friendly setting. Its bar alone is an attraction, thanks to reasonably priced drinks and a loyal crowd. Come get a belly-full of our two-time gold medal wings. Open at 11 a.m. daily. 832 W. Broadway, (307) 733-7901.

LOCAL 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 seasonallyinspired food. We offer an extensive wine list and an abundance of locally-sourced products. Offering a casual and vibrant bar atmosphere with 12 beers on tap as well as a relaxed dining room, Local is the perfect spot to grab a burger for lunch or to have drinks and dinner with friends. Lunch MonSat 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. Located at 140 N. Cache, (307) 734-0882, theorganiclotus.com.

MANGY MOOSE Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally fresh food at reasonable prices, is a always a fun place to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel right at home and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit. Teton Village, (307) 733-4913, mangymoose.com.

MOE’S BBQ Opened in Jackson Hole by Tom Fay and David Fogg, Moe’s Original Bar B Que features a Southern Soul Food Revival through its award-winning Alabama-style pulled pork, ribs, wings, turkey and chicken smoked over hardwood served with two unique sauces in addition to Catfish and a Shrimp MoeBoy sandwich. 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, 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.

VIRGINIAN SALOON

Come down to the historic Virginian Saloon and check out our grill menu! Everything from 1/2 pound burgers to wings at a great price! The grill is open in the Saloon from 4 p.m.-10p.m. daily. Located at 750 West Broadway, (307) 739-9891.

DRINK

307.201.1717 | LOCALJH.COM ON THE TOWN SQUARE

G OOD

AY

Y, E V E R Y

1110 MAPLE WAY JACKSON, WY 307.264.2956 picnicjh.com

CALICO

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

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. Located at 2560 Moose Wilson Rd., (307) 733-2460.

EL ABUELITO

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

PIZZA

DOMINO’S PIZZA

THE LOCALS

FAVORITE PIZZA 2012-2016 •••••••••

$7

SPECIAL Slice, salad & soda

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

TV Sports Packages and 7 Screens

Under the Pink Garter Theatre (307) 734-PINK • www.pinkygs.com

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. - 2 a.m. Located at 50 W. Broadway, (307) 734-PINK.

PIZZERIA CALDERA

Jackson Hole’s only dedicated stone-hearth oven pizzeria, serving Napolitana-style pies

PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE HOUSEMADE BREAD & DESSERTS FRESH, LOCALLY SOURCED OFFERINGS TAKE OUT AVAILABLE Dining room and bar open nightly at 5:00pm (307) 733-2460 • 2560 Moose Wilson Road • Wilson, WY

A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965

ELY U Q I N U PEAN EURO

F O H ‘ E TH

R DINNEAGE I H LUNCTETON VILL I T S IN FA BREAKE ALPENHOF AT TH

AT THE

307.733.3242

MARCH 7, 2018 | 27

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 p.m. daily. Dine in or carry out. Or order online at PizzeriaCaldera. com, or download our app for iOS or Android.

Open from 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. daily at 20 West Broadway. (307) 201-1472.

FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

$5 Shot & Tall Boy

LUNCH

Hot and delicious delivered to your door.

Hand-tossed, 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.

| WELLNESS | DINING | A & E | NEWS | OPINION |

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.

Located at 385 W. Broadway, (307) 733-1207.

E

D

DA

ITALIAN

MEXICAN

email inquiries to editor@planetjh.com

F, MAD

ESH

HAPPY HOUR Daily 4-6:00pm

UF

FR

Lunch 11:30am Monday-Saturday Dinner 5:30pm Nightly

ST

L

Planet Jackson Hole is looking for writers to review the area’s best drinks and the places that serve them.

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.

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 runs from 4 - 6 p.m., including tasty hot wings. The freshest beer in the valley, right from the source! Free WiFi. Open 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Loacted at 265 S. Millward. (307) 7392337, snakeriverbrewing.com.

AL

UP and write it down

SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT

| OPINION | NEWS | A & E | DINING | WELLNESS |

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

28 | MARCH 7, 2018

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9.

No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

L.A.TIMES “COMMERCIAL BREAK” By JOE KIDD

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2018

ACROSS

1 Huggers 5 Spectrum maker 10 “The Winner Takes It All” group 14 React to a pop idol, perhaps 19 Haul 20 Fall sign 21 They can be calm or rough 22 Specialized vocab 23 Skillful adventurers?

26 When rights may be prohibited 27 Musical clacker 28 Chooser’s words 30 Pro shop buys 31 Attractive pitcher 32 __ Alley, supply source in the Harry Potter universe 33 Effective use of lang.

35 Field for feline frolic?

39 Neck-to-waist body armor 42 Laid into 43 Vermont tourist destinations 44 Stooges’ specialty 46 Lasting lead-in?

47 __-Indian War 49 Sinus doc 50 About 51 Pro __: for now 52 Speech from a queen, maybe?

57 Recognize 58 Chicken Little, memorably 61 Least friendly 62 Diamond protector 63 Granola bar bit 64 Ocean predators 65 Where Tippecanoe Cty. is 66 Ticket abbr.

68 Hellish 70 Competitions 75 Savor, with “in” 76 Unusually vicious nocturnal flier?

78 Saigon holiday 79 Northeast Nevada city 80 Grand __ Opry

81 She, in Siena 82 First name in gossip 83 “Whatever” 86 __ bit: slightly 88 One with an IRA, say 89 Reversible fabrics 90 Burned-out hillbilly?

94 Jim Davis canine 95 Name on a pricey handbag 96 Some Ivy Leaguers 97 Kelly of talk 99 Dapper accessory 101 Intrasemester exam 105 1980s-’90s Commodore computer 107 Bedtime bugaboo?

109 One fit for a queen?

110 Golf selection 111 Large chamber group 112 Home repair option, briefly 113 Ad hoc hunters 114 French 101 verb 115 Hired hoods 116 Sweater mishap

17 18 24 25

Double-curve molding Auction actions Play with, kitten-style Mississippi senator Cochran and jazz trumpeter Jones 29 Lets off steam 32 Luth. or Meth.

34 __ Honor 35 Frat row letter 36 First president of the Czech Republic 37 Fluid buildup 38 North Dakota’s “Magic City” 39 Art able to 40 __ metal 41 Brief timetable 45 Some skinny jeans 47 Roasting gadget 48 Org. with forms 53 CBS or NBC 54 1983 taxi comedy 55 20th-century princess 56 Hi-__ image 59 Megalith inscribed with saws?

60 Welcoming sight DOWN 62 Blow-up aid 1 Guinness of “Smiley’s People” 64 Hymn relative 2 Bill awarded her a Presidential 65 Visiting Hollywood, say Medal of Freedom 66 Lively dance 3 Comfy footwear 67 Ice cream treats 4 Governor’s ride 68 Dances with grace5 Member of a noted octet ful gestures 6 They’re added to bills 69 Mimic 7 “Yeah, right!”

70 Trig ratio 8 Span. title 71 They’re rarely 9 “The War of the Worlds” attackheard from skilled er carpenters 10 Bagel cheese 72 Cook’s need 11 Confers (on) 73 Bit of dogma 12 It’s passed in a race 74 “Boo!” reaction 13 AAA member?: Abbr.

75 Bit of sweat 14 __-mo 76 Place for a plug 15 Sun worshiper’s seasonal 77 Scouts do good harangue? ones 16 How some lawyers are paid 82 Jay-Z and others

84 “Woe __”: 1996 grammar book 85 Steam engine exhaust system 86 Campus bldg.

87 Breaking down 88 Worker in a forge 91 Garfield’s gal pal 92 Like the pre-Easter season 93 Elite slates 95 Essence 97 Gravelly sound 98 Texting qualifier 100 ’70s tennis star Nastase 101 “Hmm ... I doubt that” 102 Churchill’s 1955 successor 103 Den piece 104 Part of a pre-fire pile 106 Had lunch, say 108 Gunk

COSMIC CAFE

Mind and Word Power

BY CAROL MANN

“B

A different experiment by Emoto measured the effect of words on simple substances. In this study, equal amounts of rice and pure water were placed in three beakers. Each day for 30 days, school children were asked to approach the jars. To the first they were asked to say, “thank you.” To the second they said, “you idiot.” They were directed to approach the third jar, say nothing and walk away.

At the end of the month, the rice that had been thanked was fermenting nicely with no rotting material. The second jar, which was told every day that it was an idiot, was covered with black mold.

In the third jar, which the children approached and then ignored, the rice had actually rotted.

Healthy Evolution On another scientific front, Russian biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev along with his colleagues and linguists have explored the vibrational behavior of our DNA. They discovered the alkalines of our DNA follow a regular grammar and rules of syntax just like our human languages. Further studies demonstrated words and sentences of any human language directly interact with and affect our DNA.

Young and Impressionable As babies and young children, we are especially vulnerable to what others say about us. Unkind words and negative labels (and kind ones) embed in a child’s unconscious, where those words are accepted and filed away as unchallenged beliefs. The less than positive ideas about our worth remain hidden from our daily awareness where they can influence self-worth for the rest of our life. Fortunately, there are many available modalities, including therapy, mindfulness, meditation and tapping to discover and release those old limiting beliefs so they no longer run your life.

The Path to Evolve Now think about the vibrations of the words you say to yourself. We all default to the negative so quickly. Think of all the times you say things like, “That was stupid” or “I hate my hair” …or “I’m a loser” …or worse. The effect of these negative phrases is powerful. From now own, take care how you speak to yourself. After all, you are listening. The invitation here is to upgrade yourself and the frequencies your words send out in the world. Apply the power of kind, compassionate and more forgiving language for your well-being and as a hugely impactful contribution to humanity’s evolution. PJH

Carol Mann is a longtime Jackson resident, radio personality, former Grand Targhee Resort owner, author, and clairvoyant.

Got a Cosmic Question? Email carol@yourcosmiccafe.com

Visit out our website website Visit

tetoncountywy.gov 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.

MARCH 7, 2018 | 29

Dr. Masuro Emoto is known for his research documenting the positive and negative effects of words and intentions on the molecular structure of water.

He chose water for this work because frequencies travel faster through water than air. Kind and caring words organized the water in coherent, harmonic geometries. Negative words resulted

Remarkable Experimenting

Simply stated, words, thoughts, intentions and emotions in the “key” of love support health and higher consciousness. Repeated negative expressions create disorder and disease.

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Fluid Lessons

in chaotic and disorganized geometric patterns in the water. Considering the human body is more than 70 percent water explains how quickly the vibration from negative words resonates in your cells.

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e mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don’t mean much to you may stick with someone else for a lifetime.” - Rachel Wolchin Like everything in the universe, words are frequencies which transmit powerful energies wherever and to whomever they are directed. The second part of the old saying “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is blatantly untrue. The frequencies emanated by the sounds, intent and emotions encoded in our words either support physical and mental health or seriously undermine them.

It is said that in very ancient times, languages were holographic and spoken words could literally create whatever they described. Spiritual teachers and esoteric sciences have known that our bodies and minds are responsive to and programmable by the energy frequencies of language, words and thought. This has long been understood by those wisdom keepers as what fuels the healing power of prayer, intentions, hypnosis, mantras, affirmations and chants.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) According to my assessment of the astrological omens, you’re in a favorable phase to gain more power over your fears. You can reduce your susceptibility to chronic anxieties. You can draw on the help and insight necessary to dissipate insidious doubts that are rooted in habit but not based on objective evidence. I don’t want to sound too melodramatic, my dear Pisces, but this is an amazing opportunity! You are potentially on the verge of an unprecedented breakthrough! In my opinion, nothing is more important for you to accomplish in the coming weeks than this inner conquest.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) The men who work on offshore oil rigs perform demanding, dangerous tasks on a regular basis. If they make mistakes, they may get injured or befoul the sea with petroleum. As you might guess, the culture on these rigs has traditionally been macho, stoic, and hard-driving.

But in recent years, that has changed at one company.

Shell Oil’s workers in the U.S. were trained by Holocaust survivor Claire Nuer to talk about their feelings, be willing to admit errors, and soften their attitudes. As a result, the company’s safety record has improved dramatically.

If macho dudes toiling on oil rigs can become more vulnerable and open and tenderly expressive, so can you, Aries. And now would be a propitious time to do it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) On April 23, 1516, the Germanic duchy of Bavaria issued a decree. From that day forward, all beer produced had to use just three ingredients: water, barley, and hops. Ever since then, for the last 500+ years, this edict has had an enduring influence on how German beer is manufactured. In accordance with astrological factors, I suggest that you proclaim three equally potent and systemic directives of your own. It’s an opportune time to be clear and forceful about how you want your story to unfold in the coming years.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) I suspect that in July and August you will be invited to commune with rousing opportunities and exciting escapades. But right now I’m advising you to channel your intelligence into well-contained opportunities and sensible adventures. In fact, my projections suggest that your ability to capitalize fully on the future’s rousing opportunities and exciting escapades will depend on how well you master the current crop of well-contained opportunities and sensible adventures. Making the most of today’s small pleasures will qualify you to harvest bigger pleasures later.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) If you saw the animated film The Lion King, you may have been impressed with the authenticity of the lions’ roars and snarls. Did the producers place microphones in the vicinity of actual lions? No. Voice actor Frank Welker produced the sounds by growling and yelling into a metal garbage can. I propose this as a useful metaphor for you in the coming days. First, I hope it inspires you to generate a compelling and creative illusion of your own -- an illusion that serves a good purpose. Second, I hope it alerts you to the possibility that other people will be offering you compelling and creative illusions -- illusions that you should engage with only if they serve a good purpose.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) I do a lot of self-editing before I publish what I write.

My horoscopes go through at least three drafts before I unleash them on the world. While polishing the manuscript of my first novel, I threw away over a thousand pages of stuff that I had worked on very hard. In contrast to my approach, science fiction writer Harlan Ellison dashed off one of his award-winning stories in a single night, and published it without making any changes to the first draft. As you work in your own chosen field, Aquarius, I suspect that for the next three weeks you will produce the best results by being more like me than Ellison. Beginning about three weeks from now, an Ellison-style strategy might be more warranted.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) The English word “velleity” refers to an empty wish that has no power behind it. If you feel a longing to make a 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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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) In his book Whistling in the Dark, author Frederick Buechner writes that the ancient Druids took “a special interest in in-between things like mistletoe, which is neither quite a plant nor quite a tree, and mist, which is neither quite rain nor quite air, and dreams, which are neither quite waking nor quite sleep.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, in-between phenomena will be your specialty in the coming weeks. You will also thrive in relationship to anything that lives in two worlds or that has paradoxical qualities. I hope you’ll exult in the educational delights that come from your willingness to be teased and mystified.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Scorpio mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot was a connoisseur of “the art of roughness” and “the uncontrolled element in life.” He liked to locate and study the hidden order in seemingly chaotic and messy things. “My life seemed to be a series of events and accidents,” he said. “Yet when I look back I see a pattern.” I bring his perspective to your attention, Scorpio, because you are entering a phase when the hidden order and secret meanings of your life will emerge into view. Be alert for surprising hints of coherence.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) What’s your most frustrating flaw? During the next seven weeks, you will have enhanced power to diminish its grip on you. It’s even possible you will partially correct it or outgrow it. To take maximum advantage of this opportunity, rise above any covert tendency you might have to cling to your familiar pain. Rebel against the attitude described by novelist Stephen King: “It’s hard to let go. Even when what you’re holding onto is full of thorns, it’s hard to let go. Maybe especially then.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) In the 2002 film Spiderman, there’s a scene where the character Mary Jane slips on a spilled drink as she carries a tray full of food through a cafeteria. Spiderman, disguised as his alter ego Peter Parker, makes a miraculous save. He jumps up from his chair and catches Mary Jane before she falls. Meanwhile, he grabs her tray and uses it to gracefully capture her apple, sandwich, carton of milk, and bowl of jello before they hit the floor. The filmmakers say they didn’t use CGI to render this scene. The lead actor, Tobey Maguire, allegedly accomplished it in real life -- although it took 156 takes before he finally mastered it. I hope you have that level of patient determination in the coming weeks, Libra. You, too, can perform a small miracle if you do.

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20) How will you celebrate your upcoming climax and culmination, Taurus? With a howl of triumph, a fist pump, and three cartwheels? With a humble speech thanking everyone who helped you along the way? With a bottle of champagne, a gourmet feast, and spectacular sex? However you choose to mark this transition from one chapter of your life story to the next chapter, I suggest that you include an action that will help the next chapter get off to a rousing start. In your ritual of completion, plant seeds for the future.

pilgrimage to a holy site, but can’t summon the motivation to actually do so, you are under the spell of velleity. Your fantasy of communicating with more flair and candor is a velleity if you never initiate the practical steps to accomplish that goal. Most of us suffer from this weakness at one time or another. But the good news, Virgo, is that you are primed to overcome your version of it during the next six weeks. Life will conspire to assist you if you resolve to turn your wishy-washy wishes into potent action plans—and then actually carry out those plans.

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