Coachella Valley Independent March 2016

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT | MARCH 2016

VOL. 4 | NO. 3

PAGE 14

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MARCH 2016

A Note From the Editor Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263 Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208 www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher Jimmy Boegle Assistant Editor Brian Blueskye ART direction Andrew Arthur Advertising Design Betty Jo Boegle Contributors Gustavo Arellano, Max Cannon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Ben Goldfarb, Bob Grimm, Alex Harrington, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, Keith Knight, Ari LeVaux, Robin Linn, Marylee Pangman, Erin Peters, Dan Perkins, Sean Planck, Guillermo Prieto, Anita Rufus, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Get Tested Coachella Valley, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, and the Desert Ad Fed.

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COVER DESIGN BY amdrew arthur

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2016 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

A round of applause, please, for all of the small-business owners out there.

The unfortunate struggles of small-business owners are at the center of at least two of our stories this month. First comes our cover story: At the end of March, Schmidy’s Tavern—a Palm Desert bar and restaurant that has been a haven for local musicians and craft-beer lovers—will close, barring some sort of miracle. Owner Dennis Ford told Brian Blueskye the main reason for the closure is the fact that Schmidy’s landlord, Realty Trust Group, wants to raise the rent 112 percent.

“I can’t sell enough beer to justify a 112 percent rent increase,” Ford said, explaining that when be bought Schmidy’s, the lease he inherited was a relic of the Great Recession—and now that the economy is better, his landlords think they can jack up the rent.

Improving economies giveth, and improving economies taketh away.

Check out the story on Page 14.

Government red tape can also cause small businesses problems. For such an example, turn to Page 26 and our Restaurant News Bites column, which explains the move of Bernie’s Supper Club—which burned down on Christmas Day 2014—from Palm Springs to Rancho Mirage.

For the better part of a year, the owners of Bernie’s tried to get construction going on a new building in the same location as the original Bernie’s, on East Palm Canyon drive just south of downtown. However, due in part to problems with city government, the owners finally gave up—and headed southeast to Rancho Mirage, moving to an existing building on Highway 111. Keep your fingers crossed for a late-spring opening.

It’s a proven fact that the more people spend at local businesses, the better it is for the local economy.

Multiple studies and analyses have proven that far more money stays in town when said money is spent at a locally owned business instead of a chain or big-box store. While exact numbers vary from study to story, around 68 cents per dollar spent at an independent business stays locally— whereas only 48 cents stays in town when spent at a chain.

The message in all of this: Support and savor local businesses. You never know when a money-hungry landlord or an electrical fire will take away your favorite business—and you’re making the whole local economy better when you spend your hard-earned dollars at an independent business as opposed to a chain.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Welcome to the March 2016 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

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MARCH 2016

OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

Mary Jo Ginther and the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism Spread the Good Word About the Coachella Valley

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

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BY ANITA RUFUS

hen I moved to Palm Springs full-time in 1985, vacationers strolled downtown during “the season.”

I shopped in the chic stores at the mall—at least until they closed down each summer. Spring Break was our biggest attraction (although local residents generally stayed home that week), but that did not last much longer: After years of laissez-faire treatment of young partiers, there was the riot of 1986, and then-Mayor Sonny Bono decided to shut down Spring Break.

In the years that followed, the International Film Festival was born, in 1989. The downtown

Mary Jo Ginther: “Although Palm Springs is known around the world, people always say, ‘But what is there to do?’ We need to be able to answer that for increasingly diverse groups of people.”

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mall closed. Downtown became dreary and sad.

Thankfully, Palm Springs has experienced a turnaround—as has the Coachella Valley in general—by hosting events and encouraging tourism that brings more diverse groups and revenues to the area.

Now that downtown Palm Springs is finally heading toward progress at replacing the empty mall behemoth with shops, walkways, living spaces, arts installations, hotels and entertainment venues, you might wonder how the city has encouraged so many new people to visit—people who often return or even resettle here.

Enter Mary Jo Ginther, who serves as the director of tourism and marketing for the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. Ginther doesn’t actually work for the city: She and her staff are employed by SMG, a company she describes as “the largest manager of convention centers in the world,” with which the city of Palm Springs contracts to provide tourism marketing services.

Working within the city’s budget allocations, Ginther and her group employ every method imaginable to attract visitors from across the globe, who will visit and thus generate transient occupancy taxes (TOT) and sales taxes.

“Palm Springs has developed an amazing reputation over the past 10 years,” she says, “as well as more than doubled its TOT revenues.”

Visitors may stay in large hotels, small boutique inns or private guest homes. They come for gambling, events, conventions, the film festival, weddings, get-away weekends or as snowbirds escaping cruel winters in the Midwest and East. They come for family celebrations, school reunions, business meetings and themed special events. They drive down from Los Angeles, jet in from Canada or fly in to enjoy their long European

summer holidays.

Ginther, 60, is a Palm Springs resident originally from East Chicago, Indiana. She started her professional life as a middleschool teacher, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in education at Indiana University Bloomington. She subsequently gained experience in the hotel industry, serving for many years as a banquet manager, and spending 22 years with the Hyatt organization. She was transferred to the Palm Springs area, where she worked as a general manager with the Hyatt, and as club manager at the Mission Hills Country Club. However, she had also visited here as a child.

“We used to come out every Christmas on the train to see my grandmother, who had retired to Pomona, and my aunt in Claremont.

I know we came to Palm Springs, but I was too young to remember,” Ginther said.

Ginther has been in her current position for almost 10 years, and is a past-president of the Palm Springs Hotel and Hospitality Association.

The Bureau of Tourism not only focuses on generating tourism dollars for the city; it also oversees the Welwood Murray Library, the historical site that will house a show-business collection in downtown Palm Springs, and the Palm Springs Visitor Center. The staff coordinates efforts with the convention center, hotels, businesses and event planners.

“Our job is to help promote the city,” Ginther says, “so we try to bring all interests together.”

They also work with the Agua Caliente regarding casino visitation. “Once they have plans finalized for the downtown property,” she says, “I think we’ll all be amazed, because they have the springs, which is another attraction to bring people to Palm Springs.”

Ginther sees her biggest challenge as identifying and reaching people who are not necessarily vacationers or visitors coming for specific events, and enticing them to visit.

“We need the people who can come in on mid-week days, when hotels have more vacancies, and we have to expand beyond seasonality,” she says. “We have partners in the United Kingdom and Germany, among the places we do specific outreach, and the challenge is to put together attractive travel packages that include vouchers for hotels

and cars and activities. And it’s so easy to get around here. The farthest anyone ever has to drive is about six minutes. That’s also a plus.”

Another challenge: “Although Palm Springs is known around the world, people always say, ‘But what is there to do?’ We need to be able to answer that for increasingly diverse groups of people.”

For example, outreach efforts are needed to expand the image of Palm Springs in LGBT communities; currently, there are 23 gay men’s resorts—but only one specifically appealing to lesbian women.

“We need to have other events to promote beyond ‘The Dinah,’” Ginther says, referring to the golf tournament originally named for late singer/actress Dinah Shore, which has now morphed into what is billed as “the largest lesbian event and music festival in the world,” slated to be held this year March 30 to April 3.

Additional efforts to promote Palm Springs are made by Bureau of Tourism staff members attending travel trade shows, representing the city at travel-industry conventions, and via advertising.

“We have our own advertising budget and marketing schemes,” Ginther says, “but our job is really to bring together all interested parties, not duplicate efforts made by others, and get people to come to town, stay locally and discover Palm Springs.”

With a focus on Palm Springs being a place to “Stay–Play–Dine–Shop,” the street life downtown once again feels stimulating and chic, and the prospects for the future are encouraging. Thanks in part to hardworking people like Mary Jo Ginther and her associates, the world is getting the word about Palm Springs being the place that is “like no place else.”

But those of us who live here already know that.

Anita Rufus is also known as “The Lovable Liberal,” and her radio show airs Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on KNews Radio 94.3 FM. Email her at Anita@LovableLiberal.com. Know Your Neighbors appears every other Wednesday.

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MARCH 2016

OPINION

THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN

Tips for Potted-Plant Survival as Spring Is Sprung in the Desert

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

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BY MARYLEE PANGMAN

hen faced with the pending summer warm-up of their desert homes, people often ask: How should I water my potted gardens as the days grow hotter? As we leave winter’s slightly cooler months, we need to be prepared to adjust our watering each day, until we settle into consistent temperatures as spring blasts into summer.

I say this, because the temperatures could be in the mild 70s one week—and then get pumped into the upper 80s or even 90s in a day’s time. As we enjoy our wonderful winter flowers, we hope to get a couple more months of splendor from them, so we need to make sure they are moist enough to make it through the hotter days—but not overly wet when it cools off.

If you are hand-watering or have your pots on an irrigation system, adjustments are not hard to make, as long as you are mindful.

Being mindful means exploring your garden on a regular basis, especially as the seasons change. Take your coffee or tea out in the mornings, and check your pots to make sure they are each doing well.

Our plants have the greatest chance of survival if they are healthy before the heat hits. Proper water and regular feeding (every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer) will provide them with the best conditions possible for this challenge.

With fully grown winter flowers and plants now shading the soil, I would expect you are watering your larger pots (greater

than 22 inches, that is) every other day in the morning. Check your pots on the nonwatering day to make sure the top 6 inches of soil have not dried out. The roots of flowers planted in the fall should be at least this deep, so that is where you want them damp. They should be OK if the top soil line is a little dry.

A water meter is a handy tool to have; otherwise, just insert a pencil. If the pencil comes out with soil clinging to it, the soil is moist. The water-meter reading will be between medium and dry before water is needed. If you do find them dry that far down, be sure to give them a good soak— meaning that water flows out of the drain hole in the bottom of the pot. The general guide for hand-watering is 30 seconds for

each 18 inches of soil diameter, with your hose set to a gentle-shower setting.

Irrigation run times will depend on your system and emitters. A dedicated pot line is typically set for five to 10 minutes each day of operation. I have seen some systems running only three minutes, with ample water delivered to the soil. As I said, it depends on your water-delivery methods. You must make sure you understand how to run the system and make adjustments as needed. They best way to learn is to practice making changes every day until you are so comfortable with its operation that you could coach someone over the phone.

While you are out there being mindful, take time to smell the flowers!

Planning for a Delightful Year-Round Pot I have often talked about planting trees in pots—but a tree I have left off my list, at least until now, is the pineapple guava. It’s actually a shrub, but this plant is often grown as a patio tree, keeping its size in a pot to 6 feet. We won’t necessarily see flowers or fruit on the tree due to the absence of the chilling time required to produce fruit, but the graygreen leaves with silvery-white undersides bring a striking and unique hue to your yard.

They’re similar in color to the leaves of an olive tree.

Pineapple guavas, like all potted trees, should be put into a pot at least 26 inches in interior diameter. This will give the roots enough soil to stretch out and provide the plant with the moisture and nutrients it needs to thrive. They are not fast-growers, so I suggest you select a plant in a 5-gallon nursery container.

Plant them in a good potting soil that drains well. Similar to Mediterranean plants, pineapple guavas do not like wet feet. They can take full sun, but they will look better if given some afternoon summer shade.

Don’t be fooled by the drought-tolerant listing: You do not want the tree to dry out.

If it does get too dry, the leaves will let you know by dropping off the plant. (Remember my “be mindful” mantra!)

The pineapple guava is frost-tender in middesert regions, but in the low desert, it will be rather comfortable all winter long. If we happen to get down to 35 degrees or lower, it would not mind a little jacket, in the form of a light blanket. Take it off the next morning

after the sun is up.

As seen in the picture above, the guava can be underplanted with seasonal flowers— making for pure beauty when supported by the perfect pot.

Your March To-Do List • Monitor irrigation and watering. Be Mindful!

• Deadhead faithfully, and selectively prune longer branches, especially in petunias.

• Use your water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks with a hose applicator.

• Clean up plant debris, including dead leaves and broken succulent stems.

• Begin fertilizing roses.

Marylee Pangman is the founder and former owner of The Contained Gardener in Tucson, Ariz. She has become known as the desert’s potted garden expert. Marylee’s book, Getting Potted in the Desert, is now available. Buy it online at potteddesert.com. Email her with comments and questions at marylee@ potteddesert.com. Follow the Potted Desert at facebook.com/potteddesert. The Potted Desert Garden now appears monthly.

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MARCH 2016

OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Why Do Gay Mexicans Go Back Into the Closet When They Return to Mexico?

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

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BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO

EAR MEXICAN: I enjoyed reading the letter about lip liner some years back from the lovely Mexican lesbian.

I have met several guys from Mexico who came to the U.S. so they could come out of the closet. Nothing warms my middle-age gay heart more than when a nice Mexican young man says, “Hola, papi!” However, when they go home to Mexico to visit their mamasitas, they go back into the closet.

I’ve read in the news that things are getting better for my fellow homos in Mexico. Are more macho muchachos “out” in Mexico these days?

On the other mano, the Human Rights Grateful White Queen Commission of Mexico City’s 2008 report on LGBT discrimination noted that a Mexican DEAR GABACHA: Life for mariposas in governmental survey found that 48.4 percent Mexico has gotten much better since the days of households wouldn’t allow a gay person to when the Aztecs would kill gay men by pulling live there, and that more than 90 percent of their entrails through their culos. Just last LGBT folks had experienced discrimination on month, the Mexican Supreme Court legalized account of their sexuality. gay marriage in Jalisco, stereotypically the In other words, Mexico is about as tolerant most-macho state in la república. (The rest of of gay folks as Ted Cruz—but far betterus mexicanos always knew those charros from looking.

Los Altos were on the down-low, anyway.)

DEAR MEXICAN: How come Mexicans lower their pickup trucks and put those tiny wheels on that stick out beyond the fender? In doing so, they essentially ruin a perfectly good truck by turning it into nothing more than a lowriding car.

I can honestly say that I haven’t seen any other ethnic group do this to their trucks as regularly as Mexicans. What gives?

Juan Confused Coloradan DEAR POCHO: Mexicans lower their cars; gabacho bros raise their Dodge Rams and F250s as high as possible. Such suspension choices are metaphors for our respective razas—Mexicans are close to Mother Earth, while gabas will forever remain uppity pendejos.

DEAR MEXICAN: I work with Mexicans on a golf course. We eat lunch together, and I love tortillas. I even learned how to make a spoon out of a tortilla.

These guys know nothing about la cocina, so when I ask them how to make the red sauce in which the meat is cooked, they give me the furrowed-brow look. I cook a lot at my house; I’m sure some of them think this gringo is a homo. Where can I find a recipe for this red sauce?

My 18th Hole is You-Know-Where DEAR GABACHO: Not enough info here.

What kind of salsa roja was it—from chile de arbol? Japones? Chipotle? Piquín? Chiltepín?

Or was it a guisado? A mole? Maybe a thick consommé?

There are as many Mexican salsas as there are narcos in the Mexican government, so get back at me with the details. But don’t say that hombres can’t cook; just take it from celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who said last year, “If (Donald) Trump deports 11 million people or whatever he’s talking about right now, every restaurant would shut down.” So can someone shove a cold burrito in Trump’s face already?

DEAR MEXICAN: I had an affair with a younger Mexican co-worker. I warned him not to get attached, as I was married, and then I didn’t follow my own advice. In the end, I made the mistake of asking what his brother

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would think if he knew about us—and he ended the relationship, because he realized his whole family would be disappointed.

The problem is, he means a lot to me and made me feel so good. How could he call me Hermosa and preciosa, tell me I was perfect— then end it?

I realize family is very important to him, but he knew what we were getting into from the start. Is there a way to get him back, or should I give up? Is that family bond, which I’ve witnessed seems to be a very Mexican thing, strong enough that now that it’s clicked with him, there’s no going back?

La Preciosa DEAR GABACHA: So you’re telling me you’re mad at a Mexican because he did what you asked—that is, you invited him in, but asked him to not get attached, and he didn’t, and now you’re sad? That’s just like the United States asking Mexico to send over men during the Bracero Program in the 1950s, but asking those men not to become American—and then Americans get shocked that Mexicans remain Mexican. Comal, meet olla.

Catch the Mexican every Wednesday at CVIndependent.com. Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net; be his fan on Facebook; follow him on Twitter @ gustavoarellano; or follow him on Instagram @ gustavo_arellano!

MARCH 2016

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THREE MORE SECRETS ABOUT BOTOX

By Shonda Chase, RN Co-owner and aesthetic director of Revive Wellness Centers Palm Springs and the South Bay area of Los Angeles

Last month, we shared how a new micro-channeling treatment can improve skin texture and reduce pore size, with Botox and dermal fillers—and without targeted injections. This month’s secrets reveal how Botox can help treat acne, how you can save you money by getting less Botox, and why some might need Botox more often than others.

Acne is a genetic condition that originated in Spain thousands of years ago. Acne became a worldwide issue during rise of the Roman Empire, as Spain’s reach extended around the globe. The Spanish gene reduces the amount of lytic granules produced by the body, which prevent acne pustules from forming.

Accutane can treat severe acne—but March’s first secret is that Botox can be used to treat mild to moderate acne. Botox can decrease the oil production in acne pustules and reduce the severity of breakouts. For the first time, Revive’s new Aqua Gold micro-channeling system can comfortably distribute micro-Botox evenly over acne-prone areas.

This month’s Botox secret No. 2: We’re finding that people older than 40 can often get better overall results by spending less on Botox—and they can then use their savings for more dermal filler.

This efficient approach will restore lost volume, improve skin texture and provide the support that Botox can’t accomplish.

Secret No. 3 reveals that people who work out more vigorously might need to refresh their Botox sooner than those doing lighter workouts. Heavy workout sessions can cause Botox to be metabolized more quickly. It might be your healthier lifestyle that causes your Botox to wear off sooner, rather than a problem with the Botox. Who would have thought that an extra Botox treatment could be a “reward” for your healthier lifestyle?

Next month, we’re going to share some secrets for those who think they need a facelift: They might only need smaller—and much less expensive—procedures to accomplish their appearance goals. Until then, keep Can heavy workouts shorten the the secret. effects of your Botox?

Read the entire article at www.revivecenter.com/blog.

Email your individual appearance and aging questions to Ms. Chase at Shonda@revivecenter.com.

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MARCH 2016

NEWS

WESSMAN’S WINS

The Downtown Developer, the Recipient of Many Millions in Taxpayer Dollars, Has for Years Made Money

by Sitting on Property—Until the Timing Is Just Right

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

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BY BRANE JEVRIC

bottle, perhaps two, of Barolo might have helped cost the city of Palm Springs a fortune.

The Italian red wine was served during a meeting in 2010 between Steve Pougnet, then Palm Springs’ mayor, and developer John Wessman. Before the meeting, Pougnet had publicly talked about filing eminent-domain proceedings against Wessman’s Desert Fashion Plaza—which the developer had kept largely empty for almost a decade.

The following day, at the State of the City luncheon, Pougnet announced a deal with Wessman and a “new downtown vision that will benefit all of Palm Springs and the valley.”

The bond between Pougnet and Wessman grew after that. The mayor was hired to work for the Palm Springs International Film Festival—which has long included Wessman as a board member and vice chair. IRS records show that the Palm Springs International Film Society, the nonprofit that runs the festival, paid Pougnet $37,500 in the fiscal year 2011-2012, while Wessman Development Co. was paid $90,638 for building rent.

That was not the first time Pougnet and Wessman would find their financial interests linked.

In 2012, according to public records, Wessman purchased a property at the foot of the Tramway Road for $1.1 million. The property, known as Pedregal, was once owned by developer Dennis Cunningham, who lost the development. In addition, the City Council, led by Pougnet, awarded Wessman $4 million that Cunningham owed in bonds on the property.

The high-profile FBI raid of Palm Springs City Hall on Sept. 1, 2015, gathered documents and other evidence regarding Pougnet’s deals with developers, including Wessman. But beyond the ongoing scrutiny and the corruption probe, Wessman finds himself busier than ever.

D

espite his high profile, Wessman remains an enigma: Not much is known about the man himself. His age is even hard to pin down; a Palm Springs Life article from May 1980 said he was 40 then; if accurate, that would make Wessman now 76 or so.

Wessman—who did not directly respond to requests to speak to the Independent—grew up on a farm in Hemet, surrounded by his six brothers and Swedish-born parents. As a teen, he worked in construction and never finished CVIndependent.com

a college.

In 1964, he was employed by a construction company owned by Warren Coble and Arthur Press. A year later, Wessman bought out Press, and in 1972, he parted with Coble as well.

He’d soon develop one of the most unusual—and profitable—developing philosophies the valley has ever seen. In that aforementioned Palm Springs Life piece, he stated: “… I make more money from keeping property than I do by building and selling.”

The most prominent example of Wessman’s business strategy can be found smack-dab in the midst of downtown Palm Springs. It all started with the Desert Fashion Plaza, which he managed to keep largely vacant after purchasing it in 2001. Over the years, he held on to the property—and wore down many of his critics, a group that at one time included Pougnet.

Then in 2011, Palm Springs voters approved Measure J, a 1 percent increase in the city sales tax slated to be used on various city projects. Soon thereafter, the Palm Springs City Council, lead by Pougnet, opened the city’s wallets for Wessman Development Company.

“In the initial round,” said Robert Stone, a local real estate broker, “he got $32 million in public funds to help with the private improvements to the Desert Fashion Plaza parcel. It was simultaneously accompanied by another $11 million for streets, sidewalks and infrastructure improvements that are typically a developer expense.

“Then there were a bunch of change orders to the original giveaway,” Stone said. “When Wessman failed to provide adequate open space as required by the city’s specific plan

brane jevric

for the site, the city bought a large parcel from him and made it permanent open space.

They paid him $5.3 million for it, based on an appraised value which considered the value of the parcel if fully developed.”

One of the key elements of Wessman’s development is a Kimpton Hotel, rising quickly where the Fashion Plaza once was.

However, Wessman has never built a hotel before.

“The 155-room Kimpton Hotel is our first hotel project,” said Michael Braun, the senior

vice president at Wessman Development Co. According to Braun, who’s also Wessman’s son in law, the Kimpton will be first new relevant large hotel in Palm Springs since 1988, when what is now the Renaissance was built.

Wessman recently announced plans to build yet another significant hotel downtown: a 150-room Virgin Hotel. Some opponents of Wessman’s project have expressed concerns about density, traffic and parking space for the proposed 69-foot-tall hotel. According to

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MARCH 2016

NEWS Braun, there is no problem.

“Based on current approvals, the downtown site has more parking spaces than required,” Braun said.

Another problem is the current occupancy rate for Palm Springs hotels, which is less than 60 percent. Additionally, other hotels may be built soon, including one by the Agua Caliente tribe on its downtown property.

Again, Braun said there was no problem.

“You have to distinguish between various hotel-product offerings,” he said. “Palm Springs needs several new four-star products to attract a different tourist segment. The … occupancy rate is irrelevant, as it relates to all product offerings in Palm Springs.”

According to Judy Deertrack, a local urban lawyer, the downtown project morphed over time into something quite different than what was in the original plan.

“There has been no attempt at a market study or feasibility study since 2011, even though the project has grown from an expected $110 million in construction costs to its current estimate of $350 million,” Deertrack said.

“All the way through, the downtown development has shown a lack of public hearings and transparency, (and an) inappropriateness (in) the way the entitlements have gone through on the consent calendar and new business agenda without public notice, hearings and citizen review,” she said.

Over the years, Wessman has been associated with at least 44 companies, according to public records; 33 of the companies are still active.

“About five years ago, I did a search to find out how many parcels Wessman owns personally or in conjunction with other investors under his many DBAs,” Stone said.

“At that time, he owned 135 properties in the valley. They were all commercial properties or unimproved land.”

Deertrack expressed serious concerns about the ongoing FBI investigation.

“The elephant in the room,” Deertrack said, “is the connection between the ongoing public corruption investigation, for possible fraud or undue influence, and the extraordinary entitlements granted to Wessman. The cities are prohibited from granting contracts or land entitlements to a developer or party who is a source of income to any City Council member, the mayor included.”

As for the FBI probe, Braun had only this to say: “It is company policy not to comment on any ongoing investigation.”

M

eanwhile, Pougnet is no longer part of the City Council. While the new council slate seems to be keeping a

more watchful eye on Wessman’s project, new Mayor Ron Moon said via email that construction will definitely continue.

“At our last City Council meeting, our council agreed unanimously that we were not content with continuing to ‘kick the can down the road’ on the downtown development. As I said at that meeting, further unnecessary delay is not fair to the developer, the residents, and certainly not to the downtown businesses who have been impacted by construction and the associated traffic, dust and noise. The council therefore stepped up to the task for which we are responsible, and we voted on each and every designated block and decided on height, density and setback for each of them.”

Moon said that while Wessman is currently planning to build two hotels, he has agreed not to build a third—at least not for a while.

“Wessman Development has agreed not to build a third hotel, currently described as a JC Marriott, until the members of the downtown hotel association have two years of occupancy over 62 percent,” Moon said. “That is a request made by the other hoteliers, which our Planning Commission has publicly supported, as well as the City Council.

Nobody, least of all the other hotel owners, want to saturate the market.”

As for what Deertrack called the “elephant in the room”: What would happen to the city funds given to Wessman if he or Pougnet were ultimately prosecuted?

Moon said he did not know the answer to that question, and that he would forward the query to City Manager David Ready. Ready, in turn, forwarded the question to City Attorney Doug Holland.

“The developer’s obligations are secured by a performance deed of trust, and in the event the developer defaults on its obligations, the city has the right to exercise its rights under the performance deed of trust, and ultimately force a sale of the property for which financing has not been secured, and building permits have not been issued,” Holland said “This is the city’s primary enforcement tool.

“The city has acquired the parking structure and certain lots, and therefore, the payments for these assets would not be part of any default. Two properties have been released from the performance deed of trust (the Kimpton parcel on Block C-1 and the “West Elm” building on Block A) because these properties were fully financed, and building permits were issued. The remainder of the project is still subject to the performance deed of trust.

In other words … since the Kimpton and West Elm properties have been released, the city would have no real recourse regarding those parcels should criminal charges be filed.

$10 Off

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CVIndependent.com

10 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

NEWS

MEETING WITH MR. MOON

The Palm Springs Mayor Reflects on His First Three Months in Office

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

by brian blueskye

T

he year 2015 was not easy for Palm Springs government, especially after City Hall was rocked by an FBI raid targeting documents related to then-Mayor Steve Pougnet’s relationship with various developers and businessmen.

Then came a contentious and at times ugly election season, which ended with businessman and former military man Rob Moon defeating City Councilmember Ginny Foat by 11 percentage points in the eight-way mayoral race—a result that shocked many political insiders.

The Independent recently caught up with Rob Moon at Townie Bagels to talk about his first three months in office. I asked him if anything had surprised him about being mayor.

“The only thing that’s been difficult has been keeping up with the e-mails,” Moon said. “I probably get 150 a day, maybe 200. Just reading and responding to the ones I need to respond to, forwarding the e-mails I need to— it’s vastly time-consuming. Even my executive assistant finds herself 200 to 300 e-mails behind. It’s crazy!”

However, he said nothing really surprised him regarding city government.

“I’ve been following the city for a long time and haven’t missed more than three or four City Council meetings over the past few years,” he said. “I attended Planning Commission meetings, and I was chairman of the Measure J Commission. I had my finger on what was going on.”

Right from the get-go, Moon and the revamped City Council—newcomers Moon, Geoff Kors and J.R. Roberts joined hold-over incumbents Foat and Chris Mills on the fiveperson council—have been hard at work. Of course, downtown redevelopment has been a major focus.

“The very first night when I took over, we had to vote on the historic designation for Tahquitz Plaza, which we did. That had been hanging for years, and we resolved that our first night,” he said about the Hugh Kapturdesigned midcentury modern buildings at 600700 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, which once were targets for demolition. “Then we worked on the downtown development project.

“At the last City Council meeting, the staff wanted us to do a public hearing and take public testimony and continue it to a time indefinite. As a council, we said no. It wasn’t fair to the developer, to the residents or the downtown businesses to drag this out. We wanted to make decisions—which is what we were put in office for. We had a meeting that went until 1 in the morning and voted on every single outstanding issue, with the height of the buildings and all that stuff. We did vote after CVIndependent.com

vote after vote. It wasn’t all unanimous, but we did our job that night.”

One of the things the council took action on was the ever-controversial downtown development being built by John Wessman.

The council frustrated the developer by limiting the height on one of the proposed buildings.

“We settled the height of the hotel at the City Council meeting, and that’s going to be 49 feet. It’s not going to overwhelmingly large, and it’s a compromise,” he said.

The spirit of compromise shown by Moon and the other new council members has eased the concerns of some community activists, who were afraid Wessman was getting whatever he desired from the previous council.

“It hasn’t really been a struggle,” Moon said. “We made decisions, and we took a good compromise, and the developer didn’t get everything he wanted. (Advocates for Better Community Development, led by Frank Tysen) and other activists who didn’t want to see the development done didn’t get everything they wanted, either, but we reduced the density by 40 percent, and we widened some of the streets. So needless to say, everybody got something.”

The Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club— which had been operated by developer Richard Meaney, one of the primary targets of the FBI investigation—is now shuttered, with no revival seemingly in sight. It’s likely to be one of the new council’s major headaches.

“The Hacienda is something I can’t really comment on, because we’re in litigation now, but the previous City Council agreed to give them $250,000 as an incentive, and apparently they did not use that money for what one would expect—to pay their contractors—and no one knows what they did with it,” he said.

Moon said the city budget is a constant

Mayor Rob Moon: “We have City Council meetings going until midnight and beyond, because we’ve been debating things in public … and not passing through things quietly. We’ve been bringing it out in the open and discussing these things.”

concern for him and his fellow council members.

“Any city, state or federal government has concerns about budget, because you can’t do everything you want to do,” Moon said. “We’re really understaffed at City Hall; we have a serious problem with the homeless; we have infrastructure (work) that needs to be done and roads that need to be paved. The library needs to be redone, and City Hall has a leaky roof. There’s a massive amount that needs to be done. We did pass the Measure J tax that adds the 1 percent sales tax that brings in $13.1 million a year; $3.5 million of that goes toward the bond for the downtown development project, which leaves close to about $9 million a year right now to do additional capital projects.”

Moon said one of the biggest challenges for the city is the homelessness issue.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.

“Councilwoman Foat has a task force she’s working on to get services to homeless people who want services, but what about the people who don’t want services—the ones who don’t want a place to stay, don’t want help, and just want to live in empty lots, panhandle and be a burden on society? That’s a challenge, and I don’t know how to address it. One of our problems is we have a lot of open land in Palm Springs, which the other cities don’t have, which makes it more difficult for us.”

Moon said the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which is currently making plans to redevelop the Spa Resort Casino, continues to have a good working relationship with the city of Palm Springs.

“I had lunch with Chairman Jeff Grubbe a few times, because we have a good relationship, and I’m working very hard to make sure we have a relationship of trust and respect between him and me, and that helps when reaching out to the tribe,” Moon said. “… Chairman Grubbe told me, ‘What’s good for Palm Springs is good for all of us.’ I think that’s important. The tribe only has 400 members and owns half the land in Palm Springs. A lot of the members don’t live here and live elsewhere. They have a very complex governmental organization. What I want to do going forward is make sure we have better communication with them to where we talk to them about what we’re doing, and they talk to us about what they’re doing, and we work together.”

Moon said he’s committed to keeping the workings of the city government transparent.

“Transparency, like democracy, is messy and takes a lot of time,” he said. “We have City Council meetings going until midnight and beyond, because we’ve been debating things in public … and not passing through things quietly.

We’ve been bringing it out in the open and discussing these things. Councilman Geoff Kors and I are also heading up a new commission to write some new rules in regard to transparency.

We’re both on the finance committee as well and are scheduling public meetings about the budget, and residents can come down and talk about the budget and how they’d like to see their tax dollars spent. We’re also going to have a separate meeting for the City Council where they debate the budget instead of doing it as an agenda item on the regular meeting.”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

MARCH 2016

NEWS

RUNNING AGAINST RAUL RUIZ

Republican State Sen. Jeff Stone Thinks He Has What It Will Take to Unseat the Democratic Congressman

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

O

BY KEVIN FITZGERALD

n June 7, Coachella Valley voters will go to the polls to cast their votes in the California primary—and the Republican Party is going all-out to reclaim the 36th Congressional District seat, currently held by Dr. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat.

So far, two Republicans have declared their intentions to take on Ruiz (who did not return repeated requests for comment for this story).

“When I entered the field, there was no Republican who had thrown their hat into this race and stayed in the race,” novice candidate Dwight Kealy told Independent. “We’re looking at a district where a strong Republican should have a good showing. Historically, it’s been a Republican district.”

That historical advantage was altered dramatically in 2012, when Ruiz, then a novice candidate himself, upset heavily favored Republican incumbent Mary Bono Mack in a tight race. In 2014, Ruiz won re-election, handily beating Brian Nestande.

“Right now, there’s a pretty likable Democrat in office, quite frankly,” Kealy admitted. “He’s from the district, and he obviously appeals to the Latino vote as well. “(The Republicans) needed someone with a good story, so I was encouraged to explore this opportunity. I talked to a bunch of people throughout the district and introduced myself, and they were excited about it. I talked to the state leadership and at the national level to the Republican Party. They all seemed really excited.”

But not long after Kealy had committed, 24-year political veteran Jeff Stone, currently serving in the state Senate, made public his intention to challenge Dr. Ruiz as well.

“When the paperwork becomes available, we’ll expeditiously acquire the generalnomination papers and get them filled out,” Stone said. “We’ll get 40 registered voters in the district to sign those, which should not require much of an effort, and we’ll get them filed, and we will be officially in the race.”

Stone said he has been working hard to gather endorsements and raise funds for his likely battle against Ruiz, who already has $1.5 million in the bank for his campaign.

Is Stone concerned how voters will react to his decision to run for national office less than halfway into his four-year term as a state senator?

“I have to balance my responsibilities as a

state senator, which are going to come first,” he said. “I’ll use what spare time I have to get into the district and talk to constituents— and, of course, you’ve got to be able to raise money to get your message out. So we have roughly 10 fundraisers that are planned between now and June at various areas of the district, in the state of California, and some that will actually be outside of California.”

Stone said his decision to jump into the congressional race resulted from a string of unexpected occurrences, beginning last March, when he made a trip to Washington, D.C. “I went there to hear Benjamin Netanyahu and to show that there were a number of us in the country who did not believe the Iran deal was a good deal,” said Stone, “and also to lobby members of Congress to not support that deal the president was proposing with Iran. I walked the halls of Congress and met with our state delegation, including Dr. Raul Ruiz. While we were sitting with Dr. Ruiz, he made it very clear he was going to stand with Israel. I walked away from that meeting, just as many people did, thinking he was not going to support this horrific deal.”

But according to Stone, Ruiz broke his word when he ultimately voted to support the deal.

“He got a message from (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi that he had to support the president of the United States, and he was pretty much told what to do, and he flipflopped on the vote. I was so disappointed, because that rarely has happened in the 24 years I’ve been an elected official, that somebody would make such a major policy shift on such an important issue, namely national security.”

Stone wrote a “Valley Voice” piece for The

State Sen. Jeff Stone: “People will have a clear choice on one ideology and vision for our country or another.”

Desert Sun, voicing his opposition to the nuclear deal, last September.

“After that, I was getting phone calls and emails from people saying, ‘Senator Stone, where do we sign up? And where do send funds?’ And I said, ‘Well, what are you talking about?’ And they said, ‘Aren’t you running for Congress?’ I said, ‘I’m not running for Congress.’”

In November, Stone said, he returned to Washington, D.C., to lobby for federal assistance for his California district, and encountered two longtime Republican congressmen from California, Darrell Issa and Ken Calvert. “‘You know Jeff, we really need you to get into this race,’” Stone recalled them telling him. “‘This is a race that’s about 50-50 Democrat-Republican. And frankly, Dr. Ruiz has been in Congress now long enough that he has a record that can be scrutinized. … So we’re asking you to step up to the plate.”

Although Stone has been in his state Senate seat for less than two years, he also has a voting record that is scrutinized by some groups. For instance, the California League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra

Club California and the California Teachers Association all gave Stone unfavorable ratings for the votes he cast in 2015 on legislative matters affecting their interests.

On the other hand, the National Rifle Association gave him high marks for the votes he cast.

“There are many things that will show a dramatic difference between Dr. Ruiz and myself,” Stone said. “People will have a clear choice on one ideology and vision for our country or another. I look forward to challenging Dr. Ruiz to a series of debates.

I’m hoping we can get five debates in before the primary (June 7) so that the wonderful constituents of the Coachella Valley and the Hemet Valley and the Idyllwild area will have an opportunity to vet both of us.”

How is first-in candidate Dwight Kealy responding to Stone’s candidacy?

“The goal has been to have the best Republican candidate. So if every one in the Republican Party and all the groups get together and say, ‘Hey, Dwight, Stone’s better than you, and we’re not giving you any money or any votes,’ then this would be a horrible hobby to spend my next six months doing.”

CVIndependent.com

12 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

NEWS

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For March, 2016

MARCH ASTRONOMY

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

Spaceship Earth Overtakes Jupiter N This Month; Join a Mini-Star Party!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS Deneb

By Robert Victor

F

rom early March through early June 2016, the Earth will overtake all three bright outer planets within just 87 days, with each planet reaching peak brilliance and all-night visibility: Jupiter in early March; Mars in late May; and Saturn in early June.

For several months following these oppositions, each respective planet will remain conveniently visible in the evening sky … at last!

What does opposition mean? When at opposition as seen from Earth, a planet appears at or nearly 180 degrees from the sun, and appears on the opposite side of the sky from where the sun is located. Thus, the planet will be up all night: low in the eastern sky at dusk, high in the south in the middle of the night, and low in the western sky at dawn. Near the date of its opposition, a planet reaches its closest approach to Earth, and its peak in brilliance.

For several weeks through late February, early risers enjoyed a wide panorama of all five naked-eye planets across the morning sky. Nine folks joined us for our viewing on Feb. 7 to revel in views of five planets, Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s rings, and a rising old crescent moon just 24 1/2 hours before new. Thanks for coming out!

We’re now starting to offer informal Impromptu Sky Watches or Neighborhood Mini-Star Parties. Most will occur in the evening. Check CVIndependent.com for listings.

Hope to see you there!

Mornings in early March: If the mountains don’t block your view, it’s still possible to catch Venus low in the east-southeast, and Jupiter low in the west simultaneously, while Saturn, with brighter reddish Mars nearby to its right, adorns the southern sky. Between Mars-Saturn and a little lower, look for the reddish star Antares, heart of the Scorpion. The light of Antares is more noticeably affected by Earth’s atmosphere, causing it (and other stars) to twinkle.

In the mornings as March progresses, Venus and Jupiter sink toward opposite horizons, with Venus heading toward its June 6 superior conjunction on the far side of the sun, and Jupiter reaching opposition to the sun on the morning of March 8 as Earth overtakes it.

That morning, with Jupiter in the west, the sun below the eastern horizon, and Saturn in the south just more than 90 degrees west of the sun, we can visualize our counterclockwise revolution around the sun and the forward motion of our Spaceship Earth toward Saturn.

Venus, moving faster, is leaving us behind, and we are passing Jupiter, causing it to drop from sight in our right (west) window.

March evenings: They are rich with bright CVIndependent.com

A portion of the evening sky chart. ROBERT D. MILLER

Arcturus

Capella

1

E

Regulus

8

Pollux

W

15 22

stars and planets. Jupiter, rising in the east, is the first of several planets to grace the sky at dusk in coming months. Dog-walkers and others out and about regularly at dusk will be rewarded with many striking astronomical sights this spring. At dusk on March 7 (early during the night of Jupiter’s opposition), we have the sun below our western horizon, and Jupiter visible in the east. Now we’re looking out the rear window of Spaceship Earth. On March 7, we’re moving away from a point in Taurus, about 8 degrees east-northeast of Aldebaran. Fastermoving Mercury will emerge from beyond the sun and have the year’s most favorable evening apparition in the western sky at dusk in April, before it transits the sun on May 9.

Our charts depict the sky at mid-twilight, which we define as the moment when the sun is 9 degrees below the horizon. During March, in the Coachella Valley, mid-twilight occurs about 40 minutes before sunrise, or 40 minutes after sunset.

will overtake Mars on night of May 21-22, and March 21: The moon is 2 degrees south of Saturn on night of June 2-3.

Jupiter, now 165 degrees from the sun, at dusk.

March 9: Mars and Saturn are 15 degrees Note the moon’s phase as it passes Jupiter in Canopus apart. the evening sky every 27-28 days this spring March 23: Before Jupiter sets, the three and summer, until the last pairing, with a thin S bright outerEvening planets, in order from west to crescent moon, on Sept.

2. mid-twilight occurs Stereographic Projection east—Jupiter, Mars and Saturn—span 90 March 23: Mercury is by at Robert superior conjunction, when Sun is 9° below horizon.

Map D. Miller degrees. Mar. 1: 39 minutes after sunset. hidden on the far side of the sun. In 7-10 days, 15: 39 " " " March 27: Mars and" Saturn are 10 degrees using binoculars half an hour after sunset, try to 31: 40 " " apart. They’ll be separated by no more than 10 find it very low in the bright twilight glow, north degrees through May 12, and will be as close as of west. In first three weeks of April, Mercury 7.2 degrees apart April 16-23. will be easy to find with the unaided eye.

Sky Events in Morning Twilight March 1: The moon, just more than half full in the south, is approaching last-quarter phase.

Mars is 9 degrees to the lower right. Saturn is 9 degrees to the lower left, with Antares 9 degrees below the moon and nearly 9 degrees to the lower right of Saturn.

March 2: The moon is 4-5 degrees to the upper left of Saturn.

March 3: Venus and Jupiter are 150 degrees apart.

March 7: The old moon, about 1.5 days before new, is visible near Venus for the last time in the planet’s morning apparition; Look 4 degrees to the left of Venus.

March 8: Jupiter is at opposition! Spaceship Earth now overtakes the giant planet. We are heading about 2 degrees left of Saturn. As we follow our curved orbit around the sun, we

Sky Events in Evening Twilight March 7: Jupiter is at opposition tonight as Spaceship Earth overtakes it. We are now moving away from a point in Taurus about 8 degrees east of Aldebaran.

March 9: The first waxing crescent moon, age 24-25 hours is low, 3-4 degrees south of west.

March 13: The moon is below the Hyades star cluster and Aldebaran at dusk.

March 14: The moon is east of Aldebaran at dusk.

March 15: The moon is north of Betelgeuse at dusk.

March 17: The moon is east of the PolluxProcyon line at dusk.

March 19: The moon is to the upper right of Regulus at dusk. Spring begins at 9:30 p.m.!

March 20: The moon is to the lower right of Regulus at dusk.

Jupiter

29

Aldebaran Procyon

Betelgeuse

Rigel Sirius

Resources Illustrations of aforementioned events appear in the Sky Calendar. For a sample issue and subscription information, visit www. abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will host a star party on Saturday, March 19, from 7-10 p.m., at the Visitor Center of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. Get info on future star parties, with directions and maps to the two sites, as well as news on lectures and special events, at www. astrorx.org.

Robert C. Victor was a staff astronomer at Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University. He is now retired and enjoys providing skywatching opportunities for school children in and around Palm Springs.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 13

MARCH 2016

Supporters of the Independent Program Newspapers today are charging more and more for their content.

However, the work done by the award-winning Coachella Valley Independent has been—and always will be—available to all, free of charge.

We will never put up a paywall. We will never charge for a subscription.

However, we are now offering readers an opportunity to support us voluntarily in doing what we do, via the Supporters of the Independent Program.

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14 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

So Long, Schmidy’s

Barring a Miracle, Beloved Local-Music Venue Schmidy’s Tavern Will Close April 1

BY BRIAN BLUESKYE

On April 1, Dennis and Kathleen Ford will celebrate the third anniversary of their purchase of Schmidy’s Tavern in Palm Desert.

Under the Fords, Schmidy’s has become one of the Coachella Valley’s most welcoming local-music venues, and has developed a great

reputation among beer-lovers thanks to its impressive menu of craft beers and good food.

That’s why it’s heartbreaking to many that on that third anniversary—barring a miracle or sudden change of plans—Schmidy’s Tavern will close.

“As of April 1, 2016, Schmidy’s Tavern will be closing our doors for good,” Dennis Ford said in a Feb. 8 statement on Facebook. “We do not have a lease and have not had one for a year now. Our landlord wants to raise the rent 112 percent, and we simply cannot afford that. We have been paying 50 percent more for the past year, and it has taken its toll.

“We cannot continue like this.”

Several days after the

announcement, Dennis and Kathleen Ford sat on the patio of Schmidy’s and discussed the anguish they were feeling—anguish they largely blamed on the landlord, Realty Trust Group of Wildomar, Calif.

“Our original lease expired a year ago this month. We’ve been month-to-month ever since,” Dennis Ford said. “I tried to negotiate a new lease with them back in December 2014, and they weren’t responsive. When they finally did respond, there was a 112 percent increase. I sent them the counteroffer that December, and didn’t hear back until March 2015, after the lease expired. They’ve been stuck on this number, and that’s something as a small business we just can’t absorb. I can’t sell enough beer to justify a 112 percent rent increase.

“For the last year, we’ve been paying 50 percent more. Anytime you’re month-tomonth, you pay a higher rate. It’s to the point where it’s not worth it anymore. We have to do something before we die a slow and painful death and become completely broke.”

Dennis Ford said the problems with the lease have roots in the Great Recession.

“The original owner opened this place in 2009 and had an original lease in place,” he said. “In 2010 or 2011, during the heart of the recession, everyone was struggling, and they renegotiated their lease down to a certain dollar amount for the balance of the lease.

When we came in and bought the place, we assumed that was the lease (with) the dollar amount that was renegotiated.

“When the lease expired, they went back to what they were getting at the end of the lease, before it was renegotiated. They’re trying to make up the money they lost when

they renegotiated, and from what I see around here, that (lower) renegotiated rent amount should be the rent.”

Dennis Ford explained how they came to own the bar.

“We lived in Carlsbad for 25 years, and I worked in a manufacturing company. (The company) relocated to Dallas, and we moved to Dallas and lived there for about four years,” he said. “I ended up actually leaving the company after 20-something years, and we wanted to move back to California. We talked about buying a bar for years and always

wanted to do that. We decided to move here, and instead of looking for jobs, we looked for a place to buy, and found this on a business-forsale website. We’ve always liked it out here, and when we lived in Carlsbad, we would come out here whenever we could.

“We saw this place. The price was right. It wasn’t doing a lot of business at the time, but we saw the potential in it, and we thought, ‘What the hell? Let’s give it a shot!’ On April 1, 2013, we took over. Three years to the day we took over, we’ll be closing.”

The Fords didn’t originally intend for Schmidy’s to become a music venue; they just wanted it to be a regular neighborhood bar, and had no plans to have live music at all.

However, in time, Schmidy’s became one of the most-welcoming music venues for local bands.

“About a month and a half after we took over, we had Caxton and Burning Bettie play here,” Dennis Ford remembered. “One of my old bartenders who was here after we just bought it was friends with Caxton. He had arranged it and left. Christina (Reyes) from Caxton got hold of me and asked, ‘Are we still doing the show?’ And I said, ‘Why not?’

“They came in and did it on a Saturday night—and the place was packed. I thought, ‘Wow, this might be something.’ Being as naïve as I was at the time, I thought if you brought any band in here, this place would be packed. I’d bring in cover bands, and there would be 10 people, and I realized that wasn’t working. I don’t know how, but somehow, it just evolved, using original bands. That’s when I realized that was the key to this place: You get three local bands a night, and that’s three fan bases. Cover bands don’t have a fan base.

We had no idea that it’d turn into what it did.”

The Fords also had no idea Schmidy’s would become one of the valley’s most-liked craftbeer purveyors.

“I knew nothing about craft beer when I took over this place, and I’m still not a craft-beer drinker. I don’t care for it myself, and I drink Coors Light,” Dennis Ford said with a laugh.

“We have it because of a bartender we had, and he knew craft beer. When he left five weeks into us owning it, it was basically up to me to decide what beers to bring in. … That was tough, because I knew nothing about it. I’ve learned a lot about it over the past three years.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

MARCH 2016

“I don’t like (craft beer), but I know a lot about it.”

of their life, and that the closing of Schmidy’s has taken a financial toll on the family. The Fords said they had already decided what to do after they close Schmidy’s doors on April 1 (barring a miracle).

“Three months ago, we knew we had to pick a date. April is our worst month, because everyone is going to Coachella and Stagecoach,” Dennis Ford said. “There might be a small glimmer of hope that we’ll be able to stay open or find somewhere else, but I’ve been telling everyone, ‘I hope for the best, but expect the worst.’

“We own a house in Dallas, Texas, and we’re moving back. We have grandkids down there in Houston, and Kathy wants to be closer to them, and we’re a little closer to my family in Illinois—and my parents aren’t getting any younger. It just seems like the right thing to do to go back there.

Unfortunately, we’ll probably have to find jobs, and there are no jobs out here. My experience is in manufacturing, and there’s not any of that here—and tons of it down there. I would love to open up another bar, because it’s so much cheaper to do business down there. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen, because of the amount of money we’re losing here by closing up.

“People ask, ‘Why don’t you sell it?’ No one is going to buy this place without a lease.”

The Independent left several messages with the Realty Trust Group requesting to talk to somebody for this story, but received no response.

Many local bands have a love

for Schmidy’s; the bar was the site of the first public shows for more than a handful of them.

Jack Kohler, of War Drum, also runs his own promotion company, named Fortune Finder Music Group. He recently started booking shows at Schmidy’s after leaving The Hood Bar and Pizza.

“I think Dennis and Kathy are really genuine toward local bands,” Kohler said.

“We do local acts most of the time—and it’s tough to do all local, all the time. Dennis and Kathleen have always been about equalopportunity toward bands and letting them play: rock, rap and hip hop, whatever— everyone has a chance “Now with this venue closing, it’s a very critical wound to the scene, because this is another original local-music venue being thrown under the bus. I know that there are other venues such as The Hood Bar and Pizza and Bart Lounge, and (local promoter) BB Ingle is going to open up something where he does live and local entertainment, but Schmidy’s was crucial for bands to play at, and there’s a lot of history there. A lot of bands have cut their teeth at Schmidy’s, for sure, and it’s going to be very damaging when it closes.”

Dennis Ford said his reputation in the local-music community is a great source of pride.

“That’s the one thing I’m most proud of with this place: I’ll give anyone a chance,” he said. “You don’t have to be an established name to play here. It doesn’t matter to me, and we do all genres. We’re the only place that did that. We had a Motown show here where the average age was 65, and it was so full in here at $20 a head that we had to turn people away. We had metal, country music and whatever else.”

Schmidy’s has also been willing to open its doors to good causes. During a recent open-mic night at Schmidy’s that Blasting Echo frontman Josh Heinz hosts on a weekly basis, he talked about the support Schmidy’s offered him for his annual Concert for Autism.

“Schmidy’s, to me, is Dennis and Kathy, and their role and their warmth toward the music community,” Heinz said. “They provide a place to play for a lot of bands that some of the other places wouldn’t let in—not because the bands are bad bands, but because they’re young. They did underage shows and would let them play in the afternoons and early evenings. No other place would do that.

“Dennis and Kathy were 100 percent supportive of the autism benefit and me doing it. They let us come in here and would donate some of their receipts at the end of the night to the cause. It’s very nice to have

Dennis Ford (with co-owner and wife, Kathleen Ford): “We’ve just been so immersed in the music scene here, and I feel like we’re letting these local bands down. I can’t help but feel it’s my fault, and at the same time, I have to look out for what’s best for Kathy and me.”

INSET: Josh Heinz: “(Schmidy’s) provides a place to play for a lot of bands that some of the other places wouldn’t let in—not because the bands are bad bands, but because they’re young. They did underage shows and would let them play in the afternoons and early evenings. No other place would do that.”

owners of a bar like that, because not a lot of venues are that nice. That comes from experience of more than 20 years of my playing in Memphis and playing here.”

It wasn’t just Heinz’s autism cause that Schmidy’s helped out; many other local charities and people who had fallen on hard times found a helping hand at Schmidy’s.

Just one example: When Musicians Outlet in Palm Desert burned down last year, the Fords hosted a benefit show.

“When we saw what happened to Musicians Outlet, we were like, ‘Oh my god! I can’t believe that happened!’” Kathleen Ford said.

“We’re a small business, and that would crush us if that happened to us. That’s why we did that.

“We also did one benefit where we helped a young kid with leukemia.”

While the Fords didn’t originally intend for Schmidy’s to become a local music venue, Dennis Ford said it was never a question whether Schmidy’s would give back to the community.

“To me, that’s something that needs to

happen. People come here and spend their money, and if someone needs something, we give back,” he said. “Pretty much all of the benefits we’ve done, we’ve donated anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the bar sales that night to that particular cause. For one, it makes you feel good, and two, you get publicity out of it—and you can’t buy that kind of publicity.

“A local musician named Rob Lawrence is putting together a benefit we’re doing in March for abused and abandoned animals.

Kathy and I love animals, and it’s something I wanted to do. When I made the decision to shut down, I didn’t want to look like we were raising money and keeping it for ourselves before closing down and leaving. I don’t want to touch the money, because I don’t want anyone saying anything. But I enjoy doing benefits for genuine causes.”

When the subject of retirement came up, Dennis and Kathleen Ford laughed. “In your dreams!” Kathleen said to Dennis, laughing.

That laughter temporarily masked the fact they’d just endured one of the toughest weeks

In Schmidy’s Tavern’s final days, the Fords plan to thank the local bands that have played there by bringing them in for a marathon series of events.

“We’ve just been so immersed in the music scene here, and I feel like we’re letting these local bands down,” Dennis Ford said. “I can’t help but feel it’s my fault, and at the same time, I have to look out for what’s best for Kathy and me. We put our retirement into this place.

“The day I made the announcement we were closing, I went home at 2 in the afternoon. I couldn’t be here. I jumped on my bike and went for a ride, and I thought, ‘I want to have a blowout month of March.’

I want to get all the bands who have ever played here back in here during the month of March. I stopped, and I sent Jack (Kohler) a text to try to get every band that ever played here.”

For more information on Schmidy’s Tavern, located at 72286 Highway 111, Suite J3, in Palm Desert, call 760-837-3800, or visit the Schmidy’s Tavern Facebook page. Schmidy’s will host the End of the World Festival from Thursday, March 24, through Sunday, March 27, to celebrate Schmidy’s brief but powerful local-music legacy, and to support the Fords. Watch the event’s Facebook page for details.

CVIndependent.com

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CVI SPOTLIGHT: MARCH 2016 W

Enjoy Art With Your Tennis, If You Please

hile Indian Wells will be the focus of the tennis world for much of March thanks to the BNP Paribas Open, art will share the spotlight from Thursday, March 17 to Sunday, March 20, thanks to the first Spectrum Indian Wells, a juried contemporary art show.

During a recent interview with Eric Smith, the Spectrum Indian Wells founder and Redwood Media Group CEO, he explained his local ties. After spending 13 years in Cleveland, Smith now makes his home here in the Coachella Valley.

“We don’t really do art festivals—we do art shows,” Smith said. “It’s hard walls about 10 feet high with truss lighting systems, and it’s more of a gallery atmosphere. We do six across the country: San Diego; we do two in Miami; New York; Santa Fe; and one here in Indian Wells. I was the original founder of the Palm Springs International Art Fair in 1999. I ran that for five years until I sold my company. I got to escort Dolores Hope around the show, and Mary Bono was there, too. It was really fun. I think I was a bit ahead of my time, and I really enjoyed producing that show. It was smaller, and it was at the convention center. … I ended up buying it back in 2009, and I live here in Palm Desert.”

Smith is an avid tennis player who closely follows the BNP Paribas Open.

“I always thought there was a missing link of something to do during the tennis tournament,” he said. “That was kind of the motivation. During the last week of the tennis tournament, you’re down to semifinals and finals. There’s not much going on.

Everyone is looking for something to do, and I thought, ‘Let’s start another nice art show in the Coachella Valley.’ The Renaissance

CVIndependent.com

“Blast Off Mr. Jones” (cropped) by JD Shultz, a Spectrum Indian Wells exhibitor.

(Indian Wells Resort) was available, and that’s where a lot of the tennis players stay, and a lot of wealthy individuals are here for the tournament, so it just made sense. The (target) demographic is the people galleries are looking for. Plus we have a large following and a large exhibitor base. But with all that being said, it’s hard to start a first-year show.

“When I went to the Renaissance, they asked me, ‘Do you think people will come during the tennis tournament?’ I said, ‘That’s what everyone asks me, and here’s my explanation: I think they’re going to come in droves. I play tennis and go to the tennis tournament. During the last four days, the only court that’s left is Center Court, and that’s it: 450,000 people attend that tournament, and for the last couple days, there are 14,000 attending each night, and that’s it.’

They can come over, eat at the Renaissance, have another glass of champagne, tour the grounds—and that’s the idea.”

Smith is producing the show with his own

money and the help of UBS, which is the art show’s main sponsor. He described the art that will be on display at the show. “(There will be) some great photography, and two- and three-dimensional work,” he said. “We have that great rose lawn at the Renaissance, and we’re going to place some sculptures out there. It will be a combination of traditional, modern and contemporary work.

We’ll have realism, impressionism, landscapes and abstracts. We have a lot of great artists.

(There is) not a lot of glass work or anything like that. We’ll have about 50 exhibitors, and it will really be a nice atmosphere. It won’t be like La Quinta, and it will be more like the Palm Springs (Fine) Art Fair.”

Smith said he really wants people in the area for the tennis tournament to come to the show.

“Anybody who has a tennis-tournament ticket can come in for free,” he said. “Our goal is to grow it over the next three years and provide a nice aesthetic and a wonderful

atmosphere for artists and galleries to sell their work.”

Smith’s message to both tennis-tournament attendees and the general public: Come and enjoy.

“There will be some mid-career artists, a few emerging artists, and artists who have been around awhile,” he said. “There’s a nice mixture and a lot of galleries, too.

“Come and enjoy yourselves. It’s a great week for the Coachella Valley with the tennis tournament, and we’re just adding a little spice to it.”

The Spectrum Indian Wells art show takes place Thursday, March 17, through Sunday, March 20, at the Renaissance Indian Wells Resort and Spa, 44400 Indian Wells Lane, in Indian Wells. Admission prices vary; a generaladmission day pass is $20. For tickets or more information, visit spectrum-indianwells.com.

—Brian Blueskye

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

MARCH 2016

All New!

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MARCH 2016

ARTS & CULTURE

WHEN THE WATER RUNS OUT

Western Lit: In ‘Gold Fame Citrus,’ the Nascent Genre of Cli-Fi Looks to California

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By ben goldfarb

T

hough the super El Niño bearing down on California may help alleviate the state’s crippling drought, even a good drenching won’t wash away four dry years.

For nearly a half-decade, the watery foundation that underpins so many California institutions—almonds and salmon, weed and dairy, our very own Salton Sea and Los Angeles itself—has wobbled under the weight of mismanagement, our national hunger for fresh produce and climate change. As the writer Lauren Markham put it: “California is a great, slick hustler at the card table, bluffing a myth of plenty while holding tight the fan of truth: We are now, and have been for the entirety of modern history, running out of water.”

The drought has inspired plenty of great journalism, but some truths only literature can reveal. Enter Claire Vaye Watkins’ new novel, Gold Fame Citrus, which captures the moment at which California’s bluff has been called. Set in a drought-stricken near future, Gold Fame Citrus tracks a feckless young couple, Luz and Ray, who squat in the ruined home of a vanished starlet, drinking syrupy ration cola and paying exorbitant prices for black-market blueberries. Beyond the crumbling walls, nature lies in chaos; Luz is treated to “scorpions coming up through the drain, a pair of mummified frogs in the waterless fountain, a coyote carcass going wicker in the ravine.” At least there’s no traffic on the 10.

The plot takes off when Luz and Ray adopt a creepy child and try to get out of Dodge.

Yet the real pleasure lies not in the What, but in the surreal Where. The landscape has come to be dominated by a “vast toothcolored superdune in the forgotten crook of the wasted West,” its height rivaling Denali, that marches across the state with malevolent purpose. The desiccated wasteland is purportedly inhabited by a newly evolved menagerie: incandescent bats, land eels and sand krill. Mutant mole people roam nuclearwaste disposal sites.

Watkins’ evocation of the drought, and society’s feeble attempts to ameliorate it,

unspools with chilling authenticity. In Gold Fame Citrus’ afflicted future, engineers drag glaciers down from Alaska, erect vast retaining walls to repel airborne sand, and drill “three thousand feet into the unyielding earth, praying for aquifer but deliver(ing) only hot brine.” Los Angeles, a thirsty Kraken, builds “new aqueducts, deeper aqueducts, aqueducts stretching to the watersheds of Idaho, Washington, Montana, aqueducts veining the West, half a million miles of palatial half-pipe left of the hundredth meridian.”

If that sounds improbably grandiose, consider that this fictional plan is only half as loony as some of the real-world ideas California has entertained. Hell, consider the Central Valley Project.

Gold Fame Citrus is the latest addition to a nascent genre dubbed “cli-fi”: science fiction, often dystopian, that confronts the environmental and social impacts of climate

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change. The cli-fi canon is diverse and growing, from Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, a delicate study of an errant flock of monarch butterflies, to Nathaniel Rich’s Odds Against Tomorrow, an actuarial thriller (seriously) about consulting firms that profit off storms.

The pantheon grows with each passing year: 2015 saw the publication of Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife alongside the release of the latest iteration of Mad Max, disaster porn set in the deserts of Australia.

As The New Yorker’s Kathryn Schulz has observed, weather no longer serves as backdrop to our stories; increasingly, it is the story.

Climate change certainly provides fertile ground for literature. Its worst symptoms— floods, fires, die-offs, insect plagues—are so cataclysmic, they make the Old Testament look banal. You can hardly blame a novelist or screenwriter for using those phantasmagoric hazards as plot devices. Think, for example, of Interstellar, which conjures a Dust Bowl redux as an excuse to launch Matthew McConaughey into space.

Yet climate change is fundamentally a public policy problem, and thus the most valuable cli-fi not only transports and terrifies; it illuminates and instructs. As Bill Chameides, former dean of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, put it, “The thing that makes dystopian fiction so intriguing, at least to me … is the social science aspect—the author’s vision of how humanity chooses to organize and cope in the post-apocalyptic world.”

And that’s precisely why Gold Fame Citrus is so necessary. In Watkins’ novel, climate change is not merely a backdrop against which to stage Mad Max-ish post-apocalyptic hijinks.

Rather, how people “organize and cope,” to use Chameides’ words, is the driving question in Watkins’ novel. This is literature not only as humble escape, but as chilling meditation on pending social havoc.

The nail that Gold Fame Citrus hits most squarely on the head is its treatment of refugees. Like Children of Men, another dystopian work that grapples with large-scale human migration, Gold is not optimistic about our ability to compassionately manage the displaced. The refugees fleeing California,

slapped with the dehumanizing label “Mojavs,” are forced into makeshift underground detainment centers, packed into labor camps, and barred from relocating to the moist paradise of Washington. Bureau of Land Management officers patrol the desert, locking up wanderers like stray dogs.

If this sounds familiar, well, that’s the point. This country is currently hot with anti-immigrant fever, and while it’s easy to blame Donald Trump, culpability may lie with even larger forces: The Syrians now seeking sanctuary in some Western states were likely dislocated in part by climate change. A study published in March 2015 found that Syria’s conflict was exacerbated by the catastrophic drought that destroyed agriculture in that country’s breadbasket. “Severe droughts such as the recent one,” wrote author Colin Kelley, “were two to three times more likely to occur under the effects of climate change than in its absence.”

As other refugees inevitably follow Syria’s, global warming will test not only the integrity of our infrastructure but the bounds of our humanity. And that’s where fiction proves its value: It activates our empathy by forcing us to inhabit an unfamiliar skin—the skin, say, of a refugee.

Gold Fame Citrus, by Claire Vaye Watkins; Riverhead, 352 pages, $27.95. This review originally appeared in High Country News.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

MARCH 2016

City of Rancho Mirage Presents

The Von Trapps

The 60th Annual Edition of It’s Magic!

Wed, March 2, 8pm

Sun, March 6, 3pm

Shirley MacLaine

TAO: Seventeen Samurai

Mon, March 7, 8pm

Wed, March 9, 7pm

Tribute to The Follies Featuring Tony Sandler, Olate Dogs, Raspyni Brothers, Pete Barbutti, Dorothy Kloss and Ken Prescott, Lindy Sisters, The Follies Dancers and The Follies Orchestra Thu, March 10, 8pm Fri, March 11, 2pm & 8pm

McCallum Celebrates Sinatra’s Centennial

Michael Feinstein Sat, March 12, 8pm Sun, March 13, 7pm

Andre Watts Mon, March 14, 7pm Presented by the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition through the generosity of individual board members

Order tickets by phone

760-340-ARTS (2787)

Igudesman & Joo Fri, March 18, 8pm

Order online

mccallumtheatre.com

73000 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT • BOX OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY, 9:00am-5:00pm

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MARCH 2016

21 22 26

COFFEE AND WINE CAN COME TOGETHER. WHO KNEW? THE INDY ENDORSEMENT: A GERMAN PANCAKE AND FRIED CHICKEN RESTAURANT NEWS BITES: BERNIE'S LEAVES PS FOR RM

www.cvindependent.com/FOOD-DRINK

The Rhythm, Wine and Brews Experience Is Back

24

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FOUR DOZEN BEER BREWERS!

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 21

MARCH 2016

FOOD & DRINK

A SURPRISING PAIRING Coffee and Wine Can Come Together. Who Knew?

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By ari levaux

B

reakfast turns me into a speed freak. Steak, meanwhile, converts me into a temporary alcoholic.

Put me in front of a greasy or sweet breakfast, and I’m going to drink coffee like it’s oxygen. This is how my body extracts maximum pleasure from the muffin or omelet I’m chewing—by bathing my mouth in coffee. The coffee’s acidic bitterness makes the flavors of the food stand out, and completes the meal. I’ve researched this relationship at many a greasy spoon diner, where servers endlessly circle to keep your cup full. What the coffee lacks in quality, it makes up for in quantity. That’s important when you’re eating with a beverage condiment—because the last thing you want is for that well to dry up.

Later in the day, there are many foods that essentially command me to drink wine. If I’m chewing a succulent piece of meat, I need to be drinking wine at exactly the same time.

Otherwise, I get distressed, like an addict in withdrawal.

While there are many foods that go well with wine, only one—meat—will make me drink wine like a dehydration victim would drink Gatorade.

When meat and wine are available, it is a scientific fact that I will be stuffed and wasted.

And that is pretty much the only time you will see me wasted.

Other than producing buzzes, coffee and wine otherwise seem completely different. But if you look beneath the surface, you can see they are competing for the same niche in the ecosystem of your dining table: the acidic-beverage niche.

Acidity serves to enhance the pleasure derived from fatty foods. The fat coats your taste buds, and the acid washes that fat away, exposing and stimulating the taste buds and creating fireworks of juxtaposition. If necessary, you may have to adjust fat levels to achieve this balance. I generally do so with mayonnaise.

This principle of creative tension is at the heart of established pairings—like wine with cheese, coffee with cream, and 10,000 other flavor combinations.

One thing you rarely see, however, is coffee and wine together. One of them often needs to be there, but having both would be like having two alpha males in the same room: potentially rough, and at the very least, awkward and uncomfortable. But it turns out that another one of my favorite foods, chili pepper—aka chile— can smooth over this tension.

Like wine and coffee, chile goes exceptionally

well with fat, from the jalapeno popper and its elder the chile relleno, to the requisite squirt of hot sauce upon your big greasy breakfast.

Like coffee and wine, chile produces its own kind of buzz—an adrenaline rush, to be exact.

Also like coffee and wine, chile has many proven and suspected medical benefits, including reducing body inflammation and improving lipid levels in the blood. But unlike coffee, wine or fat, there are few apparent reasons not to indulge one’s chile-tooth to its fullest.

For years, I took it as a given that coffee and wine simply don’t mix. It’s an either/or situation.

But this assumption was categorically discredited when I bit into a piece of pork belly that had been braised with red wine, coffee and red chile.

Amazingly, the coffee and wine were able to join forces and forge a common flavor.

This union was mediated by chile, the sharp bitterness and sweetness of which formed a narrow bridge between the normally disparate flavors of wine and coffee. That all this flavor alchemy came together in the context of a succulent piece of pork made the experience all the more mouth-melting.

This revelation went down in a magical— and sadly defunct—New Mexico restaurant, where I consumed this dish next to a cackling fire of fragrant desert wood. Since then, I’ve endeavored to re-create this recipe, and somewhere along the line, I think I actually surpassed the original, stealing tricks from similar recipes I found online.

My current version combines pork and venison, but any meat will work, even chicken.

Bones, whether in oxtail, osso bucco or ribs, will improve the result. The tougher the meat, the better. If using very lean meat, there needs to be some fat, like bacon or olive oil.

The wine- and coffee-based broth tastes kind of disharmonious when you first combine the ingredients, but it eventually cooks into something special—a flavor that is deep and darkly delicious and thoroughly unique.

Fatty meat cooked in coffee and wine 2 pounds of meat 1 cup of wine, of a quality you would drink 1 cup of strong coffee (no greasy spoon brew here) 3 bay leaves 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tablespoons mild red chile powder 2 Santa Fe-style dried mild red chile, seeded and crumbled 2 mild pasilla chile (or more red chile), seeded and crumbled Salt, pepper and garlic powder Olive oil Brown the meat in whole chunks under the broiler. In a pan, sauté the onions, garlic and

bay leaves in oil. When onions are translucent, add chile. Cook a minute, stirring, then add the coffee and wine. Cook until the volume reduces by half. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the meat. Cover meat with stock or water, and slow-cook or braise for 4-8 hours, until meat is completely tender. Add water, wine or stock as necessary to replace any evaporated liquid. Season again.

Serve in a bowl with minced onions and a hunk of bread, which will absorb the mysterious broth and deliver it to your mouth, where no further adjustments will be necessary.

This dish won’t give a caffeine high or a wine buzz, but it provides a kick all of its own. It was, after all, the pursuit of a flavor fix along these lines that got me into coffee and wine to begin with.

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MARCH 2016

FOOD & DRINK the

INDY ENDORSEMENT Enjoy a German Pancake for Breakfast,

THREE COURSE PRIX FIXE HAPPIEST HAPPY HOUR PRIME RIB TUESDAYS

WHERE PA L M SPRINGS E AT S , D R I N K S A N D M E E T S

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and Boneless Fried Chicken for Dinner WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

WHAT The German Pancake WHERE Elmer’s, 1030 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $10.29; $12.29 as a combo CONTACT 760-3278419; eatatelmers. com WHY It’s a fantastic sweet breakfast.

Not too long ago, I ordered the German pancake at Elmer’s Restaurant. One of my dining companions was, well, actually German—and he was baffled.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” he said, pointing to the huge, thin, pan-shaped concoction on my plate topped with lemon, butter and powdered sugar.

He was baffled for good reason: Turns out the German pancake is not very German after all. While the dish is derived from Pfannkuchen, the Internet tells me this dish—also called a “Dutch baby pancake”—was actually invented in Washington state sometime early last century. (Google says Wikipedia says Sunset magazine said it, so, um, it must be true?)

Regardless of the German pancake’s genesis, the fact remains: The thing is damn tasty.

It’s part-pancake, part-crepe, part-souffle, and works well as a breakfast or as a dessert.

While Elmer’s offers fruit toppings to go with the pancake for an extra buck, I like to keep it simple and stick with the original lemon and butter.

Don’t be fooled by the pancake’s size: It’s big yet paper-thin, so it’s light and not at all too filling. That’s why I ordered mine as pictured: as part of a combo with eggs and sausage.

The pancake is not the only thing Elmer’s does well; the Palm Springs outpost of the chain—which includes more than two dozen restaurants, all of which are in the Pacific Northwest except for the local one—is always busy during breakfast hours, and is a perennial winner or finalist in the various local Best Of competitions.

If Elmer’s is not in your regular breakfast rotation (or, for that matter, your lunch or dinner rotation), consider adding it to the list.

And consider ordering a German pancake while you’re there.

WHAT The Crispy Boneless Southern Fried Chicken WHERE The Tropicale, 330 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $25 CONTACT 760-866-1952; thetropicale.com WHY The delicious flavor leads to happy memories.

I went to The Tropicale for the first time back in 2008, shortly after the restaurant opened. I was visiting here from Arizona, doing research for a business plan—a business which would become the publication you’re reading right now, some four-plus years later.

I was immediately smitten with The Tropicale. It felt so … Palm Springs, thanks to the swanky vibe, the amazing patio, the bright colors and so on.

In the years since, The Tropicale has become more than just another restaurant to me: It’s become my default place to celebrate special occasions. Where did we go to celebrate the first print edition of the Independent after we picked it up from the printer? The Tropicale, of course.

I love everything about the restaurant (except, well, the prices; hey, I am a poor, struggling business owner now). However, when it comes to the food, there’s one dish I love more than all others: The crispy boneless fried chicken.

This dish, in a word, is fantastic. The coating is crisp and delicious; the chicken is juicy and packed with flavor. The accompanying corn mashed potatoes add smoothness and earthiness to the plate, while the collard greens bring a welcome briny, chewy element.

This is not the prettiest plate of food; the Iron Chef judges would deduct serious presentation points. However, it’d get a perfect score for taste.

On a personal level, I love this dish for reasons that go beyond its yumminess: It makes me happy, because it’s been a part of numerous wonderful occasions in my life—and I hope it’ll be a part of many other special moments to come.

MARCH 2016

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 23

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MARCH 2016

the

FOOD & DRINK Four Dozen Breweries Will Descend on Indio on March 5 WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

T

By Erin Peters

he Rhythm, Wine and Brews Experience is back on March 5 with an amazing lineup of bands, wine and brews.

Live music, craft beer from 48 breweries and amazing wine from 21 wineries will be enjoyed with the scenic Empire Polo Club as the backdrop.

Kevin Olsen runs Adam’s Bottle Boutique in Redondo Beach; he is the RWB beer curator.

“This year, we have a more unique selection of breweries,” he said. “Some are a little less mainstream, with some smaller breweries that are more artisanal and craft-driven. Last year, we definitely took a step in that direction.

“Belching Beaver came out this year, (as did) Strand Brewing; Ritual Brewing, which is a little closer, is an Inland Empire brewery.”

Here is more information some of the breweries that will be rockin’ this year’s Rhythm, Wine and Brews. Get more information at www.rwbexp.com and read an expanded version of this story at CVIndependent.com.

10 Barrel Brewing: This is a favorite in Oregon and a multiple Great American Beer Festival medal winner. There are satellite brewpubs in Boise, Portland and Bend.

Anchor Brewing Company: This brewery is dripping with history: Anchor began during the California Gold Rush and was the first to produce steam beer—effervescent beer now labeled California common beer. Anchor is the only steam-brewing company still in operation.

Green Flash Brewing: Green Flash opened Cellar 3 last year, a new tasting room and specialty brewing facility in Poway. The facility focuses on barrel-aging and wildyeast experimentation. When not sipping something sour, try the Soul Style American IPA. It’s a perfect warm-weather beer.

Breckenridge Brewery: Colorado’s third craft brewery began thanks to a ski-bum homebrewer in 1990. Today, Breckenridge’s beers can be found in 32 states. In true outdoorsy form, the brewery put nitro— nitrogen-carbonated beer—in cans late last year.

Three Weavers Brewing Company: The CVIndependent.com

female-run brewery is Los Angeles’ second Kickstarter-funded brewery. Brewmaster Alexandra Nowell was the former lead brewer at Drakes and won two GABF bronze medals while brewmaster at Kinetic Brewing Company in Lancaster.

Coachella Valley Brewing Company: CVB, as we locals like to call it, answers the call for a bigger selection of sophisticated and modern beers here in the valley. Head brewmaster and part owner Chris Anderson is a graduate of the University of AlaskaAnchorage Culinary program. Anderson brews using local ingredients. CVB started a sour program in 2015, and the Profligate Society features sours like the cabernet-barrel-aged Epineux Poire prickly pear wild ale.

Babe’s Bar-B-Que and Brewhouse: The Rancho Mirage restaurant and brewhouse was founded by Marie Callender’s founder, Don Callender. Don had a passion for craft beer and opened two small breweries in 1998 and 1999. Babe’s later opened in April 2002. In 2014, the Belgian Vanilla Blonde Ale took gold at the Great America Beer Festival.

La Quinta Brewing: One of the valley’s three local brewers opened its doors in the fall of 2013. And after much success and popularity, it recently opened a taproom in Old Town La Quinta.

Black Market Brewing: Black Market launched the craft movement in Temecula’s wine country. It recently brewed a Rum Matured Deception With Pineapple. The “normal” Deception is a coconut lime blonde ale. Black Market releases a new beer on Cask Night, every Monday.

Lost Coast: Lost Coast began in 1990, in a 100-year-old castle in Eureka, Calif. Barbara Groom, a pharmacist turned homebrewer, now owns the 43rd-largest craft brewery in the U.S. Have a friend who hasn’t turned to craft yet? Give them a pint of Great White.

Founders Brewery: If you haven’t fallen in love with Founders, you don’t have a heart.

This brewery is ranked as one of the top breweries in the world by Ratebeer.com over the last five years. If you haven’t tried the Breakfast Stout, you haven’t lived.

Bootleggers Brewery: Orange County craft-beer darling Bootleggers was established in 2008 by husband and wife Aaron and Patricia Barkenhagen. They brew the popular Mint Chocolate Porter.

Bell’s Brewery: Bell’s was founded by Larry Bell as a home-brewing supply shop in 1983. It ranked eighth in total volume among all domestic craft brewers in the U.S. in 2010.

Barley Forge Brewery: This was the OC Weekly Best Brewery in 2015. Barley Forge specializes in Belgian, West Coast and German-style beers.

Brew Rebellion: This brewery is true to its name: Brew Rebellion brews beer 30 to 50 gallons at a time. That means an awesome rotating tap list and more specialty beers.

Coedo Brewery: Japan’s Coedo names beers after five classic Japanese hues. Coedo honors traditions: The brewers allow the first sip of beer to fall to the ground from the tanks, as a tribute to the brewmasters who came before them.

Einstök Brewing: This brewer is located just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in the fishing port of Akureyri, Iceland. All Einstök beers are 100 percent vegan, with no GMOs. Clown Shoes: Funny name, great beer.

Check out American black ale dubbed “Lubrication.” The label features a robot at a gas station holding a pump handle in his groin vicinity. Fun tidbit: The artist is a woman.

Pizza Port Brewing: Pizza Port serves delicious craft beer in Solana Beach, Carlsbad, San Clemente and Ocean Beach. Each of Pizza Port’s four San Diego County brewpubs won at least one GABF medal last year.

Mission Brewery: Mission Brewery was originally established in 1913; like most breweries of the time, it went out of business during the first year of Prohibition. The revived Mission Brewery is now in the East Village in downtown San Diego in the historic Wonder Bread Building.

King Harbor Brewing Company: This is first production brewery in Redondo Beach.

Last June, it opened the Waterfront Tasting Room, joining Los Angeles craft-beer-bar icon Naja’s Place on the International Boardwalk.

Belching Beaver Brewing: This is a dogfriendly brewery in North Park, San Diego.

The Beavers Milk, Milk Stout took a gold medal at the World Beer Championships in 2014 and 2015. Their Dammed! Double IPA also took a gold at the World Beer Championships in 2014.

Strand Brewing: Torrance’s first production brewery has grown so much since 2009 that it moved to Old Torrance last October. Strand Brewing, Monkish Brewing, The Dudes Brewing and Smog City Brewing are all within a short Uber ride from each other.

Angel City Brewing: Angel City has a special place in my heart: When I first started writing about beer in 2008, I met Michael Bowe, the founder of Angel City. He’s since sold it and is sailing around the world, but the brewery continues to thrive in downtown Los Angeles.

Ironfire Brewing Company: John Maino and Greg Webb met at Ballast Point in San Diego and decided to start their own brewery in Temecula—and Ironfire was born in 2012.

BarrelHouse Brewing Co.: BarrelHouse not only has fantastic beers (Sours!); it also offers beautiful views from the inviting Central Coast patio. The just-announced 2016 Curly Wolf is maple vanilla bourbon-barrelaged Russian imperial stout.

Rock Brothers Brewing: Music and beer are this brewery’s mantra. Creating custom brews for bands is the focus: It made 311’s amber ale beer.

Acoustic Ales Brewing Experiment: Acoustic started brewing in 2012, but the building that houses it has more than 100 years of American brewing history: The original facility housed Mission Brewery, which operated before Prohibition.

Karl Strauss Brewing Company: Strauss was former vice president of production and reached master brewer at Pabst Brewing Company. He, Chris Cramer and Matt Rattner started the first-ever brew pub in San Diego in 1989.

Ritual Brewing Company: This Redlands brewery was founded by Owen Williams and Steve Dunkerken. Williams is a former brewing operations director of BJ’s Brewhouse and teaches at California Polytechnic University. Dunkerken is a Redlands native and long time homebrewer.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 25

MARCH 2016

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BERNIE’S SUPPER CLUB GIVES UP ON PALM SPRINGS AND HEADS FOR RANCHO MIRAGE When we last checked in with the good folks at Bernie’s Supper Club, back in July of last year, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before reconstruction began at 292 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs—the site where the restaurant more or less burned to the ground on Christmas Day of 2014. The Palm Springs Planning Commission had approved plans, and it seemed like full steam ahead.

“The owners hope the brand-new building will be completed by this December,” we wrote.

Well, that did not happen—and it turns out that a Palm Springs rebirth of Bernie’s is not happening at all.

Co-owners Geoff McIntosh and Rand Howell announced in February via Facebook that they had closed escrow on the building at 69830 Highway 111, in Rancho Mirage, that was once a Marie Callender’s and was most recently Dhat Island.

What happened to the Palm Springs plans? McIntosh did not return a message left for him before our press deadline, but comments left on the Bernie’s Facebook page indicate that Palm Springs red tape eventually strangled the plans to death—whereas the city of Rancho Mirage was more than happy to welcome the restaurant into an existing building.

According to the Facebook page, McIntosh and Howell hope to have the much-larger Bernie’s open sometime in May. That seems overly optimistic to us here at Independent World Headquarters, but we hope we’re wrong.

Follow the progress at www.facebook.com/Berniesfans.

SAVE THE DATE: PALM DESERT FOOD AND WINE FEST SLATED FOR APRIL 8-10 Foodies, listen up and mark your calendars: The annual Palm Desert Food and Wine festival will take place Friday, April 8, through Sunday, April 10.

This year’s events include the James Beard Gourmet Four-Course Luncheon on Friday, featuring food from renowned chefs including former Iron Chef Cat Cora, as well as drink from Wine Australia ($125 to $150). The usual grand tastings ($100; $135 for VIP) with treats from more than 40 restaurants—as well as all sorts of wine and champagne—will take place on and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

This year’s festival location is new: The goings-on have moved just a smidge down El Paseo, to the parking facility for the Gardens on El Paseo, located at 73545 El Paseo.

Get tickets, info and other forms of foodie enlightenment at palmdesertfoodandwine.com.

IN BRIEF A note to all of you Fatburger fans, like me, who were crushed when the Ramon Road location in Palm Springs closed several years ago: The Palm Desert Fatburger is finally open! Find it at 72261 Highway 111, right next to wing-joint Buffalo’s Café (a new concept from the owners of Fatburger). If you have problems finding it, you’re not alone: When last I drove by, I saw no signage on Highway 111 whatsoever. The restaurants can be found on the back side of the complex; enter the parking lot off of Fred Waring Drive across from the Desert Crossing shopping center. … If you have not heard already, we bring you sad news from Cathedral City: The much-loved El Gallito, located at 68820 Grove St., is closing this spring after almost four decades in business. Call 760-328-7794 for details. … We’ve mentioned the possible, maybe, hopefully impending opening of WTF and Buzz Bar, in the old Dink’s space at 2080 N. Palm Canyon Drive, a couple of times in recent months. Well, forget what we’ve said: It ain’t happening. A for-lease sign is back in front of the building. What went wrong? While we have heard various rumors, all we know for sure is the deal that would have placed WTF in the space fell through, and that money was involved. Sigh. … The Pet Rescue Center’s 18th Annual Western Barbecue Birthday Party will take place at J&J Ranch, 58300 Almonte Drive, in La Quinta, from 5 to 9 p.m., Sunday, March 13. Enjoy food, wine, music, a silent auction— you know, the usual stuff at a benefit for a great cause. Tickets are $90; call 760-398-7722, or visit coachellapetrescuecenter.org. … Can you believe Lulu California Bistro, at 200 S. Palm Canyon Drive, has never hosted a wine dinner in its almost five years of existence? Fact. That will change on Wednesday, March 9, when the iconic restaurant joins forces with Cakebread Cellars for a six-course, wine-paired feast. It’ll cost you $99.99; reservations are a must, so call Lulu at 760-327-5858 posthaste!

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MARCH 2016

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Together for Almost 20 Years, the hellions have Never Released a “proper” Album—Until Now the blueskye report: nelly, rick springfield, the melvins, and much more! desert rock chronicles: a chat with blag dahlia The Hive Minds Get Set to Debut a Music Video, Release a New Album—and Hit the Road Cadillac Tramps’ Gabby Gaborno Says God Is on His Side as He Battles Stage 3 Liver Cancer

www.cvindependent.com/music

The Pride of Omaha, Neb., Makes a Date in Indio

THE 411 ON 311

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MUSIC

HOLY HELLIONS

Together for Almost 20 Years, the Iconic Local Band Has Never Released a ‘Proper’ Album—That Is, Until Now

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

A

By Brian Blueskye

fter almost two decades of making music in the Coachella Valley, the Hellions are finally releasing what the band is calling a “proper Hellions record.”

On Friday, March 25, the Hellions will play at a show featuring for former Misfits frontman Michale Graves at The Hood Bar and Pizza, ending the band’s recent break from live shows.

During an interview the band members dubbed “Tacos With the Hellions” at Pueblo Viejo Grill in Palm Desert, I tried to nail down how long the album has been in the works.

“Two months,” said frontman and guitarist Angel Lua. “A week,” said guitarist Jamie Hargate, before changing his answer: “18 years.”

The joke answers kept coming as the drinks started to arrive. For Angel Lua, it was a Michelada; for Travis Rockwell, a non-alcoholic beer; drummer Bob Llamas stuck to Budweiser; and Jamie Hargate went all in with not only a michelada, but a shot of Patron Silver.

“Realistically, I’d say it’s been about a year,” Hargate said.

Lua agreed. “We were getting songs down the way we wanted them, and figuring out who and where we were going to record with, as well as what songs we were going to keep.”

Some of the songs had been recorded previously, before guitarist Jamie Hargate and bassist Travis Rockwell joined the band.

“We wanted to do a proper Hellions record for people who have been around us for the trip so far,” Hargate said. “The stuff we did before was pretty good, but it wasn’t what we currently have now. We have seven songs that are old and three that are newish.”

Llamas said it was important to make the older stuff a priority while recording.

“We really wanted to get a proper recording of our old songs first,” Llamas said. “We want to have that done, and we’ll put a lot of the new songs on the next record. It was important to do a proper recording and packaging of the old stuff. We have an EP that we recorded at Rancho de la Luna, but we never mastered it, and we burned the copies ourselves.”

The man they chose to record them was none other than former Kyuss bassist Scott Reeder, at Reeder’s studio in Banning. They discussed the various aspects of recording at the Sanctuary, an 84-acre property that includes a lot of animals.

“The peacock was the best part,” Hargate said. “We were standing and talking one time when we first went up there to start recording.

(Reeder) went, ‘Hey, we gotta move!’ We were CVIndependent.com

like ‘Why?’ He went, ‘Look up!’ There was this big-ass peacock in the tree. Then he said, ‘Look down.’ There was all this peacock shit everywhere, and he said, ‘She’s going to shit right now, so we have to move.’ He has all this crazy stuff there.”

Llamas said recording at the Sanctuary was quite a relaxing experience.

“I don’t like recording. It’s weird, and it’s awkward. We’re a live band; some bands are better in the studio, but we’re a live band,” Llamas said. “The studio is really

uncomfortable for us, and that’s why we avoided it for so long. But I think what was good with Scott is if we would have done it with our friends, we’d get too comfortable and start hanging out. With Scott doing it, we felt more pressure to do a better job. We felt that pressure. Time is money, too, so it made us play tense at times.”

Lua emphasized the fact that the Hellions, first and foremost, are a live band. “I think in the studio, just the pressure—it gives you a different sound. Some of the critiques we got from our previously recorded stuff was it didn’t capture the live sound. We’d hear it, and we’d agree it didn’t sound like what we sounded like live, but it was a good sample. The vocals were pretty faithful to our live recording.”

Reeder—who tried out to be the bassist for Metallica, as shown in the documentary Some Kind of Monster—gave Rockwell’s sound a boost.

“He has some tools in his studio that probably enhanced the tones of my bass. He’s

just a wizard when it comes to that stuff,” Rockwell said. “He knew what to do with what I was doing and what I contributed.”

The title of the record is Hymns From the Other Side. Hargate explained the album will be released on both CD and vinyl—but it will be awhile before there is an official release party.

“We’re going to release our CD at shows, and it’s nothing special. People can buy them, and we hope to save some money up for vinyl production,” he said. “Our official CD album release party is going to be (around) Halloween.

We’re going to release the CD in March, and we scrapped the idea of a release show, because CDs aren’t that special anymore. We also have a lot of merchandise available now.”

The Hellions will perform with Michale Graves, Fight Like a Girl, The Kathys and Ritual Rastrero at 8 p.m., Friday, March 25, at The Hood Bar and Pizza, 74360 Highway 111, in Palm Desert.

Admission is $10. For more information, visit the event page on Facebook.

The Hellions. FRANK SKALSKY

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 31

MARCH 2016

MUSIC

The Blueskye REPORT

INNOVATIVE OMAHANS

march 2016

By Brian Blueskye

After 11 Successful Studio Albums, 311—Headlining the Rhythm, Wine and Brews Experience—Preps for a 12th

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye

B

efore nu-metal was even a thing, 311—out of Omaha, Neb.—was creating music that combined funk, rap, punk rock and reggae. After forming in 1998, the band built a legacy in the 1990s, eventually finding mainstream success.

The band will be headlining the Rhythm, Wine and Brews Experience on Saturday, March 5, at the Empire Polo Fields.

During a recent phone interview, 311 frontman Nick Hexum said he continues to be amazed by the band’s accomplishments.

“What a long and strange trip this has been,” Hexum said. “To just go from an idea, in the basement set up next to the pool table in my dad’s house, to … where we have our own holiday, our own cruise, our own festival—we’re really grateful to be able to do this. We keep that attitude

instead of a sense of entitlement.”

Hexum said the band did not find it all that difficult to make its brand of innovative music in Nebraska—not exactly known as a musical hotbed.

“I guess maybe there was a resistance in some places to what we were doing,” he said. “Like, you had to be from a certain place to be cool— but we blasted through that with the energy we put into our music and did the most wild live shows at the time. It didn’t hold us back, even though geographically, we were in the middle of the country. We were also playing influences reaching to Jamaica for reggae, hip-hop from New York, punk rock from Los Angeles and hippie music from San Francisco. We were in the middle of everything stylistically.”

311 was criticized in some circles for ripping off bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone—even though much of the band’s music was more creative and innovative than that of their contemporaries.

“I felt it was unfair,” Hexum said of the criticism. “The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Fishbone and those bands changed things for us—but we were also using reggae and different heavy guitars, and I feel we were different than them. I felt like we were different enough that we could hold our heads high, and weren’t ripping anyone off. Everyone is standing on the shoulders of giants and building off the work of others—and that’s always been true in art, music, science and anything else.

“It’s nice when we hear younger bands that have been influenced by us, and some have come out on tour with us. We’re just part of one big family tree that goes way before us and will keep going after we’re gone.”

After building an audience for close to three

decades now, the members of 311 have started to notice a new generation of fans—with parents bringing their kids to shows.

“It’s nice that it’s become a multigenerational thing where both parents and kids will come together,” Hexum said. “We’ve always been about the unity. We’ve never been anything elitist where we only wanted one type of people.”

311 has released 11 studio albums and is preparing a 12th. Hexum said he’s proudest of some of the music that was not necessarily the most popular.

“One of our albums that’s not hugely popular is Evolver,” he said about the band’s 2003 release. “To me, that was a breakthrough in creativity for us. I was finding my stride as a songwriter. Transistor (1997) was a really wildly creative album. We were like, ‘Anything goes!’ It sounds very different than the self-titled album before it. We had the right attitude as artists and weren’t trying to re-create ourselves and keep cashing in. We were really just stepping forward into new production styles. That was a great moment for us.”

311

While 311 is appearing at a festival featuring beer and wine, the band is known for advocating another substance: marijuana.

After all, the group once recorded a song called “Who’s Got the Herb?” Hexum said he’s happy to see marijuana use becoming more accepted.

“I think it’s very exciting,” he said. “I really do support it, and we’ve always been proponents of legalization. I think recreational substances will always be part of our culture, and having them safe and legal while kicking out the crime element is a no-brainer. I’m looking into some different ways to be involved in that. I think there have been a lot of medicinal sides to marijuana that have been squashed, and it’s only been recently that people are realizing there are some anti-seizure, anti-cancer and other properties there. No one in the world is going to say that while you’re going through chemo, it doesn’t help with nausea and things like that. It’s something that we’ve been for over a long period of time.”

What does 311 hope the future brings?

“I think that hit songs and so forth is sort of a crapshoot, and you don’t really know what is going to connect you to what’s going on,” Hexum said. “I wouldn’t rule it out, and I do know that the new music we’ve made and haven’t put out yet … is very innovative.

It’s very modern, and it feels like a big step forward. So I’m definitely optimistic.”

311 will perform with Matisyahu and other groups on Saturday, March 5, at the Rhythm, Wine and Brews Festival, at the Empire Polo Fields, located at 81800 Avenue 51, in Indio.

Tickets start at $70. For tickets or more information, visit rwbexp.com.

Smokey Robinson

The month of March is packed with events in the Coachella Valley. Take in the revelry of St. Patrick’s Day; enjoy the tennis at the BNP Paribas Open; and relish these music events.

The Empire Polo Fields will once again be hosting the Rhythm, Wine and Brews Experience on Saturday, March 5. With performances by 311 (see our interview on this very page), Matisyahu and the local ’80s themed band Long Duk Dong, the event also features excellent craft beer (get info from The Beer Goddess on Page 24) and some of the finest wines. Music, wine and beer make a wonderful good-time combo, don’t they?

Tickets are $70 to $150; www.rwbexp.com.

The season’s end is getting closer—which means the McCallum Theatre’s season will also soon come to an end, so be sure to enjoy the busy schedule in March. At 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 9, prepare to be dazzled and mystified by Tao: Seventeen Samurai.

This show combines athleticism and taiko drumming; tickets are $22 to $52. At 8 p.m., Thursday, March 17, Canadian blues rocker Colin James will be stopping by. James has a career full of hit singles and 15 Juno Awards. Tickets are $27 to $67. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 19, Steve Tyrell will be returning to the McCallum. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tyrell last year; he explained how he’s adapted to the ever-changing music industry—and even recorded his latest album in his house. Tickets are $47 to $77. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www. mccallumtheatre.com.

If you could be at only one local music venue in March, the venue to choose would be the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. At continued on next page CVIndependent.com

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The Blueskye REPORT continued from Page 31

Spazmatics

8 p.m., Saturday, March 12, GrammyAward-winning rapper Nelly will perform.

Considering his 2000 debut album Country Grammar has sold 8 million copies, he should be a household name. He’s enjoyed more success ever since, and has branched out into film as well as television, with his own reality show, Nellyville. Tickets are $39 to $79. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 19, Motown legend Smokey Robinson will take the stage. While Bob Dylan has dubbed him “America’s greatest poet,” I concede I am having a problem getting past the freakishly young-looking photos of the 76-year-old Robinson in promotional materials and on album covers. Some of them are downright hilarious; some are spooky; and some look like political-propaganda fodder. Tickets are $29 to $59. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 26, get “Physical” with a performance by Olivia Newton-John. While Newton-John is often remembered for that 1981 hit, she may be best remembered for her role opposite John Travolta in Grease. Tell me about it, stud.

Tickets are $39 to $69. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

The Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has an event in March that should be a great show on behalf of a great cause. At 7 p.m., Thursday, March 3, a benefit for American Cancer Society Desert Spirit will feature an intimate performance by Rick Springfield.

Tickets are $49 to $129. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www. hotwatercasino.com.

Spotlight 29 is hosting a couple of events you won’t want to miss. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 5, get ready to get funky with The Gap Band. Honestly, I really enjoy the Gap Band.

There’s just something about “You Dropped a Bomb on Me”; it’s catchy as hell. The band has some great bass lines, excellent guitar and good keyboards—all of which make for fun funk songs. Tickets are $35 to $55.

If you’re in more of a country mood, that’s fine, because at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 19, country-music sensation the Eli Young Band will be performing. Remember a few years CVIndependent.com

ago when “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” was all over country radio? Tickets are $45 to $65.

Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www. spotlight29.com.

The Morongo Casino Resort Spa is offering a couple of worthy events—on the same night! At 9 p.m., Friday, March 11, .38 Special will be performing. The band used to include Donnie Van Zant, who is the middle brother of the late Ronnie Van Zant, and Johnny Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Sadly, inner-ear issues forced him into retirement. Tickets are $30 to $40. If you love the ’80s, you’ll want to be in Cabazon at 11 p.m., Friday, March 11, because the Spazmatics will be performing. The ’80s tribute band is a lot of fun to watch. Tickets are $10. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. morongocasinoresort.com.

As always, Pappy and Harriet’s is hosting some must-see events. At 9 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, Shannon and the Clams will be returning to Pappy’s. The band performed a fantastic show at The Hood Bar and Pizza last month; if you missed that, here’s another chance to see ’em. Tickets are $15.

At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 19, get ready for some laughs and great music, because The Evangenitals will be back! Admission is free.

Here’s another welcome return performance: At 9 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, The Melvins will take the stage. It seems the Melvins are making a regular thing out of playing at Pappy’s; the band first played there in the summer of 2013, and Buzz Osbourne came through Pappy’s for a solo performance in 2014. Tickets are $18. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; www. pappyandharriets.com.

The Date Shed has one event on the March calendar: At 9 p.m., Friday, March 25, Seedless will be performing. Seedless is a rock/reggae band out of Orange County that has shared the stage with Sublime With Rome, The Dirty Heads and others. Tickets are $13 to $17. The Date Shed, 50725 Monroe St., Indio; 760-775-6699; www. dateshedmusic.com.

The Melvins

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 33

MARCH 2016

MUSIC

DESERT ROCK CHRONICLES

The Dwarves’ Blag Dahlia Chats in Advance of His Upcoming Show With Nick Oliveri at The Hood

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By robin linn

B

lag Dahlia is more than just the frontman of the notorious punk rock band the Dwarves.

He is an author, actor, music producer and aspiring film producer.

He has two novels under his belt, Armed to the Teeth With Lipstick and Nina, and a followup to Nina is in the works. He has scored films—and once did a song for an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. He hosts an online radio program, Radio Like You Want, and has expanded beyond punk to make both bluegrass and pop records. He has produced 15 full-length albums with the Dwarves over a 25 year span—and he has no intention of stopping.

In 2004, the band released The Dwarves Must Die, marking the first time former Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri made an appearance with the band. Since then, Oliveri and Dahlia have been musically intimate: Besides recording five Dwarves records together, Dahlia produced several Mondo Generator records, Oliveri’s project that often includes Josh Homme.

Today, Oliveri’s Uncontrollable picks up where Mondo Generator left off.

Uncontrollable’s latest release on Schnitzel Records, Leave Me Alone, was recorded at Thunder Underground Recording Studio in Palm Springs.

The Dwarves, with Oliveri in tow, will be playing at The Hood Bar and Pizza on Friday, March 18; tickets are $15. In advance of the show, an email chat with Blag Dahlia seemed to be in order.

Who does the majority of the songwriting?

For the last few records, it’s really been a group effort. That’s been the really fun part of it for me. It’s actually been that way since the beginning of the band, with various guys contributing songs or co-writing stuff. I usually like a band better if it has a more threedimensional songwriting process like that, but sometimes, you get a really unified vision for a batch of songs, and that can work, too.

What do you think about the music industry today, as opposed to when you started?

The more decentralized it is, the better it works. That’s what allows something new to develop. When the music-making is all concentrated in one place, they make the same thing over and over again. There used to be more money spent making records both big and small. On the other hand, even in today’s dismal musical climate, how can guys pushing 50 get their cocks sucked if not by playing rock ’n’ roll music?

I read that you would like to do a musical someday.

I have always loved musicals; I can’t help it. The older and cornier, the better, but I watched Glee all the time, too. Yeah, it’s pretty fucking gay— but someday, I’ll do it!

Do you have any musical aspirations apart from what you do with the Dwarves?

I want to write a big hit song just to make my dad happy. He collects sheet music and hasn’t heard a new record in 50 years, but I think he’d love to see my name as a songwriter “on top of the hit parade.”

I know you did that pop album with Angelina Moysov (Candy Now) and a bluegrass record. Are there any other styles or genres you wish to visit as a recording artist?

I love punk rock, and I always will. It’s the most fun thing to play, and I’ve been doing it steadily since the mid-’80s. But I never listen to it—I just play it. When I’m not playing punk, it’s the last thing I want to hear. Candy Now was

an international retro pop kind of a thing; the blackgrass record was a dark modern country kind of a thing. I love to get out of my comfort zone and into all kinds of weird music.

What is the live show like today compared to the early shows?

I’m fatter now, but I can actually sing, so that makes up for it. Also, we get paid now!

Read more from Robin Linn, including an expanded version of this story, at www. desertrockchronicles.com.

Who inspires you musically?

Initially, it was Frank Zappa. He was always so eclectic and funny. Also, (I’m inspired by) great frontmen like Iggy, Lux and Stiv Bators. I like people like Lady Gaga who go from dance-floor queen to the new Barbra Streisand in a couple years. Also, it would be nice to fuck Ariana Grande.

Who have you worked with that really blew you away?

I’ve been really lucky with my band members.

Some bands are totally dominated by one guy who writes everything and calls all the shots.

We’ve never been like that. Since the earliest days, all the Dwarves write songs, and that makes for a way more interesting body of work. … We even play songs that our drummers write!

How do you like doing the acoustic set live? Did you co-write the Uncontrollable material with Nick?

I like to play acoustic, because it gives me a chance to sing some funny songs I’ve written.

The downside is my guitar-playing, which kinda sucks. For Uncontrollable, that was Nick’s name and his thing, but sometimes I get invited along, and he’ll play my songs on guitar, and we’ll sing together. Nick is so incredibly talented. No one sings like him; no one writes lyrics like him; and he’s the best rock bassplayer there is, period.

CVIndependent.com

34 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

MUSIC A GROWING

HIVE

The Hive Minds Get Set to Debut a Music Video, Release a New Album—and Hit the Road

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By brian blueskye

The Hive Minds

T

he Hive Minds are one of the Coachella Valley’s most consistent and well-liked bands.

However, the reach of the Hive Minds may soon reach beyond our dusty little valley: The group recently recorded an album with famed producer Ronnie King, a Palm Springs local, and hopes to finally tour outside of the Palm Springs area.

While the group was recording the album, the Hive Minds launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, offering presales of the EP and other incentives. How did it go?

“It was unsuccessful,” said frontman and guitarist Derek Jordan Gregg during a recent interview in Palm Springs that included all three members of the group. “A lot of people think some guy is online doing (crowd-funding campaigns) to buy mayonnaise or some stupid shit like that, so there’s a stigma of some sort. People think you’re asking for a handout when we’re really just trying to get something in exchange for all the time we put in.”

While the Kickstarter campaign failed, the group found success working with King, who has produced for Rancid, Mariah Carey and the local group IIIZ (formerly the Yip Yops), along with many other acts.

“He gets really good work out of you,” Gregg said.

Drummer Sean Poe seconded Gregg’s comment.

“You’ll work all day and just get the best take you can get,” Poe said. “We would do it; we’d think it was good, and that was the take.

Ronnie would be like, ‘No, do it again.’ We’d do it again and again and be like, ‘That’s the take!’”

However, bassist Matt Styler conceded the process was not always easy.

“We definitely had to learn (how to deal with) thinking we had put out a really good

CVIndependent.com

take or a song and hear, ‘Oh no, there’s still a lot of work to be done.’ It’s learning to be OK with that process and having the presence to know you could put together something better, even though you already love what you did before.”

When I visited IIIZ while they recorded with King last summer, King was making IIIZ guitarist and vocalist Mari Brossfield do multiple takes for a track. Gregg said he was put to the test a few times himself.

“I remember doing a take on our song ‘Wish You the Best,’ thinking I had just nailed it, and Ronnie said, ‘Yeah, it was good, but I didn’t buy it.’ He pointed to the part and had me change it, saying, ‘There’s no emotional content.’ He had me going over and over it. He knows what makes a hit song for sure.”

The group hopes the new EP will be released within several months.

“Probably in May or June,” Gregg said. “It’s

a bit of a story, and it’s conceptual. It’s all love songs and based on the building and the breaking of a relationship. It’s just five tracks, but it’s really upbeat and sounds different from the first record. The first record was really mellow and Americana; this one is totally different and indie-pop.”

Ronnie King ended up playing keyboards on most of the tracks. The members of the group enjoyed the sound, and as a result, they are now looking for a keyboardist.

The album includes other guest appearances.

“Mari (Brossfield) from IIIZ is on it,” Gregg said. “A local sax player named Aaron Merc is on it, too. He visited us, and we were listening to one of the tracks. … I was like, ‘Aaron, do you happen to have your sax with you?’ He was on his way to rehearsal, and it was in the car.”

Poe talked about how Mari Brossfield became involved.

“We were like, ‘It would sound so much better if we went an octave up,’” he said about one of the band’s songs. “We’re all sitting there trying to sing it and hit that note. Derek was like, ‘I wish we had a girl here,’ and Mari

was right there, and (Derek) goes, ‘Hey, you want to sing on it?’ IIIZ was really supportive and came out several days when we were in the studio.”

With the new album came a new and interesting endeavor: a music video, for the song “Chasing You Around.”

“Robert Sandoval did it,” Gregg said. “He helped us out when we made our Kickstarter music videos, and he’s really good. He kind of works how we work, where if you have an idea, and you start to wing it a bit, you just to allow yourself to be open to new possibilities.”

Styler explained the theme of the video.

“It’s a love story: Guy sees girl, and guy chases after girl,” he said. “It’s basically someone chasing her around. But it’s in the least-stalker way as possible. We want to make that clear.”

Gregg thought of an amusing alternative ending for the video.

“The ending of it should have been the guy getting a cease-and-desist letter,” he said.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ thehiveminds.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 35

MARCH 2016

MUSIC

A GOOD LIFE

Cadillac Tramps’ Gabby Gaborno Says God Is on His Side as He Battles Stage 3 Liver Cancer

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By brian blueskye

I

t’s been a rough decade for Gabby Gaborno, of the legendary SoCal bands Cadillac Tramps and Manic Hispanic.

He’s battled diabetes, liver problems and renal failure. He’s suffered a serious stroke and a heart attack. And shortly after his 50th birthday, late last year, he was told he has liver cancer.

To help the much-loved musician pay his medical bills, some friends have set up a GoFundMe campaign.

During a recent phone interview, Gaborno said doctors initially missed the cancer at the Orange County medical center where he was getting treatment. He’s now being treated at CedarsSinai in Los Angeles.

“My stomach was getting jacked up, and I was puking for days at a time,” Gaborno said.

“I had gotten CTs here in Orange County, and they missed (the cancer). They missed it for a while, and I went to Cedars-Sinai to start treatment—and they said I had a baseballsized tumor. I don’t know how they missed it here, but they caught it up there.

“You know, it’s a good thing that they found it, and we’re addressing it—but radiation sucks fucking ass, man. They put these radiation beads up in your liver. But I’ve been through worse in my time. I have to go in for an MRI, and they’ll tell me how it’s going from that point.”

While the Cadillac Tramps don’t have the mainstream rock legacy the band deserves, the Tramps are one of the best-known punk bands to come out of the Orange County scene. Later on, Tramps guitarist Jonny Wickersham (Jonny Two Bags) went on to join Social Distortion, while Gaborno went on to start Manic Hispanic with Steve Soto of the Adolescents. During a recent interview with the Independent in January, Wickerham talked about how the Cadillac Tramps were formed while he and Gaborno were trying to get clean and kick their drug habits.

Gaborno elaborated on that time.

“I met Jonny many years ago, and we were both from this place called the Hampton House, and we were kicking dope and trying to get clean at the time. There was this beat-up guitar—like someone punched a hole in it— and Jonny picked that guitar up, and I was like, ‘Man, this kid can really play!’ We sat down and started writing songs at that recovery center, and the winos would look at us and go, ‘Ha ha!

There goes the Cadillac Tramps!’ Friday night,

we’d take our fucking beat-up jeans and try to iron them, and the old winos would start laughing. That’s how we got our name.”

Gaborno and Wickersham would have the last laugh: They soon found themselves on tour with Pearl Jam and traveling throughout the country. Gaborno expressed pride in what the Cadillac Tramps have managed to accomplish.

“If these are the end of days for me—which I don’t believe they are—but if they are: Wow! What a good life.”

Manic Hispanic, a group of Latino punk-rock musicians from various well-known bands such as Agent Orange and the Adolescents, performs Latino-themed spoofs of punk-rock hits. For instance, Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” is “Rudy Cholo,” and The Ramones’ “The KKK Took My Baby Away” is “The INS Took My Novia Away.”

“Me and Steve Soto were starving musicians, and we were working in the back of a warehouse at a record company,” Gaborno said. “We would laugh, because we would get the mail from a lot of different characters who wanted to get signed. We noticed the kids were starting to wear Pendleton shirts at that time and starting to grab on to that old neighborhood look. For us, it was the funniest and greatest thing to see.

That’s how Manic Hispanic formed. Steve came up with the idea—because it was punk-rock kids dressing like cholos.”

Has any punk band ever been upset by the parodies of their songs?

“Not one band! As a matter of a fact, Social Distortion was like, ‘Hey, man, how about doing a Social D cover?’ That’s when we came out with ‘Mommy’s Little Cholo.’ If Manic does a cover, the band (being covered) goes, ‘OK, we’re in the book!’

Gabby Gaborno

“I’m working on one now called ‘Beso,’ which is basically ‘KISS’ in Spanish. Imagine KISS makeup and a mariachi outfit: ‘I Want to Tuck and Roll All Night and Metal Flake Every Day.’ Oh, and ‘T.J. RockC ity.’”

While Gaborno is a punk-rock wild-man onstage, he’s also a born-again Christian. He said his faith is even stronger since his cancer diagnosis.

“It was kind of like a backroom deal,” he said. “I was at UCLA and had a lot of health issues. The doctor back then said, ‘Hey, man, why don’t you just go and enjoy the rest of your life?’ He said it very bluntly and plainly. So I’m driving back, and I’m kind of in shock. My sister said, ‘I’ve been seeing some of your old (music) friends at my church.’ She goes, ‘I just really want you to come check this place out.’

The band was really kicking, and really good, and it just kind of hit me. Christian Hosoi, the professional skateboarder, was there, and I’ve spent a few lonely nights with him.

“The funny thing is since I started going to that church, I’ve lived three years beyond what the doctor told me. With my faith, I used to be a closeted believer, but when the homeboys are around, you don’t talk about it much. I’m still that way, and I’m not a pusher, but man, I do love God. I love what he’s done to the inside

of me.”

Gaborno reiterated his intention to keep battling—hard—for his life.

“It’s a rough diagnosis to hear: Stage 3, baseball-sized tumor,” he said. “It’s not the easiest thing to hear, but the last time I heard news like that, it contributed to me becoming the kind of father I am. I live my life now thinking, ‘If I open my eyes, let’s live life to the fullest: Laugh, love, taste food and grab your kid and hug him like it’s the last time, because you never know.’ … I’ve been fighting like that my whole life. The way I fight this is I put my dukes up—and fuck cancer! I love God, and I depend on him, and he’s pulling me through, and I’m lucky to be at Cedars-Sinai now. I’m also juicing like a fool, and I’m doing OK, man.

I’m hanging in there.”

I asked Gaborno if there’s one thing he wants to be remembered for, should it be his time to go—and hopefully, it’s not. He was modest in his response.

“I just want to be remembered as a good father and a good front man who made a lot of people smile.”

The Gabby Gaborno Fund has been set up to assist Gaborno with his medical bills. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/ysbdz8xz.

CVIndependent.com

36 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

Photo: Peter Palladino

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“A Sordid Saturday Night”

March 26 at 7 pm at the Mary Pickford Theatre

Event includes a Red Carpet Reception at 7 pm, a replay of the hit movie, “Sordid Lives” on the big screen, and a Question and Answer session with Writer/Director Del Shores, and many cast members including Ann Walker (LaVonda), Newell Alexander (Wardell), Rosemary Alexander (Dr. Eve), and Kirk Geiger (Ty).

After the movie, enjoy a Cast Meet & Greet Reception where you can take a photograph with the movie’s stars!

Tickets available at

CathedralCityLGBTDays.com

CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 37

MARCH 2016

MUSIC

the

LUCKY 13

This Month’s Interviewees: An Arenas Road Resident DJ and a Deadly DJ

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye NAME Tommy Locust MORE INFO You can catch Tommy Locust spinning most weekends at Chill Bar Palm Springs, where he’s the resident DJ and marketing jedi. He’s a lifelong Southern Californian and former Mr. Palm Springs Leather who’s been a DJ for 14 years. He’s also a huge comic-book nerd—and you can see him performing as DJ Deadpool most Saturdays this month. (Full disclosure: He’s also an Independent contributor.) For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ ChillBarPalmSprings.

What bands are you listening to right now?

The Flusters. I don’t really like a lot of bands right now; they’re one of the few ones I like.

What was the first concert you attended?

No Doubt, the Tragic Kingdom tour, in Devore, Calif.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Queen. The band was one of the best live acts of all time.

What was the first album you owned?

Dookie, Green Day. DJ Deadpool, aka Tommy Locust

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

I feel like I get every kind of music there is. I give every kind of music a huge chance, and I haven’t found anything I really don’t like.

My personal taste in music is vastly eclectic, ranging from old Southern hymnals to Europop from the ’90s.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Spurline on Arenas Road. It lets me get old-school my gay on, and I love the crowd participation.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The Scorpion Room at Chill Bar Palm Springs!

I’m biased, but the musical performances there have been magical. So far, my favorite has been

by Jennifer Corday.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“Shoop shoop ba-doop, shoop ba-doop, shoop ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop,” Salt-N-Pepa, “Shoop.”

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Queen. Freddie Mercury is the best male singer who ever lived. He inspired me to be out, loud and free.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

Mumford and Sons: “I understand needing to evolve as an artist, but why would you change your sound so much, to the point where it’s unrecognizable, alienating your fan base which

Monreaux's Ryan Diaz

helped you change the music industry?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“A Kind of Magic,” Queen.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

The soundtrack from Kill Bill: Volume 1. A lot of that has to do with me being a huge movie freak.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Deadpool Rap” by Teamheadkick. It’s a rap about Deadpool that breaks the fourth wall like only Deadpool can. “Merc with a mouth …”

NAME Ryan Diaz GROUP Monreaux MORE INFO Monreaux frontman Giorg Tierez told the Independent late last year that the band was still a work in progress, in large part because the band lacked a permanent guitarist.

However, the band’s rhythm section is rocksolid: Tierez struck gold when he put bassist Chris Dub and drummer Ryan Diaz together.

Monreaux’s rhythm section has been the talk of the local music scene, and Diaz’s drumming is impressive to watch. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/monreauxmusic.

What was the first concert you attended?

My first concert was unforgettable: I saw The Scorpions, Dio and Deep Purple.

What was the first album you owned?

Limp Bizkit, Significant Other.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Fu Manchu, Tool and Tribal Seeds.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Everyone in this new generation is into this EDM stuff, but I don’t understand it.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

I want to see Linkin Park, because I’ve never seen them live.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Um, that one, I don’t know. Ha ha!

What’s your favorite music venue?

There are so many good ones, but I’m going to say the San Manuel Amphitheater.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“I am not your rolling wheels, I am the highway,” “I Am the Highway,” Audioslave.

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Staind, ever since I first heard the band’s music when it arose in 1999, up to this present day.

From the lyrics to the rocking music they produce, the band has always had such an impact on my life.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I would ask Danny Carey, the drummer from Tool, “Hey, can I hang out and play drums with you for a day, as well as get a signed ‘wave drum’ from you?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“So Far Away,” Staind.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

I have so many, but one for sure is Master of Reality from Black Sabbath.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Vampires” from my band Monreaux.

CVIndependent.com

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CANNABIS IN THE CV

WEED APPS

history as the first marijuana-tech company to go public, in April 2015. According to the MassRoots website, the business hopes to uplist to NASDAQ or the NYSE before the end of 2016.

I’m buying stock tomorrow!

The next time you’re looking for a dispensary, or you just want to show off a favorite strain, your garden or a new bubbler—without your great aunt putting on her Judgy McJudge hat—post away! There are entire online societies just for our tribe!

Four Programs That Are Bringing Marijuana Users Together; So Long, Steven Cooley

O

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

T

BY SEAN PLANCK

he Internet and social media have, in many ways, broadened communication and given us all new venues for self-expression—but the stigma still attached to cannabis can hamper a marijuana enthusiast’s online activity.

Case in point: Facebook has long had a ban on cannabis advertising—and as of Feb. 6, began shutting down dispensary pages.

Pot-smokers have often thought of themselves as their own society, so why shouldn’t we have our own social media? Here are a few apps that have answered that question with: “We agree! Here you go!”

Weedmaps www.weedwaps.com; IOS, Android Weedmaps got into the cannabis socialmedia game early, and has been the go-to solution for smokers to find cannabis, and for dispensaries to promote their wares.

Users can also post reviews of dispensaries.

Basically, it’s like Yelp for cannabis.

The app/website lists thousands of dispensaries across the country. The app and the website both offer geolocation services to tell you the nearest place to pick up some smoke, along with reviews and menus of dispensaries’ current offerings and deals.

Launched in 2008, the site now boasts more than 2 million visitors per month.

Leafly www.leafly.com; IOS, Android Weedmaps spent many years alone at the top of the 420-app heap, but Leafly is now giving Weedmaps some competition. Leafly has the same dispensary-locating functionality, but focuses much more on specific strains of cannabis: The site includes many strain reviews, and the database includes thousands of strains, searchable by category, flavor, effects and a patient’s symptoms. Users can read and post reviews, and find out if a strain is available nearby.

Another very cool feature is the State of the Leaf interactive map: Click on any state, and get the current status of that state’s cannabis laws. Leafly also includes a section of cannabis-related news and articles on topics like current legislation, health and lifestyle.

Duby www.duby.co; IOS, Android With Facebook prohibiting more and more cannabis content, there has been a definite CVIndependent.com

gap in social-media options for cannabis enthusiasts. How many times have you tried a really outstanding strain, and just wanted to shout it out to the world (i.e., you know, post it on Facebook)? Enter Duby. Posts are referred to as “dubys.” Like a duby? Pass it by swiping right! Don’t like it? Swipe left to “put it out.” Cute.

Duby is the most-popular online community for potheads, offering all the features of FB without the judgment and prying eyes of those who have not seen the light.

MassRoots www.massroots.com; IOS, Android If Duby is the Facebook of cannabis culture, MassRoots is its Instagram. The interface is exactly what you’d expect from something known as the Instagram of weed—it’s filled with pictures of cannabis, and your boss isn’t your “bud.” (That’s MassRoots’ term for connections.)

The result of a marijuana-infused brainstorm between the two founders in 2013, MassRoots has enjoyed amazing growth. The community now boasts more than 775,000 users—more than double the membership six months ago. Founders expect to reach 1 million by 4/20.

Said MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich in a news release: “The weeks leading up to 4/20 are the cannabis industry’s holiday season—a period where millions of cannabis enthusiasts make purchases, buy tickets, and make plans for marijuana’s official holiday. Historically, during the weeks leading up to 4/20, we have experienced significantly higher growth and visibility.”

MassRoots will only benefit from Facebook’s move to further restrict

marijuana-related pages, and is becoming a valuable advertising alternative to Facebook for weed businesses. MassRoots also made

n a sad note: The Coachella Valley cannabis community lost a treasured member on Feb. 15 when Steven Cooley—cannabis evangelist, budtender extraordinaire and manager of PSA Organica in Palm Springs—passed away suddenly while dining with friends.

Steven radiated positive energy like a bright light, and has helped countless people find the correct strain or medication for what ails them. A long-time HIV patient and stroke survivor, Steven attributed his continued existence on this plane to his use of cannabis in its many forms.

Steven was a true believer, a great friend and a wonderful human being. You will be truly and sorely missed, my friend.

In lieu of flowers or cards, please make a donation in Steven’s name to the Desert AIDS Project.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 39

MARCH 2016

COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

Across 1 Charlie Brown’s oath 5 Acquisition by marriage 10 Library vols.

13 Songstress Shore 14 The West Wing actress ___ Kelly 15 Exercise unit 16 She starred in 2002’s Panic Room 18 Shiba ___ (Japanese dog breed) 19 It keeps pages from flying everywhere 20 Certain orthodontic device 22 Hardwood trees 24 Keep from escaping 25 Republican presidential candidate Marco 28 “Rock-hard” muscles 31 Boyz N the Hood actress Long 32 Devoured 33 Awake into the wee hours 36 Big game show prize, maybe 39 Circulation improver 40 He played the central unifying character in

1995’s Four Rooms 42 Reduction site 43 Pad prik king cuisine 45 Country with a red, white and blue flag 46 “Alley-___!”

47 Agcy. concerned with fraud 49 Bill ___, the Science Guy 50 Po, in a 2016 sequel, e.g.

52 How walkers travel 55 1850s litigant Scott 57 Rainy-day boots 60 “Keep Portland Weird” state 64 Chemistry suffix 65 He wrote, directed, and starred in the 2003 cult film The Room 67 Short cleaner?

68 Jouster’s outfit 69 Ferrell’s cheerleading partner on SNL 70 Antlered animal 71 Bumps in the road 72 Loch of legend Down 1 Major uproar 2 Time-half link

3 Asian capital nicknamed the City of Azaleas 4 Fork over 5 “According to me,” in shorthand 6 Small bite 7 Less caloric, in ads 8 Neighborhoods 9 Prison chief 10 Best Actress nominee for 2015’s Room 11 Alaska’s ___ Fjords National Park 12 Blow off 13 Club crowd-workers 17 Masc. alternative 21 Canter or trot 23 Fish served on a cedar plank 25 Huckleberry Finn transport 26 Johnny ___ (Point Break character) 27 He played a part in 2000’s Boiler Room 29 Maurice and Robin’s brother 30 In storage 34 Wrestler’s objective 35 H, as in Greek 37 Apple MP3 player

38 P, in the NATO phonetic alphabet 41 The Five People You Meet in Heaven publisher 44 “___ know what it’s like ...”

48 Olympics broadcaster Bob 51 “___ Fideles” 52 Architectural rib 53 Tennis champ Rafael 54 Primrose protector 56 Use 62-Down 58 Austen title matchmaker 59 Skyline haze 61 Right turns, horsewise 62 Sculling needs 63 Rapa-___ (1994 Easter Island film) 66 2222 and 2468, e.g., briefly ©2016 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section at CVIndependent.com!

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40 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MARCH 2016

Deals available ONLY in the Independent Market as of March 1:

Get a $20 gift certificate to TRIO Restaurant for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $20 gift certificate to the Purple Room for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $25 gift certificate to Shabu Shabu Zen for $12.50—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $20 gift certificate to Bart Lounge for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $25 gift certificate to Fresh Juice Bar for $12.50—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $40 gift certificate to Rio Azul Mexican Bar and Grill for $20, or a $20 gift certificate for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $40 gift certificate to Johannes for $20, or a $20 gift certificate for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $25 gift certificate to La Quinta Brewing Co. Microbrewery and Taproom for $12.50— a savings of 50 percent!

Deals available only at CVIndependent.com.

Look for more deals to be added during the month!

Want your business in the Independent Market? Call 760-904-4208, or email jimmy@cvindependent.com.

CVIndependent.com