Coachella Valley Independent October 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT | OCTOBER 2017

SB 415 TURNOUT

TURMOIL

LEGISLATION INTENDED TO GET MORE VOTERS TO THE POLLS DURING LOCAL ELECTIONS HAS CONFUSED OFFICIALS IN PALM SPRINGS, RANCHO MIRAGE, DESERT HOT SPRINGS – AND BEYOND

VOL. 5 | NO. 10

BY BRIAN BLUESKYE

PAGE 15

2 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

OLIVIA NEWTONJOHN

THE ISLEY BROTHERS & THE COMMODORES

OCT 6

OCT 7

ALABAMA ASHANTI & JARULE JEWEL’S HANDMADE HOLIDAY TOUR TONY BENNETT BRIAN SETZER

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & CHRISTINE MCVIE OCT 20

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN

NOV 11 NOV 17 DEC 2 DEC 9 DEC 22

CAFÉ TACVBA OCT 21

NEW MEMBERS

OCT 27

PLAY

$20

GET

$60 FREE SLOT PLAY

800.827.2946

■

www.FantasySpringsResort.com

Exit I-10 at Golf Center Parkway

SIGN UP TODAY!

Must be 21 to play in casino. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino reserves the right to modify or cancel any promotion at any time.

CVIndependent.com FANT-50043 CVI FullPg Oct17.indd

1

9/20/17 10:00 AM

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

OCTOBER 2017

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 coveR design Mark Duebner Design Contributors Gustavo Arellano, Max Cannon, Kevin Carlow, Cory Courtney, Katie Finn, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Dwight Hendricks, Karen Houppert, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, Patrick Johnson, Keith Knight, Robin Linn, Erin Peters, Dan Perkins, Sean Planck, Guillermo Prieto, William Bryan Rooney, Anita Rufus, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor, Baynard Woods The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month.

All content is ©2017 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.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.

The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, CalMatters, 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.

Let me tell you a little story that illustrates how what we do here at the Independent is different from what most other valley publications do.

At first glance, nothing seems too complex or crazy about this week’s cover story by Brian Blueskye, “Turnout Turmoil,” which you can read on Page 15. Essentially, it’s an 1,100-word story about a recent change in state law regarding when cities and other local governments have their elections, and how local cities are dealing with this new law.

Simple, right? Actually, it’s not simple at all.

The story behind the story: Brian worked on this piece, off and on, for six weeks. This was initially slated to be last month’s cover story, but we shelved it because, after two weeks of work (again, off and on), we were still figuring things out.

Turns out we weren’t, and aren’t, the only ones still figuring things out. The law, signed into effect by Gov. Jerry Brown two years ago, mandates this: If local governments don’t hold their elections on the same dates as statewide/federal elections, and they have been seeing a significantly lower turnout than statewide/ federal elections, they have to move their elections to the same dates as those statewide/federal elections.

Unfortunately, the language in this new law is confusing as hell. This has left cities, school boards, water boards and other local governments around the state scratching their figurative heads as they try to determine whether or not they, in fact, have to move their election dates. Locally, three cities may or may not be affected by this new law. One has decided to move its election immediately; another has decided not to move its election for now; and the third doesn’t yet know what it is doing.

Because of all the confusion, some officials were slow to get back to Brian; others never did get back to him. Of course, Brian, too, needed to take a lot of time to figure out what the law meant (while working on everything else he had to work on, of course).

Some other publications in town are satisfied with running press releases. Yet others are content with simple, easy, spacefilling pieces. (And don’t get me started on the publications that take paid advertising and present it as editorial, without disclosing that.)

Here at the Independent, we don’t do any of that. While we’re far from perfect, we do our best to make sure our reporting is fair and accurate—even if we tackle a complex issue, and it takes us six months to figure things out.

Welcome to the October 2017 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent.

Thanks for reading, and don’t hesitate to contact me with feedback or questions.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com CVIndependent.com

4 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation Presents

Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends New Worlds

Sixth Annual Family Fun Day Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live

Bill Murray, actor; Jan Vogler, cello; Mira Wang, violin; Vanessa Perez, piano

Sun, October 22 Fun and Games: 12:00pm Performance: 2:30pm

Sat, October 7, 8pm

Dia de los Muertos LIVE

A Tribute to John Denver

Featuring La Santa Cecilia, Mexrrissey, and Mariachi Flor de Toloache Sat, October 28, 8pm Presented through the generosity of Harold Matzner

Paula Poundstone From the #1 rated NPR show, “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” Sun, November 5, 7pm

Performed by Jim Curry and Band Sun, October 29, 3pm

jimi FITZ and Friends Featuring Faults of Andreas, Lauri Bono, Kal David, Will Donato, Kevin Henry, John Stanley King, Ronnie King, Steve Madaio, Barry Minniefield, Penny Unniversity, Sergio Villegas and more!

Fri, November 17, 8pm

Classic Albums Live The Beatles Abbey Road Sat, November 18, 8pm

Order tickets by phone

760-340-ARTS (2787)

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella Fri, November 24, 8pm Sat, November 25, 2pm & 8pm Sun, November 26, 2pm & 7:30pm Mon & Tue, November 27 & 28, 7:30pm

Order online

mccallumtheatre.com

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

Follow us

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

OCTOBER 2017

OPINION OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS T

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

Meet Shirley Spork, a Palm Desert woman who paved the way for generations of female golfers

BY ANITA RUFUS

he Coachella Valley is a place where retired celebrities, in some ways, are taken for granted.

Among us are retired movie and television stars, business tycoons, writers, NASA scientists and sports professionals—including Shirley Spork, one of the 13 original founding members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), and a renowned sports-education professional.

Spork, 90, is a long-time resident of Palm Desert. The red-haired girl from a working-class family would go on to, through personal determination, break ground and help make a lasting contribution for women in a sport that had never been friendly to females.

Spork was born and raised in Detroit, the only child of parents who did not play golf. At one point in her early childhood, the family lived about three years, and then it ran out of next to a golf course. money. There were no pro tournaments for “There was nothing much to do in the women back then. neighborhood,” she says. “I saw the boys “Women now compete much as the men do, caddying, but I wanted to play the game.” even if they don’t make as much money, but Spork’s first club was a putter she bought back then, women made their way as trainers for a dollar she had earned by selling, back to and testers, and a lot of time was spent golfers, the golf balls that had gone into the trying to find companies that would sponsor water between her home and the course. tournaments.”

“I was about 11 when I was constantly Spork has documented her story in a book, going onto the course, and the ranger kept From Green to Tee, released earlier this year. chasing me off,” recalls Spork. “I sold the used “I call it that, because I actually started on balls to some of the golfers, and they got to the green, with that putter, but I made it to the know me. Their ticket to play was supposed tee,” she says. to get punched after the first nine holes, but The book includes stories about Spork’s rise sometimes it wasn’t, and they’d give me their to prominence in the game, and it also sets out ticket so I could play as if I had paid. the history of women’s golf and the challenges “I read about people like Babe (Didrikson) faced by the women who were trailblazers. and Patty (Berg) and thought, ‘If they can do Spork graduated from Eastern Michigan that, maybe I can do that,’” Spork says about University, where she received a teaching degree. the female golf pioneers. “I bought that putter “We had moved back into the city when I because it looked good among the other clubs was in high school, and the lady upstairs had in the $1 bin. The guys all laughed at me.” a daughter in teacher’s college,” she says. “I Spork actually built a small green so she didn’t want to go. I wanted to be a golf pro. But could practice: “I cleared a space, dug a hole, I went, and I studied physical education.” stuck a flag in it and played by myself!” She She also competed in and won later got some used irons from the friendly golf tournaments, and was honored not by pro, and her uncle found a golf bag someone her school’s women’s physical education had thrown away. department, but by the men’s.

“I wanted to compete in junior golf, and “When I finished school, I started teaching, the Detroit Free Press said the PGA was giving because my parents had sacrificed to send me free lessons. Whoever showed the most to college, but my heart wasn’t really in it,” improvement got a $10 gift certificate. I won, Spork says. “My mom said, ‘You should be and that got me my first distance club, a Louise doing what you want to do, not what we want Suggs driver. I was 12. you to do.’ I spent many years teaching part of “Lots of girls came from families that the year and golfing whenever I could.” belonged to country clubs, and they would Spork’s educational background served compete in the city championships. I wanted her well in establishing the LPGA Teaching to join the Women’s Professional Golf Division, dedicated to working with young Association (an LPGA precursor), which was people, and educating golf pros about how to the only game in town at that time, but I was teach effectively. still in high school. The WPGA only lasted “People may not realize that just because

Shirley Spork

they play well, that doesn’t mean they can teach others,” Spork says. “When it comes to women golfers, we have to educate about smaller hands, less height, less body strength, club length—things like that. And you have to teach people how to teach; it takes five years to

become a Class A teacher.”

From the time when she was young and wheedling her way onto golf courses, Spork has met many golfers who helped her find opportunities to get more time on the links— and to find her way into tournaments and jobs.

“Golfers I met could see that I was going to be a golfer,” she says. “Some of them helped me get privileges at country clubs so I could qualify for city and state tournaments.

Sometimes I had to go in the back door. I did whatever I could to be able to play.”

Spork’s career includes tournaments around the world, corporate sponsorships, helping design golf courses, being a golf pro at country clubs, and teaching generations of golfers.

The second annual Shirley Spork Pro-Am Golf Tournament was held at Palm Valley Country Club this past April, with the proceeds supporting The First Tee, a youth-development organization introducing golf and its values to young people through in-school and afterschool programs.

“I was never a great player,” Spork says, with charming modesty. “When I started, there were so few women who stood up for themselves.”

However, Shirley Spork did stand up for herself—and it paid off.

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

30-minute Reiki energy treatment Saturdays 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Crystal Fantasy • Downtown Palm Springs Earl is a Professional Member of the International Center for Reiki Training.

Reiki Master Earl

Schedule a session: 760-322-7799 CVIndependent.com

6 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

OPINION OPINION

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Palm

Springs

My Mexican girlfriend worries too much about being deported; how can I calm her down?

BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO

Join us for an evening celebrating equality.

HONORING Hon. Ginny Foat L I F E T I M E AC H I E V E M E N T AWA R D

DEAR MEXICAN: How can I get my new Mexican girlfriend to calm down about Trump and being deported?

We safely live in a sanctuary city. I have no intention of marrying her unless something horrible happens, but I want to help her out.

She is a kind, rational human being who simply has bought into the fear-mongering that Trump is instilling in her. While a tripleorgasm might make her feel temporary relief, how can I get her to realize that we are not in a place where she is going to get deported unless she blatantly breaks a serious law?

Good Gabacho Who Gives It Good

Raymond Cree Middle School

Hon. Maxine Waters

E Q UA L I T Y F O R A L L AWA R D

G E O F F KO R S L E A D E R S H I P AWA R D

R I V I E R A PA L M S P R I N G S

O C T O B E R 7, 2 0 1 7

1600 N INDIAN CANYON DR. PALM SPRINGS, 92262

5:30 - 11 PM

P U R C H A S E YO U R T I C K E T S :

secure.eqca.org/PS17c4

S TAT E W I D E S P O N S O R S

Official Wine

Official Airline

S P ON S OR E D BY

CVIndependent.com

eqcaawards.org

DEAR GABACHO: Wow, you’re a special kind of pendejo.

Sanctuary-city status doesn’t mean shit to Trump or U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is threatening to cut federal funding to such cities. Sanctuary cities can’t stop la migra from picking up people for no reason other than they’re undocumented. And the Mexican knows of cases where people were deported for riding a bike on the sidewalk.

You aren’t Mexican or undocumented, and you’re obviously some deluded wimp whose gabachos privilege blinds him to his supposed love’s serious concerns. Are you sure you didn’t vote for Trump?

I seriously hope your novia breaks up with you and finds a real hombre who doesn’t have his head up his culo.

Finally, triple orgasm? The only girl you get off happens whenever you download a clip from Pornhub.

Alonso was also burned at the stake in 1528 for practicing Judaism, because Spanish Catholics were the ISIS of this day. Due to such terroristic ways, many Jews either hid their religion or moved to New Mexico, as far away from the Inquisition as possible.

Flash-forward 500 years, and Mexico City now has a significant Jewish community, and Mexican Jews have long been accepted in the country’s upper circles, with one of the coolest ones being celebrity chef Pati Jinich.

But not all is kosher: As I wrote in one of my first columnas back in 2004, “For instance, when a Mexican thinks someone is a slob, we call the person a cochino marrano—a dirty Jew. And don’t believe your Spanish teacher when she pulls out the Webster’s and reads that marrano means ‘pig’—Webster’s doesn’t know mierda about Spanish etymology. ‘Marrano’ does mean pig but was also the term used to ridicule Jews who hid their beliefs in order to survive the Spanish Inquisition.” ¡Puro pinche parr!

D

EAR MEXICAN: Why do Mexican men always tuck in their T-shirts? Do they believe this will clean up their dusty, sweaty, overworked appearance?

DEAR MEXICAN: Over the years, I have worked with, and gone to college with, Mexicans who were usually Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Latter-day Saints or other Christian religions. However, about 10 years ago, I was blessed to work with two Jewish Mexicans.

What is the history of Jewish Mexican culture?

The Mick

Goyim but Great

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!

DEAR GABACHO: A very long story short: Jews accompanied Hernán Cortés in his conquest of Mexico—indeed, the man who built his ships was the judio Hernando Alonso.

DEAR MICK: That, and any loose clothing at a blue-collar job is an accident waiting to happen. Any working man knows this; the fact that you don’t is just further proof of the decline of the gabacho male in los Estados, and why we need more Mexicans to Make American Men Great Again.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

OCTOBER 2017

From Botox to Cosmetic Surgery and Everything in Between

Before

After

Look younger with no telltale scar with Neograft at Revive.

Read our reviews and call to book your appointment.

353 S. Palm Canyon Dr. (760) 325-4800 Torrance Office: (310) 375-7599 Irvine Office: (949) 586-9904 www.revivecenter.com

WE NEED YOU. YOU NEED US. READ US. FOLLOW US. ADVERTISE WITH US. SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS. BECOME A SUPPORTER OF THE Your Support of INDEPENDENT.

D.A.P. Creates a All of our content is offered for free—and it Healthier always will be. WeCommunity don’t have pay walls, and

donations of clothing, furniture, small goods, andin weYour don’t sell subscriptions.

Membership home décor help Desert AIDS Project to provide our ourcommunity Supporters of the Independent program with needed medical, dental, counseling, and readers social support housing, gives likeservices you aincluding chancenutrition to contribute and much more. directly to the Independent and our mission: Desert AIDS Project has received a 5-Star rating from being valley’s ethical source of Charitythe Navigator for 5honest, years in a row — a distinction only 6% of all non-profits receive. independent news, arts coverage, Donate it to Revivals. commentary and culture.

Help create a healthier community.

GET MORE INFORMATION AT To arrange a pick-up Visit our CVINDEPENDENT.COM/SUPPORTERS call 877-770-7738 NEW OR CALL 760-904-4208 Palm Desert location!

Ranked #60 in the nation for advanced medical aesthetics Palm Springs

Cathedral City

Palm Desert

611 S. Palm Canyon Dr.

68-401 Hwy. 111

72-885 Hwy. 111

CVIndependent.com

8 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

CONNECTED AT A COST

Is the ‘Internet for All Now Act’ a lifeline for rural communities—or a giveaway to the telecom industry?

By kevin fitzgerald

S

ince 2007, the California Legislature has worked to encourage the development of telephone and Internet access through the California Advanced Services Fund. The fund provides financial assistance to both large telecommunications companies—including Frontier, AT&T, Charter and Cox—and independent broadband projects driven by community organizations that partner with smaller Internet service providers.

Thanks in part to the fund, the Legislature has grown closer to its goal of deploying broadband Internet service to 98 percent of Californians by 2017. But as the end of 2017 drew closer, many California legislators wanted to update the broadband-support program. The result: AB 1665, aka the Internet for All Act, which was authored by eastern Coachella Valley Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.

After overwhelming approval in both houses, the bill now sits on the governor’s desk, as of our press deadline.

“We know that having broadband Internet access improves the state’s economy, enhances educational opportunities, and benefits public safety, (as well as) our medical field and patient care,” Garcia said during a recent phone interview. “Even in the Coachella Valley, civic participation requires a connection to the Internet now. So this law supports a program that invests in and ensures that the infrastructure is in place for the purpose of allowing carriers to connect all these homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, clinics and public safety services in remote areas, allowing them to communicate. It’s vital to what we all do on a daily basis.”

Garcia said the Legislature set the 98 percent connectivity goal about a decade ago.

“We have now gotten to about 94 percent or so, and that last (unconnected) percentage happens to be in mostly underdeveloped areas like the eastern Coachella Valley, Imperial County and other rural parts of the state. So that’s what this program will do.”

However, the bill did not make it to the governor’s desk without controversy.

Stephen Blum is an executive team member of the Central Coast Broadband Consortium, a California Public Utilities Commissionfunded group engaged in broadband planning and development in the state, He’s also the president of Tellus Venture Associates, his own broadband-development consulting agency.

He is not fan of the Internet for All Now Act version that made it to the governor’s desk.

“There have been attempts in the last legislative session and the two previous sessions to put more money into the (CASF) fund, more or less keeping the program as it was,” Blum said. “This year, things changed.

CVIndependent.com

The incumbents (large corporate ISPs) including AT&T, Frontier and the California Cable and Telecommunications Association jumped in and said, ‘We want the bill to be X, Y and Z.’ … Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia took it and started adding language that reflected the desires of these cable and telephone company incumbents.

“The bill went through three revisions, and each time, more perks were added for the incumbents. So as it’s written now, AB 1665 is going to put $300 million into a CASF infrastructure grant account and make it virtually impossible for independent projects to be funded. Essentially, then, it becomes a fund for AT&T and Frontier to use at their discretion.”

Blum said some of the changes made to the act baffled him.

“One of the things this bill does that boggles my mind is it lowers California’s broadband speed levels—and it’s a significant change,” he said. “Right now, an area is fundable if there’s no existing service that provides 6 mbps (megabits per second) download and 1.5 mbps upload speeds. That’s the standard. This bill changes it to 1 mbps up. Now, that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is, because the difference between 1.5 or 1 mbps up is the difference between 1990 DSL systems and contemporary copper system architecture and electronics. You can take a 1990 DSL system, do relatively minimal upgrades to it, and reach the 6 down, 1 up speed standard required. You can’t get 6 down, 1.5 up without going in and doing substantial work. That’s the change that AT&T and Frontier pushed very hard for, because that allows them to do minimal upgrades in rural areas to meet their obligations. Now they’re going to have to invest even less money— because the state will pay for it.

“If you’re in an area that falls under the CASF umbrella … you’re looking at a future where you’re going to have service somewhere in the 6 to 10 mbps download range, and 1 mbps upload range, and that’s not going to change for 10 to 20 years, because once this stuff is in, there’s no point in upgrading it.”

Garcia defended the changes made to the bill.

“There are places throughout the state that still have absolutely no Internet service whatsoever,” Garcia said. “The intention of the bill is to get people connected. The debate was: Why would we allow for certain areas that are already connected to increase their speed capacity? We laid out a goal, through a bipartisan effort of Republicans and Democrats from both rural and urban parts of the state, to make sure that the primary focus of this legislation was to serve the unserved populations. We had people push back, saying that we should be trying to get higher network speeds in places that already had connectivity, and we wrestled with that. What we decided is that we could (try for higher network speeds) after we connect everybody to some service in the areas still having no service. So, modifications to the bill were made where we were not able to appease everyone, but get enough support to move the bill forward.”

Another controversial aspect of the bill: For “last mile” projects that connect established “mid-mile” broadband pipelines to end users like homes, hospitals or businesses, those end users will have to participate financially in the funding of their access. Is that reasonable or fair when the target population is

disadvantaged?

“The thought was that there should be some investment, or ‘skin in the game,’ on everyone’s part in order to be considered for access to CASF grants, and ultimately be connected,” Garcia responded.

The Independent asked whether there is some sort of means test built into the bill in order for disadvantaged end users to obtain financial support via the CASF. “There is a means test through the CPUC,” Garcia said. “There was some confusion that this bill was attempting to just give people free Internet access—that it was like a welfare-type of program where if you signed up, you got free Internet. That’s nowhere near the real case. We’re talking about infrastructure being developed, and that makes it that much more accessible for people to connect to some type of broadband service.”

Blum said when we spoke that he was hopeful the legislation was not a done deal.

“When it gets to the governor, I think there’s a conversation to be had at that point,” he said. “We think that’s where the final decision will get made, and we feel that’s still an open question.”

Visit CVIndependent.com for updates.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

OCTOBER 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

PARTY PROBLEMS

Local Assemblyman Chad Mayes tells fellow Republicans to stop ‘repelling’ Californians

By laurel rosenhall, Calmatters

D

ays after losing his position as leader of the Assembly Republicans, Chad Mayes was entertaining lobbyists and lawmakers at a bar near the state Capitol, raising money for his re-election with a live video message from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I think you are the future of the Republican Party,” Schwarzenegger said to Mayes from the big screen, as guests sipped cocktails and nibbled on ahi tuna hors d’oeuvres.

The Republican former governor went on to praise Mayes—a Yucca Valley resident whose 42nd District includes much of the Coachella Valley, from La Quinta going west—for negotiating a bipartisan deal to extend California’s capand-trade program, an environmental policy Schwarzenegger helped create to curb global warming by forcing companies to pay for emitting greenhouse gases. Schwarzenegger called the deal “a fantastic way to move forward.”

If the Republican Party will go in that direction, then we will have an increase in the membership of the Republican Party,” Schwarzenegger said. “Because this is what the people want us to do.”

The comment illuminated a vast schism among California Republicans, who are divided over how to bring their shrinking party back to relevancy. The very reason Schwarzenegger called Mayes the “future of the Republican party”—his work on climate change—was what ultimately cost him his leadership post.

Most of his fellow Republicans voted against the cap-and-trade bill, even though it was backed by traditional GOP interests including oil companies and the Chamber of Commerce.

Republican activists saw Mayes’ support for a program that adds costs for businesses and their consumers as a betrayal of GOP values.

They turned up the pressure until he was forced in late August to resign. Schwarzenegger, by contrast, saw a modern Republican taking pragmatic steps to broaden the party’s appeal in a state where voters overwhelmingly support policies that address global warming.

Mayes’ ouster shows how hard it is for California Republicans to embrace a more moderate stance. A decade ago, Schwarzenegger famously said California Republicans were “dying at the box office,” because hard-right politics appealed to so few people in an increasingly diverse state.

Since then, the GOP has slipped even further.

Today just 26 percent of California voters are registered Republicans, and internal polling Mayes highlighted shows that 7 percent of state Republicans are considering abandoning the party because of its stance on climate change. The GOP holds only one-third of the seats in the Legislature—too few to be

of any consequence on most issues—and a Republican hasn’t won a statewide contest in California since Schwarzenegger’s re-election in 2006.

“We have one of two options,” Mayes said during a recent interview in his Capitol office. A stack of books on the table included a collection of Christian prayers and photos from the Civil Rights Movement. On the wall hung a Teddy Roosevelt quote: “Dare mighty things.”

“We can either convert individuals to become Republicans, or we can reflect California values and as a party begin to move toward Californians. What we’ve been doing for the last 20 years is not converting Californians to our ideas. We’ve been repelling them, and we haven’t been reflecting Californians; we’ve become more insular and ideologically pure. And both of those are not winning strategies.”

Donald Trump’s victory last year, campaigning against climate policy and immigration, made it harder for Mayes to convince fellow Republicans that moderation was the key to electoral success. Even though Trump was trounced in California, he won the highest office in the land by appealing to the far right.

Mayes’ cap-and-trade vote in July was the tipping point for conservative activists who wanted him out, but it was not the first time Mayes had tried to craft a different image for California Republicans. Earlier this year, he took criticism from the right after the Assembly Republican caucus honored gayrights icon Harvey Milk in a social media post.

During almost two years as leader, Mayes brought his caucus to a homeless shelter and spoke often about California’s soaring poverty rate. He wrote a bill (still pending) that would give welfare recipients incentive grants for completing their education. He negotiated with Democrats on a bill enacted last year that taxes health plans to bring in more money to provide health care for the poor. Mayes and Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon became known for their rare bipartisan bromance.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon embraces then-Assembly GOP leader Chad Mayes in December 2016. STEVE YEATER/CALMATTERS

Yet Mayes is hardly a liberal sop. The son of an evangelical preacher, Mayes opposed Democrats’ plan to raise gas taxes to pay for road repairs. He voted against bills to increase the minimum wage and pay overtime to farmworkers. He earned an A+ rating from the Firearms Policy Coalition for his votes supporting gun rights.

Still, his chummy approach to Democrats didn’t fly with Republican party activists, who publicly accused him of having an extramarital affair with a former assemblywoman as the cap-and-trade vote loomed. (Mayes declined to answer questions about his personal life, other than to confirm that he is going through a divorce.) After the vote—and his participation in a bipartisan celebration in Gov. Jerry Brown’s office—the California Republican Party took the unusual step of formally urging Mayes to step down. Party leaders felt the capand-trade extension was both bad policy and bad politics, because in delivering Republican votes for the bill, Mayes allowed some Democrats to vote against it. The Democratic supermajority had splintered over cap and trade, with some progressives opposing it as too business-friendly, and some moderates withholding support to appease conservative voters in their swing districts.

Harmeet Dhillon, who represents California on the Republican National Committee, said Mayes was too focused on being liked by

Democrats, and criticized him for handing Brown a victory by supporting cap and trade.

“We should all be bipartisan on issues that genuinely two sides can agree on. But there are no two sides to over-taxing Californians,” she said. “This is not an area where we can agree to have different shades as Republicans.”

Dhillon believes the new caucus leader, Assemblyman Brian Dahle, will be more reliably conservative. Dahle is a farmer who voted against extending cap and trade. His hometown of Bieber in Lassen County has 300 residents, and his rural district is solid Trump country.

Dahle is also known for building relationships across the aisle—he has already hosted the Democratic Assembly speaker at his home—and said Mayes’ bipartisanship makes sense in a statehouse so heavily dominated by Democrats. But Mayes “moved a little faster than the party could keep up with,” Dahle said during an interview at the Sacramento fundraiser.

“He takes huge gambles. And unfortunately, it was maybe too fast for some of the Republicans in California.”

CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics. For more analysis by Laurel Rosenhall, visit calmatters.org/articles/category/california/ politics.

CVIndependent.com

10 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS F

By Karen houppert

rancois LeFranc, 45, lingers over breakfast in the dining room of the NAV Centre, an Ontario hotel and conference center on the banks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he displays just one sign that he had been detained by the Canadian immigration authorities five days earlier: a plastic, hospital-style turquoise bracelet he wears with his I.D. number on it.

He slipped across the border in upstate New York and into Quebec with his wife and four kids, leaving his oldest daughter, 20, behind.

Although it has not gotten as much attention as the repeal of DACA, the promised repeal of another protection to immigrants—the temporary protected status offered by Barack Obama to Haitian immigrants following the 2010 earthquake—has led LeFranc and more than 5,000 others to seek asylum in Canada since Aug.1.

More than 50,000 Haitian immigrants were qualified to live legally in the U.S. after the earthquake, which killed more than 220,000, injured more than 300,000, displaced 1.5 million and damaged 4,992 schools—23 percent of the total, according to the Haitian government.

It took LeFranc until 2012 to finally reach the

U.S. “We are looking for a better life,” he says.

“I was looking for a better education for my children.”

Now, fearful of being deported back to Haiti, he is one of 294 Haitian immigrants wandering the halls and grounds of this conference center in the sleepy city of Cornwall, population 50,000. He is part of a mass exodus of Haitian asylum-seekers, fleeing the U.S. on the heels of a letter that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent to the approximately 58,000 Haitian refugees resettled in the U.S. since the

Opens Friday, Oct. 13

Meet the director at a special screening at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 ONLY at Mary Pickford Theatre is D’Place 36850 Pickfair St., Cathedral City 760-328-7100 dplaceentertainment.com CVIndependent.com

Following Trump’s refugee ban, Haitians running from earthquake devastation flee the U.S. for Canada

2010 earthquake. The letter informs them that their TPS will likely be revoked in January, and warns them to arrange their departure from the U.S. It seems the Trump administration has declared Haiti’s earthquake recovery complete; its refugees must go back.

The announcement was made the same day the U.S. government updated its travel warning for those considering a trip to Haiti.

“The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of traveling to Haiti due to its current security environment and lack of adequate medical facilities and response,” the State Department website warns. It goes on to state that “medical care infrastructure, ambulances, and other emergency services are limited throughout Haiti.”

The Miami Herald reports that panic raced through Florida’s large Haitian community when they learned they would be sent back to their still-troubled homeland—and many of them have turned to Canada for help.

The French-speaking Haitians are attracted to Quebec, which also has a sizeable Haitian community—but with immigration processing centers there bursting at the seams, the federal government moved this group of nearly 300 to the neighboring province of Ontario over the course of two days in Augus. Within a week, they had a tent city prepared to accommodate 800 refugees here.

It’s a curious scene. On one section of the conference center’s vast green lawn, musicians are making their way to a massive white event tent where hundreds of locals will soon pour in for the annual MusicFest, “The Barley and Hops Tour,” with $40 tickets at the door.

Within sight of concert-goers are 50 black Army tents, erected by the Royal Canadian Dragoons (soldiers) in the last 24 hours to house the anticipated influx of 500 more Haitian migrants, according to Lt. Karyn Mazurek, an Army public affairs officer.

A heavy-metal band warm-up is punctuated by the sounds of rapid-fire nail guns as five carpenters build tent platforms for the migrants in a garage bay nestled between the refugees’ tent city and the music tent. Inside the upscale NAV Centre (overnight golf packages run $170), patrons get wedding-planning tours; a Christian group coalesces in the lobby; soldiers in fatigues stride the halls; and migrants use the glass-encased miniature model of the hotel to both get their geographical bearings and pepper an official with questions about the worn documents they pull from purses and pockets to press on the glass for inspection. Soldiers share

Haitian refugees get oriented with Canadian officials in the lobby of the NAV Centre. KAREN HOUPPERT

a smoke with a few refugees near an exit; one migrant asks directions to the local pharmacy.

The asylum-seekers are free to roam.

It’s a far cry from U.S. detention centers.

Still, the efficiency and kindness Canadians are displaying should not be misconstrued as welcoming the asylum seekers with open arms.

Back in January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. by tweeting, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. #WelcomeToCanada.”

But by Aug. 5, with Montreal’s Olympic Stadium temporarily housing hundreds of the arriving Haitians, Trudeau cautioned, “We remain an open and compassionate country, but part of remaining that way is reassuring Canadians that we are processing properly all of these new arrivals,” he said. At the same time, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, in an interview with the CBC, warned against what Canadians politely refer to as “irregular” border crossings.

Back in the NAV Center’s Propeller Dining Room, LeFranc finishes his breakfast. Since arriving in the U.S., he says, he has worked construction jobs to support his family. His kids have spent their formative years in America, with his oldest daughter attending college until recently, when her immigration status rendered her unable to qualify for student loans.

“I am waiting to see if I can find a way for the children to go to school and to find work to help my family. The children does not know nothing about Haiti,” he says.

Democracy in Crisis is a joint project of alternative newspapers around the country, including the Coachella Valley Independent. Send tips to democracyincrisicolumn@gmail.com. Twitter @ demoincrisis. Podcast every Thursday at www. democracyincrisis.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

OCTOBER 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

WE ALL SCREAM H

By brane jevric

ave you ever tried starting your day with ice cream instead of coffee? I have … many times.

The cold treat wakes me up, and its sugar gets me going. Hallelujah!

But how about starting your day with ice cream made without sugar—ice cream which tastes good while being good for you? Yeah, sure. We’ve heard that empty promise before.

However, local culinary guru Les Starks insists the promise is not empty.

Starks—who calls Snow Creek (located off Highway 111, 13 miles west of downtown Palm Springs) home—recently published a new book, Sweet Without Sugar: Ice Cream That’s Good for You. The secret, according to the Starks’ book, is to make ice cream with stevia instead of sugar.

“Stevia is a plant native to Paraguay,” Starks said. “The Guarani Indians of Paraguay have consumed stevia for over 1,500 years. Stevia has zero calories and is super-sweet.”

However, the use of stevia itself is not enough to make tasty, healthy ice cream. It took Starks years of experimenting until he found desirable recipes, he said.

“I started in 1992, and finished the book in 2017,” he said. “It was all about trial and error—what works and what doesn’t—and it took a long time to really get it right, without using one bit of sugar, honey, agave or molasses, and none of the insidious stuff like erythritol or artificial sweeteners.”

I first tasted Starks’ delicious food at an event held at Cary Grant’s Palm Springs estate hosted by Dr. Jane Smith, a noted author of medical books. At that time, Starks was still working and cooking for Eric Burdon, singer/ songwriter for the Animals.

“I worked for Eric from 1991 to 2003,” Starks said. “When I stopped working for Eric, I got back to the book. He did have a favorite ice cream. It’s called chocolate banana cream in the book.”

Starks tells me that he also briefly worked for Ringo Starr in the 1970s when they both lived at Los Angeles’ historic Savoy Plaza. At the time, Starks was brushing shoulders with celebrities in the L.A. social scene; a close friend was Nancy Andrews, who was then engaged to Starr. He also met someone who influenced his culinary career.

“I met New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne when I was working on Laurie Burroughs Grad’s cooking show,” Starks said.

“He told me I should pursue my interest in food professionally. I admired him and had made many of the recipes in his books.”

After moving to the desert in 1985, Starks would find inspiration to begin experimenting and eventually write his own book in the serene setting of Snow Creek.

“I started working on the book after I got my first Vitamix blender,” he said. “I have had some variation of the recipes in the book for breakfast every day since. That is how I wrote

the book: I made the ice cream, and I ate my mistakes and triumphs every single day until I got it right.”

Starks’ Eureka moment happened when he started experimenting with stevia.

“In the early 1990s, I experimented with vanilla and chocolate almond milk, sweetened with stevia,” he said. “I tried many stevia brands before coming up with my final recommendation, which I didn’t really discover until 2010, while putting together varying combinations of fruit, almonds and flavoring, just to see what I could come up with that worked with stevia.”

Starks claims the reason his ice cream tastes so good is that it is made of the sweet and tart

Local culinary guru Les Starks’ new book features recipes for what he says is truly healthy ice cream

flavors stevia best complements, as well as high-quality ingredients and fresh or frozen organic fruit. No sugar, though.

“Stevia gives it a light, clear sweetness that accentuates the tartness of the fruit, making it more fresh-tasting than conventional ice cream,” he said.

There were excruciating trials regarding the proper measures of ice, but Starks persevered.

“I really love ice cream, but my family’s sad history of early death, diabetes and blindness from the disease weighed heavily on my mind,”

he said. “I knew if I wanted to have ice cream on a regular basis that I was going to have to somehow get around that.”

Starks’ culinary odyssey eventually led to the book’s publication this year.

“My intention in writing the book was to give everyone the rare ability to have absolutely guilt-free ice cream by combining stevia and some soaked, frozen almonds with various common fruit flavorings and virgin, unrefined coconut oil and ice, to make ice cream that’s good for you.”

A FINANCIAL PLANNING & INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRM

YOUR FIDUCIARY ADVISOR Call us today to schedule a complimentary consultation and get acquainted with an independent, Fee-Only financial planning firm located here in the Coachella Valley.

Allow us to show you the benefits that result from a financial plan tailored to your specific retirement needs.

CoMPass rose FiNaNCiaL PLaNNiNG 760-322-5200 • www.compassrosefp.com

333 N Palm Canyon Dr, Suite 112-A, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Les Starks. millicent harvey

CVIndependent.com

OCTOBER 2017

OUR COMMUNITY

REGISTER TODAY

12 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

IN ACTION

LEAD THE WAY!

Saturday

October 21

Ruth Hardy Park

Registration begins at 7:30 am Health & Wellness Village opens at 8:00 am Walk steps off at 9:30 am Register at desertAIDSwalk.org or call 760.656.8435

Presented by

CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 13

OCTOBER 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

OCTOBER ASTRONOMY

The timing of the moon’s cycle means great viewing meteorMid-Twilight shower that Planets and Bright Stars of in a Evening For October, 2017 comes from Halley’s Comet

R

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

By Robert Victor

ise early on these dark mornings, and you will be rewarded by a close planet pair, lots of bright stars, a star popping out from behind the moon, a meteor shower from Halley’s Comet, and a dust cloud in our solar system.

Evenings give us Saturn with rings now open to the max, and the Milky Way. Our morning twilight all-sky chart for October 2017 at CVIndependent.com shows the changes in positions of naked-eye planets and stars of first magnitude or brighter at mid-twilight, when the sun is 9 degrees below the eastern horizon, some 40 minutes before sunrise. A bonus in October, while we’re still on daylight saving time: You don’t need to get up extra early by the clock to enjoy dark morning skies!

As the month progresses, stars will appear to Betelgeuse, Orion’s shoulder, on Oct. 10 and 11. drift from east to west along the tracks shown, On Oct. 12, the last quarter moon—half full owing to the revolution of Earth around the and 90 degrees, or one-quarter circle, away from sun. Venus, of magnitude -4, still dominates the sun—appears 10 degrees from Pollux, the the predawn sky. The chart shows Venus getting brighter of the Gemini Twins, and 14 degrees a little lower in the east each morning, because from Procyon, the Lesser Dog Star. Look for this swift inner planet is moving farther ahead Castor, the fainter Twin (not shown on the of Earth and heading toward the far side of the map), just 4.5 degrees north of Pollux. sun, where it will arrive in January 2018, before Go outside shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday emerging into the western evening sky. morning, Oct. 15. When the 19 percent Mars on Oct. 1 is only 2.5 degrees below crescent moon rises at about 2:44 a.m., the Venus. The red planet now glows dimly at star Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion, will be magnitude +1.8, as faint as it ever gets. But hidden behind it! As the moon rises higher, the it plies its orbit more slowly than Earth, so star will remain hidden for another half hour, we’ll gain on it, and it will appear higher each until at 3:13 a.m., telescopes will show the star morning, passing only 0.2 degrees from Venus suddenly emerging at the dimly Earth-lit upper on Oct. 5, and climbing 16 degrees to Venus’ edge of the moon, then only 5 degrees above upper right by month’s end. the horizon, and 11 degrees north of due east.

Annually in October, the huge Winter By 5:30 a.m., the moon’s dim edge will be more Hexagon—in clockwise order from its brightest than two-moon-widths from the star! member, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux and On Tuesday, Oct. 17, face east an hour before Castor, Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel, with sunup to find a 5 percent crescent moon, with Betelgeuse inside—is well placed high in the Venus 5-6 degrees below, and Mars 2 degrees sky before dawn. Far below the Hexagon is the to the upper right. On the next, final morning, second-brightest star in the heavens, Canopus.

Oct. 18, find the 2 percent, old crescent moon, It reaches its high point just 4 degrees above 30 hours before new, 6-7 degrees to the lower the horizon due south at 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, left of Venus. The new moon, invisible in near the start of morning twilight. But Canopus conjunction with the sun, occurs on Oct. 19 may not appear very bright, because much of at 12:12 p.m. The morning sky thus becomes its luster is lost during the last few miles of moonless, ideal for viewing the Orionid its beam of starlight coming in at a low angle meteor shower at its best, in the dark predawn through our atmosphere. hours of Oct. 20-22. Orionids are dust particles Late in October, begin looking for bright originating from Halley’s Comet and might light Arcturus rising in the east-northeast, and in up anywhere in the sky. the last couple of mornings, using binoculars, Our all-sky evening twilight chart for October try for Spica in the same field as Venus. shows the Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair Morning moon wanderings: If you observe and Deneb overhead, with Arcturus sinking daily one hour before sunrise, then you’ll first low in the west to west-northwest, and Saturn spot the moon on Oct. 5, full and low in the with Antares 14-16 degrees to its lower right, west. Climbing upward through the zodiac in the southwest. Lonely Fomalhaut is in the constellations day by day, the moon will appear southeast, in a rather barren area of the sky.

3-4 degrees to the lower right of Aldebaran on This month, telescopes show Saturn’s rings 27 Oct. 9. On the next morning, find the moon 11 degrees from edge-on, the maximum possible. degrees to the upper left of Aldebaran.

The first moon of the new cycle occurs on The moon appears 11 degrees from Friday, Oct. 20. Begin looking for the 2 percent

October's evening sky chart.

ROBERT D. MILLER

N

Capella

Deneb Vega

Arcturus

E

Altair

W

Jupiter

1

Saturn 1 8 15 22 29 Fomalhaut

Evening up mid-twilight occurs crescent 6 degrees in the west-southwest at O below when Sunthe is 9sun civil twilight, when is 6horizon. degrees down, Oct. 1: 40 minutes after sunset. some 25 minutes or 15: after 40 "sunset, " " 6:31 p.m. in Palm Springs and Coachella Valley.

31: the 40 western " " " Mid-twilight (when the sun is 9 degrees down) occurs at 6:46 p.m., with the moon only 3 degrees up. To catch the 30-31 hour crescent, you’ll need to go to a place such as Desert Hot Springs or the far eastern Coachella Valley, where high mountains won’t block your view.

Within an hour after sunset on Sunday, Oct. 22, can you spot Antares 9 degrees to the lower left of the 10 percent crescent moon? On Monday, Oct. 23, the moon is in the southwest and 17 percent full, with Antares 12 degrees to its lower right and Saturn 6 degrees to the left. On Oct. 24, Saturn is 7 degrees to the moon’s lower right. The crescent is then nearly one-quarter full, but we must wait until the afternoon and evening of Oct. 27 to catch the first quarter moon, 90 degrees east of the sun.

Antares

S

Stereographic Projection The website of the Astronomical Society Map by Robert of the Desert (www.astrorx.org) hasD.a Miller listing of our star parties. The primary location is at the Visitor Center of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (on Highway 74, within four miles south of Highway 111 in Palm Desert). Sessions are scheduled there on Oct. 28 from 7 to 10 p.m., and on Nov. 25 and Dec. 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. Sawmill Trailhead, our high-altitude site (elevation 4,000 feet—wear warm clothes), will have star parties starting at dusk on Sat. Oct. 14, Nov. 11, and Dec. 9. Also, check out the Sky’s the Limit Observatory and Nature Center in Twentynine Palms, at skysthelimit29.org.

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

CVIndependent.com

14 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

CENTER presents

The Center’s Eighth Annual CENTER

Starring

CHEYENNE JACKSON

STAGE OCTOBER 27 @The Riviera Resort and Spa

The

CENTER

BENEFITTING THE LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE DESERT

PRESENITNG SPONSOR

RECEPTION/AUCTION 5:30PM DINNER/SHOWTIME 7 PM AFTER PARTY 9PM FOR TICKET INFORMATION: visit www.thecenterps.org or call 760-416-7790

CVIndependent.com

Emcee

KATE CLINTON returns

OCTOBER 2017

On Sept. 1, 2015, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 415 into law.

SB 415 was definitely well-intentioned: It mandates that cities and other “political subdivisions” move their elections to the same dates as statewide elections—unless their elections have had a high-enough turnout percentage in recent years. Cities and other political subdivisions are required to have a plan in place by the start of 2018 to move their elections by 2022.

The goal was to increase turnout—often quite low—in elections for seats on city councils, school districts, water boards and other local government bodies, in areas where elections were held on dates that did not match the dates of statewide and federal elections.

Unfortunately… all SB 415 has really done so far is confuse the heck out of everyone.

Three cities in the Coachella Valley have, up until now, held elections on dates different from those of state and federal elections: Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs have held municipal elections in odd-numbered years, while Rancho Mirage has always held its city elections in evennumbered years—but in April, not November.

Because confusion reigns, the cities are each handling SB 415 differently as of now. Palm Springs isn’t changing a thing; Rancho Mirage isn’t sure what it’s doing yet; and the members of Desert Hot Springs’ City Council voted to immediately switch the city’s election date—generously extending each of their own terms by a year.

California State Sen. Ben Hueso introduced the bill in July 2015. Ana Molina-Rodriguez, a member of Hueso’s staff, explained the bill.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

“Starting in 2018, any local government holding an election off-cycle that results in a voter turnout that is 25 percent less than the average voter turnout in the past four statewide elections will have to consolidate,” she said. “When we started looking at the odd-numbered-year elections compared to the gubernatorial elections or the presidential elections, the incredibly low turnout rates were why we drafted this bill.”

The bill’s language that determines whether a city or other political subdivision has to move its elections—“the voter turnout for a regularly scheduled election in a political subdivision is at least 25 percent less than the average voter turnout within that political subdivision for the previous four statewide general elections”—has left elections officials across the state scratching their heads.

The city of Palm Springs has determined its elections have had a high-enough voter turnout to stay right where they are.

“We have elections in odd-numbered years, and at this time, our city is not required to conform to the even-year-number election requirement,” said Cindy Berardi, of the Palm Springs City Clerk’s Office. “For the time being, our elections will remain in the odd-numbered years. Based on the voter turnout, our city does not need to switch to the even-numbered-year elections.”

Rancho Mirage, which holds vote-by-mail elections in April every even-numbered year, is still determining whether or not it will need to change.

“That is something that our city attorney is going to have to determine,” Rancho Mirage City Clerk Kristie Ramos said. “If it turns out that we need to change, we have until January 2018 to determine what we’re going to do. But we haven’t made a decision yet.”

In Desert Hot Springs, the City Council members extended all of their own terms and called off the scheduled 2017 municipal election in favor of an election in 2018 … sort of. The city will still ask residents to come to the polls this November, to decide on Measures B and C, which would extend tax funding for public safety services in Desert Hot Springs.

Desert Hot Springs City Clerk Jerryl Soriano said that because of the city’s low voter turnout for municipal elections, DHS had to comply with SB 415. The City Council members voted unanimously for the change—and the one-year extensions of all their own terms—in March. She said she presented various options to the council.

“The bill goes into effect in January 2018,” Soriano said. “The bill states that the cities need to have a plan by January 2018. Whatever plan the city chooses has to go into effect by the 2022 statewide election. I presented different options to the council. The first one, that they went with, was to move this year’s election to November 2018.”

Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas explained why he and the City Council members decided to move the election to 2018, and extend all of their own terms by a year.

“We talked about the different options we had,” Matas said. “That was what was decided by the City Council, and there was no opposition from the public on it, so we went ahead and voted on it.

We could have had an election this year, and it could have been a one-year term for the mayor and a one-year term (for the City Council members whose seats would have been up for election).”

In Desert Hot Springs, the mayor is usually elected to a two-year term, while four members of the City Council are usually elected to four-year terms.

“Being mayor, I can say it’s hard to get a lot of things done in two years, because that’s what my term is, but to have a one-year term as mayor, it would be a little tough,” he said. “It was something we took to the public, outlining the different options. … We could go to a (one-time) one-year cycle for mayor and three-year cycle for the council. Or we could go backward and extend our terms by a year to make everything even.”

Beyond all of this confusion, the political science on whether there is a true public benefit to moving these elections remains unclear.

Yes, there will be an increase in voter turnout by moving city elections in places like Desert Hot Springs and Los Angeles to the same dates as state elections. On the other hand, lower-level elections tend to get lost in the shuffle when they’re held at the same time as state and federal elections; odd-year city council elections don’t have to compete with legislative, congressional and presidential races for attention. There is also the issue of “voter fatigue”—some voters get overwhelmed by huge, complex ballots during consolidated elections and skip ballot items toward the end.

Putting aside the pros and cons of various election dates, officials from California cities can agree on one thing: SB 415 could have been written a lot more clearly.

“Good luck reading that and understanding all of it,” Matas said. “It was confusing to us, too.”

CVIndependent.com

16 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

Arts Best Art Gallery Best Indoor Venue Best Outdoor Venue Best Local Arts Group/ Organization Best Local Band Best Local DJ Best Local Musician (Individual) Best Local Visual Artist Best Movie Theater Best Museum Best Producing Theater Company

Best Resale/Vintage Clothing Best Furniture Store Best Antiques/Collectables Store Best Jeweler/Jewelry Store Best Hair Salon Best Spa in a Resort/Hotel Best Day Spa (Non-Resort/ Hotel) Best Florist Best Tattoo Parlor Best Eyeglass/Optical Retailer Outside!

Best Public Garden Best Place for Bicycling Best Recreation Area Best Hike Best Park Best Outdoor/Camping Gear Store Best Bike Shop Best Sporting Goods Best Public Golf Course

Best French Best Indian Best Italian Best Japanese Best Korean Best Sushi Best Seafood Best Steaks/Steakhouse Best Thai Best Vietnamese Best Vegetarian/Vegan Best Upscale Restaurant Best Outdoor Seating Best Late-Night Restaurant Best Mexican Best Salsa Best Burrito

Life in the Valley Best Farmers’ Market Best Local Activist/Advocacy Spirits and Nightlife Group/Charity Best Beer Selection Best Gym Best Local Brewery Best Yoga Studio Best Place to Play Pool/ Best Bowling Alley Billiards Best Sex Toy Shop Best Cocktail Menu Best Auto Repair Best Gay/Lesbian Bar/Club Best Car Wash For the Kids Best Happy Hour Best Plant Nursery Best Playground Best Dive Bar Best Pet Supplies Best Place to Buy Toys Best Margarita Best Annual Charity Event Best Kids’ Clothing Store Best Martini Best Place to Gamble Best Restaurant for Kids Best Nightclub Best Local TV News Best Place for Family Fun Best Sports Bar Best Local TV News Best Place for a Birthday Party Best Wine Bar Personality Best Wine/Liquor Store Best Radio Station Food and Restaurants Best Bar Ambiance Best Local Radio Personality Best Casual Eats Best Bookstore Best Caterer Rules: Best Retail Music/Video Store Best Diner • Only one vote per person, per Your donations ofBest clothing, furniture, small goods, andwatching Best Comics/Games Shop Organic Food Store round, please! We’re Best Hotelhome Pool décor helpBest Delicatessen addresses,our so be honest.

Desert AIDS Project toIPprovide Best Urgent Care Best Custom Cakes • Ballots without a full name community with needed medical, dental,AND counseling, Best Desserts a working email address and social support services including nutrition housing, Valley Professionals Best Ice Cream/Shakes will be thrown out and not Best Doctor counted. and much more. Best Date Shake Best Eye Doctor Best Frozen Yogurt • If you do not have an opinion Best Dentist/Orthodontist Best Bakery in arating certain category, Desert AIDS Project has received a 5-Star from leave it Best Alternative Health Best Barbecue blank!

Charity NavigatorBest forBurger 5 years in a row — •aStuffing distinction Professional the ballot box is Best Plastic Surgeon Best Veggie Burger a no-no.

Interested parties only 6% of all non-profits receive.

Best Attorney Best Sandwich can engage in simple Best Air Conditioner Best Pizza campaigning—like putting Donate Repair it to Revivals.

Best Personal Trainer Best Wings up signs, linking to the ballot Help create a healthier community.

Best Chiropractor Best Bagels or using social media to Best Personal Trainer Best Smoothies encourage fans/customers to Best Real Estate Agent Best Buffet vote—but anything beyond Best Accounting Best Coffee Shop for Coffee simple campaigning is a Visit our groups Best Electrician Best Coffee Shop for Hanging no-no. Any businesses, Best Pool Service Out or individuals suspected of NEW Best Landscaper/Yard Service Best Tea stuffing the ballot box may be Palm Desert Best Public Servant Best Breakfast disqualified, at the discretion location!

Best California Cuisine of the Independent publisher.

Fashion and Style Best Brunch • If you have questions, Best Clothing Store (Locally Best Chinese call 760-904-4208, or email Owned) Best Greek jboegle@cvindependent.com

Your Support of D.A.P. Creates a Healthier Community

Final Round voting is under way as of Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Coachella Valley Independent’s fourth annual Best of Coachella Valley poll!

The First Round of voting took place online at CVIndependent.com. The top three to five votegetters in each category have now moved on to the Final Round of voting, which will run online at CVIndependent.com through Monday, Oct. 30.

The winners and other results will be announced at CVIndependent.com on Monday, Nov. 27, and in the special Best of Coachella Valley section in the Independent’s December 2017 print edition.

To arrange a pick-up call 877-770-7738

VIEW THE FINALISTS AND VOTE AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM

CVIndependent.com

Palm Springs

Cathedral City

Palm Desert

611 S. Palm Canyon Dr.

68-401 Hwy. 111

72-885 Hwy. 111

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

OCTOBER 2017

Other people want a vacation.

YOU desire an experience.

So much more than just cruises.

Dwight Hendricks

dwight.hendricks@cruiseplanners.com

Doug Mazique

doug.mazique@cruiseplanners.com

760.699.2348 2dogscruise.com

CST: 2034468-50

Authorized Special Needs Group and LGBT travel planner

GayDesertGuide.LGBT

Complete Guide

to Pride 2017

THE #1 MOBILE & ONLINE LGBT GUIDE TO PALM SPRINGS

Get Updates

@GayDesertGuide

CVIndependent.com

18 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

CVI SPOTLIGHT: OCTOBER 2017 Midcentury Mecca: Architecture Shines During Modernism Week’s Fall Preview

A

lot of historical quirks went into making Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley the tourism mecca that it is today.

In the big-studio era of Hollywood, actors were contractually required to stay within two hours or 100 or so miles of the studio … which helped make this a haven for stars who wanted to get away. On the less-glamorous side, a tuberculosis sanatorium once attracted people here, thanks to the 350 days of sun and dryness our weather offers.

These quirks also helped, directly and indirectly, lead to the construction of a lot of midcentury-modern buildings—and these pieces of architecture will be the stars of Modernism Week’s Fall Preview, taking place Oct. 19-22.

The list of talented architects who worked in the desert includes William F. Cody, Albert Frey, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Donald Wexler and so many others. These men were responsible for the layout of areas like the Twin Palms neighborhood. (Why

CVIndependent.com

Charles Phoenix

did they name it that? Because each home had two palm trees in front of it.) Of course, the midcentury aesthetic went well beyond homes; these ideals were used in schools, civic buildings, religious buildings, hotels, cultural centers and commercial designs, too.

Why is Palm Springs today such a haven for this architecture—so much so that the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Palm Springs to its 2006 list of America’s Distinctive Destinations? This was a question I asked Charles Phoenix, a performer, tour guide and long-time supporter/fan of all things midcentury; he will have a hand in a variety of Modernism Week Fall Preview events.

“It’s really the people here,” Phoenix said. “Palm Springs is the ultimate place to celebrate midcentury style and design.

Palm Springs is a mecca of midcentury style, and it’s where all the kingpins and fans gather each October and February (during Modernism Week proper).”

So how did this happen here? “Being in

the desert, I think they were allowed to be a little more experimental and break the rules,” Phoenix said. “The minimalistic style appeals to the residents here, so they didn’t have to spend so much on the details. Remember, most of these homes were second homes.”

Since the 1920s, visionary modern architects have been designing sleek, modern homes that embrace the desert environment.

The modernistic use of glass, clean lines and natural/resourced goods helped create an indoor-outdoor living style that many people love. However, midcentury architecture has not always been so beloved.

“During the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, this style fell out of favor; people thought of it just not being in style. Architects during that time thought that midcentury was yuck!”

Phoenix said. “Fortunately, there are some people out there who realized that Palm Springs was a diamond in the rough at that time. During the 1990s, a group of people highlighted a couple of properties and a couple of neighborhoods and started to bring

in people from all over the United States for architectural tours. Then it just started to snowball. Palm Springs is still being revitalized and recognized as the center of the universe of midcentury modern, and it’s where the lovers of this form gather.”

As these sensibilities have changed, Phoenix has found himself being pulled ever more toward midcentury design. During Modernism Week activities, you can join him on one his double-decker bus tours around town (if they have not completely sold out already), or for one of his slide presentations with actual Kodachrome slides, many of which were just given to him. Some of them appear in his newest book, Addicted to Americana, slated for release Oct. 3.

Modernism Week’s fall preview takes place Thursday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Oct. 22. Ticket prices vary.

For tickets, a complete schedule and other information, visit www. modernismweek.com.

—Dwight Hendricks

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

OCTOBER 2017

THE NEW, NON-INVASIVE MEDICAL DEVICE THAT CAN FINALLY GET RID OF STUBBORN FAT WITHOUT SURGERY

By Shonda Chase, FNP Co-owner, Artistic Director and Advanced Injector at Revive Wellness Centers in Palm Springs and Torrance

Founder Matt Farber presents

Whether or not you’re in good shape, everyone has some stubborn, gene�c fat. But now there’s a medical device that can permanently remove stubborn fat anywhere on your body—without surgery, discomfort or down�me, in 30 minutes per area.

A Palm Springs Performance Series

Secret No. 1: The above claim might sound too good to be true, but four months ago, the FDA approved truSculpt 3D, which permanently destroys fat cells.

Secret No. 2: Cutera’s truSculpt 3D is the first device that can reliably remove 25-35 percent from anywhere with just one treatment.

Secret No. 3: The 3D treatment �ghtens loose skin and reveals defini�on.

Fall 2017 Camelot Theatres - Palm Springs, CA

Secret No. 4: With any non-surgical device, it takes up to 12 weeks for any destroyed fat cells to be removed by the body’s endocrine system.

Secret No. 5: If you want more results, you can get re-treated a�er 12 weeks.

DEL SHORES SAT, OCT 28 AT 8 PM

MISS RICHFIELD 1981 SAT, NOV 4 AT 8 PM

COCO PERU SAT, NOV 11 AT 8 PM

RANDY RAINBOW SAT, NOV 18 SOLD OUT SUN, NOV 19 AT 8PM

Save with a SERIES PASS—see all 4 for $100!

SPONSORS

To benefit SAGE USA and and SAGE of the Desert, a program of the LGBT Center

We are loving the 3D results for our pa�ents at Revive Wellness Centers, because it safe, comfortable and effec�ve. There aren’t many of these devices out yet—but you can get a free consult at Revive’s office in Palm Springs to see if 3D is right for you.

Next month I’ll share with you what you can do to quickly look your best for the holidays. Un�l then, keep the secrets.

The pa�ent in the before and a�er photos wasn’t overweight, but had stubborn fat on her abs and flanks. The photos show her permanent results a�er just 11 weeks.

Read the en�re ar�cle at www.revivecenter.com/blog.

Email your individual stubborn-fat ques�ons to Ms. Chase at info@revivecenter.com.

www.OutlandishPS.com CVIndependent.com

20 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

ARTS

LOCALS ON DISPLAY The PSAM Artists Council shows the works of its talented, up-and-coming members

A New Comedy by Matthew Lopez

a i g or e G cBride M The King is dead. Long live the Queen.

Directed by Michael Shaw

TICKETS $28 - 40

NOW ON SALE! “A stitch-in-your-side funny first-rate production full of sass and good spirits.”

— The New York Times

NOVEMBER 3 –12, 2017 DOWNTOWN PALM SPRINGS (760) 322-0179 OR DEZARTPERFORMS.ORG Sponsored by

CVIndependent.com

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

I

By william bryan rooney

magine if what you did every day for work was constantly being judged and juried.

Unless you were a criminal on trial, it might feel unnatural.

But for an artist, being judged and juried can be a welcome experience. That is why more than 300 artists submitted their original works for consideration for the 2017 Artists Council Exhibition at the Palm Springs Art Museum, which will be on display from Saturday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 10.

The Artists Council is a group that supports and nurtures artists by providing them with exhibitions and networking opportunities. Its membership includes 350 local and regional artists and art patrons, as well as members of the general public who want to engage with the local art scene. The council also produces workshops for adults to learn and enhance their own artistic skills.

The Artists Council Exhibition was created by its members and is held annually in the fall. Now in its 48th year, the exhibit includes works by more than 40 Artists Council members. All of the work is for sale, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to support the Palm Springs Art Museum. A color catalog with images of all the artwork will also be for sale.

Daniel Hogan is the Education Department and Artists Council coordinator at the Palm Springs Art Museum. “There is always great art in this exhibition,” he said. “There are always some great buys at this exhibition, as some of the exhibiting artists are up-and-coming and still making a name for themselves.”

Did Hogan find surprises in any of this year’s art?

“There are always surprises with art that asks questions,” he mysteriously responded.

A team of jurors is curating the exhibition, including Lita Albuquerque, an internationally renowned installation and environmental artist, painter and sculptor. She is part of the Light and Space movement and is known for her pigment pieces created for desert sites.

She is also a member of the faculty of the Fine Art Graduate Program at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Joining Albuquerque is David Pagel, an art critic, curator and professor of art theory and history in the Claremont Graduate University Art Department; he writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times. Also on the jury is Rick Royale, owner of Royale

Projects, a contemporary art gallery located in Los Angeles’ downtown arts district.

These jurors will announce the winners at a ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 5:45 p.m. The program is open to the public, and will be held in the museum’s Annenberg Theater, followed by a reception in the museum’s atrium.

The Artists Council also offers free workshops for members at the Palm Springs Art Museum. This season, the council has scheduled four experimental hands-on workshops. One is entitled “Printing With Shadows.” There will also be four “The Business of Art” workshops with topics like “Getting Your Art Online,” “How to Write Your CV” and “How to Price Your Art for Sale.”

Finally, the museum will hold life-drawing sessions with live models, as well as critique workshops, during which members are invited to bring up to three of their art works.

For more information, e-mail Daniel Hogan at artistscouncil@psmuseum.org, or go to www.psmuseum.org/artists-council.

The 2017 Artists Council Exhibition takes place from Saturday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, in Palm Springs. Admission costs vary. For more information, call 760-322-4800, or visit www.psmuseum.org.

“Mugged at the Feet of Liberty”

by Kim Uhlik, oil on canvas.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 21

OCTOBER 2017

ARTS & CULTURE BOXER, FELON, PERFORMER A

By brian blueskye

s a professional boxer, Mike Tyson had a most interesting career. However, his life after boxing has been downright fascinating.

Despite an impressive boxing record of 50-6 and a stint as the undisputed heavyweight champion, Tyson’s career was marred by controversy—most notably the fact that he bit a chunk off of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their second match, in 1997.

Outside of the ring, his life has been filled with problems, including the death of his 4-year-old daughter, Exodus, in 2009; financial challenges; mental illness; and a three-year prison stint after a rape conviction in 1992.

He’s currently touring with his one-man show, Undisputed Truth, which is coming Morongo Casino Resort Spa on Friday, Oct. 27.

Tyson said he doesn’t think much about During a recent phone interview, Tyson his boxing career, even though he was the explained what goes on in his show. youngest fighter to ever win the world “It will cover a bunch of parts of my life heavyweight championship, and was inducted that people don’t really know about,” Tyson into the Boxing Hall of Fame. said. “This is all during my retirement, after “I never actually look back on my career and I finished fighting—things in my life that think about it from that perspective,” he said. happened. It’s almost like the first (version of “I’m doing so many other things, but I don’t his one-man) show, but it’s a lot different.” think my boxing career was too bad.”

In May, Tyson released a book, Iron Ambition, As far as those other things go: Mike Tyson which touched on his relationship with his has been doing a fair amount of film and TV legendary trainer and surrogate father, Cus work. He’s appeared in various movies, most D’Amato, who passed away in 1985. I asked notably the first two The Hangover films. He him if D’Amato ever gave him advice that he also has an animated television show on Adult wishes he’d followed better. Surprisingly, he Swim, Mike Tyson Mysteries. In the vein of said no.

Scooby-Doo, it features Tyson, an angry pigeon, “I followed most of his advice, but he died the Marquess of Queensberry and Tyson’s (not early on in my career,” Tyson said. “Any of the real) 18-year-old adopted daughter, Yung Hee advice he gave me, it stuck with me. Everything Tyson, solving mysteries. As bonkers as that turned out OK. Even the good, the bad and the sounds, the show was recently renewed for a ugly—it still turned out OK.” fourth season.

Mike Tyson

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

Mike Tyson brings his one-man show, ‘Undisputed Truth,’ to Morongo

“Warner Bros. came up with the idea for Mike Tyson Mysteries,” Tyson explained. “They came to my house and pitched the idea, and that’s how it happened. But it’s really awesome.

I’m doing the one man show; I have Mike Tyson Mysteries; and the sky is the limit. Whatever I can do, I’m ready to do it. In some ways, I feel like I’m going through a resurgence. Kids know me who shouldn’t know me. It’s funny, because kids remember me from The Hangover.”

If you were a kid during the ’80s, you probably remember Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

“Now I think that Nintendo was one of the biggest inventions that ever happened,” Tyson mused. “But I didn’t play video games back then, so it didn’t mean too much to me.”

Tyson will probably always be most famous for the ear bite. Not that it in any way excuses the bite, but Holyfield spent much of both matches head-butting Tyson. I asked Tyson

if he felt referee Mills Lane should have done more to prevent that.

“It’s funny that you say that, because I haven’t really thought about it, and maybe I should look back on that,” he said. “Maybe he could have stopped some of the head-butts, but that’s back in the past. But those things happen, and you can’t cry over spilled milk.”

I had to ask: Why does a boxer who made $300 million during his boxing career have a tattoo of Chairman Mao on his arm?

“One day when I was in prison, I was reading his book,” Tyson said. “He had an interesting life. I saw his picture in there, and I took notice of it, so I put him on my arm.”

Mike Tyson’s Undisputed Truth takes place at at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27, at Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, in Cabazon. Tickets are $55. For tickets or more information, call 800-252-4499, or visit www. morongocasinoresort.com.

Equality is good Business Our 250 members support equality – and they support you!

Affiliate Chamber

See what our members have to offer at desertbusiness.org CVIndependent.com

22 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

FOOD & DRINK

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

ELEVATING A CLASSIC JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By Jimmy boegle

LOVE YOUR HAIR

W

hen I heard that the San Francisco-based PlumpJack Group had purchased the legendary Ingleside Inn and its Melvyn’s restaurant following the death last year of longtime owner Mel Haber, my feelings were decidedly mixed.

On one hand, Melvyn’s is an institution. The old-school recipes, the tableside prep, the …

Club and Cook Street uh, past-normal-retirement-age maître d’s—theseCountry things make Melvyn’s a Palm Springs classic, Palm De sert unlike any other restaurant in the valley. seemed management was doing little to reach On the other hand … Melvyn’s, located new customers. at 200 W. Ramon Road, has a lot of room to Turns out that Melvyn’s new executive 760-340-5959 improve. Both the food and service in recent chef, Jennifer Town, shares a lot of the same years have been wildly inconsistent, and it opinions. www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

Solar Q&A

I’m seeing a lot of information about batteries out there.

What should I know?

Batteries are a great addition to solar when you want to make sure that you have a backup if the power goes out.

If there’s a blackout due to an earthquake, cyber attack or other issue, your solar will have to stop pushing power to the grid. However, if you have a battery, the power will route to that instead and provide power for you for an extended period of time, as your solar will continue to charge your battery each day.

That’s sounds terrific!

How much can it power?

You should plan for it to power a light load so that it will work for an extended period of time each day/ night. That means perhaps your refrigerator, the power to a couple of rooms and maybe an additional appliance or two. Of course, you can always add more batteries and

continue to increase the amount of power you have access to if you need it.

Where do I start?

Renova offers the Mycrogrid® solar and battery storage solution, by customizing your solution. A reputable company will work with several battery providers to find the one that works the best for your situation. At Renova, that means Tesla Powerwall, Sonnen, Mercedes and LG Chem.

Make sure you are dealing with a reputable dealer that has experience What about in the future?

Will the batteries be obsolete?

Just like with solar, if it covers your needs now, it will cover them in the future as well. And the great thing about batteries is that they’re modular, so you can continue to add to your cabinet with batteries that continue to get smaller and smaller, and hold more stored energy as they get denser with improved technology.

Paid advertisement brought to you by

CVIndependent.com

Jen Town, the new executive chef at Melvyn’s, says she’s dedicated to keeping the restaurant old-school—but making it better Town, a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, has an impressive resume, to say the least. She was the head chef for the Italian Olympic Team (!) and worked at The Ritz Carlton, St. Thomas, before coming to the desert to help open the Ace Hotel and Swim Club. Before starting at Melvyn’s, she spent the last several years wowing customers at Michael Holmes’ Purple Room.

As the PlumpJack Group works on a property-wide renovation, Town has spent the last couple of months working on Melvyn’s menu—not renovating it, but making little changes here and there. She said she’s very cognizant of how beloved Melvyn’s is in certain circles.

“My first month or so here, I did not change the menus at all,” she said. “I looked at the recipes of all of the old favorites, and worked on making sure they’re made consistently.”

While she didn’t change the menus, she did start making little improvements. Examples: She updated the mushrooms in the steak Diane. She removed the sherry from the veal Ingleside. She bumped up the quality of the blue cheese used in salad dressings. She started ordering higher-quality beef, from Creekstone Farms.

“I am making tweaks and adding extra flavors,” she said. “My goal is for customers to notice that the food is better, but they can’t pinpoint the changes.”

She said customers should also not expect

any wholesale changes to the items on the main menu; about 90 to 95 percent of it will remain the same. She does plan on adding a few things that weren’t offered before at Melvyn’s, such as a scallop dish, a Chilean sea bass and perhaps a halibut entrée.

Fans of Melvyn’s tableside prep have nothing to worry about, either: It’s not going anywhere.

“It’s such a spectacular show,” Town said.

Having said that, she did say she’s working on making sure the food cooked tableside, like the food made in the kitchen, is more consistent.

“No matter who you order from, you should get the same product,” she said.

The one area in which she’s making big changes, she said, is the bar. Don’t worry; the martinis and the old-school piano vibe will still be present, and the full menu will still be offered. However, sometime in October, she’s planning on introducing a brand-new bar menu, featuring a dozen or so appetizers and lighter dishes, including deviled eggs ($7), a grilled flatbread ($12), crab cakes ($15), a burger ($15) and steak and pom frites ($20).

Yum. Town said the staff has so far been very welcoming to her and her vision for Melvyn’s.

“Generally speaking, most are excited,” she said. “Change is hard, but they can see where they needed to make little changes for the better.”

Jennifer Town

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 23

OCTOBER 2017

FOOD & DRINK

ON COCKTAILS T

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

Welcome to The Reef, Palm Springs’ newest tiki bar … or is it?

By patrick johnson

here’s a mermaid doing somersaults on a TV screen in a lamp-lit room. Exotica spills from unseen speakers. Carved wooden faces hang on a wall, alongside a signed photo of Don Ho. Floral-festooned patrons sip cocktails out of ceramic mugs. The bartender is lighting drinks on fire.

But, no, this is not a tiki bar. Definitely not. I guess?

According to owner Rory Snyder, The Reef—which opened Feb. 4 inside the tiki-style Caliente Tropics Resort in Palm Springs—is a “tropical libation sanctuary.”

Snyder says those who take their tiki very seriously—dubbed tikiphiles by some—would likely object to The Reef calling itself a tiki bar, because it doesn’t completely adhere to all of the criteria of a true tiki bar. the 1960s, when “tiki” all but died. On life Um, OK. support, tiki culture was kept alive by a handful “In a lot of ways, it is a tiki bar, but I don’t of enthusiasts throughout the ’80s and ’90s, want to be restrained and confined by the almost as a form of counterculture. In the parameters of, supposedly, what tiki is,” said late 1990s and 2000s, alongside the craftSnyder, who is also a self-admitted tikiphile. “I cocktail movement, tiki culture went through don’t want to be defined just by tiki.” a revitalization, which has led to where we are Let’s talk about tiki for just a second. For today. In other words, tiki is cool again. all intents and purposes, there are four, let’s “(Like) the advent of being allowed in your say, “tiki-style” bars in the valley: The Reef, 40s and 50s to like comic books and Star Wars, Bootlegger Tiki, Tonga Hut Restaurant and tiki was always kind of that thing that was the Bar, and Toucans Tiki Lounge; all are in Palm redheaded stepchild and mockable,” Snyder Springs, and all bring a little something said. “But now we embrace our geek and can be different to the table. proud tikiphiles.”

We have a section of tiki drinks on the menu The Reef and, more significantly, the Caliente at Truss and Twine, where I work, and I’m Tropics hotel own a substantial slice of tikioften asked: “What is tiki?” The word “tiki” culture history. The A-framed Caliente Tropics, comes from New Zealand and the Marquesas originally just called The Tropics, opened Islands. In Maori mythology, Tiki was the first in 1964, the heyday of tiki, as part of Ken man created.

Kimes’ 40-motel empire, five of which were What most Americans see as “tiki” and its Polynesian in theme. According to Snyder, all surrounding culture is the creation of one the tiki statues on the grounds are original man—Ernest Gantt, and his Hollywood bar and are from the famed Oceanic Arts in and restaurant Don the Beachcomber. Gantt Whittier, made by noteworthy tiki-carver Ed started Don’s Beachcomber Cafe just off of Crissman. Tiki Oasis, the largest tiki event in Hollywood Boulevard in 1933 at the age of 26 the country, which is now held annually in San after traveling the Caribbean and south Pacific Diego, started at Caliente Tropics in 2001 as a following his high school graduation. Gantt fundraiser for the then-struggling hotel. returned from his adventures with a unique In its salad days of the ’60s, The Tropics collection of exotic, Polynesian ephemera and a housed the Congo Room steakhouse and taste for exotic, Polynesian drinks. underground Cellar Bar, which was popular At Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, he put it all with a number of celebrities who vacationed together. The mix of the bar’s ambiance (puffer- in Palm Springs, including Elvis Presley and fish lamps, nets, traps, shells, driftwood, members of the Rat Pack. The Reef now etc.), Gantt’s exotic drinks and presentation occupies the space where the Congo Room once (served in a coconut, with fun names like The was. (An adjoining restaurant space will soon Zombie, etc.), and his personal showmanship be home to Evzin Mediterranean Cuisine.) (wearing cutoff pants and weathered clothing) Additionally, Snyder has brought more tiki was something truly new and unique. In 1937, events back to Palm Springs with his Tiki Gantt moved his joint to a bigger space across Caliente parties, which he’s thrown since 2008 the street, named it Don the Beachcomber, at Caliente Tropics. and officially changed his own name to Donn “I love this hotel,” Snyder said. “This is my Beach. dream home. I’ve always loved this place. I love Following Beach’s lead, a number of others the history here. The greatest gig in the world opened extremely popular “tiki” restaurants, is being an owner of this bar in this historic and the “tiki craze” spread throughout the tiki hotel. I get to sit in the tiki mecca of Palm United States. That lasted until the end of Springs, which is the Caliente Tropics Hotel.”

The Reef bar manager Brandon Glass adds a little spark to the Painkiller. PATRICK JOHNSON

OK, enough history lessons. Let’s drink.

It’s Saturday around 7 p.m. The bar is really filling up fast. It’s an eclectic mix of folks. Bar manager Brandon Glass shakes me up some cocktails while the guy next to me is telling me how he lives “right behind” the Jelly Belly factory.

I start with the Hot Hula Hibiscus, which is basically a spicy margarita variation with tequila, jalepeño and hibiscus syrup, giving the drink a slight floral note. It’s light, refreshing and well-balanced, with the right amount of heat—and it’s served in a kitschycool cactus glass.

Next, I try the Hemingway Daiquiri, a classic which The Reef honors nicely. The popular daiquiri variation, with grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur, was supposedly created at the La Floridita bar in Cuba, for famed writer and imbiber Ernest Hemingway.

This one is legit.

I finish with a frozen piña colada out of a slushy machine. Cocktail snobs would surely raise their noses in disdain at such a sight …

but, damn, it’s delicious. I add a float of dark rum to the top, because, why not?

The Reef’s cocktail menu contains many tiki classics like the Mai Tai, Singapore Sling and Painkiller. However, The Reef doesn’t stock the high-end spirits that some cocktail bars in town do, and the bartenders don’t jiggermeasure the drinks.

“Truly, it’s not about eyedroppers and superaccuracy as much as free-flowing fun and keeping it loose,” Snyder said. “I like to think of the bar as part of the show.

“The one part of tiki I don’t get these days is that somehow, tiki and mixology crossed. The pretentiousness of mixology, to me, in a lot of ways doesn’t mix with the ohana of tiki.”

History, fun, good drinks, great ambience and customer service … is The Reef a tiki bar or not? And does it even matter? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

Patrick Johnson is a journalist and head bartender at Truss and Twine. He can be emailed at patrickjohnson323@gmail.com.

CVIndependent.com

24 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

FOOD & DRINK

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

VINE SOCIAL JASON DAVID

Wine nerds, unite: Raise your glass to the Coachella Valley’s amazing independent wine shops

HAIR STUDIO

T

By KatieLOVE finn YOUR

HAIR

he first thing I do when I move to a new town is find the local wine shop.

I do this, in part, because no one needs a glass (read: bottle) of wine more than the person who just bubble-wrapped their whole life and went on countless Home Depot runs for more boxes, because they had no idea they had this much crap. (OK, maybe that’s just me.) Specifically, I Club and Cook look for the independent wine shop, because I am aCountry wine super-nerd looking forStreet other wine superPalm De sert nerds. I know that, in these little stores tucked away in strip malls and located off frontage roads, I will find great wines—and more importantly, great people.

The guys and gals who run local wine On760-340-5959 any given day, these shop owners can stores do it because they love wine. They are be visited by wine fairies, wheeling bags full www.jasondavidhairstudio.net passionate salespeople who not only know of opened bottles, waiting to be tasted and what they’re talking about, but are genuinely procured. These fairies line up bottle after interested in helping you find your new beautiful bottle—each ready to be swirled, favorite wine. They enjoy the stories behind sniffed and sipped—all while telling great the producers and regions where the grapes stories of how these wines came into being. The grow. They discover what great winemaker just merchants carefully analyze each offering to started his or her own label; the new up-andensure quality and value, all while keeping their coming hotspot for value wines; and funky demographic in mind. OK, so they’re not really and rare varietals going mainstream thanks to fairies as much as they’re wine reps peddling young, intrepid winemakers. All the behind-the- their hooch, but it sounds so much prettier this scenes action and geeky factoids are the things way, dontcha think? Either way, the point is that make wine exciting and fun to drink. that these guys are constantly being presented

CVIndependent.com

with the latest offerings from known producers, as well as up-and-comers. These independent retailers are your window into the world of wine. It’s all in a day’s work.

This is what separates your little local wine shop from your mega-retailer. Are you going to get a better price for your Santa Margherita pinot grigio at a big-box store? Maybe. They have the buying power to secure hundreds, if not thousands, of cases, which will garner a lower price. But you should ask yourself: Do you really want to always drink a wine that’s made by the ton? Sure, it’s nice to grab your old standby—the wine you’ve had 1,000 times and know like the back of your hand. You don’t need to give it any thought; you’re in and out of the store lickity-split. That’s what these mega-retailers are good for. However, if you’re sick of the same-old, same-old, and want to try something new, these wine superstores quickly become your worst nightmare. I find that even I, as an “old hat” in the wine business, get completely overwhelmed and go a little crosseyed at the massive selection these stores offer. What makes the wine-buying prospect even more daunting is trying to navigate the floor-to-ceiling offerings all by one’s self. I feel confident making this assumption: If you happen upon an employee, and can steal them away from the four other people clinging to them for help, he or she has not personally tasted each and every wine on the shelf, and therefore will have little help to give. If you’re lucky, you’ll come across a gem who knows there’s a difference between Ketel One and Opus One. When I moved back to the Coachella Valley, I was shocked to see that an old favorite, Dan’s Wine Shop, was a thing of the past. He was a man who had developed a loyal following and whose wine opinion was highly regarded.

Therefore, I decided to investigate this new incarnation called Desert Wine Shop on 111.

Talk about some big shoes to fill.

There, I met Matt Young and fulfilled my quest to meet a fellow wine super-nerd.

Within minutes, Matt was helping me explore the selection and filling me in on what new, interesting wines he’d just brought in— specifically, the Hatzidakis Santorini 2015, an

aromatic, citrusy white made from Assyritko.

(Greek wines are the new cool kid in town and totally worth checking out.) He also introduced me to the Raats chenin blanc, from one of my all-time-favorite wine-producing regions, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Beyond the benefit of stellar service and a carefully curated selection, smaller wine stores often have tastings and even wine classes to help budding oenophiles sharpen their palates and expand their knowledge. One of my favorite places to pop in and uncork is The Tasting Room at Desert Wines and Spirits. Costa Nichols, owner, wine guru, and all around wonderful guy, hosts weekly tastings every Saturday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. For a meager $10 ($5 of that goes toward the purchase of a bottle), you can taste a half-dozen wines, nibble on complimentary hors d’oeuvres, and mingle with other wine-minded folks. During season, you might even find the tasting being hosted by the winemaker himself or herself.

If you’re on the east end of the valley and like a side of live music with your wine, check out The Wine Emporium in Old Town La Quinta. Part retail store, part wine bar and part dance hall, the Wine Emporium features local musicians starting at 7 p.m. many nights. If you’re noncommittal about your wine selection, this place has a create-your-own-wine-flight option, where you can select as many 2 ounce pours as you’d like of their wines available by the glass. I was like a kid in a candy store in their wine room, and grabbed a delicious bottle of EnRoute pinot noir. A little charcuterie, good people-watching and some toe-tapping led to a mighty fine evening.

If you needed one good reason to drink more wine … I just gave you three. Now, go out and find your local wine nerds and make friends.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with more than 15 years in the wine industry. She is a member of the Society of Wine Educators and is currently studying with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. When she’s not hitting the books, you can find her hosting private wine tastings and exploring the desert with her husband and two children. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@gmail.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 25

OCTOBER 2017

*

diner’s choice Winner Top 100 Dining HoT SpoTS in the U.s.!

prix fixe menus:

L U L U PA L M S P R I N G S . C O M

new!

CALIFORNIA BISTRO AT T H E R I V E R , R A N C H O M I R A G E 760 862-9800 ACQ UA R A N C H O M I R AG E .CO M

Lulu’s new sister restaurant in Rancho Mirage Same great menus and great fun!

3-course special 99

$19

breakfast 8am –11am lunch & dinner

Our award-winning D O W N T O W N PA L M S P R I N G S 760 327-LULU (5858)

award-winning

EvEry day, all day from 11am Early Bird spEcial

3pm– 5pm

$16

five-star

99

4-course menus $2999 / $3999

from

11am

&

happy hour

the best all-day

11am – closing

“THE BEST BRUNCH in CALIFORNIA!” —— T R I P P I N G . C O M

sunday brunch from 11am–3pm 99

* *

$19

CVIndependent.com

26 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

FOOD & DRINK

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

the

BEER GODDESS

B

By erin peters

ier ist gut. For those who don’t know German, here’s a rough translation: Beer frickin’ rocks.

It’s the 184th anniversary of Oktoberfest in Munich. In the 1800s, some beer-loving members of the German royalty decided to get hitched—and that’s how we ended up with the rich, amber and copper seasonals that are Oktoberfest-style beers. (It’s kind of like a really long, international game of telephone that started with a traditional German marriage and horse race, and ended with a bunch of people gathering to drink beer, roast sausages and wear some of the funniest outfits you’ll ever see.)

Even if you can’t make the trek to Munich for the pretzel-and-beer bacchanal, you can enjoy some of these fall beers while wearing lederhosen (or not). Oktoberfest-style beers, also known as Märzen, were originally brewed around March (März is the German word for March) and stored to be consumed in the fall, before modern refrigeration.

Here are some of the beers I’ll be enjoying this October.

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, 6.1 percent alcohol by volume: Every year, Sierra Nevada teams up with a different German brewer to craft a delicious Oktoberfest-style beer. This year, the brewery partnered with the legendary

Brahaus Miltenberger to produce a delicious golden Märzen lager that’s balanced by traditional German-grown whole-cone hops.

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen, 5.8 percent ABV: This brewery was founded in 1878 in the Bavarian village of Aying.

This Oktoberfest Märzen is one of the most respected beers in this category.

Santa Fe Brewing Oktoberfest, 6 percent ABV: This classic German lager showcases the crispness of Munich malts

Experience Award-winning, Modern European Cuisine

Creative Chef Johannes Bacher

Voted “Best Chefs America”

Voted “Best Continental Restaurant”, “Best Martini”, and “Best Romantic Dining” by Palm Springs Life Readers.

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK facebook.com/JohannesRestaurant

J O N E D WA R D S

johannespalmsprings.com

OPEN FOR DINNER AT 5 PM | CLOSED MONDAYS | PRIVATE DINING | AVAILABLE FOR GROUPS | SPECIAL EVENTS

196 S. INDIAN CANYON DRIVE, PALM SPRINGS, CA 92262

CVIndependent.com

(760) 778-0017

My suggestions on great beers to enjoy while celebrating Oktoberfest mixed with Bavarian hops, giving the beer notes of lightly toasted grain and a bit of caramel sweetness—before a slightly spiced, floral hop finish.

Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen, 5.9 percent ABV: This brew features a toasted malt breadiness upfront, with a hint of sugarcane sweetness. Few breweries in the city limits of Munich are allowed to serve beer there; the brews must conform to the age-old standard of Reinheitsgebot, or the Bavarian Purity Law. Like other authentic German beers brewed in Munich, Spaten pours an amber color and is crystal-clear.

Ninkasi Brewing Oktoberfest, 5.5 percent ABV: Celebrating the Pacific Northwest with Pisner malt and regional Sterling, Willamette and Mt. Hood hops, this seasonal beer highlights notes of toasty yet sweet pale grain, with some slight bitterness.

Hofbräu Original, 5.1 percent ABV: Enjoy this Munich helles lager-style beer brewed by Hofbräuhaus München in München, Germany. It has a crisp, clean aroma and taste, and is extremely easy-drinking. I remember chugging this style of beer in the legendary tourist mecca, the Hofbräuhaus. If you’re searching for a rich Oktoberfest beer … well, this isn’t it. Instead, it’s the beer you imagine when you think of those busty chicks roaming the beer halls holding five or six beers the size of your head.

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Märzen, 5.6 percent ABV: Flying Dog uses 100 percent imported German ingredients for an authentic flavor. Specialty malts like Vienna, Munich 90, Munich 100 and Light Munich help make this brew a dark-amber color. Caramel flavor and spice make this a perfect fall beer. After winning the 2005 bronze, and 2008 and 2009 gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival in the German-Style Märzen category, this beer has become one to seek out. Besides, how can you not like beers that showcase the artwork of gonzo artist Ralph Steadman (best known for his work with Hunter S. Thompson) on the bottle?

Surly Brewing SurlyFest 2017, 6 percent ABV: This is not your typical Oktoberfest beer.

Surly’s version is a dry-hopped rye lager with an earthy, biscuity flavor profile. Brewed with three different types of rye and one variety of American hops, the beer has a nice, peppery bite, with notes of caramel, and a decent amount of citrus and pine.

Left Hand Oktoberfest, 6.6 percent ABV: This beer-maker in Colorado starts

brewing its Oktoberfest in the spring to achieve liquid bliss. With a gorgeous copper hue, Left Hand Oktoberfest is biscuit-y and, like many beers of this style, malty. The noble pedigree hops add a properly spicy, dry finish.

The change of seasons from summer to fall is a beautiful thing, as the new season heralds the arrival of awesome seasonals that should not be missed.

Beers, bratwurst and babes … I mean, how could you go wrong?

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 27

OCTOBER 2017

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

the

Show this ad, and get one free Moxie Palm Springs appetizer!

This month, we savor a couple of deals that are fishy (in a good way) and fantastic

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT The tower of avocado and tuna tartare WHERE Lulu California Bistro, 200 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; also at Acqua California Bistro, 71800 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage HOW MUCH $14.99; $9.99 at the bar CONTACT Lulu: 760-327-5858, www. lulupalmsprings.com; Acqua: 760-862-9800; www.acquaranchomirage.com WHY It’s a delicious deal!

Barbara and Jerry Keller have created an undeniably successful restaurant formula: Take a large space; make that space gorgeous (including great patio seating); offer a variety of consistent, decently priced food; also offer some great prix-fixe and happy-hour deals; and be fantastic members of the community.

It worked for a decade at Acqua Pazza California Bistro in Rancho Mirage.

It’s been working for six years at Lulu California Bistro in Palm Springs.

Now it’s working again at the slightly renamed and renovated Acqua California Bistro in Rancho Mirage.

I live a short walk from Lulu. I eat there regularly, and I am going to let you in on a secret: The bar is the place to sit. Not only is there often seating available in the bar area when there’s a wait for a regular table; the “happy hour” prices at the bar, offered every day from 11 a.m. to close, are drastically lower for many items than they are in the rest of the place.

This means that I can almost always walk in to Lulu (and now, Acqua)—weekday or weekend, season or off-season—and get one of my favorite items at a steep discount: The tower of avocado and tuna tartare is just $9.99 at the bar, while it’s $14.99 elsewhere in the restaurant.

Whatever the price, the dish is delicious: A nice helping of high-grade, seasoned ahi is shaped into a cylindrical “tower”—with some fresh avocado added to the middle. On the side are wonton chips, sprouts, a small mound of wasabi, some pickled ginger slices, and a little bit of seaweed salad.

It’s cool, refreshing and a delight to the taste buds. And of course, the atmosphere can’t be beat.

WHAT The lunch special WHERE Joyce’s Sushi, 36101 Bob Hope Drive, No. E1, Rancho Mirage HOW MUCH $13.95 with three choices (as shown); $11.95 with two CONTACT 760-202-8186; joycessushiranchomirage.com WHY It is tasty—and provides useful info.

Whenever I visit a “normal” Japanese restaurant for the first time, I find it helpful to order a bento box. This allows me to sample a variety of the restaurant’s fare, while giving me information on the restaurant’s overall quality, and an idea of what I might want to order next time.

This is not a perfect system. For example, on my recent, initial visit to Joyce’s Sushi, the threeitem lunch special (Joyce’s bento box, essentially; you pick among nine items) told me nothing about the restaurant’s udon or ramen or appetizer offerings, nor did it tell me much about the quality of some of the more elaborate sushi rolls on offer at Joyce’s Sushi.

However, the lunch special did tell me a lot: • The quality of the fish at Joyce’s is pretty darned good. I chose the three pieces of sushi over a four-piece California or spicy tuna roll, or the six pieces of sashimi (which come with a $3 upcharge). The tuna, salmon and shrimp pieces I had were all fresh and tasty.

• The tonkatsu is decent, if not spectacular. I selected the fried, breaded pork over the teriyaki options (chicken, beef and salmon), and while the meat was delicious, it was a bit dry.

• The mixed tempura (one shrimp piece, and three vegetable pieces) was all fantastic. The tempura batter was flavorful but not greasy, and the food under the batter was cooked perfectly. The broccoli piece I got was tender— and it still tasted like broccoli.

• The accompaniments were all pretty standard. I liked the addition of mushrooms to the miso soup, but the salad—which looked like it came straight out of a pre-mixed bag— was nothing to get excited about.

Thanks to the lunch special, I learned that Joyce’s Sushi puts out quality food, and the next time I go there, I’ll definitely first consider the sushi and the tempura.

See? Helpful!

Show this ad; buy one Broken Yolk entree, and get the second free!

Broken Yolk Cafe • Moxie Palm Springs 262 S. Palm Canyon Drive Broken Yolk Cafe La Quinta 78430 Highway 111

ōKIŚ TACO ŐESDAYS Ś ŚATŚŌE

Ś

Ś4ACOS

ANDŚAŚ

-AIŚ4AI

I Ś

Ś.Ś0ALMŚ#ANYON CVIndependent.com

28 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

WE NEED YOU. YOU NEED US. SUPPORT FREE PRESS. READ US. FOLLOW US. ADVERTISE WITH US. SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS. CVINDEPENDENT.COM/SUPPORTERS

OCTOBER 2017

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

Restaurant NEWS BITES

By Jimmy Boegle WHEN IT COMES TO RESTAURANT-INSPECTION RATINGS, PLEASE CALM DOWN In the September 2015 issue, I used this space to examine the ridiculousness of public freak-outs over restaurant-inspection ratings. Now, 25 months later, I shall do so again.

Here’s why: On Friday, Sept. 1, some very bad things happened to Manhattan in the Desert, at 2665 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. First: The restaurant had refrigeration problems. Second: Inspectors from the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health showed up.

As a result of all this, according to the inspection report: “Due to (a) lack of adequate refrigeration, (the) facility … decided to voluntarily close.”

That’s bad enough. Making matters worse: This happened on a Friday … before a holiday weekend—Labor Day Weekend, to be exact. This meant the restaurant had to be closed during what would normally be a rather lucrative four days, until it could be re-inspected by the county on Tuesday the 5th—even if the refrigeration matter were fixed well before that.

Making matters much worse … the inspector, as they are mandated to do, placed a big, red “C” sign, for all the world to see, near the closed restaurant entryway.

Of course, someone took a picture and posted it on Facebook; that pic was then passed around, giving trolls and idiots a chance to have a field day.

Yes, “C” ratings are a big deal. A “C” or even a “B” means the restaurant failed its inspection, requiring that it be re-inspected again, often the next business day, until it receives an “A.” My problem with all of this is context: My research uncovered at least nine other Coachella Valley businesses that got “C” grades during inspections over the last 12 months, with many dozens of others getting “B” grades—which, again, means failure—often with scores of 80 or 81, meaning they’re on the cusp of “C” grades. You probably heard of the mess regarding Manhattan … but did you hear about many of these other restaurant-inspection failures? Unless you’re constantly checking the county website, no, you did not.

Some restaurants that fail inspections are genuinely dirty or poorly managed; many of them are not—they just had a bad day, like all businesses have. This is why Manhattan in the Desert will not lose a dime of my business. See you there soon, I hope.

CALIFORNIA BARBECUE COMPANY MOVES TO INDIO’S CLUB 5 On Aug. 15, we published a nice piece at CVIndependent.com about Reggie Martinez and his California Barbecue Company.

At the time, Martinez—who before had been at Neil’s Lounge, in Indio—was serving up smoked meats and his famous mac-and-cheese to rave reviews at the Red Barn, in Palm Desert.

However, shortly after the article was posted, the Red Barn and Martinez parted ways. When we asked Martinez what happened, he declined to share the details.

Martinez’s smoker, fortunately, did not stay in storage for long: He is now serving his delicious barbecue and sides at Club 5, located at 82971 Bliss Ave., in Indio.

For more information, call 760-863-6971, or visit www.facebook.com/thecaliforniabarbecueco.

IN BRIEF New: Azúcar Restaurant and Bar. The tiny restaurant at the La Serena Villas, at 339 S. Belardo Road, in Palm Springs, has been creating a buzz with its tasty fare, such as shrimp and scallop ceviche ($16), Kobe beef sliders ($23) and blackened salmon ($25). Lunch and dinner are served Wednesday through Sunday, as is breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant offers a limited menu on Mondays and Tuesdays. Check out the menus at laserenavillas.com/azucar-restaurant-and-bar. … If you’re a fan of cigars and tequila, take note: Las Casuelas Terraza, at 222 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, will be holding its latest cigar and tequila dinner at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 11. Rancho Mirage’s Viva Cigar Lounge is providing the cigars, and the tequila on offer is Hornitos Black Barrel and Siete Leguas Añejo. $35 will get you all that plus a carnitas bar. Call 760-325-2794 to reserve your spot. … Mark VanLaanen, a now-former co-owner of Trio Restaurant, recently announced he’ll soon be opening On the Mark just a few doors down at 777 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs.

The shop will sell cheese, meats and other yummy foods—along with beer and wine. Watch www. onthemarkpalmsprings.com for updates. … Coming within the next few months to 36101 Bob Hope Drive, near Gelson’s: O’Caine’s Irish Pub. Watch www.facebook.com/ranchomiragemarketplace for updates. … Good news for fans of patio seating and Sunday tea dances: Oscar’s Café and Bar, at 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, in downtown Palm Springs, again has a liquor license. Ownership changes there led to drama, which led to the current owner not having a liquor license, but that has been resolved now. … We’re hearing rumors that a high-end sushi and cocktails joint is coming soon to Palm Springs. Keep your fingers crossed, and watch this space.

CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 29

OCTOBER 2017

30 31 33 35

Lee Fields is thoroughly enjoying his late-in-life career surge Reel Big Fish gets set to perform at the Desert Oasis Music Fest a veteran of the NY music scene makes a new home in the High Desert Twin Peaks performs at Desert Daze in Joshua Tree

october 2017

By Brian Blueskye

www.cvindependent.com/music

A ROOM LOADED WITH MUSIC

JD McPherson’s amazing new album was influenced by the legendary place where it was recorded

34

The Blueskye REPORT

Alysse Gafkjen

Bill Murray and Friends

Traffic is increasing on Highway 111. Pumpkin spice lattes (ew!) are here. Yep … fall has arrived, and that means season is here, too— and October has plenty of events great for locals, snowbirds and tourists.

The McCallum Theatre is reopening for the season—and it is opening with a bang. The first event of the McCallum’s season, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, features comedian/actor Bill Murray performing with cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez.

This collaboration will meld Bill Murray’s love for classical music with the world of literature.

Tickets are $57 to $107. At noon, Sunday, Oct. 22, the McCallum will be holding its Sixth Annual Family Fun Day. The event will feature Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live. Tickets are $10 to $30.

At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, get in the spirit (no pun intended) with Dia de Los Muertos Live.

The Day of the Dead celebration will feature the Grammy Award-winning Latin band La Santa Cecilia; the Latin tribute to Morrissey and the Smiths known as Mexrrissey; and the Grammynominated Mariachi Flor de Toloache. Tickets are $27 to $67. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www. mccallumtheatre.com.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has a very busy month. At 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 6, get ready to get physical, because Olivia Newton-John will be stopping by. The Grease star is still in high demand and just released a new album, Liv On, with Beth Nielsen Chapman and Amy Sky. Tickets are $39 to $69. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, it’ll be a double bill when The Isley Brothers and The Commodores perform. I’ve seen the Commodores perform before, and I can say this: The group puts on a show that you will never forget. Tickets are $39 to $79. At 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20, Fleetwood Mac members Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie will take the stage. It appears Fleetwood Mac will be going on a farewell tour in 2018. That’s great … but I don’t believe it will be a “farewell” by any means. Tickets are $49 to $99. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio continued on Page 31

CVIndependent.com

30 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

HE IS DOING GOOD

Longtime R&B performer Lee Fields, coming to Desert Daze, is thoroughly enjoying his late-in-life career surge

By Brian Blueskye

T

his year’s Desert Daze lineup includes a lot of psychedelic-rock and garage-rock bands— but it also features an impressive array of R&B and soul singers.

One of the R&B/soul highlights is Lee Fields and the Expressions, which will be performing at Desert Daze on Friday, Oct. 13.

Fields has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years—but his recording and performing career goes back to 1969. Over the years, he’s toured with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, Little Royal and many other groups.

When I called Fields and asked how he was doing, he responded: “Good. I love it when people ask me that, and I can say that I’m doing good, because I know there are a lot of people in the world who aren’t doing good.”

Fields explained how his career started as he was growing up in North Carolina.

“I got into singing when I was about 14 years old—on a dare,” Fields said. “I was dared to perform in a talent show. A friend of mine dared me, and I went up. I actually wanted to be a businessman. … I went up on this dare, and the reaction of the ladies was just phenomenal.

“I got hired by a band to sing the night I went up. It didn’t take a lot of science to figure it out, and I liked it. I started from that point, and ever since then, I’ve been in the music business.”

If you look for any of Fields’ material recorded before 2009, you’re not going to find much of it.

“It’s very difficult to find my records,” he said. “I do know they are on the collectors’ list, and they’re very expensive. I’m appreciative that people think so highly of my old music; that’s the only reason I can think of why you can’t find anything. There’s not a lot of it out there. I made songs that I felt, and I didn’t record just for the sake of getting a hit record. I was trying to make something I truly liked and I felt good about. I always believed an artist should be true to themselves—and I wanted to be from the very beginning.

“There are so many people pointing out the comparison of myself to James Brown with my voice, but I wanted to be me, so I recorded songs at that time … showing what I could do instead of imitating James Brown.”

After Fields and his current band, the Expressions, teamed up in 2009, Fields soon found himself in the midst of a career resurgence.

“I knew that there was a certain kind of band that would come. I believed in searching for that band, and I was starting to lose confidence that they were going to come,” CVIndependent.com

he said. “But they popped up, and the name of that band is the Expressions. They’re like my musical sons. I’m sort of surprised that it took 40 years for that to happen, but at the point when I was about to just surrender, they came. That’s the band I was looking for all my life—the Expressions. The audiences that I’m playing to, I’m not surprised that they’re feeling what I’m doing, because if you do something that’s real, people can tell what’s real and what is not real. People can feel what I do and know it’s coming from a real source. … I’m not surprised. The only thing that took me by surprise is that it took 40 years, but I didn’t give up hope.”

Speaking of James Brown: Fields provided vocals for the James Brown 2014 biopic Get on Up. Fields said that in the world of R&B, Brown was king.

“Everybody from Michael Jackson to Prince borrowed from James Brown,” he said. “It’s very difficult to step out of James Brown’s shadow. It’s a good thing, because it made me try harder. I’m pleased with the outcome, because I’m still touring, and people are giving me a lot of love around the world.”

Many of Fields’ musical contemporaries— including James Brown himself—were derailed by drug abuse. Fields explained why that never happened to him.

“You hear about so many artists who were great, who headlined Madison Square Garden, and now they’re sleeping in vans,” he said. “I can’t say how much I believe in the phenomenon of God, but I do believe God is real—and I believe that without a doubt.

That’s how I managed not to fall into the things that other artists fell into. It’s my faith, and while I believe God is real, I’m not one of those holier-than-thou guys. … I’ve realized I accept the fact that I’m just a mere sinner as everyone else is.”

Fields’ 2016 album, Special Night, received rave reviews thanks to a variety of great R&B songs. I asked Fields what he would like to do in the future.

“I want to write better songs,” he replied. “… I think that people watch what they eat

Lee Fields

for healthy bodies, because everybody wants to be physically well-rounded, and they’re exercising and eating the right foods. But there are two entities that every human being is comprised of, which is the physical entity, and the mental state of the body. People don’t pay too much attention to getting good food for their brains; the songs we hear, the shows we watch and the things we see and hear every day are food for our minds. If we see and hear damaging things on a consistent basis, almost to the point where we don’t know what is right and wrong, we lose the concept. That’s when mass hysteria steps in. … I want to make stable music, sticking by good principles, choosing choice words over

vulgarity and negativity. We can sing about the negative things, but do it in a way that keeps us thinking positive. … Everything doesn’t have to be about lust, vulgarity and anger, and it can be sensible and said in a sensible fashion. Artists today have to be more responsible for the words they use to keep us civil-minded without limiting thoughts.”

Desert Daze will take place Thursday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 15 at the Institute of Mentalphysics, 59700 Twentynine Palms Highway, in Joshua Tree. Weekend passes are $229 to $450. For tickets or more information, visit desertdaze.org.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 31

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC

The Blueskye REPORT

SKA STARDOM Reel Big Fish gets set to perform at the Desert Oasis Music Fest

I

By Brian Blueskye

n the 1990s, when the ska-revival movement was in full swing, you probably heard of a band called Reel Big Fish.

Reel Big Fish made its way into the hearts of MTV viewers and rock-radio listeners with the 1997 hit single “Sell Out.” That ska-revival movement of the 1990s soon faded away, as did much of Reel Big Fish’s popularity. However, the band is still performing—and remains one hilarious good time.

See for yourself when Reel Big Fish performs on Sunday, Oct. 8, as part of the Desert Oasis Music Festival at the Empire Polo Fields.

Frontman Aaron Barrett is the only original member remaining in the band. However, Billy Kottage, the band’s trombonist since 2013, said during a recent phone interview that the band remains in high demand.

“The Warped Tour is a huge reason for that,” said Barrett. “That’s been a staple throughout the band’s career. Certain bands find success because they have a hit on the radio or they get that actually 100 percent metal. But we had a great one song like ‘Sell Out,’ but most bands have time recording that,” he said. “I think in the an original following that falls off eventually. next few months, it might happen, but maybe it Because we’ve done the Warped Tour every two might not happen. Who knows?” or three years, we always keep getting new fans.

Ska music’s popularity waxes and wanes— People who are in their early teenage years want to go to the Warped Tour and see bands, and we and it might be making yet another resurgence.

Kottage said he can’t explain ska’s up-and-down have parents bringing their kids now; 1997 was popularity.

20 years ago. We’ve never gotten off the road.

“It’s hard for me to say, because ska has Certain bands will take years off, but Reel Big never really gone away for me, because I’m Fish has not taken a year off. … We’ll play over 200 shows a year, or more. That’s what you have playing it in more than 200 shows a year,” he said. “As far as a resurgence goes, I think that to do these days. If you stop touring, they’ll comes with the bands people have latched onto. forget about you.”

Streetlight Manifesto was like that, but now The Kottage said Reel Big Fish is also a hit Interrupters are the band that’s like that, and internationally. “We play all over the world,” he said. “We played in Indonesia last year. We played they have a big following. It’s having the right in Thailand and Japan, and we play just about all music at the right time.”

Kottage said he and his bandmates are looking of the continents, except for Antarctica. It might forward to the Desert Oasis Music Festival. be from some commercial success or Internet “We’re going to get there the night before, success—I don’t really have an explanation for and Steel Pulse is playing that night, and I it—but we’re bigger internationally than we know we’re all huge Steel Pulse fans, and that’s are here. We’re about to go do a tour in October exciting,” he said. “The lineup in general is in England. We’re about to go do 14 dates in 2,000-capacity venues in a country that’s the size exciting. We won’t get to see a lot of bands the first day, but we’re going to try hard to see Steel of California. It’s kind of crazy.”

The last recording Reel Big Fish released was a Pulse. We all like reggae a lot.”

Christmas EP in 2014. The band has not released Reel Big Fish will perform at the Desert Oasis Music a full-length album since 2012’s Candy Coated Festival on Sunday, Oct. 8, at the Empire Polo Fields, Fury, and Kottage said it’s hard to say when Reel located at 81800 Avenue 51, in Indio. Passes start Big Fish will next record a new album. at $99. For tickets or more information, visit www.

“We just recorded a month ago for a desertoasismusicfestival.com Halloween compilation that’s 0 percent ska and Reel Big Fish.

Jonathan Thorpe

continued from Page 29

Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has a packed October that includes two sold-out Van Morrison shows, so consider these other great events. At 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20, country-music singer and songwriter Randy Houser will be performing.

He’s known for penning the hit country song “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” with Jamey Johnson, which was recorded by Trace Adkins.

He’s also had success with his song “Boots On.” Tickets are $45 to $65. At 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 26, blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa will be in concert. Bonamassa is on the list of modern greats in the blues world, and he’s performed with Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, Buddy Guy and many others. He was opening shows for BB King before he was 18. Tickets are $89 to $149. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, renowned crooner Johnny Mathis will be stopping by.

After 65 years in the industry, Mathis is Columbia Records’ longest-signed artist. He’s never had a slump and has continued to perform sold-out shows all over the world. However, this show hadn’t sold out as of our press time, so get your tickets quick! They’re $90 to $120. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www. hotwatercasino.com.

Spotlight 29 has some compelling Saturday events in October. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14, Latin-music star Espinoza Paz will be performing. In Mexico, they call him “the people’s singer-songwriter.” He’s one of the most popular performers there, and if you’re a Latinmusic fan, this is one you won’t want to miss.

Tickets are $45 to $65. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay will do his act. The Diceman is known for his extremely raunchy comedy, and he smokes while offending the masses. Women’s groups have put him on their hit lists, and he’s been banned by many television networks. Warning: His comedy is not for the faint of heart. Clay also believes that Donald Trump stole his comedy routine and used his persona during his presidential campaign. Tickets are $30 to $50. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa has a busy October—but it seems most of the shows are already sold out. However, at noon, Saturday, Oct. 7, you can get out your lederhosen for Oktoberfest. There will be authentic Bavarian brews and brats, as well as some fun and games. Tickets are $20 to $30. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800252-4499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Stop me if I am repeating myself: Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has a busy October … but some of the shows have already sold out. However, as of this writing, there were still tickets left for some great events.

At 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, jazz organist/ pianist and gospel musician Cory Henry and

the Funk Apostles will be performing. He’s a two-time Grammy Award winner, and he played the Apollo Theater when he was just 6 years old. His 2016 album The Revival reached No. 5 on the Billboard gospel chart. Tickets are $20.

At 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20, indie-supergroup The Skiffle Players will visit. This band includes Cass McCombs and members of both Beachwood Sparks and Circles Around the Sun. This is a fantastic-sounding folk project that will be perfect for a night at Pappy’s. Tickets are $15 to $20. At 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, the Los Angeles string-band Moonsville Collective will play. Plan on hearing a lot of harmonies, mandolin, banjos and upright bass. Tickets are $15. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-3655956 www.pappyandharriets.com.

Now, for some shameless self-promotion: The Hood Bar and Pizza is where you will want to be at 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, for CV Independent Presents Sinner Sinners, Throw the Goat and Dali’s Llama. Sinner Sinners is a fantastic punkrock band from Los Angeles—but its founders, Steve and Sam Thill, are from Paris, France.

They’ve collaborated and toured with Eagles of Death Metal, and recently recorded a new album, Optimism Disorder, at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree. Admission is free. The Hood Bar and Pizza, 74360 Highway 111, Palm Desert; 760636-5220; www.facebook.com/thehoodbar.

The Purple Room Palm Springs is back in action. Just so you know, at 7 p.m. every Sunday, owner Michael Holmes performs The Judy Show, a comedy-based drag show devoted to Judy Garland. Tickets are $25 to $30.

At 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 6, Kal David and Lori Bono and the Real Deal will take the stage.

Kal David has had an impressive career; the native Chicagoan and his wife are residents of the desert and perform locally often. Tickets are $25 to $30. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, Iris Williams will be performing a benefit show for the Love and Love Tennis Foundation.

The Welsh cabaret-style singer is well-known for her performance of the song “He Was Beautiful,” and she had her own television series on the BBC. Tickets are $35 to $40.

Michael Holmes’ Purple Room, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

Joe Bonamassa

CVIndependent.com

32 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

CVIndependent.com

OCTOBER 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 33

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC SINGER-SONGWRITER SCENE Andrew Victor, a veteran of the New York music world, makes a new home in the High Desert

By Brian Blueskye

T

here aren’t a lot of singer-songwriters in the local music scene—but thanks to a new arrival, the desert now has one more.

Meet Andrew Victor. After years of touring and playing in clubs, he is ready to start playing in the local music scene. He’ll be performing at a show in Yucca Valley on Thursday, Oct. 5, at a warehouse space called Hell, with friends Anna Tivel, Claire Wadsworth and Nigel Roman.

During a recent interview at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club before a performance, Victor discussed his music.

“It’s definitely drawn from folk music,” Victor said. “It’s been (formed though) years of touring and meeting tons of people from all sorts of different groups. It is its own thing, especially earlier on, (when it) was a bit more jazzy, but it’s definitely folk-based. Live, it’s starting to turn a bit more gritty, which I like a little bit. I don’t want to be the boring singer-songwriter, so I’m trying to figure out ways to do that. When you play solo, you have to keep it interesting for folks. You have to mix it up.”

Victor agreed when I mentioned Bon Iver and Iron and Wine as singer-songwriters who are trying to do something different. exciting; he was able to watch as some of his “It’s almost anything goes right now in music, fellow musicians made it big, he said. in all genres,” he said. “They’re all starting to “I saw it all happen. I saw The National. I become really mixed, which makes it a really played a show with Grizzly Bear. We were part cool and exciting time. It’s a hustle, and it’s hard, of that Brooklyn scene, and we were really but at the same time, it’s so easy to get your lucky,” he said. “Just the timing was perfect. I stuff out there, or at least try to throw it out got to be there through all of that and got to there. There’s so much at your fingertips as far watch my friends make it, which was cool, and as recording and ways to do it.” they still do it because they love it. It was the Born in Los Angeles, Victor had stints in a few best time to be there, and it was still affordable big cities; he spent the most time in New York. to live there in 2004.”

“I was playing clubs by the time I was 18— What brought Victor to the desert? like really crappy clubs. I’ve kind of maintained “My wife is from here. She has family out that crappy level, like those really small clubs here, and we have an offer right now on a house, where they would make us wait outside until which was accepted, but the tenant won’t leave, it was time to play,” he said with a laugh. “I so we’ve been in escrow for like three months,” did that whole thing. It just continued, and I he explained. “Hopefully, we’ll get in. It’s a fixerwas living in Seattle for a few years, and I was upper, though. getting radio play and playing big venues when I “I’m still testing the waters here. I played the was real young still.

Joshua Tree Saloon, and it was interesting. I “I got bored and moved to New York in my played here at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club a early 20s. That’s pretty much where I’ve been couple of years ago, and it was awesome. I’m a for most of my adult life until now. I was in newbie here to this scene, so I don’t know what Philadelphia for a few years, but I was still New to make of it yet, but I like it.”

York-based.”

Despite not being a big name, Victor said he Being a part of New York’s music scene was still loves what he does.

“I try to break even doing this; it’s just something I love to do. I’m never going to stop, Andrew Victor and I’ve always accepted that. When my friends and I saw all of our other friends in New York were making it, and we weren’t, we kept on doing it and never got picked up by huge labels; it was still a labor of love. I love to be able to pay the mortgage with it, and sometimes, you can.”

Andrew Victor will be performing along with Anna Tivel, Claire Wadsworth and Nigel Roman at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5, at Hell, 55536 Santa Fe Trail, in Yucca Valley. Admission is $8. For more information, visit www.instagram.com/wearehell.

CVIndependent.com

34 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC A ROOM LOADED WITH MUSIC P

By Brian Blueskye

eople who love rock ’n’ roll should thank their lucky stars that JD McPherson exists and makes records.

The Broken Arrow, Okla., native on Oct. 6 will be releasing his third record, Undivided Heart and Soul—and this album puts to shame those articles on the Internet claiming that rock ’n’ roll is dead.

He’ll also performing at Pappy and Harriet’s on Thursday, Oct. 12.

During a recent phone interview, McPherson said he and his band aimed big with Undivided Heart and Soul. recorded in the studio. Every night when we “You’re asking about a Tolstoy-length were tearing down, we would play ‘Crying’ tragedy right there,” McPherson said with a or ‘In Dreams’ by Roy Orbison. It’s the same laugh. “It was a tough one to do, and a tough piano; it’s the same vibrant moments in the one to try to cross the finish line with. There room, and we were using those instruments. was the usual band infighting and drama; there Times like that, we were really like, ‘Wow!’ In was self-doubt—and two false starts, one of some way, we were part of this room’s story. which burned through half of our budget.”

I don’t like to record unless there’s some old The recording sessions took place at a stuff around, and that room—being so loaded legendary Nashville recording space. with history and loaded with music—if you “We were out of options, and somebody had have any belief in a building as a recording the idea of recording at RCA Studio B, which is instrument, that place has loads and loads of one of the last really classic Nashville studios,” music in it.”

McPherson said. “It’s where thousands of McPherson said this album will stand out country hits were produced in the late ’50s and compared to the others. early ’60s. There were some really great rock “It’s a garage-rock record, for sure. It’s a ’n’ roll moments there, too. It’s what you hear romantic garage-rock record,” he said. “There when you listen to Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying,’ and are really loud fuzzy guitars, and there is a lot all the post-Army Elvis Presley was recorded of up-tempo stuff. I spoke with a guy from there, too—but now it’s a museum and not a German radio recently who insisted it was a commercial studio. We didn’t think we could do punk album—but it’s a rock ’n’ roll album. it, but I sent an e-mail, and they replied back It’s weird: The first day we started recording, with: ‘Yes.’ we tried to get in two songs, because we were “Every night, even once things started to trying to get done quickly. We tried the title look up, it was still difficult. We had to load track, ‘Undivided Heart and Soul,’ and we in everything after these tours of the studio wanted to make it sound like an RCA Studio B were over, set up all of our gear, set up all of recording. It was just not genuine, and didn’t the microphones, set up all of the recording feel genuine. I have to say this: The longer equipment, record until 3 or 4 in the morning, we were there, and the more we worked, the and then completely tear down for the tours louder and fuzzier things got. It’s like that the next morning. We did that every day. place wanted it, or maybe we did, but it was Usually, when you’re making a record, you like that place was projecting that.” want to see spaghetti cables everywhere, and Many bands and festivals have called some empty cups sitting around so it looks McPherson to ask for his services, yet he said like you’ve been living there for a while. Every he always feels like an outsider. single day looked like a brand-new setup.

“I would put money down that we have It would have been super-daunting, except opened for one of the most eclectic groups that it was there, and we were getting such of bands you could ever imagine,” he said. great sounds, and so many cool ideas were “We’ve done opening gigs for Bob Seger, Dave happening because we were there.”

Matthews Band, Eric Church, and Queens of The history of the studio served as an the Stone Age. There’s a really weird group inspiration. of bands! We always sort of feel like they “If there were ever a band in the whole world ask themselves, ‘Are you really sure we were that would appreciate being in RCA Studio supposed to invite these guys?’ We go to the B, it would be us,” McPherson said. “We were Americana stuff, and I feel like we’re louder just flipping out every night. They have a than all those bands. We go to Bonnaroo, and I sound system set up in the tracking room for feel like we stick out like a sore thumb among tour people so they can hear songs that were some of those bands backstage. We’re just CVIndependent.com

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

JD McPherson’s new album was influenced by the legendary place where it was recorded

doing our thing, and it’s apparently appealing to a wide range of folks, and I’m very grateful for that.”

To McPherson, rock ’n’ roll is most certainly not dead.

“The people who are saying that rock ’n’ roll is dead, they don’t love music enough to try to find it, or they’re just trying to sound cool— and to me, declaring rock ’n’ roll is dead is the uncoolest thing you could ever do,” he said.

“It’s the stupidest thing. It’s lame! There’s a lot of great rock ’n’ roll music out there. As long as no one is trying to make it grow up, it will always sort of be there.

“They say that guitars aren’t selling as much as they used to, but I can’t believe that now.

Every band in Nashville is a guitar band. Every band I see has loads of guitars. There’s really cool stuff out there. Anyone who hasn’t ever been to a Ty Segall show needs to go, and they’ll figure it out.”

JD McPherson will perform with Nikki Lane at 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $30. For tickets or more information, call 760-365-5956, or visit www. pappyandharriets.com.

JD McPherson. Alysse Gafkjen

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 35

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC

Brian Blueskye and

LAURA PALMER IS NOT HERE Twin Peaks performs at Desert Daze in Joshua Tree

T

By Brian Blueskye

he band is called Twin Peaks. Is the name related to that awesome David Lynch show?

Nope. Twin Peaks is named after … a Texas based sports bar and restaurant chain?

Yep. After turning in awesome performances at Coachella in April, the Chicago natives will be performing at Desert Daze in Joshua Tree on Saturday, Oct. 14.

The band’s sound is hard to describe. When I initially heard Twin Peaks, I thought the group sounded like the Rolling Stones meets Bruce Springsteen … but the band is also incorporating garage rock and psychedelic rock.

During a recent phone interview, lead vocalist and guitarist Clay Frankel explained how the band formed.

“We all grew up together and knew each other in high school, and we started a band, playing for a year or two, but none of us really took it seriously until we dropped out of college,” he says.

Twin Peaks puts on a fantastic live show and has released three great albums. However, Frankel said that he doesn’t even fully understand the band’s popularity.

“I don’t really know. I guess we are just wanted to record, share with our friends, energetic. I don’t even know what the appeal is, and sell a little bit before we went to college, man,” he conceded. just to make some money. It was the most Twin Peaks’ most recent album, Down in unintentional record. After that, you know, Heaven, was recorded at a friend’s house, and you’re making a record for certain reasons.” then mixed by John Agnello, who has worked Twin Peaks has played at many of the bigger with Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and Kurt Vile.

American festivals. Frankel said that while “(Agnello) is a crazy fucking guy, but it was these fests are fun, there is a downside. great,” Frankel said. “We went to New York “The good side to playing a festival is the for two weeks, and we’d wake up every day, hour or so that you’re onstage—and the bad spending about 10 hours hearing the same side is definitely everything else,” he said. “The song over and over again and tweaking it port-o-potty, the intense heat, being drunk in until it sounded the way we wanted—but it the middle of the day; maybe it’s raining, and was a great experience. Mixing is easier than maybe there’s shit all over the ground.” recording. It’s a lot less fun, but it’s definitely During the band’s Coachella appearances, easier. Mixing is just turning up and down Twin Peaks played in the new Sonora Tent, instruments and putting things in different which provided a lot of relief to attendees: It places.” was air conditioned and had couches on which The band’s first record, Sunken, released in to sit.

2013, is Frankel’s favorite.

“That tent was air conditioned?” Frankel “The first one, that’s the best one we’ve done asked when I brought it up. “I don’t know, yet, in my opinion. It’s just the carelessness because it must not have been working very of it,” he said. “We made that when we were well when we played. But it was fun. in high school, and it was just something we “Another thing about festivals is they give you 15 minutes or something like that to set Twin Peaks. up all your shit, so it’s kind of hard to dial in a Daniel Topete good sound before you start playing.”

Frankel said he is personally looking forward one part of Desert Daze.

“I would like to see Iggy Pop. That’s one of my heroes. Raw Power? Now that’s a great record. A year ago, I was listening to Fun House every day like it was my breakfast.”

Desert Daze will take place Thursday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 15 at the Institute of Mentalphysics, 59700 Twentynine Palms Highway, in Joshua Tree. Weekend passes are $229 to $450. For tickets or more information, visit desertdaze.org.

present

9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7 The Hood Bar and Pizza 74360 Highway 111, Palm Desert

NO COVER! CVIndependent.com

36 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

MUSIC

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

the

LUCKY 13 Meet two local musicians who dig Pappy and Harriet’s

By Brian Blueskye Sleazy Cortez

NAME Nick Hales GROUP Sleazy Cortez MORE INFO I’ve watched several of Sleazy Cortez’s recent performances—and the band keeps getting better and better. While Derek Timmons handles bass and vocal duties, Nick Hales plays a mean guitar, and his solos are actually quite impressive. For more information, visit sleazycortez.bandcamp.com.

What was the first concert you attended?

The first concert I remember attending was the Steve Miller Band at Fantasy (Springs) when I was 11 or 12. I totally met Brian Setzer in the front row without even knowing who he was at the time!

What was the first album you owned?

Nirvana’s Nevermind. It only took me a couple of weeks’ allowance, because I bought it new, like a dumbass.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Johnny Winter, Deftones, Spirit Caravan, Hendrix, Lamb of God, Destiny Potato, and Type O Negative. I’m all over the place lately.

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

Most new rap and country, but I love old rap and old country.

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

Slipknot for sure. I’m still disappointed in myself for not seeing them yet.

Your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Oh, that would have to be Lana Del Rey. What’s your favorite music venue?

I might have to say Pappy and Harriet’s outdoor stage. The sound is always balanced, and your ears won’t bleed afterward.

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

“In this great future, you can’t forget your past,” “No Woman No Cry,” Bob Marley.

What band or artist changed your life?

AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Tenacious D. They were the reasons I started playing guitar.

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

To Billy Joe Armstrong: “Do you have the time to listen to me whine?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Nine Inch Nails, “Heresy.”

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

If I gotta pick one, it might be Queen’s A Night at the Opera. I’ve got my Top 5 for every genre, though.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Backwoods Woman” by Sleazy Cortez. Listen at sleazycortez.bandcamp.com or on Spotify.

NAME Angel Lua GROUP The Hellions MORE INFO The Hellions have a fascinating history. Both times I’ve gone to interview them, the conversations—usually over liquor—have been a lot of fun. If you haven’t picked up the band’s first official release, Hymns From the Other Side, hit up Record Alley in Palm Desert. Fun fact: Frontman Angel Lua also teaches English at College of the Desert.

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

What was the first concert you attended?

The first big concert I attended was The Cult at the Orange Show Pavilion in San Bernardino with my uncle. They were on tour for their Ceremony album, and Lenny Kravitz was opening. Another band called Stix and Stones, I think, was first. I remember the singer of that band yelling out, “We’re Stix and Stones, and we’re gonna kick your ass!” I’ve been using that when the Hellions open our set.

What was the first album you owned?

The first cassette tape I owned was Eazy E’s Eazy-Duz-It. My grandmother gave me $10 for helping her install some tile in her bathroom, so I asked her to pick up a (pirated) copy of it from the Indio swap meet. She knew nothing about this gangsta-rap thing or what the “Parental Advisory” label meant.

What bands are you listening to right now?

The Hangmen, Black Lips, Handsome Family, some Arcade Fire and composers like Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and Philip muthafucking Glass are in heavy-ass rotation.

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

Taste in music, like everything else, is fatally subjective. Everyone listens to what defines or inspires them at a specific time in their lives and what they have been constantly subjected to aurally. That being said, fuck pop country.

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

Wish I could see The Cramps perform again.

Lux Interior’s live performance was amazing.

His onstage antics and hilarious witticisms are still unmeasured—though often imitated. I’m pretty sure he’s wearing his black leather pants and high heels and drinking a bottle of cheap wine in a purgatorial, juvenile-delinquent dance party as you read this (or whatever post-

CVIndependent.com

Angel Lua

mortal dance party you’re religiously inclined to believe in).

Your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Hmmm. Refer to Question 4. … Actually, ’80s disco, like Stevie B, Exposé, and Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. My uncle was a DJ during the ’80s, and I always hung around him.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I would say Pappy and Harriet’s right now.

You can’t beat the ambiance, the food or the distance to my family and my comfy bed.

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

Not necessarily a lyric, but a melody and a series of “NA NA NAs” from Pink’s “So What.”

Every. God. Damn. Time.

What band or artist changed your life?

Every artist I have listened to has had a hand in molding my life. Social Distortion was huge to me when I was a dangerous and young rebellious greaser—you know, always talkin’ about the good ol’ days when there were drag races, sock hops, and greaser-and-socs rumbles, and law-breakin’ was going on, like mailbox jamboree ’n’ such.

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

I would ask Iggy Pop what the secret to living a long life would be. And he’d better not say heroin, because I am too old and poor to be that reckless, dramatic and fatalistic! He’ll probably simply say, “Go ask Keith Richards.”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I would like Nick Cave and Warren Ellis to score my life—this includes my funeral song. We can call it, “Finis Vitae: Angel Lua’s Odysseun Requiem” or something else pretentious like that.

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

Favorite of the time is Turbonegro’s Apocalypse Dudes. I heard it in ’98 when the band was kaput. The album was a perfect mix of punk and glam-rock pretentiousness.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

Black Lips’ “Family Tree.” You’ll be humming the chorus and the saxophone hook over and over again. Oh, and stay away from “NA NA NA NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA NA NAH!”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 37

OCTOBER 2017

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

34 Bygone brand of “flavor bits” 35 Hoopster Archibald Across and statistician Silver, 1 Attribute (to) for two 8 Hebrew letter before 36 “Honest” presidential nun nickname 11 Mil. VIP 39 Dull soreness 14 Like most candy canes 40 Azerbaijan, once 15 The slightest amount (abbr.)

17 Fisher-Price toy that 41 Old Dead Sea kingdom teaches animal noises 42 Capacity of a liner, 18 Fixes up the lawn perhaps 19 Momentarily 46 Bikini or Brazilian, e.g.

20 Scratches like a cat 48 Up to date with, with 21 Meh “of” 22 “Good” cholesterol 49 Microsoft’s counterpart 25 Move, as merchandise to Siri and Alexa 26 The Waste Land 50 Tied up, to a surgeon author’s initials 51 Sanders, for one 27 Gather wool from 52 A, in France sheep 53 Hosp. features 29 “It is ___ told by an 54 Image worship idiot”: Macbeth 30 Quality of a spare tire Down holder?

1 Give a hand 32 Eight days out from 2 Dictation experts, once the beginning of the 3 Ironer’s target work week, often 4 Old detergent brand 33 “Ultimately, we have with a self-descriptive the upper hand” name “Grid Expectations”— freestyle for now

5 ___ dixit (assertion without proof) 6 Changing areas on some seasides 7 William Dreyer’s ice cream partner Joseph 8 Ford make until 2011, informally 9 Knievel of motorcycle stunts 10 Miniature plateau 11 Lets up 12 Ultimate goals 13 Swiss company that owns Butterfinger and Buitoni 16 Group that breaks stories 23 Dr. of old pajamas 24 Series gaps 27 Marching band section 28 Gone With the Wind character Butler and Good Mythical Morning co-host McLaughlin, e.g.

29 Chile’s mountain range 30 Drink from India or Sri Lanka 31 Author Christopher whose writing inspired

Cabaret 32 Free 33 French Revolution radical 34 Ricky Ricardo’s theme song 36 Possession actress Isabelle 37 ___ Farm (cheap wine brand) 38 Prepare for mummification 41 Glorify 43 Predetermined outcome 44 Person at the computer 45 1960s-’80s Ford models that go by initials 47 Woody Guthrie’s son 49 Half of CDII ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section of CVIndependent.com!

CVIndependent.com

38 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

CANNABIS IN THE CV

Compassiona eDelivery.com

A LITANY OF LAWS

888-607-7175 CALL OUR BUDTENDER FOR FAST DELIVERY!

NOON to 9 P.M. 7 DAYS A WEEK!

Serving the Coachella Valley since 2012 Friendly, knowledgeable staff!

Satisfaction guaranteed! * MENTION THE CV INDEPENDENT AND RECEIVE $10 OFF 2 LIV CLEAR PENS OR CARTRIDGES!

NDR I F U NU OE : M AT

compassionatedelivery.com

Best edibles in the state!

From mildly to wildly medicated!

Gummies to cakes and anything else you can imagine!

Discounts for VETERANS, SENIORS and PATIENTS with CHRONIC ILLNESSES Compliant with all state laws and regulations! *While supplies last

CVIndependent.com

BY SEAN PLANCK

C

ustom-apparel makers across the state exhaled a collective sigh of relief with the apparent death of SB 162 on Sept. 1.

The bill was aimed at limiting the ways in which cannabis businesses could market themselves, including a ban on everything from apparel to billboards. Lawmakers had until Sept.

1 to extend consideration of the bill another two weeks, but opted to let it die instead.

The bill’s sponsor, Santa Monica State Sen. Ben Allen, and other supporters of SB 162—like the California Police Chiefs Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics (California)— claimed the bill was meant to protect kids from marketing that will make them want to smoke weed. Y’know, to protect the kids … like the ban on beer shirts. (Oh, wait …)

These “for the kids”-types of bills are almost impossible to defeat (What politician doesn’t want to at least appear to care about kids?), and its demise came a surprise to its sponsor.

Angeles Times in the bill’s defense. “This was “The Legislature in the past has wisely a common-sense measure to apply similar prohibited advertising with branded restrictions that would help prevent marijuana merchandise by tobacco companies, expressly use by teens.” because items like hats and T-shirts are known One of the measure’s opponents was to entice kids to smoke,” Allen told the Los

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 39

OCTOBER 2017

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

Weed-promoting T-shirts are OK, but marijuana-delivering drones are not

the California Cannabis Manufacturers Association. The group claimed the limits would place an unfair financial burden on the industry by cutting off valuable revenue streams. Opponents also pointed out that marketing to kids was already sufficiently limited by Proposition 64, which was approved by voters last year.

“It’s not that our members don’t accept and support reasonable solutions to issues that are arising, but on this one, we felt Prop 64 made it pretty clear the cannabis industry could not be marketing to minors,” said CCMA outreach director Josh Drayton to Cannabis Now. The bill could come up again next year, but the industry and manufacturers are hoping it stays dead. Banning marijuana businesses from branding themselves while generic weed shirts, hats and other merchandise are available in stores everywhere—including Walmart— would be absurdly unfair. And I’ve seen a lot more kids at Walmart than I ever have at a dispensary. (Because, well, it’s illegal for kids to be at dispensaries.)

Sorry, No Weed Deliveries

by Drone in California California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control issued 490 pages of regulations meant to regulate commercial cannabis businesses when recreational sales begin in January.

Among the thousands of rules, the BCC has determined you do, in fact, need to have a weed guy—as the agency banned non-human delivery methods. It also said deliveries should be generally kept on the DL, with product kept out of view en route.

“Deliveries may be made only in person by enclosed motor vehicle. Cannabis goods may not be visible to the public during deliveries,” read the regulations.

So, no convertibles …

Delivery drivers are required to have GPS in their vehicles, which seems a little stalker-y: “Vehicles used for delivery must have a dedicated, active GPS device that enables the dispensary to identify the geographic location of the vehicle during delivery.”

The rules went on to define exactly what vehicles could and could not be used for transporting cannabis products. In a move that makes perfect sense to me, but surely struck a blow to tech geeks everywhere,

drone deliveries have been ruled out. Also: canoes, trains and bikes. No air drops, either: “Cannabis goods will be required to be transported inside commercial vehicles or trailers. Transportation may not be done by aircraft, watercraft, rail, drones, human powered vehicles, or unmanned vehicles.”

For now, at least, this means no weed-bots will be buzzing around California, delivering stashes from the sky while your neighbors try to shoot them down.

While there is no indication that these policies will be changed any time soon, the state may still get blowback from noncannabis, pro-autonomous-delivery companies like Google and Amazon. Recognizing a threat to a decades-old tradition, San Francisco bike messengers are expected to voice opposition as well.

The IE Gets Its First Licensed Dispensary!

Despite a few municipal bans, Coachella Valley residents are spoiled by the relatively high number of quality dispensaries within a few minutes’ drive. However, this is not the case for our neighbors over the mountains in the Inland Empire, where—until August—no licensed dispensaries existed.

Perris voters decided it was time to change that last November, when 77 percent of them approved Measure K, which removed the city’s ban on cannabis businesses. San Bernardino also voted to allow dispensaries last November, and issued its first permit Aug. 24.

But Perris wins the IE weed race with the opening of Green America, the city’s first licensed dispensary, on Aug. 25.

Perris voters also approved a 10 percent tax on weed businesses. According to the city attorney, that could add up to $1.2 million in new revenue to the city’s coffers each year.

This could offer a boost to the struggling city of 76,000 residents, 25 percent of whom are living below the poverty line.

This tax-revenue contribution is in stark contrast to the dozen or so unlicensed shops operating in the city that pay no taxes, nor the $13,008 permit fee. To date, the city has been ineffective in shutting down these illegal shops. One would hope the city will act quickly to change that in order to protect its legit cannabis businesses, and the contributions they’ll make to the community.

NEW SUPER SILVER HAZE

Sativa 24.8% THC

BLACK DOMINA

Indica 26.4% THC

SUPER SOUR DIESEL

Sativa 26.8% THC

501st OG

Indica 26.6% THC

STRAINS

Delivering Quality product to: PALM SPRINGS and all surrounding areas.

EPT W ACCRDS WE NO A C IT D CRE

Special of the Month!

Fire OG or Skywalker OG 5 Jumbo PreRolls, Over 6 Grams Total, All For Only $40.00!

10 Jumbo PreRolls, Over 12 Grams Total, All For Only $75.00!

All in Raw Rolling Papers and Filters

Please see our entire menu at:

CVIndependent.com

40 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

OCTOBER 2017

Deals available ONLY in the Independent Market as of Oct. 1:

Get a gift certificate to Lulu California Bistro for 25 percent off!

Get a $25 certificate to Broken Yolk for $12.50—a savings of 50 percent!

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

Get a $25 gift certificate to Eight4Nine for 25 percent off!

Get a $25 certificate to Moxie Palm Springs 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!

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