2020-08-20 - Las Vegas Weekly

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

8.20.20

LOYAL CUSTOMERS MAKE LAST VISIT TO STORIED DOWNTOWN DINER A retired Clark County School District grounds worker, Michael Turner has fond memories of eating lunch at Vickie’s Diner when he was in the neighborhood.

When he heard the throwback Downtown diner—which opened in the 1950s and was previously known as Tiffany’s Cafe— was set to close, he knew he needed to get in one last meal.

“The food was always good and the service was good,” Turner said. “I liked coming here.”

Along with his son and daughter, Turner was one of about a dozen people lined up in 110-degree heat at noon on August 16, waiting for a table outside the diner, which served its last meals that day.

Owner Vickie Kelesis, its namesake, said the owners of the old White Cross drugstore strip mall in which the diner was located plan to tear down the complex.

Kelesis said she’s in the process of locking down a new location to reopen the diner, which she said will likely remain in the Downtown area.

As customers arrived and departed over the lunch hour, Kelesis greeted many by name while fighting back tears and offering hugs.

“People have been lining up to get in since 6 a.m.,” she said. “They don’t care about the heat. It’s been about making relationships. I care for people, and they’re showing that they care in return. I’ll miss this spot, all the locals and tourists who have come in over the years.”

As Kelesis talked, an employee walked around with a legal pad, taking down contact information from customers who wished to stay abreast of the new diner’s eventual reopening. –Bryan Horwath

WEEK IN REVIEW WEEK AHEAD EV E N TS T O F O L L OW A N D N EWS YO U M I SS E D

The Vegas Golden Knights celebrate their series-clinching 4-3 Game 5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, August 18 in Edmonton. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

IN THIS ISSUE

08 24 30 34 40

Cover story: An exploration of distance learning

Noise: How good is The Killers’ new album?

The Strip: Le Rêve’s heartbreaking closure Food & Drink: Incoming chef Bruce Kalman Vegas Inc: A chat with Homie’s head honcho

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STORIES FROM LAST WEEK CONVENTION TV VIEWERSHIP DOWN Estimates show television viewership for the first night of the Democrats’ virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clinton’s nominating party four years ago. An estimated 19.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on some 10 networks, the Nielsen company said. In 2016, opening night drew just under 26 million viewers.

CFL SCRAPS SEASON The Canadian Football League canceled its 2020 season August 17 because of the pandemic, marking the first year since 1919 the Grey Cup won’t be awarded. The league was unable to secure financing from the federal government after requesting an interest-free loan of $23.7 million on August 3 to stage an abbreviated 2020 campaign. The deal fell through August 16.

LOST HIKER RESCUED AFTER TWO WEEKS Authorities say a hiker has survived after being stranded in a forest near Santa Fe, New Mexico, for 14 days.

He was rescued August 16 after he called out to another hiker on the Windsor Trail. Santa Fe Fire Department Captain Nathan Garcia says the hiker is in his 50s and has chronic back pain, and hurt it again while out hiking, making him unable to stand or walk. Garcia says rescuers brought up his body temperature with a fire and gave him food and water. He had been without food for more than a week.

JUSTICE FOR JAM MASTER JAY

HE SAID IT

“We are going to win four more years. And then after that we’ll go for another four years, because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.”

–President Donald Trump, August 17

Nearly two decades after the slaying of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, federal prosecutors said August 17 they have solved one of New York City’s most enduring mysteries, charging two men from his neighborhood—Ronald Washington, 56, and Karl Jordan Jr., 36—with murder. They also suggested that the hip-hop artist—celebrated for his anti-drug stance—was ambushed over a cocaine deal.

Steve Krofchik cools off with a bottle of ice water on his head August 17 in Death Valley National Park, California. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees on August 16, which, if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (John Locher/Associated Press)

VOLUNTEERS IN VACCINE TRIAL BRAVE RISKS FOR GOOD CAUSE Ritchie Duplechien said he nearly faints at the sight of a needle, but he put his fear aside to participate in a vaccine study that could help prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has killed nearly 800,000 people worldwide.

Duplechien, 53, received his first injection of either a placebo or an experimental vaccine about two weeks ago as part of a study of pharmaceutical company Moderna’s mRNA-1273, a vaccine that has reportedly led patients to produce antibodies that could neutralize the virus. The vaccine is in the third phase of clinical trials to evaluate its effectiveness and safety.

“I know it’s going to sound corny but I always wanted to save the world, so this might be my one shot,” Duplechien said.

Duplechien is one of 135 Las Vegans who have signed up since July for the study conducted by Wake Research-Clinical Research Center of Nevada.

The research center’s goal is to get 300-500 volunteers to participate in the study, which has had no serious side effects in any of the volunteers, according to investigator Dr. Michael Levin, who is leading the local trial. Levin said the research center is still looking for volunteers.

Volunteers participating in the study get an injection of the vaccine on Day 1 and Day 29 of the study. Each visit, they will receive an antibody test for coronavirus.

Duplechien could potentially get his blood drawn at least eight times within a period of two years as part of the study.

“I’m scared to death of needles. I almost pass out every time they come near me, but once it’s done, I’m OK. I just thought this was more important,” he said.

Those interested in participating in the Las Vegas trials can apply at covidstudies.org or call 702-893-8968. –Sara MacNeil

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8.20.20

The learning curve

Questions abound as most Las Vegans return to school at home

O

n August 24, students throughout the Las Vegas Valley will go back to school … sort of. The vast majority of K-12 students will actually learn from home—for 90 days, at least—as Nevada continues to take safety precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19. And UNLV and CSN students, who kick off their academic year on the same day as the Clark County School District, will take approximately 80 percent of their classes online.

Though schools have had some time to prepare for distance learning this time— as opposed to when campuses shut down quickly in March—it still presents a slew of challenges, for students, parents, teachers and administrators. It will disrupt athletics and other extracurriculars, and keep many households in a constant scramble for day care assistance.

Will it work, academically speaking?

It’s tough to say, considering that a district like CCSD—responsible for educating more than 300,000 students in Southern Nevada—has never entered a school year with an entirely remote learning plan.

Here, with the help of educational experts, we attempt to answer some of the many questions on people’s minds as what promises to be a strange and unpredictable fall semester begins.

How can we maximize children’s chances for remote-learning success?

BY GENEVIE DURANO

T

he sudden switch to distance learning this past spring caught parents by surprise, and while teachers and school administrators have had the summer to formulate a plan for the fall, there are still big unknowns on how the new school year will go. CCSD and charter schools are going virtual full time while some private schools are going ahead with in-person education, which means the majority of schoolchildren in the Valley will be learning from home at least for the first quarter.

To make the transition to distance learning as smooth as possible, Commonsense.org recommends a routine that’s age-appropriate. Younger kids need more structure, so a detailed visual schedule that they can follow will help them gain a sense of independence. For older kids, a calendar, planner, chalkboard or digital organizer can

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(Photo Illustration)

help them keep track of their schedule.

CCSD and many charters are opting for relatively synchronous daily schedules, in which students attend live classes—for at least part of each day— with lunch and other breaks built in. Marina Nicola, mom to boys in third, eighth and 12th grades, is planning on following a regular school schedule in her household.

“They need to have a schedule,” she says. “They need to know they still need to get up at a certain time. They need to be sitting at that laptop at a certain time, and they should know that they’ll be done by a certain time. I think that makes all the difference in the world.”

If possible, carving out a space in the home dedicated for online learning will also signal to students that school is separate from home or play. The absence of distraction is key, so TVs should be off; non-learning phone, tablet and computer apps shouldn’t be active,

and kids should have a place where they can spread out their school work while they attend classes. For households with multiple children, headphones are essential.

Another thing to consider is how children are sitting. According to Dr. Michael Weinberger, a chiropractic physician at Henderson’s NuSpine Chiropractic, the chair should allow the feet to rest comfortably and flat on the floor with the legs bent at the hip and knees as close to a 90-degree angle as possible. It should have a back support to allow assists for a “sit up straight” body position, as well as a cushion for the seat. The work surface should be of a height that allows the computer screen to be at eye level, so the child’s neck can be in as neutral a position as possible.

“We are hearing from parents [that] they are already worried about their children sitting down in front of a screen for hours per day … or worse, that their kids already have ‘tech neck’ from the previous

semester when distance learning originally began, which only became exacerbated with summer vacation,” Weinberger says. “The isolation and lack of social interaction leads to extended periods of inactivity, which is certainly a road map toward injury. When it comes to taking a break from the desk, we suggest a 10-minute break following every 50-minute class, when possible. Stretching the legs, back, neck and arms, as well as general bodyweight-type calisthenics daily, will greatly reduce risk.”

Finally, an open line of communication with teachers is essential for distance learning success, says Chanse Alexandra Pryor, a UNLV graduate student running an academic support group for students across the Valley. “Ask for updates about how your kid is doing, and communicate with your child as well,” she says. “I think during this time, communication is a really big thing that we are all trying to figure out how to navigate.”

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WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN

STUDENTS

EXHIBIT SIGNS OF OVER THEIR

SOCIAL ISOLATION?

(Photo Illustration)

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BY LESLIE VENTURA

B

ack-to-school season is usually an upbeat time, but as students begin distance learning this year, some professionals are concerned about the mental aspects of being stuck at home in isolation.

Lisa Durette, program director of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at UNLV, says it isn’t a question of which age groups are most susceptible to COVID-19 stress, but how those issues present themselves at different ages.

Preschoolers, Durette says, tend to have an egocentric worldview, so it’s “not uncommon” for them to feel like what’s happening during the pandemic is their fault. They may exhibit more tantrums, show regression in their academic progress and have difficulty managing day-to-day behaviors.

Elementary school children are also likely to show behavioral changes. An outgoing child might be more withdrawn, Durette says, or a cooperative kid “might demonstrate more irritability.”

Teenagers, meanwhile, are “developmentally drawn” to identify with groups of similar people, Durette says, which presents a specific problem during the pandemic. Because teens can’t socialize as they normally would, it’s becoming

common to see teens acting out, being defiant, pushing rules and boundaries and/or exhibiting depression, withdrawal, self-injury and substance abuse.

“Depression can impact every element of a human’s life,” Durette says. That includes appetite, sleep and the way in which we perceive things. “It’s like looking at the world through tinted glasses where everything is tinged ‘depression’.”

Jared Lau, program coordinator and graduate coordinator of counselor education at UNLV, says COVID-19 has posed an especially difficult problem for counselors-in-training who have typically worked in the field as part of their study. His priority has been making sure both his graduate students are supported, and that they also have an understanding of what’s happening at the school level, “from Henderson to Centennial.”

“We have to really reinforce our mission of school counseling and to provide for [students’] social and emotional support,” Lau says.

The fact that not every child has equal access to computers or the internet, or that students might be living in unsafe home environments, presents an even greater issue. Lau says counselors and counselors-in-training are attempting to alleviate those problems with regular Zoom check-ins, staying in contact with students through email and scheduling regular online appointments.

“We understand, from a traditional standpoint, how to recognize [warning] signs among our students and children when they’re displaying signs of mental distress,” Lau says. “Those obstacles have been enhanced when we don’t have our counselors in the schools every day.

We have to really get creative and depend upon a lot of other people to share that information with us.”

Durette says to look out for a child being more irritable than usual, not enjoying things as much, overeating or not eating, exhibiting difficulty falling asleep or sleeping in excess, not taking care of their hygiene and appearance, declining academic performance, thoughts of not wanting to be around and passive suicidal thinking.

To help combat that, Durette recommends “anything that kids can do to have some sense of connectedness,” including using social platforms like Zoom

Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and to make a mistake doesn’t mean we just give up. It’s recognizing that we’re all in this together.”

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or FaceTime.

“It’s really important to remind kids there is an end to this, that it’s not forever, [that] this is temporary,” she adds.

“Kids are sponges, and they absorb what you say verbally and what you don’t say verbally, so if you as the adult are also appearing withdrawn and distressed, kids are going to pick up on it and act upon it.”

It’s also essential for parents, teachers and caregivers to reach out to their own social support circles for assistance.

“We’re all doing this together, we’re all co-isolating,” Durette says, adding that it’s vital not to become oversaturated with the news or negativity. “Figure out the balance of getting that information and not allowing it to overtake your life or what your kids hear.”

Lau reminds us that, as vital as it is for parents to stay aware and recognize when children are falling behind, practicing kindness is equally important.

“We have to recognize this is not what we’re used to, and we need to be human about that and be forgiving about it,” Lau says. That includes being mindful of other people’s situations, too.

“We’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, and we’re trying to survive within that and find a way to still learn and study for a test, to pass and get into the next grade,” Lau says. “Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and to make a mistake doesn’t mean we just give up.

It’s recognizing that we’re all in this together.”

For those in need of assistance, Durette suggests visiting the Virtual Support Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (einstein.yu.edu/intranet/coronavirus/virtual-support-center/families), the COVID resource center at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (aacap.org/coronavirus) or Khan Academy (khanacademy.org) for educational support and advice on how to talk to children about the coronavirus.

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MIGHT ONLINE INSTRUCTION WIDEN THE

LEARNING GAP T

BY SARA MACNEIL he Clark County School District’s abrupt shift to digital learning in mid-March was especially tough on lower-income and minority students. Reportedly, nearly one-third of all students stopped learning because they didn’t have a device or internet connectivity so they could participate in the remote instruction.

“This COVID thing has really ripped the curtain even more. It further exposed the equity problem,” says Miguel Gonzales, an assistant professor in the education policy and leadership program at UNLV. School returns exclusively online August 24 for CCSD’s roughly 320,000 students, and although federal stimulus money has armed many with Chromebooks and an arrangement with Cox Communications has helped provide internet access, the learning gap will undoubtedly continue to widen for students in lower socioeconomic households, experts say.

A variety of hurdles still exist, including:

Learners in homes where English isn’t the primary language won’t have reliable help from an adult; many parents have to be at work, and can’t assist in the schooling process; some students are also caregivers to younger siblings and not focused solely on their own studies; and commotion at home doesn’t yield to a productive educational environment.

“We are faced with an uncomfortable reality that some kids are going to face distractions at home,” Gonzales says.

Also, not all Las Vegas students will be learning at home, which could potentially further widen the equity divide. Some of the area’s private schools have returned to in-person instruction, meaning Las Vegas families with the means to afford tuition—anywhere from $6,500 annually for American Heritage Academy to up to $28,000 for the Meadows—both of which offer K-12 learning—could have a distinct advantage.

Certainly, some public school students may thrive through online learning, but Iesha Jackson, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at UNLV,

says, “In general, private schools are going to have more resources.”

Gonzales referenced a 2012 speech by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called the equity disparity in the U.S. education system the biggest threat to national security. “When I look at your ZIP code and I can tell whether you are going to get a good education … the crisis in K-12 education is a threat to the very fabric of who we are.”

CCSD officials concede the rollout of distance learning didn’t go smoothly in the spring, when they had little preparation to formulate a plan. Many teachers had been educating a certain way for years if not decades, and even families at some of the district’s higher-ranked schools found that some teachers posted minimal—if any—lesson plans after campuses shut down, leaving students feeling disconnected.

Now, with a summer to prepare, officials say they are in a better place. “We know we can’t repeat [last spring],” says Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, the district’s deputy superintendent. “We are working to make

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sure it is the very best it can be.”

The Nevada Department of Education is requiring a certain number of weekly hours of interaction between students and teachers. For students in grades 3-5, for example, online learning will be 90-120 minutes daily with reading at 9 a.m. for 30 minutes followed by a 20- to 30-minute block of language arts starting at 10:30 a.m., math at noon and science at 1 p.m. The schedule closes with 30 minutes of virtual offices hours for teachers. It also includes breaks for time away from the device or small group sessions.

If a student fails to participate for one day, it will trigger communication from the school, officials say.

First, the student’s school will reach out virtually out for a wellness check. As a last resort, CCSD attendance officers will physical perform a wellness check at the student’s home.

But will it be enough, especially when a select few across the Valley are willing to risk exposure to the virus for full-day learning? Some parents with primary school-aged children tapped into their savings to pay for private schools, worried that falling

behind could impact their kids’ academic lives and even adult careers.

Elissa Hollander’s 11-year-old son would have gone to Sig Rogich Middle School if she hadn’t enrolled him at Academy for Learning. Hollander said she thought her son would transition better from elementary to middle school at a smaller school with daily, live classes. “He doesn’t have to be lost in the shuffle of CCSD,” she says.

Gary Miron, professor of educational leadership, evaluation measurement and research at Western Michigan University, points to a 2015 study from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University that showed the nation’s K-12 online charter school students falling significantly behind their peers in traditional classrooms. Online charter students lost an average of 72 days of learning in reading and 180 days of learning in math during the course of a 180-day school year, according to the study. (You read the latter figure correctly: those charter students learned virtually no math at all.)

Miron says online education has produced poor graduation and retention rates in many situations nationally. One of the reasons is that the teachers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of students with whom they must coordinate. Another is managing the distractions.

“The kids go on Facebook, they do whatever, but they’re not doing their homework,” he says.

Some 600,000 students in the U.S. were engaged in full-time online learning prior to the pandemic, according to Michael K. Barbour, associate professor of Instructional Design for the College of Education and Health Sciences at Touro University California.

But, he says, even if teachers across school districts have received professional development in online teaching, virtual learning won’t be of high quality if teachers haven’t had actual experience doing it.

“The idea that I can send my kid to an in-person private school and they would get a better education than the public school online learning, the reality of that is probably true,” Barbour says. “But it’s not because in-person is better than online. The reason is that public school teachers were taught how to teach in the classroom and have been doing that for years.”

Marrissa Simms, an academic coach at Leadership Academy of Nevada—an online public charter school for grades 6-12—says students can actually be more successful learning online because they’re in the comfort of their homes, and because learning time can be more flexible. Also, “In person, I would often have to stop teaching to deal with behaviors,” Simms says.

Can students replace the social aspects of in-person school?

BY GENEVIE DURANO One of the biggest impacts for children distance learning this fall will be losing the social interaction that school provides. It’s especially true for younger children, who learn how to navigate the world beyond their family unit through early interactions with peers. Learning the basics of math and reading is important, but in those formative years, the social element is just as critical to children’s development.

There are metrics to measure academic achievement—or its drop-off—as a result of the pandemic, but the effects of social distancing are harder to quantify, and it’s something with which parents will continue grappling when school begins. For Henderson mom Alexa Sullivan, telling her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter why they can’t be with their friends freely is an emotional undertaking. “I never thought that if I said no to something, their first reaction was going to be, ‘Why? Because of COVID? Because everybody’s sick?’”

Explaining to her son, who’s starting first grade this year, why he’s not going back to regular school was also another difficult conversation, Sullivan says. “I [had to tell him], ‘You know, I understand that those things are sad, but this is the only way Mommy can ensure that your education is getting disrupted the least.’”

For now, Sullivan has cobbled together a small social network that she trusts to be doing the same things and making the same choices as her family when it comes to staying safe.

“Having some of his friends come over once a week—we do a science project or an art project, [while] those moms get a little bit of a break—is really our best bet at this point.”

Ashley Howson, mother to two girls, in third and fifth grade, is also taking the small-circle approach to socialization. “We are very fortunate to have some really great friends and some great support,” she says. “With the people that we’re comfortable with, we’ve started to integrate in small groups, maybe one family at a time. We’re just keeping it limited.”

When the school year’s in full swing, Howson plans to deepen those social relationships and create a kind of support network for parents, who will no doubt be overwhelmed juggling work and schooling. “[The kids] do group FaceTime with some of their friends that they’re not able to see, and then we have activities that the kids like to do,” she says. “[We’re] just trying to keep those things going, so that they are still getting interaction with other people and learning social etiquette.”

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WHAT DO

SOUTHERN NEVADA’S

COLLEGES HAVE PLANNED?

BY C. MOON REED

B

oth UNLV and CSN plan to host about 80 percent of their courses online, with the remaining 20 percent in person. Per state requirements, the two schools will require face masks to be worn in public. Expect additional safety improvements such as social distancing stickers and protective plexiglass. Other tweaks, like staggered start times, should help prevent hallway traffic. And those who test positive for COVID are asked to report it to their school.

On-campus resources, such as UNLV’s student union, recreation and health centers, will remain open. To make sure that all students have access to needed technology, computer labs will be open at CSN. UNLV communication studies professor Jake Thompson is head coach of the university’s nationally ranked debate team.

This September, he and the debate team will trade national travel for online competitions.

“We’re looking forward to it,”

TIPS FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS

“[Don’t] be afraid to raise your hand and say, ‘I’m over here, and I have questions!’ We’re trying to be as widespread and flexible as we possibly can to deliver services to our students so that they don’t feel so isolated,” Steve McKellips, UNLV’s associate vice president for enrollment and student services, said in a news statement. “This transition might be a little difficult, but don’t forget that there are people standing there with their hands out, waiting to help you get to the other side.”

Thompson says. “It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s certainly better than no debates at all.”

Thompson calls student engagement the biggest challenge in online instruction. The opportunities to make eye contact or add clarifications are lost when lectures are filmed in advance.

“You have to really be deliberate about how you design online classes in order to maximize the student experience,” Thompson says, noting that finding multiple ways to impart the material is crucial.

This fall, Thompson will teach an online course about presidential debates, which he has previously taught in person and online. For the online version, he breaks the lectures into smaller segments, builds in mini “reminder quizzes,” hosts virtual discussions and offers lecture transcriptions and PDFs of PowerPoint presentations.

He says, “The university has been really supportive in terms of helping instructors design classes thoughtfully in ways that maximize student engagement.”

Patty Charlton, vice president and provost for CSN’s Henderson campus, recommends taking advantage of the school’s resources, such as online tutoring, libraries, training programs and more: “We have an amazing center of academic success. … They are here 24 hours a day for any students that might have a challenge.”

UNLV communication studies professor Jake Thompson offers this advice: “Be disciplined in your approach to online classes.” He recommends

breaking up classes into manageable blocks and working on them in segments. “That will also help [you] retain the information better.”

Above all, “Do what works best for you,” Thompson says. “The university is really working hard to be flexible for students and to create lots of options for them. … If you really do learn best in person, try to schedule classes that are in person.”

For more information, visit unlv. edu/coronavirus or csn.edu/covid-19.

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LV W C OV E R S T O R Y

BACK TO

SCHOOL

WHAT DOES

SCHOOL SPIRIT LOOK LIKE How will the college admissions process be impacted?

BY C. MOON REED Prom, graduation, SAT testing—the global pandemic has disrupted all our usual rites of passage. And naturally, that has reverberated into the realm of college admissions. How do prospective students apply to their dream schools when they lack standardized test scores, completed semesters or extracurricular activities?

As with everything else in this topsy-turvy time, applicants and admissions offices simply have to make do.

First, some good news: For College of Southern Nevada (CSN), the application process is more or less business as usual. “We don’t have the true admission process that you might experience at the university,” says Patty Charlton, vice president and provost for CSN’s Henderson campus. As an “open-access institution,” no specific SAT or ACT scores are required. “We work with everyone where they are,” Charlton says.

In addition to traditional credit or degree programs, CSN offers career training for the community at large,

ideal for those looking for new opportunities amid the pandemic. (Visit csn.edu/division-workforce-economic-development for more information.)

CSN students can register for the fall semester through the first week of classes (August 30). Charlton recommends that all students fill out a FAFSA form to see if they can benefit from scholarships and financial aid. Due to COVID-19, students might be newly eligible for help.

UNLV says it’s also working on a COVID-friendly admissions process. “We are in the business of getting students to the other side, and we’re committed to finding a way to do that,” Steve McKellips, UNLV’s associate vice president for enrollment and student services at UNLV, said in a news statement.

UNLV extended the application deadline from May to July. This fall, incoming students will not be required to submit ACT/SAT scores for course placement. On-campus visits are suspended, and new student orientation and recruitment are taking place virtually.

WITHOUT ATHLETICS OR IN-PERSON

EXTRACURRICULARS?

BY LESLIE VENTURA With no in-person academics, athletics or extracurriculars, getting excited for the school year might be difficult for students. So what does school spirit look like during a pandemic, and how can teachers and parents encourage kids to stay motivated?

“Each school is going to have to approach it differently,” says Lisa Durette, program director of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at UNLV. Some schools, for example, require a uniform even when learning from home, so there’s a physical and visual element that “brings forth some unity,” Durette says.

Ultimately, encouraging and demonstrating school spirit comes down to the discretion and creativity of individual institutions. Things like spirit weeks can bring students together, as well as fundraisers and other remote activities and events. A movie-watching online event or an orchestral concert streamed live are two other ways schools can get students excited about their online education. “Get creative,” Durette says, to “tap into that sense of belongingness.”

Parents can also help by encouraging their kids to keep up their extracurriculars on their own by completing a reading list, practicing a sport at home or continuing a hobby, like playing an instrument or drawing, even though they can’t practice these skills the way they normally might with others.

Durette, who also teaches remotely, recommends that students video feeds stay on, to ensure that everyone is present and paying attention. “We have to be able to see one another,” she says. Other engaging activities include ice-breaking games at the beginning of a lesson, or a verbal check-in with students at the end of an online session, during which everyone can speak openly about COVID-19-related concerns.

Lastly, Durette says, it’s imperative that teachers and educators get support on how to teach virtually, so that all kids have an equitable education. “It’s a different method of teaching,” she reminds.

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY WADE VANDERVORT

LOOK AROUND YOU

Zooming in on the bright lights of Fremont Street Plaza

Long before it became the Experience, it was called Glitter Gulch—a five-block stretch of Fremont Street bathed in glowing streams of electric light. U2 cavorted through its brilliance in the video for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”; James Bond—the Sean Connery Bond!—took advantage of its distractions to evade pursuers; Hunter S. Thompson mistook its “millions of colored balls … strange symbols & filigree” for “some kind of electric snake … coming straight at us.” These days, it tickles the senses as never before, by way of an LED canopy and synchronized music, zip lines and street entertainers, but look past all that and you’re left with the purest expression of Las Vegas: bright lights. Want to feel like Dr. Gonzo or James Bond? Simply look up.

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5-MINUTE EXPERT

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COLD PURSUITS THERE’S NO COOLER WAY TO PASS THE DAYS THAN MAKING YOUR OWN ICE CREAM

BY C. MOON REED

verybody’s baking sourdough bread this year. Be an outlier. Be the person who churns ice cream as their pandemic hobby.

Making ice cream might seem super complex and intimidating, but it’s actually pretty easy. The basic ingredients are milk, cream and sugar. Anything beyond that is up to you. Egg yolks will add creaminess. Fruit, nuts and other flavorings will add personality. Since store-bought ice cream is often low-quality and filled with gummy preservatives, even a beginner’s efforts are going to taste spectacular by comparison.

E

How to make it

To make the simplest ice cream, you’ll need to do the following: Combine dairy, sugar and flavorings; chill it in the fridge; churn the mixture in an ice cream maker for about 30 minutes; post it on social media to become the envy of your friends.

But how much dairy, and which type? That depends on the kind of ice cream you want to make. You can make anything from a light dairyfree fruit sorbet to a rich custard. The world is your ice cream scoop.

If those directions seem too open-ended, here’s the ingredient list for “simple vanilla ice cream” found in the instruction booklet for Cuisinart’s ICE30 series 2-quart Frozen Yogurt-Sorbet & Ice Cream maker: ■ 1 1/2 cups whole milk ■ 1 1/8 cups sugar ■ 3 cups heavy cream ■ 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract Prefer to use lower fat milk? Less cream? More vanilla? That’s all perfectly fine. You might get a slightly different texture. In general, the higher the butterfat, the creamier the dessert. But who cares about the details? The best part of ice cream is that it’s super forgiving. All the ingredients are delicious, so if you mess up a little or make substitutions, it’ll still taste great.

HAVE FUN AND MIX IT UP Use the treats you already have in your kitchen: chocolate chips, frozen fruit, coffee, etc. They can all be ice cream flavors.

Let your imagination run wild. Think of ice cream mix as a blank canvas. Make it your masterpiece.

Don’t be afraid to tweak a recipe to your preference. Want something creamier? Add more egg yolks. Want it lighter? Use 2% milk or sour cream rather than whole milk or cream.

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Styles ■ French-style ice cream. Involves cooking up and then chilling an egg yolk custard for a creamier taste and longer freezer life.

■ Philadelphia-style ice cream. No eggs needed, just dairy goodness. Easier to make with a lighter taste, but it freezes harder and it’s more likely to form bigger ice crystals, so eat it fast.

■ Frozen yogurt. Super easy to make; just combine full-fat yogurt with your desired flavor and churn.

■ Gelato. This Italian dessert has less overrun, lower butterfat and is served slightly warmer than traditional ice cream, which creates more intense flavors.

■ Sorbet. This summer refresher consists of water, sugar and fruit (or perhaps another flavoring, like chocolate).

■ Sherbet. Think of it like a sorbet, but with dairy. It’ll be fruitier than an ice cream, but richer than a sorbet.

■ Granita. This Italian ice is great for those who don’t own an ice cream maker, because you freeze it and then comb it with a fork.

■ Popsicle. A great solution if you don’t have an ice cream maker; simply pour juice or ice cream mix into the mold and wait.

■ Non-dairy ice cream. Thanks to non-dairy milks and ingredients like arrowroot, there’s a ton of non-dairy ice cream options beyond sorbets.

SUGGESTED SERVING Most ice cream recipes create about one or two quarts of ice cream. Because it’s not made in an industrial setting or pumped with fake ingredients, homemade ice creams and sorbets tend to freeze harder than the store-bought kind. To get the right consistency, let it soften on your counter for several minutes before serving. As for how much to eat, David Lebovitz, author of The Perfect Scoop, suggests health-conscious diners enjoy “a French-style portion: one perfect scoop.”

5-MINUTE EXPERT

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Terms to know

Butterfat. Also known as “milkfat,” this is the amount of fat found in your dairy product. The high butterfat content is what makes ice cream so rich and creamy.

Overrun. Air that’s incorporated into the ice cream as it’s churned.

The more air, the lighter the taste.

The less air, the denser and more flavorful the result.

Ice crystals. When ice cream freezes, it forms ice crystals. Pre-chill your ice cream mix, use more fat and freeze it as fast as possible to make the ice crystals as small and uniform as possible, which will make for a creamier dessert.

Sharing is caring

If you eat a bunch of ice cream, you will gain weight. The only way to healthfully indulge in this new hobby is to share the wealth with friends, family, neighbors and postal workers. Dropping off a little ice cream is a great way to connect with loved ones while social distancing.

We recommend buying a 12-pack of 4-oz freezer-friendly Mason jelly jars ($8 at Target). The quarter-pint size is a perfectly portioned single serving. And by storing your desserts in multiple smaller containers rather than one large vat, you’ll prevent air exposure, which leads to freezer burn.

America’s favorite flavors

According to a 2017 survey by the International Dairy Foods Association, the top 10 most popular flavors in America are: ■ Vanilla ■ Chocolate ■ Cookies N’ Cream ■ Mint Chocolate Chip ■ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ■ Buttered Pecan ■ Cookie Dough ■ Strawberry ■ Moose Tracks ■ Neapolitan

Ice cream makers

It seems like magic, but the function of an ice cream maker is rather simple. The machine cools the cream while stirring it, so it doesn’t freeze solid. If you have more time than money, you can just put the ice cream mix in the freezer and hand stir it every 15 minutes for about four hours until it’s the consistency you like. We recommend the type of ice cream maker that has a freezable canister; it’s the best combo of convenience and price. But many types of ice cream makers are available.

FURTHER READING • Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book by Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield and Nancy Stevens • The Perfect Scoop, Revised and Updated: 200 Recipes for Ice Creams, Sorbets, Gelatos, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz • Vegan À Las Mode: More Than 100 Frozen Treats for Every Day of the Year by Hannah Kaminsky • Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Tyler Malek and JJ Goode • The Art of Making Gelato: 50 Flavors to Make at Home by Morgan Morano • Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats From Bi-Rite Creamery by Kris Hoogerhyde and Anne Walker

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BINGE THIS WEEK

Home Movie: The Princess Bride There may be no better reason to try Quibi than this “Sweded” version of Rob Reiner’s classic 1987 film, remade in backyards by the likes of Jon Hamm, Tiffany Haddish, Pedro Pascal, Patton Oswalt and more. Quibi.

Vivarium (Mongrel Media/Courtesy)

PODCAST

NICE WHITE PARENTS The road to educational inequity is paved with good intentions—by nice white parents, it turns out, as the title of this five-part series from Serial Productions and The New York Times indicates. NPR reporter Chana Joffe-Walt digs into a Brooklyn public school and its fumbled attempts at integration over its 60-plusyear history. But this is not just a story of one school; it’s the landscape of the modern American educational system, where resources are diverted to white kids, and kids of color are left behind. In a summer that saw racial injustice get double billing with a global pandemic, this is essential listening for the start of the school year. Nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/ nice-white-parents-serial.html.–Genevie Durano

MOVIE

PODCAST

VIVARIUM

TRIVIA TIME

A common complaint about Las Vegas—and many major metropolitan cities—is that the houses all look the same. That concept gets taken to a whole new level in the strange and unsettling Vivarium, in which stars Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots take a life-changing tour of a new community, Yonder.

Sorry, can’t divulge more than that, but the plot of this Lorcan Finnegan film is tailor-made for anyone who feels tortured by the stay-at-home world in which we currently live. Prime Video. –Ken Miller

Whether you’re stuck at home in isolation or on a multiday road trip, this is the podcast you need right now. Modeling their show after your favorite pub quiz, Trivia Time’s hosts come up with five different rounds per episode, testing your knowledge of classic subjects, celebrity and pop culture, music and general trivia. Print out the score sheet so you can keep track of your wins (or losses). It’s the perfect pandemic game. Triviatimepodcast.com. –Leslie Ventura

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Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star

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(C

Scam Goddess We live in an age of rampant and even unapologetic fraud.

On this “true fun crime” podcast, host Laci Mosley delves into a different scam each week, from the McDonald’s Monopoly fraud to the Fyre Festival. bit.ly/2EgOMEY

OUR PICKS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

TV

STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS If you’re a Star Trek geek who joined CBS All Access to see Patrick Stewart reassess Jean-Luc Picard but left disappointed when Picard failed to, er, engage, consider returning for Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated comedy from Rick and Morty alumnus Mike McMahan that’s set in the Next Generation era. While Lower Decks is no R&M, there’s an optimism here other Trek reboots have misplaced—and also an uptight dude being suckled by a giant baby space monster, which is never not funny. CBS All Access. –Geoff Carter

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MUSIC

UNWOUND When Vern Rumsey died on August 6 at age 47, his former band Unwound hadn’t released an album or played a show in almost 20 years. It had never expressed any interest in reuniting, either, yet the bassist’s death feels like an ending nonetheless, for the rare group worthy of standing with Fugazi atop rock’s post-hardcore mountain.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Olympia, Washington, trio—Rumsey, singer/guitarist Justin Trosper and Sara Lund, who took over the drum seat from Brandt Sandeno early on—a stack of potentially ear-changing work awaits. The suggestion here is to start with 1995’s New Plastic Ideas, and then proceed forward or back depending whether you gravitate toward the more experimental tracks (forward) or the more pummeling, straight-ahead stuff (back). Either way, try to end up at 2001’s sign-off, masterful double-LP Leaves Turn Inside You. Like virtually everything Unwound recorded, it’s both intense and intensely creative, and Rumsey’s rumbling basslines are its backbone. RIP. Unwound.bandcamp.com.

–Spencer Patterson

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HUMAN AFTER ALL

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NOISE ON IMPLODING THE MIRAGE , THE KILLERS ARE EXACTLY WHAT A BELEAGUERED LAS VEGAS NEEDS THEM TO BE The Killers’ (from left) Mark Stoermer, Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci (Olivia Bee/Courtesy)

BY GEOFF CARTER art of being a Las Vegan of a certain age (and a certain scene) is describing your relationship to The Killers.

In brief: I met the band’s future drummer Ronnie Vannucci in the mid-1990s, while he was playing with sunny ska band Attaboy Skip. In April 2004, two years after I’d moved to Seattle, I saw the recently formed Killers perform onstage at that city’s Crocodile Cafe. They played a tight, nervy, eight-song set that included “Mr. Brightside,” “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll” and a Morrissey cover, “Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself.” The house sound system blew out seconds into “Somebody Told Me,” but they didn’t lose a step; after a quick Q&A with the crowd—maybe 40 bodies strong at that point—they tore right back into the song, unabashed.

I lived in Seattle for seven more years after that, during which time The Killers became the biggest band in the known world. I talked up their albums to Seattle friends out of a surfeit of hometown pride, but I confess I didn’t listen to the records too often myself. They were a band that I respected more than I enjoyed; there was something in their soaring, immaculately executed anthemic rock that I couldn’t take in more than a little at a time. (But I did get a great deal of mileage, literal and figurative, from “Human” and “Read My Mind,” which—and I say this with genuine respect—are excellent for treadmill runs).

When I returned to Las Vegas in 2012, The Killers had moved past stardom into something approximating landmark status. It was enough to gaze admiringly upward at the monument they’d made, thumbs hooked contently in our belt loops, nodding and saying to visitors, “Yessir, biggest in the world. Grown right here in Vegas.”

Which brings us to The Killers’

P

new album, Imploding the Mirage, produced by the band (minus founding guitarist Dave Keuning, who remains on hiatus) in collaboration with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and Haim/Vampire Weekend producer Shawn Everett—as perfect a pop-rock cocktail as you can hope to enjoy in these dark times, and the first Killers record I’ve enjoyed end to end since 2006’s Sam’s Town. In Mirage’s most thrilling moments, you can hear all three ages of The Killers—the living monument, the nonstop touring band that couldn’t

AAAAC THE KILLERS

Imploding the Mirage

help but lose members to exhaustion and the fearless outfit that powered its way right through a blackout— moving together in perfect sync. It’s an equivalence that Brandon Flowers himself describes on one of the record’s best tracks, “Running Towards a Place”: “We are running towards a place/where we’ll walk as one.”

Nearly every one of the 10 tracks on Imploding the Mirage overflows with confidence and ardor, at a time when this city—this country, this world—could use both. Leadoff single “Caution” isn’t about practicing it, but throwing it to the

wind: “’Cause it’s some kinda sin/ To live your whole life/on a might’ve been/I’m ready now,” Flowers sings, handing the baton to Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham for a careening solo. (Imploding the Mirage is loaded with guest players including Weyes Blood, The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel and k.d. lang, but their contributions don’t distract; they just add splashes of color to the band’s tuneful momentum.) “My Own Soul’s Warning” comes on as broad and mysterious as U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name,” but quickly turns personal, asking itself what really matters: “What kind of words would cut through the clutter of the whirlwind of these days?”

There was no way Flowers, Vannucci and Mark Stoermer could’ve known what kind of mess their hometown would be in when they began making this record. We’re half-closed, out of work, out of luck; while the Mirage still stands, the shimmering dream of this city is collapsing upon itself. But that’s a part of making this town your home: you always feel its ups and downs, even when you’ve packed your traps and moved away—as The Killers have done, as I did years ago. And you declare your belief in that vision, as Flowers does in the reverberating New Wave ballad “When the Dream Runs Dry”: “I will be where I always was,” Flowers sings, “standing at your side.”

That’s the kind of Valley spirit that keeps Las Vegas glued together, and that once encouraged me to walk around Seattle—home of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and other ultra-mega, world-conquering bands—confidently saying, “You really oughta listen to The Killers.”

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HEARING IS BELIEVING INDIGO KIDD GOES ‘PARTY GOTH’ WITH ITS NEW MONTHLY AUDIO SERIES

BY LESLIE VENTURAA ndigo Kidd drummer Garrett Curtsinger was walking through Mandalay Bay when he heard the distinct contralto of iconic pop matriarch Cher. Her 1998 hit “Believe” broke out over the speakers, and the percussionist headed home with an idea.

“I was watching TV, and [Garrett] came home and brought up that song,” says older cousin Eli Curtsinger, frontman and guitarist of the local rock band. “I hadn’t thought about it in a while, and I really liked the sound,” Eli, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, says. “[But] what if it was more wallowing?”

There’s a palpable sense of despair and urgency to Indigo Kidd’s cover of “Believe” (recorded at Las Vegas’ Naked City Audio), which Eli says was purposeful. “There’s a general mood these days, where people are more open to darker, nihilistic ideas,” he explains.

The energy of “Believe”—loud, raw and bleating—seems to echo the overall feeling of 2020, as the world navigates the uncertainty of a pandemic. The sound is also part of Indigo Kidd’s new trajectory, in which the band takes a more rock ’n’ roll vibe and less of an indie-pop sound, Eli says. It’s something like Roy Orbison meets The Misfits, or, as Curtsinger describes it, “party goth.”

“We want to be easygoing,” Eli says.

“We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously, and we want to make some just really good rock music. But we’re also going to make songs that are existentially burdened, or maybe even nihilistic in nature.”

I

The trio—the Curtsinger brothers and bassist Dalton Willett—recently finished tracking a handful of new songs at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, some 30 miles east of El Paso, where a diverse roster of artists like Fiona Apple, Bon Iver and Swans have recorded. “Recording in the room where It’s Blitz! was [made] by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs—one of the bands that made me want to play music—is such a full-circle thing,” Eli beams. “I might not be a musician if that record wasn’t made.”

The trio plans to release a new single every month for the next five months. “I think it’s the future,” he says about releasing songs individually rather than collected on full-length record. “We’d love to do an album, but it would suck to release [it] and have this feeling like not that many people heard it or it’s just out there aging. Because there’s no touring or live shows, it’s forced us to get creative on how to approach lots of things.”

Indigo Kidd recently recorded two covers from the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender—“Leaves From the Vine” and “Secret Tunnel”—both with accompanying YouTube At-Home Sessions videos.

The band’s monthly Sonic Ranch releases are scheduled to begin August 31, with more visual content on the way, too. “We’ve just been trying to stay busy and stay creative,” Eli says. “There’s some really creative and talented people Downtown that we want to work with and let the good times roll.”

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NOISE INDIGO KIDD indigokidd.com indigokidd.bandcamp.com instagram.com/indigokiddband facebook.com/indigo.the.kidd

(From left) Eli Curtsinger, Dalton Willett and Garrett Curtsinger (Lillian Plumlee/Courtesy)

POP-UP CELEBRATION AUGUST 13, 2020 T H A N K YO U :

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THE STRIP

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SAD SIGN OF THE TIMES

LE RÊVE BECOMES THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE VEGAS PRODUCTION SHUTTERED BY THE CORONAVIRUS

BY BROCK RADKE he thick haze of uncertainty that currently defines entertainment in Las Vegas finally sharpened a bit on Friday in a devastating way. Our slightly improved vision of the future didn’t come by way of clouds clearing and light shining through. This was more like a darker, more pointed storm front beginning to roll in.

Wynn Las Vegas announced last week that its 15-year-old resident production show, Le Rêve, will not be returning to the custom-built, $75 million, 1,500seat Wynn Theater. Before the March shutdown, the award-winning aquatic spectacular had been running twice nightly five days a week and was one of the most popular shows on the Strip. Now it’s the first large-scale Vegas production to shutter because of the THE coronavirus.

INCIDENTAL The dissolution of TOURIST this signature Vegas

BY BROCK RADKE experience is not a complete surprise given the pandemic and its wide-ranging effects. As we’ve learned many times in recent months, nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the big events and group gatherings that fuel the community and the destination of Las Vegas.

But the loss of Le Rêve is particularly painful because it’s the only big show on the Strip completely owned and operated by its host resort.

Wynn Resorts was the first company to announce it would close its Las Vegas Strip casinos to prevent the spread of coronavirus and among the first in the industry to release plans and standards explaining how to continue operations during the pandemic. Wynn and Encore have always maintained a supreme level of control over the varying venues and

(Photos by Tomasz Rossa/Courtesy)

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programming at the twin luxury resorts, including entertainment, which is how Le Rêve managed to become something of a juggernaut through its run.

Every show on the Strip has its own set of circumstances, but this closure clearly paints a dismal picture for productions and companies that don’t have the resources of a large resort. Wynn officials have decided the current conditions and the long-lasting ramifications of the shutdown will be too great to continue producing what is arguably the single most consistent entertainment draw at its resorts. In the grand scheme, Le Rêve just won’t make sense soon enough to come back.

If we didn’t already believe it or just didn’t want to, we have to now confront the reality that the biggest and most expensive shows on the Strip are in grave danger. We’re talking about O at Bellagio, Tournament of Kings at Excalibur, Michael Jackson One at Mandalay

Bay, David Copperfield and KÁ at MGM Grand, The Beatles Love at the Mirage, Zumanity at New York-New York, Criss Angel’s Mindfreak at Planet Hollywood, Celestia at the Strat and Mystére at Treasure Island. Big-ticket headlining residencies like Lady Gaga’s at Park MGM are also at high risk due to cost and scale.

Remember, nothing is guaranteed, and the story is different for each and every show in Las Vegas. Everyone involved is doing everything possible to figure out a way to bring them all back, from producers and casino officials to the cast and crew members that are staying ready to perform and host showgoers again.

A Vegas closing is always heartbreaking. Le Rêve’s is more than that. It was often mistaken for a Cirque du Soleil show because of its ethereal visual qualities—and like the other big water spectacular O, it too was originally created by

Franco Dragone—but Le Rêve was driven by a solid narrative, the journey of its heroine “The Dreamer” through a realm defined by her dual desires of love versus passion, mind against body. Just two years ago the show completed a major overhaul adding new music, costumes, choreography and lighting and visual effects, but its legendary and breathtaking signature scenes remained: a spellbinding sequence in which acrobatic divers descend from above; a romantic dance across the water’s shining surface; an unnerving drop from 80 feet up (higher even than the high-dive at O); and a finale featuring dozens of athletic performers catapulting from a rising island of cliffs and waterfalls.

Le Rêve was fantastic and will forever be a powerful part of the history and legacy of Las Vegas entertainment. The cast and crew of approximately 275 people should be recognized and honored for their contribution to that legacy.

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Kept to Myself, on display at the Barrick Museum (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

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SHARING ANEW

THE BARRICK MUSEUM RETURNS WITH TWO NEW SHOWS THAT REVEAL THE PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN

BY LESLIE VENTURA he Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art hosted two new show openings on August 17, marking the beginning of its 2020-2021 season.

In Kept to Myself, by visual artist Ashley Hairston Doughty, fiber art, illustration and text work to explore socioeconomic, racial and gender-based themes—and to introduce the local public to Doughty’s work.

The art of Kept to Myself is simultaneously vulnerable and jarring, with phrases like “U R a dimepiece,” “You gettin’ kinda fat” and “She talk like a white girl” emblazoned on the Barrick’s walls (all things the artist says have been said to her at some point in her life).

Doughty’s work articulates how she has navigated—and continues to navigate—the pressure to have children, as well as other existential issues, from the climate crisis to misogyny.

Barrick Museum executive director Alisha Kerlin calls Doughty an “excellent storyteller. Her voice is important,” Kerlin says. “[Her] work is very much about race and what it’s like to be a Black woman in contemporary society. It resonates now, it resonated before and it will resonate in the future, because it’s an ongoing struggle.”

Kept to Myself opens in partnership with the Womxn of Color Arts Festival. Founded by a Las Vegas artist collective, the WoCAF “highlights the work of local womxn artists who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).” The partnership will continue with a series of exhibitions and events running from January 2021 to August 2021.

Another show, Excerpts: Works From the Marjorie Barrick Museum

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ASHLEY HAIRSTON DOUGHTY: KEPT TO MYSELF Through October 9.

EXCERPTS: WORKS FROM THE MARJORIE BARRICK MUSEUM OF ART Through December 18.

Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9 a.m.5 p.m., free (limited to 30 people per hour). Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, unlv.edu/barrickmuseum.

of Art, offers a glimpse at the museum’s various collections. Held in the Barrick’s public trust, these works are usually wrapped and stored in the museum’s collection room, and many are on display together for the first time. The artwork is “housed here, cared for here and researched here at UNLV,” Kerlin says of an exhibit that features more than 35 works by artists from Nevada, including sculpture, paintings, ceramics and more and touches on themes like reflection, place, identity and memory.

“There’s a new relationship and meaning that’s formed by work that’s

in proximity to a piece,” Kerlin says.

“You put Wendy Kveck’s cake-eating woman [‘Munch’] next to Victoria Reynolds’ meticulously painted meat painting [‘Ruban Rouge’] and you might suddenly be thinking about abject subjects or consumption, whereas if those same pieces were next to something else, you might have a different feeling.”

Both new exhibits are open to the public with limited hours and capacity. An online collections database is available for viewers who prefer to engage with the art from the comfort and safety of their homes.

“Ayotzi” by Javier Sanchez, part of Excerpts at the Barrick Museum.

(Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

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LV W F O O D & D R I N K

8.20.20

FOOD & DRINK

COMING ATTRACTIONS

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GET TO KNOW BRUCE KALMAN, THE VALLEY’S NEWEST CHEF TO WATCH

BY GENEVIE DURANO A-based chef Bruce Kalman There’s some great food and amazing He likes a Texas-style salt-and-pepper has been dipping his toes into chefs, everybody’s passionate and rub on briskets and beef ribs, and Las Vegas’ culinary scene. If very close-knit, which is nice.” pulled pork served with Carolina not for the current pandemic, In fact, it was another local chef— barbecue sauce. “I’m not saying it’s local foodies would surely be flocking Esther’s James Trees—who convinced strict this or strict that, because I’m to his restaurant, which would have Kalman to move here. The two collaba creative chef,” he says. “I’ll also been open by now and declared the orated on a pop-up dinner at Trees’ probably have chipotle chicken drums newest dining-scene darling.

Tivoli Village restaurant Ada’s back in and hot links, and we’re making some In culinary circles, Kalman is best February, and a future collaboration mac and cheese and baked beans and known for the acclaimed Union in Pasis likely ahead. coleslaw—all the usual suspects.” adena, California, and Knead As for his plans in Las Vegas, Those lucky enough to snag dinner & Co. Pasta Bar + Market Kalman already has a conkits from his Secret Burger event in LA’s Grand Central cept in mind: barbecue. this past weekend got a sneak peek at Market. He’s also “I started helping Kalman’s barbecue acumen, and there done his share of Dave Grohl from the are still two events left this month: the television compeFoo Fighters with his family-friendly Pepperoni and Lasatitions, winning barbecue,” Kalman gna Cups on August 23, and a pasta on Chopped, says. “He does it for class on August 26, in which the chef Knife Fight and charity and for fun. guides diners in preparing a threeBeat Bobby Flay, So I started helping course meal of stone fruit and burrata and he finished in him, and I just got salad, ricotta cavatelli alla vodka, and s r te u the top 5 on Season hooked on it.

And you Meyer lemon and bay leaf panna cotta. ( Co 15 of Top Chef. Oh, and know for me, food is food, The cooking series is Kalman’s way there’s that Rising Star right?

It’s just different of not just getting to know his new Bruce Kalman Chef award from the ingredients, slightly community, but also passing along James Beard Foundation. different preparations, but the same his passions to those who might need For now, the chef is whetting our amount of care and passion should go inspiration at home. “That’s kind of appetite with a cook-at-home series into all of it. For me, anything that’s my mission, to really just show people through Secret Burger (secretburger. soulful, I’m down, [whether it’s] barhow easy it is to do,” he says. “Once com), which kicked off August 12 becue or Italian food.” you have the understanding of the with a make-your-own mozzarella Kalman’s love of smoked meats basics, then like anything else, it’s just workshop and pickled giardiniere. doesn’t adhere to one particular style. practice.”

(The versatile chef, who specializes in Italian cuisine, also owns an artisanal pickle company, BK Brinery, Kalman teaches families how to make lasagna cups in his cook-at-home series. (Courtesy) which supplies restaurants across the country).

Kalman, who moved to Las Vegas in February, is discovering a secret locals have been harboring for a while—that the culinary scene here is an all-points experience, not just on the Strip.

“I think there’s a lot of culture here.

And the interesting thing is, I’ve come here many times and didn’t realize what was going on aside from the Strip too much,” he says. “When I did, that’s kind of what sold me, honestly, seeing what’s off-Strip and seeing the communities and the restaurants. y)

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Kalman’s upcoming Secret Burger cook-at-home series includes a pasta class. (Bronson Loftin/Courtesy)

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LV W F O O D & D R I N K

8.20.20

Korean Fried Chicken at Kamu (Edison Graff/Courtesy)

A BITE BETWEEN SONGS KOREAN FAVES AND OTHER MEMORABLE BITES ROUND OUT THE KAMU EXPERIENCE

BY BROCK RADKE xactly what kind of food is right to complement a night of karaoke?

“Any karaoke bar is meant to be a gathering of friends, so … traditionally there’s a lot of shareable items,” says Marty Lopez, executive chef at the new Kamu Ultra Karaoke lounge. “The menu is always meant to be shared, and everyone picks at whatever has been ordered.

“We wanted to take that same concept of family-style, almost

E

communal dining and put some nicer touches, make it more suitable for a luxury clientele. We’re not just frying up some chicken wings and tossing them on a plate. It’s a very thoughtful process.”

Kamu is like no other karaoke spot in Las Vegas, or anywhere else.

Perched in the corner of the Grand Canal Shoppes at Palazzo near SushiSamba, the versatile destination features 40 private rooms, including six massive VIP suites, for karaoke

fans to gather in small groups, sing, dance and drink all night. In the grand Vegas tradition, Kamu takes karaoke to the next level, and that requires next-level food.

Lopez is just the man to make it happen. The classically trained chef has been working in some of the city’s most prominent kitchens since 1999, from standout steakhouses like Delmonico and 35 Steaks + Martinis to regal French dining rooms like André’s and Alizé. He also helped

open Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace, another experience that provided him with all the culinary wisdom needed to create something singular at Kamu.

“It’s such a far throw from where I come from, but for me, I always wanted to explore the Asian side of my cooking and really get into it and expand,” he says. “It’s nice to get in touch with those roots a little. To me, it’s cooking what I make at home so it feels like no big deal, but it’s about what I can do to finesse it a little more, do something out of the box and use those authentic flavors to really do it justice.”

Wings, sliders, fries, pizza and fried chicken are ready and waiting, but Kamu is inspired by traditional Korean-style karaoke bars, so cuisine

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FOOD & DRINK plays a prominent role. Kalbi-style marinated and grilled beef shows up in tacos ($35) and as a platter of short ribs ($40), and Lopez stresses that the marinade is not just simplified soy sauce like you might find elsewhere on the Strip: “Our kalbi is probably the most authentic you’ll find in a two-mile radius.”

Crafting legit japche ($35)—sweet potato glass noodles in butter lettuce wraps with garlic chives, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, spinach and a quail egg—was another ambitious endeavor. An even more of a rare find on the Strip is dukkbokki (or tteok-bokki), stir-fried rice cakes in spicy gochujang with soft-boiled eggs and scallions.

Lopez says he’s selling a lot of the obvious American snack favorites, but everything on the menu is getting attention because while Vegas visitor volume may be down, there are still plenty of educated diners hitting the Strip “willing to try all these different things.” The popularity of oysters on the half shell ($36/dozen) served with traditional cocktail sauce and red wine mignonette caught the chef by surprise.

“But they are the perfect shareable bite. They even come individually prepacked straight from the ocean,” he jokes.

The luxurious scale of the experience is the draw at Kamu, which has emerged as an unorthodox Vegas nightlife champion during the COVID era. But the equally extravagant cuisine is an unexpected treat.

“We’re really proud of what we’re doing as far as the food is concerned. It touches on a lot of different tastes and things you can be in the mood for, whether you’re going casual or want to go all out and get chilled shellfish platters and tomahawk steaks,” Lopez says. “There’s something there for everyone.”

Grand Shellfish Tower: Cold poached Maine lobster and U-15 prawns, Chef’s Favorite oysters, Alaskan King crab legs and snow crab leg clusters, Kamu cocktail sauce and red wine mignonette (Edison Graff/Courtesy)

KAMU ULTRA KARAOKE

Grand Canal Shoppes at Palazzo, 702-445-7664.

Daily, 6 p.m.-8 a.m.

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8.20.20

THE WAITING

GAME HOW THE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SEASON’S CANCELLATION AFFECTS ATHLETES ON THE VERGE OF SCHOLARSHIPS

BY RAY BREWER

ernando Carmona Jr. stepped in front of a pass for a steal and dribbled down the basketball court with opponents in quick pursuit. The Las Vegas High School forward outraced everyone to the basket and soared for a dunk.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound sophomore’s athleticism was obvious. Coaches say he has good speed for a post player, along with outstanding hands and hustle. It’s a great skill set for basketball, but his family felt he was squandering some of his abilities by sticking to one sport.

Carmona’s dad, Fernando Sr., is a longtime high school football coach in the area. His brother, George, was an allstate linebacker at Cheyenne High before playing at UNLV. They’re both now part of the coaching staff at Las Vegas High, and they pleaded with Carmona to join the football team, even it was just for one week.

Last summer, Fernando Jr. went to practice and fell in love with the sport.

His maiden season as a tight end produced 13 catches for 152 yards and one touchdown—not huge numbers, but not bad for a football newbie. More importantly, it produced game film to show to college recruiters. Coaches at San Jose State liked it so much that they offered Carmona a scholarship. New Mexico State and Portland State followed suit.

Carmona’s senior season was supposed to produce more stats and film, as he became a focal point of the Wildcats’ offense. But now, that has all be shelved by the pandemic, pumping the brakes on the recruiting process for Carmona and other class of 2021 hopefuls.

Even if the season resumes in the spring, it will be after the last college signing day in February. And that leaves Carmona, who was on the verge of earning a scholarship offer from a Power 5 Conference school, in a sort of limbo.

His decision is more than picking a school; it’s determining whether to commit now to a lower-tier program or wait in hopes that a spot opens up at a school in a high-profile conference that offers athletes more exposure.

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“A lot of the coaches looking at me can see the upside,” Carmona says. “They looked at my basketball tape and see that I am a hustler. They see the athleticism and how that could translate to football. They just need more football tape.”

The postponement of the season has left other local prep football players without any college offers. Many college coaches prefer to see prospects for themselves, flying into town to take in a game as part of their evaluation.

“Coaches want to see you in person,” Las Vegas coach Erick Capetillo says. “Those Division I coaches want to go through their checklist when looking at a kid.”

With many states having punted on the 2020 high school football season, athletes are verbally committing to college programs at a record pace, fearful that other recruits could take their scholarship spots. Even lower-conference schools are receiving pledges at a record pace.

“The kids don’t want the opportunity to disappear,”

Las Vegas High’s Fernando Carmona Jr. trains.

(Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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says David Hill, an assistant coach at Desert Pines who also helps athletes across the city find college programs.

“This is the highest commitment rate in college football history. New Mexico had no kids committed at this time last year. This year, they have almost 20.”

Players typically use the spring and summer to participate in recruiting camps and take college visits, which allow coaches to see the athletes’ build up close. Instead, many are taking to social media for simple photos in a doorway to demonstrate their size, or by posting films of workouts at local parks.

With many college campuses closed and most events canceled, being creative in promoting oneself has become vital.

“Twitter has become my best friend,” Carmona says.

“You have to put yourself out there. I have a lot of schools on the cusp [of offering]; they just don’t know enough about me.”

One of Carmona’s teammates, quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins, is in a similar situation. After passing for 2,600 yards with 39 touchdowns and just five interceptions as a junior, schools such as Southern and a few Division II programs have made him offers, some of which aren’t full-ride scholarships. Another strong effort during his senior season could have brought more possibilities.

Las Vegas athletes in other sports are also feeling the crunch of the cancellations. In basketball, whose high school season finished in February two weeks before the shutdowns, athletes missed the critical spring and summer club recruiting circuits. Most years, some athletes play more than 50 games with their club teams, including events during open recruiting periods scouted by hundreds of college coaches. That’s when the heavy lifting occurs in offering scholarships. Now, a lot is being handled—at least initially—through word of mouth.

“The pandemic has exposed the relationship with [college] programs and the track record that club programs have,” says Lamar Bigby, coach of the grassroots Las Vegas Knicks. “Coaches are forced to trust that relationship, because they can’t see kids. They go to programs that have produced multiple Division I kids.”

Bigby has a unique perspective on the process. His daughter, rising Centennial High senior Taylor Bigby, is a top-20 recruit nationally who has verbally committed to Oregon and plans to sign in the fall. Such elite players aren’t affected by the virus because they can handpick a school, or even wait to visit a campus before they sign.

But the players on Bigby’s AAU team aren’t in the same boat, with many working toward more exposure. “The impact falls to those unsigned prospects who are starting to blossom now,” he says.

Games will return eventually, and recruiting will pick up. But for class of 2021 prospects, the window to prove themselves isn’t as wide open. Hill says there’s hope the NCAA will push back the football signing day from February into the spring. “You don’t want to remove all hope from a kid,” he says.

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New firm aims to reinvent the way homes are bought and sold

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BY BRYAN HORWATH echnology continues to disrupt the way business traditionally has been done in many industries, and real estate is no exception.

Homie, a Utah-based company launched in 2016, is an online-based, flat-fee real estate brokerage co-founded

by Bonanza High School and UNLV graduate Mike Peregrina. Its goal is to make homeownership “easy, affordable and accessible,” Peregrina said.

One of the largest demographics for Homie is firsttime homebuyers, who account for roughly 60% of the company’s homebuying business, Peregrina said.

Fees vary by state, but according to Homie, the seller of a $300,000 home can typically save $6,000 to $15,000 by using the noncommission-based platform instead of a traditional real estate agent.

Homie also offers title, insurance and mortgage finance services.

Vegas Inc recently talked to Peregrina to learn more about the expanding company—it launched in the Las Vegas market in March—and his journey as an entrepreneur.

With the way the pandemic is shifting so many industries to online and contactless models, will the traditional way real estate brokers have operated be forever changed?

I think the market is so big, the answer is that people will still work with traditional agents. In terms of market share and tilting the scale, we went from zero market share to about 6% market share in just four years in Salt Lake City. We have almost 1% market share in Phoenix. I have no doubt we’ll be a top-10 player in Las Vegas in no time. I think the customers on the Homie platform, typically between the ages of 25 and 55, will transact with Homie again and again.

Homie has licensed agents on the buy-and-sell side, but employees don’t work under a commission-based system. The company is kind of reimagining how homes are bought and sold. Why? I had a healthy portfolio of homes but ended up losing it all in the subprime mortgage crisis. In late 2008, I woke up with this idea that it’s my responsibility to fix the real estate industry.

I started writing down what I thought was wrong with the industry—the misaligned incentives, the commissions, all the service providers that have their hand in the cookie jar, whether that’s title and escrow

or insurance or home inspection and warranty.

The real estate agent and the loan officer, all those fees they get, are north of 10%. I realized that the customer isn’t at the center of the transaction.

I had studied architecture at UNLV previously, but I went back in 2009 to get a degree in finance. After graduating, I worked as an investment banker and then worked in venture capital. I came across the pitch decks for Airbnb and Lyft and Uber, and I was just fascinated with the shared-economy concept.

Where did the name Homie come from?

If you think about the word, it means someone who has your back, a trusted friend. If you look at people between the ages of 25 and 55, many of us grew up calling each other homie.

Are you worried about the housing market in Southern Nevada and what could happen because of the COVID-19 economic downturn?

In April and May, transactions were down 40 to 50%. June was a little bit healthier, but I think the recovery is well on its way now. Average sales price is still up. Interest rates are also still very low, so I think the housing market will continue to push forward. Depending on what happens with vaccines, I think there will be a lot of pent-up demand as the economy begins to open up more. We could have an incredible [fourth] quarter and an incredible 2021.

There you go, right? That’s my spirit as an entrepreneur. I don’t think the sky is falling.

Homie co-founder Mike Peregrina (Courtesy)

8.20.20

VegasInc Notes Nathan Adelson Hospice hired Dr. Kang Choi, who completed the hospice’s fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine, as a Choi staff hospice and palliative care team physician. Choi completed one year of vigorous hands-on study, providing hospice and palliative care to patients. Nathan Adelson is one of 11 organizations in the country offering board certification in the specialized care of people with very serious illnesses.

Desert Radiology announced that several of its imaging facilities received the American College of Radiology Accreditation, the gold standard in imaging certifications. The accreditation assures that imaging facilities across the nation meet equipment, medical personnel and quality assurance requirements that patients, payers

and referring physicians can rely on. Four Desert Radiology imaging facilities were granted full three-year accreditations from the ACR: Eastern and St. Rose in MRI, South Rainbow in ultrasound and Palomino in breast MRI. The MGM Resorts International board of directors announced that William Hornbuckle was elected CEO and president.

Hornbuckle has Horbuckle been served the company as acting CEO and president since March. He succeeds former Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. Hornbuckle was also appointed to serve on the company’s board of directors.

Amazon’s first building in Henderson celebrated its first day with employees at the new 600,000-square-foot crossdock facility. The new facility

will continue to ramp up to full operations over the next several weeks and will have more than 1,000 full-time employees by the holiday shopping season.

southwest Valley. The project is zoned M-D light industrial and will ultimately include 500,000 square feet of multitenant, light distribution space.

JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa welcomed Shane Allor as the resort’s vice president and hotel general manager. Allor has more than 28 years in Allor the hospitality industry and is expected to oversee additional property renovations taking place this year and beyond.

Project 150, a local charity serving homeless, displaced and disadvantaged high school students, named Nataly Trejo as its new student services Trejo manager. Trejo’s responsibilities include working with students to create and monitor individual plans for graduation from high school and beyond. Trejo previously worked as a facilitation mediation specialist at the Clark County Department of Family Services.

The Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada appointed Todd Ingalsbee as president and added Mike Charlton to the executive board Ingalsbee as district vice president representing Henderson Local 1883.

The Willmore Industrial Team at Colliers International Las Vegas will represent marketing and leasing for the Mountain West Industrial Park, a 31acre industrial complex in the

Henderson Hospital opened its 25-bed observation nursing unit for patients who need additional evaluation for a specific medical condition or diagnosis before they are either discharged or admitted to the hospital. The observation unit, which is adjacent to the emergency department, provides additional beds to care for patients with medical or surgical needs. Also included in the construction was the completion of a larger emergen-

VEGAS INC BUSINESS

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cy department lobby to better address the increased volume of patients, eight new rapid medical exam/triage rooms, the addition of a second CT scan and three shelled-out operating rooms for future use.

Nevada Department of Public Safety Director George Togliatti appointed John Letos as chief of the department’s Capitol police division.

Letos Letos, who relocated from Virginia, has a distinguished 28-year law enforcement career. He also served in the U.S. Army.

In addition, Dyzak Mike Dzyak was appointed as chief of the department’s state fire marshal division. He served in the U.S. Air Force. Dzyak began his law enforcement career in 2003, attending the POST academy, and previously served as lieutenant and as acting fire marshal following the retirement of former Chief Bart Chambers.

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