2022-03-24- Las Vegas Weekly by Greenspun Media Group

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3.24.22

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IN THIS ISSUE WANT MORE? Head to lasvegasweekly.com.

Ja Rule (Courtesy/ MC Holla)

SUPERGUIDE

Your daily events planner, starring Dua Lipa, Kaskade, the Oscars, Baroness, the Boulder City Beerfest and more.

NIGHTS It’s an unofficial hip-hop takeover at clubs up and down the Strip.

38 ART

COVER STORY

Spirit of the Land gathers artworks and perspectives inside the Barrick Museum.

Las Vegans making new career moves in response to the pandemic.

FOOD & DRINK Chowing down inside a cannabis dispensary, and uncovering top-tier Vegas pizza deep in the suburbs.

THE STRIP

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas launched last year, but it’s truly kicking into entertainment gear now.

ON THE COVER

PANDEMIC PIVOT Alexander Stabler Photograph by Wade Vandervort

SPORTS Star receiver Davante Adams reunites with college teammate and best friend Derek Carr—and they’ve both got something to prove.

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

3.24.22

SUPERGUIDE THURSDAY 24 MAR.

MUSIC

BENNY THE BUTCHER 8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl, ticketweb.com. (AP Photo)

PARTY

SPORTS

ZEDD 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. NASHVILLE PREDATORS 7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com. THE REVUSICAL 8 p.m., the Space, thespacelv.com.

S U P E R G U I D E

ARTS

FOOD + DRINK

THE CHAINSMOKERS 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com. THE CRAFT: THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY Thru 3/26, 8 p.m., Majestic Repertory Theatre, majestic repertory.com. DJ KARMA 11 a.m., Liquid Pool Lounge, events. taogroup.com.

COMEDY

MISC

TRENDSETTA & FRIENDS 8 p.m., Rockstar Bar at Las Vegas Golf Center, eventbrite.com. WOMANOPOLY LV 8:30 p.m., Taverna Costera, eventbrite.com. DJ PAULY D 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. KELLY CLINTON 7 p.m., Nevada Room, vegas nevadarooms.com. KABIR SINGH Thru 3/27, 8 p.m., LA Comedy Club, tickets.thestrat.com. DUBVISION 10 p.m., Commonwealth, elationlv.com. THE GOOD LYF 8 p.m., Oddfellows, oddfellowslv.com.

DIONNE WARWICK One-of-a-kind vocalist Dionne Warwick is in that small group of legendary Las Vegas headliners who have played pretty much everywhere along the Strip. The recent Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award honoree started out at the Sands in 1969 and last played Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace, surely one of the smallest Vegas venues in which she has ever performed. Now, she’s getting even closer to her audience with a new residency at the intimate Stirling Club at the tony Turnberry Place condo tower just off the Strip, an ordinarily private club that has long hosted interesting entertainment. Warwick’s show raises the stakes. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for cocktails and appetizers, and the lounge will stay open late after the show, adding an extra touch of old-school elegance to a night of iconic music. Thursday, Saturday & Sunday, 8 p.m., $89-$199, eventbrite.com. –Brock Radke

3.24.22

FRIDAY 25 MAR.

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

DUA LIPA 7:30 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com. (Courtesy/Hugo Comte)

INCUBUS & 3/26, 8 p.m., Theater at Virgin, axs.com. DJ SNAKE 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

FOREIGNER & 3/26, 3/30, 8 p.m., Venetian Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

CHRIS DISTEFANO 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

ABOVE & BEYOND 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

DRUM TAO 7:30 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter. com.

SAMMY HAGAR & 3/26, 9 p.m., Strat Theater, tickets.thestrat.com.

SILK SONIC & 3/26, 9 p.m., Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

JA RULE 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

JONAS BLUE 11 a.m., Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com. CARRIE UNDERWOOD: REFLECTION & 3/26, 3/30, 8 p.m., Resorts World Theatre, axs.com. TOM SEGURA & 3/26, 10 p.m., Mirage Theater, mirage. mgmresorts.com.

SHAYNE SMITH & 3/26, 7 & 9:30 p.m., Wiseguys, vegas. wiseguyscomedy.com. LIQUID RED PIRATE NIGHTMARE MASQUERADE 9 p.m., Artifice, eventbrite.com. STEVE AOKI 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

THE MOJAVE PROJECT A month after debuting this “experimental transmedia” exhibit, UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art hosts a reception with its curator, Kim Stringfellow. The Joshua Tree, California-based artist combines multimedia and community engagement to offer perspectives as heterogeneous as the iconic rock formations that surround us. The Mojave Project draws from documentation collected through field dispatches—including 25 audio interviews with Mojave residents available to stream throughout the exhibit—and features artifacts such as books, archival documents and mineral specimens, all sourced from, or associated with, our desert home. More than 80 photographs serve to illustrate the exhibit’s themes, which include Desert as Wasteland, Geological Time vs. Human Time, and Space and Perception. Exhibitgoers can immerse themselves in a variety of forms and topics all related to the contemporary Mojave Desert. The reception and remarks begin at 6:30 p.m., and the show runs through July 23. 5 p.m., free, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, unlv.edu. –Shannon Miller F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .

SUPERGUIDE

A PUBLIC FIT: STOP KISS 7 p.m., Flamingo Library, apublicfit.org.

P L A N Y O U R W E E K A H E A D

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

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SUPERGUIDE SATURDAY 26

KASKADE 11 a.m., Wet Republic, events. taogroup.com. (AP Photo)

MAR.

P L A N

S U P E R G U I D E

W E E K

Y O U R A H E A D

BOULDER CITY BEERFEST Fun fact about Las Vegas’ neighboring town to the southeast: Boulder City was founded during Prohibition, and sales of alcohol weren’t allowed there until 1969. According to local accounts, dam workers and anyone craving an after-work cold one had to leave Boulder City limits for Railroad Pass to get it. Today, you can head to Wilbur Square, in the heart of Boulder City’s historic district, for the eighth-annual Boulder City Beerfest. Ten food trucks, “beer-centric” vendors and live entertainment will be free to access; those ready to partake in tastings from 36 local breweries can purchase a wristband and receive a locally made souvenir glass. VIP early entry, 1 p.m., general admission 3 p.m., $45-$60, Wilbur Square, bouldercitybeerfestival. com. –Shannon Miller

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Noon, T-Mobile Arena, axs.com. PIRATE FEST Thru 3/27, 10 a.m., Craig Ranch Park, seetickets.us. TORY LANEZ 11 a.m., Drai’s Beachclub, draisgroup.com.

NATURAL BLUEPRINTS: CYANOTYPE & PHOTOGRAPHY WITH LAURA BRENNAN 1 p.m., Clark County Wetlands Park, eventbrite.com. GENDERFEST 10 a.m., the Center, thecenterlv.org. BLACK COFFEE 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

TOP RANK BOXING: BERCHELT VS. NAKATHILA 3:30 p.m., Resorts World Events Center, rwlasvegas.com. MARSHMELLO 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com. SURFBORT With Niis, Smirk!, 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, eventbrite.com.

VINTAGE CULTURE 11 a.m., Marquee Dayclub, events. taogroup.com. TIËSTO 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com. LAS VEGAS LIGHTS VS. MEMPHIS 901 7 p.m., Cashman Field, lasvegaslights fc.com.

3.24.22

PARTY

SPORTS

ARTS

FOOD + DRINK

SUNDAY 27 MAR.

DIPLO 11 a.m., Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com.

LOUD LUXURY 11 a.m., Wet Republic, events. taogroup.com.

CAMELPHAT 10 p.m., Moonbeam at Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

MIDWIFE With Luxury Furniture Store, Star of Xenojin, 8 p.m., Oddfellows, oddfellowslv.com.

THE KNOCKS (DJ SET) 10 p.m., Discopussy, seetickets.com.

ANDREW SANTINO 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster. com. ANNA LUNOE 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussydtlv.com. BONEY JAMES 7:30 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter. com. JOHN SURGE & THE HAYMAKERS 8 p.m., SoulBelly BBQ, soulbellybbq.com.

VARIETY SALUTES HOLLYWOOD OSCAR VIEWING PARTY In the age of online streaming, live television is an afterthought. Still, nothing beats a good old Oscar watch party. The 94th Academy Awards, airing on March 27, will honor films released throughout 2021, including Jane Campion’s western drama The Power of the Dog, Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age dramedy Licorice Pizza, Japan’s first Best Picture nominee Drive My Car, Guillermo del Toro’s stylish noir Nightmare Alley and Denis Villeneuve’s fantasy epic Dune. In honor of Hollywood’s big night, The Space and Variety the Children’s Charity present the 11th annual “Variety Salutes Hollywood” Oscar viewing party, hosted by KLUC’s Chet Buchanan. Proceeds will benefit the charity’s ongoing efforts to support the Valley’s children. 4 p.m., $30-$50, the Space, thespacelv.com. –Amber Sampson

MISC

MONDAY 28 MAR.

PAULY SHORE: STICK WITH THE DANCING 7:30 p.m., Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguys comedy.com. E-ROCK 10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, events.taogroup. com. JAY REID Thru 4/3, with Cody Woods, 8 p.m., LA Comedy Club, tickets. thestrat.com. LARRY REEB With Francisco Ramos, Spencer James, thru 4/1, 8 p.m., Brad Garrett Comedy Club, mgmgrand. mgmresorts.com. TOMBZ 9 p.m., Oddwood, oddwoodbar. com. JAMIE LISSOW Thru 4/3, 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., Laugh Factory, ticketmaster.com.

SUPERGUIDE

BIG POOH With Shame Gang, 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, eventbrite.com.

PEPPE MEROLLA QUARTET 1 p.m., Bootlegger Italian Bistro, boot leggerlasvegas.com.

COMEDY COMEDY

(Courtesy)

MUSIC

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

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3.24.22

SUPERGUIDE TUESDAY 29 MAR.

MUSIC

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS Thru 3/31, 6:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

SARA SIMMS 10 p.m., Lucky Day, luckydaydtlv.com.

SPRING MARIACHI CONCERT: DEL SOL ACADEMY 6 p.m., Whitney Library Concert Hall, lvccld.org.

SUPERTASK With Uymitsu, Alex Mei, SoManyFeels, 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussydtlv.com.

PARTY

WEDNESDAY 30 MAR.

KEITH URBAN & 3/25-3/26, 8 p.m., the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com. (Courtesy)

SPORTS

S U P E R G U I D E

ARTS

LIONEL RICHIE 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com. KAT NOVA 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night, wynnsocial.com.

FOOD + DRINK

LAS VEGAS YOUTH ORCHESTRA & 3/31, 7 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com. THE COMPOSERS SHOWCASE 9:30 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter.com.

COMEDY

TUBE & BERGER With Robby Powell, 530, Gabriel Amaral, 10 p.m., Commonwealth, eventbrite.com.

MISC

F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .

BARONESS The last time Georgia metal outfit Baroness played Las Vegas, it happened in the 4,500-capacity Joint (now the Theater at Virgin) as part of Psycho Las Vegas’ 2016 edition. This time, the band will set up inside the Space, a venue with a capacity under 500. That’s by design. Baroness’ “Intimate Evening” tour will take it to some downright tiny rooms, by modern Baroness standards. “We’re really thrilled to have the opportunity to play up close and personal in some venues we haven’t typically played in recent years,” frontman John Baizley said in a statement when the dates were announced. To mark the occasion, ticket purchasers can vote for songs they hope to catch in the night’s setlist, drawn from the band’s five, color-titled albums: Red (2007), Blue (2009) Yellow & Green (2012), Purple (2015) and Gold & Grey (2019). 8 p.m., $60-$75, the Space, thespacelv.com. –Spencer Patterson

SUPERGUIDE

SCORPIONS With Skid Row, 8 p.m., Zappos Theater, ticket master.com.

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3.24.22

LIFE, WORK, BALANCE BY GEOFF CARTER ike many of us, Rhode Island native Stephanie Castellone moved to Las Vegas to join the circus. A Valley resident since 2004, the aerialist, contortionist and hand balancer— known to audiences as Miz Charlemay—has performed at concerts, on Comedy Central’s Gong Show reboot and at numerous local parties and events. “I’ve traveled the world three times over … I never really settled down,” she says, adding that she recently took on a regular performing gig at Area15’s Lost Spirits Distillery.

Stephanie Castellone (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

P E O P L E

Circus performer and registered nurse Stephanie Castellone performs a life-saving act with BurlyCares

3.24.22

What motivated you to cofound BurlyCares? I can’t take all the credit. Several burlesque legends, mostly in Vegas but a few outside of Vegas, asked me to do something like this. My response was always “Yes, let’s do it. But let’s go slow, because I just don’t have the time or the bandwidth.” So, from 2018 to 2020, we grew pretty slowly and steadily. At that time, we were just offering help to legends of burlesque—not even magic or circus [performers]. We offered medical supplies and

medical equipment, because early on in my career, I saw that a lot of people weren’t getting access to the supplies and equipment that they needed because Medicare won’t cover it, or they don’t have access to it. That’s where we started, and then COVID hit and it just threw us into becoming a full-fledged organization that provides … extensive case management, is how I’d describe it. We make it a point to advocate for people--to get them what they need, and ultimately keep them at their house, because nobody wants to be in and out of the hospital or, you know, to pass in the hospital. That’s a big goal of ours, to keep people home. And we’ve done it several times now, so I know it works. How did BurlyCares address the threat of COVID? The first thing we did when COVID hit was a mask initiative, where we had over 300 masks handmade and mailed out to every legend on our BurlyCares list. We also mailed a mask for a family member, be-

cause we figured, well, someone’s going to be with them. [When] everything shut down we were forced to identify which of our legends here in Las Vegas—we had to focus on Vegas, even though we have legends all through the country—which ones were most at risk. Once we narrowed that down, me and two other people were going out and visiting them, but it was very difficult because you know a lot of people were nervous about letting us in, because they didn’t know where we [had been]. Then, once the vaccine came out, there was sigh of big sigh of relief, and we were able to [visit the legends] our list that had really been isolated. … I mean, they’ve got family, and that was what may have bumped them down in the priority list, because we knew they were OK. But even with family, this person hasn’t left their apartment in a year, you know? … We slowly came back to legends that were isolated and

BurlyCares’ first fundraising event in 2019 at Artifice (Courtesy Michele Hengeveld)

15I

fearful. We did a lot of teaching—”wear the mask, maintain distancing,” all of that. And I’m really, really happy to say that that I don’t believe there’s a single legend that we helped here in Vegas that got COVID really bad. Do the legends share tips, stories? Almost all of them naturally just talk about what they learned, what they went through. And then we end up finding out through their stories that there’s some way that we relate to it, or they find out that I’m a circus performer, and they’ll say, “Hey, do you know this person” or “Have you tried this?” or they’ll see my act and they’ll say, “We could add this!” And what’s really fascinating, too, is that every single time we visit, there’s new stories. … Some of these women are in their 80s and 90s, and they remember. From a health and mental health standpoint, [telling these stories] helps them; it keeps their memory alive. And it’s just really wonderful to listen to their stories, and then see how we can incorporate it into performing now. They’re helping you, too. It’s really wonderful. I got into this thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t do it, it’s too much.’ And it’s not that there aren’t those days, but I go every night I go to bed, and my heart is so full—fuller than it ever was, even as a hospice nurse, and I have found a profound love with helping people pass. But this is so much different, because I know these women and men. … It’s even more heart-centered for me, because this is my performance family that I’m helping. Holy cow, we’re doing it.

THE WEEKLY Q+A

But the circus isn’t the only calling that’s motivating Castellone these days. Back in 2018, the longtime medical professional—she’s been a hospice nurse for nearly 20 years—began to assist aging burlesque performers who were encountering difficulties in managing their own care. “This is something that’s been needed for a long time, that the burlesque community has almost been asking for,” Castellone says. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it, but I’ve got to do it slow.’” When COVID hit, however, that part-time assist rapidly turned to a full-time mission. The organization she co-founded with burlesque performers Ambrosia Minge, Miranda Glamour, Sheila Starr Siani, Spiderella and Fannie Annie, BurlyCares (burlycares. com), took on 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in June 2020 to meet the escalating threat to the health and wellbeing not only of burlesque legends, but also magicians, circus artists and variety performers. That assistance can include helping performers to order their medications online, showing them how to use Medicaid or Medicare to find necessary supplies and equipment, or simply providing some friendship in a lonely, isolating time. Castellone spoke to the Weekly about working as BurlyCares’ CEO while balancing—pun intended—her life as a circus star.

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

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THE NEXT THING

C O V E R

S T O R Y

3.24.22

COVID wore us all down. Meet some Valley residents who got up and tried something new The past two years have changed all of us in ways big and small. Many of us manged to keep our health and our jobs in the wake of this terrible hardship; we’re very lucky. Others are still struggling, and we need to support them however we can, whether by helping them to find new work or by simply donning our masks when variants flare up. ¶ And there are still others, people who had a hell of a hard time during these past two years— losing jobs, facing financial ruin, enduring emotional stresses that no one should have to face. And then, they just … changed. They learned new skills, rekindled old dreams and remade their lives in ways they might never have predicted before the pandemic changed the rules. Here are a few stories of Las Vegans whose lives were transformed by COVID.

3.24.22

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Pardey in front of a Calico Basin property (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Ryan Pardey Rocking the real estate market BY SPENCER PATTERSON

of weeks,” Hainer says. “He helped connect us with a lender, with flooring people. … It was painless. He’s a natural.” Pardey’s arrival on the real estate scene has coincided with a record-setting market. “When I became an agent, I think there were around 4,000 listings, and now I think there’s around 2,000— about three weeks worth of inventory—and there’s 20,000 agents competing for those listings,” he says. “If you’re representing a seller, selling the house will be no problem. But if you’re representing a buyer, it can be really difficult.” Still, he says, the experience has mostly been a positive one, especially as he expands beyond the Downtown core into different parts of town— and different types of houses. “I thought I’d be specializing in Paradise Palms and McNeil [Estates] and these sorts of neighborhoods, but when the phone rings I answer it,” says Pardey, who started out with eXp Realty before recently joining Real Broker. “I’ve sold in Spanish Trails, in Summerlin. My first sale was on the east side. I have a listing in North Las Vegas. And I’m about to do one in Calico Basin, which will be my first big, luxury listing.” Ultimately, Pardey says, he hopes to get involved in commercial real estate—and potentially merge that with his love for the Las Vegas music scene. “I’ll continue to sell residential homes, but I think you’ll see me pivot back Downtown sometime soon, where I can use real estate as a vehicle to maybe get involved with a live music venue.”

Changing Course

As entertainment director for the Bunkhouse Saloon, Ryan Pardey often headed home as the sun began to rise. These days? “I got up at 4:30 [a.m.] today,” he says. When the Bunkhouse, one of Downtown Las Vegas’ most active music venues, shuttered in March 2020, Pardey had no way of knowing the toll the pandemic would take on the concert industry. But he already had alternate plans in place, having passed the Nevada Real Estate Exam a few months earlier. “I thought it was something I would do during the daytime while I tended to the serious business of rock ’n’ roll at night,” says Pardey, also known on the Vegas scene for his band Halloween Town and for his close association with The Killers. “But as we learned, the pandemic had different plans for all of us.” With the Bunkhouse still closed, perhaps permanently, the 43-year-old Pardey has fully embraced his new career, which he says isn’t as dissimilar from his old one as folks might assume. “Every client is different, the same way every band is different,” he explains. “There’s different personality types and different problems to try to work around and navigate.” When Las Vegan Bryan Hainer began shopping for a new home in early 2021, he reached out to Pardey, whom he’d known since the latter’s days managing Cafe Espresso Roma near UNLV during the early 2000s. “My wife and I didn’t have a great experience with our previous Realtor. Ryan helped us find a very desirable house in the Lakes within a couple

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

3.24.22

Carey Cowart Going full Viking

C O V E R

S T O R Y

BY GEOFF CARTER Name any part of a hospital, and there’s a good chance Carey Cowart has logged some hours in it over the past 30-plus years. “I’ve worked everything from materials management in the warehouse to sterile processing to operating room to pediatrics to intensive care, in different hospitals across the Valley,” he says. “Most recently, I worked as a dialysis technician at Sunrise Hospital.” Cowart, a musician and DJ who came up through Vegas’ hardscrabble 1990s music scene, seems to regard his work as a healthcare worker with a soft disbelief, as if he can’t quite believe that he was the one who did it. “It was long shifts, 12-plus hour shifts, sometimes 15 to 18 hours,” he says. “It was already a high-stress environment … and then the pandemic started.” The onset of COVID, and its effect on Valley hospitals, sent Cowart reeling. “It was scary to begin with, because of the unknowns. Then the first and second wave came through, and it started wearing down on the nurses just because of the physical sense of putting on all the PPE. And that was exacerbated when patients started dying. “A lot of my patients over the years have died, and I’m used to that,” he continues. “But the sheer numbers … and the families not being able to be there was very difficult. And then when the nurses themselves”—his voice

Cowart in Las Vegas (Christopher DeVargas/Staff) (Below) 22 Vikings Camp (Courtesy)

catches—“nurses that I’ve worked with for years, started passing, it got even more difficult.” Cowart began to have panic attacks and emotional outbursts. “It affected me in ways I’d never been affected before,” he says. And then, during the summer of 2020, Cowart’s wife of 20 years, animator/illustrator Karen Jaikowski, suggested they sell their Vegas home and move to a property they had acquired in Dolan Springs, Arizona, about 80 minutes southeast of Vegas. They had recently restored the cabin on the property, and it was ready for move-in. Cowart “ran the pros and cons” in his head, and decided to do it. They spent their first six months working on the property. “I was gathering my thoughts, living the life that’s in front of me,” Cowart says. “Then it came to me, still being a caregiver at

heart, that I had to share this place. I need to take care of the caregivers, and their families as well.” Inspired, the couple purchased a “secluded, beautiful” two-acre campground property a few miles down the road, which they christened 22 Vikings Camp and Cabin. Beginning this month, car/tent and RV campers can set up on one of 22 Vikings’ trio of sites (a cabin and glamping dome is set to be added later this summer), and enjoy a few days of horseback riding, mountain or dirt biking, hiking nearby Antelope Canyon, bird watching, mineral hunting or simple peace and quiet. And though everyone is welcome at 22 Vikings, Cowart says he’s hopeful his fellow healthcare workers—and their families and friends—will come to the campground to shed their work-related stresses.

“It’s a safe, positive environment for them to just be with their families,” Cowart says. “I know, from the hectic schedule of working 12-plus hour shifts, that you don’t get to see your wife and your kids. Even when you do, it’s not quality time. Out here, there’s nothing but quality time. … [And] Mother Nature is the best medicine you can have.” Cowart has certainly benefitted from that medicine. He sounds energized. He and his wife are building everything pretty much themselves, with the help of volunteers and donated money and materials. They’re planning to introduce yoga, reiki, massage, guided meditation and the occasional “ecstatic dance session,” with beats provided by the man himself. (“I’ve been working on tons of original music,” Cowart says.) And it will all be rooted in the character of the campground’s name, he says. “22 Vikings originated with my wife. She’s an artist, and some of our artistic influences are [Frank] Frazetta, Olivia [De Berardinis]—you know, medieval fantasy and Viking art,” he says. “She and I believe that she was a Viking in a previous life. And we like the Viking ethos—not the pillaging and stuff, but an ethos of strength, honesty, solidarity. “22 is an arbitrary number, but everyone can be a part of the 22,” Cowart says. “It’s about living your life in a show of strength, that a feeling of helplessness can be overcome.”

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Moraes at a farmers market; (right) barley she uses for her bread (Steve Marcus/Staff)

Isabela Moraes A mermaid makes a fresh start(er) BY SHANNON MILLER

Vegas Strip. “I started baking for my fellow cast members, a very international crowd,” Moraes says. “Whenever I didn’t have rehearsals, I would find time to bake. So, each week, ‘bread day’ was a different day—whether it was Sunday or Friday, it was just ‘bread day,’ the day I was making bread.” The name has stuck since her days as a full-time swimmer in Wynn’s Le Rêve. It was one of the first Strip shows to close as the pandemic began in early spring 2020. Wynn eventually furloughed performers in May before announcing the show’s permanent closure in August, leaving 275 crew members out of work.

It was a letdown for many of the cast, she says, especially those who had just begun performing with the show. But after a 14-year “fun and stable” run with Le Rêve, Moraes says the show’s ending gave her the push she needed to “dive in” to breadmaking—a passion she had been feeding on the side for more than a decade. “For me, it was a push to follow through with another passion,” she says. “It’s funny, because now, I have side gigs as a synchronized swimmer—events or coaching jobs. Now, I’m a full-time baker and part-time mermaid.” In 2008, while working for the show full time, Moraes enrolled

in pastry classes at the College of Southern Nevada. To further refine her skills, she took additional courses in San Francisco and other breadmaking destinations, while also training with some of the Strip’s finest pastry chefs. “I was happy I found something I really loved—as much as I loved swimming,” she recalls. From professional swimmer to pastry student, and from pastry student to professional baker, Moraes says understanding her skills and being flexible were key to her transition. Her advice for others who lost jobs due to the pandemic? Try to transfer lessons, knowledge and experience from the previous career to the new one, even if the careers aren’t related. “Training, practice, repetition are very much a part of what I used to do and what I do now,” she says. Much like a sourdough starter, feeding her interest has yielded dividends in setting up a new career path. Since taking the plunge into full-time baking, she has converted her at-home kitchen into a registered cottage bakery. She produces an average of 280 individual products per week and advertises market days and locations on Instagram. She has accumulated several regular customers at the markets, she says. And many of her colleagues from her synchronized swimming days still show up on bread day.

Changing Course

Isabela Moraes stands in a tent stall at a farmers market in Anthem, greeting customers who pause in front of piles of sourdough, bundles of baguettes and other specialty breads like fougasse and focaccia. Eyes dart from bread to marquee, and hands reach for wallets. It’s a “steady” day for Moraes, who sells her professionally baked Bread Day creations at various farmers markets across town. She got the idea from her colleagues—not from bakers or chefs, but from those she used to work with when she was a synchronized swimmer performing on the Las

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C O V E R

S T O R Y

Cooper inside Graze Kitchen (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Amelia Cooper Cooking up something new BY AMBER SAMPSON

Amelia Cooper has learned to keep her phone on hand. “Everything important in my life seems to happen over text message these days,” says Cooper, an entrepreneur of more than 10 years. Before she ever received the text that would lead her into a partnership with two established restaurateurs, Cooper owned Amelia C & Co, a successful local hair and makeup agency. Cooper’s diverse client base included politicians and gala attendees, but the city’s $2 billion wedding industry had become the agency’s most profitable connection. At the height of the pandemic, Cooper says, Amelia C & Co was working on some 700 weddings a year. “That’s what was happening when the world shut down,” she says, “and then the agency, and really the entire wedding industry as we know it, went down the drain.” A week before the pandemic shutdown, wedding client cancellations began trickling in, and in the days that followed, Cooper’s agency lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, she says. “The special-event industry not only

lost our source of income, but most of us were in the position of having to give refunds on deposits paid,” she says. “It would be like you losing your job and then having to give back six month’s worth of paychecks.” As Cooper navigated her way through both unemployment and business loans, she doubled her volunteering efforts in order to help the community—and counteract her own feeling of helplessness. “I know for a fact that there’s a lot of people that were worse off than we were, because I served them,” she says. Cooper also started spending more time in the kitchen. “I was cooking a lot for myself, for friends, for family, out of passion and a little neurosis,” she says. She became a personal meal prep chef for some of her buddies. And then Tabitha Simmons, a friend of a friend, texted, hoping to order some barbecue-friendly sides for Fourth of July weekend. Cooper made it happen, and Simmons soon wrote back, “That was some of the best vegan food I’ve ever had. I don’t know what your plans are for the future, but

would you ever be open to a partnership?” Cooper soon hosted a tasting for Simmons and her husband. “Now I have John Simmons, owner of Firefly Tapas, [where] I’ve had one too many mojitos, sitting in my kitchen, and I’m frying cauliflower for him,” Cooper remembers. The meal, which also included a Brussels sprouts salad, a blueberry buckle and a signature cocktail, was a success, and Cooper and the Simmonses began envisioning her running a ghost kitchen out of Firefly. But before long, it became much more. Today, they are partners behind the plant-based restaurant Graze Kitchen, located a few doors down from Firefly’s southwest location. “The restaurant business is extremely complicated, competitive and hard to succeed in,” Cooper says, “and with absolutely no experience … I would never have opened a restaurant [without] experienced partners to do it with.” And Amelia C & Co, her pre-pandemic hair and makeup agency? “Very slowly, very painfully, very hopefully, we’ve started to build it back,” Cooper says.

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Alexander Stabler Dancing into the world of interior design BY EVELYN MATEOS

hood spent moving frequently, all around Southeast Asia, before his family settled in Orange County, California. “I found growing up overseas, my childhood was a little bit chaotic,” Stabler explains. “I always found peace, or I found it very grounding, to pull spaces together, to clean them and to arrange them. I saw how a space affected people.” People who are unhappy with the way a room looks or is set up will often continue to live in it for years, he says. “Why not love the space you live in? Once, you do it will change your whole outlook. The pandemic has shined a light on how important this is to our quality of life.” Stabler says Fredric Alexander aims to make design accessible, whether taking someone’s space from concept to completion or through its refresh and refine service, for which the company works with what the client already has to create a fresh environment. Additionally, Fredric Alexander can consult, source and provide a unique shopping experience. Their items are sourced from casinos, garage sales, antique stores and beyond, so buyers shouldn’t expect to see the same things twice. Transitioning from performer to interior designer has come with challenges, Stabler concedes. As the days passed, he realized he missed the applause. But he’s also found comfort in his new career. “I became a performer because I wanted to affect people. They came to the show, and they got to escape,” he says. “Design [also] affects people, but on a greater scale, I think, on a more long-lasting scale.”

Changing Course

Stabler in a space he designed (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

As a performer, Alexander Stabler recognized that his career had a shelf life and looked forward to transitioning into a new profession on his own terms. He would walk onto the stage for a final show and take in the applause one last time. Instead, his ultimate appearance as a dancer and aerialist in Wynn’s Le Rêve, on March 10, 2020, would be a night like any other. “I remember nothing, unfortunately,” Stabler says. “It was just another show.” Four days later, the cast and crew were informed that the show would close for a couple of weeks due to COVID-19. “We were getting paid. We were getting benefits. We were still employees,” Stabler says. “We were actually meeting every other week and doing Zoom rehearsals. We were all in our backyards and rehearsing choreography. We were getting ready to come back.” Then weeks became months, and in August, Stabler and his coworkers learned that Le Rêve would stay dark permanently. But while the pandemic deprived Stabler of the stage exit he’d envisioned, it never sapped his ambition. He shifted his focus to another of his passions, interior design. Stabler’s husband, Freddy Godínez, had recently graduated from UNLV with a degree in landscape architecture, so the two launched a new company called Fredric Alexander. Godínez created a logo, and when both men came down with COVID in July 2020, Stabler passed the time by building a website for fredricalexander.com. Office space came next, designed by Stabler himself. His interest in interior design dates back to a child-

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3.24.22 Lipomi (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Andrea Lipomi Getting her foot in the healthcare door

C O V E R

S T O R Y

BY GEOFF CARTER

Feetish Spa Parlor was dominating. The sole-proprietor foot spa, run by cheerful goth Andrea Lipomi, was a success by virtually every measure. “I’d perfected [a signature] pedicure technique,” she says. “I was able to get Feetish at the top of the list for highly rated pedicure joints in Vegas, attracting tourist traffic like you wouldn’t believe.” Then, as it did all health-and-beauty businesses, the pandemic shut down Feetish for an extended period. While confined to her home, Lipomi reconsidered her profession. “Even before the pandemic hit, my focus had shifted away from aesthetics and more toward the wellness benefits of the services I provided,” Lipomi says. “So, when nonessential businesses were forced to close their doors in Nevada, that’s when I first got the idea that maybe I should look into a new career in healthcare and nursing.” She took online courses in nursing during the shutdown, though some old doubts nagged at her. “I went to school for various things in the spa world, but I never got an official two-year degree. So, I was a little bit

nervous that I would, you know, fail math,” she laughs, “because failing math was a fear that kept me away from formal education for a long time. But then when I did these online college courses, I was like, ‘OK, these are definitely challenging, but they’re not as scary as I was building them up to be in my head.’” When Feetish was allowed to reopen, Lipomi applied what she was learning to the latest CDC recommendations. As a result, the spa’s safety practices were exceptional. Lipomi got tested for COVID weekly— sometimes even twice-weekly—and wore as much PPE as healthcare professionals working in hospitals. “I was obsessively reading up on what was the strictest guidance I could find, and that’s what I chose to employ at Feetish,” she says. “It would have been a nightmare if someone who had trusted me—as an important part of their wellness team, as I believe spa services are—had gotten sick on my watch. I didn’t want that to happen, so I took my sanitation, air filtration and the amount of time between booked appointments as far toward the

extreme as was possible, while still operating a business successfully.” Meanwhile, Lipomi continued her schooling, enrolling at CSN. She’s now a certified nursing assistant and intends to get into the licensed practical nurse program. “I’ll get my registered nurse [RN] license after that,” she says. “I’m doing it step-by-step, because that’s the way I want to do it. Initially I was like, ‘OK, I can do this. I can get a two-year degree and be an RN.’ But I like what I’m learning so much, that now I’m thinking I might just go on to get my master’s, and become a mental health nurse practitioner.” Earlier this year, Lipomi sold Feetish— both its equipment and its proprietary technique—to a new business, Beauté de Luxe. (And she notes that its proprietor, Heather Love, is also studying nursing.) It was a tough decision to let go of something she’d built up over nine years, but the excitement of taking on a new career takes some of the sting away, she says. “I guess I conquered the challenge of successfully reopening a small business during a pandemic. And once you can check that off your list, where do you go from there? You’re kind of a little stagnant,” she says. “I needed to do something with more measurable results. “My mom went back to school for her master’s degree in library science when she was in her 60s,” Lipomi continues. “[And] I’m in my late 40s while I’m going for my master’s degree. So I think I can do it. And I think a lot of people who doubt themselves can do it, too.”

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SPORTS

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UNLV’s upset bid stalls late TUCSON, ARIZONA—With just over a minute remaining in the third quarter of the March 19 firstround NCAA Tournament game against Arizona, UNLV freshman guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas launched a high-arching 3-pointer that seemed to hang suspended in the air for a moment before banking off the backboard and splashing through the net to give the Scarlet and Gray a stunning 51-48 lead. It was the exact kind of serendipitous shot that seemed to portend a Cinderella finish for the heavy underdogs, and UNLV closed the period on a 7-0 run to take a 53-48 lead into the fourth quarter. Just 10 minutes away from a historic win for the program, everyone on the UNLV sideline believed. Reality hit when the Wildcats opened the fourth quarter on an 18-3 run to regain control of the game, and when the final buzzer sounded at Tucson’s McKale Center, fourth-seeded Arizona was moving on to the second round and UNLV was headed home. Final score: Arizona 72, UNLV 67. Lindy La Rocque, who coached UNLV to a Mountain West championship in her second season, wanted her young team to learn from the painful loss and build on the experience. “Obviously this one stings pretty bad, but we’re going to use it as fuel to the fire, because this is where we belong,” La Rocque said. “I think we showed a lot of people that, too.” -Mike Grimala

NEWS

WATCH THIS The Golden Knights play host to Chicago on March 26 at noon.

North Las Vegas Acting Police Chief Jackie Gravatt greets students March 16 at Elizondo Elementary School. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

COMMUNITY

Celebration of service In 1995, long before the students at Elizondo Elementary School were born, Raul Elizondo, a young officer for the North Las Vegas Police Department, died in the line of duty. On March 16, the annual Elizondo Honor Day, the children gathered outside their school to honor the campus’s namesake in matching T-shirts that read, “Bulldogs honor heroes/past, present, future.” With a permanent memorial inside the school and a police officer’s uniform on its cartoon

dog mascot, the school nods at Elizondo every day. But once a year, they go all out, all day. They have a flag-raising ceremony, storytimes with officers, a parade and a demonstration of police K-9 skills. This year was the 23rd annual Elizondo Day. None of the North Las Vegas officers present in the sizable contingent served alongside Elizondo—not even Acting Chief Jackie Gravatt, who joined the department in 2001. For Gravatt, it’s important to

honor officers who came and went before her time. For the children, “I think what the kids understand is the importance of service to community,” she said. Raul Elizondo was fatally shot Jan. 30, 1995, during a struggle with a man acting erratically and walking into traffic. Elizondo Elementary was built in 1998 in what was then the outskirts of North Las Vegas. It’s one of at least three area schools named for a local first responder who died in the line of duty. -Hillary Davis

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POLITICS

Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who’s running for governor as a Republican, donated $5,000 to Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s campaign four years ago.

“As a husband, I’m outraged at the ethnic slurs and threats aimed at my wife. As a father, I cannot forget or forgive the vulgar and foul language hurled at my daughter. However, as governor of this great state, I feel an obligation to avoid further fueling, and at worst, glorifying the anger and violence plaguing our nation and our state.” –Gov. Steve Sisolak, March 21, in a statement explaining why he will not seek to press charges against two men who threatened him at a Las Vegas restaurant

IT’S MADNESS ON ST. PADDY’S AT THE POOL Hoops fans watch NCAA Tournament games at the Stadium Swim pool at Circa. The day featured a stunning upset in the first round of the tournament, with No. 15 seed St. Peter’s defeating No. 2 seed Kentucky, 85-79. (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Psycho fest unveils new home, lineup Psycho Las Vegas will bring its sixth edition to a new site on the Las Vegas Strip, festival organizers announced March 17—and it just happens to be the Strip’s newest property: Resorts World. The three-day gathering, which focuses on metal and psychedelic music with a sprinkling of other genres, will run August 19-21, with a pre-party set for August 18. Psycho debuted at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2018, spending its first three years there before moving to Mandalay Bay for its 2019 and 2021 editions. Also unveiled: more than 50 acts on the bill, topped by Danish metal veterans Mercyful Fate, longtime California band Suicidal Tendencies and Norwegian metal favorites Emperor. Among other notable names on the lineup are Wu-Tang Clan rappers GZA, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, English death-metal band Carcass, Japanese drone-rock outfit Boris, Brooklyn black-metal act Liturgy and singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler. Tickets for the festival cost $349 plus taxes and fees and can be purchased at vivapsycho. com. Psycho Swim passes ($99 plus taxes and fees) are available at the same site. For the complete lineup, go to lasvegasweekly. com. –LVW Staff

IN THE NEWS

QUOTE WEEK OF THE

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MUSIC

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MESSAGE OF HOPE Nevada opioid-settlement money funds recovery programs like Empowered at Roseman University BY SHANNON MILLER

H E A L T H

antana sees her baby twice a week, for an hour at a time. Celebrating the milestone of 30 days of sobriety, she says her 8-month-old daughter motivates her to build a brighter future. The 32-year-old mother of three, who declined to provide her last name when interviewed, lives in a Las Vegas homeless shelter. A program at Henderson-based Roseman University provides her with transportation to visit her baby in foster care, and with general help getting back on her feet while struggling with addiction and working toward recovery. Santana says she has made several efforts to stop using methamphetamine and hopes to get custody back. But, having developed her addiction as a young adult and been homeless on-and-off since, she knows there are several obstacles she must still overcome. “When I had my babies, I didn’t know how to live like a regular person,” says Santana, who’s also mother to twins who live with relatives in California. “I didn’t have work, I didn’t have documents,” she says. “Nobody was helping me. I felt like I was just getting the runaround. Having structure and a job just was not for me.” Many people with addiction issues encounter barriers that can make it seem impossible to break the cycle,

leaving little hope for successful recoveries and driving them back to their old habits. The pandemic didn’t make recovery any easier. According to reports from UNR-based Overdose Data to Action, opioid overdose deaths among Nevada residents increased 76% from 2019 to 2020, while emergency-room visits increased 15% for drug overdoses and 41% for opioid overdoses in 2020. And unintentional overdoses involving any drug were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in 2020, accounting for nearly 25% during that span. With the opioid epidemic raging in Nevada and across the country, providers are starting to zero in on barriers to recovery. Focus has shifted to social determinants of health that are beyond the patient’s control—housing, transportation, food, financial stability and childcare—and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In January, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced that the state would receive $285.2 million from two legal settlements and a federal grant, which will go toward programs that help mitigate the opioid epidemic. Empowered at Roseman, which helps pregnant and postnatal moms with opioid and stimulant use disorders, is one such program. Executive Director Dr. Andria Peterson says it emphasizes not just recovery but

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daughter due to COVID-related visitation restrictions. “[Empowered] helped me get somewhere to sleep … I was having a hard time about the guilt of another child born into the system because of me. I just was really appreciative of that.” Now that pandemic restrictions have lessened, she says, she sees her baby twice a week. She says it feels good to have help getting things done, like getting over to the Social Security office to acquire vital paperwork. Peterson stresses the importance of providing support during and after pregnancy, when women are prone to postpartum depression and other stressors that can trigger relapses and sometimes deadly overdoses. “The further out that you get postpartum, the higher the risk, because then it’s compounded by things like postpartum depression,” she says. “You’ll have somebody who had a substance use disorder … if they relapse and use the same amount they were using previously … then they’re at high risk for overdose.” To educate providers on best protocols for treating pregnant and postpartum women with addictions, Peterson has worked with the Nevada Reproductive Health Network to get obstetricians and hospital networks on the same page for implementing requirements for screening, initiating intervention and connecting patients with resources. With some help, Santana can keep working toward her goal—a stable life for her and all three children under one roof. “I just have this dream of me getting somewhere to stay like an apartment, having a car and having my life together,” Santana says. “Hopefully, in a year, my baby can be with me. And my family [will be able to] see that I’m doing good. … Then maybe, they’ll let [my twins] come over, because I don’t want them to be raised separately. I want them to be raised together.”

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NEWS

(Shutterstock/ Photo Illustration)

also supporting patients through stabilization and resiliency. A pharmacist for 12 years in a local newborn intensive care unit, Peterson says she noticed “huge influxes” of infants being treated for neonatal abstinence syndrome, or withdrawal, around 2015. Those babies and moms would benefit from a support system to connect them with resources for immediate and long-term needs, she determined. Thus, Empowered was born. Since its launch in 2018, the grant-funded program has helped more than 275 women, with 30 women currently in its care. Through Empowered, mothers like Santana can receive assistance navigating resources in the community, along with individual and group therapy and peer support. There’s also a household-centered home visitation program that concentrates on the entire household to address social determinants to health that can impact recovery. Peterson says the program meets clients somewhere convenient for them—the Empowered office, an obstetrician’s office, treatment centers, the library, their homes or homeless shelters. Santana says the Empowered’s supportive, non-judgmental approach has made a big difference as she continues on her path to stability. After moving to Las Vegas one year ago, she enrolled in a local transitional treatment program, gave birth to her daughter, graduated from the residential program and began hunting for a job. But the stress of being a new mom, obtaining identification and employment documents and adjusting to a new lifestyle triggered a relapse, she says. Four months after she gave birth, family services took her baby daughter. “Being an addict, I have a lot of wreckage in my past. There’s not many people that care to help me out, in my situation,” Santana says, adding that she wasn’t allowed to see her

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ENERGY BOOST Virgin fires up its concert and pool-party engines heading into springtime BY BROCK RADKE

Élia Beach Club (Alex Jerome/Courtesy)

irgin Hotels Las Vegas made its debut one year ago this month, and like two other new resorts that have opened during the pandemic—Circa in Downtown Las Vegas and Resorts World on the Strip—it had challenges to overcome. But locals and tourists who have visited Virgin in recent months have noticed a substantially energized destination with busier restaurants and bustling entertainment offerings. After the 4,500-seat Theater at Virgin came alive in the fall with consistent concert programming, the pieces started to

come together, and now Vegas is getting a taste of the new resort that was promised, with all of its venues operating together. “We’ve been working toward figuring out what life looks like post-pandemic, and how to create buzz and get that energy back into the property,” says Gary Scott, COO of Virgin’s ownership group JC Hospitality. “We had to educate the Vegas tourist a bit about the brand, and like every property, we’ve struggled with virtually no group business and little international travel. You name it, we really got to experience the hardest aspects of opening during the pandemic.”

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THE STRIP

The Theater—set to host concerts from Incubus (March 25-26) and Alt-J and Portugal. The Man (April 3) before a Premiere Boxing Champions event on April 9—has been essential in driving traffic to the off-Strip resort, but the 650-capacity 24 Oxford entertainment space recently stacked its calendar with diverse programming, too. Two March 11 jazz performances by actor Jeff Goldblum sold out and were met with acclaim , and touring acts like alt-rockers 10 Years (April 8), rapper Rittz (April 12) and electronic group The Avalanches (April 13) are on the way.

A key operational change is expected to amp up the experience at Élia Beach Club for its second spring and summer season. The hotel is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, and that big-name company was operating the pool space when Virgin opened, with daylife programming designed by veteran club executives Mio Danilovic, Jason “JRoc” Craig and Michael Fuller. That team is still in place, but now the Wish You Were Here Group, which operates the Kassi Beach House restaurant, will oversee operations at Élia. “We recognized a need to focus on programming and content,” Scott says. “It’s a beautiful venue

that feels like you’re on a Mykonos beach. We said, let’s focus on diversifying the programming and cast a wider net.” The dayclub simply requires “a very different operation skill set,” says Nick Mathers, founder of Wish You Were Here. “I think with the success of Kassi and everyone learning which operators they wanted to work with and who was making a mark at the hotel, they wanted us to work with the guys from last year and help guide [the club] through the things that work and didn’t work. “It’s a huge compliment for these amazing operators to give us more of the property to work

with,” Mathers adds. Élia, which reopened on March 18, will make its first big pool-season splash when Snoop Dogg performs on April 2. Expect other live performances there from artists running the gamut, from hip-hop to country to Latin music mixing into DJ offerings. “We really want to venture into different formats for Vegas, and we’re not trying to go up against other venues that have the deepest pockets,” Mathers says. “Virgin is still new to a lot of people who haven’t been to Vegas in the last 12 months—people from outside the country—and they’re ready for new experiences.”

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C U L T U R E

HIP-HOP HOO Tory Lanez at Drai’s (Courtesy Radis Denphutaraphrechar)

3.24.22

RAY

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

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Rappers are taking over the Vegas club scene this month BY BROCK RADKE Hip-hop is always a major part of the soundtrack of the Las Vegas Strip, but sometimes it just takes over. An assortment of artists have been slipping into Vegas club gigs recently, including Jack Harlow, Ludacris, O.T. Genasis, Tyga, 50 Cent, G-Eazy, Rick Ross and Gucci Mane. Diverse sounds are bleeding through now that pool clubs are open, nearly doubling the Strip’s count of weekend party venues. And when summer starts sneaking in, we’ll see appearances by Flo Rida at Tao Beach (May 1) and trap producer Murda Beatz at Jewel (April 29). But you won’t have to wait. There’s a parade of hitmaking hip-hop artists descending on Vegas clubs right now. You just have to decide who you want to party with.

JA RULE There are two things we know about Ja Rule. One is, he’s never had a problem finding different products to endorse, from the infamous Fyre Festival to his new NFT project Club Cards. But we also know he’s a powerful force when he hits the stage, especially in Las Vegas, where he seems to draw especially lit and large crowds. Find him this time at the Cosmopolitan, then he’ll be back for NFL Draft weekend at Jewel and again at the Lovers & Friends Festival in May. March 25 at Marquee Nightclub, events.taogroup.com. SAINT JHN This legendarily fit and fashionable 35-year-old rapper, singer, songwriter and producer is finally ready to hit the road again after COVID delayed his 2020 tour plans. With irresistible elements of dancehall and R&B embedded in his music, Saint Jhn is riding high on new single “The Best Part of Life” and ready to bring a truly unique performance to a place that embraces fresh sounds, Light at Mandalay Bay. March 25 at Light Nightclub, thelightvegas.com.

BIA Now that she has transcended her breakthrough origins on TV’s Sisterhood of Hip Hop, collaborated with J Balvin and Nicki Minaj and been endorsed by Pharrell Williams and Rihanna, Bia is ready for bigger and better ... like the March Madness Music Festival in New Orleans the first weekend in April, or consistent Las Vegas Strip bashes at Jewel at Aria. March 25 at Jewel Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. 2 CHAINZ The Atlanta powerhouse is one of the headlining stars who helped re-establish Drai’s dominance in live Vegas nightclub performances after COVID subsided. Now 2 Chainz is ready to drop the deluxe edition of February album Dope Don’t Sell Itself with five new tracks, including a “hard as hell” collaboration with none other than Justin Bieber. Those are his words, not ours, but we have no reason to doubt him. March 26 at Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com. MUSTARD Megaproducer Mustard was already an established force in the Vegas club landscape, thanks to frequent residency gigs at Light, Daylight at Tao. Thanks to last year’s nightlife industry super-merger, the man behind Migos’ “Pure Water,” YG’s “Left, Right” and so many other hits will be taking his talents to all sorts of venues this year, including Jewel, Hakkasan, Tao Beach, and his next destination, Marquee. March 26 at Marquee Nightclub, events.taogroup.com.

NIGHTS

TORY LANEZ The controversial Canadian rapper remains embroiled in legal issues with Megan Thee Stallion and was recently accused of illegal sampling by George Michael’s estate, but he also just dropped the single and video “Cap,” which he might perform twice for night and day shows at the Cromwell’s rooftop hot spot. March 25 at Drai’s Nightclub, March 26 at Drai’s Beachclub, draisgroup.com.

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

3.24.22 ARLO PARKS Opening for Clairo. March 28, 7 p.m., $35-$60, House of Blues, house ofblues.com.

AND

OBSERVING ABSORBING Grammy nominee Arlo Parks keeps her eyes and ears open at all times

C U L T U R E

BY AMBER SAMPSON It’s impossible to ignore the meteoric rise of Arlo Parks. In just four years, the West London singer-songwriter and poet went from sending her demos to a BBC Radio platform for unsigned artists to earning Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. The 21-year-old speaks from the heart, to a generation undoubtedly marred by mental-health struggles and the unfulfilled cravings of love. She remains unguarded throughout debut album Collapsed Sunbeams, even as she bitterly sings about an unrequited love, even as she calls attention to the girlfriend who won’t hold her hand in public. The Weekly checked in with Parks, who’ll open for viral pop sensation Clairo on March 28 at the House of Blues, to talk about the art of observing, bearing it all in her music and more. What was your immediate reaction to your Grammy nominations? I was pretty shocked. … It affirms me in this really particular way. It makes me

feel like I can make music that is to my taste and I can trust my instincts and that people appreciate me for who I am. That’s a beautiful feeling. A lot of Collapsed Sunbeams is pulled from your own journals, touching on love, loss and even mental-health issues. At any point did you resist revealing such private thoughts? My writing, it’s never calculated. I literally just feel something, and I write it down. I was in my apartment when we made Collapsing Sunbeams, and I just had all my journals with me. I knew I wanted to make an album that tracks the journey of who I am today. I wanted it to have this coming-of-age feel to it, [and] it all fell into place. “Black Dog” is an emotional song about a severely depressed friend of yours. How has it been translating a song like that to a live audience? It’s almost taken on a new meaning, because when [the audience and I] sing it together, I can see how

much it means to people and how it’s almost beyond me. I feel less alone in my own experience, which is really beautiful. It feels different on different nights. Sometimes it’s cathartic. Sometimes I can’t tap into the feelings. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. Sometimes it’s joyful. But I always feel a lot when I’m onstage. Do you have any advice for fans who might be going through some of these heavier things? If you need help, even though it’s difficult, know that it’s always deserved, and when you’re ready, ask for it. A big thing that perpetuates mental-health problems or feeling low or feeling alone is that sense of shame and feeling like you’re the only one. Help is there and available for you. A big thing that’s helped me when I’m not feeling too great is finding something I can do as a distraction or that I enjoy, whether it’s painting, journaling, riding a bike through the forest, going for a walk with your dog—pick one nice thing to do for yourself each day. It can be as simple as making a cup of tea, and try and build it into a routine.

“Caroline” is about a couple’s fight that you observed. How vital is the act of observation to your creative process? I like to describe it as always keeping the antenna up. I always keep my eyes and ears open when I’m moving through the world, and I’m always writing notes on fragments that I may overhear, or a character that I see, or a conversation at a party. Being open and perceptive and aware is a big part of what makes me the kind of writer that I am. Because it’s about people, at the end of the day. I just love people. I love understanding what makes them tick and what makes them happy, and how relationships form and dissolve. A lot of that, for me, is just being open and paying attention to what’s going on. You’ve said absorption is integral to your creative process. What have you been listening to lately? I’ve been listening to the new Big Thief record a lot, which has been really amazing. I love Adrienne Lenker’s voice, and her songwriting is really ... how do I even describe it? It just feels so empathetic and abstract but also hyper-specific. I’ve got this podcast that I’m starting, so I’m trying to listen to the artists I have on. I was revisiting St. Vincent’s last record, the new Mitski record, a lot of Massive Attack and Portishead. I’m listening to a lot of Yves Tumor and reading a lot. I just got a bunch of fashion books from Barnes & Noble. I got a Martin Margiela one, I got this ’80s skateboarding photography book. I’m always rummaging around like a little mole (laughs).

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY 3.24.22

NOISE

Arlo Parks (Courtesy/Transgressive)

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

3.24.22

PLACE OF CREATION C U L U T R E

Barrick Museum’s Spirit of the Land exhibit honors Avi Kwa Ame through community perspectives

3.24.22

BY SHANNON MILLER

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always been our tradition, and it still is to this day,” says Jackson, a teacher and field guide with the tribe. “A lot of it is getting lost. There’s not enough education.” Jackson’s paintings in the exhibit portray the land as the “place of creation” for the Mojave and other Yuman-speaking tribes that reside around the Colorado River where modern-day Southern California, Nevada and Arizona meet. “We believe that the mountains, in the first times, were our guardians, because they

were alive.” Jackson says. “They took care of us by having natural spring water, … animals, different types of fruits and vegetables to eat. They were our protectors.” From dumping trash to using ancient petroglyphs for paintball target practice (or breaking them off entirely for souvenirs) to flying drones over sacred land formations without legal permission— and sharing the location so that off-roaders can find it—the land has been desecrated in ways that are irreversible, Jackson says. After generations of Fort Mojave tribe members have fought to protect the land, a bill introduced to Congress in February could further push for lasting preservation of the area, should President Biden sign and designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. The exhibit’s curators say the status of the land concerns not only the tribe, but also rural and urban residents, visitors,

(Left) Alan O’Neill’s “Treasures From the Land”

recreationists and environmental groups who all enjoy it. That multitude of perspectives can be seen in the exhibit, which runs simultaneously at Searchlight Community Center and will migrate to Laughlin Library in April. Its display of “community postcards” includes more than 175 entries from a range of groups—off-road enthusiasts, park rangers, and city dwellers— interpreting the landscape with photos, paintings and poetry on the backs of postcards. “We all have a different relationship to this place, but we all validly love [it],” co-curator Kim Garrison Means says. “It’s been very powerful for residents of the rural communities and residents of Fort Mojave and other tribal communities that are helping us and the people of the city to all see that. And then we can start communicating with each other on the important issues.”

(Above) Sharon Schaefer’s “Dawn Watch”

(Opposite page) Naida Osline’s “What Is Above Is Below”

(Photos courtesy of the artists)

ART

hoes, beverage cans, shell casings, undergarments and fragments of holiday ornaments are piled up inside Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art. The mountain of trash represents Spirit Mountain, the main geological feature within the proposed Avi Kwa Ame national monument south of Las Vegas near Searchlight. Curators of Barrick’s Spirit of the Land exhibit explain that artists and volunteers collected the installation’s materials from 800 trees at the base of the mountain over the past year—remains from a ritual dating back to the 1980s, when locals named the area “Christmas Tree Pass” and began adorning it with festive “decorations.” Curators say they hope the exhibit raises awareness about Avi Kwa Ame and sparks a conversation about how humans view their outings in the desert, and how they can affect others who belong to the land. Paul Jackson of the Fort Mojave Tribe, one of Spirit of the Land’s 50 participating artists, says appreciation is critical to preserving the landscape and sacred rituals. “Communication and protection of the animals and plants has

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

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3.24.22

MUNCH ON MUCH Dispensary-adjacent Trece has something tasty for almost any craving

C U L T U R E

BY GEOFF CARTER

3.24.22

TRECE EATERY + SPIRITS 2548 W. Desert Inn Road, 702-665-6701, trecelasvegas. com. Thursday–Monday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

The entrees are similarly diverse. If you’re baked just enough to be ravenous but not quite enough to stuff yourself silly, you can tuck into healthy-choice items like Trece’s protein bowls, loaded with roasted corn, black beans, pico de gallo, steamed rice and your choice of proteins from shrimp to blackened chicken ($17-$21), or the Planet Grain salad, with its medley of baby kale, farro, quinoa, cucumber, shaved radishes, cherry tomatoes and a balsamic vinaigrette ($14). Or you could jump right into the rib-stickers, of which Trece has many. Consider the shrimp and lobster pappardelle ($24) served in a creamy cognac sauce. Or the flaming fajitas, which come with your choice of chicken, beef, shrimp or veggies, and with house-made corn or flour tortillas ($18$23). And don’t sleep on the Southern classics, which include chicken and waffles ($21), shrimp and grits ($24) and a Cajun spice-rubbed half rotisserie chicken ($23), plated with creamy garlic mashed potatoes. Add to these a selection of mimosas in flavors including blood orange, lychee and desert pear ($10-$12, available bottomless on weekend from $20$25) and a dessert menu that runs the gamut from cannoli to fried ice cream to dulce de leche flan, and you’ve got a more than a few decisions to make. Trece’s kitchen, in deference to your likely state of happy, floaty, snacky euphoria, strives to make all those choices worth your while.

(Left) Trece’s chicken and waffles and (above) grilled lamb chops (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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Rebellion Pizza’s Inspirada Pie (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

REBELLION’S

SLICE SATISFACTION

n Spring officially arrived on March 16 for me this year. That was the day I ate one of my best-ever slices of cheese pizza in a perfect place, instantly taking me back to some of my first sunny days in Las Vegas when I would hop on my bicycle and pedal to the neighborhood pizzeria for this exact bite. Nostalgia can be so delicious. But it’s not as tasty as the pie at Rebellion Pizza inside Anthem, a new shop with a fantastic, locals-only beer list and easygoing style from former Pizza Rock manager Ricky Lewis. It opened last summer and began building buzz in its Henderson neighborhood, and now the secret is out: The stellar local pizza scene has a serious new challenger. My New York-style slice was heavenly, crispyscorched cheese bubbles on top giving way to sweet, acidic tomatoes and a crackly-to-chewy bite of crust. One wonderful slab ($8 with a fountain drink) was enough for lunch, but I still had a second slice loaded with pepperoni and meatballs; I couldn’t stop myself. Rebellion’s specialty pies include the Inspirada ($14-$22), with sausage, onion, arugula and spicy chili oil; a tomato-free spinach and artichoke with garlic and ricotta ($13-$21); and a limited supply of Sicilian pizza ($25-$27) on a fluffy focaccia-like dough. Salads, Buffalo wings ($11) and a classic Italian hero ($13) or meatball sub ($14) cover all the bases. Now I just have to move somewhere within a brief bike ride’s distance. –Brock Radke REBELLION PIZZA 2540 Anthem Village Drive #100, 702-2688268. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

FOOD & DRINK

ounges dedicated to the legal consumption of cannabis should begin to appear around the Valley later this year, but none will likely have the inside advantage Planet 13 already enjoys. Once the sprawling “cannabis superstore and entertainment complex” opens its two-story, 8,500-square-foot consumption lounge, it will have a remedy at the ready for the post-consumption munchies destined to ensue. Trece Eatery + Spirits, located just inside Planet 13’s front doors, is that remedy, and it’s an ambitious one. The airy, greenhouse-like dining room is big, which it has to be to accommodate a menu that encompasses seafood, salads, burgers, breakfast items, Southern-inspired items, Mexican food, desserts, cocktails and pizza. Even someone who hasn’t partaken of cannabis in a month might feel slightly intoxicated by the wealth of offerings on executive chef Manny Sanchez’s menu. The “shareables” appetizer menu alone includes a flaming chili con queso ($12), served in a castiron skillet; fried calamari ($15), with roasted poblanos and Old Bay aioli; pan-seared tiger shrimp wrapped in bacon ($14); buttermilk chicken tenders with your choice of sweet, savory or creamy dips ($13); and a hummus and veggies plate with garlic flatbread and toasted pumpkin seeds ($12). You could easily make a meal without leaving that section, and many folks probably do.

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

3.24.22

BUDDY MOVIE

C U L T U R E

The Raiders open free agency by reuniting former college teammates Derek Carr and Davante Adams

3.24.22

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

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BY CASE KEEFER

(Left) Davante Adams in Green Bay; (right) Derek Carr looks on as Adams kisses the Mountain West trophy in the second half of a December 2013 game between Fresno State and Utah State. (AP Photo/Photo Illustration)

All three teams chasing the Kansas City Chiefs, who have won the division for six straight years, upgraded massively this offseason. The Raiders were the last to do so, following in the footsteps of the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers. Denver traded a pair of first- and second-round picks and a package of players to the Seattle Seahawks for former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson. LA went on a spending spree to upgrade a defense that faded last season, acquiring former Raider linebacker Khalil Mack, among others. Now, there’s an argument to be made that the Raiders bested both of those rivals, assuming the connection between Carr and Adams proves as powerful as the two have described over the years. They’ve called one-another best friends and publicly expressed interest in playing together again. Comparing receivers to Adams in training camp has become the de facto free square on the Carr bingo card in recent years. Carr has said tight end Darren Waller had the best game-breaking ability of anyone with whom he had played since Adams. He said his relationship with slot receiver Hunter Renfrow was the strongest of anyone since Adams. And he compared No. 2 receiver Bryan Edwards’ ball skills and physicality to Adams’. Defenders of Carr’s losing record have often cited that he’s rarely had a great arsenal of weapons around him, if ever. His brother and former NFL quarterback David Carr drew the ire of Raiders owner Mark Davis this offseason when he told NFL Network, “There has to be a commitment from the organization that they’re going to give him what he needs to succeed.”

Now, there can be no insinuations that Carr’s shortcomings fall on the Raiders, considering the team acquired the quarterback’s dream target to top a group that will still include the aforementioned receiving trio. Upon acquiring Adams from Green Bay, Las Vegas signed him to the richest contract for a receiver in NFL history, a 5-year, $140 million deal with $67.5 million guaranteed. An extension for Carr, who’s going into the final year of his current deal, seems sure to follow. Locking up that duo reflects the Raiders’ commitment to build on the success of last season, when they made the playoffs and narrowly fell to the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals in the first round. Carr and Adams will play the largest role in determining whether Las Vegas returns to the postseason, and it shouldn’t hurt that they’ll have something to prove from a personal perspective, too.

OTHER KEY

RAIDERS’ ACQUISTIONS

Chandler Jones, defensive end The 32-year-old Jones sits 25th all-time in the NFL record book with 107.5 sacks during 10 seasons split between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals. The Raiders signed him to a three-year, $51 million contract to start free agency, in part because of his strong relationship with new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, dating back to their time with the Patriots. Between Adams and Jones, Las Vegas added two likely future Hall of Famers this offseason. Rock Ya-Sin, cornerback In order to make room for Jones, the Raiders traded away last year’s team captain/star edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for Ya-Sin. The 25-yearold has started games in each of the last three seasons with solid, albeit inconsistent, results after being taken in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Temple. Bilal Nichols, defensive tackle The Raiders signed the former Chicago Bear to a two-year, $11 million contract. The 25-yearold, four-year veteran will most likely be the lone starting interior linemen in the Raiders’ new base defense, between a pair of All-Pro edge rushers in Jones and Maxx Crosby.

SPORTS

erek Carr and Davante Adams ended their decorated collegiate careers in disappointing fashion when USC blew out their Fresno State team at the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl. Little did the quarterback/wide receiver duo know back then that, nearly a decade later, they’d have a chance to reunite in Las Vegas for what could be the brightest stretch of their time as professional athletes. The Raiders’ trade with the Green Bay Packers for Adams—in exchange for their first two picks in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft— makes it possible. Expecting the Adams-Carr reunion to push both players’ production to another level, as they once did in college, might be unrealistic, given their eight combined Pro Bowl nods (five for Adams, three for Carr). And yet, both Carr and Adams’ success has always come with caveats. Carr’s sterling statistics have often been glossed over because of his 57-70 win-loss record as a starter and lack of a playoff victory. Adams has received more respect, earning consensus recognition as the NFL’s best receiver the past two seasons, but many wonder what his numbers might look like without back-to-back defending MVP winner Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. Both Carr and Adams have the chance to put those questions to rest next season at Allegiant Stadium, the $2 billion venue that was three years away from even being an idea when the two last played together at Sam Boyd Stadium. The trade for Adams marks one of the biggest moves in Raiders franchise history and makes for quite the welcoming gift to fans from new general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels. It could help them keep pace in an AFC West that many are already calling the toughest division ever assembled in the NFL.

VEGAS INC BUSINESS

3.24.22

INDUSTRY

CLARK COUNTY MAKES PUSH TO MARKET NONGAMING OPPORTUNITIES TO BUSINESSES OUTSIDE STATE

BY BRYAN HORWATH VEGAS INC STAFF

s Clark County leaders work to help diversify the region’s tourism-heavy economy, an outsourcing arrangement is at the forefront of those efforts for its unincorporated areas. The county is working with North Star, a place branding firm out of Tennessee, to provide an “economic development brand” and marketing program to help peg unincorporated Clark County as a desirable place to do business. North Star is charged with creating a plan that would make unincorporated Clark County—which includes the Strip, UNLV, Harry Reid International Airport and outlier Las Vegas communities such as Spring Valley and Paradise—attractive to those who might be interested in moving a business, or starting one, here. North Star has produced a slogan—“bright beyond the lights”—and plans to soon reveal a new logo for the county. The agreement calls for North Star to receive about $350,000 for the work. “The county has a vision; we’re just helping to implement it,” said Will Ketchum, president of North Star. “Gaming has made Las Vegas, but it’s also a dominant industry, and any community with a dominant industry is wise to make long-term plans to diversify around it. You don’t want to have too many eggs in one basket. There are segments like health services and transportation and logistics that

Clark County can really grow into.” Much of the effort is focused on California residents, said Shani Coleman, director of community and economic development for Clark County. She said she gets weekly calls from California business owners who express interest in what Clark County has to offer. One of the draws for California transplants continues to be the cost of living in the Las Vegas Valley, including home prices. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, more than 122,000 Californians moved to Nevada from 2015 through 2019. In December, the median sales

price for an existing home in the six-county region that includes LA was close to $698,000, according to real estate data firm DQ News. In Las Vegas for that same month, the median price for a home was $425,000, according to the Las Vegas Realtors trade organization. “A person in California could have a business or relocate their home to Clark County and have a lower cost of living and better quality of life,” Coleman said. “That’s what we want to hone in on.” Since around 24 million people live in the Southern California region—

Shani Coleman, director of community and economic development for Clark County (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

where wildfire dangers and traffic congestion also exist—there’s likely to be many more who will make the switch in the coming years. “Southern California has been reaching out to us for a while,” Coleman said. “From our research, we know people understand what Las Vegas is, they just maybe don’t know what’s beyond Las Vegas. Some people don’t realize that, yes, we have real neighborhoods.” In late 2020, the county commissioned a study to look at what its economy needs to adapt and grow. In that 96-page report, provided by government and industry think tank SRI International, it was noted that the area’s economy “remains dominated by low-wage and low-skill occupations such as food preparation and serving, and retail sales.” When economic conditions in the U.S. go sideways, people have less money to spend on things like dinners out, trips to casinos and, of course, visits to Las Vegas, which means the economy in Southern Nevada suffers. Just in the past 15 years, that has proven true twice—during the Great Recession and during the pandemic-induced economic downturn. To help in the marketing effort, North Star subcontracted with the New York firm Development Counsellors International, which has worked with states like Florida and Texas and cities such as Seattle and Cincinnati. Kat Saunders, a senior vice president with DCI, said her firm specializes in economic development. “Quality of life is important, and that’s something that Clark County offers,” Saunders said. She and Coleman both said the array of sports entertainment options in Las Vegas can be a draw for many. “People can come to Clark County and have all the amenities that they’d have in a city like Los Angeles or New York,” Saunders said. “We’re taking those types of stories outside of Southern Nevada, where people there already know what they have.”

VEGAS INC BUSINESS

3.24.22

VegasInc Notes CenterWell Senior Primary Care announced the addition of Dr. Charles Wilson to serve patients in its newest location at 6360 Boulder Highway. Wilson is board-certified in Wilson family medicine and has been practicing for the last 25 years as a doctor of osteopathic medicine. CenterWell also welcomed two new bilingual physicians to its Henderson center, including Dr. Angela OrtegaOrtega-Bermudez Bermudez and Dr. Clarissa BarrettoKo. With more than 29 years’ shared experience, both doctors will be serving patients, including those speaking Spanish and Tagalog. Corcoran Global Living announced

BarrettoKo

that Kolton Villa and Nikki Falzone, owners of 1RealEstate Agency, joined the firm’s Las Vegas operation. Their team will work to further expand on the company’s growth across Nevada, California and Ohio. Coreprime, a Nevada-based commercial insurance brokerage specializing in the design and management of employee benefit programs for companies, announced Stacey Sheer joined Sheer the firm as benefits account manager. In her role, Sheer will develop client proposals for potential new business, coordinate program renewals for existing clients and manage accounts to ensure clients’ benefit needs are met. Allegiant Electric appointed industry-certified journeyman electrician Mark Rogge as the company’s project manager. Rogge has spent the entirety of his career in the electrical industry, acquiring over 30 years of experience in both field service and superintendence.

The Nevada Cannabis Association, previously the Nevada Dispensary Association, named Brandon Wiegand as its new president. Wiegand, chief commercial officer for the NevaWiegand da-based cannabis operator The Source, has been a member of the NCA since 2015 and has served as a board member since 2019. Comprehensive Cancer Centers announced Dr. Andrew Cohen, a radiation oncologist, was named practice president. Cohen joins executive director Jon Bilstein as part of Cohen company leadership. He is preceded in his practice presidency by Dr. Rupesh Parikh, who continues to treat patients at Comprehensive as a medical oncologist. Additionally, Comprehensive breast El-Eid surgeon Dr. Souzan El-Eid was named an interim member of the Summerlin Hospital medical executive committee. A principal in-

vestigator for several clinical research trials, El-Eid serves as the medical director of the Breast Care Center and co-chair/co-moderator of the Breast Tumor Board at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. She is also the secretary of the Nevada Oncology Society. Vegas PBS hired Terry Chi as its director of digital marketing. She will oversee several teams, including communications, branding and digital projects, across print and digital media. She also manages the development of original content and online marketing campaigns that drive member donations and increase brand awareness. Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance announced that Tina Quigley was named president and CEO, and is the first woman to lead the organization. Quigley previously served as CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, where she led the region’s public transportation, traffic management center, road construction and funding, and regional planning. She began her career as a planner at Harry Reid International Airport, where she eventually oversaw the major capital projects program. Desert Radiology welcomed two physicians and a physician assistant to its team: Drs. Hakeem Hindi and Jon Olson, and Michael Hernandez.

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HOROSCOPES

WEEK OF MARCH 24 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Carib people from Surinam quote their mysterious Snake Spirit as follows: “I am the force of the spirit of the lightning eel, the thunder ax, the stone. I am the force of the firefly; thunder and lightning have I created.” I suspect you will have access to comparable powers in the coming weeks. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): On some occasions, it’s wise to withdraw your energy from a project or relationship you’ve been working on. Struggling to find relevance and redemption may reach a limit. However, I don’t think that now is one of those times for you, Taurus. According to my reading of the astrological omens, it is too early for you to quit. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): If you and the members of your crew focus on coordinating your efforts, you could accomplish blazing amazements in the coming weeks. You may solve riddles that none of you has been able to decipher alone. You can synergize your efforts in such a way that everyone’s individual fate will be lifted up. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Poet William Wordsworth wrote, “Every great and original writer must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished.” That’s what I hope you will work on in the coming weeks: fostering an ambiance in which you can be even better understood and appreciated. You now have extra power to teach people how to value and get the best out of you. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I’d love it if I could permanently authorize you to avoid all activities that distract you from thinking big thoughts and feeling rich emotions and pursuing expansive adventures. But I’m afraid I can only exempt you from the nagging small stuff for just the next three weeks or so—four, tops. After that, you’ll have to do the dishes and make the beds again. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the coming weeks, Virgo, you could be noticed in new ways for what you do well. Your secret or unknown talents may be discovered or revealed. You might get invitations to show more of who you really are. Be alert for such opportunities.

2020 KING FEATURES SYNDICATE ACROSS 1 Not quite first-rate 7 “Patience — virtue” 10 Car tankful 13 Collie of TV 19 Cattle farm of the West 20 Trumpet blast 22 Singer and actor Frankie 23 When it’s 12:00 p.m. 24 Element #3 25 Japanese city that hosted the 1998 Olympics 26 Start of a riddle 29 Japanese buckwheat noodle 30 Dr. Seuss’ Sam- — 31 Amo, amas, — 32 Addams Family cousin 35 Riddle, part 2 43 Faint smell 45 Foldout bed 46 Co-workers of MDs 47 Stalactite site 48 Florence’s river 49 Total amount 51 “Scram!” 52 Minecraft and StarCraft, e.g. 55 Riddle, part 3 60 Brief promos 61 Triceps’ place 62 Pop’s Celine 63 See 58-Down 66 Bullfighter 67 Riddle, part 4 70 Put a new front on, as a building 72 Unbroken 73 Recognized 75 With 59-Down, brand of frozen potatoes

76 77 81 84 85 86 87 88

Famously feisty fish Riddle, part 5 Oval shape Dejected “Who am — judge?” Secret writing Postal pieces Detectives like TV’s Magnum, for short 89 Karachi’s nation: Abbr. 91 Very long time periods 92 End of the riddle 99 Disloyal type 100 Impulsive desire 101 Illusionist Geller 102 Like planted seeds 104 Riddle’s answer 113 Enter very quickly 114 Novelist Caldwell 115 Common gauge for toy trains 116 “Despite that ...” 117 Gets smaller 118 Happy Days actress Ross 119 Bunks on ships 120 Mil. ranker 121 Gym pad 122 Hole to receive a lace DOWN 1 Bird’s crop 2 Trellis strip 3 Noelle star Kendrick 4 Glasgow natives 5 Grandstander 6 Chimpanzee variety 7 “— have to wait” 8 Got married 9 Lure for insect extermination 10 The earth as a goddess

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 27 28 32 33 34 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 44 49 50 51 52 53 54 56 57 58 59

Cut — (dance) Pago Pago people Meteor actor Martin 1972 Billy Wilder comedy film Long, involved story Shut loudly Actress Skye of Stranded Grammy winner Brian “— the breaks!” Former Egypt-Syr. alliance Texter’s “Holy smokes!” “Let me!” Bases-loaded situation Lightweight kitchen utensils Peak Chicago daily, in brief Global: Abbr. Mark for life Easter meat Adam’s mate — Moines Bob of choreography Tahitian skirts Package delivery co. Carpentry material for some cabinets Chi follower Spicy Spanish pork sausage Taxonomic subdivisions Become lively Cheer yell With 63-Across, for the time being See 75-Across

63 Oven used to bake naan 64 Spiny anteater 65 Most unkind 67 Conservation org. with a panda logo 68 Pooch’s yap 69 Big blue body 71 Genre of many sitcoms 74 Wide shoe spec 76 Mining shaft 77 Higher ground? 78 “You wish!” 79 Condé — 80 User-edited website 81 Rescue squad VIP 82 “— -di-dah!” 83 False story 88 Projecting curves on saddles 89 By the day 90 Huffington of HuffPost 91 So to speak 93 Wise-acting 94 Thick-skinned critters 95 Day, in Chile 96 Studly guys 97 Abbr. on a bad check 98 End a vacation 103 Mother-of-pearl 104 Surfing need 105 Cake finisher 106 Holy Week’s time 107 Eldest of the Brady boys 108 Helper: Abbr. 109 For fear that 110 Half a train track 111 — gin fizz 112 Camp shelter 113 Yank’s rival

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It’s the start of Listening Season for you. I propose a full-on celebration of listening: a three-week Holiday of Paying Close Attention to Important and Interesting Words Being Said in Your Vicinity. Make yourself a magnet for useful revelations. Be alert for the rich information that becomes available as you show the world you would love to know more of its secrets. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): At its best, worrying prompts us to imagine constructive actions we might take to forestall potential disruptions—and maybe even prevent them from erupting into actual disruptions. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to engage in this kind of pondering. I declare the next three weeks to be your Season of Productive Worrying. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If I had my way, you’d be a connoisseur of kisses in the coming weeks. You’d make it your intention to expand your repertoire of kissing styles and ask willing partners to do the same. Are you interested in pursuing this challenge? It will be best accomplished through unhurried, playful, luxurious efforts. There’s no goal except to have experimental fun. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days,” wrote author Flannery O’Connor. Her observation may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. I encourage you to enjoy a deep dive into your memories of your young years. They have superb secrets to divulge. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected,” said author William Plomer. I’m pleased to let you know that in the coming weeks, you will have more of this power to connect than you’ve had in a long time. You will deploy your enhanced capacity for blending and joining as you weave at least one magnificent new creation. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I use my intelligence to discover more ways of appreciating you,” author Piscean Anaïs Nin told her lover Henry Miller. I recommend you activate a similar ambition. Now is a time when you can enhance your close relationships with important allies by deepening your insight into them. What magic is at play within them that you haven’t fully recognized before? How could you better see and understand their mysteries?

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