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i r g a M n e K y b Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 31, iSSue 08

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contents

jine 6, 2019 | Vol. 31, issue 08

Sacramento Pride festivities kicked off this week with the unveiling of a temporary art installation spearheaded by artist Phil America and local arts organizer Tre Borden (right).

Learn more about this weekend’s events.

editor’s note letters essay + streetalk GreenliGht 15 minutes news feature arts + culture staGe dish

04 05 06 08 09 10 14 20 26 28

20 place calendar capital cannabis Guide ask joey

30 32 39 46

cover desiGn by maria ratinova

John Parks, Jenny Plummer, Lloyd Rongley, Lolu Sholotan, Carlton Singleton, Viv Tiqui N&R Publications Editor Debbie Arrington N&R Publications Managing Editor Laura Hillen Associate Publications Editor Derek McDow

Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

Editor Foon Rhee News Editor Raheem F. Hosseini Managing Editor Mozes Zarate Staff Reporter Scott Thomas Anderson Copy Editor Steph Rodriguez Calendar Editor Maxfield Morris Contributing Editor Rachel Leibrock Editorial Assistant Rachel Mayfield Contributors Ngaio Bealum, Amy Bee, Rob Brezsny, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Joey Garcia, Kate Gonzales, Howard Hardee, Ashley Hayes-Stone, Jim Lane, Chris Macias, Ken Magri, James Raia, Patti Roberts, Dylan Svoboda, Bev Sykes, Graham Womack

Creative Services Manager Elisabeth Bayard-Arthur Art Directors Sarah Hansel, Maria Ratinova Publications Designer Katelynn Mitrano Publications and Advertising Designer Nikki Exerjian Ad Designers Naisi Thomas, Cathy Arnold Advertising Manager Michael Gelbman Sales & Production Coordinator Skyler Morris Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Mark Kates, Michael Nero, Rodrigo Ramirez, Vincent Marchese

Director of First Impressions/Sweetdeals Coordinator Trish Marche Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Assistant Lob Dunnica Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Beatriz Aguirre, Rosemarie Beseler, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Mike Cleary, Tom Downing, Marty Fetterley, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Michael Jackson, Julian Lang, Calvin Maxwell, Greg Meyers,

N&R Publications Staff Writer/Photographer Anne Stokes

N&R Publications Staff Writer Thea Rood N&R Publications Editorial Assistant Nisa Smith Marketing & Publications Lead Consultant Elizabeth Morabito

Marketing & Publications Consultants Steve Caruso, Joseph Engle, Sherri Heller, Rod Malloy, Celeste Worden, Greta Beekhuis

President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Director of People & Culture David Stogner Nuts & Bolts Ninja Norma Huerta Director of Dollars & Sense Debbie Mantoan Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Hansen Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins

1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815 Phone (916) 498-1234 Fax (916) 498-7910 Website newsreview.com Got a News Tip? sactonewstips@newsreview.com Calendar Events newsreview.com/calendar Want to Advertise? Fax (916) 498-7910 or snradinfo@newsreview.com Classifieds (916) 498-1234, ext. 5 or classifieds@newsreview.com Job Opportunities jobs@newsreview.com Want to Subscribe to SN&R? sactosubs@newsreview.com Editorial Policies: Opinions expressed in SN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permissions to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. SN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or review materials. Email letters to snrletters@newsreview.com. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.

Advertising Policies: All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes the responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

SN&R is printed at PressWorks Ink on recycled newsprint.

Circulation of SN&R is verified by the Circulation Verification Council.

SN&R is a member of Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, CNPA, AAN and AWN.

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editor’s note

voices

Sutter Health’s big tax break

by Foon Rhee

fo o nr @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

Photo by Foon Rhee

a nonprofit and eligible for tax exemptions on property used for hospital, charitable, religious or scientific purposes.

In Sacramento County, Sutter Health and its affiliates own buildings, land and Sutter Medical Center in property with an assessed tax Midtown has an assessed value value of an estimated $1.15 of $504 million, but $462 million billion, according to numbers is exempt from property taxes. from the county Assessor’s Office through a public records request. Of that, a Sutter Health has a lot at stake in a little more than $380 million, groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit that appears or one-third, is taxable. So Sutter’s total property headed to a showdown trial: Its market dominance tax bill was at least $3.8 million in 2018-19, but its in Northern California, its financial future, its exemption was worth at least $7.7 million. reputation.

Asked for a comment on the tax break, Sutter What isn’t in any immediate jeopardy—its Health instead sent a long list of its good works nonprofit status that allows the Sacramento-based in the Sacramento Valley and a statement that health care giant to avoid paying millions of dollars its “deep commitment to the community is at the in local property taxes each year. core of Sutter Health’s not-for-profit mission.” It But if the allegations against Sutter Health are says its contributions totaled $3.7 billion in the true, does it really deserve this generous tax break? last five years, including $435 million last year in If it’s guilty, instead of helping patients and serving unreimbursed care for Medi-Cal patients. the community, it’s price gouging the sick and Sutter Health, which operates in 18 other increasing health care costs for everyone. counties, is the largest hospital system in Northern California Attorney General Xavier Becerra California with 24 hospitals, 8,200 doctors and sued Sutter Health in March 2018, declaring that 48,000 employees. Because of its prominence, the he wants to restore competition in the health care industry’s increasing consolidation and the red-hot market. In December, the U.S. Justice Department politics of health care, this lawsuit is getting a lot of joined the suit, alleging that Sutter filed false claims attention. that led to inflated Medicare payments. In April, It alleges that Sutter imposes “gag clauses” on Sutter agreed to pay $30 million to resolve separate prices, charges “punitively high” rates on out-ofallegations of overcharging Medicare patients network care and requires “all-or-nothing” contracts without admitting any wrongdoing. that force insurers to use its facilities. Studies have The antitrust lawsuit is set for trial on Aug. 12. shown that hospital prices are significantly higher The next big hearing is scheduled for Friday, on in Northern California than in Southern California, Sutter Health’s motion to dismiss the unreasonable where there is more competition. restraint of trade allegations. On March 14, a San Sutter Health says it “will continue to vigorously Francisco Superior Court judge denied Sutter’s defend against ... the false claims.” It says there is motion to eliminate the claims of price tampering plenty of competition and says it is providing highand combination to monopolize. quality care while saving patients money.

In 2017, Sutter reported net income of $893 The courts will judge if Sutter is breaking the million on $12.4 billion in revenue. For 2018, it rules. But a guilty verdict alone wouldn’t automatireported $12.7 billion in operating revenue, but cally affect its tax exemption, Sacramento County’s a $198 million net loss due to poor investment assessor says. returns. Despite all that cash, Sutter Health is legally That’s the law, but it doesn’t seem quite right. Ω 4 | sn&r | 06.06.19

letters

Email to sactolEttErs@nEwsrEviEw.com @SacNewsReview

@SacNewsReview

Facebook.com/SacNewsReview

Dazzling essays Re: “High school confidential” (Feature, May 30): I have read a great many of the high school and college essay entries in SN&R’s annual contests over the course of decades. The works from this year’s entrants are dazzling!

Victoria Korotchenko’s winning essay is phenomenal. I hope to delight in reading her future compositions in the best of fiction and nonfiction English-language publications for years upon years upon years and on and on into a robust future. You are amazing, Victoria!

Tom ArmsTrong s acr am e nt o / v i a e m a i l

neW locaTion open noW! No on rent control

Still relevant

Re: “Stand and deliver” by Scott Thomas Anderson (News, May 30): You want to see housing get really bad? Institute rent control.

Watch the quality and quantity of housing shrink right before your eyes! Or will Sacramento be different than everywhere else it has been tried in the United States?

Re: “Mashed potatoes and bigotry”

by Jim Carnes (Stage, May 30): With his assessment that this is a “meat-and-potatoes comedy-drama,” Jim Carnes shows just how shallow he is on life experience. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner continues to present an earth-shattering perspective on race and class prejudices that have become especially newsworthy since the election of Donald Trump.

At least one-third of this nation continues to hold onto overt racial hatreds and fears.

The review also overlooks some outstanding performances in this production, which includes a few of the most highly accomplished members of Sacramento’s community theater family and a couple of very bright newcomers.

richArd royleT Plac erville / v i a em ai l

Reckless spending Re: “Budget showdown” by Jeff Harris (Essay, May 30): The politicians who vote for this plan typically have a lifespan in office of 8 to 10 years. These bonds will take 30 years to pay off.

If this becomes a huge financial albatross for Sacramento, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and company will be nowhere to be found, leaving someone else to clean up the mess.

It’ll be 2010-style cuts to city services all over again.

The bond plan is too risky and it is not what was sold to the voters in 2018. Yes on Measure U in 2018 promised the voters of Sacramento all sorts of magical things that proponents knew they could never deliver. Instead of admitting the truth—that the amount of revenue would never be enough to be ‘transformational’ and that rising pension costs were always going to take a bite—the powers that be have doubled down. If those revenues fail to materialize, Sacramento becomes the next Stockton. No thanks.

Tom rusconi sac ramen to / via sn& r e xt r a

dAvid merriTT s acr am en t o / v i a e m a i l

Correction Re: “American obsession” by Mozes Zarate (Arts & Culture, May 23): The story incorrectly stated that ceramicist Richard Shaw had died. SN&R regrets the error.

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essay

By Nicole Bradshaw And izaBela deleoN

By ashley hayes-stoNe

streetalk

Asked At the sAcrAmento WAterfront:

Top 3 travel necessities?

Building confidence To change the world, teens must know the good in themselves For our senior project, we interviewed 50 students, asking them what they love about themselves. We were trying to determine how important it is for teens to have self-confidence.

We assumed younger children would answer quickly and confidently, middle-school students might not see their own beauty and older teens would finally know themselves enough to answer well. What surprised us most was that 20 percent of the students we interviewed could not answer Nicole Bradshaw, left, lives in Gold River and plans to attend the question at all, and only 10 percent had a Arizona State University. Izabela Deleon lives in El Dorado Hills quick answer ready. and plans to attend St. Louis University. Both graduate on June As graduating high school seniors, we see the 15 from Sacramento Waldorf School. importance of building confidence among teens.

After all, as we prepare to go out in the world, we must know what’s good and beautiful about As seniors, we are facing so many big ourselves. Otherwise, no one else will, either. changes—deciding where to live, making new We both admit, it’s not easy to identify what friends, going to college or working. Our parents’ we love about ourselves. In our society, such job is done; we have to stand on our comments are interpreted as bragging, own. and we’re discouraged from doing Without confidence, how that. And yet, it’s easy to find is that possible? You need something beautiful in others. confidence to voice who you Why is it so hard to see our As we prepare to are, and if you know who own beauty? you are, you can tell others go out in the world, The youngest children we and not be hidden. we must know what’s interviewed were quick to If we cannot identify say things such as “I like to good and beautiful about something great about invent,” “I’m really fast at ourselves, it’s more diffiourselves. Otherwise, no running” and “I get a lot of cult to form relationships. one else will, either. love.”

If you can’t love yourself, Even though our school does it would be hard for someone a good job introducing technology else to. at a later age, children as early as To get huge things done or fourth grade are watching TV shows that make a big impact in the world, we send messages that you can’t feel a certain way, need to work together. It’s hard to work with or that you have to look a certain way. others when you don’t know what you want for We discovered that from fourth grade until yourself. even the middle of high school, students weren’t This project showed us that having confidence used to thinking about themselves with love. is even more important than we realized.

While some teens answered “my eyes” or “my Being kind to ourselves, finding talents and hair,” a few seniors said they loved their mind. It skills that are unique to each person and building was a beautiful thing to hear because it’s not just positive energy is a great place to start if we want physical. to be successful. We hope other teens realize how We’ve all had an insecure part of our lives. important it is to be confident. This is where we But confidence breeds confidence. And that’s start to build a better world. Ω how we make the world better.

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AleJAndro Gome z barista

Well, my toothbrush because my teeth are dirty, I’m dirty, my body just feels nasty. My cellphone in case I get lost, and money, that’s the third one right there.

PAt dAddoW business owner

My passport so I don’t get hung up in another country, which almost happened to me. Clean underwear for obvious reasons and my iPhone so I [can] communicate with my wife if we are apart.

kelly dAddoW student

Sunglasses, comfortable pair of shoes and a jacket, because as long as I’m comfortable I can get through anything. So taking care of my physical body is all I need to travel the world.

Ger Ardo BAr AJAs student

I need my card holder to hold all my cards, my phone of course and my beer bong because my friends and I are all alcoholics and you just need to send it sometimes.

JAsmine Alston receptionist

One, my cellphone because I need to take pictures and also call somebody in case a killer comes and gets me, a good pair of shoes and the third thing is my suitcase.

mAlik A leWis photographer

I would say my professional camera so I can get good pictures, my phone because I like to do a lot of aimless social media scrolling and some good hair products because I have a lot of curly hair.

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greenlight

Life lessons from a Fuller Brush salesperson

by Jeff vonKaenel

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je ffv @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

they sad? Is there love in the house? I In the circulation area of Sacramento could feel it. And over the course of the News & Review, about 25,000 students summer, I was in thousands of houses— will be graduating from high school working-class homes in San Jose and and college this year. It is an important rich people’s homes in Saratoga. moment. Life-altering decisions will be The rich people had nicer houses made. with nicer things. Some of their homes So some reflection is needed. were warm and inviting, but others Perhaps the advice of an older and possibly wiser person will provide some were so cold that you wanted to leave as soon as you could. insight.

In the working-class neighborhoods, I had an important life lesson at the there were also houses that age of 18. I had two job offers were heavenly and houses that summer. I could get that were miserable. a job as a lifeguard at What struck me was the local pool, which that wealth and nice would have been fun If the big paycheck things had no impact, and paid $1.60 an did not increase your positive or negative, hour. Or I could on happiness. sell Fuller Brush chance for happiness or At age 18, this products door-tolove in your house, what was a major reveladoor, which I had good was it? tion. I was a good done the previous student and a very summer, and make good salesperson. I something like $10 an had a well-paid corporate hour. In a summer, I could future waiting for me. But make enough money to pay my experience selling Fuller Brush for a whole year’s tuition at UC convinced me that it was not worth it. If Santa Barbara. So the choice was clear. the big paycheck did not increase your The Fuller Brush company had a chance for happiness or love in your line of hairbrushes, cleaning supplies house, what good was it? and other sundries, which claimed to So I never pursued it. Instead I be superior to products in stores. There worked at alternative newspapers for 45 were no online stores in the 1960s. years, which certainly never produced Another benefit of Fuller Brush was a big paycheck. Adjusting for inflation, that the salesperson provided customers I made roughly twice as much per hour a break from the loneliness of being selling Fuller Brush than I do now. But stuck at home or caring for children I am happy. And I have had a good life. all day. In the 1960s, there were many So, dear graduates. I know you’ve housewives who stayed home every heard that money can’t buy you love or day. happiness, but trust me. Selling Fuller Back then, most people would invite Brush, I learned this first-hand, door by you into their living room for 15 minutes door. Ω or so while you explained the wonders of brushes or cleaning products. If you know me, you will not be surprised that I had a series of jokes that usually got a chuckle.

Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority All houses have a personality. Are owner of the News & Review. the people happy in the house, or are

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m a x fi e l d m @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

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Jorge A. Santana recently got the printed copies of his half-decade-in-the-making Teslaman.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JORGE A. SANTANA

Cartooning climate change After 37 years teaching at Sacramento State, Jorge A. Santana was itching to try his hand at something new. Born 30 miles south of Tijuana in the coastal city of Rosario, Mexico, he moved to the United States with his parents when he was 4 years old. Now 74 and 12 years into his retirement, Santana has been getting creative.

He’s tried his hand at photography, exhibiting in solo shows. Then about 5 years ago, he started a comic book, an idea that had been percolating for some time: a superpowered, eco-friendly champion for ending global warming named Teslaman. Enlisting the services of a freelance graphic designer with the pseudonym Mimi Cortazar, that dream has finally come to fruition in the form of a 24-page, bilingual comic book called Teslaman Fights Dirty. SN&R chatted with Santana about the graphic novel, its creation and his own environmentalist proclivities.

Do you have a background with comics?

Well, when I was a teenager that was my dream.

I wanted to be either a commercial artist or just a cartoonist. It was for a local newspaper, more of a political, get the vote out, go to the ballots and cast a vote. But I realized I love to eat, and I probably didn’t have the talent enough, so I decided to pursue teaching at college.

But at the back of my mind, I always had the inclination that I wanted to be a graphic artist or work with art.

of pesticides that affect all the agricultural workers, you know, when they’re sprayed with this or having to breathe some of these toxics. …

Then we have, of course, Smog Man. Smog Man’s name, of course, refers to the cars that are emitting smog or the factories that are spewing smoke—and those are the main villains.

Do you live a Teslaman lifestyle?

I try to. Both my wife and I drive all-electric vehicles. I do composting, and I tried to see if I could put solar panels on my house. … You know, we try to make our lifestyle pro-recycle, re-purpose, reuse. So that’s part of our lifestyle, and I think we could do more.

The name—is he named after the car company, or Nikola Tesla?

Yeah, Nikola Tesla. In fact, in the comic book there’s one panel where his photograph is hanging up in an office. And also, Carl Sagan, his picture is up there as well.

Any events in your life that made you passionate about the environment?

I know when I was growing up and I went to some of these third world countries, people just tossed trash into the roadways. … I’ve seen the difference, I think that’s been the main influencer, on seeing how the different cultures of different countries regard, for example, waste and trash.

What do you think of putting the onus of ending pollution on consumers rather than companies that are producing the pollution?

It has to be teamwork. Not only the manufacturer but also the consumer. Things like getting rid of plastic straws … those kind of things, even though they’re baby steps, in the long run they can be very helpful. Ω

How do you weave in the ecological philosophy?

The main hero is Teslaman, which I have copyrighted … Another superhero is Windmill Giant. … One of the main villain’s name is Paul Looter, which when you say it fast it becomes “polluter.” And we have Poison, who’s in charge of coming up with all kinds

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For inFormation on Free orientation tours: You can meet Santana at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 8, at Pachamama Coffee, 919 20th St., and purchase signed copies of Teslaman Fights Dirty.

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Black Lives Matter Sacramento founder Tanya Faison leads a protest outside Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones’ congressional campaign headquarters in July 2016.

Photo by Kris hooKs

The fight for Black Lives Matter With its founder rejecting calls to resign, where does the Sacramento chapter go from here?

by Raheem F. hosseini

Public accusations of abusive behavior against a leader who won’t step down have opened up a painful rift in the Sacramento chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Behind the unsettled questions about the chapter’s future is a difficult-toencapsulate moral about the traumatizing ripple effect surrounding police shootings, even on grassroots activists who stare into that abyss.

Nearly four years into its existence, BLM Sac has become an influential voice on issues of race, particularly law enforcement killings of black men. Just like the national movement from which the local chapter branched, Black Lives Matter 10

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quickly became a necessary counterbalance to the lingering inequity that made its message necessary in the first place.

For the groups’ volunteers, most of whom are black women, the work is meaningful but also exacts a toll.

That partly explains the current stalemate, more than two weeks after 20 people confronted BLM Sac founder Tanya Faison with an ultimatum she has thus far refused to accept. Whether BLM Sac can rebound from this moment or splits into competing chapters—as has happened in other cities—may depend on the choices of a few people who were once allies.

ra he e mh @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

On May 29, hours after nearly 30 past and present members of BLM Sacramento signed an online letter denouncing “a pattern of wide ranging harm and manipulation,” Faison told SN&R she wouldn’t resign from a chapter she founded in October 2015.

“I’m not stepping down,” Faison said.

“And I’m not being ousted. I cannot be ousted unless it’s from our board.”

Faison said she convened this new board sometime after May 24, after she’d heard rumors she was going to be asked to leave and started assembling loyalists.

Faison said the chapter now consists of her, three mothers of shooting victims she’s

worked with and two other individuals, all of whom have signed commitments that Faison said she now requires as proof of membership.

“Our board consists of mothers that I’m fighting for, mothers that have lost people to police violence,” Faison said. Referring to the signed commitments and fledgling board, she added, “That’s what determines who is what in this chapter. And that’s who I answer to.”

At least one of those mothers has rescinded her commitment, according to Sonia Lewis, Faison’s former cocaptain who signed the letter calling for her to step aside. Lewis took to social media to criticize Faison’s moves to retain control.

“Who scrambles to create a new board when they are in the hot seat. ... may the fires from the pit of hell torch these attempts to further deceive this community,” Lewis tweeted May 30.

Lewis is among 29 people who identified as current, former and inactive BLM Sac members whose names appeared on the May 29 letter publicly denouncing Faison for alleged abusive behavior dating as far back as 2016.

Bill won’t put cops on trial see nEws

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rEnt rEform fizzlEs out see nEws

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too Big to BlazE? see coVEr

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beats

‘no politics in this spacE’ “This wasn’t a decision that was made lightly,” Lewis told SN&R on Tuesday.

“This was a culmination of events years in the making.”

Lewis said a chapter that grew to around 30 members had dwindled down to only four people by the time things came to a head last month. Lewis said she and other core members didn’t fully grasp why the chapter was shedding members until several came forward with accounts of feeling shamed or steamrolled by Faison.

“Hands down, all of their stories were the same,” Lewis said.

In a widely seen Facebook post from April, Khaya Osbourne outlined a litany of criticisms against Faison, describing her as a social media bully who blocked, condemned and intimidated anyone who disagreed with her or threatened her status.

“I’m sick of hearing whispers upon whispers with everybody feeling too scared or feeling like they need to be loyal [because] she fights for black people,” Osbourne wrote. “I’m telling you right now that TANYA FAISON is abusive, manipulative, & not fit to lead BLM Sacramento.”

Without naming Osbourne, Faison referred to the post and said it started the campaign against her. (Osbourne didn’t reply to a Facebook message seeking an interview.)

Faison said she learned the degree to which current and former chapter members were upset with her behavior on May 19, when 20 carried out a quasi-intervention.

Lewis described it as a “come-to-Jesus” meeting in a May 29 Facebook Live video, in which she also apologized for being complicit in letting Faison abuse her authority and admitted taking part in “fabricating” the attack on fellow activist Jamilia Land.

For five hours, people sat in a circle and took turns telling Faison how she had hurt them.

Faison said she thought the meeting would be an opportunity for her to repair relationships, and only realized later that those who attended had already made up their minds.

“I just listened to everybody’s grievances,” she told SN&R. “And some people cried. And I really wanted to make space to fix whatever wrongs that I’ve done as far as hurting people, because I don’t want to hurt people that I call ‘family.’”

But Faison also suggested this conflict was about money, saying a grant had recently come through to make her BLM Sac’s only paid employee. Her first paycheck arrived May 22, she said, a week before the letter surfaced. Before that, Faison, a former Apple employee, said she

was living off her savings and financial help put out by Faison. from her friends.

“It will be a beautiful rebuilding, like the “All of this kind of sprung up when I phoenix coming out of the fire,” Lewis said. started to get paid,” she said.

“I can’t wait.”

Lewis confirmed that the California As for Faison, she said she stayed home Endowment was in the process of providing for two days after the May 19 intervention. a grant to supply a salary for Faison, but She credited a meeting with a mother whose said she and another core member were the son died under mysterious circumstances in ones who applied for the grant.

2016 for helping her realize her next move.

This isn’t the first time BLM Sac “That’s when I realized I’m not going to members have expressed concerns about stop doing this work,” she said. “Because Faison. people need me and I need this work. This As SN&R contributor Kris Hooks is what keeps me going, to do somenoted on Twitter, the national thing you actually care about and Black Lives Matter office that you’re passionate about. was asked to mediate And so I’m not stepping Whether BLM disputes involving down. I can’t. It won’t be Sac can rebound or her leadership in healthy for me to step March 2016, when down. I will learn from splits into competing nine members of the this though.” factions may depend on Sacramento chapter For some of the choices of a few sent a letter accusing Faison’s former Faison of running colleagues, however, it’s people who were the chapter without too late for epiphanies. once allies. transparency or input In a letter posted to the from others.

Allies of BLM Sacramento Facebook page, chapter members what happens next to Blm sac—and Onethia Riley, Lesa Johnson and Lewis what it would look like without Faison—is demanded that Faison publicly resign, unclear. relinquish her control of BLM Sac’s social Faison displayed an almost tireless media pages and physical resources, and ability to organize street actions surrounding cease communication with the media and law enforcement killings of black men, relatives of those killed by law enforcement. including Stephon Clark, Darrell Richards, They also demanded Faison turn over all Mikel McIntyre and Dazion Flenaugh. financial records, particularly those docuDuring the lead-up to Sacramento menting her use of donations to BLM Sac. County District Attorney Anne Marie None of that has happened, Lewis said Schubert’s March 2 announcement that this week. she wouldn’t prosecute the two police Lewis said she hasn’t shut the door officers who killed Clark, Faison led weekly on working with Faison again, but that it protests outside the DA’s office. could only happen if Faison accepts their Faison’s style could also ruffle feathers, demands, seeks help and stays away for at like when she protested a rap-yoga class least a year. for misappropriating black culture or “This isn’t a forever thing,” Lewis said. used BLM Sac’s social media accounts to With Faison giving no indication she’s disparage other social justice activists, most accepting that deal, Lewis said they remain recently Land, of California Families United at an impasse. Lewis isn’t unsympathetic 4 Justice. to the former comrade she now says needs “We built bridges with these organizato step aside for a while. She said Faison tions and she burned those bridges,” Lewis has good reason to feel like she “built this said. “Every bridge that was built, she movement.” would find something wrong with it.”

But that, too, was the problem. Lewis, BLM national didn’t respond to a married mother of six, said Faison hasn’t SN&R’s inquiry. cultivated a life outside of her activism.

Lewis said her group has received She came to guard her role jealously and assurances from BLM national that multiple perceive threats to it where there were none, chapters have been able to coexist in other Lewis said. cities. Lewis said her side has regrouped “I believe she has an addiction to the under the name Sacramento for Black power she was given,” Lewis said. “I don’t Lives. They have their own Twitter account want to vilify her or cause more trouble in and number “four strong,” Lewis chuckled. her life. But at the same time, this work has But she expected the group to attract many to get done.” Ω of the former members who were put off or

Government aid should be a given for communities facing disasters, regardless of the political persuasions of residents.

So why does Gov. Gavin Newsom feel the need to emphasize that California will respond when extreme weather hits?

During a keynote address Monday to an audience that included emergency managers, Newsom said, “You don’t have to vote for the folks in the capital—you could be out protesting us. We care about you. We’re going to have your back.”

He was speaking at the inaugural california for all: Emergency management preparedness summit, part of a disaster preparedness campaign that increases resources for community preparedness programs.

“There is no politics in this space,” he said.

Why would there be?

In January, President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal aid to wildfire victims in overwhelmingly Democratic California. In May, the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee reported federal agencies were withholding assistance for firefighting, alleging that the state overbilled.

That doesn’t even touch on issues of federal authorities downplaying climate change or questioning the role of humans in causing it (and thereby undermining the case that humans can rein it in).

Is it possible to be ready for climate change’s impacts, when so many in power refuse to acknowledge their cause? Newsom is trying to straddle an uneasy gap.

“You may call it global warming, you may call it climate change— but something ain’t right,” he said Monday. (Tess Townsend)

studEnts could ridE frEE Students who live in or attend school in Sacramento County could soon ride light rail and buses free of charge.

The recently proposed free transit for Sacramento youth would allow local K-12 students to ride for free all day, said Sacramento City Councilman Jay Schenirer, a Sacramento Regional Transit board member.

Schenirer developed the initiative. He said city officials have been working with multiple school districts to implement it, including Sacramento City Unified, Elk Grove Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and Natomas Unified.

A Regional Transit issue paper issued on May 7 cites similar programs, including the Affordable Student Transit Pass Pilot recently approved by the Alameda County Transportation Commission. That measure allows students “who fall below pre-defined income levels and attend participating schools” to use free transit passes, according to the paper.

The Sacramento-based initiative “is not just for a specific cohort of young people,” Schenirer said. “What we’re trying to do here is actually create a whole generation of public transit riders, so that as they mature out of [K-12], hopefully they will still be riders and that will be a long-term benefit to Regional Transit.”

In 2018, RT lowered the price of student passes from $55 a month to $20.

Lindee Lane, the city’s youth development policy manager, said a lack of transportation can impact young people, and this initiative could help them attend school and “any enrichment program.”

Schenirer said the city could designate $1 million for the initiative.

SacRT will make a decision on the initiative on June 10, before the City Council takes it up on June 11. If approved, Schenirer said it could take effect in mid-september. (Tyler Herberle)

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The Rev. Al Sharpton, flanked by relatives of Stephon Clark, Oscar Grant and other police shooting victims, voiced support for AB 392 in March.

Photo by Raheem F. hosseini

Second-guessed amendments California’s revised use-of-force bill may not put more officers on trial, but supporters say it will ‘save lives’

by Raheem F. hosseini rah e e mh @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

to read more about stakeholders’ concerns with and defenses of changes to ab 392, an extended version of this story is available at sacblog. newsreview.com

12

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SN&R

Don’t misunderstand the consensus forming inside the state Capitol. Assembly Bill 392, which appears headed for the governor’s desk now that law enforcement has dropped its formal opposition, likely won’t result in more jury trials for cops who take someone’s life.

But maybe that isn’t the proper barometer to measure the bill’s effectiveness, say its supporters.

“If anybody is expecting that this reform has failed unless there are a lot of successful prosecutions of officers for misuse of force … that’s a big misunderstanding of not only the problem but the potential solution,” said John Cary Sims, a constitutional law expert and law professor at University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. That could be a tough case to make to many of those who backed AB 392 because they believe too many officers are |

06.06.19

getting away with unnecessary shootings of civilians. If changing the state’s nearly 150-year-old use-of-force standard does indeed save lives, will that be enough to restore their faith?

AB 392 would limit an officer’s ability to use deadly force to when that officer “reasonably believes, based on the totality of circumstances, that deadly force is necessary” to defend themselves or the lives of others, the bill states.

Basically, an officer should only take a life to save a life.

While the California Act to Save Lives, as it’s known, would tighten the current legal standard, which allows officers to use force when they perceive imminent danger, it’s not as bulletproof as some stakeholders hoped. As Sacramento Area Congregations Together organizer Ryan McClinton posted on Facebook: “Not everything we

wanted but changing laws from 1870 is monumental for what we are capable of.”

Other reform groups have been more skeptical. The Black Lives Matter Global Network withdrew its support last month, after AB 392 was amended to win law enforcement’s neutrality on the bill, which passed the Assembly and is now before the Senate.

Under current law, prosecutions of California officers are rare and—when they do occur—rarely successful because it’s nearly impossible to argue against what an officer claims is in their head when they pull the trigger.

Here’s what the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office wrote the 31 times it cleared an officer-involved shooting between 2014 and 2018, including the controversial killings of Joseph Mann in 2016, Mikel McIntyre in 2017 and Stephon Clark last year: “An officer who

uses deadly force must actually believe that force is necessary. The appearance of danger is all that is necessary; actual danger is not. Thus, the officer may employ all force reasonably believed necessary.”

Because AB 392 filters “necessary” force through the mind of the officer, critics worry the bill simply rehashes the status quo. Not so, said Peter Bibring, the police practices director for the ACLU of California, which remains a staunch supporter of AB 392, along with Courage Campaign and California Families United 4 Justice.

“Look, this is still a very strong bill that would move California from having one of the most permissive use of force laws to one of the strongest,” he told SN&R. To understand why, you have to consider what the bill leaves in, and not just what got taken out.

Bibring said that while amendments removed its definition of “necessary” and provisions that explicitly required deescalation, or that held officers accountable for escalating situations through criminal negligence, the bill gets at these goals in other ways.

Critically, he said, AB 392 retains “a very strong definition of imminent threat,” making it more difficult for officers to argue a perception that doesn’t match reality. The bill also directs law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges to consider an officer’s actions preceding a violent encounter.

“By changing the inquiry, it is going to change department training practices and procedures, and that is going to save lives,” he said.

That’s been the case in cities that have already adopted AB 392’s stricter standard, including San Francisco and Seattle, Bibring said. But Bibring doesn’t predict whether the legislation would increase officer prosecutions, as those decisions are “ultimately made by district attorneys who are often influenced by the fact that they work with police officers day in and day out.” It will take other reforms to address that issue, Bibring acknowledged.

Sims, the McGeorge law professor, said that focusing on more prosecutions misses the point.

“The main thing that we’re hoping for is not that there are going to be a whole lot of prosecutions,” he said, but that legislative reforms “will greatly reduce the number of incidents that could potentially lead to prosecution.” Ω

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California tenants just scored a rare victory in the state Capitol—emphasis on the rare.

A high-profile bill passed on May 29 by the state Assembly would impose a “rent-gouging cap” on annual rent increases for the vast majority of renters. If approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would make California the second state to provide such protections.

“I’m thrilled that the Assembly has taken one step forward to providing some relief to millions of tenants one rent increase away from losing their homes,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, Democrat from San Francisco and author of the bill.

Tenant rights group can rightfully celebrate the vote as an achievement—mostly because of the near-herculean effort it took to get a renter bill this far.

Assembly Bill 1482 was significantly watered down to accommodate reluctant lawmakers and appease opposing interest groups: The proposed rent cap was raised from 5% to 7% plus inflation, it exempts landlords who own less than 10 single-family homes, and it would expire in 2023. And it still just squeaked by the Assembly.

The fate of a twin bill that would have mandated landlords evict tenants only for “just cause”—which many argue is necessary for Chiu’s bill to be effective—remains uncertain.

You’d expect California’s 17 million renters to have more juice. More than 40% of Californians are tenants, including 12 million of voting age—a major swath of the potential electorate. Rents have soared to alarming highs, causing more than half the state’s tenants to meet the federal definition of “housing-cost burdened.” In one of his first speeches in office, the state’s new progressive governor called on a Democratic supermajority of state lawmakers to send him a package of tenant protection bills as soon as possible.

But earlier this month, a bill that would have allowed California cities to expand rent control to more residences was withdrawn by its author when it became clear the bill couldn’t even muster enough support to pass its first committee hearing. A proposal that would have

ese Qua lit pan y Ja &

Why don’t California’s renters pack more political punch?

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created a statewide rental database to reliably track evictions and prices—data that’s hard to come by for anyone but landlords—was quietly buried before it could advance to a full floor vote.

So why can’t tenant groups wield the political muscle you’d think their numbers would warrant?

California renters are more likely to be lower income, younger and immigrants—all demographic blocs less likely to vote.

Who’s your typical California renter?

Picture a Latina woman in her early 40’s, making around $26,000 a year. There’s about a 1 in 3 chance that’s she’s foreign-born.

Contrast that to your typical California homeowner—white, ten years older, making about $12,000 more a year. There’s about a 25% chance she was born in another country.

Almost all of the demographic characteristics associated with homeownership—nativity, race and ethnicity, income level, age—make homeowners much more likely to vote than renters. And lawmakers are acutely aware of who votes and who doesn’t.

To many in the tenants rights movement, the answer to why pro-renter bills die in the Capitol is simple: Landlords and their allies have lots of money for campaign contributions, lobbying and independent political expenditures. Tenants don’t.

The California Apartment Association, the primary interest group representing large landlords on statewide issues, poured $280,000 into general lobbying in the first three months of this year. The California Association of Realtors, a longtime political ally of the landlords and a staunch opponent of rent control, spent $418,000.

But there’s another underlying reason tenant groups believe they have trouble resonating with lawmakers: Almost all the legislators are homeowners, and many are landlords themselves. Ω

CALmatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California’s policies and politics. An unabridged version of this story is available at newsreview.com/sacramento

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The state’s cannabis industry is growing and consolidating

14 | SN&R | 06.06.19

T

here’s no doubt that California’s legal cannabis industry is growing. Last year, it raked in $2.51 billion, making it No. 1 in cannabis sales in the nation and surpassing Colorado, according to BDS Analytics.

Despite regulatory complications and lower-than-expected tax revenues, more than 64,000 Californians now work in the industry, a number projected to grow by 20% by the end of 2019, according to data collected

by Leafly and Whitney Economics.

The real question: Is “Big Cannabis” overrunning our state and pushing out small businesses that were supposed to be protected by Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use?

While the answer depends on who is being asked, and how they define “Big Cannabis,” there is clear evidence that international cannabis corporations are maneuvering to enter the California market, the world’s largest.

Photo courtesy of Perfect union

Dispensaries such as Hugs, Metro and River City Phoenix have joined a new medical-only dispensary in Marysville to form a chain of four stores under the Perfect Union brand.

One sign is the rush of North American cannabis companies seeking corporate partners.

In April, Canada’s largest cannabis company, Canopy Growth Corp., acquired Acreage Holdings, a Madison Avenue company that cultivates and distributes cannabis in the United States, in a deal worth $3.4 billion. Betting that federal legalization will come soon, Canopy Growth wants to expand into the lucrative American market.

In May, the Canadian cannabis producer Sunniva acquired 80% ownership of two California cannabis companies, 420 Distribution and Coachella Distillation. The purchase strengthens Sunniva’s 2019 strategy to aggressively enter the Golden State.

“The availability of capital in public markets, especially Canada, has accelerated things,” said Josh Wurzer, president of SC Laboratories Inc. in Santa Cruz. “Some of those companies are new and looking to use their cash reserves to scale quickly.”

“Others are longtime operators that now have the jet fuel to make business moves that some might see as a sign of Big Cannabis taking over,” he added.

In a big, bigger, biggest scenario, another Canadian cannabis company, Origin House, recently purchased Continuum, a California cannabis distribution firm that owns warehouse property in West Sacramento. But

Origin House was itself acquired in April by Chicago cannabis retailer Cresco Labs for $1.1 billion, according to Seeking Alpha, a financial analysis firm.

Vertical integration is behind these big acquisitions. Businesses that hold multiple licenses—for growing, manufacturing, distribution and for retail sales—say they can operate more efficiently while controlling the entire cannabis production cycle from beginning to end.

“Big Cannabis is here, but California’s labyrinth of dual licensure will stymie unfamiliar operators entering the state,” said Jacqueline McGowan, director of licensing and business development at Sacramento’s K Street Consultanting. “Any transaction has four key decision makers: the seller, the buyer, the state regulators and the local government. … and the failure to consider all of those factors could result in serious buyers’ remorse.”

LocaL consoLidation Consolidation is at work on the local level as well. California has become the latest of 21 states to implement “seed-to-sale” tracking. As cannabis businesses get relicensed this year, they must enact a computer tracking system that follows every phase of a plant’s life, from seed to sale.

“big cannabis is here, but california’s labyrinth of dual licensure will stymie unfamiliar operators entering the state.”

Jacqueline McGowan, director of licensing and business development at K Street Consulting

Photo by Ken Magri

By banding together, dispensaries can save money on overhead, including the cost of tracking software. Sacramento’s Hugs, Metro and River City Phoenix dispensaries have joined forces with a new medical-only dispensary in Marysville to form a chain of four stores under the Perfect Union brand.

Midtown’s NUG dispensary, which opened in March, is the first of five stores that the vertically integrated Oakland corporation will open in 2019. NUG CEO and founder John Oram told SN&R that, “despite over-taxation and regulation, the fact that the adult-use cannabis market is being recognized with these state taxes and regulations is a game changer

“ could ‘big cannabiz’ overrun california?” continued on page 16

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for those of us that have been working for normalization for years.”

The Arden-area Kolas dispensary will soon have seven affiliate stores, all rebranded under the Kolas name, making it the largest legal cannabis chain in the Sacramento region.

“I think that the trend of consolidation and rebranding is part of a larger story in the cannabis industry,” said Paul Clemons, who advises the Kolas chain as deputy director of licensing and compliance at Sacramento’s Capitol Compliance Management.

Clemons said that Kolas, like many other companies, saw that “compliance would require a proactive and sustained effort involving resources beyond what individual smaller entities were generally capable of.”

From the perspective of smaller businesses trying to establish themselves in a booming industry, this is what Big Cannabis looks like.

their legal operations. Protected by the earlier Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420 medical marijuana laws, these cooperatives held “sesh” events that brought patients in contact with small cannabis growers and manufacturers. The symbiotic relationship allowed vendors to earn operating cash, while patients saved significantly over dispensary prices.

But the state Bureau of Cannabis Control made cannabis collectives illegal on Jan. 9, 2019, after the implementation of Phase 4 test requirements. Medical patients were offered no alternative but to buy tested products from retail dispensaries.

Sesh vendors were advised by the bureau to get new licenses and have their products tested like everyone else, or face arrest if they continued operating. The BCC offered assistance to collectives going through the compliance process, and some businesses began making the transition, according to spokesman Alex Traverso.

But five months later, sesh events are The lingering still operating. On any given night, as gray markeT many as 1,000 patients will stream in and Proposition 64’s authors also wanted to out of a vacant strip mall, hiding in plain protect small growers who supply medical sight along one of Sacramento’s retail cannabis patients. They designated that the boulevards. largest cultivation licenses should not be In keeping with the provisions of Prop. issued “until 2023,” according to the ballot 215 and SB 420, sesh vendors insist on measure’s original text, seeing a doctor’s recommendation. “It’s in case of arrest,” said one local grower, who spoke only if he was unnamed. He hopes that the District Attorney may go I’m , easy on vendors still following regulas’ bi a ‘Big Cann tions that were only recently changed.

“When you say e th talking along For most of these small-batch guessing we’re p , Phili rt a lm a W producers, legal compliance isn’t , a ol -C lines of Coca few a affordable. A March report on social it e iv “G . id equity programs for the Sacramento Morris,” Heise sa ve some big ha e W . rs a City Council set the cost for a simple ye e or m ing, but the nd outdoor growing operation at $5,000 fu g bi h it w players t n’ ve to $10,000, with annual electricity ha es mpani billion-dollar co costs of $5,000. Indoor start-ups can ” t. r move ye cost as much as $400,000. really made thei Solutions n ee “Without traditional methods Gr at or direct Forrest Heise, ento of raising capital, entrepreneurs am cr Sa in ry dispensa may need to rely on personal wealth, which individual equity applicants are less likely to have,” the report states. which also calls for a five-year One seller of a popular brand of premium moratorium on “vertically integrated concentrates at local seshes is seeking an businesses.” adult-use license, but said “it’s too much When recreational use began in 2018, paperwork, too expensive and I don’t have cannabis medical collectives continued the money this year.”

Seeking Social equity

Photo by Ashley hAyes-stone

Maisha Bahati

“We would like to be the first black-owned dispensary in Sacramento.”

Maisha Bahati, co-owner of Crystal Nugs

Melina Brown

Small businesses like his choose to operate in the gray market in hopes of eventually affording license fees that will make them legal.

“Underground sesh events are an undeniable resource for small-batch producers seeking legalization, allowing them to gain the capital necessary to become permitted distributors of cannabis goods in California,” said Thomas Shaffer, an Oakland sesh promoter and graphic artist who operates as Thomasleatherboi. Shaffer told SN&R that currently legal “brands like NUG and Cookie started at sesh events.”

Social equity programs are another way to fulfill Prop. 64’s promise to “reduce barriers to entry into the legal, regulated market.” These local programs offer assistance to individuals with previous cannabis convictions who are trying to start a cannabis business. License fees and some overhead costs are temporarily waived, giving the new business time to establish a foothold.

“This is one of the fastest growing moneymaking industries in our country,” Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said at She the People 2019 Presidential Forum. “And the very young men who were trying to make money doing the same thing, but got criminalized and are now branded felons for life, are excluded from the economic opportunities that are now available because of this new industry.”

Late last year, state Sen. Steven Bradford’s SB 1294 passed, authorizing $10 million for cannabis social equity programs. California cities that qualify can fund business opportunities in neighborhoods affected by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis crimes, dating to the 1990s.

Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Long Beach have already created social equity programs.

Sacramento’s is called CORE (Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity), and is administered by the Greater Sacramento Urban League and the Sacramento Asian-Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

According to Brenda Davis, who manages Sacramento Green Equity, the Urban League’s CORE program, there are some good prospects in the applicant pool. Applicants and others interested are invited to a June 20 orientation at the league’s offices. “CORE puts applicants at the front of the line,” Davis said. “But it’s still up to the city to decide who gets licensed.”

That city oversight could undergo changes, while a replacement is chosen for Sacramento’s first cannabis czar, Joe Devlin, who resigned last week, after two years in the position.

“Over the next few months, we will be organizing the outreach efforts to specific communities and developing the training and technical assistance programs,” said Brandon Lewis, the program’s manager at the chamber.

“ could ‘big cannabiz’ overrun california?” continued on page 18

06.06.19 | SN&R | 17

“Could ‘Big CannaBiz’ overrun California?” continued from page 17

Photo CourteSy of nug

“The sky is the limit for the future of the California cannabis market.”

John Oram, founder and CEO of NUG

Working with the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Asian-Pacific Chamber has come up with the “Grow Green” slogan to coordinate assistance over the next two years.

“We are currently processing several participants,” Lewis said.

Sacramento’s Crystal Nugs delivery service is one of them. After making an initial inquiry, the business was invited to apply for a storefront dispensary license. Co-owners Melina Brown and Maisha Bahati said the opportunity came to them at the end of a two-year long application process for their delivery business, which opened in March.

“It’s a great program that they’re putting out there, because there are not very many minority-owned dispensaries,” Brown said.

“And we would like to be the first black-owned dispensary in Sacramento,” Bahati added.

Asked what advice she would give to prospective applicants, Brown said “long gone are your weekends, but if you have the time and patience, and look at the big picture, it will pay off.”

To be eligible for Sacramento’s CORE program, applicants must have a past cannabis conviction and lived in certain zip codes between 1980 and 2011.

A robust blAck mArket Even with rising legal sales, California’s black market remains bigger than the state’s legal market. An estimate

by New Frontier Data, a Washington, D.C., cannabis analytics firm, said black market sales could represent as much as 80% of the entire cannabis market.

Eaze, a San Francisco online cannabis delivery service, commissioned a study in July 2018 that found 20% of 18 | SN&R | 06.06.19

county sells for around $700 per pound “for fresh,” but added, “there is a tremendous supply of old stuff, especially from Oregon and not stored properly, that is cheaper.”

“If there is money to be made in the black market, it will continue to thrive, and compliant operators will continue to miss out on some of that revenue,” said Green Solution’s Heise.

Could lower cannabis taxes be a solution? Eaze’s study found that “a 5% decrease in the overall tax rate in California could drive 23% of illicit market supporters into the legal market.”

Californians who bought cannabis in the previous three months bought it on the black market. Among those buyers, 84% said they would do it again, for the lower prices.

“Due to excessive regulations and high demand for California cannabis in other states, it’s no surprise we have such Is bIg cAnnAbIs a thriving black market,” said Forrest here or not?

Heise, director at Sacramento’s Green Those in the industry say Big Cannabis Solutions dispensary. “Did everybody is not here quite yet, but it may be soon. really think that it was just going to “When you say Big Cannabis, I’m suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke?” guessing we’re talking along the lines of California’s black market began a Coca-Cola, Walmart, Philip Morris,” Heise half-century before legal recreational said. “Give it a few more years. We have cannabis, smuggled in from Mexico, some big players with big funding, but the Panama, Columbia and Thailand. There billion-dollar companies haven’t really was little organized domestic production made their move yet.” so pot smokers got accustomed to buying SC Labs’ Wurzer agrees. on the black market, using friends and “Regardless of what people think, the “connections.” Foreign marijuana was industry is still relatively nascent. Those eventually replaced by superior domestic that fear Big Cannabis has already taken sinsemilla (seedless) strains and more over, are in for some bad news when things sophisticated growing techniques. really start to scale,” he said. “We have to For many old stoners, it still works grow and scale our businesses so that when that way. A Siskiyou County microbig business really comes to town, we are grower whose annual crop of 20 pounds ready to compete with them.” has guaranteed buyers told SN&R Robert Baca, executive director that 80% of his crop “goes to friends of the Sacramento Cannabis Industry in California, some from high school Association, sees both sides. years.” Over the last decade, some of his previous harvests have been smuggled into Arizona and Mexico.

As such tiny enterprises quietly go about their business throughout the “Those th state, all of this valuable data goes at f uncollected by cannabis analytics has alrea ear ‘Big Cannabis’ dy taken companies. ov for some “While estimating the size and bad news er are in w really sta hen things composition of sales within the rt t illicit market remains challenging,” grow and o scale. We have to sc said Greg Shoenfeld, vice president so that w ale our businesses of operations at BDS Analytics, hen big bu siness rea comes to “one can be certain that as long as lly town, we pricing in regulated dispensaries a r e r e a d c y o m to remains high, an illicit market will Josh Wurzer pete with the m , president .” continue to challenge licensed of SC Lab Santa Cruz oratories Inc. in operators and the state.”

The Siskiyou grower agrees that black market prices can undercut dispensary prices. He said current black-market flower in his

“On one hand the industry has moved away from a mom-and-pop economy into a highly regulated and taxed environment in which the well capitalized and experienced are able to navigate, while smaller companies are having a difficult time surviving, and aspiring entrepreneurs are facing substantial barriers to entry,” Baca said.

On the other hand, Bacca listed barriers including “hyper regulation, lack of banking and institutional financing, and prohibitively high local, state and federal taxes” that “have impeded an era of truly ‘Big Cannabis.’”

Whenever Big Cannabis does come to California, will small businesses survive?

Ryan Stoa, a professor at Concordia University School of Law in Portland, says yes. In his 2017 study published by the Harvard Law Review, Stoa wrote that his research “suggests that a local, sustainable and artisanal model of marijuana production can coexist with Big Marijuana—much as craft beer has thrived in recent years alongside the traditional macro breweries.”

Perhaps NUG’s Oram had it right: “Big Cannabis” hasn’t come to California as much as “big normalization.”

The social acceptance of cannabis as a normal part of Californians’ daily life, is the biggest development so far. Oram, for one, is optimistic.

“The sky is the limit for the future of the California cannabis market,” he said. “We can continue to become an important and essential part of the state’s economy.” Ω

building a

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P

aola Benitez was struggling in school – her grades were low and she was suffering from anger-management issues due to trauma experienced at home.

Paola’s mother wanted to see her daughter succeed, so she enrolled her in the Summer Lunch Program of La Familia Counseling Center (LFCC) in South Sacramento and into Youth Voice, a program funded by The California Endowment.

Paola savored the free meals offered by the program and the support staff gave her – something she didn’t feel she was getting from her school.

When Paola started attending the afterschool program, Youth Voice, La Familia’s staff realized Paola had anger-management issues, and they enrolled her in their Project Reach program, which provided her with individual support and case management.

They gave her the loving care and attention she needed to overcome the troubles that were holding her back.

Three years later, Paola is completing 10th grade at McClatchy High School. An emerging leader, the 15-year-old is determined to attend college and help others.

People who have seen Paola’s development over the last few years expressed their awe at her transformation.

“Paola has blossomed into one of our future leaders,” said Rachel Rios, La Familia’s executive director. “Her growth and confidence in herself, and her interest in helping others, are truly admirable.”

Hers is just one of the many success stories at LFCC.

For over 45 years, the nonprofit has provided free multicultural counseling, outreach and support to low-income families. Some of the many programs offered by LFCC include Behavioral Health Counseling for children 0 to 21, Youth Leadership, At-Risk Youth Case Management, a Parenting and Home Visitation Program, Health Programs, Employment and Educational Services, and after-school activities such as STEM, Homework Club, Girl Scouts and Youth Voice. LFCC also partners with other community agencies to offer additional services that support families and youth.

“Our StrONgESt aSSEt iS HaviNg CariNg Staff... aNd BuildiNg truSt [witH CliENtS].”

Rachel Rios Executive Director, La Familia Counseling Center

“Our strongest asset is having caring staff… and building trust [with clients],” Rios said.

Paola is also active in LFCC’s Youth Voice where participants meet after school every Friday to talk about neighborhood issues and ways to address them. The goal: amplify

Paola Benitez (right) is “reaching her potential through la familia’s Support,” said Rachel Rios, the nonprofit’s executive director (left). Photo by Edgar Sanchez

young people’s voices and get the youth involved in the community.

In March, Paola graduated from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Youth Academy, an after-school program that teaches high school students about the criminal justice system.

“I wanted to be an FBI agent,” Paola said.

Now, she’s uncertain about her career but she knows it will be meaningful.

Your ZIP code shouldn’t predict how long you’ll live – but it does. Staying healthy requires much more than doctors and diets. Every day, our surroundings and activities affect how long – and how well – we’ll live.

Health Happens in Neighborhoods. Health Happens in Schools.

Health Happens with Prevention.

paid with a grant from the california endowment

BuildiNg HEaltHY COmmuNitiES in 2010, the California Endowment launched a 10-year, $1 billion plan to improve the health of 14 challenged communities across the state.

Over the 10 years, residents, communitybased organizations and public institutions will work together to address the socioeconomic and environmental challenges contributing to the poor health of their communities.

to learn more about lafCC’s programs and services, visit https://lafcc.org/ www.SacBHC.org 06.06.19

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by Olivia MOnahan

Out

on

the

town Photo courtesy of Phil america

Rapper Lizzo headlines SacPride 2019, which also unveils a new art installation and honors the 50th anniversary of Stonewall

“Progress”: a PRiDE Flag Reboot

by Brian Quasar.

courtesy of colors of Progress

20 | SN&R | 06.06.19

“W

e’re still here.”

Three simple words that carry so much meaning, depending on the speaker. Throw an exclamation mark at the end, and it becomes a bold cry of revolution, a scream from the marginalized declaring they’re taking the space they deserve.

This month, the phrase is both a remembrance and rallying cry.

June is LGBT Pride Month, but it also marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, when members of the LGBT community protested a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. Today, the riots, and the trans women of color who sparked it, are considered a touchstone in the fight for gay rights in the United States.

Sacramento commemorates both June 8-9 with SacPride 2019,

a two-day event featuring a parade, a performance from singer-rapper Lizzo and the unveiling of a new art installation dedicated to uplifting the voices of the past.

It’s more than just a celebration, however; it’s part of an ongoing effort to understand what it means to still be “here.”

Sacramento’s Pride Month festivities kicked off this week with the unveiling of Colors of Progress, spearheaded by artist Phil America in partnership with local arts organizer Tre Borden. The temporary installation was inspired by a newly redesigned pride flag that incorporates additional stripes to symbolize marginalized LGBTQ voices. It includes hand-painted flags from across the country. With quotes such as “Silence is Death” and “United we stand, divided they pick us off one by one,” the messages are both thoughtprovoking and heart-wrenching.

Colors of Progress is a temporary

The art installation exhibit—which by artist Phil america, inspired will go to other by the newly cities this year, redesigned Pride including Santa flag.

Monica, New York and Fargo, N.D.—debuted on Capitol Mall with a two-day run before moving to outside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office at the state Capitol, where it will be on display the rest of the month.

Such a large-scale installation dedicated to gay pride history, its creators say, would be cause for celebration if not for the current social and political climate.

“I can imagine in a different time, this would be a purely jubilant moment,” Borden said in a recent phone interview. “It would be a ‘look how far we’ve come, we have more rights than ever and laws are changing in our favor’ type moment. But it isn’t.”

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“It would be a ‘look how far we’ve come, we have more rights than ever and laws are changing in our favor’ type moment.

But it isn’t.”

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Instead, he said, Colors of Progress reflects a sobering message: “The people whose voices we are trying to elevate are under new threats.”

Despite this, Phil America, a Sacramento-born, internationally known installation artist, says the exhibition still recognizes history and progress.

“What I really want people to take away from the project ... is that the voices that have been left behind in past movements aren’t going to be ignored. That they belong here,” he says.

That idea of belonging carries over to this year’s SacPride. The theme is “Legacy of Stonewall,” and the festival will feature a mix of art, dancers, DJs and live performances, all culminating with Lizzo headlining its Sunday night close.

With a two-day ticket costing less than $20, the event is designed to be accessible to people from all walks of life, covered in glitter and wearing flags as superhero capes.

There are also numerous all-ages events. For example, the Imagination Station, in partnership with the CA Children’s Museum, will provide a space for kids to “bounce, learn, paint, imagine, invent, and play,” according to SacPride’s website. There will also be a game tent to play cornhole, checkers and Jenga, as well as listen to musical performances from Erica Ambrin Burnett, Planet Booty

and Drop Dead Red, among others.

SacPride 2019 will also showcase local organizations such as the Sacramento LGBT Community Center (the event’s organizers) which will have tables to provide information on mental health, support groups, legal services and more. Festival goers will also get the chance to honor the past with The Legacy of Stonewall, a temporary interactive installation.

In another nod to Stonewall, organizers asked Sacramento Police not to participate in uniform in the parade and festival this year.

Law enforcement will be on duty and in uniform for street closures and security. Private security and plain-clothes safety teams will also monitor the event.

The move has caused some public backlash but also support on the center’s Facebook page. The center did not respond for comment before press time.

It’s not just a token move, but a necessary statement, local activists say, because the Trump administration has taken or

The installation, which you can view outside the Capitol, includes hand-painted flags from across the country.

attempted numerous actions against the LGBTQ community, including a ban on transgender members in the military.

Today, SacPride is taking on a renewed meaning, says local advocate Romel Antoine.

“For me, it’s always been about ‘we’re still here,’ but now more than ever,” Antoine says. “After the height of HIV/AIDS, we’re still here. After all the gay bashing and beating, we’re still here. With our black and brown trans siblings getting murdered, we’re still here.

After everything, we’re still here.” Ω SacPride 2019 takes place June 8-9 on the Capitol Mall, 1990 3rd Street. Tickets are $10 for an allages one-day general admission pass; $15 for an all-ages weekend general admission pass and $150 for a 21-and-older VIP weekend pass; sacramentopride.org.

E

ntries must be original and previously unpublished. They must be about Sacramento, or set in Sacramento. There will be four categories: 1) The first part of a story of 500 words or less 2) Flash fiction of 100 words or less 3) Best opening line.

4) Poems of as many as 250 words.

the

DetailS:

S

end your entry as a Word document or a PDF, or place it in the body of your email to: fictioncontest@newsreview.com, with the category in the subject line. Deadline is noon, Friday, June 28. Be sure to include your name and a daytime phone number.

Fic·tion & Po·et·ry Contest DeaDline to enter june 28 // iSSue on StanDS july 18

Catch Colors of Progress at the California State Capitol, 10th and L Streets. Through June 30; colorsofprogress.com.

06.06.19 | SN&R | 21

the host. And … they would be like worried that ... I was going to be just half-asleep. So they’re going, “Hey, late night? Do you need some coffee?” And then I’d wake up. Sometimes they would cut the interviews short. (Laughs.)

I heard you talk about that character, and how it’s just based in this really nervous guy.

Yeah, I think the origins of that were I really was nervous and terrified. Plus … I was just thinking about it this morning, it was kind of subversive, you know? It wasn’t until later on that I kind of compromised and sold out that it became toothless and not weird. I mean, sure, it was still weird to people, and maybe offensive to some, but originally it was kind of very subversive. I’ve been thinking about the things that I’ve done as a creative person, and which ones that I enjoyed, and it’s always been the things where they were being subversive, you know. It was never the things that had mass appeal.

Do you still try to be subversive?

“Do that voice, Bobcat.”

Photo courtesy of robyn Von swank

Bobcat on Bobcat Bobcat Goldthwait shares an intimate look into the inner workings of his iconic, screaming persona

by Maxfield Morris

check out bobcat Goldthwait & Dana Gould: the show with two heads 7 p.m. friday, June 7. tickets are $30. for tickets and show info, visit harlows.com.

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Around the same time that K.I.T.T. captured the imagination of TV audiences as the talking car on the hit 1980s show Knight Rider, Bobcat Goldthwait gripped the nation’s funny bone with his aggressively nervous stand-up persona. He was the original talking car of comedy.

Just as Knight Rider went off the air in 1986, Goldthwait’s career eventually wound down. But just as Knight Rider lived on and changed with a number of revivals and reboots, so did Goldthwait through film, on screen in the Police Academy series and Disney’s Hercules and as a film and television director with a disruptive voice in God Bless America and Misfits & Monsters. |

06.06.19

Now, he’s back onstage for a stand-up comedy tour with longtime friend Dana Gould. SN&R chatted with Goldthwait before his stop in Sacramento.

You’ve done a lot of interviews I bet, right?

Oh my God, so many. You know, I was on the road for probably 30 years doing comedy clubs every weekend ... for probably like 40 weekends a year. So back in the day, [that] meant that I had to do every wacky radio show, every “Taint and Teabag in the Morning,” and then it was always like Good Morning Tacoma and stuff like that. (Laughs.) It’d be like 6 a.m., and I’d be following pet adoptions and kids clogging.

m a x fie ld m@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

Yeah … the series that I did last year that was on [truTV], I felt that probably would be perceived as subversive, and some of the episodes seemed to piss off some people, so—you know, Misfits & Monsters—and all the movies that I write, or the ones that I write and make ... they’re never mainstream. I mean, I don’t go like, “Wow, this isn’t going to be a mainstream movie, so I should make it,” but it’s just the things that interest me. You know, to do a rom-com with a tiny bit of bestiality in it or a very violent film about kindness like God Bless America where, you know, a baby may or may not get shot. … Even when I did Call Me Lucky, which is a straightforward documentary … the message, I felt, of my friend Barry Crimmins, was very important, but again, it’s not something that would be on CBS, you know?

If you hadn’t played that nervous kind of character, where would you be, what would you be making if that had never taken off?

I don’t know … my stand-up, even before the persona, was more performance art than Yeah. Yeah. But I think I smoked ’em. stand-up comedy … What happened was, I was doing stuff that was kind of conceptual, Were you in character for then I got on Letterman when I was a lot of those?

20, and then I started being Yeah, most of them, for booked as a headliner, so probably like 20 years. now I kind of had to come And it would always freak up with a comedy act, everyone out. Also, a lot or more traditional. So I of these things, I come was still in that persona, in and I’m just quiet, but I was actually doing because I’m not the kind stand-up comedy. I was of person who walks into Bobcat Goldthwait doing the very thing that a room—especially when comedian I originally set up to make there’s strangers—and fun of and be a little—without tries to get the focus, I’m very sounding too pretentious—a little quiet. But then when I get on the postmodern. There’s no way not to radio or TV I would turn it on, you sound pretentious when you say postmodern, know, and it seems like it would always flip out there’s no way. Ω

That’s a hard act to follow.

“There’s no way not to sound pretentious when you say postmodern.”

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rachell@newsreview.com

tragic time in our lives, we felt so completely supported by our community,” she says.

Broughty Cole’s car was found March 8. When his body was recovered a few days later, police said there didn’t appear to be signs of foul play.

The Endlessly Forking Snake Tongue captures the writer’s take on this surreal intersection of mystery, love and grief. The title refers to a drawing Broughty once sketched for his sister; the writing is frank and spare, never overly Jamaica cole first wrote The endlessly Forking Snake Tongue to sentimental. process the memory of her brother, who died in 2014.

In one passage, Cole recounts how hearing a song in a cafe brought back memories of the first time she’d heard the tune, on a childhood In 2014 Jamaica Cole’s brother, local musician car ride with her two brothers, Kalan and Broughty.

Broughty Cole, disappeared en route to a gig. A week Years later, she questions the reliability of memory. later he was found, drowned in the Sacramento River.

“Though you remember this objectively unreJamaica Cole, a writer, clothing designer and markable country drive from 24 years ago, you are artist, immediately jotted down her experiences, but it likely the only one who does. If there’s no one to would be years before she shared them with anyone. corroborate the account, maybe you’ve recalled it Now, she has published a memoir, The Endlessly wrong,” she writes. “Through either death or forgetForking Snake Tongue (Cuneiform Press, $20). She’ll fulness, one by one, everyone else in the car vanishes, read from it Saturday, June 15 at the Red Museum until you are alone in the backseat staring out for the book’s launch event. the window in silence.”

“I didn’t intend for it to be a book After her brother’s death, Cole The at the beginning, I was writing for decided it was time to leave myself as a way of processing,” Cole Endlessly California. Her best friend, who told SN&R on the phone from her lived in Lockhart, suggested Forking Snake car, several miles from her home in Texas. “California felt so lonely Tongue captures the Lockhart, Texas. to me,” she says. “[In Texas], At first it served as a way to writer’s take on the I felt such a weight off my understand her feelings, then to shoulders with new things in surreal intersection preserve memories. front of me.” of mystery, love “It felt like an important thing There, she fell in with a to remember. It was a really strange and grief. group of writers and eventually time,” she says. met Cuneiform Press publisher Kyle The 28-year-old drummer was last heard Schlesinger, who helped sculpt her varifrom the night of March 3, 2014, on his way to a ous writings into the book. show in Nevada City with his band Lasher Keen. He With her return to Sacramento this week, Cole never showed up for the show, nor to another one the says she wants the reading, which will include sets next night in San Francisco. she’s built, to connect others.

Initially, friends and family weren’t too worried.

“I hope that [it helps] people who have trouble Broughty was something of a free spirit, after all, so talking about how they feel or thinking that they’re maybe something came up or his car broke down the only person in the world feeling a certain way,” somewhere. Eventually, however, the family filed a she says. “I don’t want people to feel alone in that.” Ω missing persons report and took to social media for help. Cole remembers driving around town with her family: It was awful, but in some small way magical catch Jamaica cole at the book release party 7 p.m. saturday, June 15 at the for the way the search united friends and strangers. red museum, 212 15th street. No cover; order a copy of the book ($20) at “Even though it was a such a tumultuous and cuneiformpress.com. for more about the author, visit jamaicacole.com.

Photo courtesy of Jamaica cole

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now playing

Reviews

Camera ready

by Jim Carnes

Photo courtesy of yarcenia Garcia

scReen pick

Circus freaks

These high schoolers don’t dance around the issue of corrupt college admissions.

Ranked sat 7pm. through 6/8; $15-$25; the crest theatre, 1013 K street; (916) 476-3356; crestsacramento.com.

Kyle Holmes is like a modern-day Nostradamus, but his predictions don’t take hundreds of years to come true or require hours of deciphering to make sense: “Rich kids like you / Never have to pay their dues / Who needs to read textbooks / You’ve got daddy’s checkbook.”

Those are some of the lyrics of “Someone Always Bleeds” from Holmes’ musical Ranked, which he began writing in 2018. It was performed at Granite Bay High School in April, just as the national college admissions scandal was making headlines. Holmes, who heads the high school theater arts program, wrote the book and lyrics, while school musical director, David TaylorGomez, wrote the music.

Now, their play will be presented concert-style at the Crest Theatre—one night only on Saturday, June 8—with 28 of the original 35 cast members performing. The event will be filmed by the independent Break Thru Films company for a project that’s still in the planning stages, according to Holmes.

Ranked received immediate interest at its Granite Bay debut. More than 40 high schools have contacted the pair about the show. “We just got our first signed agreement from a school in the Bay Area to produce it in the fall,” Holmes added.

Holmes and Taylor-Gomez are also participating with award-winning director/choreographer Mindy Cooper at UC Davis’ Ground and Field Theater Festival this fall.

Holmes has one definite prediction for Granite Bay High School: Don’t expect a new musical from him next year. Ω 26

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4 The man, the myth

Celebration Arts’ latest play, Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, takes place entirely in Martin Luther King Jr.’s room at the Lorraine Motel the night before his assassination in 1968.

Hall imagines a very human King—a procrastinator with stinky feet who leaves the stage in the first moments of the play to use the bathroom— receiving a visitor who makes him confront larg er-than-life questions about legacy, martyrdom and death.

Both actors give top-notch performances of characters who grow increasingly complex as the play slides from realism toward the fantastic.

James Ellison has the mammoth task of representing a historic icon, weaving boyish charm and ego together to channel King’s mannerisms and vigor for justice, and Sené Goss truly sparkles as the enigmatic Camae.

I did not expect to laugh so much at a play about a civil rights leader confronting mortality, but Goss and Ellison’s infectious rapport delivers on Hall’s sharp script. If anything, I would have liked to see the two have more freedom in the space. The hotel room set helped convey the play’s themes of claustrophobia in a moment just out of time, but it also limited stage movement.

Wheatley presents us with an important and uncannily familiar play. When King reflects on marches or “when that boy was killed,” it’s hard not to think of the protests and violence of our political present. Looking both backward and forward, they find that an icon is most powerful in the act of “passing the baton,” infusing people with momentum for a long, long fight.

“susan sontag’s notes on ‘Camp’ is a great beach read!” Divine exclaims.

Camp isn’t an easy thing to pull off. Case in point: last month’s Met Gala.

So many plain, Burberry suits, so few headpieces. If you’re itching for something subversive, or just looking for a fun flick to celebrate Pride Month, look no further than John Waters’ 1970 film Multiple Maniacs.

Starring Lady Divine, it’s a celluloid whirlwind of senseless violence, sexual perversion and blasphemous imagery. Underneath all the filth is some sharp satire, like when unsuspecting suburbanites are lured to a traveling circus and robbed by the performers. Waters’ camp is the kind that refracts human nature and takes it to the most revolting extremities.

—rachel mayfield Photo courtesy of Broadway sacraMento

stage pick

Bogged down

The face of a true hero, Jacob Keith Watson plays everyone’s favorite, big green ogre.

What are you doing in my swamp? Oh, just hanging out? OK, cool, make yourself at home. There’s snacks in the fridge and the bathroom is just down the hall … no, not really! There might be snacks at Music Circus, though, which is kicking off the summer season with Shrek the Musical. Based on the animated film, the show features music composed by Jeanine Tesori, with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Jacob Keith Watson stars as the titular antihero tasked with rescuing Princess Fiona (Kristen Beth Williams) in order to get his swamp back. Tue 6/11, 7:30pm; Through 6/16; $40-$83; Music Circus at Wells Fargo Pavilion, 1419 H Street; (916) 557-1999; broadwaysacramento.com.

—rachel mayfield

—Sawyer Kemp

the Mountaintop: thursday 8pm, friday 8pm, saturday 8pm, sunday 2pm; through 6/30; $10-$20; celebration arts, 2727 B street; (916) 455-2787; celebrationarts.net.

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Good

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suBLiMe don’t Miss

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At Gaspachos, you can order everything from chilled fruit cups with chile to blended coffee drinks such as the Frappe Moreliano made with cocoa, milk, homemade cream and coffee.

Tenderly delicious beeF rOll, yang’s nOOdles Hands down, Yang’s Noodles in South Sac is hiding the best snack/appetizer ever: The Beef Roll ($9.50), a fatty, salty, crunchy concoction allegedly created in Los Angeles via Taiwanese and Chinese communities. A giant crepe-sized “cong you bing” (scallion pancake), both doughy and crispy like a tasty Chalupa, is fried and layered with tenderly braised sliced beef and generous handfuls of cucumber, scallion and cilantro, then doused in a delicately sweet sauce and rolled up burrito-style. A side of super garlicky Hoisin sauce promises a superior dipping experience. It’s so tasty and filling. I tried to save half for leftovers, but I snuck into the kitchen to devour it later that night. 5860 Stockton Boulevard, yangs-noodles.com.

—amy bee

Sweet ’n’ spicy Gaspachos 5385 Franklin Boulevard, Suite L; (916) 882-8182 Good for: Fresh fruit, healthy treats Notable dishes: Mangonada, Acueducto juice blend, yogurt bowls

$$$

Mexican, South Sacramento

The sound of la señora vendedora’s bugle horn marks the announcement of summer in the barrio.

We’ve had the same vendedora (vendor) for years.

She walks long distances in the brutal Sacramento sun, cutting through our neighborhood selling mangonadas, fruit cups and elotes.

Her elotes are never waterlogged, never blemished and always fresh. She slathers on mayonnaise, shovels on Parmesan and then lightly sprinkles just enough chile.

Then she begins to slice up our fruit. A layer of crushed ice goes on the bottom of a plastic container, followed by voluptuous chunks of watermelon, pepino, jicama, pineapple and mango. A squeeze of lime. A sprinkle of Tajín. Another layer of crushed ice.

My mother and I sit on the porch or under the front yard tree during those greatly appreciated evenings when the Delta breeze seems to pour through every inch of free space and our bare feet sink into the cool earth as the sounds of vendedora’s bugle horn fades away in the distance. The mayonnaise and cheese on our elotes have formed a union that is hollandaise-like, and the chile is a welcome spice.

In case you don’t live in a neighborhood with its own vendedora, you can always visit Gaspachos.

Gaspachos is a family-owned business run by four Ortiz siblings. Julio Ortiz, the oldest brother, came to the United States when he was 15 years old and 28 | SN&R | 06.06.19

PHOTO BY ILLYANNA MAISONET

Citrus sipper Old-FashiOned Orange sOda, burly beverages

by Illyanna MaIsonet

worked in the fields. After the rest of the Ortiz family moved to California in 2003, they started selling fruit at festivals years later with the intent to focus on gazpachos, the iconic fruity snack from Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, Mexico.

Gaspachos follows the traditional gazpacho combination: mango, pineapple, jicama, orange juice, lime juice, queso fresco, salt and chile negro.

Gaspachos sprinkles queso ranchero de Morelia, a soft and moist curd-style fresh Mexican cheese, on its fruit cups. The first spoonful leaves my brain frantic between the flavors of salty and dry cheese, acidic juice and sweet fruit. And if you’re thinking this combination might be slightly unorthodox, just think of how many fruit and cheese plates you’ve ogled over at gatherings.

Also on the Gaspachos menu is the popular Mangonada ($6), a combination of chunky chopped mangos, Chamoy, chile, a squeeze of lime and a sticky tamarind candy stick. There are also juice blends if you’re feeling a little under the weather, including the Acueducto blend ($7) containing a lifesaving entanglement of cucumber, celery, grapefruit, pineapple, spinach and orange juice. Then there are the fruit and yogurt bowls ($7) with fresh yogurt, your choice of fruit, granola, a sprinkling of coconut and a cascade of honey.

The pride that the Ortiz family takes in their business is evident from the quality of their products and by the delightful customer service. On one visit, the family said that it hopes to be known as one of the best “gaspacherias” nationally. They’re well on their way. Ω

The golden age of old-fashioned soda fountains, where friends and families gathered to chat over an ice cold fizzy drink, seemed long past. It was, but now Burly Beverages, a small-batch soda syrup, shrub and switchel company, is reviving the oldtimey tradition. Inside Burly’s tasting room, customers sit at the bar and choose from soda flavors such as Chai Root Beer or Extra Spicy Ginger Beer (with a little cayenne), but my favorite is its Old-Fashioned Orange Soda ($3.45).

It’s orange color comes from carrot juice and it’s a refreshing, effervescent pick-me-up when you need a sweet treat that doesn’t make you feel too guilty. It’s a delightful citrusy sipper. 2014 Del Paso Boulevard, burlybeverages.com.

—steph rOdriguez

PlANeT V

Vegan after dark Late-night vegan food can be a spotty endeavor.

But post-bar hungry, there are more than a few options. Pizza is the king of drunk munchies and there are a few choices in Midtown: Federalist is open until 2 a.m. on weekends, and always has at least one vegan-customizable pie. Pizza Cult inside Holy Diver has the Against Meat, a massive veggie-topped slice.

Then there’s Pieces’ cheese-free slice, a longtime late-night vegan mainstay. If the Bambi Vegan Tacos food truck is out late, it’s affordable, consistent and just dang delicious. Its signature Bambi taco with housemade mushroom “beef,” vegan cheddar and crema slaw is always on the board, plus a solidly excellent rotating menu. Thai Canteen is open until 1 a.m. most nights and good about labeling what’s vegan friendly. Really, though, go to Kasbah, open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturdays. The vegan gyro is killer, the fries are amazingly crispy and for Impossible Burger enthusiasts, theirs is aces.

—lindsay OxFOrd

illustration by Mark stivers

Eat. Drink.

Be Merry.

Repeat.

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Not all alcoholic beverages complement Sacramento’s at-times blistering summer weather.

Sometimes, you need something more refreshing than a beer, and sometimes you want something more adventurous than a lemonade. SN&R searched the City of Trees for the tastiest frozen adult sippers to combat the unforgivable heatwave that approaches. The only requirement: The colder the better.

Subtly sweet slushie Jungle Bird’s Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri ($8): A slushie that’s also strawberry daiquiri. Reminiscent of a 7-Eleven strawberry Slurpee or a liquid strawberry freezie pop, the Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri hides its pungent Don Q Gold Rum underneath the sweet veneer of strawberry syrup and sour lime juice. The result is a smooth, deceptively sweet drink topped with a lime slice that’s perfectly refreshing for the warmer months.

Be warned: It tastes so much like a freezie pop, and the rum is so subtle, that it’s easy to have more than one.

2516 J Street, thejunglebird.com, (916) 476-3280.

Champagne dreams While Sail Inn Grotto & Bar’s Fro-mosa ($11) may be traditional and predictable, the crushed ice gives it an adventurous quality ideal for summer. Sour in the jawbone and tingly on the tongue, the Fro-mosa is an excellent substitute to the old-fashioned brunch mimosa. There’s nothing too crazy or wild about the drink, as it’s just frozen orange juice served in a tall glass of champagne, but it’s a balance of both sweet

and sour. 1522 Jefferson Boulevard, sailinngrotto. com, (916) 272-2733.

Beers and Popsicles Tank House BBQ & Bar’s Frozen Shandy ($5) proves beer and Popsicles can really go together. An aromatic lemon and elderflower Popsicle drowning in Hamm’s served in a chilled glass, the Frozen Shandy is smooth, light and refreshing. It has the flavor profile of an adult lemonade, and the lemon slice it’s garnished with adds an ample amount of acidity and tartness to counteract the floral, earthy notes. The best part: The beer-drenched Popsicle is both sour like a lemon and malty like a lager.

The Frozen Shandy is exactly the kind of drink to indulge in under the burning Sacramento sun.

1925 J Street, tankhousebbq.com, (916) 431-7199.

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Bourbon with that ’shake Milkshakes are common during the summer, so who wouldn’t love an adult version? Ten Ten Room’s Bourbon Vanilla Milkshake ($10) nicely fits the bill.

A slender glass is filled with house bourbon, vanilla and soy milk. This milkshake is also a great companion to a burger and fries. It’s frothy and creamy, and while the bourbon punches first (and hard), the vanilla and soy give the drink a sweet finish. It’s similar to an ice cream float, silky like milk and creamy like ice cream, and dusted with cinnamon to give you anticipation for the inevitable fall. 1010 10th Street, tentenroom.com, (916) 272-2888. Ω

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OUtdOOR Living spEciaLists

Volunteers at William Land Park and McKinley Park worry that the guidelines will be applied to them, too.

“It’s perhaps the clearest violation of the First Amendment right to free speech as I’ve ever encountered,” said Craig Powell, a retired attorney and leader of the Land Park Volunteer Corps, as well as Eye on Sacramento, a City Hall watchdog. “It’s also unbelievably dumb.”

In its 10th season, the Land Park corps puts 75 to 200 volunteers to work every month, pulling weeds, renovating planting beds and performing other garden tasks in the city’s largest park. “If city officials tried to impose The Heritage Rose Garden in such rules on the corps, I would expect that Sacramento’s Historic City Cemetery attracts thousands our board of directors, myself included, would of visitors each spring. resign en masse and/or initiate a lawsuit against the city for suppression of our First Amendment freedoms,” Powell said.

Judy McClaver, a longtime volunteer at A prickly situation has sprung up in Sacramento’s McKinley Park, received a warning from the city that most famous rose garden. her volunteer status could be suspended for failing to Volunteers at the Historic City Cemetery—home follow the chain of command after she complained to to the 500-bush Heritage Rose Garden as well as elected officials about two bodies found in the pond. two other major gardens—have balked at signing a “Who will do the work?” she said. “This is new six-page agreement outlining the details of their neighbors looking after their parks that the city does service. not do.”

Included are restrictions on contacting “news The backlash has city officials pledging to take media or posting on social media concerning any another look at the agreement’s language. cemetery activities or City Cemetery policies and “The City of Sacramento greatly values its procedures without written authorization” from city volunteers, including those who donate their time, officials. energy and expertise to the City Cemetery,” spokesIn addition, any volunteer’s concerns must be man Tim Swanson said in a statement. “The City routed through city staff. The agreement reads: “I plans to take a close look at the form to make sure understand that even though I may not agree with its language is clear and responsive to everyone’s their response, I will respect and abide by their decineeds.” sion and directives.”

Councilman Steve Hansen, whose district After a very public battle three years ago over the future of the cemetery gardens, volunteers interpreted includes the cemetery, has heard the volunteers’ concerns. “There should be no gag orders on volunthis restriction as a gag order. teers,” he said.

“They’ve already lost volunteers,” said Jen Hansen noted the city plans to hire a new cemeHolden, a former volunteer. “The ones left signed the tery manager who will work with the volunteers. agreement and can’t talk to the media. They’re not “In the end, everybody should be treated with allowed to take photos of volunteer work and post on respect,” Hansen said. “We want a beautiful historic social media. They’re volunteering in a public space, cemetery with a rose garden and all the staff that not in authorized areas. … This is a 100 percent makes it special.” Ω power play.”

Among those who refused to sign and is no longer volunteering is Heritage Rose Garden curator Anita Clevenger, a volunteer since 2003.

Debbie Arrington, an award-winning garden writer and lifelong gardener, is co-creator of the Sacramento Digs gardening blog Word of the new volunteer guidelines quickly and website. spread through Sacramento’s garden community.

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for the week of june 6

by maxfield morris

POST EVENTS ONLINE FOR FREE AT newsreview.com/sacramento

MUSIC THURSDAY, 6/6 BÉLA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES: Catch the Nashville, Tennessee-based jazzy bluegrass band as it performs in town. 7:30pm, $69$89. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

CONCERTS ON THE PARKWAY: Spend a minute and

8GH 0 THROU 09

Sac Pride 2019

TICKET WINDOW his Road to Nowhere tour, performing in Lincoln. 6/29, 8pm, $49.95-$67.95, on sale now. Thunder Valley Casino, ticketmaster. com.

ANDREW NICkATINA Formerly

known as Dre Dog and currently known as the hip-hop artist who’s coming to Sacramento next month will be performing soon.7/20, 8pm, $35.50, on sale now. Ace of Spades, concerts.livenation. com.

performances across three different stages, including musical headliner Lizzo and the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus, along with comedians, drag performers and more. Sunday also is the day of the Pride March from Southside Park to the state Capitol. Help show off the kind of city Sacramento really is. Capitol Avenue between 3rd and 7th Streets, sacramentopride.org.

Tickets. Tickets. So many shows. Time marches.

STYx Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, for

booking Styx at a venue near us.

Additionally, Night Ranger will perform.

Give these old dogs some sticks. 7/27, 7pm, $39.95, on sale now. Thunder Valley Casino, ticketmaster.com.

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BACkSTREET BOYS The boy band that doesn’t have Justin Timberlake in it is coming to town for its DNA world tour. Make sure you’re “Nsync” with the tour stop. 8/1, 8pm, $115$1,325, on sale now. Golden 1 Center, ticketmaster.com.

JAMES COMEY In cased

raised in the 1990s and active in the 2010s as he performs his signature style of hip-hop, a year after the release of One Week Notice, Don’t Tell Me It Can’t Be Done. 6:30pm, $20$150. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.

COCKTAILS AND JAZZ: Head upstairs at B Street for some music from the Arlyn Anderson Quartet. 7pm, $12. The Sofia, 2700 Capitol Ave.

SLEEPY LA BEEF: The Twilight Drifters are along for the ride with Sleepy LaBeef, which means it’s a regular rockabilly extravaganza.

Country music and vibes will be flowing freely. 7pm, $20-$25. Momo Sacramento, 2708 J St.

BLESSTHEFALL: Christian hardcore rockers are

you missed his hot show in Washington, D.C., you can catch Comey as part of the Sacramento Speaker Series that also includes Jane Fonda and Deepak Chopra. 9/19, 8pm, $250-$450, on sale now. Memorial Auditorium, sacramentospeakers.com.

coming your way, and they’ve got a loud, emotional message for you to hear. 5:30pm, $20. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

BROTHA LYNCH HUNG: You know the rapper from Sacramento, but you’ve also heard his music and are a fan of his style—he’s Brotha Lynch Hung, headed for a hometown performance. 7pm, $20. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.

CONCERTS IN THE PARK: What could be better than another installment of Concerts in the Park? How about if Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers are headlining? Would that do for you? Well, they are, so show up. Everyone else will—including Amber DeLaRosa, Flight Mongoose and Evan Inc. There’s also live art, drinks and food. 5pm, No cover. Cesar Chavez Plaza, 910 I St.

KENNY G: Catch the instrumentalist with the

Take us to church, Hozier.

AzIz ANSARI Catch the comedian on

DIZZY WRIGHT: Catch the rapper born and

FRIDAY, 6/7

Capitol Mall, 11aM, $10-$150 Sacramento Pride is here for another celebration of inclusivity, visibility and, of course, pride. This year LGBTQ marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which were a reaction to police raids on the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York City. Come out to commemorate the struggles of early activists and to continue fighting for equality. The two-day event includes

PHOTO COURTESY OF SACRAMENTO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER

CENTER

Motor on downtown for Sac Pride 2019.

then some more minutes in the company of the Rod Stinston Band and Dapper Demand Hot Dog Stand at Camp Pollock, located right off the river. 6pm, $10 suggested donation. Camp Pollock, 1501 Northgate Blvd.

HOzIER Get in

on the ground floor of Hozier’s Wasteland, Baby! Tour in Sacramento.

The tour will also bring Freya Ridings to the stage. 10/21,

8pm, $39.50-$49.50, on sale now. Memorial

Auditorium, mpv.tickets.com

HIPPO CAMPUS Catch the St. Paul

band live and in concert. As its name heavily implies, it’s an indie rock group.

11/19, 8pm, $33, on sale now. Ace of Spades, concerts.livenation.com.

famous hair, musical style and impact on many musical markets—and the tendency to play the notes as written, without much improvisational flourish. 7:30pm, $69$99. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

SATURDAY, 6/8 ALEX WALKER AND WILL COMSTOCK: Catch Walker and Comstock in the Riving Loom in a living room-esque performance of folk and Americana and rock music. 8pm, $5$10. Riving Loom Arts, 2741 Fruitridge Road, Suite 6.

CORDUROY: Corduroy is playing homage to Pearl Jam, while In the Garage is channeling Weezer for an evening of grungy rock ’n’ roll tributes. 7pm, $15. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

MINI BLUES FESTIVAL: Come celebrate the blues in a miniaturized way with Ryder Green Band, Tim Noxon Rockin’ Blues and Val

snr c a le nd a r @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

Online listings will be considered for print. Print listings are edited for space and accuracy. Deadline for print listings is 5 p.m. Wednesday. Deadline for NightLife listings is midnight Sunday.

Send photos and reference materials to Calendar Editor Maxfield Morris at snrcalendar@newsreview.com.

Starr & the Blues Rocket. Bring your own chair! 5:30pm, $15-$20. McConnell Estates Winery, 10686 W. Stockton Blvd. in Elk Grove.

PHIBES PIE: Catch Phibes Pie along with Sacto Storytellers and Dang Good Son at Old Ironsides. 8pm, no cover. Old Ironsides, 1901 10th St.

POPS IN THE PARK 2019: Pops in the Park’s second installment this year brings Dana Moret and Zen Voodoo to the stage. Come enjoy music in a park. 6pm, no cover. Bertha Henschel Park, 45th St. and Brand Way.

ROCK THE LINE FOLSOM 2019: Join this charity rock concert to support the Johnny Cash Art Trail and The Shriners Hospital for Children-Northern California. 5pm, $15$150. Folsom Historic District, 850 Sutter St. in Folsom.

SACTO UNPLUGGED: Head down to the CLARA to watch musical performances by Jessica Malong and Jahari Sai, all presented without the use of any plugs. If you are inclined to bring plugs for instruments, please refrain from plugging them into the instruments.

You can also participate in Q&A sessions with the artists. 8:30pm, $15. CLARA, 2420 N St.

STEVE LUCKY & THE RHUMBA BUMS: Grab a seat and spend an evening with Lucky and his lucky Bums, playing some rumba-style music and bringing the energy you just haven’t been able to find since moving into your new place. 7pm, $35. B Street Theatre, 2700 Capitol Ave.

V101’S SUMMER JAM: It’s Hammer’s House Party at Thunder Valley—yes, MC Hammer.

Join him, Blackstreet 2, En Vogue and Montell Jordan for a night of music and fun performances. 6pm, $52.95-$67.95. Thunder Valley Casino, 1200 Athens Ave. in Lincoln.

SUNDAY, 6/9 CLASSICAL CONCERT WITH YOUNG-AH TAK: The pianist Young-Ah Tak will be performing at the Crocker, sharing some sounds from German composers including Beethoven— Ludwig van Beethoven, that is. 3pm, $20. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

PARACHUTE: They’re a pop band from Virginia, and they’re ready to perform for you. Billy Raffoul will open up for them—one instance where a Parachute not opening isn’t the end of the world. 7pm, $22. Ace Of Spades, 1417 R St.

SACRAMENTO AUDIO WAFFLE: Boasting more waffles and more complimentary earplugs than any other event featured in the calendar, Audio Waffle is back for a 55th showing with performances from Crack Static, No Face, Deadly Nightshade and Cody Banks. Noon, $8-$10. Red Museum, 212 15th St.

TUESDAY, 6/11 ALEX AIONO: The YouTube sensation and musical performer is headed your way, and he’s going to sing, sing and sing some more until you’ve liked and subscribed. 7pm, $20$99. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.

Thursday 6/6sunday 6/9

WakamatsuFest150 Wakamatsu Farm, various times, $7-$60

There are not a lot of historic sesquicentennial celebrations going on this week, but the American River Conservancy’s Festivals celebration of Wakamatsu Farm is probably the best one. It’s commemorating the first Japanese colony’s 150th anniversary PhOTO By nOEhILL, CC By s.a. 3.0 by highlighting the diverse cultural influences of Japanese-American heritage. With music, food and lots of performances—including daily showings of Gold Hill Samurai—there will be plenty of opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and the unique history of the place and people. 941 Cold Springs Road in Placerville, arconservancy.org/wakafest150.

FEsTIVaLs Thursday, 6/6 WaKaMatsUFest 150: Catch the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese colony in America, featured on page 34. 10am, $7-$60. Wakamatsu Farm, 941 Cold Springs Road in Placerville.

FrIday, 6/7 ClassY HiPPY tea FiRst FRiDaY NiGHt MaRKet aND lOUNGe sessiON: Classy Hippie Tea Co. hosts this night of artwork made by local folks, things for sale from local sellers and musicians performing the hits that are nearest and dearest to their hearts. 5pm, no cover. Classy Hippie Tea Co., 3226 Broadway.

saCaNiMe sUMMeR 2019: Yet another installment of SacAnime is headed your way, this time with a summer festival.

With all kinds of cosplaying, masquerades, panels and more, this is one event that anime enthusiasts—and enthusiasts of entertainment in general—won’t want to miss. Catch the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, the voice of Overwatch’s Baptiste and more through Sunday, all from the organization whose website is a kindred spirit of SN&R’s. 7pm, $20-$40. Sacramento Convention Center Complex, 1400 J St.

saTurday, 6/8 CeleBRate OaXaCa-stReet Festival: Join the Casa de Español for the Celebrate OaxaCA Festival. With music, art, food and drinks celebrating the culture of the city, you’ll get to see indigenous artisans visiting to share their crafts along with plenty of workshops and crafts to participate in. 3pm, $5$8. Casa de Español, 1101 R St.

saCRaMeNtO WORlD ReFUGee DaY: Catch this day of sports, food, fashion and much more, featured on page 33. 8:30am, no cover. Papa Murphy’s Park, 1600 Exposition Blvd.

UPtOWN MaRKet ON tHe BOUlevaRD: With 65 vendors showcasing their creative chops along with their karate chops, pork chops and more kinds of chops, this is one maker’s market you won’t want to miss. There will be music and food. Noon, no cover. Uptown Market, 1409 Del Paso Blvd.

sunday, 6/9 saCRaMeNtO aNtiQUe FaiRe: As things heat up, head on down underneath the freeway and check out some vendors selling you old stuff. With 300 vendors from all over, you’re guaranteed to find something for yourself or a person in your life with whom you haven’t shared your true feelings. 6:30am, $3. 21st & X Streets, 2350 21st St.

FOOd & drInK Thursday, 6/6 elDeRs eDiBle eDUCatiON: Join the folks from Yisrael Family Farm for a cooking class that features ancestral foods and recipes you can learn to help bolster your food preparation regimen—and it’s all free. 10:30am, no cover. Oak Park Community Center, 3425 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

saTurday, 6/8 11tH aNNUal aUBURN BReWFest: Auburn isn’t just a great place to visit my delightful friend Kyle who lives up there—it’s also a great place to try a wide variety of brews.

This 11th installment of the brewfest up in the hills features plenty of brewers, unlimited tastings and food you can buy at additional cost. 4pm, $10-$40. Gold Country Fairgrounds & Event Center, 1273 High St. in Auburn.

5tH aNNUal POWeRFest taPs aND tUNes: Join the Historic Folsom Powerhouse State Park for a party with 10 breweries and musicians performing. You can sample the beers, tour the Powerhouse and play some cornhole.

Show up for some old-fashioned electricity generation. 4pm, $20-$25. Historic Folsom Powerhouse State Park, 9980 Greenback Lane in Folsom.

BReWs iN tHe BURBs 2019: Three different options on Saturday for a beer-filled afternoon, apparently. Show up at Sunrise MarketPlace for a day of craft beer tastings from local breweries, home brewers and more. There’s food, of course and plenty of other things to do. 5pm, $20-$50. Sunrise Mall, 6041 Sunrise Blvd. in Citrus Heights.

CaleNDaR listiNGs CONtiNUeD ON PaGe 34

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See moRe eventS anD Submit youR oWn at newSreview.com/Sacramento/calendar

WARNING: This product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

CaLenDaR LiStingS ContinueD FRom Page 33

Film tHurSday, 6/6 movieS oFF tHe WaLL: Crocker’s throwing

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down this summer, opening up their hot film series with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They’re a couple of robbers who run the gamut of potential targets and end up on the run. It’s a classic Robert Redford/Paul Newman pairing, so grab a seat and engage in the good old-fashioned theft-promoting film. 7pm, $16. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

Stab! ComeDy tHeateR: Late Week Leftovers Open Microphone. Grab some Tupperware, because it’s time for leftovers at this open-mic night. Sunday 6/9, 8pm. $5. 1710 Broadway.

SaCRamento ComeDy SPot: The Art Critique Comedy Show. Join the San Franciscans who come to Sacramento to make fun of thrift store art in Midtown Sacramento on Second Saturday. Saturday 6/8, 7:30pm. $15. 1050 20th St., Suite 130.

on StaGe comedy bLaCKtoP ComeDy: Funny Femmes Fierce Comedy. Join Blacktop Comedy for a show that showcases the comedy of Sacramento’s funniest women. They’ll share some standup and improv and make you laugh until you cry deeply. Saturday 6/8, 8pm. $15-$20. 3101 Sunset Blvd., Suite 6A in Rocklin.

CReSt tHeatRe: Miranda Sings-Who Wants My Kid?. Colleen Ballinger brings her hack character to Sacramento for a night of comedy. Sunday 6/9, 7pm. $37.50-$85. 1013 K St.

HaRLoW’S: Bobcat Goldthwait & Dana

An Oasis in the Heart of Downtown

week (see Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould above), including this show with twin brothers and comedians Cory and Chad. Through 6/12. $16. 2100 Arden Way, Suite 225.

Gould The Show with Two Heads. Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould are coming to Sacramento to share a show with you, the public. Check out the feature on page 22, written by Calendar editor Maxfield Morris. Friday 6/7, 7pm. $30. 2708 J St.

PunCH Line: Thomas Dale. When you search for Thomas Dale, you might get results for the English naval commander from the 1600s— but this show is anything but a discussion with a late naval commander. Instead, it’s a comedy show with the actor and stand-up comedian. through 6/8. $20. Cory and ChadThe Smash Brothers on the Two Headed Monster Tour. There’s apparently competing two-headed themed comedy shows this

CReSt tHeatRe: Ranked-A New Musical. The Granite Bay High School production is headed to a bigger stage to tell the story of corrupt college admission practices. Show up and see why your high school production didn’t get picked up. Check out the preview on page 26. Saturday 6/8, 7pm. $15-$25. 1013 K St.

oLD iRonSiDeS: PBR Presents Live Talent Show.

Join a beer company for a talent show at Old Ironsides, featuring folks showing off their performing chops. thursday 6/6, 8pm. no cover. 1901 10th St.

SutteR StReet tHeatRe: Mary and Myra.

Mary Todd Lincoln and Myra Bradwell are the subject of this piece concerning Lincoln’s residence in an insane asylum and Bradwell’s status as the first woman lawyer in America. through 6/13. $13-$18. 717 Sutter St. in Folsom.

art eFFie yeaW natuRe CenteR: Spring Gala and Art Auction. Join the American River Natural History Association and the Sacramento Fine Arts Center for the 10th annual Spring Gala and Auction, featuring art from the SFAC. There’s an auction, of course, along with plenty of local food, art, wine and more.

Saturday, 6/8 Torta Delgado

Showcasing the Style of Sacramento and the Spirit of Mexico

917 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 970-5354 lacosechasacramento.com 34

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Sacramento World Refugee Day PaPa MurPhy’s Park, 8:30aM, no cover

Stand with the countless refugees who have left dangerous situations to seek new homes here in Sacramento. This day features an adult refugee soccer tournament on Bonney Field and plenty more, including lots of FeStivaLS family fun throughout the day. There will be food trucks, a community resource fair and multicultural showcases and performances. You’ll also be able to hear from local community leaders and meet some of your newest neighbors—and the entire event is free. 1600 Exposition Boulevard, sacramentoworldrefugeeday.com

PHoto courteSy oF marcuS SPiSKe

Saturday, 6/8

World Wide Knit in Public Day CroCker Art MuseuM, 10AM, no Cover

You don’t have to hide your knit glove away any more—not on this international day of knitting, anyway.

Come out and join the MuseuMs Crocker for this day devoted to the best in knitting needles, truly the tops in textile inception.

Whether you’re a new initiate to the close-knit fraternity or a longtime practioner of the yarn-based art, you’re invited to show up. Materials are provided if you need them, or you can bring your own—and remember, crocheting, as pictured in the photo, is not knitting.

216 O Street, crockerart.org.

If you love nature and you love artwork, this is your sweet spot. saturday 6/8, 5pm. $100. 2850 San Lorenzo Way in Carmichael.

Fe GALLeRY: Pattern & Abstraction. With more than 50 works of original art along with a live blacksmith demo at the opening reception, this show that includes work from Marjorie Darroe will run through July 26. saturday 6/8, 6pm. No cover. 1100 65th St.

KeNNeDY GALLeRY: Spirit Nation Celebrating Our Native Culture. Long before John Sutter stepped foot in Gold Country, the Sacramento Valley was home to a proud and diverse culture of native peoples. During the month of June the artists at Kennedy Gallery will celebrate the rich, everlasting legacy of our Native Americans with the “Spirit Nation” exhibit. Through 7/6. No cover. 1931 L St.

SPOrtS & OutdOOrS SuNday, 6/9 FAWN WATCH: Learn all about the world of deer!

Come have a table talk with a Naturalist before heading out into the preserve to look for baby deer. 1:30pm, $5. Effie Yeaw Nature Center, 2850 San Lorenzo Way in Carmichael.

us AIR GuITAR-2019 CHAMPIONsHIPs: Grab your best air guitar and head down to this qualifying competition for the US Air Guitar Championsips. 9:30pm, $20. B Street Theatre, 2700 Capitol Ave.

LGBtQ

sACRAMeNTO FINe ARTs CeNTeR: Celebrating the Figure. Sacramento Fine Arts Center brings back Celebrating the Figure, featuring work from the center’s weekly figure artwork group. Through 6/23. No cover. 5330 Gibbons Drive, Suite B in Carmichael.

VeRGe CeNTeR FOR THe ARTs: Stay Awhile-a Nathan Cordero Show Opening Reception.

Join Verge Center for the Arts in this opening show showcasing the art of and honoring the memory of Sacramento artist Nathan Cordero. There will be tacos and beer. saturday 6/8, 6pm. No cover. 625 S St.

WAL PuBLIC MARKeT: Papier. Head to WAL Public Market for Penelope Lenaerts’ exhibit of examining the feminine form in nature. Friday 6/7, 6pm. No cover. 1104 R St., Suite 110.

PHOtO COurtESy OF IMaNI

tHurSday, 6/6 CeLeBRATING PRIDe QsAC AuTHORs ReADING: Celebrate Pride Month with authors from the Queer Sacramento Authors Collective, including Jeff Adams, J. Scott Coatsworth, Liz Faraim, Pat Henshaw and more. 7pm, no cover. Time Tested Books, 1114 21st St.

Q sOCIAL sACRAMeNTO KICKOFF: Get ready for Sac Pride with this social event supporting local LGBTQ organizations and making an inclusive space for all women, trans individuals and non-binary people to socialize in. 6pm, no cover. Sidetrax, 2007 K St.

Saturday, 6/8 sACPRIDe 2019: It’s Pride month once again—

MuSEuMS CROCKeR ART MuseuM: World Wide Knit in Public Day. Check out the event highlight above, and get ready to knit ’til you’re lit. saturday 6/8, 10am. No cover. 216 O St.

sACRAMeNTO HIsTORY MuseuM: Living History Sewing Techniques. Come see what early Sacramento sewers were like. No, not sewers—sewers! People who sew. You can catch a class on the early techniques and then make a handmade doll or coin purse. saturday 6/8, 11am. No cover. Spanish Speaking Underground Tour on Second Sundays!. Take a tour under the city of Sacramento, but this time, do it en español. Sunday 6/9, 3pm. $12-$18. 101 I St.

check out the event highlight on page 32. 11am, $10-$150. The Sacramento LGBT Community Center, 1927 L St.

SuNday, 6/9 RAINBOW FAMILIes PRe-PARADe PARTY: Before the Sacramento Pride Parade, you can get adorned with all the decorations you need at the Crocker. 9:30am, no cover. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

WEdNESday, 6/12 THe OTHeR MIC: Take to the microphone at Lavender Library during Pride month. The microphone’s open, the atmosphere’s inclusive and it’s a place to share some laughs and stories. 7pm, no cover. Lavender library, 1414 21st St.

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THURSDAY 6/6 ArmAdillo music

207 F ST., DAvIS, (530) 758-8058

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2003 k ST., (916) 448-8790

Poprockz 90s Night, 9pm, no cover

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1400 AlHAMbRA blvD., (916) 455-3400

Beira, Chrome Ghost and Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy, 8pm, call for cover

Dizzy Wright with Demrick and Reezy 7:30pm Thursday, $20-$25 Harlow’s Hip-hop

SATURDAY 6/8

Tavo Carbone, 7pm, no cover

Swimming in Bengal and Grex, 6:45pm, no cover

Badlands Sac Pride Kickoff with Brooke Lynn Hytes, 8pm, $15-$30

Boomer’s Pride Ball, 10pm, call for cover

Nate Grimmy, 9:30pm, no cover

The Bongo Furys, 9:30pm, no cover

SUNDAY 6/9 Post Pride Party, 10pm, no cover, $15 meet and greet

Pose Premier and Viewing Party, 10pm, T, call for cover Open-Mic, 7:30pm, W, no cover; Monday Night Trivia, 6:30pm, M, no cover The Odious Construct, Plaguebringer and more, 8pm, T, $10

The BoArdwAlk

Lioncourt, Dreams of Madness, WarFront and 3SD, 8pm, $10-$12

Rebel Holocrons, SediT, Paper Coma and more, 8:30pm, $10

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Capitol Fridays, 10pm, no cover before 10:30pm

Dinner and a Drag Show, 7:30pm, $5$25; Karaoke, 9:30pm, call for cover

Boot Scootin Sundays, 8pm, $5

Geeks Who Drink, 8:30pm, W, no cover

Miranda Sings - Who Wants My Kid?, 7pm, $37.50-$85

Stanley Clarke Band, 8pm, W, $35-$55

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Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, 7:30pm, $60-$89

Kenny G, 7:30pm, $69-$99

Ranked: A New Musical, 7pm, $10-$25

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Faces Karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

Absolut Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Sequin Saturdays, 9:30pm, call for cover

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Tom Kent and Loose Gravel, 8pm, call for cover

Kevin & Allyson Seconds, Bobby Jordan and Nolan Erck, 9pm, $5

According to Bazooka and Bonanza King, 9pm, $5

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1001 R ST., (916) 443-8825

Irish Jam Session, 8pm, no cover

TTNG, the Kraken Quartet, Find Yourself and more, 7pm, M, $15

Every Damn Monday, 8pm, M, no cover

Open-Mic Night, 7:30pm, M, no cover

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WWE Smackdown, 4:45, T, $35-$60

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College Night, 10pm, call for cover

Live music, 9pm, call for cover

Dizzy Wright, Demrick and Reezy, 7:30pm, $20-$25

Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould, 7pm, $30

Let’s Get Quizzical, 7pm, T, no cover; Cornhole, 6pm, W, $10

Hippie Hour, 5pm, no cover

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Total Recall, 9pm, $5

Night Swim with Joseph One, 10pm, call for cover

Blessthefall, Slaves, Glass Houses and the Never & Now, 5:30pm, $20

Corduroy, Longview and In the Garage, 7pm, $15

Capital Punishment: School’s Out, 8pm, $10

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The Buttertones, Anxious Admirals and Gamma People, 7pm, W, $15-$18

Tainted Love, 10pm, $18-$20

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MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 6/10-12 Occult Stereo, 7pm, W, no cover

Psychosomatic, Witchaven, Deathblow and Trip Weaver, 8pm, $10-$12

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Dr. Sketchy Burlesque Drawing Class, 5pm, $10

Shitshow Karaoke, 8pm, M, no cover; Record Roundup, 8pm, T, no cover Trivia Factory, 7pm, M, call for cover; Geeks Who Drink, 7pm, T, call for cover

Local $5 Showcase, 6:30pm, $5

Local $5 Showcase, 6:30pm, T, $5

Triviology 101, 7:30pm, no cover

Live Music with Kyle Rowland, 5pm, T, no cover Show Your ID Open-Mic, 8pm, W, no cover

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Sleepy La Beef and the Twilight Drifters, 7pm, $20-$25

Sadistik, Trizz, Kno and Rafael Vigilantics, 9pm, $15

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PBR Presents: Live Talent Show, 8pm, no cover

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MONdAy-WedNesdAy 6/10-12 The Gary Mendoza Band, 6:30pm, W, $8

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Ryan Raynal Band, 9:30pm, call for cover Take Out, 10pm, call for cover

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Karaoke, 8:30pm, T, call for cover; 98 Rock Local Licks, 9pm, W, call for cover

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Danny Morris & the California Stars and more, 8pm, call for cover

Pop 40 Dance with DJ Larry, 9pm, $5

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Hot Country Fridays, 7:30pm, $5-$10

Stoney’s Saturdays with Free Line Dance Lessons, 7pm, $5

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Hipper than Hip, 6pm, $8-$9

Rogue and Dirk Lang Band, 1pm, $6-$8

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Wicked Bears, the O’Mulligans, Lamonta and more, 8pm, call for cover

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weed stays winning! see ask 420

41

IlluStRatIon by MaRIa RatInoVa

expunging cannabis convictions Thousands in Sacramento are eligible to reduce marijuana-related sentences, but the DA’s office is unable to notify individuals

by Luis GaeL Jimenez

the war on drugs has 4,831 fewer casualties than it did a month ago.

On April 22, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced that thousands in Sacramento who had been convicted of marijuanarelated charges would benefit from convictions being reduced from felonies to misdemeanors or infractions or being completely dismissed sentences.

As part of Proposition 64 (the 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational cannabis in California) and a partnership with Code for America (a nonprofit that helps the government effectively use technology to solve community problems) 5,303 convictions were flagged as meeting the criteria for resentencing—and according to local public defense attorney Ryan Raftery, there may be more people who can benefit.

“Just call me. If you’re name is not on the list and your charges don’t meet the

criteria we can still see what we can do,” Raftery said. “We’ve already found one person who was missed in the initial sweep for whatever reason.”

So far, there are 4,831 individuals eligible and an unknown number who may have been skipped by the software, which was created by Code for America.

But there’s a problem.

The DA’s office has not been able to notify anyone that their charges are being dropped. The office did not respond to SN&R before press time.

“This is still a novel idea. The expungement process has started already for a lot of people, but the problem is notifying them: What specific government organization is responsible for that?” asked Nia MooreWeathers, a community organizer with Youth Forward and a member of the coalition that helped the DA’s office decide the guidelines for expungement.

“Do they have to come down to City Hall, or are they supposed to get an email notification or something sent to them through the mail?”

Raftery added that many of the convictions happened decades ago and that people may not have the same phone numbers or addresses listed in courthouse records.

“It might even be the problem of someone showing up at the courthouse to check their record and not being able to find themselves because they’ll no longer be in the system,” Raftery said. “Some people might also need a manual notification to show to an employer or in order to pass a background check, so it’s trickier than just wiping the system totally clean.”

It’s still unclear when the charges are going to be officially cleared from people’s records—Raftery estimates it will take a few months at the minimum—but the resentencing process is already underway.

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“At this point, Code for America is working with IT people in the courthouse to get the software to work.

The software—which is far from perfect—went in and found thousands of individuals who met the established criteria. So we’ve got a long list of names,” Raftery said. “...Even if they’re not on the list, though, I would still advise them to call me to see if I can reach out to the DA and have charges reduced on a case-by-case basis.”

The software found people who met the three criteria that were established for eligibility: An individual has to have not committed a crime for the past 10 years.

The criminal offense was the only conviction on an individual’s criminal history, and parole or probation has already been served.

The misdemeanor or infraction happened when the individual was younger than 21.

“If it weren’t for Code for America, we would still be trying to clear these records simply because of a lack of resources,” MooreWeathers said. “It’s not a perfect system, though, and there may be people outside of that space that might still need resentencing.”

For many who had been convicted of minor marijuana charges, the future is bright.

“I was just talking to a former nurse who ended up losing her license to practice nursing because of her conviction. She told me that she’s already started the process to try and regain that license,” Raftery said.

“That’s the goal of this whole thing: to increase the earning capacity for people who have been convicted in the past, to get them onto the job market without a criminal history.”

Sacramento is the fourth county in the state to take part in Code for America’s record clearance program and tens of thousands have already benefited across the state.

“I can’t do anything if I don’t know anything,” Raftery said. “People just have to call my office and I’ll see what I can do to help them.” Ω

If you are an individual with a prior marijuana-related charge and would like to check if you are on the list, contact Ryan Raftery at the Sacramento Public Defender’s office at (916) 874-5578.

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Weed’s winning streak Hey man. What’s happening? I mean, like on a national level? Is weed still winning?

—Jess Wondrin

Aw yeah. Weed stays winning! Illinois just passed a comprehensive bill to legalize cannabis for adults, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who ran and won as a pro-legalization candidate, has said that he will sign the bill. It will take effect on Jan. 1, and will allow Illinois residents 21-and-older to possess as much as 30 grams (a little more than an ounce) of cannabis, while non-residents will be allowed to possess 15 grams.

More good news: The bill will also expunge convictions for people who were busted for cannabis during the prohibition days. Downside: Home grows are heavily regulated and only medical cannabis patients will be allowed to grow. Employers will still be able to fire workers who test positive for cannabis, and local jurisdictions have a lot of leeway in how, or even if, they want to regulate cannabis businesses. Still, this is a good thing. There are now 12 states with legal cannabis. The tipping point is fast approaching. Hell yeah.

Other quick notes: New York City just passed an ordinance that prevents employers from testing for cannabis.

This is awesome. Cannabis tests don’t prove someone is impaired; they just detect the presence of THC metabolites, which can stay in the bloodstream for days after the effects of the drug have worn off.

A federal court has ordered the Drug Enforcement Administration to “promptly” reassess cannabis as a Schedule I drug, which means it has no medical uses and is harmful and addictive. Opioids are Schedule II. This is, of course, B.S. The DEA has habitually dragged its feet when it comes to being

honest about cannabis, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has finally had enough. “We are troubled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s history of dilatory proceedings,” Judge Guido Calabresi wrote for the 2-1 majority on May 30.

This is big. I expect the DEA to continue to delay and distract, but now it will have to deal with a court that is in no mood to play. It’s about time. So yeah, weed is winning.

CBD products are becoming prolific. Some work, most are bad.

How can you tell if one is worth it before you buy?

—Auntie Vice via twitter

Man, it’s ridiculous.

CBD is very effective for a variety of things, but does it really need to be in everything from lotion to ice cream? And studies have shown that most over-thecounter CBD products don’t even contain CBD. The Food and Drug Administration is starting to crack down on bogus products, but it’s an uphill battle. Your best bet is to go to your local dispensary and look for CBD products that have their test results clearly listed. By the way, CBD is way more effective when mixed with a little THC. Have fun. Be well. Ω

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Free will astrology

ask joey

For the week oF June 6, 2019

It’s not her, it’s you

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I don’t think we were

by JOey GARCIA

@AskJoeyGarcia

forward and become the best brother, My brother’s girlfriend is pregnant. he thinks he should marry her, but I uncle and brother-in-law your family know he’s not ready to settle down. A has ever known. friend told me this girl got pregnant on one of my friends has been talking to this purpose. My brother doesn’t believe it guy who everyone says is a player. But and wouldn’t ask her about it. I think she says he isn’t that way with her. Is she’s a bitch and doesn’t belong in our she being naïve? or can a player change? family. how can I get him to see he’s Most people can change. That’s the making a mistake? basis of meditation, yoga, energy work, She’s in the family way, but you don’t want her in your family? Too late! Your psychotherapy and other forms of healing.

But not everyone wants to engage in the brother has spiritual, emotional, finaneffort it takes to shed who they have been cial and legal responsibilities for their to become a truer version of themselves. child. So whether they wed, or not, the What you’re really asking is: Can a mother of his child is family. person in a relationship behave You can welcome her in, differently in private than they and use your opinion of do publicly? her as an opportunity Yes, and that’s exactly It takes for your spiritual how a player operates. growth. Or turn your courage to get The relationship feels back on her, letting to know our own emotionally intimate a piece of your and exclusive when the hearts, much less heart harden, while couple is together. When you become somethe heart of they’re apart, the player one your brother another. is having similar emotioncan’t have an honest ally intimate relationships conversation with. with others, while the player’s There’s also the possibility partners worry about where he is, of working to be emotionally what he’s doing and with whom. Some neutral. That allows you to face situapartners hold on, imagining they will win tions with his girlfriend without your “she’s a bitch” perspective. Who do you the player over. Others cling because they never learned how to let go. Yes, that’s want to be in the world? right. The player isn’t the only one who Few people are all in when it needs to change. Ω comes to a major life changes, such as marriage. Questions slither in inviting us to reject, reaffirm or second-guess our decisions. We have runaway brides and “cold feet” before vows are spoken.

But hey, it’s not necessary to be 100%.

It’s enough to move toward a decision, checking in with oneself along the way, confronting fear and choosing love. It takes courage to get to know our own hearts, much less the heart of another.

So step away and let your brother find his path.

Let’s turn a spotlight on your life.

Drop the thought that your brother’s girlfriend got pregnant on purpose.

Maybe she did. Maybe she didn’t. What matters is that when you cling to seeing her as manipulative, it inspires you to be suspicious, an attitude that harms you, your brother, his girlfriend and their child. What’s done is done. Move 46

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by ROb bRezsny

MedItAtIon oF the week “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them,” said Maya Angelou. How does it feel to take your soul-called life back and live it fiercely?

Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review. Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question—all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential.

Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 1360; or email askjoey@newsreview.com.

ever meant to hear the same song sung exactly the same way more than once in a lifetime,” says poet Linh Dinh. That’s an extreme statement that I can’t agree with, but I understand what he’s driving at. Repeating yourself can be debilitating, even deadening. That includes trying to draw inspiration from the same old sources that have worked for you in the past.

In accordance with current astrological omens, I suggest you try to minimize exact repetition in the next two weeks: both in what you express and what you absorb. For further motivation, here’s William S. Burroughs: “Truth may appear only once; it may not be repeatable.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Peter Benchley wrote the bestselling book Jaws, which was later turned into a popular movie. It’s the story of a great white shark that stalks and kills people in a small beach town. Later in his life, the Taurus author was sorry for its influence, which helped legitimize killing of sharks and led to steep drops in shark populations. To atone, Benchley became an aggressive advocate for shark conservation. If there’s any behavior in your own past that you regret, the coming weeks will be a good time to follow Benchley’s lead: Correct for your mistakes; make up for your ignorance; do good deeds to balance a time when you acted unconsciously.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Some birds can fly for days without coming down to earth. Alpine swifts are the current record-holders, staying aloft for 200 consecutive days as they chase and feed on insects over West Africa. I propose we make the swift your soul ally for the next three weeks. May it help inspire you to take maximum advantage of the opportunities life will be offering you. You will have extraordinary power to soar over the maddening crowd, gaze at the big picture of your life and enjoy exceptional amounts of freedom.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “I think gentleness is one of the most disarmingly and captivatingly attractive qualities there are,” writes poet Nayyirah Waheed. That will be emphatically true about you in the coming weeks. Your poised, deeply felt gentleness will accord you as much power as other people might draw from ferocity and grandeur. Your gentleness will enable you to crumble obstacles and slip past barriers. It will energize you to capitalize on and dissipate chaos. It will win you leverage that you’ll be able to use for months.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is the Loch Ness monster real? Is there a giant sea serpent that inhabits the waters of Loch Ness in Scotland? Tantalizing hints arise now and then, but no definitive evidence has ever emerged. In 1975, enterprising investigators got the idea to build a realisticlooking papier-mâché companion for Nessie and place it in Loch Ness. They hoped that this “honey trap” would draw the reclusive monster into more public view. Alas, the scheme went awry. (Lady Nessie got damaged when she ran into a jetty.) But it did have some merit. Is there an equivalent approach you might employ to generate more evidence and insight about one of your big mysteries? What strategies might you experiment with? The time is right to hatch a plan.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Earlier in your life, you sometimes wrestled with dilemmas that didn’t deserve so much of your time and energy. They weren’t sufficiently essential to invoke the best use of your intelligence. But over the years, you have ripened in your ability to attract more useful and interesting problems. Almost imperceptibly, you have been growing smarter about recognizing which riddles are worth exploring and which are better left alone. Here’s the really good news: The questions and challenges you face now are among the finest you’ve ever had.

You are being afforded prime opportunities to grow in wisdom and effectiveness.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): How many languages are you fluent it? One? Two? More? I’m sure you

already know that gaining the ability to speak more than one tongue makes you smarter and more empathetic. It expands your capacity to express yourself vividly and gives you access to many interesting people who think differently from you. I mention this because you’re in a phase of your cycle when learning a new language might be easier than usual, as is improving your mastery of a second or third language. If none of that’s feasible for you, I urge you to at least formulate an intention to speak your main language with greater candor and precision—and find other ways to expand your ability to express yourself.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here’s Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano from The Book of Embraces: “In the River Plate basin we call the heart a ‘bobo,’ a fool. And not because it falls in love. We call it a fool because it works so hard.”

I bring this to your attention because I hope that in the coming weeks, your heart will indeed be a hard-working, wisely foolish bobo. The astrological omens suggest that you will learn what you need to learn and attract the experiences you need to attract if you do just that. Life is giving you a mandate to express daring and diligent actions in behalf of love.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): When he was 20 years old, a German student named Max Planck decided he wanted to study physics. His professor at the University of Munich dissuaded him, telling Planck, “In this field, almost everything is already discovered, and all that remains is to fill a few unimportant holes.” Planck ignored the bad advice and in 1918 won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his role in formulating quantum theory. Most of us have had a similar experience: people who’ve tried to convince us to reject our highest calling and strongest dreams. In my view, the coming weeks will be a potent time for you to recover and heal from those deterrents and discouragements in your own past.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Not all, but many horoscope columns address your ego rather than your soul. They provide useful information for your surface self, but little help for your deep self. If you’ve read my oracles for a while, you know that I aspire to be in the latter category. In that light, you won’t be surprised when I say that the most important thing you can do in the coming weeks is to seek closer communion with your soul; to explore your core truths; to focus on delight, fulfillment and spiritual meaning far more than on status, power and wealth.

As you attend to your playful work, meditate on this counsel from Capricorn author John O’Donohue: “The geography of your destiny is always clearer to the eye of your soul than to the intentions and needs of your surface mind.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian biochemist Gertrude Belle Elion shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988. She was instrumental in devising new drugs to treat AIDS and herpes, as well as a medication to facilitate organ transplants. And yet she accomplished all this without ever earning a Ph.D or M.D., a highly unusual feat. I suspect you may pull off a similar, if slightly less spectacular feat in the coming weeks: getting a reward or blessing despite a lack of formal credentials or official credibility.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Today, Mumbai is a megacity with 12.5 million people on 233 square miles. But as late as the 18th century, it consisted of seven sparsely populated islands.

Over many decades, reclamation projects turned them into a single land mass. I foresee you undertaking a metaphorically comparable project during the coming months. You could knit fragments together into a whole. You have the power to transform separate and dispersed influences into a single, coordinated influence.

You could inspire unconnected things to unite in common cause.

Nursing a baby back to health is good, but babying a nurse is not.

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