20200109 093344

TAKING BACK THE

BY SCOTT THOMAS ANDERSON

Cities stand up to PG&E

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Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 31, iSSue 39

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thurSday, january 9, 2020

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contents

january 9, 2020 | Vol. 31, Issue 39

“Hey deejay keep playin’ that song all night.” Sacramento DJs are woven into the local music scene.

editor’s note letters essay + streetalK greenlight 15 minutes news feature arts + Culture stage

04 05 06 08 10 12 16 22 26

23 dish plaCe Calendar Capital Cannabis guide asK joey

28 31 32 37 46

Cover design and illustration by maria ratinova

N&R Publications Editor Debbie Arrington Associate Publications Editors Derek McDow, Thea Rood

N&R Publications Staff Writers/Photographers 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 Steph Rodriguez Staff Reporter Scott Thomas Anderson Arts Editors Rachel Mayfield, Maxfield Morris Calendar Editor Patrick Hyun Wilson Contributing Editor Rachel Leibrock 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, Illyanna Maisonet, Tessa Marguerite Outland, Lindsay Oxford, James Raia, Patti Roberts, Dylan Svoboda, Bev Sykes, Jeremy Winslow, Graham Womack Creative Services Manager Elisabeth Bayard-Arthur Art Directors Sarah Hansel, Maria Ratinova Art of Information Director Serene Lusano Publications Designer Katelynn Mitrano Publications and Advertising Designer Nikki Exerjian Ad Designers Naisi Thomas, Cathy Arnold

Sales & Production Coordinator Skyler Morris Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Sam Almaguer, Michael Nero, Vincent Marchese, Amy Yang

Director of First Impressions/Sweetdeals Coordinator Laura Anthony

Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Assistant Lob Dunnica Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Rosemarie Beseler, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Mike Cleary, Tom Downing, Marty Fetterley, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Michael Jackson, Sylvia London, Calvin Maxwell, Greg Meyers, Jeremy Meier, Jenny Plummer, Lloyd Rongley, Lolu Sholotan, Viv Tiqui

Anne Stokes, Allen Pierleoni

N&R Publications Editorial Coordinator Nisa Smith Marketing & Publications Lead Consultant Elizabeth Morabito

Development Consultant Greta Beekhuis Marketing & Publications Consultants Julia Ballantyne, Chris Cohen, Joseph Engle, Laura Golino, Sherri Heller, Rod Malloy

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 Account Jedi Jessica Kislanka 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.

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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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projects that a recent poll shows have little public support. “It looks like it’s going toward stuff that no one cares about,” he complained.

In the poll, voters put the highest priority on fixing damaged roads, providing safe routes to schools and making their cities eligible for state and federal matching money.

The draft plan calls for $1.9 billion to go to Regional Transit and another $1.2 billion for transit and rail projects; combined, that’s about 38% of the $8.2 billion raised over 40 years by a half-cent sales tax. Of the rest, $3.1 billion would go to local road repairs and improvements, $1 billion to projects to lessen highway congestion and $445 million to key highway interchanges.

But environmental and transit groups want fewer highway and more transit projects, pointing out the climate change crisis. At the STA board’s direction, proposed projects will be measured against goals to reduce greenhouse gases and vehicle miles driven.

Leaders of Sacramento Area Advocates for Rail and Transit—among those who didn’t get to speak on Dec. 12—have an alternative plan that calls for 50% of the money to go to rail and transit, another 10% for bicycle and pedestrian projects and only 37.5% for roads and highways.

To generate more money to divide up, some STA board members talked about looking at a 1-cent increase or extending the half-cent permanently.

Under the initial schedule, the STA board would have tentatively approved a spending plan in February and adopted a final plan in May. Under a revised timeline before the board on Thursday, the board plans at least two more public hearings in February and wouldn’t take a vote until March 12.

It’s a good call to slow down to give more time for public input. It’s not going to be easy to find a compromise that wins enough support from various interest groups and from voters in Sacramento and the suburbs to pass countywide.

If the public doesn’t get a full and fair hearing early on, it will be nearly impossible. Ω Photo by Foon Rhee

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The Sacramento Transportation Authority needs to work on this whole public input thing, especially when it’s about to ask taxpayers for $8 billion to spend on transportation and transit.

If the STA board doesn’t get this right, a proposed half-cent sales tax hike on the November ballot is probably doomed.

On Dec. 12, at the first meeting to discuss a draft spending plan, 35 people signed up to speak. None of them got the chance. Mistakenly, the session was scheduled just before a Sacramento Public Library board meeting. The STA board could have taken a 20-minute break while the library board finished up and then reconvened; instead, it postponed the public hearing until Thursday, Jan. 9.

Susan Peters, the board’s chairperson and a Sacramento County supervisor, apologized repeatedly. Still, it’s not an auspicious start when the sales tax increase needs a two-thirds majority for approval, voters narrowly rejected a transportation tax in 2016—and when several STA board members warned that a measure tied to the current spending plan would fail.

“I don’t think this thing has a snowball’s chance in h-e-double-hockey-sticks of passing,” declared Elk Grove Councilman Patrick Hume.

It’s also not a good sign when none of the STA board members who spoke on Dec. 12 seemed enthusiastic about the draft spending plan put together by staff and consultants after holding community “listening” sessions.

Rancho Cordova City Councilman Garrett Gatewood said he opposes it because his city would only get 37 cents back for every $1 in taxes paid and because it includes too many

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

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@SacNewsReview

Facebook.com/SacNewsReview

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Re: “The 2019 Grinches: Enablers edition” (Feature, Dec. 26): It was incredibly disheartening to see Goodwill made your 2019 Grinches list. It seems your editorial team is incredibly biased against Goodwill since I believe this is the third piece of negative press about them you’ve published this year.

Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley and Northern Nevada provides life saving services to tens of thousands of people every year. They are so much more than a thrift store. Did you know their business model over the past several years has involved jumping in and saving at-risk nonprofits that are critical to the well-being of our community? For example, they saved WIND Youth Services from a seemingly hopeless demise a couple of years ago, and the agency is now thriving and serving more youth than ever.

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Re: “Driving while high” by Foon Rhee (Editor’s note, Dec. 26): As a retired assistant chief with the California Highway Patrol (30 years service), I have been preaching to anyone who would listen about the problems that would begin and tragically overtake us if and when cannabis was legalized and mixed in with alcohol and drug consumption.

Many looked at me as if I didn’t have good sense when I predicted what you pointed out is now happening and accelerating in Colorado and Washington.

Since THC is now in cookies, cakes and drinks, and is easy to buy for home use and parties, why shouldn’t we be worried the next time a doctor opens us up or we’re going to the dentist, etc.?

There are many reasons why I don’t support our “empty suit” governor, but his energetic support of legalizing cannabis tops my list. We are just asking for tragic problems, and I’m sure that many of them are already underway.

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No stoned driving Re: “Driving while high” by Foon Rhee (Editor’s note, Dec. 26): The best options to prevent fatal crashes with marijuana-

impaired driving still remain public education and trained law enforcement. However, IMMAD— Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving—is a simple, quick objective test of retina/vision function. It is in Virtual Goggle with a Bluetooth Response. If a driver cannot see accurately, they cannot drive safely. IMMAD is an efficient means to determine fitness to drive after marijuana consumption.

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How anyone could possibly be interested in the totally obnoxious, loud-mouthed main character and his self-incurred woes is beyond me. Of course, his wife and mistress support this creep.

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We want to hear your

voices DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY? WRITE A LETTER OR AN ESSAY!

Please follow these guidelines for consideration: 1- Letters should respond to SN&R stories or local issues.

2- Letters can be a maximum of 150 words.

3- Essays should focus on local issues.

4-Essays can be 550-600 words and must not be previously published.

5- Email your letters and essays to foonr@newsreview.com

read more letters online at newsreview.com/sacramento.

01.09.20

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5

essay

by Glenda marsh

streetalk

by Graham Womack

Asked At CApitol pArk:

Is the future what you expected?

A transportation plan for all Transit coalition says it has a better strategy for Sacramento The Sacramento Transportation Authority is considering a 2020 half-cent sales tax ballot measure for transportation. Our county faces many transportation challenges: deferred maintenance, unsafe roads, traffic congestion, increasing public demand for more transportation choices and stringent air quality mandates to protect us from our Glenda Marsh is co-founder of Sacramento Metro Advocates number one pollution source—vehicles. for Rail and Transit, a coalition of business, labor and So what should we expect from spending the community leaders. $200 million a year expected to be raised by the new tax measure? choices for local trips and accessing transit, 10% of To help answer this question, leaders from funding should be dedicated for bike and pedestrian business, labor and community organizations, projects and to make local streets safer. plus public health, environmental and active The STA should adopt the SMART/SacMoves transportation advocates formed Sacramento Metro plan because it is consistent with two recent regional Advocates for Rail and Transit and the SacMoves efforts. First, the Sacramento Area Council of Coalition. Together, we envision a future where Governments board recently adopted our region’s most county residents can live and work within 2020 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable walking or biking distance or a transit stop from Communities Strategy, linking our land use, air everything they need. The proposed sales tax quality and transportation. To achieve the plan’s measure will shape our transportation system goals would require the region to spend 50% for generations. This is why we urge of its future transportation money on the STA board—which next meets fix-it-first road projects and 50% on Thursday, Jan. 9—to meet our transit. transportation challenges with Second, the Mayors’ Our plan shows a spending plan that provides Commission on Climate how congestion benefits from mass transit, Change’s preferred strategy bike and pedestrian infraand air quality can be states that “funding should structure. We have provided be proportionally allocated tackled by investing first STA with such a plan, to make possible [even more in fixing roads and available at facebook.com/ ambitious] mode shift targets.” groups/1012985222384978. expanding transit.

Also, state and federal climate The STA’s failed Measure B change laws and policies compel a in 2016 did not anticipate rapidly transition from building new roads to evolving transportation systems or a fix-it-first and transit model. The STA climate change imperatives. Its list of board should deliver an expenditure plan disconnected projects did not enable our county consistent with this visionary leadership. to leverage state and federal transportation funds.

How will we move forward on such serious While STA’s just-released draft expenditure plan imperatives? Consider how technology and state-ofmoves in the right direction by identifying transit the-art energy and water conservation practices have and rail as congestion relief projects, it’s still rooted allowed California to serve a growing population in the past by not showing how it would prioritize without increasing the amount of water or energy and integrate different transportation modes and consumed. So, too, cities and counties across the thereby advance our transition to safe, sustainable state are using resident- and business-focused and free-flowing transportation. policies to retool existing transportation systems to In contrast, our plan shows how congestion and transport more people more safely and affordably, air quality can be tackled by investing first in fixing while decreasing dependence on single-occupancy roads and expanding transit. Transit should be the vehicle trips. top priority for congestion relief along our freeways By adopting the SMART/SacMoves plan, the where light rail already operates, as well as on STA board would show it has a state-of-the-art plan major roads. To ensure local streets provide more for getting us from here to there. Ω 6

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vAleNtiNA lukov tsevA fraud auditor

No. I expected it to be easier to buy property. But it’s not … If you are single, that’s it, forget about it.

CrystAl CostA admin worker

I did think we’d be in The Jetsons era. But it’s obviously not it yet.

NAte doNkor IT analyst

Yeah, because we’re living in a time where technology is kind of like leveling the playing field. We’re living in the global community.

stewArt volk office assistant

I don’t know. I can’t quite picture how it would be.

lisA sypr Aseuth accounting worker

No, ’cause I thought it was going to be better. I was expecting … we were going to be able to travel flying.

GAy FAivre personnel officer

The future happens without even noticing it, quite frankly. It’s just part of life. ... I expected more electronic, more stuff that would help us, that we wouldn’t have to do it manually.

01.09.20

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7

art ist s! submit a comic for

greenlight

Welcome, Joe Chiodo!

by Jeff vonKaenel

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contest ! `

how to enter create a new comic or submit one you’ve already made! winners will be published in our comics issue 1/30/20

deadline: 1/16/20 @5pm

email submissions to comics@newsreview.com file size minimum: 1,000 x 1,000 pixels file size maximum: 2,000 x 2,000 pixels

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Happy New Year! My year got off to a great start when longtime Sacramento Magazine Publisher Joe Chiodo joined the Sacramento News & Review team as publisher, starting Jan. 2. As publisher, he will oversee SN&R’s advertising department and our community outreach. The editorial department will continue to report to me.

For the last 30 years, Joe and I have been competitors.

At the monthly Sacramento Magazine, he was the major driver of their advertising sales and its publisher for the last 14 years. For most of the last 30 years, SN&R had a much larger circulation than Sacramento Magazine, but the magazine had Joe Chiodo more advertising.

I have been a longtime fan of Joe’s, not only because of his business success but also because of his genuine commitment to our community.

While our publications are different, we have always shared a belief that we can and should make a positive difference in our community. During Joe’s time at Sacramento Magazine, it was able to bring in millions of dollars for local charities with the annual Best Of extravaganza and it has donated many pages of advertising to various Sacramento nonprofits.

At SN&R, we have produced muchneeded watchdog journalism while also helping to launch Second Saturday, creating the Friday Night SAMMIES in the Park Concert Series, and producing Call for Unity, an interfaith music and spoken word event that raised money for charities working in Oak Park.

And now Joe and I will be working together, at a time when there is so much happening in the media world. In 1989, when Joe and I first started competing, The Sacramento Bee was dominant in circulation, reporting and advertising. But in 2020, SN&R is now distributing more

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

papers than the average weekday Bee. And according to the independent Media Audit survey, an annual comprehensive, syndicated audience measurement survey, SN&R has significantly more readers than the weekday Bee. In last year’s survey, Media Audit found that we reach nearly 300,000 readers with a single issue and that more than 400,000 people read the paper once a month.

That is a lot of people who are spending billions of dollars here in Sacramento—in restaurants and stores and for housing, cars, health care and entertainment. And we have a very cost effective way to deliver those dollars to our advertisers.

Print ads work. And for many businesses, particularly brick and mortar businesses, print ads are a much more effective advertising investment than online.

Business owners, if you would like new customers, give Joe and his sales team a call. A human being, not a computer program, will get back to you.

Joe recently told me: “At this point in my life, I really want to do something meaningful. I want to be here at the News & Review. Not only because I know that, with its large readership, we can get great results for our clients, but also because I believe in an independent press. An independent press that is willing to speak truth to power, that provides reliable information on controversial subjects and that is deeply involved in the community. It is a great honor to join the News & Review. And if you know me, you know you are going to get 110 percent.”

I do know Joe. Happy New Year! □.

Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority owner of the News & Review.

Stay focused on

your North Star

Income inequality, American style

1 in 4 U.S. workers

Set your compass for a better tomorrow By yvONNE R. WALkER P r e s i d e n t, s e i U L o c a L 1 0 0 0

make less than $10 an hour

E

very leader needs a North Star, something that guides them through the darkness to where they want to be.

With their compass, ancient mariners used the North Star to navigate uncertain waters. In uncertain times, our core beliefs are how we set our moral compass.

What is my North Star as I strive to create a California for All? By focusing on this goal: Ending poverty in California. That includes eroding structural racism and closing the gap in income inequality.

As a union leader, I know firsthand the power of unions in achieving these goals. Unions make a positive difference.

Not only do unions increase worker wages and benefits, they also reduce inequality within companies, organizations, and even state workforces. Unions reduce racial income discrimination and help level the playing field; that lifts up everyone.

A look back at 2019 can be depressing; inequality in California continued to grow. The rich got richer; more than 90 big corporations – including Amazon, Chevron, FedEx, IBM, General Motors and Netflix — paid zero in federal income taxes.

Meanwhile, the poor and middle class are still struggling; they’re not seeing wages grow very much if at all. Income inequality is already at a 50-year high; under the Trump administration, that will only get worse.

Looking back, I see inspiration, too, particularly from within our union. Members stepped up to fight for their fellow state workers, and for California.

For example, SEIU members Don Solleder and Vincent Green challenged the state’s use of outside consultants.

In question was a contract that paid $125 an hour to four full-time IT consultants who were providing technical support that was previously provided by our bargaining unit members. The State Personnel Board agreed with their challenge and ordered the contract disapproved.

“This is an important victory,” Green said. “The state needs to pay competitive wages and invest in training its own IT professionals instead of wasting up to $2.5 billion in taxpayer dollars every year on outsourced contracts.”

We have a busy year ahead of us, with a lot to talk about and do.

$14.5 million

This month, I will be standing with Rev. William Barber, leader of the Poor People’s Campaign, and sharing with you the celebrations of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., a legacy that is needed now more than ever.

In 2020, we’ll celebrate the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. I’ll commemorate this centennial by exploring how voting rights are being eroded in other states as well as the organizations and efforts to restore those rights.

This year, it’s important that everyone be counted – literally. I will be examining our organizational efforts around the U.S. Census to make sure every Californian – regardless of citizenship status – is included and that our state receives the needed funding and crucial representation tied to this once-in-a-decade tally.

Of course, I will keep a vigilant eye on unions – the impact of workers winning the right to organize in new industries, as well as further attacks on unions and what we are doing to stand strong.

With my North Star, I know where I’m headed in 2020. Join me on this journey to a California for All. Yvonne R. Walker President, SEIU Local 1000

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Flora in bloom Stephen Flora didn’t wake up one day and find out he was signed by a professional soccer team out of nowhere. The 23-year-old Fair Oaks native’s journey—from playing at El Camino Fundamental High School to being signed December by Major Arena Soccer League team Ontario Fury—was chock full of setbacks. He didn’t receive any scholarship offers, was cut from his college team, was cut from a semi-pro team and nearly gave up his childhood dream. But he didn’t. Now he’s been signed by Ontario Fury and is ready to make it to his next goal. SN&R chatted with the midfielder about the journey that led him here.

What was the hardest moment of your career?

After my first year of college I basically got cut from the team at Chico … at the end of the spring season, the coach just tells me, “You know Stephen, I like you, you know, you’re a hard worker and everything, and everyone knows you’re technically skilled. But we have guys that are older than you, bigger than you, faster than you and there’s just no getting around that. We don’t see you actually playing on the team.” … I didn’t even tell my parents. I didn’t have the heart to tell them, that I didn’t make it, because I was just so upset about it.

How did you find Ontario Fury?

One of my friends was playing in an indoor game at the arena that I worked at, and he’s just like, “Oh, you want to hop on?” And I was like, okay … I scored a bunch of goals, I was playing really, really good, and I guess the ref of that game was one of the older coaches for Ontario Fury. So after the game he came up to me, and he’s like, “Hey dude, have you ever heard of the Ontario Fury?” … I ended up going to a tryout and—this is back in July—and I played really, really good, probably one of the best tryouts I’ve ever had.

What were you doing when you found out you were being signed?

I just was going [to their practice] every day just thinking, you know, I gotta just make the most

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Stephen Flora at a recent Ontario Fury game.

PHOTO COURTESY Of STEPHEN fLORA

of this, and hopefully one day I’ll get a contract out of this. But I was just playing completely for free. … It was the end of practice, and the coach is bringing everyone in for a huddle and they’re just saying, “Good practice, make sure you’re in the locker rooms tomorrow, blah, blah, blah—oh, by the way, we just wanted to say this in front of everybody, Stephen, we think you’ve been doing a hell of job this year and we want to offer you a contract.” And I had no idea they were going to say that, so as soon as they did I’m just like—I literally didn’t hear a single word after that.

What are you most excited for?

I would say the relationship with the fans. I walked around the side [of the arena] after the game and I literally was signing over 100 autographs, and the little kids came up to me and looked up to me like they wanted to be like me one day, that was just like … man, that was the best feeling ever… I just wanted to like, one day, be that guy that I always looked up to. Ten, 15 years ago, I was that little kid walking around and trying to get a picture with those guys, and now that I’m actually the guy that’s on the other side of the picture. It’s like the coolest feeling ever. □

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Aly Fuentes and Wendi Reinl sit in the Reinl living room on Dec. 11. Fuentes and Reinl are participants in the Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s Host Homes program.

Photos by Margherita beale

You can end homelessness LGBT center lets average people open their homes—and hearts—to homeless youth

by Margherita Beale and raheeM F. hosseini

sacramento community members interested in hosting can email Pixie Pearl at pixie.pearl@ saccenter.org. this story was supported by a grant from the independent Journalism Fund. to support more stories like this, donate at independent journalismfund.org.

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Aly Fuentes was looking for a roommate.

But in Wendi Reinl’s home, the 19-yearold transgender woman found a family.

Fuentes went through the Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s relatively new Host Homes Program. The idea behind the program is to pair LGBTQ adults between the ages of 18 and 24 with community members who have underutilized spaces in their homes.

Potential hosts are vetted and profiles are created, from which participating youth can make their selections. The LGBT center calls this a “community response” to housing insecurity. And while it may |

01.09.20

sound unique, “host homes” have quietly become more prominent in tackling youth homelessness, in which LGBTQ people are overrepresented and standard shelter options are inadequate and rare.

According to a 2017 study by the National Coalition for the Homeless, only 10% of youth identify as LGBTQ, but as many as 40% of homeless youth do.

Wendi Reinl and her husband Steve became the Host Homes Program’s first participants in September. Now the program has seven host families, but the need for LGBTQ youth facing housing insecurity may be increasing as well.

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The host homes model has been reserved mostly for people with disabilities. In 37 states, including California, the MENTOR Network matches adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with families that mesh with their interests, skills and personalities, its website says.

Bethesda Lutheran Communities does something similar in 13 states, while the Care Association operates in Colorado.

Host homes are less common for individuals experiencing homelessness, especially unaccompanied minors, who present a panoply of legal and regulatory challenges because of their age.

And while California recently passed a law allowing renters to open their homes to people at risk of homelessness, they still require the blessing of landlords who may worry about perceived liability issues.

But in Sacramento, informal host homes have already cropped up.

One night in late 2015, Laura Goldstein spotted two teenagers outside a Chipotle in Land Park just as it was getting cold.

The Oak Park resident bought the couple something to eat and struck up a conversation. Then she watched the young women lug their suitcases into the night to find a place to sleep.

“I could not stop thinking about them,” Goldstein told SN&R in 2016.

A month later, Goldstein happened upon the teens, cloistered together under a rain-pelted sleeping bag by the back entrance of a Starbucks. She and her husband took them in for three weeks.

Though challenging, Goldstein says she and her husband were enriched by the experience. The couple, then 17 and 19, identified as transgender. The two were dating and both estranged from

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RETIRINg TO LaVENDER Aly Fuentes still displays the welcome message she received from her host. She also has earrings she made of the PrEP pill.

their families, but not because of their gender identity. That had more to do with drug use, which masked other challenges: a cycle of poverty and arrest and a distrust of the system, among them.

“The story was a lot more complicated,” Goldstein said then. “The more that I got to know their stories, there were a lot more issues they were dealing with.”

The 19-year-old eventually moved to Washington state to be with relatives. The younger one stayed on the streets. She would be close to 21 now.

Back when he was the coordinator of Wind Youth Service’s youth shelter program, Peter Bell often wondered what it would take to develop an Airbnb-style network of emergency hosts here in Sacramento.

“Host homes happen in other communities,” he told SN&R in 2016.

“It’s a fairly successful model, and cost-effective.”

According to a 2013 blog for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a workshop on the topic contended that host homes are more flexible and affordable than traditional shelters. And the most effective ones make sure the community hosts aren’t on their own.

They get training from the respective charity agencies, which also provide case management and coordination services.

That model is finally underway in Sacramento.

Under the LgBT center’s program, hosts must be able to participate for three to six months. Pixie Pearl, assistant director of housing at the center, said the time commitment is important to reassure homeless youths that their housing can’t be taken away at a moment’s notice.

“We’re still at that point of developing full trust and all that,” Pearl said. “I think our longest hosted

right now is hitting the remember immediately running under three-month mark. And the table and hiding because I didn’t so we’re just getting past know who this person was.” that—feeling insecure Fuentes moved to Los Angeles at 15, about the housing piece.” then to Sacramento with her mother. It The Host Homes was here that she started transitioning.

Program receives When she graduated high school, Fuentes assistance from Point said her mother already decided she Source Youth, a national should move out. organization that “I don’t think she needs me in her life aims to reduce youth even though she’s my mother,” Fuentes homelessness. Point reflected. “She probably wants me in her Source Youth life. I don’t feel like she needs to be is helping a big part of my life now.” develop After a period of housand ing insecurity, which “It was like a support programs included short-term beam of light came in 50 cities with placements through through and I was like, demonstrated need. the LGBT center, According to last Fuentes was referred ‘Oh my god, we need to do year’s point-in-time to the Host Homes this.’” homeless survey, Program and paired about one in six with Reinl, who had Wendi Reinl young, homeless her own reasons for Host Homes Program adults in Sacramento becoming a host. participant County identified as Reinl has three chilgay/lesbian, bisexual or a dren, two of whom identify sexual orientation other than as queer. With two kids already straight, and 3% identified as gender moved out and one a junior in high non-conforming. school, Reinl said she wasn’t ready to Overall, homelessness in the county become an empty nester just yet. rose by 19% in two years to more than “I was reading about the program and 5,400 people experiencing homelessness it was like a beam of light came through on any given night. and I was like, ‘Oh my god, we need to For Elijah Wood, Point Source do this,’” Reinl recalled.

Youth’s associate director for Northern Fuentes recently hit the three-month California and Sacramento’s technical mark in the Reinl home. And by the looks assistant, LGBTQ homelessness is a of it, everyone involved is over the moon. personal subject. When he came out The family sits down for dinner every to his parents in college, they cut him day, together. Fuentes has taught the off, leading to a four-to five-year-long Reinls new recipes, including enchiladas period of housing insecurity, he says. and taquitos, and Reinl has encouraged Wood says it’s this experience more vegetables. Fuentes says she already that led him to his work, where he shuns pork because the smell reminds her prioritizes youth autonomy, something of the pigs she butchered and cleaned as that he says has been lacking in social a child. programs.

Fuentes will be starting community “There’s this idea that just because college this month. Though she’s looking you’ve succeeded and you’ve made it forward to exploring various subjects, through life that other people should do teaching is something she’s gravitating to it the same way as you,” Wood said. for personal reasons.

“We’re finding out as a society and a “I’ve been guided, inspired by some of culture, that’s not necessarily true.” my teachers that I’ve had throughout high school and I feel like I want to be that aly Fuentes grew up in Michoacán, kind of support for people,” Fuentes said.

Mexico. Her biological mother wasn’t “I want to be the one, where people are around for much of her upbringing. going to come to me and be like, ‘Hey, Fuentes remembers seeing her for the can you help me?’” first time at around 11 years old.

“Ali is part of our life now,” Reinl “I was at my cousin’s house, which added. “It’s definitely added so much to was next door and everyone was like, our family.” Ω ‘Oh, your mom’s here, your mom’s here,’” Fuentes recalled. “And I

After four years in the works, a Midtown housing project for lower-income LgBTQ seniors is nearly ready for construction to begin.

Lavender courtyard is designed to bring affordable apartments to an increasingly unaffordable part of the urban core.

Twenty of its units, to be located at 16th and F streets, will also be set aside as permanent supportive housing for people who were formerly homeless.

Mutual Housing California and the Sacramento City Council have been trying to make Lavender Courtyard a reality since 2016.

Mutual Housing eventually secured a $2.5 million grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Then the City Council voted in December to recommit a $1.9 loan to the project from its federal HOME funds.

The biggest break for Lavender Courtyard happened last week, when Mutual Housing scored a $11.3 million grant from the new Proposition 1 Veterans and Affordable Housing Act, which California voters passed in 2018.

“It’s very significant,” Mutual Housing CEO Roberto Jiménez told SN&R. Jiménez says the final step involves applying for $11.4 million in state and federal tax credits, which his organization plans to do next week. Given all the other funding sources now in place, Mutual Housing is in a strong position to land the tax credits.

“This project is going to help decrease displacement for people being pushed out of that community, and it is a place that really is a community,” Jiménez noted. “It’s also going to increase the opportunity for people who have been pushed out to come back now.” (Scott Thomas Anderson)

kILLINg a PEacEMakER Mario Perez-Arzola spent his final moments trying to make peace.

The homeless man died saving a life.

It was Oct. 18, 2018. Perez-Arzola watched Chu Hue Xiong approach his south Sacramento homeless camp and point a gun at one of his fellow campers. Xiong was looking for someone, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office says. For a time, Perez-Arzola managed to calm him down.

But then Xiong “inexplicably” shot Perez-arzola in the chest and winged the other camper in the shoulder, the DA’s office stated in a release. Perez-Arzola died. The person he stood up for survived.

Violence is the leading cause of death for Sacramento County’s homeless population, according to the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, which has been cataloging homeless deaths since 2002. Guns have been responsible for 8% of the 1,032 homeless deaths over the past 17 years, a coalition analysis of coroner data shows.

Of the record 132 homeless deaths recorded in 2018, PerezArzola was among the 7% of people who was killed in a homicide.

The coalition’s policy recommendations include having each City Council district create a safe parking program with toilets, showers and case management, and for the county coroner to convene a review committee to analyze homeless deaths, similar to ones that exist for children and victims of domestic violence.

The city and Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency are planning to open a parking lot where 20 families can sleep in their vehicles this month, but there has been no word on the coalition’s other recommendations.

On Dec. 9, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Goodman sentenced Xiong to 118 years-to-life in prison. The 32-yearold is currently at San Quentin State Prison. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

01.09.20 | sN&R | 13

Hayward attorney Rick Simons discusses new lawsuits against the Diocese of Oakland at a Dec. 31 press conference. One of the plaintiffs, James Brogan, stands to the right.

Image courtesy of Jeff anderson & assocIates

‘House of evil’ Survivors of clergy sex abuse coming forward in droves under new California law

by Raheem F. hosseini

Standing in a hotel near the Oakland waterfront, James Brogan didn’t quite know where to begin, so he did something most sexual assault survivors don’t do—he gave his name.

“It’s wrecked my entire life, every aspect of my life,” he said, not looking past the lectern behind which he stood.

“Where do you go?”

Because of a new California law, Brogan and countless other survivors of rapists masquerading as holy men can go to court.

Brogan is a plaintiff in one of a dozen new lawsuits against eight California Catholic dioceses that a law firm filed in concert with a new state law. Jeff Anderson & Associates, a national law firm that represents survivors of clergy sexual abuse, announced the lawsuits in a series of wrenching press conferences designed to spread awareness of Assembly Bill 218, also known as the California Child Victims Act. Anderson said the law will help survivors expose hundreds of perpetrators and “excavate” thousands of pages 14

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of documents that reveal how far church higher-ups went to protect pedophiles.

“What it allows these survivors and any survivors of sexual abuse in California to do is to take action,” said Anderson, whose firm is preparing to file hundreds of cases in the coming months. “In these cases, it was the Diocese of Oakland and the Catholic bishops in Oakland that made the conscious choice to protect these offenders—and many others.”

The firm is partnering with other attorneys around the state, including Joseph C. George, who last month sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento on behalf of a man who alleges that he was abused by two of its priests as a child in the 1980s. The diocese added both clerics to its “credibly accused” list after the allegations came to light, George’s firm said.

Authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, AB 218 took effect Jan. 1 over the vociferous—and previously successful—opposition of the Catholic church. The San Diego Democrat’s measure extends—but doesn’t erase—the

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

deadline that child victims of sexual assault face if they want to sue their abusers in civil court.

Before AB 218, a survivor had to file a lawsuit within eight years of reaching adulthood or within three years of realizing the damage suffered from the abuse, whichever came later. AB 218 relaxes both statutes of limitations—giving survivors until age 40 or five years after their reasonable discovery of damages.

The measure also allows courts to triple the damages if church coverups paved the way for a child to be victimized.

“The idea that someone who is assaulted as a child can actually run out of time to report that abuse is outrageous,” Gonzalez said in an Oct. 13 statement, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed her bill into law.“We shouldn’t be telling victims their time is up when in reality we need them to come forward to protect the community from future abuse.”

On the final day of 2019, Brogan did just that.

He’s a grown man now—with tattooed forearms, studded earlobes, a snowy goatee and slicked-back hair. He was just an 11-year-old boy attending parish in Union City in the 1970s when Father George E. Crespin allegedly violated him. For Brogan, who spoke in tight breaths, there wasn’t much space between the past and present.

“It’s tough to feel like a survivor when I’m still suffering,” he said.

Brogan says he didn’t tell his family what happened for 40 years, even when his abuser oversaw his sister’s wedding.

Instead Brogan turned to the bottle.

“That’s the first day I started drinking,” he said softly.

Crespin, who was part of the Diocese of Oakland’s upper hierarchy, also “buried complaints of sexual predator priests,” said attorney Rick Simons. Crespin was at Our Lady of the Rosary at the same time as Father Stephen Kiesle, a serial pedophile who earned a nickname for the magnitude of his crimes.

“He was known as ‘the Pied Piper’ because wherever he went the kids followed him around and there wasn’t a one he didn’t try and molest,” said Simons, who deposed Kiesle when he was incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison. “His victims number more than dozens—probably in the hundreds.”

Brian Barnes was one of those victims.

He was 11 and growing up in Pinole when he says Kiesle assaulted him. He says he told his parents, but nothing much came of it. He didn’t try coming forward again until decades later, after the birth of his three daughters.

“When you’re by yourself, you think it’s just you and you don’t say much. You know, the world’s an ugly place,” Barnes said at the press conference. “And as I realized there were more and more survivors in our group from that small town, it empowered me to want to step up today.”

Not every victim can.

Brogan said he had a best friend, an altar boy at the time, whom Crespin also preyed upon. That friend recently committed suicide, Brogan shared.

Brogan cupped his chin and wrestled back tears. He gestured without looking at the posterboard with Crespin’s image on it, stately in his clerical collar, smiling eyes under bushy white eyebrows.

“It was the house of evil, most definitely,” Brogan said. “There’s people hiding from it and it was just so wrong.

Not coming out and helping everybody— that would’ve been the right thing to do— but here I am trying to heal from that.” □

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Role models in the classroom

Happy Hour

Monday–Friday 3–6pm

Why California needs more male teachers of color

by Vanessa Rancano

Darryl McKellar makes teaching look easy. Over 20 years in the classroom, the English teacher has mastered some of the job’s trickiest tasks.

He has a writing assignment for the 10th graders in his second period class today, based on a short story they read, The Lottery.

“When I say lottery, what do you think?

Breanna, what do you think?”

“Drama,” she says.

“Why drama?” McKellar asks.

“When you win a lot of money, it causes a lot of controversy,” she says.

“Mo’ money, mo’ problems. Who said it?”

McKellar asks.

“It’s...a rapper?” one student ventures.

“Wait,” McKellar says, launching into a pretty spot-on impression. “Uh huh, uh huh, baby, baby.”

The students laugh. “Biggie Smalls!” a student says.

McKellar nods. He looks pleased with himself as the students pair up and dive into the assignment.

“I’m like Batman,” he says. “I use every trick in my utility belt to get a kid to buy into education.”

For these students, having a teacher of color, like McKellar, who has high expectations, can relate to their experiences and serve as a role model could make a big difference. When students of color have teachers of color, there’s evidence they learn more, finish high school at higher rates and are more likely to go to college.

But the number of teachers of color in California isn’t keeping pace with the diversity of its student body.

Changing that is top of mind for Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction. “Even one teacher of color in a school is enough for students of color to do better academically,” he says, citing studies that show long-term positive benefits.

Three quarters of California students are of color, compared to about a third of teachers.

But in McKellar his students have something especially rare: Fewer than 10% of the state’s teachers are men of color and just 1% are black men like him.

McKellar’s ninth-grade students Elijah Foster and Tyler Banner say having a man in front of the class is still a new experience.

They’ve been taught almost exclusively by women, and they say having a male teacher changes the dynamic.

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“It feels like the man expects more out of you,” Banner says. “You see them as, like, the homie,” Foster adds. “Like a close friend—trustable.”

“Me being in front of students, being a black man, and dispelling every stereotype about what we bring to the table, that’s my motivation,” McKellar says.

For 28-year-old Fabian Flores, it’s not unusual to be one of the only men in his classes at California State University, Dominguez Hills College of Education. So he’s finding the support of a group for aspiring male teachers of color lifesaving.

Flores is part of a program called Future Minority Male Teachers of California, an experiment that got underway in 2017. The goal is to improve the pipeline for men of color who want to teach by focusing on recruitment from the local community, plus financial, instructional and emotional support from peers and veteran teachers.

A handful of California State University colleges of education are testing the program, but there’s hope to expand systemwide.

McKellar is a mentor in the program at CSU Dominguez Hills, in Los Angeles. “I encourage them to use all of their experiences as a person of color,” he said.

The program also offers small scholarships to help pay for school. Research suggests that subsidizing the cost of teacher education is one of the best ways to remove barriers keeping people of color from joining the profession.

College graduates of color are disproportionately burdened by debt. On average, black college graduates owe over $7,000 more than white peers when they earn their Bachelor of Arts. A few years later, that black-white gap has tripled to $25,000.

When weighing a student loan load against a future salary, teaching can make for a tough proposition.

“I would not be here if it wasn’t for that extra money,” said Flores, who got a $5,000 scholarship.

Future Minority Male Teachers of California wants to get more men of color teaching in elementary grades, where they’re most rare, and where they could have the biggest impact on achievement gaps. Ω The California Dream series is a statewide media collaboration of CalMatters, KPBS, KPCC, KQED and Capital Public Radio with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the James Irvine Foundation. This is an abridged version of the full story, which is available at CalMatters.org.

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BY SCOTT THOMAS ANDERSON scotta@newsreview.com

Cities stand up to PG&E

16 | SN&R | 01.09.20

illustration by Maria ratinova, Photos by scott thoMas anderson

TAKING BACK THE

Shad Chittock, a water treatment supervisor for Nevada Irrigation District, works for the agency trying to take back a local power grid from PG&E.

t

he last light of the year is rising as trucks exit the gates of Nevada Irrigation District, turning toward a sharp, lavender lining ablaze under the morning’s flatiron clouds. The vehicles roll through a dim neighborhood of sleepy houses until they reach West Main Street of Grass Valley and crest a hill overlooking its patchwork of Victorian and Art Deco buildings. Within seconds, they’re descending through a ramshackle corridor of Gold Rush survivors that mark the city once called “the Quartz Queen of the West.”

Just like every morning, these NID technicians are making their way by rows of standing history—the shadowed balcony of the Holbrooke Hotel, where Mark Twain stayed when he captivated Grass Valley with one of his early comedy showcases; the crimson, light-studded bricks of the Alpha Building, where a European countess with a pet grizzly bear once titillated miners while performing her famous “spider dance;” and a bend of buildings once called “the Waterfront” for the number of whiskeysoaked saloons.

Today’s Grass Valley is a working-class mosaic of ranchers, farmers, merchants and artists of every background. Unlike the many frontier towns that later returned to dust, Grass Valley’s longevity was ensured when its scattershot of gold sluicing camps was swept away by a trio of powerful mining monopolies. Big investors brought lasting infrastructure, rooted families and generations of job security.

But lately residents fear a different monopoly is dooming their way of life—and they’re thinking about doing something about it.

Last fall, the city, along with surrounding communities in Nevada County, experienced four widespread, extended blackouts over the course of five weeks. Each event was triggered

by PG&E’s new Public Safety Power Shutoff program, which the utility created in the midst of being sued for causing catastrophic loss of life and property in wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

PG&E’s records indicate that few regions were hit harder by its safety outages than Nevada County. One area that that did fare worse included the towns of Paradise, Magalia, Concow and Yankee Hill, where people are still recovering from the 2018 Camp Fire; PG&E severed them from power seven times between June 8 and Nov. 21.

In Nevada County, PG&E was planning a fifth shutoff just days before Thanksgiving, only calling it off hours before when an unexpected rainstorm arrived.

For Grass Valley, the blackouts shuttered small businesses for days, leaving owners without revenue and employees with diminished paychecks.

Thousands of residents also lost water, while even more saw their internet and cell phone coverage evaporate. This communication collapse only made things worse as people scrambled to take care of isolated seniors and the sick and disabled who rely on power for their medical equipment.

Some schools in the county reportedly lost nine days of class time.

When PG&E CEO Bill Johnson told the California Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 18 that places like Grass Valley can expect ongoing power shutoffs for at least the next 10 years, residents and business owners alike began wondering if their community—indeed if any rural community under PG&E’s dominion—can really sustain itself.

So, many in Grass Valley are turning their hopes to the men and women of Nevada Irrigation District—and those big white utility trucks that roll through the city each morning. The district has a plan that could allow Nevada County wrestle control of its power grid from PG&E. At the same time, leaders in Butte and Yolo counties are joining a larger movement to use political muscle to force a public takeover of PG&E altogether.

DaviD anD Goliath Jeff Rutherford drops a small propane tank onto a tree stump and fixes a nozzle to it as the day’s long winter shadow falls. Two men wearing flannels stand between Rutherford and their pickup trucks, holding more chipped and faded propane tanks to be filled.

It’s Rutherford turn to man the Rainbow Market, the small grocery store he owns on the far outskirts of Nevada City. The place is a lifeline for those who live in this back country of quiet ridges and alpine meadows. There’s nothing out this way but his market and the Willow, a western-style saloon that cooks steaks on an indoor fire pit between its time-worn bar and rustic dining room.

Together, the Rainbow and the Willow mark a last stop on this north stretch of Highway 49 before the upper foothills give way to the isolation of the High Sierra.

Both businesses went dark during the blackouts.

“All our perishables went bad, and I had to throw them out, and then buy them again, and then throw them out again,” Rutherford recalls.

“I didn’t really think [PG&E] would do it. I thought there were just too many people who’d be affected, too much life disruption.”

Even when Rutherford finally got his market operating in a bare-bones manner by generator, he couldn’t use its popular propane-filling station, which is hard-wired to the power grid. That was not just a sales loss for him, it was a major frustration for his customers, many of whom were trying to keep their own propane-fueled generators running.

“There was a huge demand for propane, not just for generators that were down, but for those whose heaters were down and were trying to use makeshift propane heat,” Rutherford says. “It just seems like everybody I talked to got hurt. I can’t think of anybody I know that didn’t suffer financial loss.”

“We’re a public entity that’s right here. If a customer has any issue with their service, they’re able to walk right into our board meeting in Grass Valley and raise their hand up.”

Greg Jones, assistant general manager, Nevada Irrigation District

TAKING

BACK THE conti nued on page 18

01.09.20 | SN&R | 17

TAKING

BACK THE continued from page 17 Jeff Rutherford fills propane tanks for customers at Rainbow Market on the outskirts of Nevada City.

Irrigation District might be able to help caught everyone’s attention.

The publicly owned district was formed in Grass Valley in 1921, when the city’s Empire Mine was still in its goldproducing prime.

The special district provides municipal, residential and agricultural water across 287,000 acres in Nevada and Placer counties and also produces clean, hydroelectric energy from power plants that it owns on local waterways, enough energy to power some 60,000 homes.

More importantly, Jones says the district would have the technology for smaller, more targeted power-shut-offs during red flag warnings for wildfires. In theory, the days of virtually every business and house in Nevada County being dark due to wind would be over.

But by the time Jones was making his presentation, PG&E had announced it had a plan to re-emerge from bankruptcy. Rather than requesting the Nevada County Local Agency Formation Commission to study their plan, the board voted to delay any action until it had more knowledge of how PG&E’s bankruptcy story would end.

The board also wanted more data on how the district would handle its own liability risk from fires.

Two days later, on Dec. 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he was

Camp Fire survivor Ria Abernathy now works at the relief center at Magalia Community Church.

The numbers back Rutherford up.

During the most widespread blackout in early October, virtually all of Nevada County went dark for nearly five days.

The Grass Valley Downtown Association and Nevada City Chamber of Commerce conducted a joint economic impact survey with local businesses. While only a fraction of them responded—69 between the two cities—the results were jarring. Those businesses estimated they collectively lost $1.3 million just between Oct. 9 and 12.

“There were concerns with a lot of the business owners about revenue that wasn’t made, and that they might not be able to pay their employees what they were planning for—employees who were then going to have trouble paying their own rent and bills,” says Marni Marshall, executive director of the Grass Valley Downtown Association.

“It’s this huge trickle effect … A lot of business here operate month by month, just like a lot of people who work here are living paycheck to paycheck. We knew this could be a tipping point for some people.”

Even PG&E’s planned November blackout that was canceled for Nevada County had an impact, delaying travel plans and tourism in the area, a cornerstone to the local economy.

Marshall says that when business owners eventually gathered together to lick their wounds, news that Nevada 18 | SN&R | 01.09.20

On Nov. 6, about a week after the last blackout that crippled its customers, the district’s board of directors told staff to explore whether it could manage a takeover—or “take-back,” as some locals say—of the region’s entire power grid. District managers were directed to negotiate with PG&E for the purchase of its assets and operations in the North Gold Country before the corporate giant met its bankruptcy court deadline on Nov. 20.

On Dec. 11, Assistant General Manager Greg Jones showed the board a plan that involves providing energy to some 87,000 customers in Nevada and Placer counties. The proposal—which has an initial $300 million price tag and calls for $550 million in revenue bonds—would also result in local ratepayers receiving smaller bills than they currently have under PG&E, while flowing as much as $150 million annually into the local economy.

rejecting PG&E bankruptcy plan, calling it a lackluster attempt to reform the failing and controversial utility. Even with more uncertainty on the bankruptcy case, Jones says the district remains interested in moving forward.

“Our notice of intent to purchase PG&E’s assets is still on the table,” he says. “It’s still valid and we’re not rescinding it.”

Emphasizing the district’s relationship with the community, Jones adds, “We’re a public entity that’s right here. If a customer has any issue with their service, they’re able to walk right into our board meeting in Grass Valley and raise their hand up.”

Elected officials in Placer County’s suburban cities of Rocklin and Lincoln have also began exploring whether they can cut the cord from PG&E for good in favor of a local alternative.

Residents and business owners in those areas are waiting to see if they’ll

have that ability when the most intense wildfire threat returns in summer and fall. Marshall points out the collective dread around the outages in Nevada County is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

“This was an eye-opener for everyone, really, in terms of realizing how fragile we are,” she says. “When you don’t have electricity, running water or communication, things can start getting squirrel-y really fast. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong here.”

Darkness in the scar Ria Abernathy walks from the door of her RV onto the open ground of Magalia’s relief center, passing by the looming, charred grey-and-red spur of Sawmill Peak. She crosses by a wide emergency tent recently brought down by snowfall, then stops at the modest memorial that looks out on sweeping views of bald, still-blackened hilltops to the south.

This understated monument was built entirely with bricks from houses that burned in the Camp Fire.

Abernathy is looking down at a brick from her own house that went to ashes. It bears the address she once lived at in Paradise, 6265 Fern, and it also has her name and the name of her teenage grandson who lives with her in the 24-foot camper. Abernathy breathes in the cold afternoon and glances a bronze plaque lined with names of those who were lost to the flames.

“We know it’s more than that,” she mutters. “Everyone who lives around here knows there were homeless living out in the woods who will never be accounted for.”

Abernathy is among families and individuals living in 17 RVs on the grounds of Magalia Community Church.

For the last day they’ve all been listening to news about the wildfires in Australia, contemplating the images of people running for their lives, of animals burning in droves, of endless skies the color of a Biblical nightmare. For the displaced refugees of this little makeshift community, the news is triggering tearful memories of watching their own world burn 14 months ago.

Yet as difficult as this week has been—as hard as this winter has been—for Magalia, the storms and frigid temperatures have at least brought an end to the town’s relief center having its power cut by PG&E. Residents of this remote stretch of woods say the outages don’t just cause what people think of as a normal nighttime darkness. Rather, they say, the blackest kind of sheer blindness descends over the fire-scarred ridge.

Camp Fire survivors are still living in 17 campers on the grounds of Magalia Community Church in Butte County.

Abernathy had just moved into the camper at the relief center in early October when the safety shutoffs started. She watched the center’s workers and volunteers scramble to try to save thousands of dollars in frozen meat.

“I was frustrated, stressed out and just in disbelief,” Abernathy says. “If you went through what we went through, you’re thinking, ‘Why are you doing this now, instead of when it could have made a difference?’ It’s just another slap in the face.”

Doreen Fogle, a worker at the relief center, said PG&E shut-offs forced her operation to close for five days that it would have been open in September and October.

“That means all of the people who come here for food, which is 200 to 300 on any given day we’re open, weren’t able to get the necessities they needed to sustain themselves,” says Fogle.

Like many rural areas in California, Butte County doesn’t have a local agency like Nevada Irrigation District that could take control of its power grid. While its leaders recently formed the Butte Choice Energy Authority, which will generate more locally-produced energy that doesn’t have to be bought from PG&E, the grid’s infrastructure will remain in the hands of the utility giant.

That’s one reason Chico Mayor Randall Stone recently signed a letter, which was sent to the California Public Utilities Commission on behalf of more than 50 elected officials. Citing PG&E’s repeated safety and service failures, the letter urges a complete public takeover.

Stone says a few of Chico’s newer housing

“I think developments were repeatedly Records indicate hit by the blackouts, along that Winters has it’s necessary with neighborhoods in nearby been covered for PG&E to be unincorporated areas, while by every single publicly owned from PG&E vaguely suggested shutoff since. the city’s downtown might “We’ve a financial perspective go dark. been concerned alone.”

“You’re looking at the about the captive volatility that’s injected into market for some Randall Stone, the community whenever time,” Saylor says of Chico Mayor there’s a proposal to shut off PG&E. “When we see power, just from the anxiety it causes dividends paid year-after-year alone,” Stone says. “This is a community to stockholders, and massive bonuses that’s already suffering terribly from the given to executives, it creates uneasiness kind of chaos that PG&E’s infrastructure because they’re not making the right causes. The outages just make that pain investments in the infrastructure, and even more acute.” they’re not bringing lines underground.

Stone, a longtime development and We think the money has been misspent financial planner, also says he signed the and mismanaged, and there probably letter with his fellow mayors and county needs to be a fundamental restructuring.” supervisors for a practical reason.

For Davis Mayor Brett Lee, signing “I think it’s necessary for PG&E onto the letter urging a public takeover to be publicly owned from a financial was imperative for the future of the perspective alone,” he said. “It’s going state’s economy. Though Davis has to cost 50 to 60 billion to bring PG&E’s largely been spared from the blackouts, infrastructure up to safe standards. That is Lee says Northern California can’t an extraordinary amount of money. I just remain a leading hub of innovation with don’t see how it’s possible to do it unless the world constantly seeing news stories the utility is customer-owned … I think the about power being shut off from the Legislature is eventually going to come to Silicon Valley to the suburbs of the state the conclusion that it has to go this way.” capital.

Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor “We’re supposed to be the high-tech agrees and signed on to the letter. While capital of the world, and, there’s no his constituents are largely supplied by electricity for a week?” Lee asks.

Valley Clean Energy, all of their power Lee also believes that PG&E’s long runs through PG&E’s transmission lines history of negligence—it’s already under and infrastructure and is thus subject to federal criminal probation for the 2010 the blackouts. Last June, the small city of San Bruno gas pipeline explosion that Winters in Yolo was the first area to be hit killed eight people—means Californians by an intentional PG&E shutoff in 2019. simply can’t have confidence in it.

“Not every public entity is transparent, or works in the best interest of the community they serve, but more often than not, compared to a private entity, they respond to the public more,” Lee says. “In our own backyard we have Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and there’s no weird scandals with them … PG&E is accountable to their investors, by law. That’s their master.”

As PG&E’s bankruptcy case hangs in legal limbo, leaders including Lee, Saylor and Stone are waiting to see if the governor and CPUC will finally start moving toward ending corporate ownership. Yet at Magalia’s relief center, many survivors find the idea of PG&E facing a true reckoning difficult to imagine. They also have more immediate concerns. Dozens are stilling living in cars and tents. There are still few jobs.

Most locals have seen their friend or family networks vanish, lost to death or displacement.

Abernathy was just assigned a disaster case manager after waiting for more than a year, but says it’s not clear what that person can really provide.

“And we keep seeing more of the trees finally dying,” she reflects, pointing out to the seared, half-lunar landscape spanning the ridge. “A lot of us loved living out here because we were surrounded by the trees. With every day, you see another tree die, and another little piece of yourself dies with it.” Ω

01.09.20 | SN&R | 19

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Howie Ditkof shows off some of his industrial-size steam cleaning equipment.

Photo by Reid FowleR

These cleaners are a blast Company specializes in industrial-size pressure washers and other highpowered cleaning tools

By Allen Pierleoni

H

oward Ditkof was standing inside Steam Cleaners, Inc., his Old North Sacramento business housed in his refurbished 9,500-squarefoot warehouse filled with massive machinery.

Ditkof and his crew sell and service cold- and hot-water pressure washers (with some rentals), and wash water recycling systems (think car washes).

Which may not sound exciting until you get a closer look at the pressure washers and realize just how large, powerful and effective they are. Some even run on Honda engines.

What’s the differences between hotand cold-water washers?

“A cold-water system pumps water at pressure and blasts off dirt, but a hot water system heats the water to about 180 degrees and removes dirt, oil – you name it,” he said. For context, the hot water coming out of your faucets at home is about 130 degrees, while the

Come discover the Boulevard or visit us online at delpasoboulevard.com 20

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$ boiling point of water is 212 degrees. the Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez.

Let’s talk about water pressure, or “I got a call yesterday from Travis psi, pounds of force per square inch of Air Force Base about systems to clean area. The psi of a garden hose with a airplanes, and recent service calls pistol grip, for instance, is 100. from the City of Tracy and AC Transit “Most of our customers have headquarters in Oakland,” he said. hot-water pressure washers of 2,000 to “We maintain and fix equipment at its 3,000 psi, moving three to five gallons location when it breaks, whether it’s our of (scalding) water a minute,” he said. “I product or not. Service leads to sales.” can sell you 40,000 psi, but we generally Ditkof has a master’s degree know what our customers need better in chemical engineering from the than they do, and they’re looking for University of Michigan and an MBA our advice.” from Yale, credentials that seem a Usually, his clients “need more bit formal in the Steam Cleaners water flow and less pressure, but warehouse. everybody wants more pressure. I call “I actually had a career at one time,” it the Tim Allen Effect – ‘More power!’” he said with a chuckle, referring to Ditkof said. “We often get guys in who his executive position with a $5 billion say, ‘I want 5,000 psi, I’m going to clean industrial gases distributor in New trucks.’ We’ll say, ‘You’re going to blow Jersey, where his budget was $2 million. holes in them.’”

He moved to California and into Ditkof also owns pressure-washer a job with the Loomis cash-handling companies in Stockton and Concord company, where “I had 1,300 guys with – a second Steam Cleaners and J&S, guns working for me up and down the respectively – and has about 10 West Coast.” competitors between Watsonville and I thought there had to be something Chico, he said. else in life besides living on airplanes,” If you’re in the market, the low end Ditkof added. So, he spent a year is $900 for the smallest cold-water looking for the right opportunity. pressure washer That led to in the store the purchases – something and mergers you might use of several to clean your pressure-washing driveway – companies into moving to a high his present-day end of $80,000. model.

“We’re a very Never still, industrial niche,” Ditkof is in the Ditkoff said. midst of starting “Consumers another project, Howard Ditkof account for less Evergreen Owner, Steam Cleaners, Inc. than 1 percent Gardens, of our sales.” a cannabis Among his cultivation clientele in need company in of washers to clean their equipment a huge space conjoined to Steam are a Caterpillar tractor company, three Cleaners. But he’s facing a track meet public works yards in Sacramento, a of bureaucratic hurdles. “We’ll see,” he drilling company in Rio Vista, military said. installations, trash companies, auto dealers, construction companies and

“We often get guys in who say, ‘I want 5,000 psi, I’m going to clean trucks.’ We’ll say, ‘You’re going to blow holes in them.”

Steam CleanerS, InC. 960 Arden Way, Sacramento. 916-442-1118, www.pressurewasher.pro.

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diverse

sacraMento’s deejays are woven into local Music scene

sounds

by Mark kates

S

“Being able to expose people to a new genre or just pushing electronic music in Sacramento is what’s pushing me now." seth ahern, aka dj Zephyr

acramento is among America’s most diverse cities, so it’s only fitting that our resident deejays playing local bars, nightclubs, restaurants, festivals and local radio offer a diversity of style.

Part musical anthropologists and part psychologists, the region’s DJs weave their personalized auditory innovations and record collections into the fabric of Sacramento’s music scene.

The skill set of the modern DJ has evolved from its revolutionary roots in the 1970s mixing audio from vinyl records on turntables to the use of laptops, mixers, samplers, controllers and effects units that shape songs into unique works of audio production. Like a painter’s color palette, deejays mix records into a continuous harmonious collage—as a segue between songs or as the centerpiece of a new musical performance and a DJ’s signature sound.

Once samples of verse, chorus, bridge, breakdown and “hooks” are liberated from their initial genre and musical era, what DJs create can set the mood at local nightspots and arouse contagious magnetic energy on the dance floor.

Our region’s DJs’ collective aim is simple: Keep the party going.

Seth Ahern, aka DJ Zephyr, has his own genre-bending mash-up show on ALT 94.7.

Photo courtesy of dj zePhyr

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Burning man ... in Oakland?

See artS & Culture

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kOO kOO fOr kanga rOO See muSiC

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man in Chair takeS Seat, BOwS See Stage

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B e n d i n g g e n r es

new sounds

Seth Ahern, aka DJ Zephyr, is responsible for genre-bending mash-ups heard on ALT 94.7 Bacterium radio, the station’s Electric Christmas and City of Trees Festival, plus Concerts in the Park. Ahern’s mixes just might have listeners saying “A DJ Saved My Life During My Morning Commute,” a twist on the legendary early ’80s Indeep track “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.”

“I have always felt like an ambassador of electronic music, always mixing with the live music, kids collaborating and introducing electronic music to our scene at the time in the early 2000s,” Ahern says. “Being able to expose people to a new genre or just pushing electronic dance music in Sacramento is what’s pushing me now, making it known and showing that it’s not just one style, but that there are so many facets to it.”

He says his radio show is introducing his art to an audience that includes kids.

“When they first hear it, you can see their eyes light up, something they can connect to,” he said. “I love that.”

Speaking of the kids, DJ Lady Char, who has been featured at Crocker Art Museum’s ArtMix and who appeared at Sacramento Republic FC’s MLS celebration event, already has her eye on the next generation of local dance party ambassadors. She teaches kids in workshops that focus on technique,

Venues in Sacramento are also listening. As clubs strive to set themselves apart from the pack, new sounds are taking root.

My Cousin Vinny—a DJ with a regular gig at The Golden Bear, playing house music and hip-hop—has started a Latin-infused, electro-cumbia night every Tuesday at Tiger restaurant.

The new wave/goth/industrial scene is experiencing a resurgence with nights such as Nouveau, Club Necromancy and Club Séance and New Wave Society.

Kylie Jackson, aka DJ Lady Grey, is young, but says she feels more in tune with ’80s musical influences.

“I like to DJ music that’s classified as dark wave, experimental, industrial, EBM, synth pop, new beat,” Jackson says. Her “Black Mass” show on KDVS FM also features a confessional line where anonymous callers reveal misdeeds large and small. “I love having my show on KDVS! I can be as weird as I want,” she says.

The open-format, DJ-curated programming on KDVS, the student-run station at UC Davis, provides access for the next wave of DJ influencers in the region.

“I first got my radio show start playing early and avant-garde electronic music on KDVS,” says Denise Chelini, aka DJ Holiday Special. “From there I got into disco. It was my dirty little secret.

Because my Cuore Della Discoteca show was on in the middle of the night, I tried playing global disco more or less initially for myself. To my surprise, my fears of possible residual attitude left over from the “Disco sucks” period were over, so I kept going.”

Forging a unique identity as a DJ involves not only choosing a genre to serve as the medium, but picking which techniques and tools to use—or in some cases omit—as the process.

Blake Gillespie, aka Busy Gillespie, spins vinyl-only sets of late disco, ’80s, rare funk and boogie selections at downtown’s Ten Ten Room. He says his style parallels the ability of jazz musicians to improvise and keep their phrasing fresh.

“I like setting a good vibe for people,” he says. “By design I take a journey down that rabbit hole of sound. As an empathetic

My Cousin Vinny spins house music and hip-hop at The Golden Bear.

Photo by maria ratinova

music history, performance confidence and even social media promotion.

“I’ve always loved music,” she says. “My uncles back then were [breakdancing] B-boys and heavily into hip-hop. As a child I followed them around and really fell in love with the culture and specifically the DJ aspect.

Today my sound is heavily influenced

by Top 40 and pop. So what I mainly do is play to the crowd. Whatever the crowd’s thinking, I’m thinking that, you know!”

“today my sound is heavily influenced by top 40 and pop. So what I mainly do is play to the crowd. whatever the crowd’s thinking, I’m thinking that, you know!”

Photo by maria ratinova

DJ LaDy Char

SaCramentO lOSeS Veggie matriarCh See Off menu

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Blake Gillespie, aka Busy Gillespie, spins vinyl-only sets of disco, funk and boogie at the Ten Ten Room.

Photo courtesy of nicole nygaard

individual, I feel and mix in the moment, hopefully giving people that night the opportunity to hear something unique in that record.”

Experimenting during performances is part of the fun and part of Gillespie’s path to discovery. “When my mix choices work well, I can draw from that in the future,” he says.

Gillespie says he was influenced by John “DJ Crook” Molina, aka CrookOne, upon first hearing him 10 years ago.

Molina, a staple of the Sacramento DJ scene since 2002, started New Jack Fling at the Press Club alongside DJ Epic and Satapana eight years ago. Now a Sacramento pre-Thanksgiving tradition, the night features hand-picked R&B infused hip-hop recordings from the ’80s and early ’90s. His initial inspiration came from listening as a teen to mix masters on KDAY 1580 in Los Angeles.

“Each DJ had a different style rooted in hip-hop, and early on I’d borrow my parents’ records, which ranged from Madonna to The Clash trying to emulate their sound,” Molina says. “That’s mostly what I’d practice with while I was slowly building my own record collection, which was stuff like Cybotron, Audio Two, Ice T, Public Enemy, Hashim, etc. This basically led to my style of mixing different genres.”

Coming across new music is what keeps him going as a DJ, says Crook, who spins regularly at B-Side’s FFFREAK!.

“It’s cool to see people having a good time, dancing to stuff they might not normally listen to in their day to day.” □

01.09.20 | SN&R | 23

Burn after viewing The Smithsonian’s Burning Man exhibition hits Oakland

by Kris Vagner

1/9 • 7:30 PM Jaws 1/10 • 7:30 PM the shining 1/12 • 2:00 PM toy story Double Feature 1/14 • 7:00 PM raging bull 1/17 • 7:30 PM singin’ in the rain 1/18 • 3:30 PM & 9:30 PM FriDay 1/18 • 6:00 PM Princess Mononoke 1/19 • 7:30 PM Psycho 1/28 • 7:30 PM the DarK crystal 1013 K street downtown sacramento • (916) 476-3356 • crestsacramento.com

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No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in March 2018 and is now at its only West Coast venue, the Oakland Museum of California, through mid-February.

Nora Atkinson, the Smithsonian curator who organized the show, described Burning Man art in a TED Talk: “When artists stop worrying about the critics and collectors and start making work for themselves, these are the kinds of marvelous toys they create.”

Several weeks ago, the exhibition was packed— mostly with well-dressed people in their 60s and 70s, a few Gen Xers and a handful of kids and teens. There was a quiet chorus of “oohs,” “aahs” and “wows,” and, amazingly, museum guards who did not look bored.

The works in No Spectators were indeed marvelous toys, and people were eager to play with them. A group of grandmas sat down at a table to make origami “gifts” to be distributed to other museum goers, lined up at the “Gift O Matic,” an oversized gumball machine that dispenses the handmade trinkets.

The show presented a dilemma. What does it mean to contextualize a genre of art that is inherently antiinstitutional—and often straight-up anarchic—inside a museum? The playa and the museum exist in two separate art worlds. One is a world of art schools, museums, galleries, auctions and sales. The other is an arena of non-academic DIY types; everyone from entry-level crafters to masters of engineering. The mecca of this second world is Burning Man. These two worlds have some crossover, but less than you might guess.

Then there’s the disconnect between Burning Man’s widely flaunted principle of “radical inclusion” and the actual level of exclusivity involved in the whole affair.

Ben Davis, a critic for Artnet, distilled it neatly: “As the festival has become more of a playground for fashion influencers, celebrities, the jet-setting uber-wealthy and would-be versions of all three, it has become more self-conscious and scene-y, easier to deride as an ‘Instagram Party.’”

The $425 ticket, the travel expenses, the week off from work and the mountains of food and gear to be purchased really do make the event’s claim of “radical inclusion” sound tone deaf.

For all its contradictions, though, the event’s accomplishments suppress the urge to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Sometimes art really does get to the true creamy middle of what we’re all about.

As Atkinson said in her talk, “Burning Man is all about building this society that you want to live in, and that’s what this exhibition is about.” This particular assortment of exuberant, interactive artworks makes that case loud and clear. And Burner art, because it grew up outside of the official “art market,” can be a particularly effective structure to show other people our humanity, our dreams, our accomplishments, our visions for a more socially stable world.

In the museum, boomers in clean Patagonia lay on cushions on the floor to gaze up at “Nova,” a trippy, meditative light show on the ceiling. People sat in rows of plush movie theater seats on a steampunk/Art Deco bus-like vehicle called “Capitol Theater,” watching newly created Chaplinesque silent comedies projected.

If you go to Burning Man, you’ll see artworks that are so ambitious and life-affirming it’s hard to believe they exist. But the works in No Spectators aren’t just “marvelous toys.” They’re also a tightly selected group of art pieces that really do articulate that sense of intense wonder—and that sense of community—that draws people to Burning Man. Ω No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man is on view at the Oakland Museum of California through Feb. 16. Visit museumca.org for more information.

PHOTO COURTESY OF OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA

Duane Flatmo’s “Tin Pan Dragon,” from 2006.

SN&R

Marsupial music Koo Koo Kanga Roo keeps it weird

by Maxfield Morris

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

Photo courtesy of sugar Mountain Pr

played in a traditional five-piece band for a while before taking up the Koo Koo mantle. They’ve since opened for Yo Gabba Gabba! and Reel Big Fish and the Aquabats, and they’re consistently producing straightforward songs. Some of the ones that recently got the music video treatment are “Hot Sauce,” “Glitter” and “Salad.”

“Anything can be a song. Anything,” Bryan said. “I’m still trying to make ‘Half Birthday,’ a half-birthday song, work. I just haven’t found what’s funny about half birthdays, and what’s a good hook.”

There’s a formula to the songwriting Neil, left, and Bryan bring Koo Koo Kanga roo to life onstage. process, Bryan says, focusing on the initial funny concept, the musical hook, then filling in the blanks. Like so many artists who’ve found a niche, he receives unsolicited song suggestions The problem with most songs these days is they from friends and family. rarely include choreographed dances and dedicated “Now people come to us [saying], ‘Well, kids sing-along portions. like this,’” Bryan said. “That’s not really why we’ve Somewhere in the world of independent music, written songs that kids like. We more just think about though, there’s one band putting in that extra silly things. … It could be about anything.” effort—producing poppy songs about pizza, unicorns Bryan brainstorms, unprompted: “A microwave and beyond, catering to children and adults alike with song. … I don’t know, traffic? Lately I’ve been trying wacky lyrics and subjects. That band is Koo Koo to write songs that make people think, ‘In no way Kanga Roo. would that be a topic you write for a kids’ song.’

The Minneapolis band has been making And we make it. I’ve been trying to make a dance-along party tunes for 12 years and quilting song for a long time.” is stopping in Sacramento Jan. 26 for “I’m Another bizarre twist in the fabric an all-ages show with local opener of the band came when they told still trying Kepi Ghoulie at Holy Diver. themselves, “Let’s make a whole The show aims to get everyone to make ‘Half album about Panera Bread.” So involved, according to Bryan, one Birthday,’ a halfthey did that. But why? of the band’s two members, who “Because you wouldn’t expect birthday song, work.” go by just their first names. this band to make a full concept “We’re trying to get every Bryan album about this fast-casual food single person included, yelling,” co-founder, Koo Koo chain,” Bryan said.

Bryan said. “People are like, ‘This Kanga Roo If you check out the album, Fast is for my kid,’ or, ‘Hey, I don’t want Casual, the song “Book Club” is a nice to yell over my kid,’ and we’re like, ‘No.’ takeaway. It quickly paints the picture of a Everyone is an equal slate here, everyone needs book club that meets at Panera Bread, and the high to be yelling and everyone needs to be doing it.” school required reading it discusses.

That’s one of the founding principles of the It’s quirky, it’s a bit bizarre, but the commitment band—to get everyone screaming along and dancing to the bit is really something else. The band has been as though they’ve known the songs their entire life. wearing the same black-and-gold outfits for years, That’s taken the form of lyrics written on posters, and once the duo steps into their show booties and sing-along sections and repetitive soundscapes. onto the stage, they’re ready to get wacky—and to “They all kind of sound the same—drum make people of all ages tune into their silly bone. machines, synthesizer stuff—so it’s a double-edged “People need to be silly more often,” Bryan said. sword there,” Bryan said. “We always make sure it “We take being silly seriously.” □ stays in the lane of what Koo Koo Kanga Roo is, and then also tries to drive forward and push it to a new place or new level.” catch Koo Koo Kanga roo Jan. 26, 6 p.m. at holy Diver, 1517 21st st. tickets are $15-$40.

Bryan and Koo Koo Kanga Roo co-founder Neil met at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and

Get ready to

vote!

g n i t vo rts sta0.20 01.2

Ayee Tee SAMMIES 2019 Nominee Hip-hop/Rap

sammies.com 01.09.20

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now playing

Reviews

Photo courtesy of imDb.com

Wide awake

by Bev SykeS

Photo courtesy of Dannette Vassar

stage pick Look out, comedian Michael yo has some wisecracks to crack.

Sit down for stand up

A.J. Rooney and Hugo Figueroa tap away the chills in “Cold Feets.”

The Drowsy Chaperone

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who is hosting the wedding of the season, in which Broadway starlet Janet (Aimee Rose Santone) is giving up the stage to marry Robert (A.J. Rooney).

Rooney does a show-stopping tap dance number (“Cold Feets”), both alone and with Hugo Figueroa as his best man, George.

The Drowsy Chaperone was the first “great” DMTC’s cast is outstanding, particularly Broadway musical of the 21st century, and won five Brian McCann, over-the-top as Adolpho, the Tony awards in 2006 for best book, best original Latin lover hired to lure Janet away from Robert; score and best scenic design. Now, Davis Musical Joe Alkire as Mrs. Tottendale’s unflappable Theatre Company presents its version of the butler who knows the secret of “ice water” musical within a musical. Kyle Jackson is director, during Prohibition; Andrea Bourquin as Kitty, choreographer, and co-musical director with a ditzy flapper; and Steve Isaacson as Maya Rogalski.

Feldzeig, the Broadway impresario The main character, Man in trying to save his show by Chair, is an agoraphobic theater discouraging his star from queen who begins by explaining Steve Isaacson retiring. his feelings about theater, Chris Cay Stewart is the has designed a echoing the sentiment of Drowsy Chaperone herself, wonderful set, which many theater lovers as he tasked with watching out for listens to a tune and says, folds and twists and Janet, but more interested in “This is it. The moment when her flask and Adolpho. rolls to make all sorts the music starts to build and This show is a salute to you know you’re only seconds of scenes. all things comedy, including away from being transported.” pun-heavy dialogue by gangsters He thinks back on his favorite masquerading as chefs (Tomas Eredia musical, the 1928 version of “The and Anna Cutshall), a spit take scene, a Drowsy Chaperone,” and decides to share dance sequence on roller skates and a not-at-all it with the audience. As the music begins, the politically correct scene alluding to The King and I. stage comes alive with the musical itself, while Steve Isaacson has designed a wonderful set, Man in Chair enjoys it. which folds and twists and rolls to make all sorts Scott Minor is wonderful as Man in Chair, of scenes. Jean Henderson’s costumes are great and perhaps at his best when the action is going fun, particularly the dresses for Kitty, and the on elsewhere on stage and he just sits and listens, gown for Mrs. Tottendale. □ all of his emotions displayed on his face.

The play within a play features Mary Young as Mrs. Tottendale, an eccentric wealthy widow

fri 8pm, sat 8pm, sun 2pm; through 1/26; $14-$18; Jean henderson Performing arts center, 607 Pena Drive, Davis, (530) 756-3682, dmtc.org.

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You’ve seen him in his Amazon Prime special, Michael Yo: Blasian; you’ve heard him on the Michael Yo Show podcast; and now, you can sit down in a chair of your choice and watch him on a stage. Any guesses who? Wow, that’s right, stand-up comedian Michael Yo is coming to town, how did you know? Also a longtime panelist on Chelsea Lately, the Houston-raised comic fuses humor with personal experience, joking about everything from family to modern rap music. Catch some laughs when he hits up Punchline Sacramento this weekend. Fri, 1/10, 7:30pm & 9:45pm; Sat, 1/11, 7:30pm & 9:45pm; Through 1/11; $24.50-$34.50; Punchline Sacramento, 2100 Arden Way; (916) 925-8500; punchlinesac.com

—Rachel Mayfield

Photo courtesy of imDb.com

scReen pick Headbang to BanG Dream! you won’t regret it.

Ani-mania Ever wished you could see your favorite band live in concert, only to have someone point out that your favorite band is completely comprised of anime characters?

That didn’t stop the creators of multimedia franchise, BanG! Dream, who challenged the gods by putting on a live, two-day concert featuring performances by anime bands Roselia and RAISE A SUILEN. Now, the recorded film version, BanG Dream! Live: Roselia x RAS: Rausch und/and Craziness, is coming to the Tower Theatre, and even though it’s technically not live, you can still see anime characters playing some sick riffs. Sat, 1/11, 11am; Through 1/11; $30; The Tower Theatre, 2508 Land Park Drive; (916) 442-0985; readingcinemasus.com/tower

—Rachel Mayfield

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Stunning carving and marquetry decorate a walnut portfolio cabinet, created by Herter Brothers in the 1870s. Its pre-auction estimate: $25,000-$50,000.

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Photo courtesy Witherell’s

Gilded Age treasures come to Midtown

Midtown owned & operated

Collection available for preview before luxury auction

by Debbie Arrington

O

h, if these furnishings could talk!

Once, they graced the greatest houses in the Bay Area. Later, they decorated the sets of motion pictures.

Now, they’re for sale.

For two days, one of the finest collections of Gilded Age antiques will be available for viewing in Midtown Sacramento. Then, the unique pieces will be auctioned off to the highest bidders.

In advance of its Luxury Asset Auction, Witherell’s will host preview days from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, and 1 to 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Witherell’s annex, 300 20th St., Sacramento. Admission is free.

The live auction starts at 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, with online bidding at www. witherells.com.

Many pieces in this auction are from the estate of noted New England collector William B. Ruger Jr. “I think of this furniture, after so many years, as coming home to California,” said auctioneer Brian Witherell. “This is the best grouping of 19th century furniture to ever be in one auction, at least since

1942. Our history has come home to be redistributed again.”

The auction’s 277 lots have an estimated value of more than $950,000 on the low end. Several items are museumworthy pieces or one of a kind.

Ruger’s collection represents the best of the best American furniture from its period, Witherell said. Originally, these handcrafted treasures were created by the top craftsmen of their day for the mansions of Mark Hopkins in San Francisco’s Nob Hill and Milton Latham in Menlo Park. Hopkins is best known as one of California’s Big Four rail barons and a founder of the Central Pacific Railroad. A politician who made his money in banking, Latham served as California governor as well as U.S. senator and congressman.

Making way for redevelopment, those gigantic 1870s homes were liquidated in the early 1940s.

“That was during World War II; back then, who had money to spend on furniture like this?” Witherell noted. “The movie studios. They bought the vast majority of this stuff. Most of it went to Warner Bros. It appeared in lots of movies.”

Witherell’s auctions, 300 20th St., Sacramento 916-446-6490, www.witherells.com.

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ILLuSTRATION BY kATe MITRANO

Will stop for skewers skewer trio, slightly skeweD

Vegan Plate’s battered “Fish” and Chips are well battered and crispy with a basket of steak fries that have welcome pockets of air, which make them both delicious and memorable.

PHOTO BY LINDSAY OXFORD

Veg out in the ’burbs Vegan Plate 1821 Douglas Blvd., Suite C-5; (916) 953-7033 Good for: Cruelty-free cheap eats Notable dishes: Crispy Dumplings, Soy Chicken Joy, Fish and Chips

$$$

Vegan, Roseville

In recent years, Sacramento restaurants have upped their vegan game—with some, including Pushkin’s, knocking it out of the park. But there has also been growth in the number of exclusively vegan restaurants in town, and it’s always a relief to avoid the awkwardness of asking “regular” restaurants about broths, fats and fryers.

That sense of relief has expanded to the suburbs. In the corner of a Roseville strip mall, Vegan Plate has an incredibly diverse menu. Pancit? Check. Drunken Noodles? All good. Buffalo cauliflower tacos? You’re covered. Accompanying Vegan Plate’s variety are its relatively low prices, giving my dining companions plenty to choose from.

First, Vegan Plate knows how to work a fryer.

Its Soy Chicken Joy ($6.95), its mock-meat take on chicken drumsticks, were probably the highlight of both of my meals, with a perfectly textured outer coating, fried crisp without reaching overdone. It was dense and flavorful without suffering the stringiness of many chicken substitutes. The Crispy Dumplings ($5.50) had the usual mock-meat/onion/cabbage combo, but the outer sear was, as advertised, crispy. Perfectly crispy.

The vegan Fish and Chips ($9.95) was stellar, too. The fish substitute was, like everything else we’d tried, perfectly breaded and fried.

28 | SN&R | 01.09.20

by Lindsay OxfOrd

The chips though—how long ya got? These chips are worth talking about in depth. The fries were cut the length and width of steak fries, but were sliced impossibly thin with pockets of air that somehow made fries into something dang lovely. My friend and I were so delighted that we spent a few distracted, unsuccessful minutes trying to find the name for the style of fry, but, as Julia Child told us during our frantic, distracted YouTubing, “Potatoes are a strange animal.”

Vegan Plate offers the same array of pan-Asian, gluten and soy-based noodle and rich dishes that nearly all the area’s vegan restaurants do, and they do a serviceable job. The Pancit ($9.50) had a nice, garlicky sauce, but the fried tofu offered as protein didn’t seem to have a flavor of its own. The Hong Kong Noodles were crispy, but essentially a base for a hodgepodge of vegetables and unmarinated tofu in an underwhelming broth that was improved slightly by adding Sriracha.

We’d overheard that Vegan Plate’s “Neat Balls” ($6.95) were one of its top sellers, so we ordered an appetizer serving of six faux meatballs. We … were not impressed. Our half dozen were dry, unseasoned orbs of mystery grain in plain marinara, and also contained something my lunch mate declared “weird and chewy,” likely a mushroom meant to provide a savory element.

My experience with Vegan Plate involved such high-highs and low-lows that I could imagine two different diners leaving with completely opposite opinions of the place. Should you give Vegan Plate a whirl, walk the line directly to that deep fryer and you won’t be disappointed. Ω

Meat on a stick is one of the great portable foods.

Slightly Skewed’s food truck dishes out grilled meat skewers and street food inspired by the flavors of Central and Southeast Asia. Smoke billowed out its roof as the loud hiss from the grill with sizzling proteins were both welcome aromas and sounds while I placed my order for a Skewer Trio: Bulgolgi Beef, Teriyaki and Ginger Chicken ($9). The bulgogi was slightly sweet, yet savory and incredibly tender. The chicken skewers were each charred to perfection with bits of crunch between bites of Teriyaki glaze, but the standout was the Ginger Chicken with its zing of fresh ginger and smoky finish.

If you see this truck parked, stop. Various locations, slightlyskewedtruck.com.

—steph roDriguez

Morning jolt 911, Dutch bros.

Dutch Bros. is the largest, privately owned drive-thru coffee company in the world, known for its quick service, obnoxious loud music, equally obnoxious caffeinated baristas and an extremely long menu.

With more than 60 different drinks, there is truly one that tastes superior to the rest: the 911 ($5.99 for a large). On the menu it’s simply described as “Irish crème breve with added shots.”

Added shots built into the drink is key as Dutch Bros. coffee is notoriously weak.

But the 911’s distinction from the huge selection is the Irish crème: especially buttery, a little cocoa-y with a smooth vanilla finish.

The combination offers a calm sip and spiky jolt on a wet, gray Sacramento day. Various locations, dutchbros.com.

—olla swanson

plaNet V

Conscious choices “Go vegan” may be on your list of 2020 New Year’s resolutions. Welcome! I promise only some of us are insufferable. Deciding to go vegan is easy. Replacing decades of food habit and ritual can be harder. Here are some tips I’ve offered friends who’ve asked how to make it stick. Your mileage may vary. 1. Vegan Outreach’s “10 weeks to vegan” program is a good guide, and can even match you with a vegan mentor. Find info at: veganoutreach.org 2. Don’t feel guilty about easing into it. If you’re doing Meatless Mondays, make Mondays vegan, then keep adding a day weekly until it sticks. 3. “Going without” puts you in the mindset of deficit, thinking of what you’re losing. Try finding vegan foods you do like (they’re called vegetables). Eat them instead. Remember you could go back to eating meat tomorrow. You’re making the conscious choice not to.

—linDsay oxforD

Photo by StePh RodRiguez

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Mom’s last meal

by Lindsay OxfOrd

On New Year’s Day, the rumblings through social media began: Mother, vegetarian mainstay since 2014 and Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient, had closed, effective immediately.

Some of us felt an actual sense of loss, a worry we may never have that chile verde again. For others—those of us vegans who like to cut off our collective nose to spite our face—there was indifference.

Responses from online naysayers included “They don’t have enough vegan options” (Its website lists 11 items, and all but two are vegan) and “I’ve heard the owners eat meat.”

Heavens! Apparently a few herbivorous folks were unaware that steps away from their veg sanctuary is Mother’s sister restaurant, Empress Tavern, a place I have referred to as Sacramento’s meat palace.

SN&R reached out to Mother and received a statement in an email on Jan. 1, which was later shared online, “It is with great admiration, love, and excitement for the future

that we announce our retirement … Craving a po boy or a farro salad? Head on down to our sister restaurant, Empress Tavern …

They’ll be opening for lunch starting January 8th with some of the Mother favorites on the menu.”

I’m hoping most of my favorites make the cut and that Empress will continue to add dishes that give vegetables the respect they deserve.

Empress is swankier, to be sure.

And if you look at the prices of its entrées, you could assume that the humble $10 mushroom po’boy would see its price skyrocket once it moves downstairs. But so what if prices increase a bit? Most of this town’s fully-veg joints are drowning in mock meat, and there are vegans who wouldn’t bat an eye at dropping $25 at Burger Patch.

For those who would be scandalized by sneaking into Empress’ meaty dungeon: Get over it. Some of the best vegan food in town is made by chefs in “omni”

restaurants who respect and do right by the vegetables they prepare.

For example, hopscotch across K Street to Mayahuel for a mindblowingly cheap, five-course prix fixe vegan meal. Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. also does killer vegan food, though I prefer its small plates to any of the entrées. (Try the chickpea fritters. You’ll thank me.)

If you loved Mother, feel free to mourn a spot where you could order without asking questions about shared fryers and cross contamination. I’ll miss that, too. If you want to advocate for the vegan cause, thank the restaurants that do as well by veg as they do by meat.

Celebrate the food that’s in line with your values and delights your palate. It’s a long shot, but maybe one of those people who came downstairs for meat will see the sweet potato latkes (there better be latkes, Empress) on the next table and think to themselves “Ooooh, that looks good.” Ω

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01.09.20

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Beer Is better with music

beer

The Bootleg now oPen @armadillo Music • 6 Beers on tap · $6/pint • vinyl Listening Stations • 1000s of new & used records • Live Music weekly 207 F Street, DaviS • 530.758.8058 • Mon-thu 10aM-9PM • Fri-Sat 10aM-10PM · Sun 11aM-6PM

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Discover new brews at Art of Beer 2020 Photos courtesy of Art of Beer

A Winter Beer Fest January doldrums got you down? You need a Friday night—specifically one that involves craft beer and fine art.

Art of Beer, now in its eighth

year, was the brainchild of Rawi Nanakul, whose passions are beer and photography.

In those early years, the event saw about 200 participants, a figure that has exploded exponentially as the craft beer movement in our region has taken off, and crowds now surpass 1,500.

“It’s really been fun to see it evolve over the years,” said Lindsey Nelson, co-owner and marketing director for the event. “Now we’ve involved local farm-to-fork restaurants and local artists.”

Not to mention the real draw: 36 breweries, including Crooked Lane, Fifty Fifty, REVISION, and South Lake Brewing Co. There are also several new breweries this year: Barebottle and Sufferfest (San Francisco), Slice Beer (Lincoln), Dunloe (Davis) and Cooperage (Santa Rosa). “Some are local, some are SoCal, some are from up

north,” she said. “But the brewers use this to showcase new beer, or some trend they see coming up in 2020.”

One trend predicted to continue is an increasing interest in food pairings, and there will be plenty of examples at this event. “You can really learn about food and beer and how they work together,” said Nelson. For example, Moksa Brewing Co. will pair with food from Localis, and King Cong Brewing Co will team up with Husick’s Taphouse.

Also fun, said Nelson, are rare releases throughout the night. “You hear the air horn and line up at the stage—you never know when it’s coming,” she said. “There is some really awesome beer served.”

Finally, don’t miss the art component, which can be simply admired as you taste, or bid on in a silent auction, and includes paintings and drawings, as well 3D conversation pieces, such as metal fireplaces and tables made from wooden barrels.

Proceeds go to this year’s cause, MakeA-Wish Northeastern & Central California and Northern Nevada. “We have a passion for working for children and we hope to raise enough money to grant a wish for a child,” Nelson said.

by Thea Marie rood

Art of Beer Friday, Jan. 24, 5:30-10 p.m.

(5:30-7 p.m. is ViP hour), McClellan Conference Center, 5411 Luce ave., McClellan Park, Ca. Tickets for unlimited tastings and food pairings are ViP $70, General admission $60 (buy in advance at artofbeerinvitational.com).

This column is produced by N&R Publications, a division of News & Review separate from SN&R Editorial.

For more information, visit www.nrpubs.com

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P

art ist s!

gaRdeN

place

He dreams of roses World-famous expert returns to Sacramento

by Debbie Arrington

Photo courtesy of sacramento Digs garDening

Rose expert Stephen Scanniello prunes roses in Sacramento’s Historic City Cemetery during a 2019 workshop. He’s back again this week.

To me, it’s incredibly refreshing to see these roses growing in what appears to be a safe place.”

Scanniello said that any garden is at risk, and that the cemetery’s roses are no exception.

With its distinctive arches and arbors, the garden has survived threats before and may face them again.

Considered a “living library of roses,” the cemetery’s Heritage Rose Garden is home to about 500 antique and old garden roses, many of them found nowhere else. Harking back to its Victorian roots, the two-acre garden strives to preserve these rose rarities.

“It’s an amazing collection, a real treasure,” Scanniello said. “Roses grow so perfectly in Sacramento. They don’t have the disease issues we have [on the East Coast]. They don’t have to contend with winter weather like we do.”

Because of our climate and growing conditions, roses naturally thrive in Sacramento. The cemetery garden is proof.

Added Scanniello: “Letting roses grow to their full capacity is wonderful to see.”

That’s one of the aspects that makes the cemetery collection unique; the bushes are allowed room to stretch out instead of packed tightly together. That also makes them more difficult to prune.

Scanniello enjoys the challenge as well as teaching others how to care for these roses.

“I just love to be around people who love this garden,” he said. “They’re inspirational to me.” □

In the rose world, Stephen Scanniello is a rock star.

Curator of the New York Botanical Garden’s Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, Scanniello is a world-renowned rose expert. Author of several books and a sought-after private consultant, he also is in charge of the revival of Connecticut’s Elizabeth Park, the nation’s oldest public rose garden. And as president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, he is a leader in preservation efforts around the globe.

But every January, he makes a beeline for Sacramento. The climbers at the Historic City Cemetery need him.

“This is my fifth trip to prune at the cemetery,” he said by phone from his New Jersey home. “It’s a working weekend. I’m looking forward to it.”

For Sacramento rose lovers, it’s an amazing treat, like Bobby Flay dropping into your favorite neighborhood restaurant and volunteering to chop event detaIlS veggies while you watch.

Stephen Scanniello leads pruning With shears in hand, Scanniello will lead two workshops pruning workshops at the cemetery Saturday, Jan. Historic city cemetery’s Heritage 11—one devoted to climbers, the other to shrub Rose Garden (1000 Broadway) at 9 roses. He’ll also make a free presentation about a.m. (climbers) and 1 p.m. (shrubs) his preservation work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. Saturday, Jan. 11; $10 donation.

9 to the Sacramento Rose Society at the Shepard Tickets and details: Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park. On cemeteryrose.org.

Friday, he plans to visit the Woodland Public Library’s rose garden.

On a personal pilgrimage, Scanniello comes to Sacramento in part to make sure the cemetery’s famous roses are still there.

Debbie arrington, an award-winning garden writer and lifelong “I think it’s one of the most interesting rose gardener, is co-creator of the sacramento Digs gardening blog gardens and collections of roses in the world,” he and website. said. “There’s not anything like it on the East Coast.

submi t a comic for ’

s

COM IC

con t est ! `

how to enter

create a new comic or submit one you’ve already made! winners will be published in our comics issue 1/30/20

deadline: 1/16/20 @5pm

email submissions to comics@newsreview.com

file size minimum: 1,000 x 1,000 pixels file size maximum: 2,000 x 2,000 pixels 01.09.20

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for the week of january 9

by Patrick hyun wilson

POst eveNts ONliNe FOR FRee at newsreview.com/sacramento

music THursDay, 1/9 COCKtails & JaZZ FeatURiNG tHe aRlYN aNDeRsON QUaRtet: Sacramento jazz guitarist Arlyn Anderson and his quartet are playing jazz standards along with modern arrangements and original compositions upstairs at B Street Theatre. 7pm, $12. B Street Theatre, 2700 Capitol Ave.

JUstis & MClaNe: Michael B. Justis has played

Dine Downtown

tiCKet WiNDOW THe beaTles WHiTe album live The Beatles

greet with the former Nickelodeon star.

1/31, 6pm, $15-$100, on sale now. Harlows, showclix.com.

musician and Stranger Things star, Paul Reiser will be coming to the Crest Theatre in Sacramento. 1/25, 7:30pm, $35-$55, on sale now. Crest Theatre, crestsacramento. com.

iNTO THe WOODs The Sac Theatre

you up when you’re down, so just come around to Harlow’s and see Drake Bell live in concert. And if you’ve got the extra dough, you could get a meet and

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in music, I-Hui Chen is a compelling pianist who seamlessly radiates her music and thoughts to the audience. She will perform works by Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Tchaikovsky. 12:05pm, no cover. UC Davis, 1 Shields Ave., Davis.

PlUM aNDeRsON: Sacramento based multiinstrumentalist Plum Anderson will headline at The Starlet Room, joined by Beauty Queen & Country Club. 6pm, $10. The Starlet Room, 2708 J St. Snakes and Death Valley High come to Holy Diver for the Winter 2020 tour, joined

by Chrome Ghost, Ghost Color and Silent Game. 7pm, $12. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

sNaPs FOR siNNeRs: Kickin’ up a cocktail of the wildly infused flavors of jazz, folk and punk, this raggedy crew of streetwise fashionistas is ready to serve up a poppin’ groove. 9pm, $7. Torch Club, 904 15th St.

friDay, 1/10 aCCORDiNG tO BaZOOKa aND KallY & allY O’MallY: According to Bazooka’s catchy songwriting style has a retro 1960s feel; the melodic musings feature three-point harmony and a folk-rock vibe that calls to mind a nostalgic era of pop music. 9pm, $5. Fox & Goose, 1001 R St.

Basi viBe OPeN sessiONs: BASI VIBE & Friends bring smooth soul & cold funk to Highwater every Second Saturday from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. for Sacramento’s hottest open jam session. 10pm, $5. Highwater, 1910 Q St.

a ticket a day keeps the scalpers away.

a.J. crOce A.J. Croce was 2 years old

DraKe bell He’ll always be picking

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place I’ve been hearing about,” but never did, now’s the time to plan that date. This year’s Dine Downtown is presented by Kaiser Permanente, and $1 of every meal purchase will be used to benefit social services and food literacy programs in Sacramento. So you can try them all, or eat at the same place ten days in a row. Either way, you’ll be indirectly helping people make informed choices about the food that they eat. Various locations, godowntownsac.com.

never played it live, but now you have a chance to hear the White Album by the acclaimed British rock group played in its entirety by 40 professional musicians at the Harris Center. 1/16, 7pm, on sale now.

Harris Center, harriscenter.net.

Paul reiser Comedian, actor, writer,

tHe NODa FaMilY CONCeRt: UC Davis lecturer

silveR sNaKes DeatH valleY HiGH: Silver

Downtown Sacramento, variouS timeS, $40 The new year has officially begun and if you haven’t abandoned your dieting resolutions yet, here’s your chance. Dine Downtown is beginning in Sacramento with 30 restaurants offering fixed-price threeFestivals course meals for $40.

Participating restaurants include Brasserie Capitale, The Melting Pot, Empress Tavern and more, so you can start 2020 dining out at one of your favorite restaurants. Or if you spent 2019 saying, “We should try that Tiger

PHOTO cOurTesy Of Kimberly lam

0 1 GH tHROU 20

Dine out at Sacramento’s finest downtown restaurants.

at the Goose for years. His brand of classic acoustic music, featuring Steve McLane, is always refreshing. 8pm, no cover. Fox & Goose, 1001 R St.

when his folk music legend father Jim Croce died in a plane crash, and now, A.J. and his trio will be paying homage to his father’s legacy at Harris Center.

2/6, 7:30pm, $14.5-$59, on sale now. Harris Center, harriscenter.net.

Company’s Young Professionals Conservatory is bringing the magic of the woods to Sacramento. The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale legends will come together again for the Sac Theatre Company’s production of Into The Woods.

2/6-2/9, various times, $17-$20, on sale now.

Sac Theatre Company, sactheatre.org.

Pauly sHOre Hey BU-DDY! The Encino

man is coming to Sacramento. Pauly Shore will be performing stand-up for two days at the Punch Line Comedy Club. 2/21-

2/22, 7:30pm & 9:45pm both days, $25-$35, on sale now.

Live Nation, concerts1. livenation.com.

v

COlORs WORlDWiDe PReseNts R&B ONlY: Dauchè and Jabari create an unforgettable experience celebrating all R&B dance music.

8:30pm, $26-$60. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.

i see HaWKs iN la: I See Hawks in L.A. will be coming to the Sofia at B Street Theatre to perform their signature alternative country music. 7pm, $30. The Sofia, 2700 Capitol Ave.

JOY & M MaDNess: The eight-piece soul and

Find a way, Drake.

funk explosion out of Sacramento has been rocking stages all over the West Coast.

Joy & Madness will be bringing that sound home. 9:30pm, $12. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.

liNDeN WOOD eP Release PaRtY: Linden Wood li is a singer-songwriter from Sacramento, and he will be celebrating the release of his newest EP. 7:30pm, no cover. Gaslight Co., 718 Sutter St., Folsom.

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 Patrick Hyun Wilson at snrcalendar@newsreview.com.

tHe NiCKel slOts W/ MeRRYGOlD: The Nickel Slots make their first appearance at the Starlet Room, with MerryGold opening with their whiskey-soaked folk and bluegrass. 9:30pm, $12. The Starlet Room, 2708 J St.

OlD NeW YeaR BeNeFit CONCeRt: The choir of Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church is giving a benefit concert. All proceeds will go to the completion of the iconography in the beautiful church. 7pm, $0-$15. Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church, 714 13th St.

sHaDes OF PiNK FlOYD: Shades Of Pink Floyd tribute band continues to grow in popularity with a show that includes a complete performance of “Dark Side of The Moon” and songs from the “The Wall,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals,” “Meddle” and more. 9:30pm, $10-$15. Opera House Saloon Roseville, 411 Lincoln St., Roseville.

staRGaZiNG-a NiGHt OF BOWie!: Tipsy Orchestrina presents the “Stargazing: A night of Bowie!” tribute performances

by The Roa Brothers Band, Spacewalker, and The Hey-Nows[!], and a complete performance of the album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars” by the Tipsy Orchestrina band. 6pm, $12-$15. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.

WOlF & BeaR W/ KURt tRavis: Bit Crusher presents Wolf & Bear, Kurt Travis, Adventurer, In Chaos, The Measure and Self Continuum performing live music. 6:30pm, $15. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

saTurDay, 1/11 a&G MUsiC aRts MUsiCal sHOWCase: The Canyon Grill and Alehouse presents the A&G Musical Showcase, celebrating love and passion in musicals and dance. 6pm, $5-$10. The Canyon Grill and Alehouse, 9580 Oak Ave. Pkwy, Folsom.

aN eveNiNG WitH itZHaK PeRlMaN: Itzhak Perlman visits the Mondavi Center with his friend, pianist Rohan De Silva, for an evening of stories and music. It’s an opportunity to get to know the man behind the music as he speaks from the stage, illustrating his stories with music and multimedia. 8pm, $27.50-$150. UC Davis, 1 Shields Ave., Davis.

DaNielle NiCOle: Danielle Nicole will perform live blues music with her band, made up of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Brandon Miller and her older brother Kris Schenebelen on drums. 7pm, $27.50. The Sofia, 2700 Capitol Ave.

iRisHPalOOZa 2020: Irishpalooza comes to Harlow’s featuring Whiskey & Stitches, OneEyed Reilly, The Pikeys, Stepping Stone, The McKeever School of Irish Dance and special guest Bob Eastwall 6pm, $15. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.

NeON RODeO: Featuring Nate Smith and DJ CJ, the Neon Rodeo event will be held at Ace of Spades. 7:30pm, $8. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.

ZiON i: Hip-hop artist Zion I will perform live music in Sacramento as part of their international tour. 7pm, $15. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

Sunday, 1/12

Superfest Sacramento Tsakopoulos library Galleria, 1pm, no cover

Moving pictures have the power of representation. When a young boy or girl looks up at FeStivalS the silver screen and sees someone who looks like them, that can make an impact on their mental image of themselves. People with disabilities PHOTO cOurTeSy Of SuPerfeST should get that feeling, too, and Superfest, the long-running disability film festival, is coming to Sacramento for people with disabilities to see themselves on the big screen. Catch films such as the documentary Deaf Jam at Superfest Sacramento.

828 I St., saclibrary.org/Event/Special-Events/Superfest-Sacramento.

Sunday, 1/12

SaTurday, 1/11

ClaSSiCal CONCeRt CHRiStiNa MOK & MileS GRaBeR: Violinist Christina Mok and pianist

aRt BY FiRe SeCONDS Sale: A sale of less than

Miles Graber will present a musical interpretation of Otis Oldfield’s painting “White Dress” and its relationship to 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen’s “Theme and Variations.” 3pm, $10-$20. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

lOUMUZiK live: Texas rap artist Loumuzik comes to Holy Diver to perform live music. 7pm, $15-$20. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

TueSday, 1/14 aRt GaRFUNKel iN ClOSe-UP: The Harris Center welcomes Art Garfunkel back to Stage One. He has made an indelible mark on the music world as both a solo artist and half of Simon & Garfunkel. 7:30pm, $38-$72. Harris Center, 10 College Pkwy, Folsom.

WedneSday, 1/15 BlUeS & BOURBON BiG CHieFS: Big Chiefs, a rollicking Louisiana music funk/blues/ classic R&B band, will be playing at the weekly Blues & Bourbon showcase at the Starlight Room. 6pm, $10. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.

perfect pottery, glass, metal and clay work, hosted by the Sacramento Potters Group. 10am, no cover. Shepard Garden & Arts Center, 3330 McKinley Blvd.

Sunday, 1/12 MUSiC, MUSiC, MUSiC!: Sacramento Community Concert Association presents internationally acclaimed soprano Hope Briggs and Sacramento’s own Salvatore Atti at a gala celebrating its 67th season. 4pm, $35-$50. Congregation B’nai Israel, 3600 Riverside Blvd.

SaCRaMeNtO aNtiQUe FaiRe: 300 vendors from California, Nevada and other neighboring states sell antiques and collectibles that are 20 years and older. 6:30am, $3. 21st & X Streets (under the freeway), 2350 21st St.

SUPeRFeSt SaCRaMeNtO: Superfest is a long-running film festival from San Francisco that screens films portraying disability through a complex and engaging lens. The local event is fully accessible to people with all disabilities and hosted by the Sacramento Public Library. 1pm, no cover. Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, 828 I St.

eRiC JOHNSON: The guitar has been very good to Eric Johnson. His talent with it has earned him international renown as a player, composer, recording artist and live performer, which he will be bringing to Sacramento. 8pm, $38-$68. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

NeW ORiGiNal MUSiC aCOUStiC OPeN MiC NiGHt: Join Madrid Music for an Open Mic Night dedicated to original music. Come to play or come to listen. 6:30pm, no cover. Love at First Bite Café, 7405 Winding Way, Fair Oaks.

feSTIVaLS THurSday, 1/9 KiDS HelPiNG KiDS aNNUal Gala: Join the Sacramento nonprofit Kids Helping Kids at its 8th annual Signature Gala, supporting families battling pediatric cancer. Live music by Wilder Woods, JOHNNYSWIM and Alisan Porter. 7pm, $39-$99. Harris Center, 10 College Pkwy, Folsom.

fOOd & drInK frIday, 1/10 DiNe DOWNtOWN: Get ready to feast, Dine Downtown is back Jan. 10-20. Taste one or all 30 of the downtown restaurants offering special three-course fixed menus while also giving back to the community with each meal providing a donation to food literacy and social service programs. through 1/20. $40. Downtown Sacramento, 980 9th St.

DiStilleRY tOURS aND SPiRit taStiNGS: J.J. Pfister Distilling Co. is hosting tours and tastings at the local distillery room. Enjoy the award winning Capitol Gin and Potato Vodka, or the newly released Apple Brandy and Navy Strength Rum. 4pm, $5. J.J. Pfister Distilling Co., 9819 Business Park Drive.

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See more eventS And Submit your own At newSreview.com/Sacramento/calendar

thurSday, 1/9

each other where to find the good things in life. through 1/12. $12. 717 Sutter St., Folsom.

Jaws: talk and book signing CreSt theatre, 7:30pm, $10-$40

veterAnS memoriAl tHeAtre: Acme Theatre’s

If it weren’t for the shark, Jaws would be one heck of a boring movie. The opening scene would just Film show some girl swim out into the ocean and then swim right back in. What Photo courteSy of roGer KaStel kind of summer blockbuster would that be? Thankfully for Steven Spielberg, Joe Alves was on set to save the day, designing the shark that ravaged one poor beach town in 1975. Now, 45 years later, you can meet the man behind the shark at Crest Theatre as well as the man behind the book about the man behind the shark, Dennis Price. 1013 K St., crestsacramento.com.

Separation. Brad Bonar Jr. and his band of comedians are bringing 1 Degree of Separation: A Funny Look at Depression and Suicide to Sacramento. 7pm thursday, 1/9. $20. 1207 Front St.

CAlendAr liStinGS Continued From PAGe 33

film

PunCH line: LoLGBT+ Presents “Queens &

thurSday, 1/9

Comedy”. LOLGBT+ returns with “Queens & Comedy,” an exciting evening of drag queens and some of Sacramento’s finest comics! Suzette Veneti hosts this night of laughs. 7:30pm Sunday, 1/12. $17. The Future of Comedy Showcase. Headliner Kabir “Kabeezy” Singh performs along with a selection of up-and-coming guest comedians from the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York for an evening stand-up. 8pm wednesday, 1/15. $8.50-$17. 2100 Arden Way, Suite 225.

JAwS witH Pre-movie tAlK And booK SiGninG

by Joe AlveS And denniS PriCe: Enjoy the classic movie Jaws with intro and book signing by Jaws production designer Joe Alves and Dennis Prince, the author of “Joe Alves Designing JAWS.” 7:30pm, $10$40. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

friday, 1/10 tHe SHininG: The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. Here’s your chance to catch the horror on the big screen. 7:30pm, $10-$22. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

Saturday, 1/11 JAy & Silent bob reboot roAdSHow witH Kevin SmitH: The New Jersey stoner icons who first hit the screen 25 years ago in Clerks are back. When Jay and Silent Bob discover that Hollywood is rebooting an old movie based on them, the clueless duo embark on another cross-country mission to stop it all over again! 8pm, $47$750. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

StAb! Comedy tHeAter: Forbidden Knowledge.

Is there such a thing as knowing too much?

The answer is “absolutely,” and in Book IX of FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE your hosts/ necromancers, Court Hansen and Charlie Norton, will show you exactly what lies behind the hideous veil of our universe. 8pm Saturday, 1/11. $7. 1710 Broadway.

A Night with Oliver Graves. A night of standup comedy starring Oliver Graves, the “goth comedian” from America’s Got Talent, and featuring special guest Jon Lehre. 8pm Friday, 1/10. $8. 1050 20th St., Suite 130.

tHe StArlet room: Comedy Burger. The Starlet Room at Harlow’s monthly comedy showcase Comedy Burger, hosted by Netflix’s Ngaio Bealum, is back, this time featuring local comedian Wendy Lewis. 6:30pm Sunday, 1/12. $10. 2708 J St.

CSZ SACrAmento: ComedySportz Improv

on StaGe HArlow’S: The Darling Clementines Juicy January. The Darling Clementines will host a variety show at Harlow’s performing burlesque and more live entertainment. 7pm thursday, 1/9. $15-$20. 2708 J St.

lAuGHS unlimited: Kabir Singh. Fresh off his Comedy Central debut on the hit show “Gabriel Iglesias’s Stand-Up Revolution,” Kabir Singh is bringing his high-energy, in-your-face attitude to Sacramento. 8pm7pm. through 1/12. $20. One Degree of

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The Burials. Sophie has always been the apple of her father’s eye and his biggest supporter in his campaign for the U.S. Senate. But after her little brother Ben does the unthinkable, Sophie is forced to reconsider her loyalties to her family, her friends and her own sense of right and wrong. through 1/19. $10-$15. 203 E. 14th St., Davis.

weSt SACrAmento blACK boX tHeAtre: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The play has charmed audiences across the country with its effortless wit and humor, and now it will charm Sacramento audiences, too. through 1/11. $20. 1075 W. Capitol Ave., West Sacramento.

art AXiS GAllery: Portrait – Beth Consetta Rubel and Nafis M. White. Wayne Shorter’s seminal work titled Portrait is the impetus and inspiration behind both the exhibition title and the bodies of work that unite the practice of artists Beth Consetta Rubel and Nafis M. White. Catch the Saturday opening reception. 6pm Saturday, 1/11. no cover. 625 S St.

Fe GAllery: Pretty & Peculiar. A group exhibit

SPortS & outdoorS thurSday, 1/9 downtown iCe rinK: Sharpen your skates and get ready to perfect your triple axel, the 28th season of the Downtown Sacramento Ice Rink is open daily, through Jan. 20 at Ali Youssefi Square in downtown Sacramento. 10am, $6-$15. Ali Youssefi Square, 701 K St.

friday, 1/10 SACrAmento KinGS vS. milwAuKee buCKS: The Sacramento Kings take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Golden One Center in the next game of their basketball season. 7pm, $34. Golden 1 Center, 500 David J. Stern Walk.

Saturday, 1/11 Hidden GemS oF CronAn rAnCH: Hikers can explore an easy 3-mile loop or an extended 6-mile loop at Coloma’s Cronan Ranch with Tom Petersen, hiking enthusiast and author of local hiking books. 9am, no cover. American River Conservancy, 348 State Highway 49, Coloma.

that melds beauty with oddity. At the opening of the exhibition, catch a live blacksmith demo. The exhibit runs through Feb. 28. 6pm Saturday, 1/11. no cover. 1100 65th St.

PenCe GAllery: Sculpture by Lynn Dau Objects Speaking Volumes. This exhibition features repurposed objects related to the domestic sphere, hinting at a narrative that is both humorous and deeply provocative. through 2/2. no cover. 212 D St., Davis.

muSeumS CAliForniA StAte rAilroAd muSeum: “White Out!” Exhibit at Railroad Museum. For a limited time, visitors to the California State Railroad Museum have a special opportunity to see a 251,000-pound rotary snowplow from the museum’s impressive collection, along with a compelling new exhibit

be able to print 25 two-color prints or 15 three-four color prints with a Risograph ME9450. 5:30pm, $35-$45. Verge Center for the Arts, 625 S St.

friday, 1/10 FAirytAle enGineerinG: In honor of Neil Gaiman’s fairy tale-inspired works, help the Sacramento Public Library solve storybook problems by building and testing hands-on solutions! 3:30pm, no cover. McKinley Public Library, 601 Alhambra Blvd.

Sunday, 1/12 imProv For livinG bAby boomer edition: A four-session class for Baby Boomers who want to practice a new, lighter perspective in life. In this class, students will learn the basics of improv comedy to apply these ideas in daily life. 1pm, $125. Comedy Spot Training Center, 1050 T St.

monday, 1/13 All AGeS PAint PArty: Grab your friends, kids and neighbors for the Paint Party!

Enjoy delicious food and beverages while you’re guided step-by-step in creating your very own work of art. No prior painting experience necessary. 6:30pm, $45. 524 Mexican Restaurant.

tueSday, 1/14 HomeSCHool dAy lAndSCAPeS: Make the

claSSeS thurSday 1/9 beGinner’S ComPuter worKSHoP For women: Arab Community Center for Integration Services encourages computer beginners to enroll in this two-day workshop sponsored by Folsom Lake College to learn basic computer skills, internet search and Microsoft Word. 10am, through 1/10 $20. Folsom Lake College, 10 College Pkwy, Folsom.

intro to riSoGrAPH PrintinG witH ryAn: A Risograph is a brand of digital duplicators manufactured in Japan in the 1980s.

They have a second life as high-volume, high-quality duplicators used for art and zine printing. During this session you will

Crocker your classroom with Homeschool Day: Landscape. Students will examine a variety of breathtaking landscapes in the museum, including including those by Impressionist painter Granville Redmond, before making their own. noon, $3$5. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

Strum For Fun: The Sacramento Guitar Society, a nonprofit educational and arts organization, is offering a free community service to get you on your way to playing the guitar. Join weekly for a fun “Struminar,” where you decide what song you want to learn to play. 3:30pm, no cover. North Natomas Library, 4660 Via Ingoglia. 4pm, no cover. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 7340 24th St. Bypass.

SACrAmento Comedy SPot: Beyond the Grave

comedy Comedy. Hilarious, spontaneous, interactive improv comedy for all ages. Not comedy about sports, comedy played as a sport.

Two teams compete for your laughs and points. 8pm. through 2/1. $10-$14. 2230 Arden Way, Suite B.

titled “White Out! A Collision Course with Nature.” through 4/1. $6-$12. 111 I St.

Sutter Street tHeAtre: Good Things: A Living

01.09.20

Room Musical. It is the story of a group of young adults who must learn how to navigate mental illness and tragedy by reminding

Saturday, 1/11

Art by Fire: Seconds Sale Shepard Garden & artS Center, 10am, no Cover

If you’re the kind of person who goes through pottery, glass, metal and clay work quick as a dog can lick a dish, then maybe it’s best not to buy those FeStivAlS perfectly crafted artisan flower pots. The Sacramento Potters Group has got you covered with its Seconds Sale—a sale of their not-so-perfect crafts that you can love, weird lumps and all. Come early to get your first pick of the second picks. 3330 McKinley Blvd., artbyfire.org.

Photo courteSy of Sacramento PotterS GrouP

THURSDAY 1/9

FRIDAY 1/10

At EAsE BrEwing Co.

Trivia at Ease, 7pm, no cover

BAdlAnds

Poprockz 90s Night, 11pm, no cover

1825 I ST., (916) 431-7940

9426 GREENbAck LN., ORANGEvALE, (916) 358-9116

The Pat Travers Band, Arminius and Two Worlds “Plugged In,” 7:30pm, $20

Niviane, Potential Threat, Abeyance and From the Ruins, 7:30pm, $12

CApitol gArAgE

Capitol Fridays, 10pm, no cover

Dinner and a Drag Show, 7pm, $8-$36

The Shining, 7:30pm, $10-$22

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow, 7pm, $47

Toy Story Double Feature, 4pm, $10-$22

Eric Johnson Classics: Present and Past, 6:30pm, W, $38-$68

Pool Party, 3pm, no cover

Every Damn Monday, 8pm, M, no cover

CrEst thEAtrE

1013 k ST., (916) 476-3356

Jaws with pre-movie talk and book signing, 7:30pm, $10-$40

drAkE’s: thE BArn

S’mores & Stouts, 5pm, call for cover

FACEs

Karaoke Night, 9pm, call for cover

Absolut Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Sequin Saturdays, 9:30pm, call for cover

Fox & goosE

Justis & McLane, 8pm, no cover

According to Bazooka and Kally & Ally O’Mally, 9pm, $5

Scott Paul Graham, 9pm, $5

985 RIvERFRONT ST., WEST SAc, (510) 423-0971 2000 k ST., (916) 448-7798 1001 R ST., (916) 443-8825

goldEn 1 CEntEr guild thEAtrE

5681 LONETREE bLvD., ROckLIN, (916) 626-3600

hArlow’s

2708 J ST., (916) 441-4693

College Night, 10pm, no cover

Aud Man Out, 6pm, no cover

The Darling Clementines: Juicy January, 7pm, $15

Stargazing: A Bowie Tribute Show, 5:30pm, $15; Joy & Madness, 10pm, $15

highwAtEr

Vibe, 6pm, call for cover

1910 Q ST., (916) 706-2465

holY diVEr

Silver Snakes and Death Valley High, 7pm, $12

Death Valley High

JACkrABBit BrEwing Co.

with Silver Snakes 7pm Thursday, $12 Holy Diver Gothic rock

1323 TERMINAL ST., WEST SAc (916) 873-8659

Cornhole Tournament w/ West Sac Cornhole, 6:30pm, call for cover

kupros

Live music, 7pm, no cover

old ironsidEs

1901 10TH ST., (916) 442-3504

Wolf & Bear and Kurt Travis, 6:30pm, $15

Shitshow Karaoke, 8pm, M, call for cover

Zion I, 7pm, $15

Loumuzik Live, 7pm, $15-$20

Triviology 101, 7:30pm, no cover

Ross Hammond, 5pm, no cover

upComing sHows $10 coVer | doorS at 7Pm | 21+

live MuSic

nite kats duo

1/11

shelby ann

1/24

todd morgan

1/25

banjo bones

1/31

part robot

2/7

bangarang

2/8

grey finch

101 Main Street, roSeville 916-774-0505 · lunch/dinner 7 days a week fri & sat 9:30pm - close 21+

/bar101roseville

Open-Mic, 5pm, T, no cover

Live Music with Heath Williamson, 5:30pm, M, no cover

Wendell & The Puppets, Se7ven of Limbo Contra Sleeps, East West Northish, The Dark Whatever, 9pm, $8 and The Haley Show, 8:30pm, $10

Sacramento’S #1 UndergroUnd metal VenUe iS Back!

1/10

Magic vs Kings, 5:30pm, M, $12-$1000

Irishpalooza, 5:30pm, $15 Paint Nite, 1pm, $37

2565 FRANkLIN bLvD., (916) 455-1331

1217 21ST ST., (916) 440-0401

Open-Mic Night, 7:30pm, M, no cover; Pub Quiz, 7pm, T, no cover

Bingo, 12:45pm, W, $10; Cornhole, 6pm, W, $10

hidEAwAY BAr & grill

1517 21ST ST.

Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Secrets, Push Over, The Never & Now, 6:30pm, M, $20

Humanity and the Mural, 5pm, $5

2828 35TH ST., (916) 905-7024

hAlFtimE BAr & grill

Industry Sundays, 9pm, no cover

Harlem Globetrotters, 1pm & 6pm, $23-$135

Bucks vs Kings, 5:30pm, $27-$178

500 DAvID J STERN WALk, (888) 915-4647

PHOTO cOURTESY OF bAILEY kObELIN

After Hours with Apple, 9pm, M, no cover; Trapicana, 11pm, W, no cover

Spectacular Saturdays, 6pm, call for cover

1500 k ST., (916) 444-3633

6:30pm Wednesday, $38-$68 Crest Theatre Rock

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/13-1/15

Pre-Brunch Yoga, 10am, no cover

thE BoArdwAlk

Eric Johnson

SUNDAY 1/12

Fierce Fridays, 7pm, call for cover

2003 k ST., (916) 448-8790

PHOTO cOURTESY OF MAx cRAcE

SATURDAY 1/11

January 31st emBryonic deVoUrment cUrSed | SeVer all Short FUSe february 1st hellway Patrol (Brazil) more tBa

HappY Hour

12Pm - 7Pm

karaoke

tue 9Pm - 2am, thu 10Pm - 2am ComedY open miC

thu 8Pm - 10Pm

Eat. Drink.

Be Merry. Repeat.

Visit for eVent updates & booking information

1217 21st St • 916.440.0401 www.KuprosCrafthouse.com

670 Fulton avenue, Sacramento, ca open daily 12Pm – 2am | (916) 487-3731

voted sacramento’s

best dance club 2017/2018 Karaoke up Front Wednesday-sunday amazing Food and specials nightly Country dancing in Back Wed, Fri, sat & sun salsa/West Coast swing thursdays new grand remodel will be finished soon – new Parking lot coming soon

staY tUneD For the best happY hoUr coMinG to sacraMento Join Us For pbr WeeKenD Fri Jan 24th Michael Beck Band sat Jan 25th locked & loaded sun Jan 26th – Cliff huey

1320 Del paso blvD in olD north sac

2 steps from downtown | 916.402.2407 stoneyinn.com for nightly drink specials & events

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SubMIt your CALendAr LIStIngS for free At newSrevIew.CoM/SACrAMento/CALendAr thursDAy 1/9 On the y

FrIDAy 1/10

sAturDAy 1/11

sunDAy 1/12

670 FuLton Ave., (916) 487-3731

Opera hOuse salOOn

Shades of Pink Floyd, 9:30pm, $10-$15

Everyday Outlaw, 9:30pm, $10-$15

palms playhOuse

Coco Montoya, 8pm, $25-$29

Words and Music, 7:30pm, $23-$27

placerville public hOuse

Nipper Brothers, 8pm, call for cover

Frankie and the Defenders, 8pm, call for cover

The Island of Black & White, 10pm, call for cover

Petty Jack Flash, 3pm, call for cover; Wonderbread 5, 10:15pm, call for cover

411 LIncoLn st., rosevILLe (916) 970-9777 13 MAIn st., wInters, (530) 795-1825 414 MAIn st., PLAcervILLe, (530) 303-3792

pOwerhOuse pub

614 sutter st., FoLsoM, (916) 355-8586

Corduroys, 9:30pm, call for cover

the press club

2030 P st., (916) 444-7914

rOOt Of happiness

Coco Montoya, 3pm, call for cover; Industry Night, 6pm, call for cover

Live Band Karaoke, 8:30pm, T, call for cover

DJ Larry’s Sunday Night Dance Party, 9pm, no cover

Monday Vibes w/ MC Ham, 9pm, M, no cover; Night School, 9pm, T, no cover

Güero, 8:30pm, call for cover

211 F st. DAvIs, (530) 212-8039

shady lady salOOn

Julie & The Jukes, 9pm, call for cover

2030 P st., (916) 231-9121

sOcial niGhtclub

1409 r st., (916) 947-0434

the sOfia

MonDAy-weDnesDAy 1/13-1/15 Tuesday Night Karaoke with Jimbo, 9pm, T, no cover

Open-Mic Comedy & Karaoke, 8pm, no cover

Open-Mic Night!, 7pm, W, call for cover

Drunken Kung Fu, 9pm, call for cover

Dirty Chops, 9pm, call for cover

DJ Mez, 10pm, $0-$5

DJ HVFF, 10pm, $0-$5

Cocktails & Jazz feat. Arlyn Anderson, 7pm, $12

I See Hawks in L.A., 7pm, $30

Danielle Nicole w/ Alastair Greene Band, 7pm, $27.50

the starlet rOOm

Plum Anderson, 6pm, $10-$13

The Nickel Slots, 8pm, $12-$15

The Up ’N Comin’ Live Experience, 6pm, $10

Comedy Burger feat. Ngaio Bealum, 6:30pm, $10

Blues & Bourbon: Big Chiefs, 5:30pm, W, $10

stOney’s rOckin rOdeO

West Coast Swing, 7pm, $5

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

Hot Country DJ Dancing, 9pm, $5

Sunday Funday, 6pm, no cover

Hot Country DJ Dancing, 9pm, W, no cover

the tOrch club

Snaps For Sinners, 9pm, $7

Tracorum andCloudship, 9pm, $8

RJ Mishko, 9pm, $10

You Front the Band, 8pm, call for cover

Sactown Playboys, 8:30pm, T, call for cover; Jennings, 8:30pm, W, $5

yOlO brewinG cO.

Thirsty Thursdays, 3pm, no cover

Happy Hour, 3pm, no cover

Free Yoga at Yolo, 11am, no cover

Trivia w/ Thomas Todd, 7pm, T, no cover

1320 DeL PAso BLvD., (916) 927-6023 904 15th st., (916) 443-2797 1520 terMInAL st., (916) 379-7585

Popcorn Falls, 6:30pm, T & W, $20

All ages, all the time ace Of spades

Coco Montoya 8pm Friday, $25-$29 Palms Playhouse Blues

Delicious Vinyl, 9pm, call for cover

2700 cAPItoL Ave., (916) 443-5300 2708 J st., (916) 441-4693

Photo courtesy oF JosePh A rosen

Photo courtesy oF I see hAwks In L.A.

Colors Worldwide, 7:30pm, $26-$60

Neon Rodeo, 7:30pm, $8

I See Hawks in L.A.

3520 stockton BLvD., (916) 475-1600

The Thrill Seeking Tour, 7pm, call for cover

Baddest Beams, 8pm, call for cover

shine

The Shine Jazz Jam, 8pm, no cover

Travis Larson Band w/ Larry Mitchell, 8pm, $15

7pm Friday, $30 The Sofia Country folk rock

1417 r st., (916) 930-0220

cafe cOlOnial

1400 e st., (916) 551-1400

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Mookatite Hyperbella (Phoenix and Saudade, 8pm, $10

Electric Nights, 8pm, T & W, $10

c A n n A B i S

Jason Silva was one of the hosts for the National Geographic Channel show Brain Games and now has a new podcast that elevates the conversations surrounding cannabis called “Flow Sessions.”

Photo courtesy of flow Kana

Jason Silva’s new podcast has California roots ‘Flow Sessions’ host ties cannabis and the Bay Area in his new series on YouTube

by Zack Ruskin

“flow sessions” is available to stream as a podcast on spotify and the apple Podcast app. a video version of each episode is also available on Jason silva’s youtube channel, youtube.com/ user/shotsofawe.

Looking for modern-day guides to the cosmic unknown is a tough business.

While previous options were limited to those who were willing to risk everything in advocacy for psychedelics and mind expansion—pioneers such as Timothy Leary and the recently departed Ram Dass—today there is a staggering chorus of voices.

Jason Silva’s “Flow Sessions” podcast, however, seeks to be a cut above the rest by featuring marquee guests, fascinating conversations and a focus that is both specific and flexible enough to encompass dialogue about everything from microdosing to the

neurophysiology of human performance.

Silva’s series is concerned with this latter concept, also known as flow.

At its most basic, the concept is a state of immersion in a given activity. If you’re a runner, you may feel flow at the peak of a marathon. Jazz musicians are also often cited, with improvised notes ebbing and flowing between instruments to create a greater sound.

Over the course of six episodes, Silva sat down with major figures including flow expert Steven Kotler and acclaimed author Michael Pollan to approach the topic from myriad angles. Available in audio as well video, the show’s first

season premiered Nov. 5 with its final Though cannabis is not an explicit episode on Dec. 31. theme of the series, it’s no surprise A native of Venezuela, Silva that the subject makes its way into attended the University of Miami every chat. before landing a role in 2005 as a For one, Silva is a big proponent presenter and producer on Al Gore’s of responsible cannabis use to Current TV network. In 2013, he achieve flow. For another, Silva’s became one of the hosts for the brother-in-law is Michael Steinmetz, National Geographic Channel show founder and CEO of the craft cannabis Brain Games. His television gig farmer distribution brand Flow Kana, anchored him to Los Angeles until podcast’s official presenter.

2016, but since then, he says his true Conceived as an unstructured home has been the road, thanks to a dialogue between Silva and his number of speaking engagements that guests, the series digs deep on cosmic keep him traveling constantly. questions while still managing to “I’m truly very nomadic,” Silva remain lively. Speaking with Rick told SN&R. “I’m speaking all over the Doblin (executive director of the world and giving keynote speeches all Multidisciplinary Association for over the planet. I speak on the subject Psychedelic Studies) and Kevin Kelly of technology and innovation and (co-founder of Wired magazine), Silva creativity and out-of-the-box thinking doesn’t simply seek to reaffirm his own and emerging tech disruption.” beliefs, but instead to expand his underWhen reached by phone in standing, along with his listeners.

December, Silva was in Amsterdam The role of cannabis in these enjoying a few days off following a conversations varies with each episode, summit on conscious technology in but one clear constant is that Silva sees Egypt, an education summit in Qatar pot as a tool to be employed for introand an event in Brazil on the future of spection—not simply a leafy substitute finance. for boredom. That’s why, according to Despite his hectic travels, Silva Silva, it made sense to bring Flow Kana still finds plenty of time to return to on as a presenting partner.

Northern California. If he isn’t taping “The podcast is not specifically his show, he’s visiting his brother-inabout cannabis,” he said, “but I wanted law’s operation in the Emerald Triangle to create an association so that people or spending time with his girlfriend, would see that conversations at this who lives north of San Francisco. level are being brought into the culture “California is like a second home,”

by Jason Silva and by a cannabis he said, which is fortunate, because company.”

“Flow Sessions” has relied heavily on “Flow Sessions” is Silva’s own the prevalence of quality thinkers in attempt to alter the doors of percepthe Bay Area to fill out its tion—in this case that cannabis guest list. has no place in serious Silva also speaks intellectual discourse.

“We’re trying of a “California “We’re trying ideology” that to change the to change the he believes is association people association people have essential to the have with cannabis with cannabis in their nature of the in their hearts and conversations minds,” Silva said. hearts and minds.” highlighted in “During reefer Jason Silva “Flow Sessions.” madness, cannabis host, “Flow Sessions” podcast “The California was associated with ideology is the stoner humor and eating intersectionality of the Doritos and watching counterculture and the TV all day. I want people to cyberculture,” Silva said. “In watch this podcast, and then think, contemporary history, the concept can be ‘Oh my god, OK, cannabis is associated traced back to when Silicon Valley began with this kind of discourse.’” Ω with all these technologists and engineers who were turned on by psychedelics.”

01.09.20 | SN&R | 37

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By Ngaio Bealum

a s k 4 2 0 @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

Entourage effect? Care to give us a little more detail?

studies about mental illness and CBD for the Psychiatric Times. Her conclusion: “In addition to the potential therapeutic effects of CBD for schizophrenia, CBD may also have a role in preventing It would be an honor and a delight. or treating the psychosis related to When discussing cannabis, the recreational use of cannabis in vulnerable “entourage effect” refers to how the individuals. Cannabis continues to be hundreds of different compounds in the most commonly used illicit drug the cannabis plant combine to make in the U.S., and with the spreading a medicine greater than the sum of its legalization for medical and recreational parts. Studies show that it isn’t just purposes, a lower proportion of people CBD or THC, but a combination of perceive the risk associated with regular CBD and THC (plus some terpenes, cannabis use. At the same time, there is and other cannabinoids) that create the a decreasing ratio of CBD-to-THC in best effects. Ethan Russo published a street cannabis from 1:14 in 1995 to 1:80 study in 2010 and uses words such as in 2014. Low CBD content may affect “synergy.” “Considered ensemble, the the overall impact of frequent cannabis preceding body of information supports use on mental health, which may become the concept that selective breeding of evident in the future. When discussing cannabis chemotypes rich in ameliorative the medicinal use of cannabis, it is phytocannabinoid and terpenoid important to distinguish CBD, content offer complementary with its potential beneficial pharmacological activities effects, from THC, with that may strengthen Cannabis its controversial adverse and broaden clinical effects, especially is generally applications on individuals with more effective and improve psychotic disorders.” the therapeutic as a medicine when Yes that’s a long index of cannabis sentence. Academics the chemicals are extracts containing are paid by the mixed instead of THC, or other base syllable. I disagree phytocannabinoids,” separated. with the last part of her he states. That’s a fancy conclusion. The adverse way of saying: Yes, cannabis side effects of THC are fairly is generally more effective as a well known. Anxiety, paranoia—the medicine when the chemicals are mixed munchies (nothing so controversial about instead of separated. that). Okay, the munchies are a gift and a curse. But to say that CBD is “good” and THC is “bad” is a bit of a reach. The point is: Weed is not for everyone. If you have a history of mental illness, you may want to check in with your health Not if you are mentally healthy to care professionals before consuming begin with. There is anecdotal evidence cannabis. Ω to suggest that people prone to schizophrenia or other psychoses are not well served by using cannabis, especially Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento if they are consuming large amounts comedian, activist and marijuana of THC. However, there are also some expert. Email him questions at studies that show large amounts of CBD ask420@newsreview.com. (like 600 milligrams per day) can be a great help to people with schizophrenia. @Ngaio420 Annita Bassir Nia wrote an overview of

Does weed cause psychosis?

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Free will astrology

ask joey

Gossip girl

For the week oF January 9, 2020 ARIES (March 21-April 19): When comedian John

by JOey GARCIA

@AskJoeyGarcia

excluding, trash-talking or embarrassing a friend of mine has a secret finsta (a fake Instagram account), and I want someone in front of others. to call her out. She uses her finsta A bully tends to hold an inflated whenever she wants to be a bitch without self-image and has an endless need for anyone knowing it’s her. this usually admiration. But beneath that appearance happens when someone she’s jealous of of confidence is a fragile self-esteem posts good news. She showed me her that cannot handle the slightest criticism finsta once when she was drunk. It has without instigating counter-attack. When a pic of a dog she used to walk and the a bully is not confronted or reported, dog’s name. I’m sure she forgot that she bystanders become complicit in the told me. I’m sick of seeing her be such cruelty and abuse. Don’t let that happen a bully to people, including our friends. to you. they delete the comments, of course, but Talk to your friend about her fake the damage is done. the weirdest thing, account and your concern for how she is and the reason I’m writing to you, is treating others. Be sure to have another because my friend is training to become friend present, someone you trust and a therapist. what should I do? who is not easily intimidated.

Stop being a bully’s sidekick.

Your friend is likely to deny Your friend told you the fake account. Gently When about her finsta, and remind her that she told you’ve seen her use it a bully is you about it. Ask her to harm others. Her not confronted or how she would handle a behavior bothers counseling session with reported, bystanders your conscience, a client who had a fake but you’ve stopped become complicit in the Instagram account used short of taking cruelty and abuse. solely to leave unkind action. Bullies comments on other Don’t let that sense our fear of people’s joyful posts. being their next happen to you.

Be prepared for the end target and use it to their of your friendship with her. advantage. Be courageous.

Tell yourself that it’s best. She’s Report your friend’s finsta split between a persona of caring and a to Instagram and get it taken down. narcissistic attitude that convinces her she She’s violating the terms of the platform, is justified in hurting others. You don’t she violating the terms of friendship and need that in your life. Ω she’s harming others and herself. Three strikes. She’s out of integrity.

Originally, finstas were secondary Instagram accounts that a user set to MedItatIon oF the week private mode, only allowing access to close friends. Finsta content is usually less curated than the user’s public “We are what we pretend to be, account. So teenagers created finstas so we must be careful about to keep parents and caregivers out of what we pretend to be,” said the loop of real life. Influencers created novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Are you finstas to relieve the pressure of always the same person with friends having to appear perfect online. And and family as you are at work? some people created finstas to bully others.

For clarity, let’s define bullying as repeated aggressive behavior intended to deliver psychological or physical harm.

Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review. Give Verbal bullying includes name-calling, your name, telephone number taunts, threats and the silent treatment. (for verification purposes only) and question—all Physical bullying includes hitting, correspondence will be kept strictly confidential. stealing, slapping or flipping people off.

Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA Social bullying, your friend’s weapon 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 1360; or email of choice, involves gossiping, purposely askjoey@newsreview.com.

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by ROb bRezsny

Cleese was 61, his mother died. She was 101.

Cleese testifies, “Just towards the end, as she began to run out of energy, she did actually stop trying to tell me what to do most of the time.” I bet you’ll experience a similar phenomenon in 2020—only bigger and better. Fewer people will try to tell you what to do than at any previous time of your life. As a result, you’ll be freer to be yourself exactly as you want to be. You’ll have unprecedented power to express your uniqueness.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Renowned Taurus philosopher Bertrand Russell was sent to jail in 1918 because of his pacifism and anti-war activism. He liked being there. “I found prison in many ways quite agreeable,” he said. “I had no engagements, no difficult decisions to make, no fear of callers, no interruptions to my work. I read enormously; I wrote a book.” The book he produced, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, is today regarded as a classic.

In 2020, I would love to see you carve out an equally luxurious sabbatical without having to go through the inconvenience of being incarcerated. I’m confident you can do this.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’s common to feel attracted to people because of the way they look and dress and carry themselves. But here’s the problem: If you pursue an actual connection with someone whose appearance you like, there’s no guarantee it will turn out to be interesting and meaningful. That’s because the most important factor in becoming close to someone is not their cute face or body or style, but rather their ability to converse with you in ways you find interesting. And that’s a relatively rare phenomenon. As philosopher Mortimer Adler observed, “Love without conversation is impossible.” I bring these thoughts to your attention because I believe that in 2020 you could have some of the best conversations you’ve ever had—and as a result experience the richest intimacy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Mystic poet Rumi told us the kind of person he was attracted to. “I want a troublemaker for a lover,” he wrote. “Blood spiller, blood drinker, a heart of flame, who quarrels with the sky and fights with fate, who burns like fire on the rushing sea.” In response to that testimony, I say, “Boo! Ugh! Yuck!” I say, “To hell with being in an intimate relationship with a troublemaker who fights with fate and quarrels with the sky.” I can’t imagine any bond that would be more unpleasant and serve me worse. What about you? Do you find Rumi’s definition glamorous and romantic? I hope not.

If you do, I advise you to consider changing your mind. 2020 will be an excellent time to be precise in articulating the kinds of alliances that are healthy for you. They shouldn’t resemble Rumi’s description. (Rumi translation by Zara Houshmand.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The 18th-century comic novel Tristram Shandy is still being translated, adapted and published today. Its popularity persists. Likewise, the 18th century novel Moll Flanders, which features a rowdy, eccentric heroine who was unusual for her era, has had modern incarnations in TV, film and radio. Then there’s the 19th century satirical novel Vanity Fair. It’s considered a classic even now, and appears on lists of best-loved books. The authors of these three books had one thing in common: They had to pay to have their books published.

No authority in the book business had any faith in them. You may have similar challenges in 2020—and rise to the occasion with equally good results. Believe in yourself!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I’ll present two possible scenarios that could unfold for you in 2020.

Which scenario actually occurs will depend on how willing you are to transform yourself. Scenario #1. Love is awake, and you’re asleep. Love is ready for you but you’re not ready for love.

Love is hard to recognize because you think it still looks like it did in the past. Love changed its name, and you didn’t notice. Scenario #2. Love is awake and you’re waking up. Love is ready for you and you’re making yourself ready for love.

Love is older and wiser now, and you recognize its new guise. Love changed its name, and you found out. (Thanks to Sarah and Phil Kaye for the inspiration for this horoscope.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Renowned Greek sculptor Praxiteles created some famous and beloved statues in the fourth century B.C. One of his pieces, showing the gods Hermes and Dionysus, was displayed inside the Temple of Hera in Olympia. But a few centuries later an earthquake demolished the Temple and buried the statue. There it remained until 1877, when archaeologists dug it out of the rubble. I foresee a metaphorically equivalent recovery in your life, especially if you’re willing to excavate an old mess or investigate a debris field or explore a faded ruin.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Over a period of 74 years, the Scorpio philosopher and author Voltaire (1694-1778) wrote so many letters to so many people that they were eventually published in a series of 98 books, plus nine additional volumes of appendices and indexes.

I would love to see you communicate that abundantly and meticulously in 2020. The cosmic rhythms will tend to bring you good fortune if you do.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

He was also the richest. At the end of his life, experts estimate his worth was as much as $250 million, equivalent to $1.3 billion today.

But in his earlier adulthood, while Picasso was turning himself into a genius and creating his early masterpieces, he lived and worked in a small, seedy, unheated room with no running water and a toilet he shared with 20 people. If there will be ever in your life be a semblance of Picasso’s financial transformation, I’m guessing it would begin this year.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s get 2020 started with a proper send-off. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the coming months will bring you opportunities to achieve a host of liberations. Among the things from which you could be at least partially emancipated: stale old suffering; shrunken expectations; people who don’t appreciate you for who you really are; and beliefs and theories that don’t serve you any more. (There may be others!)

Here’s an inspirational maxim, courtesy of poet Mary Oliver: “Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In a poem titled “The Mess-iah,” spiritual teacher Jeff Foster counsels us, “Fall in love with the mess of your life … the wild, uncontrollable, unplanned, unexpected moments of existence. Dignify the mess with your loving attention, your gratitude. Because if you love the mess enough, you will become a Mess-iah.” I bring this to your attention because I suspect you’ll have a better chance to ascend to the role of Mess-iah in the coming weeks and months than you have had in many years.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Comedian John Cleese believes that “sometimes we hang onto people or relationships long after they’ve ceased to be of any use to either of you.” That’s why he has chosen to live in such a way that his web of alliances is constantly evolving. “I’m always meeting new people,” he says, “and my list of friends seems to change quite a bit.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, 2020 will be a propitious year for you to experiment with Cleese’s approach. You’ll have the chance to meet a greater number of interesting new people in the coming months than you have in a long time. (And don’t be afraid to phase out connections that have become a drain.)

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