The Alien Issue | Vegas Seven Magazine | June 2-8, 2016

CONTENTS

JUNE 2–8, 2016

T H E LAT EST

12

“Beat the Heat”

16

“Whole Lotta Sole”

Tips to deal with triple-digit heat in the Valley. By EMMILY BRISTOL Goodie Two Shoes keeps kids’ feet on the ground and their dreams in the sky.

About Town by AMBER SAMPSON

18

“The Primaries’ Reason for Voting” Rounding up the most intriguing races of the season. Politics by MICHAEL GREEN

Plus … Seven Days, Ask a Native and The Deal.

NIGH T LIF E

25

“London Calling” DJ and producer Jacob Plant splits his time between the UK and US to bring down the house. By KAT BOEHRER Plus … Seven Nights, how C2GO tracks industry commissions, and photos from the week’s hottest parties.

DINING

45

“For Your Brews Crew” A flight of three new hop spots celebrate beer and beer-friendly food on the Strip. By AL MANCINI Plus … Dishing With Grace, globetrotting Akira is back and Cocktail Culture.

A &E

51

Preservation Hall Jazz Band is bringing the sound of New Orleans to new venues and new generations of fans. By GEOFF CARTER Plus … Seven’s 14, Gramatik’s “Satoshi Nakamoto” kicks off Songs From the Lineup for Life Is Beautful, and a preview of the Las Vegas Film Festival.

“Truth Be Told”

With the topic of uncovering UFO secrecy at the forefront of political discussion, are we getting closer to finally knowing what, if anything, is out there? By GEORGE KNAPP

Books Join Fargo’s Noah Hawley Before The Fall. By M. SCOTT KRAUSS

SEVEN Q U EST IONS

66

Plus … Aliens in the city, sci-fi celluloid, a day in Rachel and UFO festivals in the region.

Cover illustration by James Thew.

CSN Planetarium director Andrew Kerr on a truck full of telescopes, UFOs and the merits of The Big Bang Theory.

VegasSeven.com

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F E AT URE

June 2–8, 2016

20

“The Backbone”

9

L AS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE

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FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

PUBLISHER Michael Skenandore

EDITORIAL Nicole Ely Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITORS Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman SENIOR EDITOR, A&E Geoff Carter ASSOCIATE EDITOR Hubble Ray Smith SENIOR WRITER Lissa Townsend Rodgers STAFF WRITER Emmily Bristol CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

MANAGING EDITOR

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Melinda Sheckells (style)

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Michael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining), David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Ryan Olbrysh Cierra Pedro Krystal Ramirez

VEGASSEVEN.COM Herbert Akinyele Zoneil Maharaj SENIOR WRITER, RUNREBS.COM Mike Grimala WEB PRODUCER Jessie O’Brien ASSISTANT WEB PRODUCER Amber Sampson TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

ENGAGEMENT EDITOR

PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION Marc Barrington Jimmy Bearse

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING MANAGER

SALES Christy Corda Nicole Scherer ACCOUNT MANAGERS Brittany Quintana, Steven Kennedy ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Robyn Weiss DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION John Tobin BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR DIGITAL SALES MANAGER

INTERNS Scott Luehring, Ally Tatosian, Jasmina Salas

Ryan T. Doherty

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Michael Skenandore VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND EVENTS Keith White CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sherwin Yumul CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Sim Salzman CONTROLLER Jane Weigel PRESIDENT

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PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP Vegas Seven, 702-798-7000, 302 E. Carson Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada c 2016 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

THE LATEST

Seven Days

Beat the Heat

This week in your city

By B O B W H I T B Y

THU 2

Summer in these parts means free movie nights. Town Square is firing up its schedule with a showing of The Good Dinosaur. Flicks begin at sundown, but get there early for a good spot. Weekly through Aug. 18.

MyTownSquareLasVegas.com.

Some tips to deal with the triple digits

By Emmily Bristol

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

➜

12

FRI 3

Break into a jig or strathspey at Scottish Country Dancing, 6:30 p.m. at the Charleston Heights Arts Center. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to have a good time with the Southern Nevada Old Time Contra Dancers. LasVegasNevada.gov.

LIKE CHECKING YOUR

smoke detector batteries when you set your clocks forward in the spring, there are some important safety reminders for the summer season in Southern Nevada.

Here are some ways to help you stay cool, hydrated and safe during triple-digit temperatures.

One of the most important things during the summer months is to stay cool and hydrated, which can be hard for the homeless, seniors and even pets. Leslie Carmine, director of media and community relations at Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, says that the nonprofit sees heightened demand at both the day and night shelters during summer and winter months. During the hottest and coldest months of the year, their overnight shelter population swells to more than 600, up from an average of 500 a night during more temperate months.

The nonprofit’s facilities are open daily and offer free meals, cold water, clean bathrooms, showers and a set of toiletries for those in need. Carmine says that vulnerable populations, including seniors who may not be able to afford to run air conditioning, can go to the shelter during the hottest parts of the day as well. During peak summer months, their day shelter, which is only funded to provide services for 150 people, routinely can have 300 or more people. “It’s usually more than that,” Carmine says.

When the temperature gets to 110 degrees or hotter, the charity is part of a Clark County network that provides free cooling stations.

Other cooling stations include The

News, deals and a charity that starts kids off on the right foot.

SAT 4

Mayor Carolyn Goodman delivers Meals on Wheels to Frances Pemberton and her grandson.

Salvation Army, Shade Tree and several county recreation centers.

“Anyone who is really vulnerable can get inside and out of the heat and get something to drink,” Carmine says.

Catholic Charities also runs the Meals on Wheels program for the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas. (The city of Henderson runs its Meals on Wheels program.) The program serves more than 2,100 seniors and their pets. The charity started providing pet food as part of Meals on Wheels when volunteers noticed that seniors were giving their own food to pets and not leaving enough for themselves, Carmine says.

Speaking of pets, as the weather gets hot, it’s important to remember to never leave your pet in the car. According to the Humane Society, on an 85-degree day the temperature inside a car can reach 102 degrees in a matter of minutes. Be sure to provide shade and water and to limit time outside for your pets during the hottest parts of the day.

Child safety in cars is very important as well. According to KidsAndCars.org, an average of 37 children die in hot vehicles each year. All the experts agree you should never leave a child or infant

in a car during warm weather. On the federal government’s SaferCar. gov, the recommended course of action if you see a child in a hot car is to call 911 and get the child out of the car immediately. There are even apps designed to help drivers remember to take their kids out of the car, including Precious Cargo and Kars4Kids Safety.

And don’t forget about car safety during hotter months. A A A Nevada recommends doing routine maintenance checkups on your vehicle—including checking the car battery, tire wear and getting an oil change before road trips. It’s also a good idea to keep an emergency pack in your trunk that includes bottles of water, flashlights and reflective cones.

Of course, anyone who has spent a summer in the Valley knows how valuable water can be on hot days. For those who want to help our community’s most vulnerable, people can donate to HELP of Southern Nevada’s HELP20 water drive. From June 1 to August 31, you can donate bottled water at any Whole Foods location. This is the fifth year the grocery store chain has partnered with HELP of Southern Nevada and will donate the money from change jars at check stands as well.

School’s out, and Henderson is ready to party (as usual). Slide into Summer, 5 p.m. at Anthem Hills Park, is your chance to don your suit and glide down a chute of wet plastic like you’re 8 years old again. And who doesn’t want to be 8 again? CityofHenderson.com.

SUN 5

Behold some beauties at the 2016 Miss USA Competition, 4 p.m. at the T-Mobile Arena. Ladies from every state in the nation will be strutting and preening for the crown, so you can bet it’s gonna be exciting.

T-MobileArena.com.

MON 6

Restaurant Week is now so big and awesome it takes 12 days to contain it. That’s good news for diners, because it means expanded choices and chances to help Three Square food bank.

In its 10 years of existence, Restaurant Week has provided 2.5 million meals to people in need in Southern Nevada.

Through June 17. HelpOutDineOutLV.org.

TUE 7

Lose your sense of humor about the upcoming election and you could well lose your mind. To prevent that, we suggest Dishing It Out 2016: Vanity Plates, an exhibit of satirical political images on commemorative plates. LVCCLD.org.

WED 8

The yin and yang of summer.

Time off, but it’s hot out. Kids out of school, but they’re bored. This week’s solution: Adventures With Clifford the Big Red Dog, through Sept. 11 at Discovery Children’s Museum. Clifford, as you may recall, was a PBS cartoon that taught kids the important stuff: be nice, have fun, be a good friend, help others. DiscoveryKidsLV.org.

THE LATEST VegasSeven.com

| June 2–8, 2016

14

Fremont9 to Liven Downtown

J A M E S P. R E Z A

➜ Nate Carlson,

vice president of development for the Wolff Company, sees tremendous potential for more residential development in Fremont East. That’s why Wolff Company, in a joint venture with 901 Fremont LLC, an affiliate of Downtown Project, recently began site work for Fremont9, a 231-unit mixeduse apartment complex on the southeast corner of Fremont and 9th streets.

The project will be the first of its kind in the emerging Fremont East area, Carlson says.

The five-story, podiumstyle building will include 15,000 square feet of retail space. It will feature a resident lounge and resortstyle pool, and apartment units will come with premium finishes such as quartz countertops, undermounted sinks, custom tile backsplashes and stainless steel appliances.

Based on leasing trends at other Downtown Project residential properties, there isn’t one specific demographic moving to the area, Carlson

Summer Meals for Kids ➜ For families struggling to put food on the table, the summer months mean the end of free and reduced-cost lunches at school as well as free breakfast programs

Does Las Vegas really need to spend more money on the Spaghetti Bowl?

says. It’s a broad range of people, and Fremont9 will offer options ranging from studios for singles and people who are looking to downsize, to three-bedroom units for growing families.

Construction, with Korte Company as general contractor, is expected to take about 14 months, so it’s too early to set rental rates.

“We plan to determine pricing late this year or early next year, and we’ll update our website

offered at many schools around the Valley. Luckily, the summer meal program, administered by the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA), is in session.

In Clark County, 207,844 children qualify for free and reduced-price lunch this year, an 11 percent

Renderings of Fremont9 apartments.

accordingly. However, we’re confident pricing at Fremont9 will fill a gap in current residential pricing in Downtown Las Vegas,” Carlson says.

–Hubble Ray Smith

increase from 2015, according to Patricia Hoppe, deputy administrator for the southern headquarters of the NDA. “The need for healthy meals does not end when school is out.

The United States Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service program fills that gap, allowing kids 18 and younger access to free, nutritious food during the summer.”

The program works with eight partners, including Three Square food bank, the Culinary Academy and the Clark County School District, to offer free meals at sites all over the Valley.

In 2015, 358,805 summer meals were served at 144 participating sites.

This summer, the Nevada Department of Agriculture expects 376,750 meals to be served at 158 sites.

“It is a highly underutilized program,” says Dorian Stonebarger, a program manager with Three Square, adding that less than 10 percent of kids eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches participate in the summer program. “It’s been a very big push for us to make sure we are getting more kids fed [this summer].”

The food charity is launching two mobile vans as part of the program.

The vans will go to underserved neighborhoods and offer free meals to kids who would otherwise not have access.

Families can find open meal sites by calling 1-866-348-6479, texting FOOD to 877-877 or visiting FNS.USDA.gov/ SummerFoodRocks.

–Emmily Bristol

According to our transportation experts, yes. But let’s look beyond the bureaucrats to some all-too-rare common sense: When the Spaghetti Bowl opened to traffic in 1968, the Las Vegas population was about 120,000.

What, 120,000, you say? Yup. We all had vast lawns! Hosed down our sidewalks! And (as I’m sure you’ve heard) could get anywhere in town in under 20 minutes!

Designed to accommodate 60,000 vehicles a day, the Spaghetti Bowl was built with plenty of room for growth, and it kept pace for about 20 years. But from the mid-1980s through the 1990s (and the massive population boom), new freeway connections to Summerlin as well as northern and southern expansions of U.S. 95 packed the Bowl with additional traffic, forcing a reworking of the Bowl with new ramps and flyovers. If the bureaucrats shoulder any blame, it is at this moment: Completed in 2000, this minor makeover was almost immediately overrun by the thousands of dreamers still moving here monthly. But that is the conundrum, isn’t it? If the government builds something without demonstrated need, people complain of waste. Build it after the need? People complain of lack of foresight.

Unquestionably, our infrastructure struggles against rapid growth, and road disruptions seem never-ending. Despite those curmudgeonly complaints, it is important to note plenty of successes have been taken for granted. Remember when U.S. 95 ended at Rainbow Boulevard in the north and Lake Mead Drive in the south? When Flamingo Road west of Interstate 15 didn’t exist because it didn’t have to? When the area around Centennial was sparse desert scrub and a few sprawling ranch homes?

Fast-forward to today. Las Vegas has 600,000 residents, and our metro area 2 million. The Spaghetti Bowl carries 300,000 vehicles daily. Rush hour really is an hour (or more) for many of you. And projections suggest another 700,000 living here by 2025. Can any of you (particularly recent suburban arrivals) imagine what life would be like without Interstate 215 linking an expanded U.S. 95, Interstate 15 and Interstate 515? Last week, the first portion of the Centennial Bowl opened, carrying almost 108,000 vehicles a day, many of them headed to the Spaghetti Bowl. Hence, the Spaghetti Bowl Part 3: Project Neon! Meanwhile, growth continues. Light rail, anyone?

Questions? AskANative@VegasSeven.com

Whole Lotta Sole

Goodie Two Shoes keeps kids’ feet on the ground and their dreams in the sky

June 2–8, 2016

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By Amber Sampson

16

➜ IT’S A SCENE Nikki and Tony Berti have seen play out for almost 14 years.

Hundreds of kids spill out onto the blacktop at Dean Petersen Elementary School to receive what could be their first pair of properly fitting shoes, brand-new and still in the box. Since the Bertis created the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation in 2003, more than 70,000 children of low-income parents have benefited from the organization.

“It’s crazy when I actually think about it,” Nikki says of the distribution numbers. “That’s a stadium full of people that we have outfitted with shoes. It’s still mind-boggling to me.”

The Bertis never set out to create a nonprofit. What began as a small giveaway expanded into an organization that now distributes shoes—which often come directly from manufacturers—to 10,000 kids a year. On the school blacktop, a squad of 75 volunteers, including employees of corporate sponsors such as Wynn Resorts, huddle around a 48-foot triple-axle trailer known as the “shoe mobile,” which Nikki says can hold up to 3,400 pairs of shoes. The trailer is a far cry

from the days when she and Tony were limited to truck rentals and nine storage units full of shoes. Responding to the needs of individual families referred by school counselors, Nikki once spent an entire day zigzagging the Valley trying to fit five children at three different schools with items from her storage units. But watching a little girl pick out the purplest pair of Converse shoes she could find made these early struggles worth it.

“This is the reason we do what we do,” Tony says as a group of newly shod students walked by and thanked him.

“To see all these kids, the smile on their faces, the opportunity for them to pick out the pair of shoes they want.

Not just to be handed a pair of shoes.”

The power of choice is the cornerstone of Goodie Two Shoes’ mission, Nikki says. “If we can share with them what it feels like when you make a positive choice in your life, we hope that … that [sense of] empowerment and the opportunity of making that choice, unrestrained by a parent overlooking their shoulder or monetary constraints … will parlay into

other parts of their lives.”

Something as simple as what goes on your feet may not seem very pivotal to a child’s well being. But as much as a new pair of shoes means to the feet—Nikki has referred a number of children to Shriners Hospital for footrelated birth defects and foot-growth issues caused by shoes that are too small—it has an equal impact on the head and the heart.

“It can have a domino [effect] in leading to [thinking] that ‘Well, if I can’t succeed in P.E. and recess [without proper shoes], I can’t succeed in math or science,’” Nikki says. “Shoes are such a visible sign of poverty. If kids have holes in their shoes or they’re wrapped with duct tape, it can be a very visible sign that can lend itself to bullying or ridicule.”

Tony, who played in the NFL for six years (the first four with the San Diego Chargers), knows all too well what these kids are going through. “I grew up middle-class with not a lot of exposure to poverty,” Nikki

says. “[But] my husband grew up as one of the kids we would’ve served.”

In addition to shoes and socks, Goodie Two Shoes often provides other items depending on the school season, including backpacks, school supplies and toothbrushes. The organization raises funds through corporate sponsors, donations and its Heart ’n’ Sole benefit. At the front lines of every distribution, Nikki has seen and heard it all, and one memory in particular has stuck with her: As she was trading childhood scar stories with a little boy in line, a girl behind him shared her story. “[The little girl] peeked over and said, ‘Do you want to see my scar?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’ So she stepped around, and she was wearing these old, ratty garden gloves. They were dirty and torn and shredded,” Nikki says. “She pulled the one off her right hand and she showed it to me. Her hand was all burned. I said, ‘Oh … what happened?’ And she said, ‘I put my hand in fire.’ I said, ‘You put your hand in fire?’ And she said, ‘Yes, my mommy wanted me to, and now I have a new mommy.’”

Volunteers sometimes step away from the kids to recover from moments like this, according to Nikki.

But that’s also the most rewarding part of her job—seeing the change in a person who may have never volunteered for an organization before.

“You do it for the kids, but then you also do it for yourself,” says Diana Sanjuanico Vazquez, a first-time G2S volunteer and employee of Encore.

“It’s really humbling.”

We followed up with Vazquez weeks later and found out she had returned with Goodie Two Shoes to distribute to another school. We’re guessing she’s caught the bug—“the good feelings that come with helping someone else,” according to Nikki—that made the Bertis start Goodie Two Shoes all those years ago.

To find out how you can get involved, visit GoodieTwoShoes.org.

PHOTOS BY AMBER SAMPSON

THE LATEST

ABOUT TOWN

as the reporter who is directly responsible for much of the flying saucer lore surrounding Area 51, I’m still waiting for someone to wake me up. It feels like a dream. Back in 1989, our news reports about the top-secret testing facility 100 miles north of Las Vegas essentially put Area 51 on the map. Outside of Nevada or aviation buffs, few people around the world had ever heard of Groom Lake or the once-secret technological marvels that have been developed in its classified hangars and off-limits runways.

Our interviews with a bespectacled

PHOTO BY DOC SEARLS

••••• former president bill clinton has spoken publicly many times about his attempts to get to the bottom of UFO secrecy during his two terms in office.

In recent talk-show appearances, he acknowledged sending emissaries to Area 51’s military base to find out if it housed a stash of crashed saucers. But even he didn’t dare to campaign on the issue.

His wife, however, is another matter. Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, former White House chief of staff John Podesta, has pointedly challenged journalists to bring up the UFO issue when interviewing Secretary Clinton.

In an interview earlier this year with Las Vegas political reporter Steve Sebelius, Podesta said he had helped to convince Mrs. Clinton that an effort is needed to declassify UFO records that he believes are unnecessarily hidden in the bowels of government.

“We should declassify as much as we can so that people can have their legitimate questions answered and so there can be more discussion about unexplained aerial phenomena without people who are in public life being ridiculed,” Podesta said. He made similar statements to CNN and other national media outfits.

Sure enough, when his candidate was asked the loaded UFO question in multiple interviews, including a national TV appearance with former Las Vegan Jimmy Kimmel, she didn’t back away from it.

Among other things, Mrs. Clinton said she thinks it is possible our planet has been visited, vowed to “get to the bottom” of the UFO mystery, and said she would find out what’s going on at Area 51.

Clinton’s interest in UFOs is not new, but her public stance certainly is. It has generated a flurry of straightforward (and slightly snarky) news articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Times of London, Huffington Post and dozens of other publications. Her opponents are

Area 51 and Groom Lake.

scientist named Bob Lazar changed everything. Lazar claimed he had worked on flying saucers in secret hangars at a place dubbed S4 south of Groom Lake.

At first, our news stories were ignored by the military, ridiculed by my fellow journalists and scoffed at by UFO muckety-mucks. But the Lazar saga took on a life of its own with the public.

Suddenly, people began showing up on the outskirts of Area 51 by the busload. The Rachel Bar and Grill changed its name to the Little A’Le’Inn. Governor Bob Miller designated Highway 375 as the Extraterrestrial Highway. The Las Vegas Stars baseball team became the Las Vegas 51s. Mainstream news organizations poked fun and made jokes, yet every major news organization in the world has beaten a path to Area 51’s door. Thousands of stories have been written, along with dozens of Area 51-related books. Major motion pictures and network TV programs incorporated the Area 51 legend into their plots. Alien-themed products from Tshirts to Christmas ornaments to beef jerky appropriated the Area 51 name.

Nevadans, Bigelow’s interest in UFOs and government secrecy intensified after the stories about Area 51 first broke on local TV. In several interviews, Bigelow has told me that other professionals in the aerospace world are likewise interested in UFOs, but don’t discuss it openly for fear of ridicule.

Rumors about alien technology being tested in the Nevada desert also inspired another UFO-related venture. Rock star Tom DeLonge, who co-founded poppunk band Blink-182, has turned his longtime casual interest in flying saucer mythology into a multimillion-dollar, multimedia empire. Like many other UFO enthusiasts, DeLonge has made the trek to Groom Lake to check out what might be flying around in the skies out there in the desert. But he has also used his celebrity status to gain entry to secret corridors, including the offices of defense contractors who have been on the inside of Area 51 for decades.

In recent news articles, including interviews with me, DeLonge has acknowledged the creation of a team of inside players, including persons still em-

ployed in military realms, with the aim to make public once-classified materials about UFOs and related mysteries. His critics are tempted to write it off as the rantings of a mere musician, but in just the past year, DeLonge created a company, To the Stars ... , that has sponsored at least six books, three motion pictures and a series of UFO-related documentary films. He says he wants to create platforms for the gradual release of UFO secrets, including the dark technology that was developed and tested at Groom Lake.

••••• if the government really did have alien technology hidden in the Nevada desert, my guess is that it was moved somewhere else a long time ago. Too many people have focused their attention on the activities in and around Area 51 for comfort, not only the UFO faithful, but also news cameras, foreign spies, congressional investigators and now presidential candidates. In UFO circles, the general belief is that the Lazar story may have been concocted in order to detract attention from something else that was under way in Area 51, perhaps some contraption that only looks like a flying saucer made by the Lockheed Skunk Works or other contractor.

Well, maybe, but whoever came up with that plan is likely working in the frozen tundra of rural Alaska by now. If the plan was to detract attention from some other secret project that is under way out there, it failed miserably. Area 51 is still a vital installation with billions of government infrastructure dollars invested and thousands of employees.

The people who run the facility do not want to be the focus of public attention because it limits their ability to operate in secrecy, so having UFO enthusiasts camped outside every day and night, armed with binoculars and video cameras, is not what anyone had in mind.

UFO secrecy will undoubtedly be raised again during the presidential campaign. It seems like a perfect 30-second attack ad that almost writes itself. If Hillary Clinton is elected, will she follow through and declassify UFO documents?

Her husband tried to do that but didn’t succeed. Chances are, whatever deep, dark secrets that may once have been in the files of military agencies have either been destroyed or moved into the hands of contractors, far removed from the purview of the Freedom of Information Act or a prying president.

But if it happens, if the next president gets into office and perhaps assigns John Podesta or someone like him to the job of ferreting out UFO secrets, and if someone actually manages to locate a few dusty files in some dank dark office of the Pentagon, then Nevadans can take a small bow, knowing that the impetus for such developments started right here in our backyard.

George Knapp is the chief investigative reporter for KLAS Channel 8. His news reports about UFOs and Area 51 have generated media interest all over the world.

VegasSeven.com

•••••

There are Area 51 rock bands, video games, cocktail lounges and assorted gadgets. Even now, nearly 27 years after the Lazar story broke, people with binoculars still visit the exterior of the base every single day.

And yes, even the Kardashians have visited the place.

The Area 51 story has surfaced in other ways. Earlier this year, a spacecraft built in North Las Vegas was launched from Cape Canaveral atop a Space X rocket.

It rendezvoused with and was attached to the International Space Station, and will be inflated then tested over the next two years. The craft, known as a BEAM, was made by Bigelow Aerospace, a company that features the profile of a space alien on its headquarters. Company president and founder Bob Bigelow has a lifelong interest in UFOs, a fact that will soon be included in a major story by 60 Minutes. Like many other

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still scratching their heads, trying to figure out what sneaky angle the Clintons are pursuing, whether secret polling numbers might have inspired this strategy or whether the Clintons are out of their minds.

June 2–8, 2016

But in this election season, something changed. The issue of flying saucer secrecy hasn’t just been discussed, it’s been embraced by the Hillary Clinton campaign. It turns out that Nevada’s colorful UFO history is a principal factor in this unusual turnaround.

Remember the second, short-lived campaign of Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich? His 2008 presidential bid was a long shot at best, but it came to a screeching halt after a journalist in one of the early debates asked a question about Kucinich’s interest in UFOs. Kucinich explained that he had once seen something unusual in the sky, an object he could not identify, though he pointedly stopped short of declaring that Earth was being invaded by flesheating reptilians. Political journalists chortled and snickered. Their subsequent neener-neener articles helped to slam the door on whatever slim hopes Kucinich may have had.

In 2016, UFOs are not exactly front and center, but the issue of government secrecy has at least emerged from the shadows.

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NIGHTLIFE Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and Andrew DeMaio’s C2GO

London Calling

DJ and producer Jacob Plant splits his time between the UK and US to bring down the house

By Kat Boehrer ➜ Jacob Plant has been making moves in

the music industry with the endorsement of Calvin Harris, with whom he’ll be playing on July 30 at Wet Republic at MGM Grand. Plant has also made the move—from his home in the U.K. to the U.S.—multiple times. However, his most recent relocation is a calculated career effort, and so far, it’s working out well for this son of England.

When we spoke two and a half years ago, you said you were moving to L.A. from the U.K. Then you moved back to the U.K. and have again returned to the U.S. What’s behind all this back and forth?

I have a place in England, a home to visit, and I’m still trying to see if I prefer here or there. I believe I’m out here now, going to stay out in L.A. Does it make it easier to work when you’re in L.A.?

Yeah, it’s good. In England, I’ve got a really good studio in my house, so it’s easier, studio-wise. [In L.A.] I use different studios, which is quite nice. It’s way better out [in L.A.]—sessions, people and gigs to go to.

This move is accompanied by lots of new material, such as your new mix series on SoundCloud.

What types of music and which artists are you using on these mixes?

How should aspiring producers try to get your attention?

Normally, I’ll get a tweet from someone, and I’ll follow them back and speak to

| June 2–8, 2016

If not Beatport, then what do you use?

SoundCloud or Twitter, and other people’s music and other people’s sets. Word of mouth, as well. So kind of everywhere, but mainly online. I get sent a lot of music. But sometimes it’s really hard [because] you get sent so much music, it’s difficult to filter it all. Sometimes, I like just looking for it rather than it being sent.

VegasSeven.com

It’s a kind of mix of house and bass-house sound. I try not to dig on Beatport or Top 100 for those mixes; I try to find younger artists who I find exciting, people who are making a new sound and pushing the boundaries more than just the style and stuff you hear all the time.

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NIGHTLIFE 26

them [through direct messages]. That normally works out really well for getting music and for organizing sessions. It cuts out the middle man.

You don’t have to wait for managers to speak to each other and organize a day. You can just message them and say, “Do you want to meet up?”

What do you listen to when you’re at home?

Everything, really. I actually probably don’t listen to much [dance music] in my spare time. Mainly hip-hop.

Which hip-hop artists are you really into right now?

I’ve always been into more the U.K.

sounds, like the grime sounds. It’s kind of getting bigger here in the States. All the U.K. and London sounds I really like. I listen to that a lot when I’m [in the U.S.] just to remind me of home.

Every now and then, you drop a single.

What’s the ultimate goal for those tracks?

I want to build up and release singles, like Calvin Harris has done in the past.

Maybe lead up to an album. [I want to] try to make more radio[-friendly] records instead of just club records. And work with as many people as I can.

Who do you work with on these upcoming releases?

Mainly vocalists. Producers are always good to work with because you learn stuff. Especially sessions with U.K. artists such as the Grand Masters. Now I’m out here and want to work with more singers who [are well] known.

You’ll be performing again with Calvin Harris in Las Vegas in July. Can you tell me how you guys linked up?

It was a couple of years ago, releasing music on his label [Fly Eye], which is now part of Spinnin’ Records. We’ve been speaking for a couple of years, and he sometimes helps with some of the songs I write. He gives me feedback,

which is really cool. We speak mainly about music, and the opportunity came up for support slots with him this summer, so I said, “Yeah.” That was one of the reasons I came to move here really—to do more of that. To be closer to my management and all the other artists out here. [Before April 29 at Omnia,] I had never really opened up for him in a big place like that before.

Prior to that performance, had you been to any of the megaclubs in Las Vegas?

No, I hadn’t. I always said the first time I went to Vegas, I wanted to play or do a bachelor party. I finally got one, which is good.

PHOTO BY A ARON GARCIA

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

Jacob Plant performs at Omnia nightclub in April.

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

Business platform C2GO tracks commissions for the nightlife industry

36

By Amber Sampson ASK FLORIDA TRANSPLANT Andrew DeMaio why he loves Las Vegas, and he’ll tell you it’s because the cost of living is low and the people are sincere. More importantly, there’s a book’s worth of ways to make money here—none of which include clocking in the traditional 9 to 5. And that’s exactly why DeMaio’s electronic business platform, C2GO (Commissions to Go), works: It makes paying freelancers and independent contractors in the nightlife industry a cinch.

➜

“A gentlemen’s club pays out a [referral fee to a] taxi, limo driver, doorman or concierge. A nightclub pays out commissions for sending business, whether it be a table reservation [or a] guest list,” says DeMaio, who is C2GO’s co-founder and president. “All these pools of people are getting paid out by different locations, and essentially what [businesses] are doing now is either cutting a check or paying cash.”

Cash, however, isn’t as popular as using plastic

Anyone can apply for C2GO as long as they are not on any terrorist watch lists (well, yeah) and haven’t been convicted of money laundering, which is an issue C2GO works closely with its bank to catch and prevent.

C2GO has created a user interface for its business clients to use when tracking contractor payments.

With wallets being virtual, it’s like a joint account through which you can seamlessly stream money. You can even do card-to-card transfers between two workers. Other banks such as Chase may charge you a doubledigit maintenance fee if you don’t have direct deposit, but DeMaio says contractors with C2GO only pay $4.95 a month, with no hidden fees. As for the business? It’s free. All it needs to do is deposit funds into its C2GO account and distribute to its independent workers as necessary.

DeMaio’s already seeing a variety of clients sign up for C2GO. It’s no surprise that strip clubs, including Crazy Horse 3, Little Darlings and Déjà vu, have hopped on board, but other clients such as promotions company Whivish, gun range The Range 702 and Evolution Travel company have joined C2GO. DeMaio says a number of Uber and Lyft drivers as well as Limousine Entourage use the virtual wallet.

To further incentivize clients to use the card, C2GO is working on implementing a rewards system similar to other companies such as Capital One. And recently, it added the ability to attach your personal bank account to the card account.

“Not many people are actually going into that 9-to-5 anymore, but just kind of doing odd jobs,” DeMaio says. “I believe that that’s just the way the world is going. And we think our product is in that sweet spot to grow.”

ILLUSTRATED PHOTO BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ

NIGHTLIFE

Cashing In

these days, DeMaio says.

He calls the decline a “sign of the times,” and an issue of security.

IRS regulations require businesses to account for all independent contractors by way of a W-9 tax form. DeMaio’s C2GO program eliminates the paperwork by going fully paperless with a Visa-sponsored C2GO card. “That card is basically your virtual W-9 that we keep in the database for the business that’s paying you,” he says. “And any business can pay any cardholder in our ecosystem.”

Paired with every card is a mobile wallet, which comes in the form of a mobile app.

Similar to banking apps, here you can check your account balance, view transaction history and receive notifications as your commissions come in. DeMaio says payments drop into the account in real time, so forget having to wait for pending funds.

DeMaio’s been a key player in Las Vegas’ burgeoning nightlife and hospitality scene for a number of years.

He moved from Palm Beach and began working for Century Trade Show Services in 1999.

In 2009, he became a marketing host for Angel Management Group, which is now a part of Hakkasan Group.

DeMaio also hosted at Wet Republic, Tabú and Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, and oversaw the project of turning the Las Vegas Mob Experience into the Mob Attraction. Over the years, the entrepreneur has seen what works and what doesn’t for independent contractors.

He launched C2GO in 2015, hoping to fill a need in the industry.

Contractors can use the card like any other bank card with the exception that if they want to put money onto the card, they have to go to a MoneyGram or Green Dot as opposed to a bank. But DeMaio assures the funds are still federally insured.

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

TAO

The Venetian [ UPCOMING ]

38

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

PHOTOS BY TOBY ACUNA AND BOBBY JAMEIDAR

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

June 2 DJ Five spins June 3 Politik spins June 4 Eric Dlux spins

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

PALMS POOL The Palms

[ UPCOMING ]

42

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

PHOTOS BY JOE FURY

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

June 3 DJs Mark Stylz and Exodus spin June 4 DJs Benny Black and Exodus spin June 10 Ditch Fridays with Kirill Was Here

A&E

What do you do as creative director of Preservation Hall?

I wear a lot of hats. Preservation Hall is a lot of things. It’s the actual space in New Orleans, where we have music seven nights a week.

I have a hand in curating those shows—selecting the bands and the musicians who make up the community that is Preservation Hall.

I also oversee the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which travels. I’m the creative spirit behind the band, and the direction that we’re going in.

You’re also in the band, playing tuba and double bass, and have been since 1995.

Did you need to be convinced to join?

When I look back on my childhood, everything was pointing toward me becoming a musician. I always wanted to be with my dad when he was performing. Even at a very young age I was always around musicians; I was always around music. It wasn’t even something that I thought about, because it was just something that I really was.

Your dad played tuba, right?

Yeah. My dad played a horn that was very similar to a sousaphone. Over time, in New Orleans, the sousaphone became sort of the king of the tuba section. My dad played a horn called the helicon. It’s still used in Europe for marching, but you really don’t find it in the United States that often.

What’s your preferred horn?

The sousaphone. It’s interesting.

Horns are machines. Unlike string instruments, like violins, they don’t necessarily get better with age. My dad, he really loved the history of his instrument. It was something like a hundred years old, and he just loved that. He was willing to make the adjustments needed to play that horn, but for me, it’s just too doggone heavy. My dad was a strong, big, heavy guy. He was 240 pounds. I’m a small guy, and that horn doesn’t fit me right. It weighs too much, and it takes too much air to blow it. So I found a smaller Italian sousaphone, and that’s what I’ve been playing for the last decade.

June 2–8, 2016

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Speaking of newer things: Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s last album, That’s It!, featured all original material—a first for the group.

Was there any resistance within the group to recording all-new material?

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There was some fear, I think. It was more fear than resistance. We were concerned from Day One that whatever we created was respectful of our history and our path. That was our fear: that we would fail. But once we got over that fear, we realized that this was a beautiful thing that we were doing. After that, we never really questioned it.

The band’s blown up in recent years. It’s collaborated with Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket; its shows are packed with young fans.

The players of Preservation Hall, from left: Clint Maegden, Mark Braud, Charlie Gabriel, Ben Jaffe, Ronell Johnson, Rickie Monie and Walter Harris.

Why is Preservation Jazz Hall Band gaining popularity with a generation that wasn’t raised listening to jazz?

David Bowie had some jazz influence on his last album...

David Bowie always has, but his last That’s probably exactly the reason album, he used a quartet to basically why young audiences love us—because come in and re-create all of his tracks they’re discovering us. They’re discovas a jazz ensemble. That’s amazing, ering this music for the first time. The and beautiful, too. most important music in my life, outWhat we do is being more widely side of the music that I grew up with, accepted than it ever has been, is the music that I discovered through because it’s not being pigeonholed other musicians. You start listening as a certain thing for a certain group to someone like Bruce of people. And to Springsteen … and you me, that’s what it’s follow him far enough, like in New Orleans; it will lead you to Bob everybody listens to PRESERVATION Dylan and Pete Seeger. what we do. It doesn’t HALL JAZZ BAND It will lead you down matter what age group June 9, 8 p.m. at a path, and then Bob you’re in, or what part Brooklyn Bowl, $20Dylan will lead you to of the city you’re from. $22, 702-862-2695, all the blues artists, all BrooklynBowl.com. of the folk artists of the Is music the real backbone 20th century. Getting to of the city? go out on the road with New Orleans music is bands like My Morning the spine of America, in Jacket or Foo Fighters—and now we’re my opinion. We’re the cultural spine out on tour with Edward Sharpe and of this whole country. Music is esthe Magnetic Zeros—is an opportunity sential to our lives there. We wouldn’t to expose new audiences to this music. be New Orleans without music. We Today, musical communities have would be a city, but we wouldn’t be fewer barriers between them. There’s New Orleans. more cross-fertilization going on; people are embracing other styles of How many of New Orleans’ jazz greats music, going into other musical envidid you meet growing up? ronments. Kendrick Lamar came out I got to be around hundreds of with an album featuring one of the musicians who were instrumental most important jazz musicians of this in pioneering New Orleans music. generation, Kamasi Washington.

People like Sweet Emma Barrett.

People like Percy and Willie Kendrick’s album is incredible. And even Humphrey. My bass teachers Frank

Fields, Walter Payton and James Prevost. Louis Nelson, Jim Robertson, Cie Frazier, Billy Pierce, Narvin Kimball ... Those were the people I grew up with. They weren’t just names on an album. They were people who became my extended family.

Let’s say I come to Preservation Hall when the band is in town. What kind of night am I in for?

Preservation Hall is not like any other musical experience that I’ve ever had.

The closest thing I can imagine it being like is inviting 50 of your closest friends into your living room to listen to you and your band play. It’s this incredibly intimate, rare experience.

Can you tell me what it is you love the most about jazz? Is that like asking what you love the most about air?

It’s a lot like asking about air. A little bit like asking Picasso why he liked the color blue. I can say this about New Orleans music, because that is really what I know: New Orleans music connects with people in a very special way—in a way that I’ve never experienced with other music.

It connects deeply. I’ve seen it in Brazil and a few other special places in the world, where music goes all the way to the marrow of people’s souls. You feel that in New Orleans.

That’s special, man. It’s so special that we have dedicated our lives to celebrating, perpetuating and sharing that tradition.

C O M I N G U P AT B R O O K L Y N B O W L L A S V E G A S

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READING

Join Fargo’s Noah Hawley Before the Fall ➜ NOAH HAWLEY IS A HOT COMMOD-

right now, thanks to his Emmywinning television series Fargo. His new book, Before the Fall (Grand Central Publishing, $35), might seem like an attempt to cash in on that wellearned fame, but Hawley’s literary career actually stretches back to 1998’s A Conspiracy of Tall Men. Before the Fall is his fifth published novel. But is it good enough to persuade legions of bingewatchers to buy an actual book? You bet. Hawley has created enough welldrawn characters, action and overall tension to keep readers hooked from the opening paragraphs.

Scott Burroughs is a painter who never really hit it big. Now inching toward 50, he’s trying to jump-start his career with a series of catastrophic tableaus: the wreck of an Amtrak passenger train, a deadly tornado, a building consumed by flames, and yes—a plane crash. He’s a last-minute passenger on a private plane headed from Martha’s Vineyard to New York.

The other seven travelers include media titan David Bateman, who runs ALC, a giant cable news network, and Ben Kipling, a wealthy investment banker who may be involved in illegal activities with Libya, Iran and North Korea. When the plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, Burroughs miraculously saves the life of Bateman’s 4-year-old son, JJ. The other passengers, including the small flight crew, perish.

Gus Franklin is the lead investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. Franklin, along with FBI Special Agent Walter O’Brien, is tasked with reconstructing what happened.

ITY

Was the crash caused by pilot error or something mechanical? Did a passenger or a terrorist group sabotage the flight? Is Scott Burroughs a hero or a willing participant? Was he having an affair with Bateman’s wife?

In less competent hands, Before the Fall might have been a fairly pedestrian procedural about a tragic crash and the predictable struggle to uncover the truth about what happened. Hawley serves up a meaty story, but also takes the opportunity to mock our obsession with tabloid journalism and demonstrates just how easily stories are manufactured, spun and shoved down viewers’ throats. The character of ALC anchorman Bill Cunningham—a loudmouth, O’Reilly-esque gasbag who doesn’t mind breaking the law to beef up his ratings—will surely strike a chord with readers.

Hawley wisely alternates chapters of the ongoing investigation with flashbacks involving each passenger, and his prose is a joy to read. He describes bulletproof glass as “thick as an unabridged copy of War and Peace,” and writes lines such as “the air was the temperature and consistency of a patty melt.” Elsewhere, a character is described as “a beautiful woman with a blunt bang haircut, like a person who makes up for driving an expensive car by never washing it.”

Sony Pictures has already bought the rights to Before the Fall and hired Hawley to adapt it for the big screen.

The way I see it, you can wait two years and buy a movie ticket, or get onboard now before someone spoils the ending for you. ★★★★✩ –M. Scott Krause

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SEVEN QUESTIONS

The CSN Planetarium director on a truck full of telescopes, UFOs and the merits of The Big Bang Theory By Paul Szydelko What got you interested in astronomy?

June 2–8, 2016

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VegasSeven.com

I was about 8 when my dad brought home a pickup truck bed full of telescopes from an unclaimed freight store. I spent a lot of time building, fixing and aligning telescopes. I had small hands so I could manipulate [the parts], but my dad was a mechanical genius.

I picked up a little bit from him. We made back the money. We had two or three real nice telescopes that we would use out in the yard and from that point on, it was always something that was interesting. … Return of the Jedi was already out. Star Wars had been a big part of everything growing up, so the stars and the planets were always [of interest].

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What does the Planetarium’s programming offer?

We do field trips for school kids and home-schooled groups and anyone who wants to bring a group in. They choose the shows that fit with what they’re doing in their classrooms. You give them that presentation, you show them what they can look for in the night sky and then we answer questions. CSN students take astronomy classes here, and the professors can bring up the sky and show

them the concepts instead of just telling them and seeing a picture in a book.

Most of our features are devoted to space, although we have a show called River of Bears. It takes [viewers] to the McNeil River state game sanctuary in Alaska, where you can stand 10 feet from grizzly bears as they’re fishing in a salmon stream. (Astronaut ) shows the effects of space on the human body. We have shows that discuss the planets, galaxies and stars. We have shows that talk about how Earth has to be protected. We have a show (Back to the Moon for Good) about the Google Lunar X prize where private entities are competing to go to the moon.

What gets your pulse racing?

A show for the 400th anniversary of Galileo and telescopes (Two Small Pieces of Glass) has the single-most spectacular beginning of any planetarium show—it gives me chills and goose bumps every time. It’s got a soundtrack by the London Symphony Orchestra, and it runs the camera through a telescope and opens up to the sky with the whole glittering star field and Milky Way galaxy.

It’s an incredible sequence that packs such a visceral feeling.

After visiting the Planetarium, where do you recommend students go next?

The next step is to read everything you can get your hands on and find that special aspect that you want to chase. In the Southwest we are blessed. You don’t have to go very far to find interesting things. If you get just outside the Valley’s bowl, you can get skies that are so dark that you can see the Milky Way in all its glory. You can go to Palomar Observatory (near San Diego), you can go to Griffith Observatory (in Los Angeles), you can go to the Space Shuttle (Endeavour, in the California Science Center in Los Angeles), you can go to Lowell Observatory (in Flagstaff), you can go to Kitt Peak National Observatory (near Tucson)—all within a day. You can buy a good telescope for $300 that will show the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the craters on the Moon. It will take you as far as you’re willing to let it.

Instead of putting limits on yourself, you have to push those limits and find out just how far you can go.

What question do you hope to see answered in your lifetime?

Life. Is there other life out there? NASA thinks we’re 10-20 years away from

Is there any UFO theory or conspiracy that gives you pause?

With the laws of the universe as we know them, it would be nearly impossible for other beings to visit us. If they can visit us, that means they have discovered ways of going beyond the laws of physics as we know them, and that would be exciting as well. If they are coming all this way, they are not abducting people, they are not probing them.

They wouldn’t need to; their technology is so advanced.

Is it possible aliens have visited Earth, Men in Black style, and the government is hiding? Anything is possible. If that is the case and one of them is reading this, stop by my house and give me some piece of technology so I can make a billion dollars off it and we can advance this human race.

The Big Bang Theory—a service or disservice for nerds everywhere?

Oh, it’s a huge service. It’s a great show.

I don’t watch it very often, but my wife loves it. It hits a little too close to home for me—I knew all those people in real life. There’s a little bit of discomfort to it, and it’s kind of like holding a mirror up to yourself . … Pop culture is the way science is devoured by the public, and so that’s a good thing—especially when they get it right. And a lot of it is done right.

PHOTO BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ

Andrew Kerr

knowing for certain, but it may be closer than that. It really is the ultimate question—whether we’re alone or not.

From somebody who’s studied physics and astronomy my entire life, I just don’t believe that we’re alone.