L AS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE
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FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010
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PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP Vegas Seven, 702-798-7000, 701 Bridger 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.
borhood in Las Vegas, there would be so many questions raised about closing a school and bussing the population to another area.” Kelly and Taack say there has been little communication with the district, and that town hall presentations were complicated and “almost deliberately slow.” “Particularly with this community, the district should be taking extra efforts to explain what’s going on and instead, there is no effort to explain or to ask for input,” Kelly says. The student population is 76 percent Hispanic, and about onethird speaks English as a second language. About 90 percent qualify for free or reduced school lunch, meaning they are living at or below the poverty line. According to Taack, the location Fremont Middle School is important for families who English teacher Shawn Kelly. don’t have cars to attend parentteacher conferences or resources such as internet access to register their kids, which is done online. Many Fremont students also walk their younger siblings or cousins to nearby elementary schools before walking themselves to school. Another concern is losing Fremont Middle School’s Professional Development Program, a successful hands-on teacher training for CSN and UNLV students and the only secondary professional development school in CCSD. After Low enrollment puts Fremont school on launching in 2008, 200 students have graduated from the program and 14 are currently teaching at Fremont Middle. the chopping block By Jessie O’Brien “It created real stability in our school, and it’s also created a pipeline to prepare urban teachers in other schools,” Taack says. ➜ IT’S UNUSUAL TO hear that a school may be closing when overcrowding is a central problem for the Clark According to research done by Fremont Middle County School District. In March, a bond oversight School, about 72 percent of graduates go on to teach at committee made recommendations for a 2015 Capiurban schools and on average, those students’ length of tal Improvement Plan that will invest $4.1 billion into employment is twice as long as other first-time teachbuilding new schools and updating old ones. (An ers. Taack added that staffing at-risk inner-city schools estimated $8.3 billion is needed for all improvements.) is another big challenge for CCSD right now. Closing inner-city school John C. Fremont Middle Larsen-Mitchell says that school district officials School by 2018 was one of those suggestions. recognize the success of the Professional Development According to assistant chief student achievement Program and if Fremont were to close, they would repliofficer Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, the main reasons for cate the program in other schools. closing the school are low enrollment and outdated “We could help franchise this knowledge out to other facilities. Last year saw 930 students enrolled, with an sites, but if you destroy this one, you’re starting from average classroom size in the low 30s. The school has a scratch,” Taack says. This is mainly because of the culture maximum capacity of 1,400 students. they’ve developed at the school and because many PDS The announcement comes a year after Fremont celementors have been through the program themselves. brated its 60th anniversary. Among the school’s alumni To keep the school open, the Fremont staff, with commuare former U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley, state Asnity support, is proposing to convert it into a K-8 academy. semblyman Nelson Araujo, KVVU Channel 5 reporter CCSD's plan is to rebuild Fremont Middle School as an elMaria Silva and Las Vegas Sun CEO Brian Greenspun. ementary school to relieve overcrowding in the five nearby “Knowing the many generations that graduated from elementary feeder schools. According to Larsen-Mitchell, [Fremont], it would be a shame to see it go,” Berkley the school district is taking this K-8 suggestion into acsays. But Berkley and community stakeholders are concount, and says that closing the school at this point is just cerned about more than the school’s legacy. a recommendation from the bond oversight committee. Teacher Mike Taack says at the last town hall meeting, The CCSD board of trustees must vote to close the school, CCSD officials presented a rough plan to bus students and that process includes communicating with the school to Orr Middle near the Boulevard Mall and J.D. Smith, and community. The process has not yet begun because the about four miles away in North Las Vegas. That would plan to close Fremont is not scheduled for two more years. require rezoning approval from the board of trustees. But to Kelly and Taack, it is unclear what is a proposal “It seems like the assumption was that because [Freand what is a plan. To them, it seems like closing the mont is] an inner-city, urban school, nobody would ask school has already been decided upon. [questions],” 20-year Fremont Middle School English “My hope is that there is still room to have some influteacher Shawn Kelly says. “If this were a different neighence,” Taack says. “The problem is, when and where?”
August 11-17, 2016
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Middle School Blues
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News, deals and the power of equity in football bets.
Seven Days This week in your city By B O B W H I T B Y
THU 11
“The Art of Happiness and Fulfillment,” an interactive workshop and lecture, 6:45 p.m. at Henderson’s Gibson Library, will teach you the skills and habits common to happy people. MyPublicLibrary.com.
FRI 12
Greeks enjoy life. Even when their economy isn’t doing so hot. They eat, drink, dance and cook. Perhaps we can learn something by their example. The Opa at Divine Greek and Mediterranean Cooking Class, 6:30 p.m. at Springs Preserve, might be a good start. You’ll get hands-on instruction, plus beer and wine! SpringsPreserve.org.
SAT 13
Wine, food, entertainment … our kind of evening. Add partying for charity to the mix and you’ve got One Drunk Puppy, 6 p.m. at the Silverton. Proceeds benefit the Animal Foundation; good times benefit you. SilvertonCasino.com.
SUN 14
Yoga is best practiced in the great outdoors, and the outdoors don’t get much greater than Mount Charleston. Confirm that for yourself at the Meadows at Lee Canyon, 10 a.m., for Yoga at Mount Charleston, a monthly practice led by Yogi Nashi. Check Yoga @ Mt. Charleston Facebook page for details.
MON 15
Meanwhile, over at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Yousuf Karsh: Icons of the Twentieth Century is ending September 5. This intimate view of leading figures in politics, arts and entertainment during Hollywood’s Golden Age provides a glimpse at a kind of glamour we just don’t see anymore. Bellagio.com.
TUE 16
The baseball season is winding down, and you still haven’t been out to Cashman Center to catch the Las Vegas 51s? For shame. Remedy that as our hometown team hosts the Round Rock Express in the first of a four-game series, 7:05 p.m. MILB.com.
WED 17
Social CirKISH is a program for at-risk youth that teaches skills such as empathy, teamwork and self-confidence through circus performances. It’s a unique and effective way to reach a tough audience. UNLV’s CirKISH student showcase will demonstrate at 7 p.m., UNLV’s Ham Hall. UNLV.edu.
PHOTO BY JIM K. DECKER
THE LATEST
A Twist of Faith
Deacon Tom Roberts finds his calling in an unexpected way By Hubble Ray Smith
August 11-17, 2016
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➜ THE SIDEWALK ALONG
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Foremaster Lane is cramped with shabby tents and makeshift cardboard shelters. Trash litters the street, and the stench of stale urine permeates the air. This is about as close to Skid Row as you’ll find in Las Vegas. It’s home to drunks, addicts and the mentally ill, mostly men and a few women down on their luck in a city that will sap every last ounce of it and laugh in your face should you dare to cry about it. Welcome to the world of Deacon Tom Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, whose headquarters are located in the heart of the homeless district and serve as a beacon for these lost souls. A former casino executive with Harrah’s and Station Casinos, Roberts came to Catholic Charities as a volunteer and was roped into the leadership role in 2013 after the passing of Monsignor Patrick Leary, who ran the agency for 10 years. The job
allows Roberts to fulfill his ministry of service to God’s less-fortunate people. “It’s a great way to give back to those who really need it,” he says. “I really did fall in love with the work. I realized how blessed I am with my family, my wife and three kids. I’m a big believer in the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the Holy Spirit was preparing me for this job my whole life and I never knew it.” Roberts has shepherded one of Nevada’s oldest charity organizations through an era of expansion, moving from the casino industry to the nonprofit sector to make a difference in the lives of thousands of street people in need of basic services. Catholic Charities is celebrating its 75th year of providing services in Las Vegas. It started with adoption services in 1941, and grew to food and nutrition programs, child and family services, senior services, immigration and refugee services, employment assistance, and housing and shelter. “From the very beginning,
it was always about serving anybody who had need, not just Catholics,” Roberts says. “Although we’re called Catholic Charities, I like to say we don’t check religious ID cards at the door here. We serve all God’s children—anyone who needs help and hope.” Catholic Charities went from a $10,000 annual operating budget in 1941 to more than $20 million today. It was awarded a $2.4 million Clark County Community Development Block Grant in April to expand its food pantry and Meals on Wheels program, which feeds about 2,000 seniors a day and will increase to 2,600 meals with 3,800 square feet of additional kitchen space. Drivers go into the homes and are trained to look for other issues the senior might be facing, Roberts says. He once went on a ride-along and saw Meals on Wheels dishes on the floor. “Why’s the dish on the ground if you like the food? And they said, ‘We can’t afford to feed our pets and feed
ourselves.’ Heartbreaking,” Roberts says. “So when we get donated pet food, we put it on the trucks and then if the client has a pet, the driver can offer free pet food so that the senior doesn’t have to make that terrible decision to share their food with pets. In some cases, sadly, that’s the only companion that senior might have.” The shelter is another significant component of Catholic Charities. The overnight shelter routinely takes in more than 500 men a night, and another 300 come to the day shelter. “It’s free, and again, no questions asked,” Roberts says. “They get clean sheets, they get hygiene kits, they can take a shower, they get water and they get safety. And while they’re there, they can get connected to other services. Our goal is to get them some help and some hope to get back to some level of independent living. That’s the road map that we want to help everybody get on.” Roberts grew up in
Youngstown, Ohio, the youngest of six children. His father suffered a heart attack and died when the boy was just 3 years old. His mother raised the kids by herself. “[When] people [ask] who’s been an important figure in your life, I’d say my mom,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel around the world and meet lots of people, to meet presidents. No one has had the impact on me that my mom had. As a young family we were struggling, but my mom said if we stick together and believe in God, things are going to work out.” He attended Catholic grade school and high school, got his undergraduate degree at Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in finance from Phillips University in Oklahoma. After graduation, he went into the shopping center business in Chicago, building a new shopping center near Wrigley Field. He came to Las Vegas in the late 1980s as general manager of the Forum Shops at Caesars, helping to develop and open the tony retail center in 1992. “I was very blessed to do that. As much as The Mirage changed the dynamic of the resort industry, I think the Forum Shops changed the dynamic of how people saw entertainment retail in Las Vegas and around the world,” he says. Roberts was ordained as a deacon five years ago, but had never set foot on Catholic Charities’ eight-acre campus until Monsignor Leary died of a heart attack. “Very tragic, very sudden,” Roberts says. “He went home on Friday night and passed away, just a great guy. The bishop knew I had a business background. He called me. ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do.’ I showed up Monday morning with the bishop and said I’ll be transition administrator. I’d work with the board of trustees to find a new CEO. “What started as two weeks went into two months and then six months. The bishop and board came back to me and said we found the perfect guy for the job, will you take it? So here I am. It’s been a wonderful blessing for me to give back with my business background and as permanent deacon in the church. It’s been a great opportunity for me to serve.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN NEVADA
THE LATEST
CHARACTER STUDY
THE LATEST
[ STYLE ]
Cutting Time By Jessie OÕBrien ➜ “USUALLY, PEOPLE THINK I’M A
August 11-17, 2016
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mechanic or a security guard, but that’s been a key as to why I’ve done well,” says Lawrence Reha with a resonating voice, sailor tattoos and a chest broad enough to spear throw an oak tree. “I’m not like most of my peers.” Reha is the owner of Makeshift Union Cutting & Grooming (1130 Casino Center Boulevard, Suite 130,
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702-527-6318), the new Arts District salon on Casino Center and California Street that specializes in hair only and caters equally to men and women. The salon quietly opened in early June. Reha (who goes by Larry after your second appointment) says that a lot of salons focus less on male clientele. Before opening his own store he was a stylist at Square in Summerlin for nine years. “One guy who was waiting in the waiting room [at Square] actually said, ‘Man, was I glad to see you,’” Reha says. But Makeshift Union is as warm and stylish as the Detroit native himself. The name came to Reha in the bathtub. “Union” is a nod to his blue-collar hometown and his father and other family members who were union workers. “Makeshift” refers to the design of the salon, which is decorated with reconstructed and reused pieces of Americana. He was originally drawn to the location because of the large windows
that bring in the optimum amount of natural light for a salon. The 1,200-square-foot space has seven stations made out of natural wood with tall wood-framed mirrors. Repurposed 1950s chairs from a church in Compton are in the waiting area. A 48-star casket flag hangs behind the check-in counter next to a steel guitar and a giant moose head that his wife, Ashlee, is happy to have out of their home lives above the sinks. More taxidermy is by a motorcycle table, made by local design and fabrication company Freeform, which holds Baxter of California grooming products (Reha is one of the company’s artists) and Evo, high-end salon products
from Australia (Makeshift is the fi rst Evo exclusive salon in Las Vegas). Reha specializes in “lived-in day-today hair,” as opposed to hair that will look good for a picture and then you’ll never be able to do it again, he says. But if you’re up for adventure, he likes trying things that have never been done before. More than a salon, Reha wants Makeshift Union to be a Las Vegas institution, a pillar of the community for people to come and hang out whenever they want, have fun and enjoy themselves. “I learned that part of my brand is just laughter. It speaks more about me and what people get out of being in the chair,” he says.
MAKESHIFT UNION BY MICHAEL HEWITT/GLITTER LENS PHOTOGRAPHY; REHA COURTESY OF MAKESHIFT UNION
Makeshift Union beautifies heads Downtown
BREAKING UP THE PIE
Clark County School District plans to give autonomy to individual schools BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS
The drafted regulation for the reorganization states that, “Each school within the school district
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… shall be deemed a local school precinct. A local of is going full steam ahead, knowing that, say, 20 school precinct must be operated under site-based percent of your principals are incapable of mandecision making.” Those decisions will be made by aging an empowerment program. No matter how the principal and an organizational team consistwell you prepare these folks, there are going to be ing of school employees and parents. Schools will some who struggle. How do you provide them the have control of 85 percent of their budgets, and support they need to be successful?” The proposed they will be responsible for “selecting the staff,” as reorganization includes a group of staff that will well as “the purchase of equipment, services and supervise the principals at 20-25 schools and report supplies for the local school precinct.” Services and directly to the superintendent, but their role has yet supplies will be available through Central Services, to be fully delineated. but schools are “not required” to purchase from the CCSD. The responsibility for payroll, salary/benefit negotiation, capital improvements, food service and a number of other large-scale programs will remain with the district. The empowerment model may also finally force the state to reconsider how schools are funded. “We still need to fix the funding formula,” Denis says. “It hasn’t been changed since I was in first grade in 1967.” Currently, schools are funded based on an average teacher salary, but there is talk of changing that methodology to a student-based formula that may Other groups are wary of the proposal for differbe weighted to provide more funds for higher-needs ent reasons. The CCSD School Board recently met kids. Lazos hopes that “we will now be seeing a move to discuss the plan, unanimously passing a position to a budgeting that is not based on this mythical averthat “there are significant educational, financial age teacher, but is actually based on more equitable and legal issues that must be addressed” before it student-centered allocations. It means a per-pupil can be implemented, as well as expressing concern budget formula.” about “substantial disruption to students.” AnothThe program is set to be implemented at the er group that has issues with the plan are support beginning of the 2017-18 school year, well ahead of staff. As currently written, the regulations give AB394’s original schedule. Strembitsky has been adamant that the program must be rolled out as quickly as possible. Ford has questions whether the school district has the time and THE PARADIGM SHIFT “REPRESENTS AN money for the plan’s imATTEMPT TO DO SOMETHING RELATIVELY plementation. “I’ve been advised from CCSD that DRAMATIC AND SOMEWHAT INNOVATIVE.” they can actually meet –Kim Metcalf, dean of the UNLV College of Education the timeline. It’s not like we’re forcing it,” he says. “It’s just an opportunity to make sure that it gets pursued and not delayed.” principals authority to select staff, services and In a statement, CCSD Superintendent Pat Skorkowequipment, and full-time contracted employees are sky said that “it is exciting to be moving on to the concerned about the possibility of being replaced next phase. We will be working with Mr. Stremby outside labor. bitsky and our associations to begin the actual Still, the paradigm shift has the potential for posidevelopment of the details in the plan.” tive effects. “It represents an attempt to do something Some remain concerned that the expedited process relatively dramatic and somewhat innovative,” Metmay not allow enough time for staff training. Kim calf says. “It may or may not work the way we want Metcalf, dean of the UNLV College of Education, says it to, so we need to be objectively evaluating it as we that this “more entrepreneurial approach to the way go.” In the best case, he feels that it will “allow some schools are run is a very, very different model than principals to be truly innovative and find things that most current principals have been prepared to do.” do work.” The CCSD has just over a year to train its personnel Those who worked on developing the plan are in a completely new way of doing things. “That’s very optimistic as well. Denis looks forward to seeing different than the daily work of most principals and “schools that are responsive to their local commuteachers right now. My fear would be that this is done nities, where you don’t have to go through so many without providing enough support and preparadifferent hoops.” tion for the folks who have to do it,” he says, adding “What it’s going to do is give the local schools the that UNLV has “already begun tailoring our princiautonomy to be more involved in the spending of pal-preparation program to make sure we incorpotheir assets so that they can better educate their rate those kind of entrepreneurial principles.” students,” Ford says. “The schools always should have “It’s always kind of the elephant in the room: Do had more ability to control what goes on within the we have the talent among principals to really make walls, more of an ability to reflect what the community empowerment work?” asks Lazos. “What I’m afraid wants.” With this plan, they finally will.
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about the Clark County School District is as typical of Las Vegas as griping about monsoon season or the Spaghetti Bowl. While Nevada no longer ranks last in the nation (That spot belongs to New Mexico now: We’re No. 49!) and students are beginning to see gains in reading and math proficiency, achievement still leaves something to be desired. An often-cited issue is the unwieldy size of the district—it’s the country’s fifth largest. So the CCSD is contemplating a bold new plan to give autonomy to every single one of the schools—more than 350 in number. While “empowerment” schools and “schoolbased decision making” have been a part of the district since 2007, it has never been done on this scale in Nevada—or anywhere. “This whole movement is one that is born out of deep dissatisfaction with the public education system here in Southern Nevada,” says Sylvia Lazos, policy director of Educate Nevada Now. The plan was born during the closing moments of the legislative session in June 2015, when Assembly Bill 394 was passed. The bill was originally designed for “developing a plan to reorganize the Clark County School District into local school precincts” by the 2018-19 school year. However, that prospect made many Assembly members apprehensive. “It got to us with about 15 minutes left in the session, meaning that no one in the Senate had an opportunity to read the bill, much less digest it and contemplate what the pros and cons were,” says state Senator Aaron Ford, who was opposed to the bill. “If you break up the district, you have to deal with a lot of concerns including equity in the school system. De facto resegregation, if you will.” Since Ford could not stop the bill, he made sure he was on the advisory committee that would help develop the plan for enacting it. His fellow committee member state Senator Moises Denis shared similar concerns about dividing the district along geographical lines. “One of the school districts that was brought up was the South Jordan district in Salt Lake City,” he says. “It cost them a lot of money to do it, and they ended up with two very different districts—one that had plenty of money, plenty of resources, all brandnew schools, and one that had all old schools and had all of the kids with issues that needed extra funding.” The goal of the bill had been to break the district up into more manageably sized, more responsive units, and the committee began to focus on the idea of autonomy on a school level. “I’ve been around long enough that I’ve seen the empowerment model,” Denis says. “When schools have an opportunity to have input into what their specific needs are, that works. So I’m all for giving parents and teachers and administrators more say in how the money is spent in their schools and the kind of things they get to do.” The Legislature reached out to Michael Strembitsky, a consultant who had worked with the district on empowerment before, and hired him to develop a proposal.
August 11-17, 2016
➺ Complaining
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August 11-17, 2016
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Whitney Elementary principal Sherrie Gahn changes lives one student at a time B Y E M M I LY B R I S T O L
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➺ Sherrie Gahn never expected to be a principal.
For years, she was happy as a teacher. She even met her husband at her first teaching assignment in Oracle, Arizona—a town so small that the elevation is higher than the population. But like the song says, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. After graduating from Arizona State University, Gahn worked in Oracle with her husband, commuting from Tucson. With two young boys, then ages 3 and 18 months, the couple moved to Las Vegas in 1992, which was in the throes of the early boom years and, like
today, desperately needed more teachers. Gahn spent several years working as a teacher at elementary schools including John S. Park, Jim Thorpe and Roberta C. Cartwright, but her friends and husband kept urging her to apply for open administrator positions. She received her master’s degree in educational leadership from UNLV while teaching at Cartwright. “I actually loved that experience [of being a vice principal]. I realized this was my calling,” she says. Gahn interviewed for a principal position with the Clark County School District and was called im-
PHOTO BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
Beyond Teaching
mediately to a school that was in desperate need of a principal, having already gone through three that school year. “This was a school with potential, but it needed a lot of work,” Gahn says of Whitney Elementary School, which had one of the highest rates of truancy, homelessness, failing students and dropouts. When Gahn arrived in February 2004, 75 percent of students were failing. Early on, Gahn was called to a classroom because a student was throwing chairs. As she entered, the boy was getting ready to throw a desk. She tried to talk him down, but he threw the desk right at her. She and other teachers subdued the child and took him down to the office. “That was a defining moment because he was one of the biggest kids on campus,” Gahn remembers. “Almost immediately, there was a hush on campus. All the kids knew about it. You could hear a pin drop in the halls. Everything shifted.” While the new principal set about changing the culture of the school—instilling a sense of personal responsibility and respect for students and teachers—she also knew she had to clean house, both figuratively and literally. “I literally went from classroom to classroom and just scrubbed. We cleaned everything up. I needed the students to see that. They deserved a clean school,” Gahn says. Still, it was going to take more than clean classrooms and renewed vigor by teachers to turn Whitney around. One day as she went to her office, she noticed that the students waiting to see her were sitting on the floor. “If they’re not respecting the kids enough to even give them a chair while they wait, that says a lot about how people feel about their worth,” Gahn says. “They were worth more than sitting on the floor. They were worth more than someone throwing a desk.” So she asked a friend to make a bench for her students. And even as she worked to help students see they deserved to be treated with dignity, she relished that the kids were also talking about how tough she was. “I heard one of the kids saying, ‘If you don’t behave, she’ll take you down.’ And I was like, yes!” Then she met with teachers and told them in no uncertain terms that things were changing. “Every teacher deserves to be teaching next to a teacher who’s just as good as them. I told them that transfer season was coming up and anyone who didn’t like it could leave.” As Gahn continued to work with the school’s staff and students, she started to see that the root problems of the school, from discipline to absences to test scores, were about what was happening outside the school. Many of the students were homeless and going hungry. Some took ketchup packets to make “ketchup soup” to eat for dinner. “Normally, I would stop kids from stealing from the school. But something stopped me,” she says. “I decided we needed a food pantry on campus.” Gahn, who had come up in humble circumstances while being raised by a single mother in Buffalo, New York, says fixing problems like hunger was a “no-brainer” because it would lead to students’ success. Gahn’s food pantry was up and running within her first year, but every day she was seeing more problems that needed fixes. She got a van to drive families to the doctor, opened shower facilities to not just students but entire families who had no access to running water. Gahn focused in on whatever the problem was. One day a teacher took Gahn out to drive “the zone” around the school and she saw where her students were living – in the projects, in rent-by-theweek motels, and even in tents in Pittman Wash.
➺ Kerry Pope’s work as principal of Southeast Career Technical Academy extends beyond sending her straight-A students off to college, but also to develop respectful, productive citizens who will find their niche in Southern Nevada’s workforce. While Clark County School District gets knocked for having one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the nation, Southeast Academy boasts a 92 percent graduation rate and 51 percent of students pass Advanced Placement courses, earning a bronze medal from U.S. News and World Report’s national high school rankings. Not every high school graduate is college material, so the key to success for those who don’t take the college route is finding a job they like and sticking with it, Pope says. “A kid doesn’t need to be academically brilliant to be a top-of-the-line kid,” the principal says. “Our kids are kind, good kids. When you give kids a choice of doing something they’re passionate about, they’re going to do well. If they’ve got to pass math to spend time in their culinary class, they’re going to step up and do it. And if we give that opportunity to all kids, our graduation rates go up.” Southeast Academy is one of seven career academies in the school district, though 44 high schools offer technical education programs with the same standards and skill assessments as the academies, notes Jeanne Donadio, director of CCSD’s career and technical education. About 43,000 students a year take career and technical education classes in 65 different programs, she says. A lot of them are going into information and media technologies, learning computer science, 3-D animation, video game programming, web design and information technology. Students must apply for acceptance to career and technical academies, so they’re motivated to attend class and more likely to graduate, Donadio says. “Career and technical education provides relevancy for what they’re learning and real-world application of what they’re learning,” she says. “The (classes) usually are meaningful and relevant to the student. That engages them. They’ve got to be at school to learn.” Popular programs at Southeast Academy include culinary, cosmetology, automotive technology and construction engineering. About 65 to 70 incoming freshmen enroll in the computer design program, double from a couple of years ago, Pope says. “Once they get in, they realize it’s not about playing video games,” she says. “They could design programs for casinos. You could work for a science lab and design modules. The job possibilities are huge. We had a girl who went to MGM (Resorts International) and designed all its employee training videos. What a great job for a 19-year-old.” Howard Gordon, a UNLV professor and expert in career and technical education, says CTE is the “wave of the future,” and is considered the most powerful program available to high school students, providing a higher level of personal, academic and career development skills. “CTE is the cornerstone for bridging the current skills gap in this country,” Gordon says. “For the record, you are less likely to see CTE trade workers in welfare lines or as recipients of government social programs.” There’s still a “stigma” that career and technical education is for students who are poor academic achievers and not college-bound, but that’s an incorrect assumption, he says. “Two-year community colleges and apprenticeships are ideal for non-college-bound students,” Gordon says. “Currently, most college graduates are drowning in excessive student loans and working in jobs that are not paying a decent salary.” Companies such as Faraday Future, which is coming to North Las Vegas, are looking for skilled, educated workers, and Clark County high schools are preparing students for careers in those industries. Southeast Academy has partnered with College of Southern Nevada on a manufacturing training program that earns credits toward an associate’s degree and completes OSHA certification. Academy students, and those from other high schools, take regular classes during the day and then go to CSN classes after school and in the evening. “What we’re doing is building skills in manufacturing that Faraday is requiring for entry-level employees, and also continuing to offer courses that Faraday is requesting for training purposes,” Pope says. “It’s pretty exciting. The goal is to expand and franchise out, to set the model so more high schools have this opportunity. We’re going to fail and make mistakes along the way, but we’re going to figure it out.” –Hubble Ray Smith
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NOT ALL ROADS LEAD TO COLLEGE. CAREER ACADEMIES OFFER ANOTHER WAY.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY CCSD
To learn more about how to help Whitney Elementary School, call the school at 702-799-7790.
A DIFFERENT PATH
August 11-17, 2016
“I saw that the way these kids were living— there was no hope,” she says, her voice cracking. “Our families are truly destitute. We had to give these kids hope, or they were going to have no chance.” It was a reporter who visited the campus one day for an unrelated reason who pushed Gahn to start sharing the heartbreaking stories of her students to help raise money and donations for food, clothing and more. So Gahn started talking to the media about the gut-wrenching everyday stories of her students. She told of the day a student ran into her office crying because her mom was locked in a cabinet trying to stay safe from her knife-wielding dad. She talked about the second-grader who met his father for the first time when he got out of prison—just before his mother went into prison. Soon, Hollywood came calling in the form of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Gahn was invited on the show five years ago and as a surprise, the talk show host gave the school $100,000. During a commercial break, Gahn says DeGeneres leaned over and told her, “We’re not done.” And indeed, DeGeneres had Gahn on several more times to highlight needs in the education system and get updates from Whitney, including a surprise visit by Justin Bieber. While Gahn is grateful to Ellen for her contributions—including a new library and Kindles for the students— the educator struggles with the limelight. “What kind of world are we living in that poor kids become national news?” she asks with tears in her eyes. “I still have a real hard time because we shouldn’t be newsworthy.” In 2011, Gahn started a community center at the school called Village of Hope Las Vegas to give students access to more services and a safe place to hang out after school. It’s open all summer and has caseworkers as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner available to anyone who wants it. And she has success stories, such as the mom of another third-grade boy, who worked with a caseworker and earned her GED. Now his mom is in college, working to become a preschool teacher. Still, all of this doesn’t come cheap or easy. Gahn says she’s stretched the Ellen money as long as she could but as she gears up for the new school year, they “are literally counting pennies.” The high-profile attention brought some new donors, but it also meant others went away, assuming the school and the neighborhood problems were solved. Gahn hopes that the community will continue to be generous to the students and families of Whitney Elementary. “It used to be that our kids came to school to be safe, but now they come to school to learn,” she says.
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NIGHTLIFE
YesJulz is an entrepreneur, and she’s just getting started By Camille Cannon
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26-year-old Julieanna Goddard, better known as YesJulz. When we spoke with her, she took the call from her penthouse in Miami, the city in which she’s built a digital media empire from her beginnings as a nightlife host. This year she was featured in Forbes, declared “SnapChat Royalty” by The New York Times and cemented her place as a social media ambassador for big-name brands such as Red Bull and T-Mobile. She will premiere a collaboration with Puma at Agenda during MAGIC week, runs the all-female YesJulz marketing agency (expanding soon to New York and L.A.) and 1AM Vibes entertainment agency and party. The latter makes its Las Vegas debut August 18 at Hard Rock Live thanks to local nightlife crew Jamnation. If you’re not yet one of the almost 400,000 Instagram followers paying attention to YesJulz, you should be.
August 11-17, 2016
Just Don’t Call Her a Promoter
“IT’S BEEN AN INCREDIBLE whirlwind of a year so far,” says
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Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and the sounds of Drybar
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NIGHTLIFE
Why was it important for the YesJulz agency to be all female?
I came from another marketing agency where I was one of the only girls who wasn’t an assistant or a bookkeeper. I felt really undermined and undervalued. There is a place for women in the marketing world, especially in entertainment, but there weren’t a lot of opportunities for us in that sector in Miami. So I decided to quit and start my own company and be the person who would open those doors. It stuck and became this whole girl-powertype thing. I’m a ’90s baby and grew up on the Spice Girls, so I’m all about that. You mentioned to Galore that you look up to women such as Madonna and Oprah for breaking down barriers, but you feel like there’s more to do. What do you hope to accomplish?
We still don’t have equal pay. We don’t [receive] the same amount of respect when we walk in to a room and want to speak up about our ideas. We’re still first regarded for our looks, regarded second for our work ethic or brain. And God forbid we have all three of those things. I can only speak from my personal experience, but it seems like people cannot comprehend that I’m a curvy woman that’s OK with that and OK with showing off a little bit sometimes or not wearing a cover-up sometimes when I’m frolicking around in a bikini. I can post a picture of myself enjoying my day on the beach, but I can’t do that and go feed the homeless the next day and then go run a business with six employees and be closing six deals a month. It’s too much for a person to comprehend, so they just wanna label me as a “model” or a “promoter.” I’m a human. I do multiple things. As people, we need to stop boxing ourselves in. We can’t let society make us believe we’re only capable of doing one or two things in a lifetime. That’s not true.
August 11-17, 2016
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What’s the significance behind your #NeverNotWorking posts?
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I started that because I feel like, if you’re doing what you love, then you’re working all the time. Of course you get tired. But nobody makes me stay up. I stay up late and get up early myself, because I’m excited. I wouldn’t want to be tired from anything else. I grew up with parents who didn’t like their jobs, and they worked all the time. I love my parents so much. As I got older, I started to be able to take care of them and I want them to be able to take vacations with me or come visit me at my new place in Miami and they can’t. And it’s crazy to me. “Dang, Mom, you’ve been working for this company for 25 years and you can’t take a weekend off with three months in advance?” I would never want to be in that position. I don’t know if I’m brave or just oblivious to what could be the outcome, but I never had an issue changing things if I didn’t like them. I tell my mom, “You’re turning 50. You
have another 50 years here. You can either continue to be unhappy or figure something else out and be happy for the rest of your life.” What does your mom think of your work?
For a while she didn’t get it. She thought I was just throwing parties, I wasn’t really working with brands yet or broadcasting for video platforms. She started to really come around when I started doing Hashtag Lunchbag and working with inner-city schools. She was proud of that. And then she realized, ‘Oh, wow! You’re working with these big brands that I see everyday at the grocery store or on TV commercials.” She started to see that there was longevity in it and it wasn’t just me partying for a living. Articles in The New York Times or The Miami New Times—that definitely helps because, to her, that’s what’s legit. She doesn’t care about followers or any of that stuff
because it comes and goes. But parents, they read the paper all the time. You seem busier than ever. Why do a party in Las Vegas now?
I’m really active with my following; I try to pay attention and listen to what they ask me for as much as possible. I was really surprised to see that there’s this underlying, underground crowd in Vegas who’s yearning for my kind of party which is an everyone’s-welcome, we-love-hip-hop-and-we-wannarage, no-VIP, no-frills type of thing. Vegas is the complete opposite of that. At least the Strip is known for that, so I realized, “Wow, the kids in Vegas really can’t enjoy Vegas because the clubs on the Strip don’t allow them to.” So I should go do a party there and show them a good time and get to know the local artists. It happens to be when I’m going to be out there for [Agenda with] Puma, so it just made sense.
What are your long-term goals?
I come from a background of foster care, and I want to implement programs for kids so that they can start thinking in an entrepreneurial way and have the tools that they need to create and focus on developing their talents and not on finding a family. Giving them something else to do. I just hope to make an impact on the music industry and on the youth, and most importantly, on making it cool for kids to talk about important things. I feel like somewhere along the way, there was just a vibe that because I throw parties, I can’t care about people in my neighborhood who are hungry or losing art programs. I want to talk about that just as much as I want to talk about Drake or Travis Scott. Let’s talk about racial issues. Let’s talk about all these things, and let’s make it cool to talk about them. I believe it’s important to care.
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DJ Mustard.
Better check if your Netflix account is in good standing because Steve Aoki’s I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is available for streaming on August 19. The documentary details Aoki’s formative years and the social pressure he experienced with an incredibly successful father. In case you didn’t know, Steve’s father, Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki, is living a fruitful life as a wrestler, award-winning powerboard racer and business owner. As a restaurateur, he cofounded the popular Japanese chain Benihana, which has served authentic dishes and humor as spectacle since it was founded in 1964. That being said, Steve’s got a hard act to follow, but we think he’s doing a stellar job. Aside from being one of the highest-grossing dancemusic artists in North America according to Pollstar, he runs the Dim Mak record label and has a Grammy nomination. Steve’s well on his way to becoming an icon in his own right, and you can learn more about his journey by watching the documentary. See how far he’s come at Hakkasan, and if you’re feelin’ a bit starstruck, local mainstay Phoreyz holds it down at the Ling Ling Club. (In MGM Grand, 10:30 p.m., HakkasanLV.com.)
August 11-17, 2016
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THU 11
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FRI 12 Get to stretching because your weekend consists of two all-day benders. Head to the Cosmopolitan for the first one, which kicks off
with longtime Marquee resident Lema at Marquee Dayclub. He’s known for his house-heavy sets that’ll complement the unbearably hot pool season, so dress the part, and wild out. After you’ve taken a dive, dry off, grab a shake and burger at Holsteins and head to Marquee to catch a set by electro/ progressive house mainstays Tritonal. The duo, consisting of Chad Cisneros and David Reed, recently announced their Painting With Dreams tour that’ll go coast to coast in fall. Get a preview of what’s to come, then cool off with the recently released collaboration with Cuebrick, “Iceland.” (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)
SAT 13 Ready for Round 2? Hit up the Cromwell for a day that consists of EDM and rap/R&B. It begins with Makj at Drai’s Beach Club. The central California electro house great made headlines in March when he started a “Fuck you, Donald Trump” chant after seeing a fan’s sign at Ultra Miami. We realize he had good intentions (he just wanted some crowd participation, that’s all), but we think he should just stick to what he does best— crafting high-energy mixes that’ll get your butt moving. After soaking up some rays, soak up some Wi-Fi to pass the time, then head to Drai’s for a performance by Canadian singer/rapper Tory Lanez.
tTory Lanez.
His beef with fellow Canadian Drake is getting pretty ugly: Drake recently dissed Lanez while on his Summer Sixteen tour, claiming Lanez’ rendition of “Controlla” is “fake.” This comes on top of a number of diss tracks from both of the hip-hop stalwarts from the North. See if another chapter in this soap opera unfolds. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m., DraisNightlife.com.)
SUN 14 If you haven’t heard, Bingo Players has relocated to Rehab Steve Aoki.
at Hard Rock Hotel. The exHakkasan residents celebrated their 10-year anniversary as a duo by commissioning a remix of “Cry (Just A Little)” by A-Trak and Phantoms. The tune is a future house rework that gives the classic tune a refreshing, modern flavor. Take a listen on SoundCloud, then give the Dutch dance duo some birthday love when they spin poolside. (At Hard Rock Hotel, 11 a.m., RehabLV.com.)
MON 15 It’s Monday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hit up an epic party. XS’ Movement Mondays comes through on its promise to bring forward-thinking DJs to our city by hosting RL Grime and Virgil Abloh. It’s important to not pigeonhole the two: The former has moved on from making trap to creating multilayered electronic compositions, and the latter is a tastemaker known for his wide-ranging mixes that include everything from French techno to hip-hop. We can’t wait to see what the two have planned for tonight when they join forces behind the decks. Forget Batman and Robin—this is the new dynamic duo. (In Encore, 10 p.m., XSLasVegas.com.)
TUE 16 Remember the catchy 1995 Eurodance tune, “Captain Jack?” The song, which was written by the group of the same name, catapulted to the top of the charts in Europe with its infectious chorus and bouncy beat. While the song didn’t enjoy the same success Stateside, it still made an impact when it appeared in the popular dance video game Dance Dance Revolution. Speaking of wildly successful “Jacks," we like Afrojack. Even though he once lost his driver's license for speeding in his glorious Lamborghini Aventador, there’s no denying that the Dutch DJ has crafted some of the most popular radio hits such as “Hey” and “Give Me Everything.” Hear a few at Omnia tonight. Looking for some support? FAED spins at Heart of Omnia, and SNBRN keeps it tropical on the Terrace. (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., OmniaNightclub.com.)
WED 17 DJ Mustard’s on the beat at Light. He recently squashed his beef with Compton rapper YG, so make friends with the producer behind the decks. (In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.)
PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
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August 11-17, 2016
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Aug. 12 Eric Dlux spins Aug. 13 E-Rock spins Aug. 17 DJ Mustard spins
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com
night is already a rare treat. Now throw in a slew of club bangers and a grip of free stuff—that’s Encore Beach Club at Night’s third annual Block Party on August 18 (EncoreBeachClub.com), and you should definitely save the date. In its first two years, the Block Party made a name for itself by providing free stuff while you take a satisfying stroll around the pool. This year is no different with treats aplenty, including samples of mini ice cream sandwiches from CREAM Inc and coldpressed juice samples from Pressed Juicery. On the non-edible side, Sephora will offer a limited supply of goodie bags for primping. To protect you from the summer sun, Sun Bum Sunscreen will be on hand with samples. Or, if you prefer to be shielded from UV rays in a car, Lyft will distribute pink cards with those highly sought after promo codes. The party’s annual tradition of street art will continue, featuring Juan Muniz, whose work you may recognize both from TV’s Skin Wars and on actual walls around town. Additional vendors include Twirl Cotton Candy, ForPlay clothing, Sasa Sweets, TruFusion Yoga, Hotpoint social photo opps, Monster energy drinks, NutriShop sports nutrition, Feature Sneaker Boutique, beGlammed mobile stylists and the Refined Agency. As for the night’s tunes, do you remember the “Suh Dude” video on Vine? The comic who starred in that viral craze, Tanner Petulla, will be providing the music under his DJ moniker Getter. Known for amassing crowds at EDM festivals around the country, the California-bred artist will provide the blockrocking beats he’s released on the labels of DJ/producers Borgore and Skrillex. Considering that the cost of admission to this swag-fest is $0 for locals, it would be silly to sleep on this one. –John Carr
PHOTOS BY TOBY ACUNA
➜ Partying at a dayclub by
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PARTIES
THE BANK Bellagio
[ UPCOMING ]
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com
PHOTOS BY BOBBY JAMEIDAR
August 11-17, 2016
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Aug. 11 DJ Kid Conrad spins Aug. 12 DJ Que spins Aug. 14 DJ Karma spins
A&E
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Art and music, podcasts and a preview of Psychofest É
New Vegas looks pretty well-used to us.
Fear and Loading in Las Vegas rity correctional center in Jean. When I checked the in-game map, the New California Republic Correctional Facility wasn’t far from Primm. Obsidian did its homework. Comically, the Bison Steve Hotel takes the place of Buffalo Bill’s hotel-casino in New Vegas. Across the street, Vikki and Vance’s Casino and Museum beckons to us. It’s a play off of Whiskey Pete’s, and even features Bonnie and Clyde’s bullet-ravished “death car”—except, in Fallout’s universe, Vikki and Vance were the infamous couple. You can hear all about their history from Primm Slim, the cowboy robot, who reveals that Vikki and Vance weren’t quite as ride-or-die as they seemed. “It was more like a narrow swath of shoplifting, check-cashing fraud and gas pump drive-offs … ” the robot says of the couple’s debauched deeds. Vikki and Vance did go out in a blaze of glory, sort of: They accidentally drove into the middle of a shootout be-
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If you remove the mutated critters called bloatflies and the man-size geckos, Goodsprings is pretty uncanny. The town’s schoolhouse and cemetery make appearances, and the general store sits right beside the Prospector Saloon, a riff on the real-life Pioneer Saloon (which, shoutout, won a spot in Vegas Seven’s 2016 Bar Hall of Fame). The real-life Pioneer even has a framed copy of New Vegas on its wall and a plaque of “Fallout survivors” who have sent in donations. Trekking through the Mojave Desert, we stumble upon Primm Valley, which has seen better days. Where its real-life counterpart is a sprawling oasis of neon, Fallout’s Primm Valley looks as if the marrow’s been sucked out of it. Rubble smolders. Parts of the El Diablo roller coaster, a nod to Primm’s Desperado, once the tallest coaster in the world, dangle. A walk along the leveled tracks takes us into the path of an escaped convict, which is momentarily confusing until you remember that there was a medium-secu-
August 11-17, 2016
➜ SETTING A VIDEO GAME in a real-world location requires a particular formula. Create a city too vast, and the whole thing feels empty. Overpopulate the city, and it overwhelms. It takes time, research and a genuine understanding to create an authentic world, as illustrated by Obsidian Entertainment in 2010 when it remade our town for Fallout: New Vegas. Obsidian added a bit of its own spin to Vegas, but for the most part, it clung tightly to the city’s roots— even when that fidelity bled into the plot. “What could be more Vegas than starting off the game with you getting shot in the head, and buried in the desert?” Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said in a 2012 interview with Kotaku. Indeed, what ever could? Fallout: New Vegas does Las Vegas justice, even when it ventures outside of city limits. Let’s take the tour, shall we? We begin our story in Goodsprings, after getting the hole in our head patched up by Doc Mitchell.
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See your hometown through fresh mutant eyes in Fallout: New Vegas By Amber Sampson
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A&E
At least after the apocalypse, there will be no Slotzilla.
August 11-17, 2016
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tween police and (real) bank robbers. On that day, two legends were born. Craving more adventure, we hop onto Interstate 15 and head to Red Rock Canyon. It’s just as busy in New Vegas as it is in reality. Only here, the visitors are a little less interested in leaving at sunset. The Great Khans, a leather-studded raider gang, govern a fortified base in the middle of the canyon. And oh yeah, there’s a full-blown drug lab operating out of it. It’s here that we convince our Red Rock dwellers to make healing “chems.” And thus, New Vegas’ medical marijuana bill takes flight. When you begin to itch for city life again, it’s easy to take your luck over to the Strip, though it’s not so easy to bring it out again. No one freely comes and goes here. Roided-out ro-
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Red Rock Canyon: Now with chemicals!
bots, known as securitrons, guard the area’s entry points, courtesy of Mr. House. The self-proclaimed president of New Vegas is the reason the Strip is so heavily protected and well maintained. He’s a bit reminiscent of our very own Howard Hughes—even looks a little like him. House lives in the Stratosphere, or in New Vegas terminology, the Lucky 88. It’s a darn good re-creation. You can see the building from outside of the city. Not every hotel on the New Vegas Strip is a nod to our town, but the Gomorrah is tethered to Old Vegas nostalgia. The Persian-themed hotel, while a palace of debauchery, is also loosely based on the Dunes (demolished in 1993, to make way for Bellagio). There’s even a strip club called Brimstone that calls back to the Dunes’
(first-ever) topless show, Minsky’s Follies, and a quest tied to overthrowing, or conspiring with, the mob—which was said to be heavily involved in the operation of the Dunes. Heading farther north, we pass into Freeside, New Vegas’ deteriorated version of Fremont. Upon arrival, a goateed man with a terrible crew cut warns us that Downtown New Vegas isn’t safe, and we might need protection. (At first I brushed him off because pfft, I’ve seen worse in real life Downtown Las Vegas on a Tuesday alone … but just then, a giant, mutated rat galloped across the street. I reconsidered the man’s offer.) Freeside North is all overgrown weeds and sunken rooftops. But Freeside East evokes the beating pulse of DTLV … specifically, its legacy days. There’s an Elvis impersonator school in the neighborhood, with dozens of “Kings” hanging out. Near Freeside’s main entrance are two local staples. The Silver Rush plays off of the Silver Slipper (which stood roughly where Alon is being built, from 1950 to 2009), and it even boasts the same classic sign. But in New Vegas’ universe, the Slipper has been transformed into an energy weapon store. One of the most notable landmarks in Freeside is, of course, the Atomic Wrangler, “where the booze is cheaper, the tables more friendly, and the women are just like the booze,” one corner worker tells me. It’s a warm tribute to the iconic Atomic Liquors. Inside, one finds bottles of absinthe behind the bar (I checked) and the usual suspects: A cowgirl ghoul named Beatrix, an ex-caravan man named
Henry and … Fisto, the sexbot protectron, who is “programmed to please.” Yep. Definitely Downtown Vegas. After many run-ins with radscorpions and jumbo rats, one feels the need to get away for a bit. Mount Charleston is always a safe and proposition-free respite—but in New Vegas, it’s now called Jacobstown, home to a remote lodge full of brawny Super Mutants. But it’s not as dangerous as it seems. Marcus, a super mutant chief, has converted the space into a sanctuary for vulnerable mutants. Schizophrenic giants such as Lily, who refers to herself as “Grandma” and to me as “Pumpkin,” benefit greatly from the mountain life. It’s quite peaceful, when she remembers to take her meds, and doesn’t try to chop up the bighorns in the area with her deadly gardening glove. As we near the end of our tour, there’s still so much to see. There’s Camp McCarran, a still mostly intact airport, now overrun with NCR troops. There’s the game’s version of Black Mountain, which operates as a radio station now instead of just a landmark hiking spot. There’s even a re-creation of the Old Mormon Fort by North Freeside, repurposed as the base of a humanitarian group called the Followers of the Apocalypse. New Vegas is this accurate for a good reason. It’s a product of time, research and genuine understanding. It’s a love letter to our city. We should gladly accept it. To learn about more video games that have featured Las Vegas, go to VegasSeven.com/ PlayVegas.
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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Another Term of The West Wing
Mac Sabbath.
Las Vegas Goes Psycho
August 11-17, 2016
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VegasSeven.com
➜ They may call it the
54
Hard Rock Hotel but, well, it’s been awhile since the place rocked in a way that would make your mom wonder who all these weird-looking people are and your dad to shout at you to turn it down. But the scene will get a bit wilder the last weekend in August when Los Angeles’ Psychofest hits Las Vegas. The lineup has more than 70 acts and will encompass the entire property, from the pool to Vinyl to The Joint. There’s O.G. metal mavens Blue Öyster Cult and drive-thru devil worshippers Mac Sabbath. Sludge-grunge pioneers Mudhoney and 70s punkmetal visionaries Death. Stockholm doom rock outfit Candlemass and Los Angeles stoner rock dudes Fu Manchu. “Alice Cooper is doing an hour-and-a-half performance, full on. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown—I don’t even know the last time he’s been here,” festival producer Evan Hagen says, “I’ve always booked these things because I love it, and it’s all bands I actually like, not ‘This band will sell tickets, let’s put it on.’” Hagen began producing shows about a decade ago. “I didn’t even have a computer, so I’m sending all of the emails from my phone,” he recalls. “I was asking silly things—‘What’s DOS?’ ‘Day of show, dude.’
But finally it kind of took off.” Four years ago, he put together the first Psychofest in California and the event grew larger every year until it finally outgrew its venue—and its state. “I wanted to step up from last year. I didn’t want it to be a parking lot in Orange County,” he says. “I was thinking, where else can I do it besides California?” After considering a few other locations, Sin City won out. “I liked the idea of doing it in a hotel where people can stay in their rooms and party… I’ve always liked this place from back in the day, and it’d be cool to do this rock ‘n’ roll festival at the Hard Rock.” So, for three days, the Hard Rock will be overrun with bands and fans from around the world. Aside from the shows, there will be a screening of awardwinning music documentary, Desert Age, comedy by Brian Posehn, an art show, DJ sets, a Boogie Van Blackjack Tournament with a trickedout van as the grand prize and probably a few things that aren’t on the schedule. “I think not knowing much about something, discovering things on your own, is the way to do it,” Hagen says. “Just show up and let yourself figure it out.” –Lissa Townsend Rodgers
PSYCHOFEST
Aug. 26-28 Hard Rock Hotel, $250, 703-693-5000 PsychoLV.com.
➜ IN THESE DAYS OF CHEAP political discourse, intractable problems and the most dispiriting presidential election in decades, you probably don’t need more reason to revisit The West Wing. But if you haven't dipped back into the stream, a new podcast provides additional incentive. The West Wing Weekly, hosted by later-season star Joshua Malina (Will Bailey) and articulate fanboy Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder, promises to dissect one of the award-winning series’ 156 episodes (which aired on NBC 1999-2006) each week for the next three years. True to their word, through about a dozen episodes, they call bullshit on usually vaunted Aaron Sorkin scripts when they deserve it, resist the temptation to look ahead in the series' arc and note continuity and other errors of set design and wardrobe. Inconsistencies of character, implausibility of plots, instances when the go-to plaintive oboe should have been muted and quirks of casting or character names do not go unnoticed. They point out the green leaves on Washington, D.C.’s trees in a holiday episode, remind us that a governor can’t appoint a congresswoman’s widower to fill the remainder of a term and even speculate why
subtitles don’t match what’s actually spoken. While Malina espouses a strict adherence to the initial script, he notes that other actors pushed for and received more leeway on rewrites in certain episodes. Series regulars, guest stars and even real-life political players are interviewed in the hourlong podcasts, most memorably Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler), who cried while recalling an episode (“In Excelsis Deo”) for which he won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. Schiff said that comedian Eugene Levy almost got what would become a famously dyspeptic role. Dule Hill (Charlie Young) and Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), who
auditioned for the role of press secretary C.J. Craig, have also added insight. Sometimes one of the hosts comes around to admit an episode is not all that. Or one sways the other with a nuanced appreciation that lends heft to what at first appears to be a drab episode. Through it all, their respect for the acclaimed series is evident and their clear-eyed criticism enlightening. The West Wing proved both educational and inspiring, sometimes prescient and often optimistic—qualities in short supply in the current political arena. The administration of President Bartlet lives on The West Wing Weekly.
be. Good ➜ For most people, a day off is just a
day to kick back. But for many of the performers in Las Vegas, it’s a chance to give back. That’s the idea behind be. It's an evening of art to benefit Safe Nest, a charity that supports victims of domestic violence. There will be a silent auction, followed by performances from cast members of Blue Man Group, Absinthe and KÀ, as well as the MOLODI Live ensemble and many others. It’s a good time for a good cause.
PHILANTHROPY ENT PRESENTS BE.
August 12, 6:30 p.m., Nicholas J. Horn Theater at CSN, 3200 Cheyenne Ave. $30, 702-6515483, brownpapertickets.com.
MAC SABBATH BY ALEX ANDER ZAYAS
A&E
A podcast celebrates and dissects the political TV show By Paul Szydelko
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