Boulder Weekly 2.17.2022

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What’s really happening with Nederland’s Caribou Mine? by Will Brendza ■ How the ‘grass’ grew, p. 16

■ The Weather Station on climate change, p. 19

■ Breweries get collaborative, p. 33

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cover:

Tensions between Nederland and a mysterious mining company have escalated since CDPHE issued a cease and desist

by Will Brendza

buzz:

Legendary pickers relate how Colorado spawned jamgrass music in a new oral history

by John Lehndorff

overtones:

On The Weather Station’s upcoming album, he Canadian singer-songwriter ‘peels away denial’ in a return to a rawer aesthetic

by Caitlin Rockett

16 19

film:

26

altered states:

37

Breaking down the 94th Academy Award nominations

by Michael J. Casey

North Boulder’s Light Club offers nonmedical relief for modern stressors

by Katie Rhodes

departments 5 12 20 27 28 29 30 35 38

Anderson Files: Ukraine crisis: fascist menace and a looming war News Briefs: New City eviction report and first-in-the-nation electric compost truck Events: What to do when there’s nothing to do . . .

Words: The gift inside, by Steve Elder Astrology: by Rob Brezsny Savage Love: Quickies Nibbles: Once you go local and farm-fresh, you’ll never go back to store-bought eggs Food & Drink: Classic burger @ Meta Burger Weed Between the Lines: Will outrageous taxes crush the legal cannabis market?

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Caitlin Rockett Senior Editor, Emma Athena News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Contributing Writers: Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Angela K. Evans, Jim Hightower, Jodi Hausen, Karlie Huckels, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Sara McCrea, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Katie Rhodes, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer

February 17, 2022 Volume XXIX, Number 24 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism, and thought-provoking opinion writing.

Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2021 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

Ukraine crisis: fascist menace and a looming war

by Dave Anderson

O

n Jan. 30, the Congress of Russian Intellectuals published an open letter demanding that the Kremlin avoid starting an “immoral, irresponsible, and criminal” war against Ukraine. It was signed by thousands, including prominent human rights advocates, scientists, journalists and politicians.

Its authors accuse Russia’s leadership of “deceiving and using people” by promoting “only one point of view” on state-run media: “the idea of a holy war with the West instead of developing the country and raising the standard of living of its citizens.”

They say, “Nobody is threatening us, nobody is attacking us.” They decry the lack of public discussion and

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say that the Russian people will pay “a huge and bloody price” if there is a war.

I am writing this on Sunday, Feb. 13. More than half of Russia’s armed forces are surrounding Ukraine.

Maybe this is a bluff or some political ploy.

Putin insists that he has only peaceful intentions.

Maybe those troops will be break dancing and singing “Give Peace A Chance” when you are reading this.

This is a highly dangerous moment. Republican and Democratic hawks are saying that Biden is “weak” on Putin. However, on the far right, Tucker Carlson of Fox News is basically echoing Putin’s perspective. This is important since Carlson is U.S.’s most watched prime time cable TV host.

Carlson says America’s real enemy is China, not Russia. He is in love with Putin ally Viktor Orban, Hungary’s authoritarian, ethno-nationalist and

see THE ANDERSON FILES Page 6

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THE ANDERSON FILES from Page 5

theocratic prime minister. Carlson considers Hungary to be a model for America’s future.

Some lefties consider far rightists like Carlson to be allies. You can have strange bedfellows in politics but you have to be careful. Matt Duss, a foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), told Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent, “Tucker’s argument against escalation is essentially based on the idea that Ukrainian lives don’t matter.” Duss said progressives “are wary of military escalation” but they support using other “policy approaches and tools” to constrain Putin because “Ukrainian lives do matter.”

Carlson feels that Putin is an ally in a far right international alliance. As Duss puts it, “In the Carlson-MAGA worldview, Putin is an avatar of white Christian nationalism.”

Most far-right European parties support Putin. Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally (formerly National Front) endorsed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and today believes that Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence.

Putin’s party, United Russia, is ultra-conservative.Years ago, RT, the Russian-government sponsored news outlet, reported: “Having called themselves ‘conservatives,’ the members of United Russia have simply determined their place as a right-wing party,” political scientist Dmitry Travin said.

That means that they are “politicians who defend values of the market economy based on national traditions,” Rosbalt news agency quoted him as saying.

“At the same time, they are not staunch defenders of freedom as liberals, and they are not followers of egalitarianism as social democrats,” he said.

A recent U.S. intelligence community assessment obtained by Yahoo News concluded that the Russian government is providing “indirect and

passive support” to violent neo-fascist groups operating in the U.S. and Europe.

The neo-fascist Russian Imperial Movement has fought in Ukraine.

The U.S. State Department designated the organization as a terrorist group in April 2020.

Another Russian neo-fascist group, Rusich Reconnaissance and Sabotage Group, sent members to fight in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015, according to the document.

According to New America Foundation, Rusich is closely aligned with Russia’s mercenary corporation Wagner Group.

This organization is Putin-adjacent but ostensibly a private company.

Rusich recently hinted on social media that it plans to return to eastern Ukraine.

Putin-friendly media emphasize Ukraine’s far right nationalists.

Indeed, they played a big role in the Maidan protest of 2014 but their power has greatly diminished. The far right parties are now electorally insignificant. That can’t be said of Germany, France or Russia.

According to Transparency International, Ukraine is very corrupt. But it is improving and it is better than Russia. Ukraine’s political system isn’t very democratic, but since 2014 they have voted incumbent presidents out of office every time. That is better than Russia.

We need to prevent “what could be the worst European war in over 75 years,” Bernie Sanders told the Senate recently. He said Putin is “most responsible” for creating the crisis, but that the U.S. is hypocritical to ignore Russia’s security concerns. However, Sanders also said it is “unacceptable” that Putin now threatens to take over all of Ukraine and destroy its independence and fragile democracy.

WE NEED TO PREVENT

what could be the worst European war in over 75 years.

—Bernie Sanders

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This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

REMEMBER THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BLACK AND LATINO CITIZENS Although February is officially Black History Month, Americans should not forget the enormous contribution of our Latino brothers and sisters to the fight for American independence. At Valley Forge, American soldiers were freezing in the winter cold because they had no winter clothes, were often barefoot without shoes, and were without adequate food. Because silver from the Mexican mines had not arrived in Havana to remedy the severe situation of the American army at Valley Forge, our ally, the Spanish government, asked the Cuban people of Havana for contributions to help the American soldiers. In six hours, especially patriotic Cuban ladies groups donated over one million silver pesos to the distressed American Army by pawning their diamond bracelets and jewelry, repeatedly shouting, “the sons of American mothers shall not be slaves of the British,” thereby saving Washington’s Continental Army and ultimately American independence. Later, 27 Cuban males and one Cuban female lent the combined American and French forces 500,000 silver pesos to fund our final victory over the British Army at Yorktown, resulting in the independence of our great American l

nation. Latinos such as the Puerto Rican soldiers helped George Washington’s fight for American independence by capturing the city of Pensacola. Although far to the west at least 500 Mexican recruits were brought to help the Spanish forces, our American allies, capture population centers such as Natchez and Baton Rouge. The great contribution of Latinos for the independence and freedom of our great land, the United States of America, is not well known because their role was mostly with our Spanish allies.

All Americans should remember the critical role of Blacks and Latinos in establishing our great country, a beacon of freedom, equality and human dignity to all mankind.

Stewart E. Brekke/Downers Grove, Illinois BILLIONAIRES AND THE RADICAL RIGHT As we begin to enter the 2022 midterm elections, I want you to pay attention to something which will receive very little attention from the “conservative-Republican” news media as well as the “liberal/progressive Democratic” news media. It began around 1980 with the emergence and growth of right-wing “think-tanks” and “policy see LETTERS Page 7

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Boulder Weekly Market

LETTERS from Page 6

institutes,” which are in reality right-wing propaganda mills and factories. What also emerged at this time was the increasing involvement of billionaires into Republican Party national politics. This is expertly detailed and described in the best book which I have ever seen written on the topic of politics—a book written by Jane Mayer titled Dark Money: The Hidden History Of The Billionaires Behind The Rise Of The Radical Right. Mayer has won more than 12 awards and prizes in and for journalism. To my knowledge, no one has ever been able to successfully refute anything that Mayer says in her book. Please check out the reviews of it online.

What I take the most from her book is that today’s conservative-Republicans have become much more in favor of wanting to abolish every single federal government social program that helps the middle classes and lower classes (99% of us), including Social Security. This is especially true of the Republicans in the U.S. Congress.

However they will never admit to it because they know that most Republican voters do not want the programs to be abolished.

Stewart B. Epstein/Rochester, New York MEAT IS MURDER With China including cultivated meat in its latest five-year agricultural plan, the United States should make sure it isn’t left behind by investing heavily into cellular-agriculture development. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter.

It’s better for animals, the environment and our health.

“This nationwide strategic initiative could accelerate the country’s regulatory timeline for cultivated meat, drive more research and investment into the alternative protein industry and fuel broader consumer acceptance of these products,” said Josh Tetrick, the CEO of food-technology company Eat Just. “In short, this is one of—if not the most—important policy actions in the history of alternative proteins.”

Our legislators should sup-

port increased federal funding for cultivated-meat research. This will help bring these revolutionary products to market faster at a competitive price with slaughtered meat. In order to reduce the suffering we inflict on animals, our greenhouse-gas emissions, and our pandemic risk, we have to keep pace with China.

Jon Hochschartner/Graby, Connecticut THE PUBLIC IS ENTITLED TO ANSWERS I submit this as an open letter to Boulder PD regarding the JonBenét Ramsey case in response to the press release (bouldercolorado. gov/jonbenet-ramsey-homicide).

Given it is still considered an “active” case, I think the public are entitled to answers to these questions and clarification would in no way compromise an investigation.

1) Do the letters and affidavits written by two former District Attorneys, apparently exonerating the Ramsey family, influence the ongoing investigation? Has the evidence which brought indictments against John Ramsey been quashed? Is that evidence still an important aspect in solving this case?

2) Does Boulder PD consider the DNA sample previously labeled “Unknown Male 1” to be single-source or does it agree with the findings of BODE that the sample is “likely composite”? Can you reassure the public that this DNA sample is of sufficient quality, is of a single source and that it meets all current legal requirements and regulations?

3) Should a DNA match be found, has Boulder PD considered the ramifications of prosecuting the case, given the case history?

Will handwriting samples, proof of entry and exit, and other evidence of an intruder’s alleged presence in the property, be required to pursue a case? Are you now at odds with the 1999 Grand Jury which saw no evidence of an intruder entering the house? What information other than tiny, trace DNA do you have to suggest an intruder entered the house that night?

Bruce Thompson/Boulder

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Digging for the truth Tensions between Nederland and a mysterious mining company have escalated since the state ordered the mine to cease and desist

FACING PAGE: A tailings pipe discharges wastewater from a mine.

by Will Brendza

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wastewater flowing from Caribou Mine was diminishing every year, and Tom Hendrix, long-time mine operator and president of Grand Island Resources LLC (GIR), knew what that meant.

The dilapidated Idaho Tunnel, running under Caribou Road just outside of Nederland, needed to be excavated and shored up to unobstruct the groundwater flow.

At the time, GIR was in the process of updating the infrastructure of Caribou Mine and Cross Mine, both located five miles northwest of Nederland. GIR, with Hendrix at the helm, contracted a mine servicing company to clear the tunnel and fix the groundwater discharge problems. According to a timeline provided by GIR, the contractor made a critical mistake: in mid-December, they started using heaters to warm the rock for easier extraction. Overnight, the ground weakened catastrophically and the tunnel collapsed.

As a result, outside of the mine, the tailings pipe that discharges Caribou mine’s wastewater into settling ponds slowed from a trickle to a drip.

That was the moment when problems between the Town of Nederland and GIR began. When the tunnel collapsed and Caribou’s discharge was cut off, the quality of water flowing from Cross and Caribou’s tailings ponds into Coon Creek Track changed. Then, in November of 2021, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued GIR a cease and desist order citing 11 water-quality violations at the mine—and tensions between GIR and the Town of Nederland started

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ABOVE: The Town of Nederland is home to Caribou Mine and Cross Mine, which are currently operated by Grand Island Resources.

spiraling out of control.

Deb D’Andrea lives on Caribou Road a few miles down from the mines and next to Beaver Creek, into which Coon Creek Track directly feeds. “[GIR] is looking to expand,” she says. “I’m concerned about what that means.”

“I hope [GIR is] very open with the residents of Nederland about what’s going on and shares the [water treatment] data,” says Kirstopher Larsen, Nederland’s mayor, referencing a new water treatment system GIR recetly finished installing. “Whatever is happening up there, people are going to make assumptions.”

Small towns are rumor mills, Larsen says. And this situation has already generated a lot of rumors. So many that in January, GIR threatened Mayor Larsen and the Town of Nederland’s Board of Trustees with a half-billion dollar ($500,000,000) slander and libel lawsuit. Which, understandably, freaked out the entire town.

In a February 2022 letter to the editor of Nederland’s The Mountain Ear, GIR’s current president, Daniel Takami, addressed those rumors: “There has never been a valid reason in the 50-year modern history of the mine for someone in Nederland or Boulder to fear for their health due to mine water management. Instead, discussion of the mine’s violations is being driven by individuals who are spreading misinformation about the real and potential harm.”

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

Following the collapse of Idaho Tunnel in December 2020, l

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an unexpected and tragic twist complicated matters. On Jan. 6, 2021, Tom Hendrix, the beloved local who had operated Caribou and Cross mines since the ’70s—“Miner Tom”—died, leaving the Town of Nederland to contend directly with GIR. “Everyone in our town pretty much knew Tom Hendrix. He was a staple of our community for decades,” Larsen says. “He was very open with working with the mining museum here in town, working with the miners and the heritage days that we had for many years, giving tours of his mine to students.”

Hendrix was something of a local celebrity. When he acquired claims for Cross and Caribou mines in the 1970s, they were already over 100 years old, though they’d sat unused since 1905. With a pick-ax and headlamp, Hendrix restarted the mines himself and in the following decades, his reputation for environmentally responsible hard-rock mining became legendary around the area. Hendricks’ mantra hung over the entrance to Caribou Mine: “Mining with respect for the environment.”

The Hendrix Mining Company (HMC) began to build safe and environmentally cautious mining operations at the two mines in 1974. But 43 years later, as HMC’s equipment and systems became outdated and obsolete, GIR stepped into the picture. Sometime in 2017, the company approached Hendrix with a proposition to help him continue operations and subsequently appointed him as its first president.

But who is Grand Island Resources LLC? Where did it come from? And what does it do?

No one really seems to know the answer to that first question—not even Ed Byrne, GIR’s lawyer, who declined to be quoted directly, but provided Boulder Weekly with some background information.

As to where GIR came from, it was first registered as a foreign LLC in May of 2017 in Wyoming (however, the company’s listed address is 4415 Caribou Road, P.O. Box 3395 Nederland). Today, five years after registering as an LLC, GIR still has no website. No public description of what it does as a company or what its mission is exists online. And no one BW spoke with knew how GIR had come into contact with Tom Hendricks in the first place.

What we do know is that after appointing Hendrix as president, GIR got to work revamping Caribou and Cross mines’ aging infrastructure. The company brought in significant resources including modern equipment, lots of capital and a vision to turn the small-time mining operation into something much larger and better supported.

“Grand Island Resources worked with Hendricks until his passing in January 2020 to transition to be the new operator,” Takami, who took over as GIR president after Hendrix, wrote in his February 2022 letter to the editor in The Mountain Ear. “Hendricks knew we were committed to carrying on his legacy of responsible mining with the utmost respect for Boulder County’s land, water and people.”

As Byrne explains, GIR’s mission addresses a perplexing environmental problem: it’s often hard (or impossible) to find the responsible parties behind many of the inactive mining sites containing toxic tailings waste, scattered across U.S. public lands. There also isn’t enough Superfund money for the EPA to effectively identify and clean up all of those legacy sites on their own.

GIR’s whole model will circumvent that hurdle. Using private capital to buy fallow and/or declining mines on public land, the company updates and improves infrastructure, extracts remaining resources from waste rock already present on-site, processes materials in on-site ore mills, and ultimately fills the mines with a leftover rock slurry and seals them up forever.

As such, GIR’s plan for Cross and Caribou mines requires BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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expansion. GIR aims to build a new ore processing facility at the mines, a septic system and a road connecting the two nearby mining sites, according to Byrne. That will take several years to complete and will require transporting construction trucks and equipment to the mine sites. Residents are concerned about the traffic that will create in Nederland and how the operation will affect the normally quiet neighborhood along Caribou Road. Nevertheless, GIR already has the permit to build the ore-processing facility and plans to proceed (more on that later).

Cross and Caribou mines are essentially GIR’s pilot projects, according to Byrne. The company was testing its model and wasn’t yet ready to go public, he says; which is why GIR still doesn’t have a presence online. But when the Idaho Tunnel collapsed, threatening Caribou Road, the company jumped into emergency mode to repair damages and mitigate future danger.

Then Miner Tom died, and GIR’s liaison (and local connection) to Nederland was gone.

GIR pressed forward: pumping resources into Idaho Tunnel’s rehabilitation and fixing Caribou Mine’s water discharge pipelines.

As documents provided by GIR explain, Hendrix had succeeded in meeting water quality standards without the need for extra treatment by blending the discharge from Caribou and Cross mines.

It was the discharge water from Cross Mine that posed the problem. Normally, Cross’ discharge water was diluted in the settling ponds by Caribou’s much cleaner discharge water. After filtering through the treatment ponds, the water would then be released into Coon Creek Track—a drainage almost entirely fed by the mines.

GIR says by spring of 2020 they were aware that Cross’ water was violating state discharge standards. And according to a timeline the company provided, it was GIR that contacted and got CDPHE and the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety involved.

Six months later, in October 2021, GIR received the cease and desist from the CDPHE, which was followed in early November by a “notice of violation” from the Water Quality Control Division.

More than 400 tests conducted by GIR over a 20-month period had showed 11 aquatic life water quality violations. For each of the multiple violations, and for failing to report the test results, CDPHE threatened GIR with fines adding up to $54,833 per day, according see MINING Page 10

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MINING from Page 9

to the Colorado Sun. (Though Takami wrote in one of his op-eds to The Mountain Ear that the state only ended up fining GIR $5,000.)

“A notice of violation is one of the most serious actions we take, and I think this shows that we really are committed to protecting the resource up there,” Kelly Morgan, a CDPHE environmental protection specialist, told the Colorado Sun in the Nov. 30, 2021 article that broke the story on GIR’s cease and desist. “This is a big deal to us.”

GIR responded to the CDPHE’s order, explaining that they’d already been working to resolve the issue and “replace the last 50 years of antiquated and obsolete water purification methods and treatments.” At the time, GIR was finishing the installation of a brand new state-ofthe-art $150,000 water treatment system to replace the outdated one.

Deb D’Andrea read the Sun’s article and the news surprised her. She says it was the first that she and many other residents had heard about any such water-quality violations happening in their backyard. It took people off guard, she says.

“I don’t know anything about mining, so reading the cease and desist and the newspaper articles, it was just like, ‘Holy crap.’” D’Andrea says. “We were sort of like, ‘Well, why didn’t anybody reach out and let us know as people who live along the creek?’”

As a community, Nederland is very environmentally conscious. This past summer the Board of Trustees passed Nederland’s “Rights of Nature for Middle Boulder Creek” policy, declaring that the creek itself has rights that need protecting. So, naturally, when the residents of Nederland learned that the mine above their town was violating state water quality standards, there was a sense of nervousness from some, outrage from others.

By December 2021, the very private resource extraction company suddenly had a giant spotlight on it. The rumor mill, as described by Mayor Larsen, went into overdrive: speculation started swirling.

Concerns about the town’s drinking water were aired.

Fliers making radical (and patently false) accusations against GIR were posted around Nederland, and even in Boulder. Confusion mounted, and with it, tension between the mine and the Town grew. “[Residents] came to us asking, ‘Hey, what’s going on? We want to know the history of it. We want to know what the current violations mean and what the next steps are,’” Larsen says. “It’s a huge regret I have, on my part, that I never took [Hendrix’s offer] to tour the mine with him, because he was a huge part of our community. And, you know, he passed away and then Grand Island Resources took over

the mine and its operations.”

The Town’s Board of Trustees contacted the Boulder County Commissioners and the county planning office, requesting an explanation for the situation and subsequently organizing a “public information session” for Jan. 25, 2022.

“It was just us facilitating a chance for residents of the area to talk to the County,” Larsen says. However, in the wake of so much speculation and rumor, GIR was unhappy about being left out of the meeting.

“That’s what prompted the letter.”

Dated Jan. 9, 2022, the letter Larsen references was from Byrne (representing GIR) and addressed to Larsen and Nederland’s Board of Trustees.

“We have become increasingly concerned by the tone of the rhetoric and the false and misleading statements being made by members of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Nederland,” the letter states. “If successful, this quickly organized and orchestrated campaign, which constitutes actionable corporate disparagement, libel and slander, could result in damages in excess of Five Hundred Million Dollars ($500,000,000.00).”

When D’Andrea learned about the demand letter and the threat of a half-billion dollar lawsuit, she was shocked again.

“Being so litigious doesn’t make you look like a good neighbor,” D’Andrea says. “When the violations first started they should have let people know, versus letting us find out about it in a newspaper article. That would have set a different tone.”

She and other residents say they felt as though the letter was meant to scare people into silence. And in a sense, it has. Things went noticeably quiet surrounding this story following that letter—in Nederland at least.

In Boulder, word had spread about GIR’s aquatic life water quality violations. Coon Creek Track doesn’t flow into Nederland’s water storage, but it does drain into Barker Reservoir, from which Boulder gets 40% of its drinking water. So, on Jan. 14, the City of Boulder sent a letter to the CDPHE and the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety urging them to uphold their cease and desist order and deny GIR’s application for expansion permits, citing “significant violations of GIR’s discharge permit (CO0032751), a pattern of lack of transparency, and GIR’s failure to communicate critical issues.”

In May 2020, for example, mine effluent cadmium levels exceeded the allowable limit under GIR’s permit by 223% and lead levels exceeded the limit by 176%, the letter alleges. “Such violations are of particular concern in ephemeral streams such as Coon Track Creek where ine discharge can comprise 100% of the

“BEING SO LITIGIOUS doesn’t make

you look like a good neighbor. When the violations first started they should have let people know, versus letting us find out about it in a newspaper article. That would have set a different tone.”

—Deb D’Andrea, Nederland local

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streamflow at certain times of year.”

Those are significant exceedances by almost any standard. But Ed Byrne says context is critical here: Those changes are measured in parts-per-billion, he points out. Yes, cadmium and lead exceeded permitted limits by 223% and 176% respectively—but even that difference is so small it’s still not of concern to humans according to state standards for drinking water. Too, these 400 tests were conducted over 20 months with only 11 exceeding aquatic life standards. Which, Byrne explains, are much stricter than standards for drinking water.

“Let’s be perfectly clear:” Takami wrote in his Mountain Ear op-ed. “No Colorado drinking water, livestock water, or agricultural irrigation standards for compounds in water were ever exceeded in our surface water discharge.”

Meghan Wilson, the City of Boulder’s water quality and environmental services manager, acknowledges that—but says the City won’t be letting its guard down.

“We have not been able to discern any changes in water quality and Barker Reservoir as a result of these violations. However, we are concerned about it because [GIR has] violated their permit multiple times,” Wilson says. “So our letter [to CDPHE] really is a precaution and we remain concerned.”

Back in Nederland, on Jan. 25 when the town held its public information session, Takami and several other GIR representatives were in attendance. After the County explained the situation from its perspective, Takami was given a chance to speak. He declined to answer questions, but did address the community, repeating much of what he had already written in published letters.

Following that public information session, Larsen says he hasn’t had any direct contact with Takami or anyone from GIR. Takami’s most recent letter to the editor of The Mountain Ear was published Feb. 3, 2022, which was the last public statement made by the company or anyone associated with it as of this writing.

“Recent tests of our new water treatment system indicate we are now in full compliance with the very stringent aquatic life water quality standards. The Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) has determined Grand Island Resources has made ‘good faith efforts’ to put a new treatment system in place and resolve any issues,” Takami writes in the letter.

Thus far, Takami says GIR has spent $4.1 million and 20,000 man hours fixing the Idaho Tunnel collapse and subsequent water discharge violations.

“We’ve seen the effects of what happens if mines are just abandoned and left,” Larsen says. If a company like GIR can update mines like Caribou and Cross, fund clean-up operations and provide better services than what the EPA is currently offering, it would not only be an enormous benefit to the community, but for the entire state and even the nation.

“I think that would be incredible,” Larsen says.

“I am looking forward to seeing the data [from their new water treatment system], though.”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

A year after program launch, City releases first report on Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Services

A

fter voters passed the No Eviction Without Representation (NEWR) measure in November 2020 (59%-41%), the City of Boulder launched in January 2021 the Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Services (EPRAS) program to provide legal, financial and educational support to community members facing potential evictions.

Funded via an excise tax that landlords now pay on each property they operate with a rental license, EPRAS is designed to minimize or avoid the traumas associated with eviction and help people stay housed—the most effective way for a community to prevent and reduce rates of homelessness, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

A Feb. 7 report summarizes the program’s first year of work.

In short, the number of eviction filings in Boulder’s courthouse in 2020 and 2021 (392 and 557, respectively) were far lower than the 1,000 it saw on average in years prior. This reduction, however, is likely due to the temporary, pandemic-induced eviction moratoriums and financial support provided by state and federal governments. The report shows eviction filings began increasing once protections and provisions expired “and are now in line with pre-pandemic levels,” it states. “As we enter 2022, we expect a return to typical rates of eviction.”

EPRAS’ biggest successes of the year might lie in having grown its visibility across the community and continuing to flesh-out the program’s multiple service facets. The five-member Tenant Advisory Committee was seated and began quarterly meetings, according to the report, and 390 tenants contacted EPRAS to access services before or at court. When observing eviction proceedings in court, an EPRAS team was able to reach 68 tenants on the eviction docket and connect them with services. Since July 2021, $168,536 in rental assistance has been distributed to 82 households.

Looking ahead, EPRAS’ goals include streamlining intake forms, implementing follow-up surveys, and compiling and publishing more outcome data.

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FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Way to Go out Green, Your Grace!

Eco-Cycle welcomes the nation’s first electric compost truck

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African anti-apartheid activist winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace, chose earth-friendly water cremation (alkaline hydrolysis) for his body at death.

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t’s a Mack LR Electric—a boxy cab with a giant windshield joined to its large compost-collecting receptacle in the back—and it runs on four fast-charging lithium-ion batteries that produce neither exhaust emissions nor noise. When you see the collection truck quietly rolling from street to street, picking up and emptying compost recepticles across Boulder County, say hello to the U.S.’s first electric compost truck.

“This is the start of something very special,” Gov. Jared Polis said at the Feb. 10 press conference Eco-Cycle hosted to introduce the new truck, which will join Eco-Cyce’s fleet of compost collectors in Boulder County this summer.

KAY BEATON According to the County, about 20% of its waste stream is plant trimmings and fruit and vegetable scraps, which can be recycled as compost. As a natural process of decomposition, composting creates high-quality soil amendments and reduces pressure on our landfills by diverting organic materials elsewhere.

In the early 2000s, Boulder and Eco-Cycle collaborated to become one of the U.S.’s first municipalities to provide residential communities with curbside recycling services. “It’s only fitting Eco-Cycle would bring us yet another first,” City of Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett said to the crowd.

“Moving people and things is our planet’s fast-growing energy-based source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” Mayor Brockett said. “So every single conversion like this helps in Boulder’s and the broad progress toward our aggressive clean energy and climate goals.”

As of October 2021, the city’s goals are to reduce GHG emissions 70% by 2030 against a 2018 baseline; become a net-zero city by 2035; and become a carbon-positive city by 2040.

In 2019, transportation had overtaken all other sources as the City’s largest contributor to GHG emissions, then accounting for about 41% of the city’s gaseous output. But in 2020, when the pandemic kept people at home and induced lockdowns, transportation emissions drastically fell from 718,452 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 451,104 metric tons—or 22% emissions reduction against the newly set 2018 baseline.

“While this reduction appears to convey significant progress towards the city’s climate targets, the results for the year 2020 should be taken within the context that this was an extraordinary year and may not reflect persistent progress towards the city’s goals,” the City’s Community GHG Dashboard states.

Moving to electrify commercial fleets and continue reducing transportations’ contributions to GHG emissions “aligns deeply with the City of Boulder’s mission, vision and climate goals,” Mayor Brockett said.

The electrification of vehicles is also a major component of Gov. Polis’ plan to drastically cut GHG pollution across all of Colorado, as transportation recently became the state’s largest source of GHG emissions, too, according to the Colorado Energy Office’s 2021 “Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap.” The state’s emission-reduction goals are set against a 2005 baseline: 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050.

Late last year, Polis included monies to electrify the state’s fleet of school buses in his $40 billion state budget proposal, which the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee will hear and vote on this spring.

“Colorado has long been a national leader in reducing emissions,” Gov. Polis said to a clapping Boulder County crowd, yet acknowledged more work is needed: “The clock is ticking.”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Archbishop Tutu died December 26, 2021.

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HANS LEHNDORFF

W

hen Sam Bush takes the Boulder Theater stage on Feb. 20, he will be coming back to his musical second home. With the groundbreaking New Grass Revival, the mandolin legend first played Boulder shows in the late 1970s. Local fans were immediately wowed by the new hybrid of jazzy, bluegrass-y rock music the band played.

Whether it was labeled “newgrass,” “progressive bluegrass” or eventually “jamgrass,” Colorado sipped the Kool-Aid and birthed a bevy of bands including Leftover Salmon, The String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band.

How this state became the unlikely epicenter of an American music genre is celebrated in High on a Mountain—An Oral History of Jamgrass in Colorado, a new book by veteran Denver author, journalist and musician Nick Hutchinson.

As Sam Bush told Hutchinson: “When we got to Telluride for the first time and we looked out from the stage there, we felt like, ‘Wow, this audience is just like the country out here—wide open and ready.’”

How the ‘grass’ grew

Legendary pickers relate how Colorado spawned jamgrass music in a new oral history

by John Lehndorff

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FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Cover that ‘jammy’ music

ON THE SHELF: High on a Mountain is available at: store.bookbaby.com ABOVE: Generations of

Nick Hutchinson jamgrass mandolinists says he first heard onstage at Telluride include, the “J” word when from right, Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Sarah Jarosz and he started writing Drew Emmitt. about music for local publications. “They FACING PAGE: Billy knew I was a DeadStrings’ first appearance at head, so I became Rockygrass. that guy if a band came to town that fit somewhere in that ‘jammy’ category. I was covering a lot of jam bands like Phish and a lot of local acoustic bands, and they converged. This was the music I absolutely wanted to write about,” he says. Hutchinson’s writing has appeared in Relix, Westword and at jambase.com, and he also penned the book Channeling Jerry: How the Music Plays his Fans.

What Hutchinson noticed is that even though jamgrass was a significant American musical genre whose roots branched back more than half a century, nobody had written a book about it.

High on a Mountain takes its name from the Olla Belle Reed tune made popular by Hot Rize and later Del McCoury. “The book was an exploration for me to answer these questions I had about the music,” Hutchinson says.

For the volume, Hutchinson interviewed the musicians who instigated and propagated the

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

genre, including Peter Rowan—“a gem!”—plus “It was like-minded people coming together.

Vince Herman, Tim O’Brien, Billy Strings and Phil The musicians weren’t all from the same place but Hoffman, as well as Planet Bluegrass head Craig they were on the same page musically. ColoraFerguson. They tell the tale of a half century of do’s one of those places where that can happen,” high-altitude music.

Hutchinson says.

Should we just call it “metagrass?”

Like any good oral history, High on a Mountain is chockablock with spirited disagreements about The consensus torchbearer for jamgrass is the the name of the genre, its origins and instrumenremarkable guitarist, singer and bandleader Billy tation.

Strings. The genre continues to be invigorated by “I don’t think people even like the term new local musicians and bands including Trout (jamgrass). . . It’s still not my favorite expression, Steak Revival, Bowregard, Woodbelly, Meadow but everyone knows what it is,” Ben Kaufmann, Mountain and The Railsplitters bassist for Boulder’s Yonder Mountain String Band, All along there was one thing missing from told Hutchinson. jamgrass, as it had been missing in bluegrass: “I safely try to call it ‘grass music.’ That term Women. Except for a handful of singers and encompasses jamgrass, bluegrass, prog-grass, musicians, women have rarely been seen on these classical grass and Dawg music,” Hutchinson says. stages in Telluride, Lyons, Red Rocks and Boulder.

No matter what it is labeled, the musicians do Gradually, the grass ceiling is being shattered. agree on the origins of grass music in traditional Pioneers like Alison Krauss and Alison Brown have bluegrass and its intersection with rock JOHN LEHNDORFF and jazz.

Early innovators included The Dillards, The Country Gentlemen, Bluegrass Album Band, Country Cooking, Seatrain, and J.D. Crowe & The New South, who led to Old & In the Way, the David Grisman Quartet, Hot Rize and New Grass Revival.

All the music was built around elevated musicianship, an open mind and a willingness to stretch out in an instrumental conversation. In other words, they started jamming in the 1960s. “It wasn’t called jamgrass, but it existed,” Peter Wernick—“Dr. Banjo” of Hot Rize—told Hutchinson.

Hutchinson interviewed the Niwot-based Wernick twice for the book and praises him as a “living encyclopedia.”

“He was there at so many pivotal moments in the development of this music,” been joined by exceptional musicians including Hutchinson says.

Sarah Jarosz, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull and Becky It may have many origination points and parBuller in undoing the boys’ club. ents, but almost everyone interviewed in High on a Jamgrass has often been ridiculed and disMountain agrees that jamgrass music as we know missed, but its triumph in Colorado is obvious. The it was forged in Telluride. On the heels of Woodproof is in the booking. The coming months are jam stock, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival became the packed with local concerts by Bush, Tuttle, Yonder nexus for several generations of progressive bands Mountain String Band, Infamous Stringdusters, Billy and the template for festivals nationally.

Strings, Railroad Earth and Punch Brothers, plus all “It started with John Hartford and New Grass the famous festivals.

Revival who loosened things up. They set the “(The jamgrass bands) keep the music alive stage for bands like Leftover Salmon, who called and well. It’s exciting to think what the next iteration it ‘polyethnic Cajun slamgrass.’ Jamgrass started will be,” Tim O’Brien told Hutchinson. bubbling up with Salmon and String Cheese. They John Lehndorff has written about bluegrass had drums and more electric instruments,” Hutchinmusic in Colorado since the late 1970s and covson says.

In the process, a hard-to-access outlaw town in ered the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for 30 years. a Colorado mountain valley, along with Lyons, Boul- He contributed a personal account of the early days der, Nederland and Crested Butte, became hotbeds of Colorado jamgrass to ‘High on a Mountain.’ of progressive music in its myriad mutations.

Quintissential Jamgrass songs

Jamgrass: The next generation

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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FEBRUARY 17, 2022

1. “HOLDING” — John Hartford 2. “MIDNIGHT MOONLIGHT”— Peter Rowan (June 16-19, Telluride; July 2931, Rockygrass) 3. “REVIVAL”— New Grass Revival (Sam Bush, Feb. 20, Boulder Theater; June 16-19, Telluride; July 29-31, Rockygrass; Bela Fleck, June 16-19, Telluride) 4. “KEEP YOUR LAMP TRIMMED AND BURNING”— Hot Rize (July 29-31, Rockygrass) 5. “BOOGIE GRASS BAND”— Leftover Salmon 6. “DAMNED IF THE RIGHT ONE DIDN’T GO WRONG”— Yonder Mountain String Band (Feb. 25-27 Steamboat Springs, July 29-31, Rockygrass) 7. “BLACK CLOUDS”— The String Cheese Incident 8. “A HARD LIFE MAKES A GOOD SONG”— The Infamous Stringdusters (March 24, Aspen; March 25- 26 Frisco; March 27-28 Telluride; May 26, Red Rocks) 9. “GROW TOGETHER”— Greensky Bluegrass (June 16-19 Telluride) 10. “HOME”— Billy Strings (May 12-13, Red Rocks; May 14, Denver)

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FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BRENDAN KO

How should Tamara Lindeman look at the stars?

ON THE BILL: The Weather Station with Helena Deland. 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver.

Tickets: $20, globehall.com

On The Weather Station’s upcoming album, the Canadian singer-songwriter ‘peels away denial’ in a return to a rawer aesthetic

by Caitlin Rockett

T

amara Lindeman wasn’t sure she wanted to share the songs that became her upcoming record, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars.

“They were songs that I really felt like I was writing for myself,” says Lindeman, who records under the moniker The Weather Station. “And the same with recording [the songs]: I just felt like it was something I was doing for me. They feel almost too earnest, like, there’s no wall there in these songs. They’re very internal. They sound almost like they’re from a child-self. They’re very naive.”

“The year was unrelenting / We argued all the time,” she sings softly on opening track “Marsh,” accompanied only by gently pulsing piano chords. “I obliterate your positions, and you know just how to obliterate mine / Online, we talk, or say we talk, mute and block / I should turn this thing off, I know I should give it up.”

Lindeman sings of walking off anger, down the road—presumably in her hometown of Toronto—to a marshy spot full of bulrushes and water striders, where she tries to center herself by focusing on the details of the scene before her, “to really see the beauty, the blue and green, and light green, and yellow green, and blue green, and gray green and muddy green.”

But all she can see is black, “like the new moon sky.”

And she cries.

“When they hold the election, this argument may end,” she sings, “But everything depends on it still / If we don’t argue they will / I can’t even watch the starlings fly when I know I can’t count even on this / Tangle of grasses.”

If this is “naive,” as Lindeman says, it’s a relatable innocence; a sense of impending doom, the creep of conservative, anti-intellectualism across the globe threatening everything—including the earth itself.

She pulls this thread all the way through How Is It, pointing out the arrogance, greed and racism that have led the world to this place: staring down the barrel of

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

climate change, threatening to build walls, devoid of compassion, yearning to keep our heads buried in the sand for a bit longer.

“We could walk out on the street and buy roses from Spain / Lemons and persimmons in December rain,” she sings in the lead single, “Endless Time.” “ All of our lives it had been that way / But it’s only the end of an endless time.”

Lindeman considers How Is It a companion piece to last year’s critically acclaimed Ignorance. But unlike the glossy pop of Ignorance, Lindeman opts for a rawer feel for How Is It. There is no percussion, only the drive of Lindeman’s piano, embellished modestly by woodwinds, guitar, a touch of bass, and Lindeman’s grounding alto.

“I’m aware that it’s not the coolest record in the world,” Lindeman self-deprecates. “It’s not going to be a commercial sensation. So I was sensitive to that.”

But in a way, How Is It is a return to form for Lindeman, whose body of work mostly leans into the unadorned aesthetic of acoustic folk. Ignorance was a challenge to herself to break free from her notions of how her music should sound.

“I had a fear, before Ignorance, that comes from the folk world, I guess, of being too polished—a fear of hi-fi,” Lindeman says. “It has got to be a little bit gritty to be real, you know? But that’s ridiculous. I love lush, perfectly produced albums, you know, so why would I hold myself back when I have the budget to go to a studio and make a record like that? It was a matter of embracing the idea of music that anyone could hear and enjoy. I don’t have to close myself in by some aesthetic idea that is limiting.”

She had gone into a songwriting frenzy of sorts in the l

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

winter of 2020, producing a number of songs that simply didn’t fit the style she was envisioning for Ignorance. She set aside these softer, diaristic songs.

“After I finished Ignorance—the record that I tended to create—I just found myself feeling sentimental about these other songs and not wanting them to be forgotten, you know? Because sometimes you forget your own songs.”

How Is It was ultimately recorded on Lindeman’s dime, without informing her record company. She gathered her bandmates in a studio in Toronto and recorded the album live off the floor, each take a complete performance, a situation that required “total focus,” Lindeman says.

As it is with all Lindeman’s songwriting, How It Is captures macro shots of moments and emotions, zoomed into the granular detail of one person’s experience of a universal problem. The result is intimate, immediate, and ethereal.

“I think a lot of my songs have to do with peeling away denial,” she says. “There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance in them … pieces of things I was really reckoning with, [like] being the wrongdoer. There’s a way in which I think that people are afraid to face colonialism and climate [change] because they don’t want to be the bad guy, and I think that my songs are often kind of reckoning with that, and in a way that I think is not negative to just be like, ‘Oh, I’m ignorant. I didn’t know. I’m the bad guy.

Now what’s next?’ You know, moving past the guilt and denial.”

But even the most dedicated and enlightened find themselves exhausted in the fight for equality, including Lindeman.

“I am lazy / I only want to talk about love,” she sings in “To Talk About.” “Sometimes it feels like the only thing anybody wants me to speak of / Nobody wants to drag themselves through the endless ruins of all there is in this world that is not love.” l

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E VENTS

EVENTS

If your organization is planning an event, please email the editor at crockett@boulderweekly.com

■ Art & Sip: Painting the Dickens Opera House

6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont. Register online or by calling 303-651-8374. Registration opens Jan. 18, bit.ly/36d7XgZ The Dickens’ Opera House facade and sign is an iconic part of Downtown Longmont. In this class, instructor Chad Straka will help you paint that very scene with acrylic paint using photos for reference. Learn how to use graphite tracing paper over a photograph to create a realistic drawing you can then paint. Grab a drink and get creative with these classes for adults. Beer, wine, non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks will be available for purchase in the Atrium Bar.

■ YWCA Boulder County presents Changing the Conversation: Taking Action to End Sexual Assault (virtual)

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17. Free, but register at: bit.ly/3GQzXDU Young women aged 16-23 are four times more likely to face sexual violence than the general population. This is not a new issue, but activists in our community are starting a conversation in hopes of building a safe, healthy and equitable community free of gender-based violence. During this free webinar, YWCA Boulder County and a panel of experts and advocates at the front of the fight against sexual assault will lead a powerful discussion about this important issue and how each of us need to take action to change the culture and climate surrounding sexual violence. The discussion will be moderated by Debbie Pope, CEO, YWCA Boulder Count, and panelists include: Lindsey Breslin, Moving to End Sexual Assault; Pierre Booth, CU Safe Campus Advocate; John Clune, Title IX attorney; Sophie Dellinger, BVSD Survivors co-founder; Beatriz Sanchez, BVSD Survivors co-founder; Colorado Senator Faith Winter.

7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder.

Tickets available at Eventbrite: bit. ly/3JDAkDL Local middle and high school students work tirelessly for months to create stunning couture made entirely of materials destined for the landfill. For the 12th year, their creations will be showcased in a fashion show and competition. It’s an evening notable for the creativity, confidence, and eco-consciousness it inspires.

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6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 17, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder. This is a FREE event, registration is required, boulderbookstore.net In this young adult novel, Rill Kruse left for third grade with a dad, but when she came home, he’d gone missing. One year and thirteen days later—on the first morning of summer vacation—Rill still insists he’s coming home. Her mom has become a practical woman. Her older brother, Eddy, now calls her baby and dork. Gus, second-in-command at Kruse Whitewater Adventures, Rill’s family’s rafting company, has gone from being her dad’s “risk bro” to her mom’s guardian angel. When Rill’s cat, Clifford, leads her to the family tree fort on the mountainside behind home, she discovers a stowaway, Perla. To help Perla, Rill embarks on an adventure that tests her understanding of the world, of loss, and of what it means to be a friend. In the end, what Rill discovers will nudge her—and all those she loves—toward healing.

Alejandro Jimenez, courtesy photo

■ Bilingual Poetry Workshop and Performance with Alejandro Jimenez

5:30-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road, Broomfield. Dropins welcome, no registration required.

Alejandro Jimenez is a performance poet and educator whose work centers around cultural identity, immigrant narratives, masculinity, memory, and the intersections of them all. This TEDx speaker and Emmy-nominated poet will lead a writing workshop at the library followed by a performance in the auditorium.

Drop in for either program or both.

■ Voices of Change Part IV: The Japanese-American Experience

7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. Free Members of Longmont’s Japanese-American community share their family histories and reflect on the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of anyone of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Featuring members of the Mayeda, Kanemoto, and Tanaka families, co-presented with the Longmont Multicultural Action Committee.

■ Trash The Runway—Recycle Couture

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■ Author Talk: Heather Mateus Sappenfield—‘The River Between Hearts’

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

■ Front Range Community College presents: ‘Apart’ (virtual)

■ An Evening with Bruce Dickinson

9:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver. Tickets start at $34.50, paramountdenver.com Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson will offer a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his personal perspective, followed by a Q&A session.

11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 18. Link to watch live: bit.ly/3v0MqTn Since the beginning of the war on drugs, the number of women in U.S. prisons has grown drastically. The majority are mothers. In a country leading the world in incarcerating women, meet three mothers fighting to rebuild their lives.

These unforgettable formerly incarcerated moms, jailed for drug-related charges, fight to overcome alienation—and a society that labels them “felons”— to readjust to life with their families. A panel discussion after the screening will feature: Leah Elsbernd, statewide problem-solving court coordinator, Colorado Court Services; Jess Fear, forensic program manager, SummitStone Health; Lindsey Keller, women’s case management team lead, Larimer County Community Corrections; and Jenny Fox, women’s treatment services supervisor, Larimer County Community Corrections.

■ Opening Reception—‘Boulder Strong: Still Strong’

5-8 p.m. Feb. 18 (exhibition runs Feb. 19-April 10), Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder. The opening reception is free to the public, but reserved tickets are required: stillstrongexhibit.eventbrite.com March 22, 2022 marks the first anniversary of 10 lives lost in a tragedy that has an impact on many people. In response, the Museum of Boulder, through The Community Foundation of Boulder’s support, is offering a new exhibit opening on Feb. 19 titled Boulder Strong: Still Strong. The exhibit will serve as a place to reflect on how our community came together in the aftermath, and on how we have continued to process and change in the year since. The exhibit will feature a series of collaborative portraits made by Ross Taylor, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Examples include a portrait of the cellist who played for several days at the memorial site; the manager of King Soopers; inmate residents who raised money for the families of the victims; a comfort canine; Boulder’s chief of police, and many more. Additionally, some of the pieces the Museum collected from the memorial fence at King Soopers and other memorial sites will be on display, illustrating the variety of ways in which community members reflected, mourned, and responded together. At the opening reception on Feb. 18, you can meet Ross Taylor as he shares the process of building trust, engaging people in each portrait and gathering oral histories and stories for preservation. Representatives from the Boulder Strong Resource Center will also be present to help guests absorb and reflect in the new space.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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■ Julie Lindahl— ‘The Pendulum’

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder. Tickets: $5, boulderbookstore.net This gripping memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl’s journey to uncover her grandparents’ roles in the Third Reich as she is driven to understand how and why they became members of Hitler’s elite, the SS. Out of the unbearable heart of the story—the unclaimed guilt that devours a family through the generations— emerges an unflinching will to learn the truth. In a remarkable six-year journey through Germany, Poland, Paraguay, and Brazil, Lindahl uncovers, among many other discoveries, that her grandfather had been a fanatic member of the SS since 1934. He eventually fled to South America to evade a new wave of war-crimes trials. As Lindahl delves deeper into the abyss of her family’s secret, discovering history anew, one precarious step at a time, the compassion of strangers is a growing force that transforms her world and the way that she sees her family—and herself. see EVENTS Page 22

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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E VEN T S

EVENTS

EVENTS from Page 21 ILIZA SCHLIESINGER, COURTESY PHOTO

■ Iliza Schlesinger: Back In Action Tour

7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, Bellco Theatre, 700 14th Street, Denver. Tickets: $35-$65, bellcotheatre.com Iliza Schlesinger is one of today’s leading comedians with a fan base who show their loyalty by creating their own Iliza-inspired swag to wear to her shows. Her fifth Netflix stand-up special UnVeiled premiered in November 2019 and delves into her journey of getting married.

■ Front Range Film Festival

11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, La Vita Bella Event Space, 471 Main St., Longmont. Tickets: $12-$30, coloradofests.com/festivals/front-range-film-festival The 10th Annual Front Range Film Festival features Colorado “craft cinema” with a focus on Colorado filmmakers and locations, as well as an amazing collection of domestic and international films. Experience Colorado, the West and the world, explore current events and issues, experience the rush of extreme outdoor adventures, and travel to the far reaches of the globe with this selection of films.

■ The Mike Stanley Comedy Show featuring Ben Roy

BEN ROY, COURTESY PHOTO

8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, The Louisville Underground, 640 Main St., Louisville. Tickets: $15-$80— Groups of 4 for $80, thelouisvilleunderground.com If you aren’t familiar with Ben Roy, he’s been taking comedy audiences by storm since 2004, bringing an unparalleled energy and unique voice to the stage. Often compared to Lewis Black or Bill Hicks due to his passionate, ranting approach, Roy has a style that is definitively his own.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

EVENTS

CONCERTS DESSA, PHOTO BY MATTHEW LEVINE

WWW.FOXTHEATRE.COM

WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM

1135 13TH STREET BOULDER 720.645.2467

2032 14TH STREET BOULDER 303.786.7030

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

MAR 31 ......................................................................................... HARVE B2B KAEGI APR 2 .............................................................. BASSTROYD: NIGHT OF THE CHOPS JUN 2 ............................................. MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD (FOX 30TH)

MAR 11 ................................................................................................ REEL ROCK 16 APR 26 .................................................................................................................. PUP

SUN. FEB 20

THU. FEB 17

THE BOULDER FESTIVAL DISCO LINES, HUTTY, JACK MOE FRI. FEB 18

THE RIVER ARKANSAS SAT. FEB 19

MON. FEB 28 - SUN. MAR 2 ACCESS FUND PRESENTS

TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENTS

JANE AND MATTHEWS

GRAHAM GOOD & THE PAINTERS, PHANTOM PHARE, BRANDYWINE AND THE MIGHTY FINES FRI. FEB 25

SPORTS

TENTH MOUNTAIN DIVISION

FLAURAL, LADY DENIM

FRI. MAR 18

SAT. FEB 26

88.5 KGNU & 105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENT

MEMBA

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

MOLLY TUTTLE & GOLDEN HIGHWAY

Taylor Tomlinson: Deal With It Tour. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver The River Arkansas with Foxfeather, Emma Rose. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Tickets: $15-$18

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

ROOSTER PRESENTS

FRI. MAR 25

DOPAPOD

TAJ MAHAL SEXTET CARY MORIN

SAT. MAR 5

SAT. MAR 26

FOX 30TH ANNIVERSARY

ANDERS OSBORNE & JACKIE GREENE

G. LOVE & THE JUICE

JONATHAN SLOANE

SUN. MAR 6 97.3 KBCO PRESENTS: FUNKIFY THE FOX - FOX 30TH ANNIVERSARY

GEORGE PORTER JR. & DUMPSTAPHUNK PERFORM THE METERS

THU. MAR 31 GRATEFUL WEB PRESENTS

FUTUREBIRDS

WED. APR 6

SAT. MAR 12

MARTY STUART AND HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES

AUGUSTUS

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

THE GOOD KIND

WED. APR 13

FISTS OF THE PROLETARIAT

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS: JUKEBOX CHARLEY

THU. MAR 17

THE BROTHERS COMATOSE + THE SWEET LILLIES FRI. MAR 18

Manchester Orchestra with Foxing, Michigander. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax, Denver. TIckets: $28 Masteria with RC3, Cinco + STLLR. 8 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer Street, Denver. Tickets: $15

22 & GOOD 4 U

VINCENT NEIL EMERSON SUN. APR 17

BOB MOSES AMTRAC

NICK SHOULDERS

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

LUCINDA WILLIAMS

SAT. MAR 19

AND HER BAND BUICK 6

ROOSTER PRESENTS

SOUNDS OF TAYLOR SWIFT & OLIVIA RODRIGO

AN EVENING WITH JERRY’S MIDDLE FINGER MAR 22 ....................................................................... INDIGO DE SOUZA MAR 25 .................................................................................... YOKE LORE MAR 26 .................................................................... THE MAIN SQUEEZE MAR 30 ........................................................................... DEL WATER GAP APR 1 .................................................................................. BANSHEE TREE

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

CHARLEY CROCKETT

TUE. APR 19

SUN. MAR 20

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AL DI MEOLA DEAD FLOYD

SIERRA FERRELL

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

TUE. MAR 29

WED. MAR 9

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS: LONG TIME COMING TOUR

see CONCERTS Page 24

TAYLOR ASHTON

YVES TUMOR LIVE! 2022

WED. MAR 2

RON ARTIS II

The War On Drugs with Rosali. 7 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop Street, Denver Tickets: $25-$35

SARAH JAROSZ TUE. MAR 22

3420

Bonnie Lowdermilk Trio. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Tickets: $10-$20

THE PAMLICO SOUND

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

SUN. FEB 27

Robert Johnson Sextet Residency. 6 p.m. Caffè Sole, 637 S. Broadway St., Boulder. Suggested $20 donation

MARCHFOURTH SUN. MAR 20

FABIAN MAZUR

February 18

MON. MAR 7 97.3 KBCO PRESENTS

ROOSTER & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT: INEVITABLE TOUR

The Boulder Festival: Disco Lines, Hutty, Jack Moe. 8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Tickets: $18-$20

BANFF CENTRE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL LOS LOBOS

GET A GOOD LOOK WORLD TOUR

The XO with Gunpoint Alibi, The Static Channel and Life Among Trees.

7 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer Street, Denver. Tickets: $12

PICK & HOWL

SAT. FEB 26 88.5 KGNU, WESTWORD & PARADISE FOUND PRESENT

FOXFEATHER, EMMA ROSE

Musecycles Vocal Jam. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Tickets: $15

SAM BUSH

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR

88.5 KGNU & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

February 17

THE COLO SOUND, KGNU & GREAT DIVIDE BREWING CO. PRESENT

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CONCERTS from Page 23

Boulder Ballet Presents

BLACK VOICES OF DANCE FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 5 Boulder Ballet Presents Black Voices of Dance, an evening of dance highlighting the nation’s most vibrant Black voices in the field. Three world premieres celebrate the work of today’s prestigious Black choreographers: Gregory Dawson, Sidra Bell, and Amy Hall Garner, in an evening of original works sure to transcend.

CONCERTS

SOUL LORAIN, COURTESY PHOTO

EVENTS Cautious Clay with Ivy Sole, Julius Rodriguez. 9 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver. Tickets: $22.75

February 19

MORE INFO + TICKETS

Performance by DJ SoulLorain and Withers Photography Exhibit Tour.

3-6 p.m. Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

boulderballet.org

Adam Bodine Trio Plays Nirvana. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Tickets: $15

February 24: 7pm February 25: 7pm February 26: 2pm & 7pm February 27: 2pm

The Orchestrator with Hot T, Jordan Dale and DJ 710N. 8 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer Street, Denver. Free

DAIRY ARTS CENTER

Zomboy. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop Street, Denver.

Tickets: $25-$69

March 5: 7:30pm LAKEWOOD CULTURAL CENTER

Cautious Clay with Ivy Sole, Julius Rodriguez. 9 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 East Colfax Avenue, Denver. Tickets: $22.75 Jane and Matthews with Graham Good & The Painters, Phantom Phare, Brandy Wine and The Mighty Fines. 8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets: $15-$20 Global Dance and 128 Productions Presents John Summit with Kyle Walker, Josh Fedz, Alana English. 9 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax, Denver. Tickets: $24.99-$89

February 20

E.C.Y. Trio album release. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Tickets: $10-$20 Naked Giants with Enumclaw. 7 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer Street, Denver. Tickets: $15 Mammoth WVH & Dirty Honey. 7:30 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax, Denver. Tickets: $29.50

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events boulderballet.org

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

SAM BUSH, PHOTO BY SUSAN FRANCE

march 18, 19, 20

2022

Sam Bush with Pick & Howl. 7 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. Tickets: $25-$30

February 21

Neil Frances. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver.

Tickets: $20

FDGD

Or BU ST

nederland, co

February 22

The Glenn Miller Orchestra. 6 p.m. BDT Stage, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Tickets: $65-$70 Andy Grammer—The Art of Joy Tour. 7:30 p.m. Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver

February 23

The Glenn Miller Orchestra. Noon and 6 p.m. BDT Stage, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Tickets: $65-$70 John Craigie. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. Tickets: $25 Rhiannon Dewey Trio. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Tickets: $15 Mezerg. 7 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer Street, Denver. Tickets: $15 Dessa with Kayla Marque. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver. Tickets: $25 Slash: The River is Rising Tour. 8 p.m. Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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I

’Cause it’s Oscar—Oscar, Oscar!

Breaking down the 94th Academy Award nominations

by Michael J. Casey ON THE BILL: For a complete list of the nominees, visit oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022. Awards will be announced on March 27 on ABC.

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f everything goes according to plan, the moving picture industry will convene on March 27 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater to celebrate the best in the cinema for the 94th Academy Awards. Yes, it’s the time of the year when some very wealthy people put on their fancy dress, charm TV cameras and pat themselves on the back for all the important movies they made last year. Lord help me; I love every minute of it.

And not just because the Oscars are a three- to four-hour broadcast about the movies with all my favorite filmmakers gathered in one room. Those statuettes—designed by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons back in 1929—don’t just validate the hard work of the artists and technicians in front of and behind the camera; they go a long way in determining who gets to make movies and which movies get sold. Take Flee, for example, the animated nonfiction story of an Afghan refugee coming of age and coming out of the closet. It’s one of the year’s best, and director Jonas Poher Rasmussen reportedly raised ‘DRIVE MY CAR,’ COURTESY JANUS FILMS $3.4 million to make it. But when distributor Neon released Flee at the end of 2021, it didn’t even make $25,000. A bevy of awards and nominations helped, and as of this writing, Flee has pulled in $285,086 at the box office. We’re a long way from breaking even here.

But Flee isn’t a movie designed to rake in the big bucks—very few released in 2021 did—but to tell a story dying to be told. It’s outstanding, and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences agree, nominating it for Best Animated Film, Best Documentary and Best International Feature. Should Flee run away with any of those awards (and it should, maybe all three), it will go from “critical darling and commercial flop” to “award winner” in a snap. That helps embolden financiers to fund projects regardless of ROI, persuades distributors to take a chance on smaller movies and encourages audiences to seek out something they may have overlooked.

The same could be said of Parasite, which took home four Oscars in 2020, including Best Picture—the first for a non-English language movie.

Could that win have persuaded Academy voters to nominate Japan’s Drive My Car this year for Best Picture, Best Director (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi), Best Adapted Screenplay (a collection of short stories by Haruki Murakami) and Best International Feature?

I hope you saw Drive My Car; it’s really something. If not, sit tight because the local theater chains usually roll out the Best Picture nominees for encore screenings before the awards ceremony. Did you miss Flee? It’s currently streaming on Hulu. Quite a few of the 53 nominees across 23 categories are available to stream or rent right now, including the leader of the pack, The Power of the Dog (Netflix).

Dog received a whopping 12 nominations, chief among them Jane Campion for Best Director—her second nomination. The first was back in 1994 for The Piano (more on that masterpiece in an upcoming column), but that year’s statuette went to Steven Spielberg for Schindler’s List.

As fate would have it, Spielberg is nominated once again, this time for West Side Story, which, like Power of the Dog, also got a Best Picture nod. Snuggled between those two, in terms of count, are Dune with 10 nominations and Belfast with seven. When was the last time a Western, a musical, a sci-fi epic and a memoir competed for top honors? Rounding out the Best Picture slate are two more memoirs (King Richard and Licorice Pizza), a noir (Nightmare Alley), a feel-good family comedy (CODA), and a political satire (Don’t Look Up).

And only one of those movies is a dud—a damn fine year indeed.

The date is set, the nominees are out, and in six short weeks, we’ll know what Academy voters deem to be the high-water marks of the 2021 cinematic year. That gives you plenty of time to discover all these wonderful movies. And once you’re done knocking out those Best Pictures, hit up the Animated and Documentary categories—both are stacked. Oh, and make sure to save room for the shorts (more on that next week). This is gonna be fun.

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

HELP WANTED Sr. Systems EngineerRelease Owner for Covidien LP (a Medtronic company), Boulder, CO. Req. Bachelors’ or 2 or 3-yr post-secondary diploma in Computer Information Systems, Mechanical Engineering, or Biomedical Engineering. & 4 yrs of exp. w/ test engineering. Must possess min. 4 yrs w/ each of the following: Software Prod. dev. w/ principles of Behavior Driven, Test Driven & Acceptance Test Driven process; Object oriented Prog. w/ .NET & C#; Manual Test Plan, Testcase Design, Test Strategy prep & execution for Hardware & Software apps; Software Test Automation framework design using Testcase dev. for Unit, Integration & System lvl w/ tools to include TestComplete & Selenium; Test mocking w/ tools to include NUnit & NMock; Continuous Integration system coord. To apply, visit https://jobs.medtronic.com/, select Req. #220002CI . No agencies or phone calls please. Medtronic/Covidien are equal opportunity employers committed to cultural diversity in the workplace. All individuals are encouraged to apply.

The Gift Inside

by Steve Elder

Surprisingly dominant the hard world — flags and batons, limos and air-conditioners, mounted mooseheads, bullets.

Our soft bodyshells must conform or be shed.

Yet the totems within our heads are not lampposts without lamps.

Nothing the word — that grammatical error, that blank sticker affixed to the frisson of the variable — a dispiriting magic.

As if we’ve somehow met someone without a confident otter, a courteous raccoon, an agreeable bluejay within, living its own life, seeing and hearing without eyes or ears the ghostly bavardage between our inner and outer theaters.

The gift inside, our own otherness within us near every reaching evergreen every anonymous rock, every resting butterfly, beyond the rigidity of human reason.

2022

WINTER OLYMPICS Come watch the 2022 Winter Olympics at The Tune Up! Celebrate Team USA gold medalists with our daily drink special $4 Golden Ale Cans on days that Team USA wins gold

Steve Elder is in charge of Tea Service at the University of Colorado Law Library.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Stressed Out? Think Massage!

BY ROB BREZSNY

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ARIES

All credit cards accepted No text messages

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “A dead thing can go with the stream,

but only a living thing can go against it,” wrote author G. K. Chesterton. Amen to that! Please regard his observation as the first part of your horoscope. Here’s the second part: It’s sometimes the right approach to move in harmony with the flow, to allow the momentum of elemental forces to carry you along. But now is not one of those times. I suggest you experiment with journeys against the flow. Go in quest of what the followers of easy options will never experience. Do it humbly, of course, and with your curiosity fully deployed.

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APRIL 20-MAY 20: You’re never allowed to step on people to get ahead,” said TV personality and author Star Jones, “but you can step over them if they’re in your way.” I suspect the coming months will be a time when you really should step over people who are in your way. There’s no need to be mad at them, criticize them, or gossip about them. That would sap your energy to follow your increasingly clear dreams. Your main task is to free yourself from influences that obstruct your ability to be the Royal Sovereign of Your Own Destiny.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: Gemini-born Gina Rowlands is retired now, but

Mon.-Fri. 11:30am - 5:30pm, Sat. 11am - 5pm, Sun. 12-4 pm

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TAURUS

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she had an award-winning six-decade career as an actor. At age 20, she decided what she wanted to do with her life, and her parents offered her their blessings. She testified: “I went home and I told my mom that I wanted to quit college and be an actress, and she said, ‘Huh, that sounds fascinating. It’s wonderful!’ And I told my father, and he literally said, ‘I don’t care if you want to be an elephant trainer if it makes you happy.’” Dear Gemini, in the coming months, I would love for you to receive similar encouragement for your budding ideas and plans. What can you do to ensure you’re surrounded by influences like Rowlands’ parents? I hope you embark on a long-term project to get all the support you need.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: As you enter an astrological phase when vast, expansive ruminations will be fun and healthy for you, I will offer you some vast, expansive thoughts. Hopefully, they will inspire your own spacious musings. First, here’s artist M. C. Escher: “Wonder is the salt of the earth.” Next, author Salman Rushdie: “What’s real and what’s true aren’t necessarily the same.”

Here’s poet Allen Ginsberg: “When you notice something clearly and see it vividly, it then becomes sacred.” A proverb from the Omaha people: “Ask questions from your heart, and you will be answered from the heart.” G. K. Chesterton: “Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” Finally, playwright Tony Kushner: “I’m not religious, but I like God, and he likes me.”

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: No matter how reasonable and analyt-

ical you are, Scorpio, you possess a robust attraction to magic. You yearn for the refreshing invigoration of non-rational mysteries. You nurture urges to be delighted by outbreaks of the raw, primal lust for life. According to my astrological assessment, you are especially inclined to want and need these feelings in the next few weeks. And that’s good and healthy and holy! At the same time, don’t abandon your powers of discernment. Keep them running in the background as you enjoy your rejuvenating communions with the enigmatic pleasures of the Great Unknown.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: Author Diane Ackerman tells us, “In the absence of touching and being touched, people of all ages can sicken and grow touch starved. Touch seems to be as essential as sunlight.” This is always important to remember, but it will be extra crucial for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. I advise you to be ingenious and humble and frank as you collect as much physical contact as you can. Be polite and respectful, of course. Never force yourself on anyone. Always seek permission. With those as your guidelines, be greedy for hugs and cuddling and caresses.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: “Education, fundamentally, is the increase of the percentage of the conscious in relation to the unconscious.” Author and educator Sylvia Ashton-Warner said that, and now I’m telling you—just in time for one of the most lesson-rich times of a year that will be full of rich lessons. In the next nine months, dear Capricorn, the proportion of your consciousness in relation to your unconsciousness should markedly increase. And the coming weeks will be a favorable phase to upgrade your educational ambitions.

wrote author Eudora Welty. Here’s how I interpret that in light of the current chapter of your life story: You have an opportunity to recalibrate some misaligned energy. You have the necessary insight to fix an imbalance or dissolve an illusion or correct a flow that has gone off-course. And by far the best way to do that is by wielding the power of love. It will need to be expressed with vehemence and intense clarity, however. It will require you to be both compassionate and firm. Your homework: Figure out how to express transformative truths with kindness.

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: You’re entering a phase of your cycle when your ability to boost your finances will be stronger than usual. You’ll be more likely to attract good luck with money and more apt to discover useful tips on how to generate greater abundance. To inspire your efforts, I offer you this observation by author Katharine Butler Hathaway: “To me, money is alive. It is almost human. If you treat it with real sympathy and kindness and consideration, it will be a good servant and work hard for you, and stay with you and take care of you.”

VIRGO

PISCES

Mentan was born and raised in the African country of Cameroon, which has never fully recovered from its grueling colonization by Germany, France and England.

The democratic tradition there is tenuous. When Mentan first taught at a university in the Cameroonian capital, authorities found his ideas too controversial. For the next 16 years, he attempted to be true to himself while avoiding governmental censorship, but the strain proved too stressful. Fearing for his safety, he fled to the U.S. I’m turning to him for advice that will serve you well in the coming weeks. He tells us, “Peace does not mean to be

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: “Anything you do from the heart enriches you, but sometimes not till years later,” wrote author Mignon McLaughlin. I’m pleased to inform you, Libra, that you will soon receive your rewards for generous actions you accomplished in the past. On behalf of the cosmic rhythms, I apologize for how long it has taken. But at least it’s finally here. Don’t underestimate how big this is. And don’t allow sadness about your earlier deprivation to inhibit your enthusiastic embrace of compensation.

JULY 23-AUG. 22: “Out of love, you can speak with straight fury,”

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: Virgo political science professor Tatah

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in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.

Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.”

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FEB. 19-MARCH 20: Author Deb Caletti made the following observation: “You have ordinary moments and ordinary moments and more ordinary moments, and then, suddenly, there is something monumental right there. You have past and future colliding in the present, your own personal Big Bang, and nothing will ever be the same.” In my vision of your destiny in 2022, Pisces, there could be several of these personal Big Bangs, and one of them seems to be imminent. To prepare—that is, to ensure that the changes are primarily uplifting and enjoyable—I suggest you chant the following mantra at least five times every day: “I love and expect good changes.”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY DAN SAVAGE Dear Dan: I’m a very sexual cis male in his 30s. Three years ago, I met this woman who just blew me away.

She is eight years older, extremely beautiful, intelligent and funny. I came onto her early on and she told me straight up that she was asexual.

She likes kissing, cuddling and solo masturbation, but that’s it. She says intercourse doesn’t do anything for her.

To keep a relationship alive in the past, she would go through the motions, but she has no interest in doing that anymore, so I moved on. Since then, we got to know each other better and I have fallen in love with her. Last night we had dinner and I started thinking aloud how we might make a relationship work. I suggested that I could watch her masturbate, and maybe we could have an open relationship. She said it was out of the question. She admitted that when she first met me, she liked me, but now she loves me as a friend.

She says there’s no chance that this could work, and we should keep things platonic. She doesn’t even want to kiss and cuddle me, as she fears I would get “worked up” and she would have to reject me. We got into an argument, and she got angry with me. I love her. I want to spend every moment with her.

I sincerely believe we could make this work. How can I convince her?

—Sexual Man Into Loving Ecstasy Dear SMILE: You already have your answer, SMILE, and that answer—her answer—is “no.”

Dear Dan: I’m a horny divorced bisexual male. Can you help me find females for regular phone sex? I masturbate every night and enjoy it much more if I hear a sweet voice on the other end of the line. I live in North Carolina, and I am usually freshly showered, naked, and erect between 11 p.m. and midnight. I time my orgasms for precisely midnight.

Please help and find me a female to have erotic discussions with!

—Jerking About Conversations Kept Sensuous Dear JACKS: Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

(Full disclosure: this isn’t a Wendy’s.

This is a sex-advice column, JACKS, and sex-advice columnists are not match-makers. So, you’ll have to find and/or hire a phone sex provider on your own.)

Dear Dan: I’m not having sex with my best friend’s husband, but we’re doing something my best friend would probably find objectionable: I’m letting his husband drink my piss. The first time it just kind of happened. We’re able to rationalize what we’re doing—my best friend isn’t into piss and I’m a “safe” person to do it with in that I’m not going to ask him for more—but it does involve putting my dick in the mouth of my best friend’s husband. I was the best man at their wedding, and I feel guilty about this. I’m also married, but my husband and I have an agreement about outside games. Maybe I just need you to tell me to stop.

—Gay Urinal Is Lying To Spouse Dear GUILTS: First, the obvious answer: Stop.

Second, the obvious follow-up question: How’d that happen, GUILTS? Unless your best friend’s husband was wearing a ridiculously convincing urinal costume at a Halloween party and you were on mushrooms, it didn’t just happen. You did it. Even if he was in a convincing urinal costume and you ate all the mushrooms, you did it. You won’t be able to stop doing this if you can’t be honest about how you started.

Dear Dan: My friend started dating a girl eight years ago in college and broke up with her a year later. They have no relationship at all now. They don’t even converse. I have been in love with the girl in question since the first day I met her.

I was going to ask her out years ago but before I could she was dating my friend. I recently asked her out and we are now dating but none of our friends from back then know. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I vibe with her like no one else. Do you think it’s right to be with her?

Or am I doing wrong to my friend?

—The Bad Friend Dear TBF: Your friend broke up with this woman—the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with—seven years ago. He doesn’t own her, he doesn’t have eternal dibs, and if he can’t be happy for you, he’s not your friend. And if you’re feeling like a bad friend, maybe backing up and re-reading GUILTS’ letter will make you feel better.

March 25 - 28, 2022

MORE FUN TRAILS • Volunteer to build/maintain trail • Meet up for a Group Ride • Come out for a Skills Clinic Connect with the Boulder mountain bike community Join (BMA membership) to support our programs Join BMA today and access social events and group rides--

bouldermountainbike.org

Email questions@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.

Find columns, podcasts, books, merch and more at savage.love.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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ALPINE EGGS

How to tell a yolk

chickens are living the high life.

“Our chickens have seven acres to run around on. In season they are able to eat plants and hunt insects.

We feed them primarily organic food and they have a big heated coop.

They live very well up here,” says Andreas Badian, owner of Boulder’s Alpine Eggs.

“Up here” is Badian’s home at 7,700 feet on Flagstaff Road, miles past the Flagstaff House Restaurant. It comes by its “Alpine” name legitimately.

Badian doesn’t think of himself as a farmer, but rather a man whose passionate hobby and love of animals has taken over his backyard.

“They are my pets. We have a lot of different breeds. Some of them I buy because they’re cool looking, like the Brahmas. I sell the eggs to finance the keeping of the chickens. I don’t really make any money from this business,” Badian says.

Alpine Eggs has developed a serious following among local egg and chicken fans who find eggs, chickens and chicken liver pâté at three

Once you go local and farm-fresh, you’ll never ever go back to store-bought eggs

by John Lehndorff

O

pen a carton of Boulder’s Alpine eggs, and it’s clear that these eggs are different. Of the dozen, three eggs are pale blue, several of the oval orbs are dark brown and others are tan or white.

Only six are the standard “large” size. Several are so big they barely fit in the carton, and others eggs are smallish. Pick any one up and it seems heavy for its size.

When you crack an egg, the white is transparent, and, rather than pale, the yolks are an intense Van Gogh yellowish orange.

Eggs are one food we often eat unadorned, and I’m an admitted egg lover. Whether hard boiled, over easy or poached, Alpine Eggs simply taste fresher and—for lack of a better term—eggier. There is a good reason. These

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locations.

“There was a time at the beginning of the [pandemic] when there were no eggs available at supermarkets and I had people calling me to book eggs a week ahead,” he says.

Being a high-altitude artisan egg supplier was the last thing on Badian’s mind when he was living in Greenwich Village. But, “even in New York I kept reptiles, fish and parrots. I’ve always loved taking care of animals,” he says.

Badian moved his family to Boulder eight years ago for a healthier lifestyle and poultry therapy. “I work as a financial consultant. In order to get me outside, away from the computer and more in touch with nature, I got the chickens. They help me balance my life. My kids are 5 and 8 and they are learning to make their own omelets—with direction—every morning,” he says.

The cost of supermarket eggs is going up, but dozens from local farms are still more expensive than most “sustainable” commercial eggs.

Here’s why they are worth it, according to Badian.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

ALPINE EGGS

It’s important to know that “cage-free” supermarket eggs describe chickens who live in one square foot of space, and “free range” bumps the space up to about two square feet.

“Pasture-raised” means more than 100 square feet per bird.

Buying sustainable local farm eggs helps keep local agriculture viable. “Since the pandemic I’ve thought a lot about disaster preparedness.

It’s important to support farmers so that they are there when you need them,” Badian says.

When his chickens’ natural life is over, he harvests the birds. “We try to use all the parts of the chickens. We sell whole roasting chickens and chicken liver pâté,” Badian says. He even uses a dehydrator to dry the chicken feet to use as treats for his dogs.

Badian’s recipe for roasting a whole chicken is simple. “Get yourself some fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary and half a stick of butter and put it inside the bird. Put the bird in a 375-degree oven with a lid on the pan. Every once in a while, take the lid off and whatever liquid is in there, pour it on top of the chicken. That keeps it moist until it’s at temperature. That’s 165 on the meat thermometer. Take the lid off and turn up the heat so the skin gets brown and crunchy. It takes about an hour and half—depending on the size,” he says.

However, Badian recognizes that not everyone has the time to roast a whole chicken—and he’s got you covered.

Alpine Eggs has branched out to offer smoked beef brisket and pork schnitzel prepared in an offsite commercial kitchen. Badian also plans on offering ready-to-eat cooked chicken and sous vide-cooked egg bites with bacon, cheese and other ingredients.

Alpine Eggs and other products are only available in self-serve coolers at 724 Gapter Road, 1415 Kalmia Avenue and 5541 Flagstaff Road. Information: facebook.com/alpineeggsboulder. Orders: 303-444-0634

Local Food News

The community has lost restaurant-owned Nosh Boulder, which worked tirelessly to bring quality, local food delivery to town and support local drivers and independent eateries. An announcement on Nosh Boulder’s Facebook page notes: “Due to unfortunate circumstances, we cannot afford to carry on and uphold the quality we’ve become known for.” . . . Oskar Blues Brewery has closed its 5-year-old downtown Boulder taproom at 921 Pearl Street, just a month after its owner, Canarchy, was acquired by Monster Beverage Corp. . . . Jeannot’s Patisserie & Bistro is open at 2770 Arapahoe Road in Lafayette. Menu includes quiche, croissants, éclairs and tarts. . . . La Distileria—a Latin inspired restaurant and tequila distillery—opened recently at 1100 U.S.-287 in Broomfield.

Words to Chew On

“Marriage is not merely sharing one’s fettuccine, but sharing the burden of finding the fettuccine restaurant in the first place.” —Calvin Trillin, Alice, Let’s Eat John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles 8:20 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM, streaming at kgnu.org).

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Wishful drinking

Collaboration Fest returns April 2

by Michael J. Casey

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et’s try this again.

Back in 2020, the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) was set to host one of the Centennial State’s signature beer events: Collaboration Fest. One hundred and seventy-five brewers were slated to debut 115 brand-spanking-new brews, all made in the craft beer spirit of camaraderie, community and creativity. The date was circled on the calendar. The brews were fermenting away, and then. . . Well, you know what came next.

Like the rest of the brewing industry, the CBG took a pretty big hit during the pandemic. Festivals account for a large part of CBG’s funding, and none of that was coming in during lockdown. Scheduled for April 4, 2020, CollabFest was among the first festivals to hit the cancel button, and considering that CollabFest ushers in the many events of Colorado Craft Beer Week—including Colorado Pint Day—the timing was pretty rough.

And for 2021, it was like that old Ramones song: Second verse, same as the first.

Well, here we are again. But the tune’s a little different this time around, and a beer festival this spring doesn’t seem like a pie-in-the-sky fantasy. So, on April 2, 2022, CollabFest returns to the Fillmore Auditorium at 1510 Clarkson St. in Denver. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But nothing happens until you put it out there.

As of this publication, nearly 70 breweries have signed up to participate in 2022’s CollabFest, with Boulder County sending Bootstrap, Fritz Family, Primitive, Westbound & Down, Wild Provisions and Wibby. Most of these collabs are still a mystery, but we know what Fritz Family will be bringing: Pilsner, “the type of Pilsner that brewers want to drink—something elegant and complex while staying true to the style,” Fritz Family told the CBG. Not a Pilsner person? Worry not, because there’ll be plenty of stout on hand. Loveland’s Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project is teaming up with Aurora’s Ursula Brewing for an imperial stout brewed with chocolate, hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans. Sounds delicious. Meanwhile, up in Greeley, Weldwerks Brewing and Fort Collins’ Odell Brewing are joining forces with Little Man Ice Cream for a stout charmed with a magically delicious breakfast cereal—you know the one—and toasted marshmallow ice cream.

Then there is the media beer. Every year a local brewery invites area beer writers over to lend their hands and expertise (or, in the case of this humble writer, lack thereof) in brewing a beer. This year, the host brewery will be Denver’s Burns Family Artisan Ales, and the potential styles on the table include triple IPA, Russian imperial stout and Belgian quad (we writers gravitate toward the strong stuff). Which style will it be? Will it be the best of the fest? Will it taste overeducated and under-employed? You’ll just have to wait until CollabFest to find out. General admission tickets start at $65 and are available at collaborationbeerfest.com

COLLABFEST 2019, COURTESY OF BREWTOGRAPHY PROJECT

COURTESY COLORADO BREWERS GUILD

Colorado Pint Day

If CollabFest is the opening day event of Colorado Craft Beer Week, then Colorado Pint Day is the centerpiece. This annual partnership between CBG member breweries and Grandstand Glassware celebrates drinking in the Centennial State. And on Wednesday, April 6, $1 from every glass sold on Pint Day will be donated to the CBG, and drinkers will have a chance to take the commemorative glass home.

The logo for this year’s glass honors the 125th anniversary of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, designed by Anna Long, CEO of Norlo Designs and graphic designer and marketing manager for Copper Kettle Brewing.

“I feel honored that the Colorado Brewers Guild is trusting me to communicate just how special Colorado Parks and Wildlife, craft beer and the state of Colorado are,” Long says in a press release.

“Just like the craft beer industry, it takes people that are passionate about their craft to keep it all running,” Long explains. “A Great Horned Owl represents the parks as they are found in every state park within Colorado, while a Park Ranger stands tall overlooking the land they so dearly protect. From walking the state parks to brewing the perfect pint, let us raise a glass in supporting those that keep Colorado wild.”

Roughly 100 Colorado breweries will participate in Colorado Pint Day. A complete list will be available at coloradobeer.org/colorado-pint-day/ as the date draws nearer.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

JOHN LEHNDORFF

Taste of the Week

Classic Burger @ Meta Burger

by John Lehndorff

I

t’s not like Boulder was in dire need of another burger joint. Within a few blocks of the newly opened Meta Burger at 29th Street are Five Guys Burgers, Smashburger, Shake Shack, Snarfburger, Larkburger and Good Times, not to mention McDonald’s and Burger King.

There’s also no dearth of veggie burgers in the neighborhood since almost all the burger places also serve plant-based patties. But Meta Burger—located near the electric vehicle charging station on the north side of the outdoor mall—steps it up a notch with a totally plant-based menu.

I ordered Meta Burger’s Classic, a patty on a bun with American “cheese,” 1000 Island-like special sauce, sliced tomato, leaf lettuce and pickle slices with appropriate condiments. On the side: skin-on waffle fries and a peanut butter shake.

Inside the fluffy brioche bun, the substantial, moist, four-ounce patty closely echoes the flavor and crumbly chew of beef. The orange “cheese” is less convincing with telltale nuances of nutritional yeast. Taken together with toppings, it’s a satisfying burger that doesn’t taste like a sacrifice.

I dunked waffle fries in an oatmilk-based peanut butter shake that was cold and sweet, but lacked the creaminess and additive-laced dairy mouthfeel of a

Recipe Flashback: Oasis Brewery Potato Soup The Oasis Brewery now brews and serves in a renovated Denver church, but it opened originally in 1991 as one of Boulder’s first craft breweries at 1095 Canyon Boulevard.

Greg Nesley, an Oasis Brewery cook at the time, shared this recipe for creamy Potato Parmesan Soup in 1997. Needless to say, the soup should be accompanied by a brew like Oasis’ Tut Brown Ale. Oasis Brewery Potato Soup 1 large red potato, cubed 3 tablespoons butter 1 stalk celery 1/4 large yellow onion, diced 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic 1 tablespoon minced fresh shallot (or substitute garlic) 1/4 cup white wine BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Wendy’s Frosty.

Meta Burger’s roster of specialty burgers includes The Flatiron, a patty with steak sauce, Brussels sprouts, shallots, mushrooms and “Gouda.” The Island features grilled pineapple, Mahalo sauce, smoked tofu “bacon” and pickled red onions.

The Meta sandwich menu ranges from the Philly “cheesesteak” to the Hangover “chicken” Sammy with sriracha maple aioli, hash browns, crispy “chicken,” American “cheese” and “bacon” on Texas toast.

Amped-up sauces include habanero jam and “bacon”-onion jam.

This is the latest foray in my mission to meat-andgreet the major plant-based fast-food and fast-casual burgers. After tasting the Meta Burger, I’d rank it tops on my faux burger list, followed by the Red Robin Impossible Cheeseburger, Carl’s Jr. Beyond Famous Star Burger and the Burger King Impossible

Whopper.

McDonalds still hasn’t managed to get its poorly named McPlant burger into its eateries.

As the novelty about plant-based burgers, fried chicken and eventually seafood wears off, taste may matter most. Increasingly, sustainability and corporate integrity are becoming a deciding factor for diners. With a plant-based menu, compostable containers and straws, recyclable cups, no plastic and lack of drive-up window, Meta Burger seems to walk the sustainable talk. For diners, that means a decrease in fast-food guilt and a happier meal.

1/2 teaspoon paprika 2 cups heavy cream (substitute half & half) 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan 1/3 cup finely sliced green onion Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Boil cubed potatoes in water until softened but not mushy. Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, saute celery, onions, shallots and garlic in butter, add white wine and a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer until slightly softened. Blend in a blender or food processor if you want a smooth soup.

Pour back into the saucepan, add potatoes and cream and simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly for about five minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in grated cheese and paprika. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Pour into bowls and garnish with green onions and a sprinkle of cheese.

Variations include adding a 1/2 cup of roasted chopped green chile and substituting bacon fat for the butter. l

Culinary Calendar

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he Boulder Valley School District’s Iron Chef Cooking Competition for teams of middle schoolers is serious stuff. It comes with the opportunity to have their recipe featured on next year’s school lunch menu. Recipe entries due Feb. 18. Details can be found at: food.bvsd.org/programs/community-events

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OFF PEARL ST. BOULDER, CO OPEN 9AM - 11PM WELCOME. A SOLITUDE PLACE FOR STUDY, WORK, GATHER & MEET. WE INVITE YOU TO COME RELAX, BREATHE, DRINK, EAT AND LOVE. ENJOY OUR SELECT MENU OF AROMATHERAPY INFUSED OXYGEN THERAPY, HERBAL ELIXIR TEAS, COFFEE, ORGANIC WINES AND ORGANIC DESSERTS.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

States of embodiment

ligence,” Hyde explains, “which resonates into the water matrix, connective tissue and bone matrix of the body.

When these vibrations are registered in the nervous system, they bypass pain structures and work through stress perceptions; they open the capillary beds and integrate the central nervous system.”

A body of research published in the last 20 years proves Hyde’s claims: the vibrational quality of sound can affect the human body on a cellular level. The National Center for Biotechnology Information published an article that states: “The most basic and oldest use of vibratory effect is the mechanical ‘shaking’ of the body and more recently specific areas and cells. Another more specific category of cellular response is the effect of driving a neural modulatory response.”

My session with Hyde begins with a brief tour of Light Club; the room is full of second-hand trinkets, none of which seem to have lost their magic. Lingering smells of incense and dimmed lights are enough to encourage relaxation, and mirrors of different sizes and shapes line the walls, reflecting back a large table centered in the room, around which four vibration tables are prepared with blankets and headphones. Hovering over the tables are a series of lights, from which various bells dangle. Crystals sit on tables overflowing with piles of burned incense and an abundance of drums, trinkets and more mirrors. Hyde explains that when negative energies leave the body, they have to go somewhere, and mirrors are excellent gateways for this purpose.

An enormous pair of water buffalo tusks occupy the central table, intricately carved and, according to Hyde, bought at a garage sale for $50; they’re wrapped in strings of beads and mala strands with colored tassels.

I lay down on the table, which is padded, and place

North Boulder’s Light Club offers non-medical relief for modern stressors

By Katie Rhodes

I

n September 2020, Chuck Hyde decided to turn his 15 years of experience as a massage therapist doing body and nervous system work into a new establishment: Light Club, a North Boulder studio that combines acoustic, visual and physical therapies for a full-sensory immersion that claims to cultivate deep relaxation. Although it could be considered “woo-woo” by some, there is a good deal of science and technology behind Hyde’s operation.

Marketed as a “non-medical treatment” for stress, anxiety, depression and myriad other ailments, Light Club created a comfortable and sober environment in which to be still. Though Hyde admits he is not anti-drug, he does understand that “non-substance experiences” are able to reach a broader audience as they are generally considered less intimidating. During the 55-minute relaxation sessions, clients enjoy tactile comforts like heated vibration-therapy tables and weighted blankets in addition to the soothing acoustic and visual elements.

“The whole experience [style] just landed for me,” Hyde says. “[It] made me feel lighter, like I was wearing an anti-gravity suit, both physically and spiritually. The more I did it, the more perceptual shifts I experienced; I basically thought, if it affects me in this way, then it has the potential to help other people too.”

Acoustic resonance therapy, also known as vibrational sound therapy, has been used in therapeutics for years. Light Club, however, has a slightly different approach, employing the use of a locally made patented system called the Sound Heart.

“The Sound Heart is unique in its ability to express vibration with low levels of distortion with harmonic intel-

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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FEBRUARY 17, 2022

my head on a small pillow, my knees over a soft bolster.

Weighted blankets cover me from toes to neck as I place the headphones over my ears. I am immediately cut off from the room and dipped into an ambient-sound state.

Hyde speaks to me through the headphones, though his voice is soft and sounds far away. He instructs me on some meditative techniques I can employ in the session, and then he slips away and I’m fully immersed; though it takes a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light, I’m quickly able to relax and fully sink myself into the physical, auditory and visual flow of the experience.

For visual stimulation, Light Club uses the Lucia No. 3, a combined analog and digital light hand-built in small batches in Austria. Developed by neurologists, this particular light uses both LED and halogen bulbs, and in research, the Lucia No. 3 was found to turn on similar parts of the brain as strong psilocybin mushrooms—parts of the brain that promote relaxation and stillness. Though the light was originally created as a therapeutic tool for people who’d had near death experiences, it is now patented and built specifically for use in healing and relaxation practices.

As in many meditative practices, it was easy for my mind to wander, worrying about deadlines and thinking about what I would eat for dinner when I got home. As Hyde suggested, I was usually able to move back into a calm state by focusing on my breath. He also emphasized the fact that not everyone would get the same levels of deep relaxation from the experience; people who have maintained embodiment practices, such as yoga, or meditative practices, are more likely to have deeper sessions faster.

As a yogi and part-time meditation practitioner, I was able to navigate my way through the ebb and flow of unwanted, distracting thoughts to find prolonged periods of deep relaxation and peace that were similar to experiences I’ve had in mantra meditation. What made this experience unique was the full-sensory immersion and Hyde’s attention to non-medicinal pathways to stillness, safety and tranquility. “Pharmaceuticals are over-sold,” says Hyde. “People forget that we produce our own chemicals; we’re capable of hacking our own nervous systems by adjusting our exposure to different stimulus; it lubricates our ability to move through states of embodiment, and states of being, and it’s really quite beautiful if you give yourself over to it.”

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Sin tax error

doing it for the revenue, you’re coming at it [from] the wrong angle,” Boesen said. “I think we’ve seen enough that revenue shouldn’t be the reason” for legalization.

Still, states are leaning on cannabis to fund basic government functions like education, law enforcement and healthcare. In Massachusetts, cannabis is subject to a 10.75% excise tax (plus a 6.25% sales tax, and the option for municipalities to add up to 3%), which funds public and behavioral health, public safety and municipal police training, among other things. Like Colorado, California has a 15% excise tax on cannabis, which in part helps to support programs aimed at providing job placement, mental health treatment, substance misuse treatment and legal services for communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

In Illinois, the excise tax is between 10 and 25%, depending on the cannabis product, and supports legal aid, youth development and community reentry for disadvantaged folks.

All of this sounds good, but what happens when—should it ever finally happen—federal legalization adds more taxes to retail pot? Many experts think the legal cannabis levee will break.

In an op-ed for the Denver Post, Mara Sheldon, a member of the Colorado Hemp Association Board of Directors, argues that discussions around federal legalization are creating an environment “riper than ever for the illicit market to take over years of hard work in making medicinal and recreational cannabis legal.”

She points to the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, CAOA, sponsored by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden

Will outrageous taxes crush the legal cannabis market?

by Will Brendza

R

ecreational cannabis likely never would have been legalized in Colorado if it hadn’t been for the tax revenue promised to the state.

It was all part of the sales pitch: Here’s this great plant, that’s also a medicine, it’s non-addictive, impossible to overdose on, yadda yadda yadda… but most importantly, if legalized, it would be highly taxed and strictly regulated. And all of that extra money would go toward improving Colorado’s schools, infrastructure, healthcare and more.

That “sin tax” was an inextricable part of the deal: If people wanted recreational cannabis so bad, they were going to have to pay for it. And the state was going to be the benefactor. As a result, sales tax on retail marijuana is 15%, making cannabis the most heavily taxed product in the state.

A decade later, sales tax revenue from marijuana has lined Colorado’s coffers with more than $2 billion—$423 million in 2022 thus far, dwarfing what alcohol sales brought in. The cannabis industry, for all intents and purposes, is Colorado’s money tree.

But some argue that high taxes on cannabis are fueling black market enterprises, preventing lower-income patients from accessing medicine, and actually hampering the amount of money legal markets could bring in.

Ulrik Boesen, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told Forbes in late January that in legal markets across the country, cannabis “very much is” overtaxed.

“If you come at this [from] the perspective that you’re

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(D-OR).

“The senators’ framework bill suggests legalizing cannabis, decriminalizing it and incorporating social equity into the industry,” Sheldon writes. “All have merit but the senators also suggest heavily taxing the industry year over year by creating an excise tax rate of 10% for the first year enacted, increasing to 15%, 20% and 25% thereafter. And in year five they suggest shifting the rate based on quantity sold or milligrams of THC. It is also unclear how the federal excise tax will interact with any state-imposed taxes.

“As a result,” she continues, “consumers in [Colorado] could be paying upwards of 40% on taxes by year four of CAOA, which is outrageous for the industry and consumers, and that doesn’t include what local municipalities impose on the local level either.”

Currently, in America’s patchwork of legalization, high prices on retail marijuana are fueling a black market.

“High prices and a lack of supply are driving many Maine cannabis consumers to the streets, where weed remains much cheaper and plentiful,” David Marino Jr. wrote in a December 2020 article for Bangor Daily News. “[Maine] stands to lose millions in cannabis revenue in the coming years before the recreational supply here catches up with demand and retail prices finally begin to drop for consumers.”

So the concept is simple: A lower sales tax on cannabis would attract more customers, allowing cannabis businesses to grow, hire more employees and make more transactions—all of which represents tax revenue for the state, and less appeal in black market sales.

But the reality is, taxes on products rarely ever go down. And even in recent elections, with initiatives like Proposition 119 on the Colorado ballot in 2021 (News, “Vote Guide 2021” Oct. 7, 2021), it’s clear that cannabis is the easiest (and by far the most lucrative) pot for politicians to reach into to find funding. (Though voters said no to Prop 119.)

Cannabis, as a relatively new industry in the U.S., doesn’t have the same kind of power behind it that other consumer products do, like alcohol or even guns—which makes it an easy target.

But if politicians aren’t careful, they may create a product very few people can afford, and effectively crush the legal market that funds so many valuable programs.

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