Boulder Weekly 06.06.2024

• State Board of Education P. 06

• CU Regent At Large P. 07

• Colorado Senate, D18 P. 08

• Colorado House of Representatives, D10 P. 10

• Colorado House of Representatives, D49 P. 12

• Following the money P. 14

• The Republicans of BoCo P. 15

DEPARTMENTS

Exploring

Courtesy: Flatiron Sounds Music Festival

JUNE 6, 2024

Volume 31, Number 42

PUBLISHER: Francis J. Zankowski

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Justin Criado, Dan Savage, Michael Scaturro, Toni Tresca

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Holden Hauke

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer

CIRCULATION

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Austen Lopp

FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo

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-holdsbarred 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 Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 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. ©2024 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@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.

EDITOR’S

GUIDING LIGHTLY

Welcome to our 2024 Primary Vote Guide! Regular readers will be familiar with our comprehensive fall voting guides; I’m new here, but I’ve been told Boulder Weekly’s endorsements are the most accurate in predicting winners.

Our primary coverage is a bit different. First of all, we’ve never done one before. But in majority-blue Boulder County — where the Dems almost always win — the primary is where the action happens. So we thought it

would be helpful to sort through the Democrats vying for office. (Republicans aren’t being left out: See page 15 for interviews with three local GOP candidates.)

Perhaps most notably, we aren’t doing endorsements. Truth be told, my staff and I hate doing them. We’d prefer to let you make up your own minds. Our job is to provide you with the information you need to do that.

In the following pages, you’ll find simple profiles of candidates in five key, local races: House Districts 10

and 49, CU Regent, Senate District 18 and Colorado State Board of Education. They include candidate priorities, a brief writeup and their stances on some important issues. You’ll also find links to online questionnaires if you want more information on their proposed policies.

We’ve also gathered money on campaign fundraising (p. 12) and sent questionnaires to all candidates without primary challengers; find links to those on page 12.

Hopefully, you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

When you look at your ballot, remember: Voting is not like driving a car or calling an Uber, where the candidates/vehicles get you exactly where you want to go. It’s like taking the bus: Pick the one that gets your closest to your desired destination.

PRIMARY VOTE GUIDE

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT 2

KATHY GEBHARDT

Priorities

• Secure opportunities for all Colorado students to lead their most successful lives

• Lift up the needs of children with learning differences

• Support welcoming, well-resourced schools

Kathy Gebhardt has a long history working in the public education sphere.

She served eight years on the Boulder Valley Board of Education, two of which she was president. She’s also on the board of directors for the Colorado Association of School Boards as well as for the National Association of School Boards.

Because of her experience, she has a good understanding of the major players in the space and where the board holds power to make a difference. Her endorsements include Congressman Joe Neguse and a long list of school board members.

As an attorney, Gebhardt has been co-lead counsel on litigation relating to inequity in school funding and how school construction is funded.

“Funding underlies [all of my priorities],” she says. “I’ve worked on funding for a long time and will continue to advocate for more funding,” something she says allows for smaller class sizes, higher teacher salaries, better support for students and improved facilities.

One of her top priorities is to create opportunities for students “to lead their most successful lives.” For Gebhardt, that includes post-work readiness programs and letting families have choices about where to send their kids to school, including

charter schools and magnet schools.

Gebhardt has five children, the youngest of whom is now 22 years old, who all went to Boulder Valley public schools. She says she knows the challenges of navigating the system for a kid on an individualized education program (IEP) firsthand. Three of her children are adopted, something she says gives her perspective on the challenges non-white children born outside the country face.

Gebhardt says she sees setting the academic standards as one of the most important and influential jobs of the Board of Education and would also oppose book banning efforts.

“I really do believe that public education is a place where we should all come together and we should all figure out how to navigate that without pulling kids out, without othering others,” she says. “You can have those conversations at home and in your church and in whatever groups you want your family and your kids to belong to. But I don’t think that it works to narrow curriculum, to narrow the books that are available.”

Q&A

Do you think districts should keep snow day/adverse weather cancellations (rather than switching to remote learning)? Yes

Would you support later or staggered start times for children of different ages? Yes

Do you think there should be less emphasis on standardized testing? Yes

Read Gebhardt’s full Q&A at bit.ly/KathyGebhardtBW

MARISOL LYNDA RODRIGUEZ

Priorities

• Effective spending of school improvement dollars

• Representative and inclusive academic standards

• Improving licensure and teacher preparation

Marisol Rodriguez doesn’t have any political experience — and if you ask her, that’s a good thing.

“I think we need more people like me who maybe don’t understand every single aspect of every single thing at this moment in time,” she says. “We can come in and ask better questions, but also understand that maybe the way that things have always been done, we don’t need to do it that way anymore. We can make room for innovation.”

She points out that she’s not coming in with political baggage or “entrenchment in any one camp.” That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have support from politicians in the arena notable endorsements include Gov. Jared Polis and current District 2 Board of Education member Angelika Schroeder.

Rodriguez owns an education consulting business, which she says means she knows how to bring together different groups and reach consensus to solve complex problems. But perhaps the most important experience she brings to the table is personal. If elected, she would be the only person on the board with kids still in K-12 schools, according to her website.

“I think if you have experience from five years ago, 10 years ago, I don’t think you really understand what our teachers and students, and even fam-

ilies for that matter, are facing,” she says, pointing to the ways COVID has changed education.

One of her children has special needs and is in an intensive learning center, and her other child recently came out as nonbinary.

“When I look at the state board, that’s the thing that’s missing for me,” she says. “If they decide to go against our LGBTQ community, there’s not one of their kids that’s going to feel it like mine will.”

Rodriguez wants to protect inclusive academic standards in the state and make sure school improvement dollars are distributed equitably. She also opposes vouchers and “other efforts to transfer public tax dollars to unaccountable private or religious education programs,” according to her campaign website. Ultimately, she says her goal if elected is to “get to know people as people” and work together for the best interest of children and schools.

“This isn’t a political game,” she says. “These are kids.”

Q&A

Do you think school districts should keep snow day/adverse weather cancellations (rather than switching to remote learning)? Yes, as long as student contact requirements are met/ exceeded

Would you support later or staggered start times for children of different ages? Yes

Do you think there should be less emphasis on standardized testing? Yes

Read Rodriguez’s full Q&A at bit.ly/MarisolRodriguezBW

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO REGENT AT LARGE

ELLIOTT HOOD

Priorities

• Affordability

• Ending concealed carry on campus

• Environmental sustainability

One of the first things Hood likes to do on the campaign trail is tell people why they should care about the CU Board of Regents. Many voters don’t know what they are (a governance board), what they do (oversee the budget, make hiring decisions, set tuition and policies, etc.) or why it’s even an elected office (it’s written into the state constitution).

“CU is the largest university system by far in Colorado. We’re the third-largest employer in the state. We have a massive economic impact,” Hood says. “The people that run this institution matter a great deal.”

Hood has worked in K-12 education for his entire career, first as a fifth-grade teacher in a low-income district and now as an attorney for school districts. He believes that experience “can help the university navigate a lot of the challenges they are facing.”

“I want to make sure I’m making college — my alma matter — as available as possible to kids like the kids I taught,” he says.

Hood would like to lock in freshman tuition rates for all four years for all CU students. He’d also like to see the universities provide enough housing for every freshman and sophomore, as housing is what students say is “the biggest source of their debt.”

Hood wants to lower costs without sacrificing services, like mental health supports for students, or values. He would accelerate work on CU’s climate action plan and expand collective bargaining “for all workers.”

“There is no doubt that all of those areas might result in some short-term increase in costs,” he says, “but I like to think of these investments as investments, and not just things that cost money. Those interventions pay for themselves” through lowering dropout rates, reducing employee turnover and cutting energy and utility costs.

To shore up university finances, Hood believes CU needs a bigger endowment fund — much bigger. CU’s endowment is about $2 billion; Hood points to two Texas schools as examples of where he thinks we should be aiming: the University of Texas, which has a $40 billion endowment, and Texas A&M, which has about half that.

Gun violence is one of Hood’s priorities because students and faculty have pushed for a concealed carry ban. “We need to listen to them,” he says.

Q&A

Would you support the University of Colorado’s divestment from fossil fuels? Yes

Would you support a tuition freeze or tuition cap policy within the CU system? Yes

Do you support the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on affirmative action? No

Read Hood’s full Q&A at bit.ly/ElliottHoodBW

CHARLES “CJ” JOHNSON

Priorities

• Financial sustainability

• Diversity and inclusion

• Mental health and wellbeing

Of all the former Buffs to run for the CU Board of Regents, Johnson has a unique claim to fame. He was a member of the 1990 national championship-winning football team.

He returned to CU as assistant athletic director and board member for the Leeds School of Business. Today, he works in the corporate world and believes in public-private partnerships to help solve the affordable housing crisis for students on and off campus.

Johnson’s path to Colorado, via football, is for him both an inspiring story and a cautionary tale about the academic system we’ve built.

“I had a number of siblings who didn’t get the same opportunities,” he says. “My nextdoor neighbor was smarter than I am, more academically talented than I was, but was not afforded the same opportunities. Something is wrong when that’s the case.”

Johnson does believe CU should look to athletics when it considers goals such as increasing diversity and improving graduation rates. “It’s the most integrated environment on our college campus,” he says. “Athletes’ graduation rates and GPAs are higher than the general population.”

He acknowledges the concerns some have voiced about his friendships with and praise of controversial former coaches Bill “Coach

Mac” McCartney and Gary Barnett, who were criticized for their public comments on homosexuality and women and their role in and response to numerous allegations of sexual assault against players.

Both men are “flawed and wrong in many areas, as are many people,” Johnson says, recounting times where he criticized or corrected them in “knock-down, drag-out conversations” over his “deep-seated issues with some of their views.”

“There are lines to be drawn, but we have to engage people,” he says. “There’s more to us than the hard lines that we draw about people. I’ve been referred to as a star athlete who is running for office. In many ways, that’s offensive to me. I haven’t been an athlete in 34 years. I played my last game on Jan. 1, 1991. There’s a lot more to me.”

But, he says, “athletics is a relevant part of the overall campus environment. When decisions are made at the president’s level on who we affiliate with because of our athletic programs, it matters. I have a particular understanding and can lend credibility and experience.”

Q&A

Would you support the University of Colorado’s divestment from fossil fuels? Yes

Would you support a tuition freeze or tuition cap policy within the CU system? Yes

Do you support the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on affirmative action? No

Read Johnson’s full Q&A at bit.ly/CharlesJohnsonBW

SENATE DISTRICT 18

JUDY AMABILE JOVITA SCHIFFER

Priorities:

• Treatment for serious mental illnesses

• Climate crisis

• Housing availability and affordability

With four years in the House under her belt, Judy Amabile brings experience — and a slate of successful legislation to back it up — to her District 18 Senate run.

“I understand how to get stuff done,” she says. “I come at it being able to be effective on the first day.”

Amabile points to her work on fire insurance protections for homeowners as an example. She says she worked across the aisle with Sen. Bob Rankin (R-D8) as well as with advocates for people who lost their homes to wildfires and insurance industry lobbyists to understand how to get the bill passed and what needed to be in it. She went on to run several other successful insurance-related bills.

“By then I knew what to do and knew who to talk to and knew who was going to be helpful and who was going to just be a pain in the ass,” she says.

In her four years as a representative, 91% of the bills Amabile was a primary sponsor on were sent to or signed by the governor, according to a Boulder Weekly analysis.

As a business owner and mother of three sons, one of whom has serious mental illnesses and has experienced homelessness, her lived experiences shape her legislative priorities.

“We’ve had a very intimate connection with all of these different systems,” she says.

Much of her work centers on mental health and incarceration, including legislation limiting solitary confinement in county jails and creating a jail standards commission. Amabile also sponsored legislation enacting a three-day waiting period for gun purchases and restricting sales to those found guilty of violent misdemeanors.

Amabile says she prioritizes good policy — she’s cast unpopular votes including opposing a bill about predictive scheduling for retail workers she viewed as “draconian” and another relating to what can be entered into evidence in criminal rape cases that she says would have disproportionately impacted people of color and undermined the right to a defense.

“I have a strong stomach for nuance,” she wrote in a BW questionnaire response. “Sometimes things that sound good initially don’t hold up to scrutiny. Other times, an idea that sounds far-fetched deserves a closer look.”

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? Yes

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes

Do you support requiring or allowing more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

Priorities:

• Ban on sale, purchase and transfer of assault weapons

• Removing the prohibition on rent control

• Expanding allowed uses for state Medicaid funds to include housing, food and other basic necessities

Though Jovita Schiffer doesn’t have experience in an elected office, she says she’s running to bring more representation to the Senate.

“So much of what happens in government never considers the perspectives of people like me,” she says.

Schiffer is a middle-class, bilingual, Black-Latina single mother who “grew up in poverty, has experienced homelessness, and battles racism and classism in our community every day.” She lost her home to foreclosure in 2012 and paid rent as recently as 2020 before buying a home that she nearly lost in the Marshall Fire.

“I’ve watched so many institutions try to do what’s best for those people living in poverty and not asking those people what they need,” she says.

Despite her lack of government experience, she says her work in human resources, equity and inclusion consulting, and with Boulder Valley School District make her a “different kind of leader.”

Schiffer says she leads with inquiry and doesn’t pretend to have the answers. Instead, she looks to understand the root cause of the problem, what works and what hasn’t.

Though she has certain policycentric priorities, Schiffer emphasized her approach to governance rather than particular policies.

“I don’t get stuck on any one solution,” she says. “I commit to solving problems.”

Schiffer says she’s not afraid to introduce bills that Gov. Jared Polis would likely veto, naming lifting the state’s prohibition on rent control, one of her top priorities, and making changes to TABOR as examples.

“I don’t give up on things,” she says. “I think we should be willing to put out things that might get vetoed. If we don’t try, we’ll never know. The more you introduce something that people may be resistant to and you’re talking about it, we build a tolerance over time. And you learn: Where is this resistance coming from?”

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? Yes

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes

Do you support requiring or allowing more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

Read Schiffer’s full Q&A at bit.ly/JovitaSchifferBW

LINKS TO ONLINE Q&As

Boulder Weekly sent questionnaires to every candidate on Boulder County ballots — even the ones without primary challengers. Find links to the Q&As for each uncontested candidate (listed here in the order they appear on ballots):

Karen McCormick, HD11 (incumbent)

bit.ly/KarenMcCormickBW

Kyle Brown, HD12 (incumbent) bit.ly/KyleBrownBW

Michael T. Dougherty, 20th Judicial District Attorney (incumbent) bit.ly/MichaelDoughertyBW

Claire Levy, County Commissioner - D1 (incumbent) bit.ly/ClaireLevyBW

Marta Loachamin, County Commissioner - D2 (incumbent) bit.ly/MartaLoachaminBW

Jeff Martin, County Coroner (incumbent) bit.ly/JeffMartinBW

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 10

JUNIE JOSEPH (INCUMBENT)

Priorities:

• Economic security and affordability

• Climate change

• Equity and social justice

From the time Joseph first ran for elected office — 2019, for a seat on Boulder’s city council — her focus hasn’t changed much: Ensure better representation in governance, help alleviate financial stress for the working class and don’t forget about the climate. Joseph’s interest in those topics goes further back, serving on student government in college and fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House.

“Since I was little, I knew I wanted to lead a life of service,” she says. “I had seen so much suffering around me. I knew poverty was wrong, I knew the wealth gap was wrong.”

During her two sessions in the legislature, Joseph sponsored a number of bills intended to benefit marginalized groups, from expanded access to child care, increased benefits for lowincome older adults and an eviction prevention bill.

“People told me this bill is going to die, no matter how hard you work on it,” says Joseph, the only candidate on Boulder County ballots who is currently a renter. During her freshman term, 13 of the 14 bills on which she was primary sponsor were sent to the governor’s desk.

A vacancy committee initially put Joseph in the District 10 seat after then-representative and Democratic candidate Edie Hooton withdrew from the race. Though Joseph won the general election, she has faced criticism for earning the seat via appointment and for taking on the role in addition to her post on Boulder’s City Council. Joseph acknowledges these concerns but prefers to stay focused on the work. For residents who question her dedication or qualifications, she points to her record as an elected official.

“Because of the type of legislation I sponsor, it’s a 120-day fight, every day, from January to May,” she says.

“I have done the work, and that’s what it has been about for me.”

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits?

Yes

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control?

Yes

Do you support requiring or allowing more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

Read Joseph’s full Q&A at bit.ly/JunieJosephBW

TINA MUEH

Priorities:

• Public education

• Affordability for workers and families

• Shifting to clean energy

Despite never having held a publicly elected office, Mueh feels like she is ready for a seat at the state house.

“My experience is regional and statewide and fits these issues,” says Mueh of her time as a trustee for the public employees’ organization, work on policy with Planned Parenthood across four states and president of the Boulder Valley teachers union. “All this stuff I have done, I’ve been working with legislators.”

Mueh’s reason for running — or at least a “big” one, she says — is that House District 10 voters “didn’t get a choice in this representation,” referring to opponent Junie Joseph’s appointment to the seat by a vacancy committee. Joseph did win the general election, but hasn’t yet bested a fellow Democrat.

“It’s very important that somebody has been in our community advocating for what’s right and actively listening over decades,” Mueh says.

By Mueh’s own estimation, a few things set her apart from Joseph. While she supports “gentle” infill such as accessory dwelling units, Mueh is in favor of more local and community

control when it comes to housing. She’s also “stronger about public safety and public spaces,” she says. Mueh was a supporter of Boulder’s Safe Zones 4 Kids initiative, which prioritizes removal of homeless encampments near schools and on common transportation routes to schools. Organizers behind the 2023 ballot measure have used the campaign’s communication channels to promote her candidacy.

Mueh sees herself as someone who can use her “relational skills” to bridge political divides while pursuing solutions. “I have represented thousands of people and worked with different viewpoints. I know how to work collaboratively.”

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? No

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes

Do you support more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

Read Mueh’s full Q&A at bit.ly/TinaMuehBW

kids in the public schools means education is personal for Marisol Rodriguez. On the State Board

Marisol will

Champion efforts to increase school funding so we can raise teacher pay and improve the physical conditions of our schools

Oppose book bans and efforts to transfer tax dollars away from public schools

Support CDE’s school improvement efforts so that all kids have access to a great quality school, especially kids who have been overlooked and left behind

FROM THE DIVIDE TO YOUR DOOR!

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 49

LESLEY SMITH

Priorities:

• Environment

Smith has spent most of her career as a teacher and scientist at CU Boulder. Her first elected position was on the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education from 2005-2013. She’s been on the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents since 2019.

Smith is well established in the political realm, with numerous endorsements from elected officials spanning local, state and federal offices like Congressman Joe Neguse and commissioners from each of the four counties overlapping her district.

While she knows District 49 from interacting with community members and from her previous campaign for the regent chair, she also relies on those political connections to understand local issues like “lopsided” distribution of gaming funds between Black Hawk and Central City and Gilpin County. While she doesn’t have specific plans to allocate more dollars to under-funded county services, she says she’s committed to working with Sen. Dylan Roberts (District 8) to find solutions.

She has more concrete ideas that support other priorities. For example, one way Smith says she will support healthcare affordability is by reintroducing and co-sponsoring a failed bill from this year, HB24-1075, that would look into a statewide universal healthcare payment system. It’s

unclear if reintroducing that bill would be successful after a similar bill from 2023 concluded with the same outcome, and Colorado voters rejected a universal healthcare amendment in 2016.

Smith speaks Spanish and has made efforts to hear underrepresented voices as an elected official, such as participating in roundtable discussions after groups like the Latino Action Council criticized the hiring process for CU president Todd Saliman, a process she led. Smith stands by the search process, saying the committee she chaired was “a super strong and very diverse group” that considered “a diverse pool of candidates.”

Some of Smith’s solutions are Boulder-centric, which is where she lives, especially surrounding transportation. She says to maintain her already-established connections in the district’s rural communities, she’ll host town halls and keep the door open for her constituents.

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? Yes

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes

Do you support requiring more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

PRIMARY VOTE GUIDE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 49

MAX WOODFIN

Priorities:

• Healthcare

• Climate

• Infrastructure

Woodfin hasn’t held an elected office. He’s been a public school teacher, a psychotherapist and an Army officer and veteran with a decade of service in the Colorado National Guard and one year overseas.

Woodfin’s platform focuses on supporting rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in District 49. He wants to provide greater access to mental healthcare services, especially for Medicaid users, by establishing a minimum provider-to-patient ratio, streamlining credentialing processes and increasing reimbursement rates. That focus expands more broadly into affordable and quality healthcare, which he says is difficult for rural residents of District 49 who are far from public transportation, reliable internet access and clinics.

Another major piece of his platform is funding climate resilience projects, like wildfire mitigation, in rural and lower-income communities. Woodfin will lobby to increase state funding, grants and tax credits to create more fire-resistant communities specifically directed at this demographic.

He supports the pending Front Range Commuter Rail Project, but is concerned with how to get “people who are beyond the last mile”

more reliably connected to existing public transportation. For example, he says many folks from Nederland avoid taking the RTD to Boulder on Friday and Saturday evenings because there isn’t a bus after 11 p.m. back home. He suggests expanding rural transportation services, like nonprofit Via Mobility Services’ The Climb from Boulder to Gold Hill, to give people in his district more opportunity to access public transportation.

In short — he says “I’m going to be a person who’s talking about getting more money for a lot of things.”

Although he doesn’t have experience in elected office, Woodfin has specific projects that, if funded, will help achieve his goals. Whether he’ll be successful advocating for dollars at the Capitol is yet to be seen.

Q&A

Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? Yes

Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes

Do you support requiring more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes

Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes

NIWOTTAVERN.COM | 303-652-0200 7960 NIWOT ROAD, COTTONWOOD SQUARE

Read Woodfin’s full Q&A at bit.ly/MaxWoodfinBW

PRIMARY VOTE GUIDE

CAMPAIGN FINANCES

All told, candidates have raised less than $1 million across 13 separate races: $959,104, to be exact. In uncontested primaries and more competitive districts, the serious spending will likely happen as we draw closer to November’s general election.

Here’s how much money has gone toward each race and candidate as of May 15 (listed in the order they appear on ballots).

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT 2:

$67,190

• Kathy Gebhardt: $45,070

• Marisol Lynda Rodriguez: $22,120

CU REGENT AT LARGE:

$239,913

• Elliott Hood: $143,041

• Charles “CJ” Johnson: $95,877

• Eric Rinard: $995

SD17: $18,504

• Sonya Jaquez Lewis: $18,404

• Tom Van Lone: $100

SD18: $207,687

• Judy Amabile: $182,028

• Jovita Schiffer: $25,659

HD10: $153,290

• Junie Joseph: $98,822

• Tina Mueh: $54,468

• William B. DeOreo: $0

HD11: $38,734

• Karen McCormick: $38,734

• Kathy Reeves: $0

• Terri Goon: $0

HD12: $48,483

• Kyle Brown: $48,483

• Robert Mahler: $0

• Mark Milliman: $0

HD19: $30,459

• Jennifer Lea Parenti: $14,314

• Dan Woog: $16,145

HD49: $72,247

• Lesley Smith: $56,045

• Max Woodfin: $14,617

• Steve Ferrante: $1,585 COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 2: $25,182

• Marta Loachamin: $25,182

• Donald “Don” Lewis: $0

SOLE-CANDIDATE RACES

• Michael Dougherty (DA): $53,515

• Claire Levy (County Commissioner District 1): $3,901

• Jeff Martin (County Coroner): $0

WHERE, WHEN AND HOW TO VOTE

• Receiving your ballot. Ballots were mailed Monday, June 3.

• Casting your ballot. If you are returning your ballot by mail, the county recommends sending it in by Monday, June 17. After June 17, return to a 24-hour drop box by 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 (election day). Drop boxes opened Monday, June 3: bit.ly/boco_drop_boxes

In-person vote centers open June 17 at 8 a.m. and close Tuesday, June 25 (election day) at 7 p.m. Find a voting location: bit.ly/voting_ centers

• Updating your registration. Residents can register to vote or update their registration through election day at a voting center or online: bit.ly/BWregistrationFAQ

VOTE GUIDE

IT’S NOT EASY BEING RED

BY SHAY CASTLE

Keen readers may notice something missing from Boulder Weekly’s 2024 Primary Vote Guide: Republicans.

Despite two contested Republican primaries (House Districts 11 and 12), we didn’t feature them alongside Democratic primary battles. There are a couple reasons for this.

First, only three GOP candidates on the ballot responded to our emailed questionnaires and interview requests. But even if they had, the newsroom staff debated whether or not to feature them in our print edition because of the GOP’s struggles to garner votes in Boulder County. Why put in the effort?

Republican candidates often find themselves contemplating the same question.

would want to run for office?” she wonders.

This year, five of 13 local races have no Republican challenger, and eight local Dems aren’t facing a primary challenge. The share of registered Republicans in the state has shrunk every year since 2015. Today, fewer than one-quarter of active voters are members of the Grand Old Party, according to data from April.

“Is it discouraging?” Goon says of being in the political minority.

“Absolutely it’s discouraging.”

So why run? It’s a way of “getting the message out there,” Goon says, “to have people like you call me up and ask me my opinion.”

Via written questionnaires, Boulder Weekly asked every Republican candidate on the ballot what it might take for them to win in Boulder County.

“I didn’t take any campaign funds, because how can you ask people for money in this environment when you’re not going to win?” says Terri Goon of her current bid for Colorado’s House District 10 and last year’s campaign for Longmont mayor, which she lost. “I am a realistic person.”

She’s not alone: Six of the 10 local Republican candidates haven’t raised a single dollar in their 2024 campaign, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.

Goon laments that the lack of competitiveness results in fewer and lower-quality candidates — on both sides of the aisle. With just 11% of Boulder County voters registered as Republicans (and most of the 48% of unaffiliated voters leaning blue), “who

Three, including Goon, responded. All said they believe that conservative ideals will eventually triumph in the marketplace of ideas — particularly as the cost of living keeps going up.

“People paying $10,000 per year in property taxes are going to start asking questions,” wrote William “Bill” DeOreo, running for a District 10 spot in the statehouse.

“Given the relative abundance of Colorado and the United States in general, it’s been easy to give more attention to higherlevel issues as opposed to basic needs,” wrote Tom Van Lone, a candidate for Senate District 17.

“The Republican party is viewed as holding these views with lesser import, which is out of step with Colorado.”

DeOreo agrees.

“I believe that if the Republican party can shed its image as the party of big business and come to be seen as the actual protector of the border, rights of citizens, small businesses, families, churches and jobs in America,” he wrote, “it can and will compete as a major party, rather than the small and insignificant party it is right now.”

Read full questionnaires from Goon (bit.ly/TerriGoonBW), Van Lone (bit.ly/ TomVanLoneBW) and DeOreo (bit.ly/ WilliamBDeOreoBW).

Terri Goon

Tom Van Lone

William DeOreo

THROWING SHADE

Experts say red tape keeps safer sunscreens out of the U.S.

BY MICHAEL SCATURRO KFF HEALTH NEWS

When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he says, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.”

At issue is not just whether people are using enough sunscreen, but what ingredients are in it — and which UV rays they block.

The Food and Drug Administration’s ability to approve the chemical filters in sunscreens that are sold in countries such as Japan, South Korea and France is hamstrung by a 1938 U.S. law that has required sunscreens to be tested on animals and classified as drugs, rather than as cosmetics as they are in much of the world. So Americans are not likely to get those better sunscreens — which block the ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer and lead to wrinkles — in time for this summer, or even the next.

Sunscreen makers say that requirement is unfair because companies including BASF Corp. and L’Oréal, which make the newer sunscreen chemicals, submitted safety data on sunscreen chemicals to the European Union authorities some 20 years ago.

Steven Goldberg, a retired vice president of BASF, says companies are wary of the FDA process because of the cost and their fear that additional animal testing could ignite a consumer backlash in the European Union, which bans animal testing of cosmetics, including sunscreen. The companies are asking Congress to change the testing requirements before they

take steps to enter the U.S. marketplace.

In a rare example of bipartisanship last summer, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) thanked Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-N.Y.) for urging the FDA to speed up approvals of new, more effective sunscreen ingredients. Now a bipartisan bill is pending in the House that would require the FDA to allow non-animal testing.

“It goes back to sunscreens being classified as over-the-counter drugs,” says Carl D’Ruiz, a senior manager at DSM-Firmenich, a Switzerland-based maker of sunscreen chemicals. “It’s about giving the U.S. consumer something that the rest of the world has. People aren’t dying from using sunscreen. They’re dying from melanoma.”

Every hour, at least two people die of skin cancer in the United States. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in America, and 6.1 million adults are treated each year for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, according

to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nation’s second-mostcommon cancer, breast cancer, is diagnosed about 300,000 times annually, though it is far more deadly.

Though skin cancer treatment success rates are excellent, 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. The disease costs the health care system $8.9 billion a year, according to CDC researchers. One study found that the annual cost of treating skin cancer in the United States more than doubled from 2002 to 2011, while the average annual cost for all other cancers increased by just 25%. And unlike many other cancers, most forms of skin cancer can largely be prevented by using sunscreens and taking other precautions.

But a heavy dose of misinformation has permeated the sunscreen debate, and some people question the safety of sunscreens sold in the United States, which they deride as “chemical” sunscreens. These sunscreen opponents prefer “physical” or “mineral” sunscreens, such as zinc oxide, even though all sunscreen ingredients are chemicals.

“It’s an artificial categorization,” says E. Dennis Bashaw, a retired FDA official who ran the agency’s clinical pharmacology division that studies sunscreens.

Still, such concerns were partly fed by the FDA itself after it published a study that said some sunscreen ingredients had been found in trace amounts in human bloodstreams. When the FDA said in 2019, and then again two years later, that older sunscreen ingredients needed to be studied more to see if they were safe, sunscreen opponents saw an opening, says Nadim Shaath, president of Alpha Research & Development, which imports chemicals used in cosmetics.

“That’s why we have extreme groups and people who aren’t well informed thinking that something penetrating the skin is the end of the world,” Shaath says. “Anything you put on your skin or eat is absorbed.”

Adamson, the Austin dermatologist, says some sunscreen ingredients have been used for 30 years without any population-level evidence that they have harmed anyone. “The issue for me isn’t the safety of the sunscreens

NEWS

2024 Best of Boulder

we have,” he says. “It’s that some of the chemical sunscreens aren’t as broad spectrum as they could be, meaning they do not block UVA as well. This could be alleviated by the FDA allowing new ingredients.”

Ultraviolet radiation falls between X-rays and visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum. Most of the UV rays that people come in contact with are UVA rays that can penetrate the middle layer of the skin and that cause up to 90% of skin aging, along with a smaller amount of UVB rays that are responsible for sunburns.

The sun protection factor, or SPF, rating on American sunscreen bottles denotes only a sunscreen’s ability to block UVB rays. Although American sunscreens labeled “broad spectrum” should, in theory, block UVA light, some studies have shown they fail to meet the European Union’s higher UVA-blocking standards.

SUN SAFETY TIPS

• Stay in the shade during peak sunlight hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Wear hats and sunglasses

• Use UV-blocking sun umbrellas and clothing

• Reapply sunscreen every two hours

You can order overseas versions of sunscreens from online pharmacies such as Cocooncenter in France. Keep in mind that the same brands may have different ingredients if sold in U.S. stores. But importing your sunscreen may not be affordable or practical. “The best sunscreen is the one that you will use over and over again,” says Jane Yoo, a New York City dermatologist.

“It looks like a number of these newer chemicals have a better safety profile in addition to better UVA protection,” says David Andrews, deputy director of Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that researches the ingredients in consumer products.

“We have asked the FDA to consider allowing market access.”

The FDA defends its review process and its call for tests of the sunscreens sold in American stores as a way to ensure the safety of products that many people use daily, rather than just a few times a year at the beach.

“Many Americans today rely on sunscreens as a key part of their skin cancer prevention strategy, which makes satisfactory evidence of both safety and effectiveness of these products critical for public health,” Cherie Duvall-Jones, an FDA spokesperson, wrote in an email.

D’Ruiz’s company, DSM-Firmenich, is the only one currently seeking to have a new over-the-counter sunscreen ingredient approved in the United States. The company has spent the past 20 years trying to gain approval for bemotrizinol, a process

D’Ruiz says has cost $18 million and has advanced fitfully, despite attempts by Congress in 2014 and 2020 to speed along applications for new UV filters.

Bemotrizinol is the bedrock ingredient in nearly all European and Asian sunscreens, including those by the South Korean brand Beauty of Joseon and Bioré, a Japanese brand.

D’Ruiz says bemotrizinol could secure FDA approval by the end of 2025. If it does, he says, bemotrizinol would be the most vetted and safest sunscreen ingredient on the market, outperforming even the safety profiles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

As Congress and the FDA debate, many Americans have taken to importing their own sunscreens from Asia or Europe, despite the risk of fake products.

“The sunscreen issue has gotten people to see that you can be unsafe if you’re too slow,” says Alex Tabarrok, a professor of economics at George Mason University. “The FDA is just incredibly slow. They’ve been looking at this now literally for 40 years. Congress has ordered them to do it, and they still haven’t done it.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues.

MUSIC

IF YOU BOOK IT, THEY WILL COME

Use your outdoor voice at Chautauqua’s first-ever Flatiron Sounds Music Festival

BY JUSTIN CRIADO

Scott Bauer remembers the first time he ever laid eyes on the stunning view of Chautauqua Park. Like many who have reflected on the awe-inspiring sight nestled at the base of Boulder’s iconic Flatirons, it gave him an idea.

“The first thing I noticed was the enormity of that open space and how perfect it would be to host a festival there,” he recalls. “It’s very inspiring when you walk down there and you see the size of it, you see that backdrop.”

Bauer’s if-you-build-it-they-will-come epiphany occurred three years ago, when the Colorado Chautauqua’s manager of programming and event operations began dreaming of attracting people to the green with music and revelry. Now he’ll see how many will come out for the first-ever Flatiron Sounds Music Festival when that dream becomes a reality June 16.

The folksy, bluegrass-heavy lineup features Denver’s Clay Street Unit, Jake Leg and King Cardinal, Lyons singer-songwriter Alexa Wildish and the duo Two Runner of Northern California.

Fresh off last season’s playoff run on NBC’s The Voice, Wildish jumped at the chance to be among the first slate of artists to take the stage at the inaugural live-music blowout in her own backyard.

“I thought it would be nice to do a festival that’s never been done before, and the fact that it’s available to the public [for free] is really awesome,” Wildish says. “I just love the feeling of being outdoors in summertime with other people who love music.”

ROOM TO GROW

Flatiron Sounds is more than just a day full of music. Sixteen vendors and five food trucks will be on hand — the Chautauqua General Store is also an option for snacks and gifts — alongside sponsors Sanitas Brewing Company and Luna Bay, who are bringing the local brew and hard kombucha.

“The whole place is essentially a huge beer garden,” Bauer explains. He says there will also be family-friendly options such as arts and crafts and lawn games for attendees of all ages.

Everybody seemed to want to do it again, but obviously, the 126th anniversary doesn’t quite have as good of a ring to it,” he says. “The bones were already there to execute this again. It was sort of like a case study last year, and that went really well.”

Want to know how Flatiron Sounds acts Clay Street Unit and Alexa Wildish spend their summers in Boulder County? Check out profiles on these artists and more in our latest Summer Scene issue, found inside this edition.

Last year’s 125th Chautauqua anniversary party provided the blueprint for what a more official music festival could look like, according to Bauer.

“It was the first time we’ve done a large-scale event down at the green.

The overarching goal is to make Flatiron Sounds an annual free festival — and a little bigger, if popularity pushes it to expand. (This year’s setup only uses half of the green, Bauer points out.) Then there’s the possibility of creating a multi-day community cometogether.

“The room for growth is certainly there, so the more people the better. That will help us grow,” he says.

THE REAL ROCKSTARS

Keeping the festival free is a credit to the sponsors, according to Bauer. He says supporters like Boulder’s own Sanitas Brewing Co., Luna Bay of Chicago and KGNU Community Radio are the real rockstars.

“As a free festival, making it financially viable is the real challenge, so we’re really grateful for our sponsors and partners who came on board to help support it,” Bauer says. “Those people are invaluable to make this continue to happen.”

KGNU and Chautauqua frequently partner on Community House shows that often showcase hometown talent. The festival, as Bauer sees it, is an extension of that beloved homegrown tradition.

“We’ll always want to support local bands no matter how large it grows,” he says. “Then it would be nice to expand and get some national artists in there, for sure.”

While Flatiron Sounds isn’t the only free music gathering in Boulder, Chautauqua aims to become the go-to, and the one with the best view, moving forward.

“Our goal is to be the preeminent, free, live-music destination festival of the summer,” Bauer says.

If Flatiron Sounds reaches such heights, it would also be another manifestation of Bauer’s earliest visions for the pristine park that first took his breath away three years ago.

“To provide a free music event for the community on that large of a scale,” he says. “It would be a dream come true for everybody here.”

ON THE BILL: Flatiron

1-7 p.m. Sunday, June 16.

Park, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. Free

Sounds Music Festival: Clay Street Unit, Jake Leg, King Cardinal, Alexa Wildish and Two Runner.

Chautauqua

Last year’s 125th Chautauqua anniversary party provided the blueprint for the Flatiron Sounds Music Festival, says organizer Scott Bauer. Courtesy: Flatiron Sounds Music Festival

Alexa Wildish, Lyons resident and contestant on NBC’s The Voice, is one of five performers taking the stage at the inaugural Flatiron Sounds Music Festival. Credit: Jo Babb

Denver’s Clay Street Unit headlines the firstever Flatiron Sounds Music Festival at Boulder’s Chautauqua Park on Sunday, June 16. Courtesy: Clay Street Unit

MUSIC

FOUND SOUNDS

What’s in Boulder’s headphones?

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

May felt like it lasted about two seconds, but if you listen closely you can still hear it. As we officially kick off the summer, join us for a look at last month’s bestselling new vinyl from Paradise Found Records and Music (1646 Pearl St.) From Billie to Charley, these are the albums your neighbors were obsessed with during the final blush of spring.

1. BILLIE EILISH Hit Me Hard and Soft

2. TWENTY ONE PILOTS Clancy

3. CAGE THE ELEPHANT Neon Pill

4. LAUFEY Bewitched: The Goddess Edition

5. CHARLEY CROCKETT $10 Cowboy

Few soundtracks (or movies, for that matter) have whooped my ass quite like I Saw the TV Glow. This dayglo collection of thrillers and chillers is packed with original new songs by Caroline Polachek, Florist, Bartees Strange and more — plus the first music in years by Frances Quinlain of Hop Along, perhaps the greatest and most underrated rock band of the past decade. Check out a BW write-up on the film along with screening info as part of the Dairy Arts Center’s Friday Night Weird program on p. 27.

— Jezy J. Gray, arts and culture editor

For the complete list of top new local vinyl releases, visit bit.ly/FoundSoundsMay24.

STAFF PICK

•

‘PAINTING IN MOTION’

Louisville youth dance company honors the pain and perseverance of Frida Kahlo

BY TONI TRESCA

Marie-Jose Payannet believes that some of life’s most important lessons are learned on the dance floor. As the artistic and executive director of Louisville’s Danse Etoile Ballet, Payannet has spent the last two decades teaching the youth of Boulder County about the artform she fell in love with as a kid in Southern France.

“Dance gives you a mindset that will help you work through the difficulties in life,” Payannet says. “If you have a lot of enthusiasm, dedication and perseverance, you can survive anything; ballet teaches these skills. ”

Payannet’s dance journey began in the French city of Avignon, where she studied at the Conservatory of Classical Dance and Music. She performed for many years in Paris before moving to the United States with her husband, where she continued her career with Alabama’s Huntsville Ballet and appeared as a guest artist with the Alabama and Atlanta ballets, performing well into her 40s.

impossible to convey everything in an hourand-a-half ballet.

That’s why I called it Frida’s Wings rather than something like Frida’s Story — the

wings symbolize her desire to create, despite all the hardships she faced.”

After moving to Boulder with her two children and working for several local companies, she founded Danse Etoile in 2004 as a hybrid school and company to help young dancers refine their craft. Payannet’s latest project and the company’s season closer, Frida’s Wings — an original work about the life and art of its legendary namesake painter — encapsulates her passion for storytelling through dance.

“I’ve always been very interested in all kinds of art, particularly by powerful women,” Payannet says. “Frida Kahlo’s life was so complex that it was

FRIDA TAKES FLIGHT

Kahlo’s remarkable life will find a vibrant new expression when Danse Etoile performers take the stage June 7-8 at Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center. Known for her vibrant self-portraits and profound symbolism, the iconic queer visual artist overcame physical and emotional obstacles to become one of the most renowned and recognizable artists of the 20th century.

Born in Mexico City in 1907, Kahlo contracted polio at age six, resulting in a lifelong limp. At 18, a near-fatal bus accident left her with severe chronic

pain and ongoing complications for the rest of her life. Unable to walk for three months after the extensive injuries to her spine, pelvis, leg and uterus, she started painting self-portraits using a special easel and mirror during her rehabilitation as a way to cope with the suffering. This pivotal moment, rendered in movement by Payannet’s skilled young dancers, is when Kahlo first took flight.

“After her accident, Frida begins to paint onstage, and the dancer who plays her wings enters, and the dancing becomes less traditional,” Payannet says. “The contemporary dance in the piece expresses the internal change she goes through when she starts channeling her emotions through art. We try to visually replicate everything in Frida’s work through movement.”

The ballet will feature interpretations of Kahlo’s most iconic paintings, such as Me and My Parrots, The Two Fridas

DANCE

and Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair. The score features works by renowned composers like Philip Glass, René Aubry and Ludovico Einaudi, as well as original compositions by Colorado musicians Dave Heffner and Bruce Klepper.

“I am inspired by Frida Kahlo’s work because I’m also a painter, but in this case, the stage is my white canvas,” Payannet says. “There is nothing else on stage except the dancers, some images of the artwork, and music, which together create a painting in motion.”

‘WHEN I’M STRESSED, I TURN TO BALLET’

Neeharika Hancock, a recent high school graduate playing Kahlo, says she has long been interested in the artist she portrays. She fondly recalls discussions about Kahlo’s legacy in school, and had the opportunity to visit her home in Mexico two years ago.

“She had a difficult life, but one thing that inspires me about her is how she overcame it through her art, and I feel like I have done the same with ballet,” Hancock says. “When I’m stressed, I turn to ballet.”

As the season finale approaches, Hancock says she and other graduating seniors have been reflecting on their time with Danse Etoile. Hancock will be starting as a freshman engineering student at CU Boulder in the fall. She hopes to continue dancing, but this will be her final production with the company.

“It’s been happy and sad to have our last dress rehearsal and stuff like that, but also really rewarding,” Hancock says. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with Marie and have her help me grow over the years by teaching me the value of balance, time management and perseverance, which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

ON STAGE: Frida’s Wings June 7-8, The Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $20-$30

Above: Iconic queer visual artist Frida Kahlo overcame physical and emotional obstacles to become one of the most renowned and recognizable artists of the 20th century. Left: Dancers perform in a 2023 Danse Etoile production of The Brontë Sisters Credit: Dominique Payannet

PRESENTS A SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT

Penner’s 75-minute tour de force is spine-tingling, fierce and un-blinking.

TICKETS at BETC.ORG July 11 - 21

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS

CU professor emeritus hits the road with new series at the Dairy

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

Nothing screams summer

quite like a road trip. The pull of the open road, the freedom to choose this path or that, the small pockets of life one comes across on the way to the destination, the transformative experience of starting here and ending there and, naturally, the transportation — cramped interior spaces moving through a vast and sometimes dangerous exterior. All you need is a guide.

And Life Goes On (July 20), and Alfonso Curaón’s steamy, cross-country trek through Mexico in Y tu mamá también (July 28).

MYTHMAKER

TCM podcast ‘Decoding John Ford’ sheds light on the infamous filmmaker

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

When Orson Welles was asked what filmmakers he admired, he responded, “I prefer the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford.”

Born John Martin Feeney in Maine in 1894 — though he disputed two of those facts — John Ford is American cinema. He directed more than 140 features, shorts and documentaries, won six Academy Awards (four for directing, a record) and would influence legions with his films.

“John Ford’s idea of America became the idea of America. John Ford is Walt Whitman. John Ford is Thomas Edison. John Ford is American life.”

At the Dairy Arts Center’s Boedecker Theater this summer, your guide will be CU Cinema Studies professor emeritus Suranjan Ganguly for his six-week series, The International Road Movie.

For three Sundays in June and three in July, Ganguly will survey the road movie through disparate titles, each a straight-up classic of international cinema. And by opening the series with Dino Risi’s Italian odd couple comedy Il Sorpasso (June 16) and following it up with the jaw-dropping masterpiece from German auteur Werner Herzog, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (June 23), Ganguly underlines how the road does not always take the shape we might anticipate, and destinations aren’t always victorious.

Other titles in the series include the deliriously hypnotic Walkabout (June 30) from Nicolas Roeg, Agnès Varda’s magnificent exploration of a young woman refusing to live by societal norms in Vagabond (July 7), Abbas Kiarostami’s search for a lost boy inside a cinematic hall of mirrors in

For those new to these films, Ganguly is a cherished guide. If you’ve had the pleasure of attending one of his introductions at the Boe or the International Film Series, then you know his ability to unlock the mysteries within the frame is unrivaled. Ditto for his ability to bring the behind-thescenes stories to life in a way that informs without trivializing the offscreen obstacles and antics of the filmmakers and actors — his intro for Aguirre is sure to include a number of salacious tales about the making of that masterpiece.

And for those who have seen these movies before, you already know their majesty and probably cannot wait to see them again. Here’s your chance.

ON SCREEN:

The International Road Movie with Suranjan Ganguly, select Sundays in June and July, Boedecker Theater, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder.

That quote comes courtesy of season five of The Plot Thickens, TCM’s signature podcast hosted by Ben Mankiewicz. This season’s seven-episode series, Decoding John Ford, co-produced by the audio company Novel, covers the lasting impact of a filmmaker born 130 years ago with secrets still to be uncovered.

Ford is a frustrating man to love. He was a drunk and a bully, dismissed the obvious poetry he brought to motion pictures as nothing more than “a job of work,” and bent, broke and borrowed the truth any chance he could get. But it’s all there in the frame — which is why so many interviewees in Decoding John Ford reach for hyperbole when describing Ford’s films.

For the newcomers to Ford, the series succinctly lays out all the pertinent information with plenty of archival audio and contemporary interviews with scholars. For the already initiated, the real coup comes in episode four when Mankiewicz goes in search of Ford’s lost documentary

shot during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.

Like many Hollywood filmmakers, Ford served in uniform following the U.S. entry into World War II. Ford’s award-winning documentary The Battle of Midway is a sight to behold and easy to find. But color footage of Allied soldiers landing on Omaha Beach shot by one of the finest ever to touch a camera? Talk about the holy grail of lost footage.

June 6 marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and TCM will be celebrating accordingly with a line-up of World War II movies, including Saving Private Ryan, directed by one of Hollywood’s most successful devotees of Ford, Steven Spielberg. Some people just live. John Ford lives on.

Decoding John Ford will be available to download and stream from your podcast app of choice starting June 6.

Dino Risi’s Il Sorpasso screens as part of the Dairy Arts Center’s International Road Movie showcase on June 16. Courtesy: The Criterion Collection

John Ford poses with one of his four Oscars in 1946. Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

FRONT RANGE STRANGE

The Dairy gets weird with it during this month’s underground film series

BY JEZY J. GRAY

Like most nonprofit workers, you’ll find Shay Wescott wearing many hats on a given day. Her main job is overseeing fundraising efforts for the Dairy Arts Center as the multidisciplinary culture hub’s development manager. But when the lights dim in the facility’s Boedecker Theater on Friday night, the 32-year-old cinephile and Lafayette resident steps into her unofficial role as “The Queen of the Weird.”

Wescott earned that title as co-curator of the Dairy’s weekly Friday Night Weird film series, serving up a strange slate of cinematic offerings you won’t find on Netflix. From bonkers B-movie slashers to under-the-radar art films, the regular showcase has been keeping Boulder’s more adventurous moviegoers on the edge of their seats (or watching through their fingers) for nearly a decade.

“Everyone has just kind of migrated to streaming services. I also love being alone watching movies and not leaving my house — I totally get all that,” she says. “But this is actually curated by real people who thought and researched what we’re showing and really, really care about the experience.”

In the inaugural edition of our new monthly column, Boulder Weekly caught up with Wescott to talk about weird and wonderful offerings in store this month.

DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD

Friday, June 7 | Saturday, June 8

Radu Jude, 2023, Romania, 2:40, NR

Listed among Boulder Weekly film critic Michael J. Casey’s top movies of 2023, the latest from Romanian director Radu Jude has been described in

these pages as “a clever ding at soulless capitalism.”

Ilinca Manolache plays an overworked and underpaid gig worker in this satirical and surreal film that won the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival. Part postmodern comedy, part obscene Instragram reel, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World defies easy categorization — but Wescott says it’s the filmmaker’s most accessible work to date.

“I recommend this film with the zeal of the converted,” she says. “I went in skeptical, because I always want to love his films and I just come out feeling nothing. This was the exact opposite. It’s so funny and layered. There’s an ending set piece that is just breathtaking.”

THE BEAST

Friday, June 14 | Saturday, June 15 Bertrand Bonello, 2024, France/Canada, 2:26, NR

Wescott calls the latest from French director Bertrand Bonello “the outlier of the month” in June’s Friday Night Weird lineup.

Known for the political thriller Nocturama and the supernatural teenangst flick Zombi Child, Bonello’s new film The Beast works on a larger scale as a sci-fi drama based on a 1903 novella by Henry James. Set in 2044, it follows a young woman named Gabrielle navigating a world where human labor has been made obsolete by artificial intelligence.

“A lot of the Friday Night Weird films are super low budget or very purposely have this kind of underground feel. This is much more classical filmmaking, but it’s playing with a lot of different genres. It is simultaneously science fiction, a period piece and a romance,” Wescott says. “It’s also deeply rooted in fears of technology. There’s a kind of an acci-

dental throughline in the first three films this month, which are all about very modern fears: the fear of capitalism, technology and the fear of identity.”

I SAW THE TV GLOW

Friday, June 21 | Saturday, June 22 Jane Schoenbrun, 2024, USA, 1:40, PG-13

A horror movie about loneliness and a love letter to longing, I Saw the TV Glow is a mesmerizing work of neondrenched nostalgia and critical gender theory. Produced by Emma Stone under her Fruit Tree banner, the sophomore effort by emerging filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun is a fresh and freaky sendup of ’90s TV pop-horror staples like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Are You Afraid of the Dark, marrying the sleepless delirium of a teenage slumber party with the dreamy swagger of an uncanny David Lynch masterpiece — and a killer soundtrack to boot.

On the heels of their knockout 2021 debut We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, the 37-year-old director describes their A24 follow-up as the second in a “screen trilogy” about gender dysphoria. Centering on two troubled young friends who become obsessed with a creepy late-night TV show, the film unspools into a time-spanning epic that’s as sad as it is unsettling. Throw in a suite of unlikely cameos by the likes of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and indie-rock royalty Phoebe Bridgers, and you’re in for a film that’s not quite like anything you’ve ever seen.

“If you’re not already going to be in

on this movie, I don’t know that I can convince you. It all thrives on emotional logic and resonance — it’s either a piece of your soul, or it’s not,” Wescott says. “I’m very hopeful it’ll work, because I think there’s a good chance the people who have enjoyed the Friday Night Weird films will be in this club.”

CEMETERY MAN

Friday, June 28 | Saturday, June 29 Michele Soavi, 1994, Italy, 1:45, NR

The dead don’t stay that way in Cemetery Man. Directed by Michele Soavi and based on the novel by Tiziano Sclavi, this 1994 comedy-horror movie from Italy follows graveyard groundskeeper Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) who falls in love while battling the cemetery’s flesh-hungry residents who rise from their not-soeternal slumber.

With a new restoration from the American Genre Film Archive — described by Wescott as “the Criterion Collection of all things in the underground, grindhouse, exploitation and B-movie realm” — Friday Night Weird fans will be in for a bloody and bellicose treat when this offering from the director of the cult-classic Stage Fight rounds out the month’s offerings.

“It’s a weird and gory zombie movie, heavy on the European flair that makes for the best arthouse horror,” Wescott says. “It’s that kind of influence mixed with American low-budget, Evil Deadtype gore and humor.”

I Saw the TV Glow screens June 21-22 as part of the Dairy Arts Center’s Friday Night Weird film series. Courtesy: A24

6

PICKLEBALL HAPPY HOUR

3-6 p.m. Thursday, June 6, Sanitas Brewing Co., 3550 Frontier Ave., Boulder.

Don’t mingle with the commoners: Head to Sanitas Brewing during happy hour for exclusive discounts in the company of fellow pickleball diehards. Celebrate your victories or just revel in being the coolest people in the room.

6

CRAFT YOGA IN THE LEFT HAND BEER GARDEN

6-7 p.m. Thursday, June 6, The Garden at Left Hand Brewing, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free

Pair your down dog with an open-air pint at Left Hand’s Beer Garden during this weekly free yoga session. This all-levels flow is suited to new yogis and advanced practitioners alike. Passport Food Truck will be onsite so you can grab a small plate alongside an award-winning brew after the flow.

7

BOCO’S LGBTQ HISTORY

6-8 p.m. Friday, June 7, Louisville Historical Museum, 1001 Main St. Free

From issuing the country’s first samesex marriage license to passing early protections against discrimination, Boulder County has been home to some major moments in the fight for equality. Drop by Louisville Historical Museum’s First Friday open house event for a pop-up exhibit about local LGBTQ history. The rest of the museum will be open for wandering too.

7

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S SKATE

4-9:30 p.m. Friday, June 7 and noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8. Adults-only skate 7:309:30pm Saturday. Boulder County Fair Grounds Exhibit Building, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. $11 admission, $5.50 skate rental.

Boulder County may not have any dedicated roller rinks, but Longmont’s Freewheel Limited is filling the void this weekend with a Midsummer Night’s Dream-themed skate. Roll over to the Boulder County Fairgrounds in your best fairy garb for a $2 discount on admission.

7

BOULDER FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK

6-9 p.m. Friday, June 7, along Broadway from Pine to U.S. 36, North Boulder. Free

Wander through art studios, listen to live music or grab a bite at a food truck at this monthly event where artists run the gamut from sculptors to photographers. Keep an eye out for brightly colored flags “to find surprises around every corner.”

8

DEAD WEST 2024

1-10 p.m. Saturday, June 8, Cellar West Artisan Ales, 778 Baseline Road, Lafayette. Free

Take the golden road to Lafayette this weekend for the fifth annual celebration of all things Dead. Enjoy music from tribute bands, themed beer and snacks courtesy of Cellar West and Cosmic Coyote Cook Shanty, and heady merch like commemorative tiedye tees. New this year: a Friday evening kickoff event with tarot readings and live music.

EVENTS

8

GAY FOAM DANCE PARTY

8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, June 8, DV8 Distillery, 2840 49th St., Suite E, Boulder. $15-$25

Boulder’s only queer bar is transforming for the ultimate Pride party. Dance indoors to house and dance music ’til you glow, or to naughties jams and hip-hop in a foam-filled inflatable nightclub. This LGBTQ blowout also features free body and glow paint, drag and aerial performances and soul food from the Harlems Trap Citchen truck.

9

BOULDER JEWISH FESTIVAL

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 9, Pearl Street Mall - 13th and 14th streets, Boulder. Free

Art, food, music and family fun are in store during this annual celebration of Jewish culture presented by the Boulder JCC in the heart of the (Chosen) People’s Republic. Don’t miss the 28th year of the anticipated community event featuring Lynette Errante Ceramics, Boychik Kitchen, Colorado Jewish Climate Action and more.

9

ADULT DRAG BINGO WITH MISS JESSICA

5-7 p.m. Sunday, June 9, Lefthand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free

Your lucky numbers are up at Left Hand Brewing. There’s no room for inhibitions during this regular drag bingo bash with the one and only Miss Jessica L’Whor, where you can compete for prizes while imbibing on a few award-winning craft beers.

11

GUIDED GROUP HEALING

11-11:45 a.m., Tuesday, June 11, The Healing Studio, 18 Garden Center, Broomfield. $20

Feeling out of balance? Get a little help from energy healer Leanna Holitza. Participants will be guided through group meditation to help them visualize and realize their highest potential. Not a great meditator? No worries, Holitza says: “Working in group consciousness is a very powerful way to shift your energy.”

12

SOLAR OVEN S’MORES

2-3 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, Erie Community Library, 400 Powers Street. Free.

Harness the power of the sun to make a classic summer snack. Kids grades 3-5 will learn how solar ovens work before making their own to cook s’mores. Supplies will be provided. Registration required: bit.ly/ SolarSmoresBW

12

BANDS ON BRICKS KICKOFF: THE REMINDERS

5:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, 1300 block of Pearl Street, Boulder. Free.

Boogie down to Pearl Street for the return of Boulder’s ultimate summer concert series. This long-running tradition serves up tunes from local acts every Wednesday from June 12 to July 31. The beer (and wine and margarita) garden opens at 5:30, with the opening act starting at 6 p.m. This week, catch DJ Xoomie before The Reminders take the stage at 7 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, JUNE 6

DAVIS LITTLE WITH HALEIGH BLACK 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

ANDY EPPLER 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

DENNY DRISCOLL. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

TWISTED PINE WITH TONEWOOD. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $22

MIDNIGHT STRANGE 9 p.m. Southern Sun Pub, 627 S. Broadway, Boulder. Free

THELMA AND THE SLEAZE WITH THE BORN READIES AND TEAM NONEXISTENT. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

FRIDAY, JUNE 7

TREVOR HALL. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 13th St., Boulder. $50

RIVER MANN 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

SARAH MCLACHLAN WITH FEIST. 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $120

POKEY LAFARGE 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $32

SATURDAY, JUNE 8

LAFAYETTE BLOCK PARTY WITH COLORADO MAMBO ORCHESTRA.

3 p.m. Lafayette Public Library, 775 W. Baseline Road, Lafayette. Free

BOBCAT. 3 p.m. Gold Hill Store & Pub, 531 Main St., Boulder. $10

GOOD MUSIC MEDICINE 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

DRUNKEN HEARTS WITH BONNIE AND TAYLOR SIMS 5 p.m. Wibby Brewing, 209 Emery St., Longmont. $7

MOJOMAMMA WITH TYLER’S GARAGE 5:30 p.m. Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free

YOUNG FABLES. 6 p.m. Stone Cottage Studios, 3091 7th St., Boulder. $35

VINYL DANCE PARTY. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

PATRONS. Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

SIRENS. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

HEAVY METAL NIGHT. 7 p.m.

Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont. $15

DIVA CUP WITH CITRUS, PLASTIC FOREARM AND PRIORITY QUEUE

8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15

LIONEL YOUNG DUO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

SEEING STARS 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

DELTA SONICS 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

CHICKEN COOP WILLAYE. 6 p.m. Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

FEIST WITH SAM WEBER. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $43 BW PICK OF THE WEEK

GREEN MACHINE 7 p.m. Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Road, Boulder. Free

JUSTIN BRADFORD WITH MIKE J. WILLIAMS. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

LOCO UKELELE JAM 2 p.m.

Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS WITH THE WALLFLOWERS 7 p.m. Red Rocks Park Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $82

DRY WEDDING WITH SNAKES, QUITS AND MOON PUSSY. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

LIVE MUSIC

ON THE BILL

Canadian indie-pop mainstay Feist comes to Boulder’s eTown Hall for a live radio taping with fellow Canuck Sam Weber on June 8. Whether you’ve been a fan since her days with supergroup Broken Social Scene or you’re just now getting down on last year’s Multitudes, you won’t want to miss this intimate night of songs and storytelling. See listing for details.

JMSN WITH DANIEL NOAH MILLER 9 p.m. Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $36

SUNDAY, JUNE 9

LOCO UKELELE JAM. 2 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

VUDU SUNSHINE 2 p.m. 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

SWEET SUNDAY SWING BAND 3 p.m. Spirit Hound Distillers, 4196 Ute Hwy., Lyons. Free

CARTER COMBS 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

DAWN CLEMENT QUARTET 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

ARS NOVA SINGS PRESENTS FRUITION: SHARED VISIONS. 7 p.m. Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $10

MONDAY, JUNE 10

BOULDER CONCERT BAND 7 p.m. East Palo Park, 4340 Corriente Drive, Boulder. Free

TUESDAY, JUNE 11

DAVE HOENING 5 p.m. Roadhouse Boulder Depot, 2366 Junction Pl., Boulder. Free

MAREN MORRIS WITH BETTY WHO. 8 p.m. Red Rocks Park Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $49

QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT WITH MR. PACMAN 7 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS WITH LOU HAZEL 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $20

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12

GONZALO TEPPA 12:30 p.m. Sister Carmen Community Center, 675 Aspen Ridge Drive, Lafayette. Free

BANDS ON THE BRICKS 5:30 p.m. 1300 Block of Pearl St., Boulder. Free

TIM MERKEL 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont. Free

DENVER MUNICIPAL JAZZ BAND 6 p.m. Sandstone Park, 350 Broadway, Lyons. Free

OF MONTREAL WITH GODCASTER AND TELE NOVELLA. 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $23

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

Art of Modeling

Figurative Exhibit Group Show Breaking Boundaries of Body Exclusivity

Opening Reception, First Friday June 7 6-9 pm

BUS STOP GALLERY

4895 N. Broadway Boulder, CO Fri 4-7, Sat 1-5 Sun 1-4

Renee Patrick Martinez

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): What potentials should you strive to ripen as the expansive planet Jupiter glides through your astrological House of Connection, Communication and Education in the coming months? I’ll offer my intuitions. On the downside, there may be risks of talking carelessly, forging superficial links and learning inessential lessons. On the plus side, you will generate good luck and abundant vitality if you use language artfully, seek out the finest teachings and connect with quality people and institutions. In the most favorable prognosis I can imagine, you will become smarter and wiser. Your knack for avoiding boredom and finding fascination will be at a peak.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Since 1969, Taurus singer-songwriter Willie Nelson has played his favorite guitar in over 10,000 shows. His name for it is Trigger. Willie doesn’t hold onto it simply for nostalgic reasons. He says it has the greatest tone he has ever heard in a guitar. Though bruised and scratched, it gets a yearly checkup and repair. Nelson regards it as an extension of himself, like a part of his body. Is there anything like Trigger in your life, Taurus? Now is a good time to give it extra care and attention. The same is true for all your valuable belongings and accessories. Give them big doses of love.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Off the coast of West Africa is an imaginary place called Null Island. A weather buoy is permanently moored there. Geographers have nicknamed it “Soul Buoy.” It’s the one location on Earth where zero degrees latitude intersects with zero degrees longitude. Since it’s at sea level, its elevation is zero, too. I regard this spot as a fun metaphor for the current state of your destiny, Gemini. You are at a triple zero point, with your innocence almost fully restored. The horizons are wide, the potentials are expansive and you are as open and free as it’s possible for you to be.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): When I worked as a janitor at India Joze restaurant in Santa Cruz, California, I did the best I could. But I was unskilled in the janitorial arts: I couldn’t fix broken machines and I lacked expertise about effective cleaning agents. Plus, I was lazy. Who could blame me? I wasn’t doing my life’s work. I had no love for my job. Is there an even remotely comparable situation in your life, Cancerian? Are you involved with tasks that neither thrill you nor provide you with useful education? The coming months will be an excellent time to wean yourself from these activities.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): I foresee two possible approaches for you in the coming months. Either will probably work, so it’s up to you to decide which feels most fun and interesting. In the first option, you will pursue the rewards you treasure by creating your own rules as you outfox the system’s standard way of doing things. In the second alternative, you will aim for success by mostly playing within the rules of the system except for some ethical scheming and maneuvering that outflank the system’s rules. My advice is to choose one or the other, and not try to do both.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Please note that during the next 12 months, I may seem a bit pushy in my dealings with you. I will encourage you to redefine and enhance your ambitions. I will exhort you to dream bigger. There may come times when you wish I wouldn’t dare you to be so bold. I will understand, then, if you refrain from regularly reading my horoscopes. Maybe you are comfortable with your current type of success and don’t want my cheerleading. But if you would welcome an ally like me — an amiable motivator and sympathetic booster — I will be glad to help you strive for new heights of accomplishment.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Three months after Rachel Denning bore her fourth child, she and her husband sold everything they owned and embarked on a nomadic life. They have been roaming ever since, adding three more kids along the way. She says they have become addicted to “the personal transformation that travel extracts.” She loves how wandering free “causes you to be uncomfortable, to step out of the familiar and into the unknown. It compels you to see with new eyes and to consider things you had never been aware of. It removes preconceptions, biases and small-mindedness.” If you were ever going to flirt with Denning’s approach, Libra, the next 12 months would be a favorable time. Could you approximate the same healing growth without globetrotting journeys? Probably. Homework: Ask your imagination to show you appealing ways to expand.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Among the Europeans who first settled in South America were Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity by Portuguese and Spanish persecutions. Centuries later, some families resolved to reclaim their Jewish heritage. They led a movement called la sangre llama, a Spanish phrase meaning “the blood is calling.” I invite you to be inspired by this retrieval, Scorpio. The coming months will be an excellent time to commune with aspects of your past that have been neglected or forgotten. Your ancestors may have messages for you. Go in search of missing information about your origins.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): If you simply let the natural flow take you where it will in the coming weeks, you would become a magnet for both degenerative and creative influences. Fortunately, you are reading this oracle, which will help ensure the natural flow won’t lead you toward degenerative influences. With this timely oracle, I am advising you to monitor and suppress any unconscious attractions you might have for bewildering risks and seemingly interesting possibilities that are actually dead ends. Don’t flirt with decadent glamor or fake beauty, dear Sagittarius. Instead, make yourself fully available for only the best resources that will uplift and inspire you.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Capricorn politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is campaigning to be U.S. President. But oops: He recently confessed that a parasitic worm once ate a portion of his brain, damaging his memory and cognitive skills. “The worm is dead now,” he assured us, as if that were a good reason to vote for him. Why am I bringing this up? Like most of us, you have secrets that if revealed might wreak at least a bit of mayhem. As tempting as it might be to share them with the world — perhaps in an effort to feel free of their burden — it’s best to keep them hidden for now. Kennedy’s brain worm is in that category. Don’t be like him in the coming weeks. Keep your reputation and public image strong. Show your best facets to the world.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): The English and French word “amateur” comes from amatus, the past participle of the Latin word amare, which means “to love.” According to one definition, an amateur is “someone who pursues sports, studies or other activities purely for pleasure instead of for financial gain or professional advancement.” In accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to make this a featured theme in the coming months. On a regular basis, seek out experiences simply because they make you feel good. Engage in lots of playtime. At least part-time, specialize in fun and games.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Good news, Pisces: In the coming weeks, one of your flaws will mysteriously become less flawed. It will lose some of its power to undermine you. If you engage in focused meditation about it, you could rob it of even more of its obstructive force. More good news: You will have an enhanced capacity to distinguish between skillful pretending and earthy authenticity. No one can trick you or fool you. Can you handle even more good news? You will have a skillful knack for finding imperfect but effective solutions to problems that have no perfect solution.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

Best sex position for celebrating the NY verdict?

Not sure, but it should be something you can get away with doing 34 times.

Is pegging only for butts, or can vaginas get pegged too?

When the term originated in my column — when my readers selected “pegging” as the name for a woman fucking a man in the ass with a strapon dildo — it was gendered; pegging was something a woman did to a man. But now people use “pegging” in reference to someone of any gender fucking someone of any gender in the ass with a strap-on dildo, an evolution of use and meaning that I fully support. But meaning follows use, of course, and I am not the boss of the English language, and if people start using pegging to refer to any kind of penetrative sex that involves a dildo and a dildo harness, I won’t be mounting any legal challenges.

Sex has become boring and routine. Best advice for spicing it up?

Location, location, location — meaning, if you’re having sex with the same person in the same place over and over again, you might wanna fuck that person somewhere you’ve never fucked that person before, e.g., at the office, on the roof, in the darkroom of a sex club with other couples having sex all around you. If you’re having sex with lots of different people in lots of different places and you’re bored, you may need to take a break.

Will casual gay sex between consenting adult males ever be normalized?

God, I hope not. It feels like discomfort with gay sex is the only thing keeping bachelorette parties out of bathhouses.

Are friends of exes or exes of friends always off limits? What’s the best way to handle one of these sticky situations so you don’t lose a good friend?

Friends of exes and exes of friends

are never off limits — life is too short for those kinds of baby-ass dating games. If you’re dating the ex of a friend, you owe your friend the courtesy of a call. Your friend should hear it from you. Yes, it’s gonna be awkward, but the sooner you make the call, the sooner the awkwardness ends. If you’re dating the friend of an ex, they need to make the call.

If I’m having a quickie outside, what’s the best way to deal with unclean surroundings?

You can plant your feet and stay on your feet.

Quickest way to remember the sex my boyfriend has with other guys is sexy and not scary?

Being showered with attention, affection and gratitude — along with all the dirty details (if you wanna hear ‘em) and sloppy seconds (if you like that kind of thing) — may not be the quickest way to remember why it’s sexy when your boyfriend has sex with other guys, but it is the most effective.

Can you teach someone to give better head?

Someone giving you head wants two things: They wanna get you off, and they wanna get you off in a reasonable amount of time. If there’s a simple thing they can do that will make head more pleasurable, you shouldn’t hesitate to share it.

How legit are all the ads telling me I have low T? I’m a 45-year-old male. Do all men my age have low testosterone levels?

Those ads are designed to make all men feel like they’re suffering from low testosterone, which not all men do. Luckily for men, getting your testosterone levels checked is a pretty simple procedure.

How do I get out of the friendzone and into the FWB zone?

You ask once for a transfer. If the answer is no, you never ask again. P.S. The “friend zone” isn’t a thing.

Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

EAT

a taste of modern Japan in the heart of beautiful Boulder

DRINK

an unmatched selection of rare whiskey, sake, and craft cocktails

ENJOY

the scenery on one of our 3 fireside patios, a feast alongside the jellyfish, or a front row seat at a lively bar

WHERE THE WILD THINGS GROW

How to forage free meals in your BoCo ’hood all year long

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

After a wet spring, some locals see only one thing in their neighborhood: More weeds. These invaders spring up overnight in backyards and cracks in driveways. The hard-to-kill nuisances need to be dug up or sprayed with Roundup.

When Brigitte Mars walks suburban and city streets, she sees deliciousness. The “weeds” she collects are made into nettles potato soup, lilac ice cream and dandelion stem “noodles” tossed with garlic and olive oil.

To the folks horrified at the thought of eating a weed, Mars asks: “What’s more local than making a salad from things that were still growing wild in your own backyard an hour ago?”

For 40 years, the Boulder-based herbalist and author of Dandelion Medicine: Forage, Feast and Nourish Yourself has shared her knowledge of native plants and remedies on KGNU and led wild food walks and classes. She’s hardly the only Coloradan noshing on found food.

“My uncle was interested in foraging, and he had that book Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons,” says Erica Davis, owner of Fairplay-based Wild Food Girl. “He would take me outdoors, and we would taste things and talk about them.”

Today, Davis offers wild food forays and online classes in identifying local plants and mushrooms. She and Mars shared their top tips for foraging with Boulder Weekly

LOOK BEFORE YOU EAT OR PICK

Whether you want to forage in the high country for fungi and pinon nuts or find greens growing near your home, foraging can be a scary proposition for newcomers. There are natural worries about what and where to pick and whether the plants are safe to taste, according to Mars and Davis. There are many cultivated and wild plants growing in Colorado that can cause gastric distress and worse, so identification is crucial.

“Knowing how to identify plants keeps you from crawling through the poison ivy patch for the delicious morels that are often growing in there,” Davis says.

“Poisonings can happen, but the people who poison themselves with wild plants and mushrooms are generally people who have not made an effort to identify what they’re putting in their mouth.”

To make sure you know what you are picking, snap images and use an app like PictureThis, touted by its makers as 95% accurate. Always double check with a guidebook. Davis recom-

mends Mountain States Foraging by Brianna Wiles for beginners.

With mushrooms, going out with an experienced forager is advised.

WHERE TO HARVEST

“Where you forage is critical,” Mars says. “You have to know the environment you’re eating out of and any chemicals it has been exposed to.”

The first place to look for edible plants is in your own backyard.

“You’ll be surprised what is growing in your yard, your neighbors’ yards and in neighborhood alleys,” Mars says.

Foraging is sustainable because most of the species are widespread and non-native plants, according to Davis.

“The first choice for foraging is private land with permission,” she says. “A lot of edible wild foods grow in [ecologically] disturbed locations, like a garden or around walkways.”

Snagging a wild snack gets more complicated everywhere else in Colorado. Foraging regulations vary depending on the management agency. According to Davis, most state parks, national parks and forests and many open spaces do not allow foraging without limited permits.

“In many U.S. Forest Service jurisdictions, you are allowed to forage an incidental amount,” Davis says. “It’s designed for backpackers who want to pick things and add to their meals.”

Naturally, people do sample as they walk through the many outdoor spaces.

“If you’re in a park you won’t get a ticket for eating a plum or a berry,” Mars says, “but if a ranger saw you

harvesting with a basket, they might think about it.”

For conservation’s sake, “you never want to take more than 10% of a plant in an area,” Mars says. “And you leave the root in the ground. You want to leave the biggest, tallest plants so its genetics can continue.”

When it comes to places to avoid, Mars says “you don’t want to collect anything within 50 feet of a busy road” because of the exhaust and runoff. Another area to watch out for due to pollution of a different sort: “You have to be cautious in people’s yards if there are dogs around.”

THE TASTIEST INVASIVE SPECIES TO COLLECT

The clear foraging favorite for June and beyond is lamb’s quarter, a form of wild spinach that proliferates around Boulder County.

“It really amazes me that people will rip it out,” Mars says. “Then they go buy spinach that has been shipped from another state. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve made lamb’s quarters spanakopita and lasagna.

“We’re probably not going to buy lettuce again until November.”

Davis likes her lamb’s quarter briefly boiled and drained to remove some of the bitterness.

“For a salad green, I like purslane, a succulent that looks like a mini jade plant,” she says. “It’s very high in Omega-3s. Tumble mustard greens and pennycress are also great raw.”

Sweet fruits always attract foraging folks, beasts and birds. “Wild currants, gooseberries and chokecherries all grow on shrubs,” Davis says.

Lamb’s quarter. Credit: Gregg Davis

Tumble mustard. Credit: Erica Davis

Purslane. Credit: Erica Davis

NIBBLES

CULINARY CALENDAR: WILD FOOD & FUNGI

Brigitte Mars: Boulder herbalist leads classes and walks including a June 15 Urban Herb Walk in Boulder. brigittemars.com

Wild Food GirI: Erica Davis offers inperson forays and online classes in identifying Colorado wild foods. wildfoodgirl.com

Eagle Mushroom & Wild Food Festival, August 9-11, Eagle. Nationally known wild food experts, forays, classes and a fungi feast. eaglemushroomfest.com

LOCAL FOOD NEWS: TOP DOUGHNUT SHOP

National Doughnut Day is June 7. According to a new Yelp survey, the most highly reviewed doughnut shop in Colorado is Lafayette’s Nok’s Donuts

Coming soon: Chef Johnny Curiel, who wowed Boulder diners with regional Mexican fare during his stint at Centro Mexican Kitchen, will open a fine dining Mexican eatery at 909 Walnut St., former site of Masas & Agave, Supermoon and Arcana.

Brian Drayton, who launched Oak at Fourteenth and Corrida, has opened The Colorado Club at 1043 Pearl St., former home to eateries ranging from PastaVino to Juanita’s. Most recently, sports bar The Sophomore opened and closed in the spot after just a few months in business.

WORDS TO CHEW ON: WEED VIRTUES

“It is seldom the rare, exotic and beautiful plant that proves the most interesting; more often it is some common, familiar and despised weed that is discovered to have undreamed-of virtues.”

— Euell Gibbons, author of Stalking the Wild Asparagus

John Lehndorff grew up stalking wild blueberries in the Massachusetts woods. Comments: Nibbles@kgnu.org

Nok’s Donuts in Lafayette. Credit: John Lehndorff

WEED BETWEEN THE

TESTING TRUCKERS

Zero-tolerance drug screenings are exacerbating driver shortage

BY WILL BRENDZA

The U.S. is currently short between 65,000 and 80,000 truck drivers, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), affecting supply chains and, in turn, increasing prices for consumers.

Truck drivers are subject to zero-tolerance drug policies, enforced with screening tests that identify the presence of marijuana up to 30 days after use. A report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse revealed that between 2020-2022, there were nearly 154,000 positive drug tests in the industry: 57% of those were for cannabis, and many resulted in the suspension or revocation of a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

ATRI points to the prohibition of cannabis use by CDL holders as a major disincentive for keeping drivers in the industry. The organization argues that loosening the restrictions on cannabis use could make the industry more attractive to a new generation, widening the potential labor pool.

Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for Marijuana Legalization (NORML)

agrees with both points.

He says that truckers are walking away from their jobs in droves as a direct result of drug testing policies that are “discriminatory and counterproductive.”

“In all, more than 150,000 licensed drivers have left the profession in recent years because of these zero-tolerance workplace drug testing policies,” Armentano wrote in a recent op-ed for NORML.

Current cannabis screening tests do not identify if a driver was under the influence on the job. Rather, they indicate if someone has been exposed to or used cannabis at any time in the last 30 days. Even the Justice Department has openly acknowledges that, as a 1992 report put it, a positive cannabis drug test “does not indicate abuse or addiction; recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment.”

As a result, many truck drivers are refusing to take drug tests. FMCSA reported a nearly 40% increase in drug test refusals in 2023. That might cost a driver their job, but at least they won’t have their CDL suspended or revoked if the test comes back positive.

These drug testing policies were

implemented in the 1980s, and Armentano says it’s time for them to change. Surveys show that truckers agree: ATRI’s report revealed that 72.4% of licensed drivers support “loosening” cannabis laws and testing policies, while another 66.5% believe cannabis should be legalized outright.

States like California and New York and a handful of companies have implemented policies that protect workers from being fired just because of failed drug tests.

Cannabis is recreationally legal in 24 states, but most don’t have protective policies in place. Even if they do, a driver could still have their CDL suspended or revoked until they can complete a “return-to-duty” process following a positive drug test. That requires the driver to test negative for THC before getting back behind the wheel of a rig.

Armentano argues that it’s time for the government to update these “antiquated marijuana testing regulations in accordance with cannabis’ rapidly changing cultural and legal status.”

Part of the report from ATRI included a survey of 3,302 respondents, 95.5%

of whom currently held a CDL and 4.5% who had previously. The survey concluded with a text box asking for any final comments on the topic.

One respondent wrote, “FMCSA should require a marijuana impairment test instead of the current marijuana use test. A test showing that someone used marijuana at some point, somewhere is absurdly pointless. It reveals nothing at all about the person that is relevant to operating a commercial vehicle.”

Some technologies test for cognitive and motor impairment instead of the presence of THC in the body. Those tests, Amentano says, are far more accurate for determining impairment on the job.

With the current driver shortage forecasted by the American Truckers Association to reach a record high in 2024, ATRI’s report indicates that changing the drug testing policies for America’s truck drivers, and/or legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis at a federal level, could help retain drivers already in the industry and attract new ones as well.