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JANUARY 14, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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analysis:

The new harvest of rage: an excerpt

by Joel Dyer

news:

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buzz:

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podcasts:

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drink:

27

feast:

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Tribal leaders engage Colorado Senator Bennet to ensure universal access to clean water on reservations

by Angela K. Evans

Local experts weigh in on white nationalism’s role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol

by Caitlin Rockett

MESA launches third season of ‘Sex: By Invitation Only’

by Katie Rhodes

Upslope’s new offering makes for a good at-home tasting flight

by Matt Cortina

Browns Farm in Niwot prepares for a year of continued growth

by Matt Cortina

departments 4 Guest Columns: Who will forgive us?; Lessons from Iran 6 Letters: Signed, sealed, delivered, your views 13 News: Fracking blocked on public land; VA spending lags in Colorado and more 16 Events: Longmont Symphony, ‘Catching the Sun’ film screening, Rameshwar Das talks ‘Being Ram Dass,’ and MLK Day events 18 Books: Boulder author pens middle-grade survival story 19 Words: ‘Waking,’ by Robert Porath 20 Savage Love: Cum again 21 Astrology: by Rob Brezsny 23 Film: The Sundance Film Festival comes to Colorado 25 Food/Drink: Chicken cordon bleu sandwich at Snarf ’s 30 Weed Between the Lines: CBD for strawberries BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Open 7 nights a week - 4:00- 8:00pm

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Editor, Matt Cortina Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Katie Rhodes, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Graphic Designer, Daisy Bauer CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer

January 14, 2020 Volume XXVIII, Number 22 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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

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

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Who will forgive us?

by Rick Tapp

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n 1957, 15-year-old Dorothy Counts became the first black student to attend Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Escorted by Dr. Edwin Thompkins, a family friend, she endured jeers by boys who spat, threw trash and yelled epithets at her. A courageous Dorothy nonetheless stood tall and moved on through the mob. After a week, school administrators and the police claimed they could not guarantee her safety, so Dorothy was forced to leave the school.

Charlotte Observer photographer Don Sturkey captured the sad episode on film for all the world to see.

Sturkey pulled back the curtain to reveal the deep dark secret of America, the lie. We are all created equal with certain unalienable rights, JANUARY 14, 2021

which among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It would seem the word equal comes with an asterisk, a rather big, glaring asterisk: some more equal than others.

There are Americans who find comfort clinging to the belief that times have changed, and the lie has long since been addressed and reconciled. The families of Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor would most surely beg to disagree. Thirty years ago, living in Philadelphia, I had a conversation with a black friend. He recalled the fear he had of the Philadelphia police. When officers came into his neighborhood, his mother would gather the children inside until they departed. The police, not criminals, represented the greatest threat to his family. I was comprehensively incapable of logically processing what he said then. But I understand it now.

The lie persists, manifesting itself I

on multiple levels of society. It is incestuous and pervasive. It comforts some and encourages others. Many are blind to the lie because they have made a conscious effort not to see it.

Others overtly perpetuate the lie to mask their racism.

In 2006, Dorothy Counts received an email from a man named Woody Cooper. He had admitted to being one of the boys in the Sturkey photo and wanted to apologize. Dorothy and Woody agreed to meet for lunch. As the two conversed, Woody asked Dorothy to forgive him for his behavior in 1957. Dorothy smiled and advised, “I forgave you a long time ago.”

Until we as Americans collectively acknowledge the dark underbelly of our society and honestly deal with it, we shall remain mired in the quicksand of turmoil. And the question we should all ask is, who will forgive us?

Rick Tapp is a Partner with Tapp Consulting in Longmont.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Lessons from Iran

by Saam Golgoon, Mayor of the Town of Alma, Colorado

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can no longer sit here silent about what I have been observing happening in our nation the past few years and what I observed happened at our nation’s capital on Jan. 6 as a result. I have thought hard about writing this opinion piece thinking, “Who the hell am I to share my story.” My story is not unique compared to many other people who were born and raised in third-world countries.

However, I have not seen anyone else with this background share their story and observations. Fair warning, what I am sharing with you here will upset many people, especially if you are a fake patriot, which I have been seeing a lot of over the past few years.

I was born and raised in Iran in the 1970s and was a witness to a revolution at age 6 in a country that had the strongest military in the Middle East at that time and was a strong ally of the United States. Not many thought that those groups of rogue people would be able to overthrow the government of a nation with such military strength. Well, history shows that it happened over a few nights and a government with such a mighty military was overthrown by sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails. At that young age I was not sure or really knew what I was witnessing. Now as an adult and after studying more about the Iranian Islamic revolution, I have a much better understanding and unfortunately I’m seeing many parallels between what happened in Iran in the late ’70s and what’s happening in our nation today.

At that time, Iran was a very wealthy and secular country, thanks to the oil industry and alliances with Western countries, and was becoming very Westernized. However, this wealth was not spread evenly. The BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. The fast Westernization of the country was also viewed and used by some that our culture was being destroyed. As this separation in wealth continued and rapid cultural changes took place, the unrest started happening.

But how do you convince a group of people without military strength or training to overthrow a regime who had a very strong military? This was done by manipulating the poor and uneducated/poorly educated through extreme ideology, fear and backing their propaganda by religion. The propaganda was so strong that the Islamic revolutionaries were even able to convince some of the educated and wealthier citizens that the Islamic revolution would benefit everyone and create a much better nation. Sound a little familiar of what we are witnessing in our nation now?

I recall that as a young child I attended a demonstration with my parents. My parents were very well educated (both studied in England), financially stable and not religious. I even recall one of my uncles at that time was attending university in the U.S., and he was convinced that he had to return to Iran for this revolution. How was it that such people with this background and status were convinced momentarily that this was the best thing to do? It was accomplished through consistent misinformation propaganda campaigns. We have been hearing this a lot more lately, that if you tell a lie enough times you can convince people it is the truth. Well, there is a lot of truth to that. Thankfully, my parents caught on quickly that something was not right. That was the only demonstration that we attended, and my parents saw firsthand the very manipulative level of thinking

that existed within many of the revolutionaries. I remember after attending that demonstration, my parents contacted my uncle, who resided in the U.S. at that time, telling him to stay put and not to return to Iran.

Words are a powerful tool to spread lies and misinformation. That is what happened in Iran then and it is what is happening in our nation today. Tell a lie enough times and it will become the truth for many. It shook me to my core when in 2016 during a campaign rally, I heard Trump say, “We love the poorly educated.” I realized very quickly that the same techniques that were used in Iran in the late ’70s were now being used here in the U.S. and continue to be used.

What I witnessed on my TV screen on Jan. 6 was very disturbing, but unfortunately not surprising to me. I had warned my immediate family and some very close friends

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JANUARY 14, 2021

HOW DO YOU convince a group of people without military strength or training to overthrow a regime who had a very strong military? This was done by manipulating the poor and uneducated/ poorly educated through extreme ideology, fear and backing their propaganda by religion. something like this would take place.

Unfortunately, everything happening in our nation in the past few years has been disturbingly familiar.

There is so much division in our nation today that I do not know how we can call ourselves the “United” States of America. Some of the responses that I have seen to what happened at our nation’s capital a few days ago are extremely disturbing. To observe some people trying to brush this off or comparing this to what happened during the Black Lives Matter movement is also very concerning.

Allow me to point out one stark difference between the BLM movement and the insurrection on our nation’s capital. The attack on Jan. 6 was on our Capitol, televised live all over the world. It demonstrated many of our weaknesses to our adversaries around the world. It opened my eyes see GUEST COLUMN Page 7

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Demand early coal plant retirement In November, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) ruled that several coal and gas plants must be retired no later than Dec. 31, 2028 — earlier than the initially planned date. According to EPA calculations, early retirement of the Craig 3, Nixon and Rawhide coal plants could equal taking 1.3 million cars off the road for an entire year in terms of carbon reduction. If these three units, along with coal plants Hayden 1 & 2, were retired early, Coloradans could save approximately $68 million, and reduce nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions.

While this ruling was a grand success for Colorado communities, public lands and air, coal utilities have already successfully worked to stop it.

On Dec. 16, the AQCC voted to reverse its decision to retire three coal plants by 2028; the AQCC also voted to reverse a November request to the Air Pollution Control Division to shutter the Hayden coal units 1 & 2 by 2028. Xcel Energy, Tri-State G&T, Colorado Springs Utilities and Platte River Power Authority are primarily responsible for the AQCC’s reversal.

After a summer of record-breaking wildfires, Coloradans understand the dire threat of air pollution and climate change. As a young student concerned deeply for the future, I encourage you to contact the AQCC and let them know your support for retiring coal plants by 2028. Colorado can no longer lag in its efforts to move away from coal, and utilities only make the transition to clean energy proceed slower.

Soleil Gaylord/Telluride

Frozen to death I’m incredulous! The new Boulder Severe Weather Shelter policy is meant to get rid of us one way or another by forcing us out of town or freezing us to death. Those of us who’s only use of the shelter is during sub-freezing temperatures are now forced to choose which nights, in the dead of winter, we want to freeze to death. It’s inhumane! It’s downright evil! Who is making such horrid policy decisions in Boulder County? As I

shelter residents, we are homeless human beings, not pieces of garbage!

Boulder Homeless Person/via internet

The election was stolen, but...

Let’s have some fun with verbal judo.

Yes, the election was “stolen.” It was stolen by people of color in this country, especially by those who were finally able to vote. From the rural “black belt” of southern Georgia, to the barrios across Maricopa County, Arizona, this time the historic racist order was not able to “stop the steal.” The ability for all people to vote this time was the real steal; not the fabricated one concocted by an insecure old white man in the White House; one subscribed to by his angry, confused and highly manipulated following.

The next time you hear or see the phrase “Stop the Steal” you don’t have to get angry. Instead, you can smile while thinking about how “stealing” this election was legal. And it produced poetic justice, especially given the players involved.

The election was stolen from a racist order which has existed from this country’s beginnings. That is why it is so difficult for so many of us to accept the outcome. We own that problem. It is way past time for us to (permanently) deal with it! One way to place us on the path of healing is to make sure the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is signed into law.

Pete Simon/Arvada

COGCC’s new rules Modern, forward-looking rules governing oil and gas development are critical as our economy and communities continue to evolve. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is forging an historic path forward, as it recently updated its rules to better protect wildlife, fish and the land and water they depend upon. This is a big deal, and I hope other states will look to Colorado and update their rules as well.

The COGCC’s new rules take effect on Jan. 15, 2021. Of course no one interest got everything they wantsee LETTERS Page 7

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

We’re here so you can Live and Die Your Values.

LETTERS from Page 6

ed, but one important improvement upon the old rules requires that oil and gas operators consult with state wildlife experts and mitigate their impacts if their operations will disturb critical big game habitat or migration.

With these new rules, Colorado leaders affirm that a healthy, diverse 21stcentury economy should respect and protect natural amenities like wildlife.

I have benefitted from working great jobs in the oil and gas industry and for conservation organizations, and I relish every chance I get to fish, hunt, ski and run in the Rocky Mountains. I take pride in Colorado’s outdoorsy identity and robust economy and believe thriving industry and wildlife populations can coexist. The COGCC and its staff spent hundreds of hours considering testimony from people of wide-ranging interests before deciding on the best path forward. I was honored to testify on behalf of Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

Thank you to COGCC members, state legislators and Governor Polis for building a brighter future for Colorado.

Liz Rose/Boulder

Desperate Donald’s downfall There once was a liar named Donald Trump who was tossed out like old worthless junk. “Get out, you’re fired!” we the people said, having had enough of him in Putin’s bed.

Herd immunity was Trump’s murderous plan, to do nothing but laugh at dead Americans. While Russian hackers steal our information, Traitor Trump went on a permanent vacation.

Playing golf at his country clubs nonstop, the laziness of this loser is overthe-top!

World War II ended with Hitler hiding in a bunker, and Trump is in a sand trap trying to hunker. Fascist criminals deserve only one fate. No mercy for those who spread racist hate. The neo-Nazi GOP just loves Don the con. Liar liar, pants on fire!

Don’s no James Bond. Trump is a traitor. That is perfectly clear.

Jan. 20: Biden-Harris are almost here. Trump the chump will first flee to West Palm, then off to Moscow he’ll run — get lost, Don! Beg for assistance from Vladimir once again.

The Orange Emperor is defeated.

The end.

Jacob Pickering/via internet

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GUEST COLUMN from Page 5

to some realities that I was not aware of, such as the windows in the Capitol building not being bullet or shatter proof, and not having drop down bullet proof metal gates entering the Senate or the House when there is a security breach in the Capitol. These were just a couple of things I noticed very quickly but imagine what else may have been noticed by the ones around the world who want to cause us harm.

Lastly, I have been hearing some commentary in many different news media outlets regarding if what we witnessed at our nation’s capital was a beginning of something or an end. I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but what we witnessed on Jan. 6 is a beginning of something much worse if we do not learn from the mistakes of other nations such as my motherland.

Why do I speak so frankly and pasBOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

sionately about the recent happenings in our nation? Why this from a foreignborn American citizen? To answer these questions, I want you to think about something first. What does it take for people from nations that were adversely affected by U.S. foreign policy and activities to want to immigrate to the U.S. and become a productive part of society in this great nation? It is not because we know all American citizens would welcome us with open arms. To me it is one thing and one thing alone; it is the foundation of this country, which is based on a very special document, the U.S. Constitution.

There are not very many documents in the world or throughout history that are this powerful and special. “We the People” are the three most powerful words that most individuals can believe in.

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

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Dr. Terri Oneby 303-443-4545

Our Best Wishes for a Safe and Healthy New Year!

Dr. Lowell Steinberg 303-447-8470

bouldervisioncenter.com JANUARY 14, 2021

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On Jan. 6, an angry mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, breaking windows, defacing art, rummaging through Congressional offices and, in some cases, stealing items. Recording their every step, some wandered around the building aimlessly, as if in shock they were actually inside, others brandished tactical gear, guns and other weapons. All carried visible vitriol at American government institutions, politicians and the law enforcement sworn to protect them.

As shocking as the scenes, images and stories are from that day, they weren’t necessarily surprising or unpredicted. Back in 2016, Boulder Weekly’s editor-at-large Joel Dyer warned what violence the defeat of Donald Trump at the ballot box could unleash.

At the time, Dyer, like many, believed it would come as Hillary Clinton became the first female U.S. president. He had spent decades covering antigovernment movements, including those that led to the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that left 168 people dead, and wrote extensively about the societal and institutional mechanisms that led to such groups in his book Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning. In his analysis “The new harvest of rage,” published Oct. 27, 2016, Dyer analyzed how “all the forces that built the 1990s antigovernment movement are still in play,” how economic hardship, racism, religious fanaticism and gun rights activism have all led to the rise of now mainstream conspiracy theories. He warned that candidate Trump only fueled the unrest brewing beneath the surface, although he is not solely responsible for it. Set to a backdrop of alarming increases in the rate of suicide for middle-aged whites, Dyer predicts that “a storm of violence” is “rapidly blowing our way.”

In the end, Dyer was wrong about one thing.

Trump wasn’t defeated in 2016 — he was awarded the most powerful platform to affirm, justify and attempt to rectify decades of antigovernment grievanc-

terrorism and the current rapid growth in the number of people who claim to oppose the federal government in one way or another, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton represent no more than the match that is lighting the fuse.

What is more important to understand is how the bomb was built and what it’s made of, because only then can it be successfully disarmed.

The antigovernment movement in this country is like a giant funnel. The more people who are poured into the funnel’s large end, the more people who will eventually be forced out of its small end.

And since those dripping from the small end are the ones who are willing to do unspeakable acts of violence in the name of their cause — think Oklahoma City bombing — understanding the workings of this funnel is imperative.

Being forced through the antigovernment funnel is facilitated by some combination of stress, anger, misinformation, religion, fear and blameshifting that, for a variety of reasons, eventually leads to an ever-deepening belief in any number of conspiracy theories about the government, the New World Order and often minorities.

These conspiracy theories are convoluted myths that — while nearly always containing at least a grain of truth — are so wild that most of us dismiss them without a second thought. But that too is a mistake. We dismiss rather than attempt to understand how people can get to a place in their lives where these myths are transformed into their conception of reality and guiding principles.

Most people would like to think that the belief in such conspiracy theories is reserved for the ignorant, the uneducated, the trailer trash crowd, or the “deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton recently called them. But that also is far too simplistic an explanation. In fact, such a misguided and uninformed interpretation of what is happening in our country

The new harvest of rage: an excerpt

by Joel Dyer

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es. Now, with Trump’s defeat in 2020, Dyer’s worst fears may be realized. Given the events unfolding across our nation, as the FBI warns of planned “armed protests” in all 50 states and Washington D.C. ahead of Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, here is an excerpt from Dyer’s prescient analysis. To read the entire article visit boulderweekly.com

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ll indicators point to America being on the brink of a new harvest of rage; that’s to say, a new and likely larger wave of antigovernment violence than that which we experienced some two decades ago. And as much as people would like to blame this increasing domestic militancy solely on Donald Trump, the narcissist developer from New York City who is currently running for president of the United States, that would be a mistake. It’s not that simple.

I’m not trying to sensationalize our current political season. I’ll leave that to cable news. This analysis is about far more than the Trump/Clinton race for the presidency. When it comes to domestic

JANUARY 14, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

THE ANTIGOVERNMENT movement in this country is like a giant funnel. The more people who are poured into the funnel’s large end, the more people will be forced out its small end.

serves only to add powder to the antigovernment bomb.

Many Trump followers aren’t following him because of his political views, they are following him because they need him. They need his conspiracy-theory-laced message because it helps them to ease their pain by scapegoating their problems onto the mythical other.

Unfortunately, this blame-shifting also makes them vulnerable to being pulled ever deeper into the dark recesses of the funnel.

But it gets worse. Trump saved his most destructive conspiracy theory for last. He now is claiming that our election system is rigged and that the results can’t be trusted. He is telling people already well down the funnel that our democracy has been stolen; it is no longer an option for bringing about change. And it appears he intends to use his own electoral defeat as proof that our democracy no longer exists.

It’s laughable to most people I know. But please believe me when I tell you that millions of people believe this is true. In fact, a recent poll found that more than 40 percent of all Republicans believe that the election is rigged.

So ask yourself what a true American patriot should do if some dark force has now actually — in the words of a major party presidential candidate — taken over our government and eliminated our democracy.

Trump may just be trying to crown himself king of the disenfranchised middle-aged white men or launch his next for-profit venture in Trump TV. But what he has managed to accomplish over the past 12 months is to validate all the most destructive, racist, violence-inciting conspiracy theories of the funnel.

He has pushed more people in and empowered the mechanism for pushing more people through. And I believe we will all be paying the price in postelection America for his irresponsible actions.

But before we point the finger of guilt at Trump alone, let’s consider how so many of his followers came to be in their current, difficult circumstances.

Both parties have increasingly abandoned the growing underclass. In recent decades politicians have too often traded doing the right thing for the thing that will get them re-elected. Our system does increasingly benefit our largest corporations and wealthiest donors at the expense of working men and women of all races.

But our democracy has not been stolen by the New World Order. We have given it away as the result of our apathy and our inexplicable willingness to vote for the lesser of two evils out of fear, rather than using the power of our democracy and our votes responsibly for the betterment of all.

Each of us deserves at least some of the blame for the storm of violence that is rapidly blowing our way. I’m afraid it’s too late to stop it. I hope I’m wrong. But whatever happens, we can weather it, learn, and hopefully prevent the next one.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Tribal leaders engage Colorado Senator Bennet to ensure universal access to clean water on reservations

by Angela K. Evans

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orelei Cloud grew up in a house without running water.

Every week, her family would travel to her uncle’s place and haul water from his garden house back to their house. Eventually they moved and did have a water line coming in, but even then, it wasn’t drinkable due to naturally occurring methane in the area water system.

Cloud is a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, a relatively small tribe of 1,500 members, 1,000 of which live on the tribe’s reservation covering a little more than 1,000 square miles south of Durango abutting the border with New Mexico. Cloud’s experience is not uncommon in tribal homes across the country, as nearly 48% of them — representing more than half a million people — do not have “access to reliable water sources, clean drinking water or basic sanitation,” according to a 2017 congressional report.

“In this day and age with all the technological advances, to acknowledge that there are still people in this country that do not have access to safe and quality drinking water and these people reside on reservations across the country is unfathomable,” Cloud told a virtual gathering of water and policy leaders in midDecember. The meeting was hosted by the Water & Tribes Initiative (WTI) to highlight the immediate need, made more urgent by the pandemic, for universal access to clean water on tribal lands within the Colorado River Basin.

“When we went into this work, we went with this premise that water is a human rights issue and that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that native homes on the reservations have the same water access that any other American’s does in an urban setting,” says Heather Tanana, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and professor at the University of Utah 10

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law school. Tanana also has a public health degree and is working with WTI on clean water access.

The CDC reports that the coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately impacted Native Americans and Alaska Natives, with an infection rate 3.5 times that of the white population. Plus, Native American households are 19 times more likely to lack indoor plumbing than white households, Tanana says, quoting the U.S. Water Alliance.

“We’ve known about these problems for years, it’s not new,” Tanana says. “And the challenges that created them, we’re very well familiar with them.”

The federal government has long ignored Indian country, even as essential infrastructure like roads, electric and water systems, even broadband, developed in white communities around the country. This despite treaties that created reservations in the 19th century that were supposed to provide such things.

Historically, Tanana adds, there’s been a lack of coordination between a variety of federal agencies from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS) to the USDA Rural Development, the EPA, Housing and Urban Development and the Bureau of Reclamation, all of JANUARY 14, 2021

which play a part or have funding to help address these issues.

“There were promises made to make reservations sustainable for life and economic development,” Tanana says. “And it just hasn’t happened.”

Within the Colorado River Basin specifically, these issues are compacted by the fact that tribes and tribal rights haven’t historically been part of the management of the Colorado River. WTI was formed a few years ago with a mission to bring the tribal voice and a greater tribal presence within management discussions and negotiations involving the Colorado River Basin.

There are 29 federally recognized tribes within the Basin, which provides water to 40 million people in seven states, as well as areas of Mexico. Management of the Colorado River system has a long history, with competing interests, complex water rights law and growing populations.

Tribal rights are briefly mentioned in the Colorado River Compact, although not in connection with the management of the river, says Anne Castle with the GetchesWilkinson Center at the University of Colorado Law School, who is coleading the universal access to clean water initiative with WTI. Following

a Supreme Court case in the 1960s, there has been an effort to quantify and allocate tribal water rights across the basin through settlements, but to this day not all of the 29 tribes have secured the legal right to water.

Currently, tribes hold the rights to 3.4 million acre-feet of water annually with some of the most senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin.

“It’s probably fair to say that for the vast majority of decisions about management of the Colorado River, the interests of tribes have not been prominent,” Castle says. “There are situations in which discussions about a particular region or watershed, where there are tribal rights, that have been more inclusive discussions, but for the most part tribal rights haven’t been considered.”

For example, the Navajo Nation just recently reached a settlement with the federal government and the state of Utah recognizing its senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin, an agreement that also comes with financing for the construction of water lines and treatment systems.

The Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act was signed into law as part of the $2.3 trillion funding bill that also provided COVID-19 relief and stimulus in late December.

But the historic lack of infrastructure has made battling the pandemic in the Navajo Nation particularly challenging, as 30-40% of its citizens lack access to clean water, President Jonathan Nez told the virtual meeting in December. In some cases, families have to travel 60 miles round trip to get clean water — necessary for personal hygiene and hand washing, key components in battling the virus.

“Increased incidence of COVID on reservations has been attributed to lack of access to clean water,” Castle says.

Which is where the WTI universal access to clean water initiative

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comes in. As part of the project, Tanana is researching and surveying clean water access on tribal lands across the Colorado River Basin. She says the issues fall into four main categories: Some areas may lack running water in homes, others see inadequate water infrastructure (either because it’s outdated or because it can’t meet the current demand). The cost associated with the operation and maintenance of current water systems can also be a barrier, Tanana says, as can inadequate water quality.

“That has been a huge problem for Hopi,” she says. “They have naturally occurring arsenic that’s been in their water systems since the 1960s when BIA first installed its drinking water system. … They’re estimating that 75% of people on Hopi land are drinking arsenic contaminated water, which, even though it’s naturally occurring, has been connected with diabetes, cancer, blindness, all sorts of serious health concerns.”

The discussion of tribal involvement in management of the Colorado River, as well as lack of access to clean water, also comes at a time of severe drought throughout the Basin. “For the almost century that the Colorado River Compact has been in existence, there wasn’t the kind of pressure and scarcity of water supplies that we’re in the middle of right now,” Castle says.

While the Colorado River and its tributaries supplies 1 in 10 Americans some, if not all, of their municipal water, including that for drinking, it’s also experienced historically low water flows since 2000, attributable at least in part to climate change.

“If there’s enough water to go around, there’s less pressure on making sure that everybody with water rights is treated equally,” Castle says, “but in the 21st century that has changed and the supplies are no longer equal to the demand and they’re diminishing.”

As drought continues to threaten the Colorado River, it affects tribes like the Southern Utes who rely on subsidiaries of the Colorado for their water supply, Cloud said at the December meeting. Decreased runoff in the region, along with contaminatBOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

ed runoff from agriculture (like E. coli from livestock in the area) and leaky septic systems upstream all burden the tribe’s water supply and treatment facility, costs that are passed down to tribal members.

“Anyone who has spent one second on tribal lands can tell you that these inequalities have been staring us in the face for decades and a lot of people in Washington just chose to look the other way and ignore them,” Colorado

agencies coordinate efforts to secure universal access to clean water for tribal nations and reservations.

“That was Washington’s promise when the reservations were first created, to take care of the tribes’ essential needs, and our government needs to live up to its federal trust responsibility at long last,” he said.

He also promised to make sure the Biden administration consults with tribal leadership “government to

Senator Michael Bennet, who represents the Southern Utes in Congress, told the virtual gathering in December.

In outlying areas of the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, areas like White Mesa, Bennet told the virtual gathering he’s heard that it has now become a custom to bring bottled water as a greeting gift because water contamination is such an issue.

“That is completely unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to every member of Congress because if you don’t have access to clean water you can’t build a thriving community.

Without clean water people get sick and can’t work, kids get sick and can’t learn, businesses can’t operate,” he said. “In other words, clean water is foundational to everything else.”

Bennet responded to requests from WTI to spearhead the clean water access effort on the federal level as part of a strategy to address some of the institutional and structural inequality and racism in the country, particularly when it comes to the historical and current treatment of tribes and indigenous people. On the call, Bennet promised to work with the incoming Biden administration to secure more funding and help federal

government.”

“We’re not going to accept federal fiats with no relationship to what’s actually happening on the ground,” he said. “We need to fight to make sure that Washington doesn’t provide oneoff investments but enduring support. If it finances a water system, for example, it has to support maintaining that system in the years ahead.”

Bennet said he plans to introduce a resolution in Congress to recognize the federal government’s responsibility to secure clean water access for all tribal nations, as promised in the numerous treaties and agreements that established reservations. His office is busy writing the resolution in conjunction with the tribal leaders and intends to reach out to other Senate offices to gauge interest in co-sponsorship, hoping to make this a bipartisan effort. The resolution will call upon the executive branch to work with tribal governments to expedite the planning and development of infrastructure to support reliable clean drinking water on reservations and Alaska Native villages.

Castle says the next step is working on Congressional legislation to

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ensure universal access to clean water, as well as workding with the incoming Biden administration, as clean water access in Indian country is implicated in each one of its priorities: COVID-19 relief, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.

“We have some pretty good ideas about what needs to be done to solve the problem,” Castle says.

There’s also the possibility that making progress on clean water access could come up in discussions about the future of water management in the Colorado River Basin. Currently, water managers in the seven Basin states rely on federal operating guidelines established in 2007, along with a drought contingency plan, to inform their decisions. But these expire at the end of 2025 and officials are already talking about what comes next.

WTI exists to ensure tribal nations are represented in renegotiating the guidelines, a position that largely wasn’t afforded to them in previous discussions. Castle says tribal leaders have yet to determine their negotiating positions when it comes to the next set of operating guidelines for the Colorado River. “That’s a decision that they’ll have to make, and that has not occurred at this point, but it could be that the tribal leaders will determine that access to clean water should be part of the discussion,” she says.

Daryl Vigil, codirector of WTI and water administrator for the Jicarilla Apache Nation, says the clean water access campaign is “absolutely connected” to WTI’s work in the guideline negotiations for the Colorado River.

“The renegotiations deal with the larger issues of water policy and in my experience in terms of the history of that, the policy has been exclusion and lack of engagement and — maybe this is a little harsh but — institutional theft of tribal water with the inability to develop tribal water rights in a climate of conservation,” he says. “We need to determine who we’re going to be as human beings in the Colorado River Basin and determine what we value and then build a policy on that.”

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VA spending lags in Colorado

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legal agreement between environmental groups and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will block oil and gas drilling on more than 45,000 acres of leased land in Colorado until a thorough environmental review is undertaken.

“This legal agreement, along with successful challenges to management plans in the region, effectively put the brakes on further oil and gas leasing in the Piceance Basin,” said Kyle Tisdel, an attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC), in a statement.

“This is a major win against a Trump administration that refused to acknowledge or analyze the climate and human health impacts of oil and gas exploitation.”

The agreement is the result of a 2018 lawsuit that challenged BLM’s failure to perform a comprehensive environmental review when it approved the leases in question. Instead, critics say, BLM used resource management plans that didn’t analyze fracking’s potential harm to public health and the environment.

“The Bureau has long played a shell game to avoid meaningful analysis of the impacts of fossil fuel development on our public lands,” said Peter Hart, staff attorney at Wilderness Workshop, in a statement. “This challenge, together with challenges to recently adopted resource management plans, exposed

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Fracking blocked on 53 oil and gas leases in Colorado the practice.”

Some of the 53 leased sites are located near state parks, environmentally sensitive areas and recreational areas. Others are within a half-mile of a public school and a reservoir.

The original lawsuit was filed by a coalition of environmental groups — Wilderness Workshop, Center for Biological Diversity, Living Rivers and Colorado Riverkeeper and Sierra Club — which hope President-elect Joe Biden follows through on his promise to ban new oil and gas leasing on federal public lands when he takes office.

EMMA ATHENA

he U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allocated about $202 billion on services for the more than 19 million veterans in the U.S. in 2019. But a data analysis from law firm Hill & Ponton indicates Colorado is allocating only about one-third of its funds from the VA to medical care.

Compare that to states like South Dakota and Wyoming, which are allocating more than half of their budgets to medical care, which can be used to help veterans get regular checkups, see specialists, access home health and geriatric care, and buy prosthetics, prescriptions and medical equipment.

Only 28% of veterans in Colorado are receiving health care at VA facilities, the analysis found. That has a direct correlation to the amount of money spent on health care — the analysis found that states that allocate fewer dollars toward medical care have less engagement from veterans. That’s a problem for Colorado as ensuring access to health care for veterans is one of the VA’s primary responsibilities.

The biggest chunk of spending goes toward pensions and disability payments, nationwide.

Bedrooms are for People seeks input before second ballot push

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ast year, organizers with the Bedrooms are for People ballot initiative were given incorrect information by the City of Boulder, disqualifying them from putting a measure to raise Boulder’s occupancy limits on the ballot, even after collecting signatures.

In September, after it was clear the initiative would not make the ballot, organizers said they’d try again in 2021. The ballot initiative would eliminate Boulder’s occupancy limits of no more than three unrelated people living in the same house and replace it with a rule that would allow occupancy of a building to be the number of bedrooms in a house plus one.

The group behind the effort recently put out a call for community input, which you can access via the pinned post on the group’s Facebook page: facebook.com/BedroomsAreForPeople.

More information on the initiative is available at bedroomsareforpeople.com.

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‘More sinister than Nixon by a longshot’ Local experts weigh in on white nationalism’s role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, and what the future may hold for the ‘MAGA Movement’

by Caitlin Rockett

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s Trump supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, photojournalists captured history.

The images run the gamut, from comical (a pom-pom hatted man stealing Nancy Pelosi’s lectern) to frustrating (a man with his feet kicked up on Pelosi’s desk) to horrifying (Capitol Police with guns drawn in a stand-off with rioters).

But one image managed to evoke America’s darkest history: a man carrying a Confederate flag through the Capitol rotunda.

Long rationalized by many who bear it as a symbol of “heritage, not hate,” for the rest of the country the Confederate flag is an indisputable emblem of a bloody civil war waged in the name of enslaving black people.

Combined with sightings of other hate symbols and farright organization insignia — nooses fashioned from 14

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vandalized camera equipment, Three Percenter flags, Oath Keepers logos — the spectre of white nationalism hovered over the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the crowd that gathered in Donald Trump’s name was its eclectic nature: The scene on Jan. 6 mixed evangelical Christians with suburban Trump supporters, QAnon conspiracy theorists, elected officials (like newly minted West Virginia state delegate Derrick Evans), college professors (like CU-Boulder visiting scholar John Eastman, who spoke at Trump’s rally before the crowd moved to the Capitol) and overt white supremacists. Any divisions between these groups seemed removed.

And while physical proximity to white supremacy does not make one a white supremacist, the power of racial identity is impossible to remove from the events that unfolded at the Capitol.

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“[White supremacy was] an element for, let’s say, an explicit faction of the people [who invaded the Capitol], and then sort of an adjacent movement for a lot of others,” says Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, a professor at CU Boulder who studies far-right movements. “And there were some there who would be really repulsed by [the label white supremacist] as well. We really don’t have enough data to speak with certainty, but if we try to understand the hypothetical role [white nationalism played], we would have to note that white nationalism is one of a number of [movements] that could feel alarmism, hopelessness, a sort of state of emergency right now, which would fuel something like an insurrection, a revolutionary political movement as opposed to a gradual or just parliamentary change.”

Teitelbaum spent a number of years interviewing farright thought leaders like Steve Bannon, who was chief strategist and senior counsel for Trump until their falling out in 2017, and Alexsandr Dugin, a Russian political analyst with deep ties to the Kremlin and a history of fascist viewpoints. In the book that resulted from his research, War for Eternity: Inside Bannon’s Far-Right Circle of Global Power Brokers, Teitelbaum describes an esoteric ideology called Traditionalism, which lauds spirituality, antiquity, white race, masculinity, global northernness and social hierarchy. A fatalistic dogma that believes we are living in a dark age, Traditionalism seems to be taken up independently by right-wing opinion leaders across the globe and spread to political leaders like Trump, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Boris BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Johnson in the U.K. For self-proclaimed Traditionalists like Bannon, Trump need not understand the details of Bannon’s ideology. In fact, a useful idiot was better, a line of logic Teitelbaum says Bannon made clear during interviews. (“He flat out said to me, ‘Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing, does not understand his own role in history — and that’s OK.’”) Tearing things apart was Bannon’s goal.

“If Bannon has been disappointed in Trump, it’s been to the extent that he has not torn things apart as efficiently as Bannon thinks that he could have,” Teitelbaum says. “I haven’t spoken to Bannon in a while now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the events at the Capitol, the parliamentary process being disturbed, the rule of government coming on down, if Bannon did not see something good in that.”

And Trump’s followers certainly need not understand their role in this global right-wing masterplan. Teitelbaum says that those who descended on the Capitol were aligned under nothing other than the president himself, followers of the Trump cult of personality — the “MAGA Movement,” as Teitelbaum has dubbed them.

“One would say first and foremost they are motivated by upheaval and disruption of the governmental status quo from a nationalist perspective, I would say for the sake of nationalism,” Teitelbaum says. “And one might go deeper and say white nationalism. One might say something in between white nationalism and majoritarianism. But when Sarah Pailin speaks about ‘real America,’ a community that understands themselves as being opposed to cosmopolitans in our country, ‘true Americans,’ that has racial overtones, but I think it expands beyond that as well. They are against a coastal elite that they see as not being native in various respects and also being against their interests.”

Jennifer Ho, a professor of critical race studies at CU Boulder, says that even those Trump supporters at the Capitol who do not count themselves as white supremacists are driven by its deep influence on American behavior.

“I think that what white supremacy enables is for the largely white insurrectionists [to feel] that they could do what they did and do it with impunity,” she says of the vandalism and violence that took place.

Indeed, many who stormed the Capitol grinned directly at photojournalists’ cameras, often unmasked. Many took videos of themselves and others pilBOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

fering through desk drawers, pecking at computers, even smoking pot in the Senate chamber. The overall tenor of the riot was more merrymaking mischief than sedition.

“I do understand that for some of these people, they genuinely didn’t think that they were taking part in a violent insurrection,” Ho says. “They genuinely believe that Donald Trump was the true

ties. If I say my parents came here as immigrants and my father had to learn the language, and neither of my parents were college educated and now I’m a college professor, I’m actually promoting this idea that there was something exceptional about my Chinese parents. And that there is something exceptional about the United States that allows it. It’s not actively saying I believe that white people

winner of the election and that they were there to save democracy. And I don’t know what to say about that. That seems delusional, but I also think that’s part of white supremacy. White supremacy is such an ingrained ideology that it doesn’t allow you to think that whiteness isn’t going to prevail, that there’s going to be consequences for your actions, that other people may stereotype you or not give you the benefit of the doubt. All of that is related to an ideology of white supremacy that lets people act as if they can do whatever they want consequence free, because sadly that has been the history of the United States.”

As for members of minority groups in the U.S. who support Trump, some of whom can be seen in images of the invasion, Ho says they are not exempt from acting on white supremacy. As an Asian American, her parents both Chinese immigrants, Ho says the way she chooses to talk about herself can express white supremacist ideology.

“The model minority myth suggests that Asian Americans, as racial minorities in the United States, are the ideal,” she explains. “What’s oftentimes unspoken in talking about Asian-Americans as model minorities is the minorities that are not models: black, indigenous, Latinx minori-

are better than me, but it’s all part and parcel of this American exceptionalism, this idea that we don’t have to question the greatness of America, which is very much bound up in the American dream mythology that’s all about upholding this certain version of who an American citizen is. There’s an unspoken hierarchy of white people, European Americans, who are the legitimate citizens, and then everyone else has to pass some kind of test in order to be on that ladder. But they’re never going to be able to be above the white Europeans; those are the legitimate, authentic patriots of the United States.”

In other words, white nationalism is often covert. And Donald Trump, in all his oblivion and blundering, has become a figurehead for its most nefarious dog whistles. But a historic second impeachment is likely bringing Trump’s reign to an even sooner end, and Congress may evoke the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from running from office again. It’s unclear what Trump’s role will be for his supporters in the future. His traditional platforms have been taken away, permanently in the case of Twitter, indefinitely in the case of Facebook/Instagram. And even the viability of Parler, the alternative social media platform that became an echo chamber for Trumpism and other

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forms of right-wing thought, seems in danger after Amazon, Apple and Google removed the app from their servers.

But the sheer number of voters who supported Trump gives Teitelbaum pause when he thinks about the future of the MAGA Movement.

“What we’re talking about now is the radical right cause has attached itself to a president who has received more votes than any president aside from Joe Biden, more votes than Barack Obama,” he says. “They could be a minority, but they’re a large minority.”

And the “purges” from social media could, in Teitelbaum’s estimation, have a deeply divisive effect.

“I felt a rush of relief when Trump was pushed off of Twitter,” he says. “I will feel relieved if he’s not able to run for office. I have to admit that. At the same time, access to social media, access to running for office, can have a pacifying effect on some of these movements, and I wish there were a little bit more consideration for that, because if we push that many people outside of our public discourse, outside of our political processes, it’s going to be dangerous. I think the naive assumption for a lot of people on the left is that we’re just going to bring down the hammer of order and they will comply.”

But the hammer is rarely used on American politicians, often in the name of preserving a sense of unity. Trump’s situation has often been compared to that of Richard Nixon, who Gerald Ford pardoned in order to promote national healing.

Teitelbaum politely bristles at the mention of a Trump pardon, but acknowledges the dangers that could come from charging him with his crimes.

“Trump is a sort of spiritual, gut level identity icon for people in an entirely different way than Nixon was,” he says.

“Extreme demonization of Trump carries a risk in that you’re not demonizing/ impeaching/convicting/ostracizing a figure. What you’re doing is you’re essentially [demonizing] a large chunk of our population who identify with him as an icon for themselves. I don’t think that Nixon played that role. So that makes [bringing Trump to justice] more dangerous. On the other hand, I think Trump’s threat to our government is more sinister than Nixon’s by a long shot.

“Trump, who knows what happens to him,” Teitelbaum says. “But there are so many people who believe, rightly or wrongly, that our democratic system doesn’t work. I don’t know that we can just pat ourselves on the back and walk away from that.”

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events

BLACK IN BOULDER: MULTIGENERATIONAL STORIES ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING BLACK IN BOULDER.

events

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, via Zoom. Registration: bit.ly/3ozWSLu

If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email Caitlin at crockett@boulderweekly.com.

LONGMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS: PERCUSSIONIST CAMERON LEACH.

Jr. Day, a multigenerational lineup of

JOSHUA JOREL GUTIERREZ

together to share their thoughts and online event will feature a panel of music and stories.

7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, longmontsymphony.org. Tickets are $35 per show, or $149 for the season.

Subscribers will receive an email with a private link to view virtual performances.

ry, poet, educator and artist; Pedro

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Windham, Ph.D. psychologist and retired educator; and Cinque Mason, local

Four Seasons

Black

Talk

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tions.

RAMESHWAR DAS — ‘BEING RAM DASS,’ IN CONVERSATION WITH SARA DAVIDSON.

LAFAYETTE SUSTAINABLE FILM SERIES: ‘CATCHING THE SUN.’

5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, via Zoom, boulderbookstore.net. Tickets are $5 on Eventbrite.

Perhaps no other teacher has sparked the fires of

7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, lafayetteco.gov. RSVP required.

Catching the Sun follows workers and entrepreneurs in

ticed meditation or yoga, tried psychedelics or supported anyone in a hospice, prison or a homeless center, then the story of Ram Dass is also part of your story.

a clean energy future. Their successes and failures speak to one of the biggest ques-

cultural change, Being Ram Dass shares this modern

build a clean energy economy that works for everyone? There will be a Q&A with Mike screening.

THE DAIRY ART CENTER PRESENTS: FROM LEGACY TO POSSIBILITY — A VIRTUAL CELEBRATION OF MLK JR. DAY.

Jan. 17–18, thedairy.org. These events are free.

To celebrate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dairy Arts Center will present live programming throughout the weekend of Jan. 17 and 18, including a public poetry workshop, virtual slam poetry performances, cinema, music and more. Artists will share their personal stories, creative work and artistic accomplishments in a multi-media celebration. new writers will get a chance to explore the power of storytelling also known as the Dark Goddess Poet. Xango — a black, pansexual, polyamorous, genderqueer, womxn — uses spoken word

ary mix of documentary, poetry, storytelling, drama and perfor-

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explores the life and work of Piri Cuban-Puerto Rican author of the classic autobiographical novel Down These Mean Streets

workshop, Xango aims to show how poetry is one of the most accessible avenues for storytelling.

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PODCASTS

PODCASTS

A new path for healing MESA launches third season of ‘Sex: By Invitation Only’ podcast

by Katie Rhodes

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his month, Boulder’s MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault) program is bringing back its podcast Sex: By Invitation Only, cohosted by Lindsey Breslin and Caroline Harris — and don’t expect these women to shy away from tough subject matter.

“The idea to create this podcast initially surfaced during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings in 2018,” says Breslin, MESA’s program supervisor. “In listening to Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, something really rang true to us.

She was a survivor just like the women we were working with — this assault had had a tremendous impact on her life. When Trump said publicly that it was a ‘difficult time for men,’ we realized that we were in desperate need of a larger platform to explore national news headlines on sexual violence and also speak about what’s happening in our own community. Podcasting seemed to be a great platform to share our thoughts on activism and social justice, a place to educate people more on the dynamics of sexual violence and the services available, and most of all a safe space that tells people they aren’t alone in their experiences.”

Now in its third season, the podcast covers a wide range of topics related to navigating boundaries, embracing sexuality, understanding consent and dismantling systems of oppression, with the aim of fostering hope, healing and connection through open dialogue and education surrounding sexual violence.

Drawing from two seasons’ worth of experience, Breslin and Harris promise to lead listeners into new territory this year while con-

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

tinuing to offer a safe space to discuss sexual violence and all the intersecting issues that come with it.

“Something we’re going to start doing is having a listener write-in option,” says Harris, prevention education specialist at MESA. “We really want to encourage engagement.

We want feedback from listeners on what they want to hear and discuss, what’s important to them and what their questions are so we can have an open dialogue while meeting people where they’re at.”

For those worried about the potentially triggering content of such subject matter, Breslin and Harris emphasize that this show is first and foremost about creating a safe platform where victims can connect and step into the light to tell their stories.

“This isn’t a podcast of just stories of sexual violence,” Breslin says. “We know those can be extremely triggering. We’re making content in a way to give the people who have experienced it a voice. We interview MESA staff about the work we do here in Boulder, we talk to students, teachers — we really want to open it up to the community. We’re also providing trauma therapy and psychoeducation through these interviews with guests, and posing important questions like, ‘What’s a normal response to an abnormal experience?’”

This season promises to be different

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from the last two in a ON THE BILL: Find ‘Sex: By Invitafew ways. First, of tion’ wherever you course, is the write-in get your podasts. option, allowing the MESA 24/7 nonemergency hotline: cohosts to better inter303-443-7300 act with their listeners, movingtoendbut they also pledge sexualassault.org to end each segment with current local and national stories to help keep people informed and educated, as well as tying in content from MESA’s blog, “tackling hardhitting topics like oppression and masculinity,” Harris says.

Episodes will be released the first Friday of every month, with the first already available, exploring what we can learn about consent through experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, the hosts break down how experiencing the pandemic has attuned us to consensual behavior like wearing masks and social distancing, and how this can be translated into asking for consent and respecting boundaries in sexual relationships.

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books

EVENTS from Page 17

words

How do you survive alone?

Boulder author pens middle-grade survival story, ‘ALONE’

by Katie Rhodes

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magine waking up to find yourself completely alone. Your town is abandoned. No family, no friends, no baristas making coffee or postal service workers walking along their morning route. Empty streets, restaurants, schools and homes.

This is the world the young protagonist of local author Megan E. Freeman’s new middlegrade novel ALONE wakes up in, in a fictional Northern Colorado town. With no companion other than a Rottweiler named George, and no power, working phone lines or internet access, 12-year-old Maddie must quickly adapt to her new reality and find a way to survive on her own.

Leaning into her own wit and perseverance, Maddie pushes through a rough start to get her footing in an unexplainable and unfathomable situation. She passes the months teaching herself survival skills and learning to trust herself, George by her side, and a book (pulled from her seemingly endless library) often in her hands.

Despite Maddie’s ingenuity and strength, the one thing she can’t seem to overcome is the loneliness of her unexplained abandonment, the monotony of existence without human contact or conversation. The real fight to survive, she starts to realize, is going to be a mental one.

In her debut novel, Freeman explores human resilience and ingenuity in the face of necessity. A survival story more than 10 years in the making, ALONE offers readers the opportunity to question how they might survive in the face of harrowing and dangerous circumstances.

“The idea for this book came from a conversation that I had in a mother-daughter book club I was in with my daughter,” Freeman explains in a

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recent phone interview. “We had read Scott Odell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins, a fictionalized survival story of a young woman left alone on an isolated island, but based on true events. The girls in the book club were really intrigued by the idea of living alone, and were fixated on how hard it would be. And then I thought, ‘Imagine if you came home and the entire city was abandoned? You’d have to figure out how to live and you don’t know if or when someone is coming to rescue you.’ I couldn’t shake that question, and I just started writing.”

Freeman, a Boulder native, brings the beautiful and harsh wilderness of Northern Colorado to life in this compelling story, putting her young heroine in the path of natural disasters, unpredictable weather and hungry wild animals — all frightening but very real staples of Colorado’s environment.

“I started writing in 2009 and finished the draft in 2017,” Freeman says. “In the span of that time, in Colorado, we had floods, fires ... I remember so clearly hearing stories out of places like Lyons and Jamestown where they were seeing displaced wild animals in unnatural civilian places. There were so many natural challenges happening while I was writing. It provided me a lot of rich fodder of what my young character might be faced with and have to survive. Then you have the fact that this state is so beautiful, no matter where you are. In the book, Maddie gets a lot of comfort and serenity from the natural beauty of Colorado. It’s a really rich palette from which to set a story.”

Although ALONE is designated as a middle-

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grade novel, Freeman says she didn’t have an agenda in terms of the readership, nor any specific intentions for what the take-away or lessons might be for the readers.

“I was just fascinated by the questions that had arisen from the bigger question: How do you survive alone? I wrote this book to follow my own curiosity, and explore the creativity that emerged from these questions. All I hope kids get out of it is that it helps make them more voracious readers.”

There are also plenty of Easter eggs Freeman included in ALONE — savvy local readers will recognize elements of Boulder County.

Despite the fact that all town and location names in the book are fictionalized, they’re still recognizable Boulder landmarks, whether from the landscape or building descriptions.

While Freeman offers the fun inside opportunity for Colorado readers to recognize parts of their home, ALONE is a story for kids everywhere, offering them the opportunity to step into the shoes of a young survivalist and wonder: How would I survive alone?

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Waking

by Robert Porath Waking from dreams Of manic theater And movie-making, I arrived at a revelation Of the high degree Life in America today Resembles a Fellini movie Overlain a Monty Python sketch, Sadly without The generous humor.

Barbarians are at the gates.

To live and/or die With COVID-19 and/or Climate change?

Aye, there’s the rub.

Within quarantine Mind your pantry And batten the hatches.

Following a hot summer Of drought and raging fires, We seem duly bound For a dry winter Of battering winds.

Waking, Take heed of your dreams, Pray to your gods, And/or change your ways.

Robert Porath is a retired carpenter with a BA in English from CU-Boulder. You can read more at his blog, Notes from the Provinces, at notesfromtheprovinces.com.

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BY DAN SAVAGE

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Dear Dan: As you can see by my Professor of Linguistics and Chair, signature, Dan, I’m a linguist. On your Department of Linguistics and podcast you frequently ask researchers Communication Disorders “whatchyougot” on all kinds of sex- and Queens College/CUNY romance-related questions, I thought maybe you’d be interested in some Dear Michael: Thank you for takexpertise on linguistic matters too. And I ing the time to write, Professor have some on “cum,” “cumming” and Newman, and please forgive me for (shudder) “cummed.” peeving you. But the sticky issue for The technical term here used me — if you’ll pardon the expression among linguists for this kind of phenom- — remains the seemingly unnecessary enon is “peeve.” Let me and arbitrary use of an ROMAN ROBINSON clarify, it’s not the “cum,” alternate spelling in this “cumming” and “cummed” one instance. As I’ve said that’s a peeve but the before, no one is conshuddering. You see, the fused when someone calls snide sound there is due a person a “dick” in print to the fact that causes and then goes on to wax peevers to shudder poetic about the dick they causes linguists to get sucked in the next seninterested. The point is tence. If we don’t have to language always changspell it “dik” when we’re es, and linguists are interreferring to male genitalia ested in these changes, — or the genitals of however much they horripenis-havers — I don’t fy normal people. (That’s our technical see why “come” needs to be spelled term for non-linguists.) Grandparents “cum” when referring to someone cliare forever lamenting about how their maxing or when referring to ejaculate. grandchildren’s generation is ruining the Of all the words out there with more language. Documentation of this phethan one meaning — dick, dong, cock, nomenon goes back to the Roman pussy, beaver, box, crack, rack, sack times. And indeed generations upon — why does this one require special generations of grandchildren turned linguistic treatment?

Latin into Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan and a To my readers: There are more host of lesser known forms of ruination. important things happening in the world In terms of the sticky substance at right now than disputes over sexual hand (or on hand), cum as a verb and slang, I realize, but I hope today’s colcumming are just alternative spellings, umn was a welcome and fleeting diswhich are common enough for slang. traction from the news... kinda like that It’s slang! You really gonna insist slang viral video of the sweet guy whose cat follow uptight and buttoned-down spellwon’t let him make his audition tape. I ing rules, Dan? That’s just stoopid. am following the news and reacting in Cummed is more interesting — and also real time on Twitter, if you care to hear causes peevers to shudder — because what I have to say, and like all sane it’s a real change in the language. But people everywhere I am equal parts why shudder? Why not appreciate it furious and mortified. Donald Fucking instead? “Cummed” shows us how creTrump and every last one of his coconative we are with our language, how we spirators in his family, in his administraplay with it, and in this case do sometion and in Congress belong in prison thing useful, differentiating the sublime with every last traitor who stormed the “got off” (climaxed) from the banal “got U.S. Capitol last week. Impeach the there” (arrived). motherfucker again and indict all the Don’t fall into useless peeving, Dan! motherfuckers already.

You’ve famously instigated language change. Just ask Rick Santorum, your On the Lovecast, Dan and Michael former college roommate, or the men Cee discuss “the wife sharing lifestyle,” who’ve cummed and cummed hard savagelovecast.com. while a nice vagina-haver pegged their Send questions to mail@savagelove. ass. net, follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage — Michael Newman and visit ITMFA.org.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

LIBRA

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: I heard a story about

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: As you ripen into a more fully

embodied version of yourself, you will summon ever-greater discrimination about where to seek your inspiration. I trust that you will increasingly divest yourself of any tendency you might have to play around with just any old mediocre fire. More and more, you will be drawn to high-quality blazes that provide just the right amount of heat and light — neither too much nor too little. And you will steadfastly refrain from jumping into the flames, as glamorously dramatic as that might seem — and instead be a master of deft maneuvers that enable you to get the exact energy you need.

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: Denstu is a major Japanese adver-

tising agency headquartered in Tokyo. Annually since 1925, its new employees and freshly promoted executives have carried out a company ritual: climbing 12,388-foot-high Mount Fuji, Japan’s tallest peak.

The theme of the strenuous workout is this: “We are going to conquer the symbol that represents Japan more than anything else. And, once we do that, it will signify that we can do anything.” In anticipation of what I suspect will be a year of career gains for you, Taurus, I invite you to do the following: Sometime in the next six weeks, go out in nature and perform an equivalent feat.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: Today I received a new email from

a Gemini friend who lives in London. It was datestamped Jan. 15, 2015. Weird! In it, she talked about applying for a new job at a publishing company. That was double weird, because February 2015 was in fact the time she had gotten the editing job that she still has. Her email also conveyed other details about her life that I knew to be old history. So why did it arrive now, six years late? I called her on the phone to see if we could unravel the mystery. In the end we concluded that her email had time-traveled in some inexplicable way. I predict that a comparable event or two will soon happen in your life, Gemini. Blasts from the past will pop in as if yesterday were today.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: Eugene Sue (1804–1857) was a

popular French author whose stories often offered sympathetic portrayals of the harsh living conditions endured by people of the lower economic class.

Writing generously about those downtrodden folks made him quite wealthy. I’d love to see you employ a comparable strategy in the coming year. What services might you perform that would increase your access to money and resources? How could you benefit yourself by helping and uplifting others?

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: The beautiful and luxurious fabric

known as silk comes from cocoons spun by insect larvae. Sadly for the creatures that provide the raw material, they’re usually killed by humans harvesting their handiwork — either by being stabbed or boiled alive. However, there is a special kind of silk in which manufacturers spare the lives of their benefactors. The insects are allowed to mature into moths and escape. I propose that we make them your spirit creatures in the coming weeks. It’s an excellent time for you to take an inventory of everything you do, and evaluate how well it upholds the noble principle of “Do no harm.”

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: “Any time that is not spent on love

is wasted,” declared the Italian poet Torquato Tasso.

Although I am sympathetic with his sentiment, I can’t agree that acts of love are the only things ever worth doing. Sometimes it’s healthy to be motivated by anger or sadness or skepticism, for example. But I do suspect the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to be in intense devotion to Tasso’s counsel. All the important successes you achieve will be rooted in an intention to express love and compassion.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

how a music aficionado took a Zen Buddhist monk to a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The monk wasn’t impressed. “Not enough silence!” he complained. I’m puzzled by that response. If the monk were referring to a busy intersection in a major city, I might agree with him, or the cacophony of a political argument among fanatics on Facebook. But to want more silence in one of history’s greatest pieces of music? That’s perverse.

With this in mind, Libra, and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to seek extra protection from useless noise and commotion during the coming weeks — even as you hungrily seek out rich sources of beautiful information, sound and art.

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SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: “Some people expend tremendous

energy merely to be normal,” wrote Scorpio author Albert Camus. If you’re one of those folks, I’m happy to inform you that you have cosmic permission to relax. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to explore the pleasures of NOT being conventional, standard, ordinary, average, routine, prosaic or common. As you expansively practice non-normalcy, you will enhance your health, sharpen your wits and clarify your decisions.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: Our lives tend to be shaped by the

stories about ourselves that we create and harbor in our imaginations. The adventures we actually experience, the problems we actually face, are often (not always) in alignment with the tales we tell ourselves about our epic fates. And here’s the crux of the matter: We can change the stories we tell ourselves. We can discard tales that reinforce our pain, and dream up revised tales that are more meaningful and pleasurable. I believe 2021 will be an excellent time for you to attend to this fun work. Your assignment: Be a self-nurturing storyteller.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: Capricorn author Edgar Allen Poe

named “four conditions for happiness: life in the open air; love of another human being; freedom from all ambition; creation.” I’m accomplished in three of those categories, but a failure in being free of all ambitions. In fact, I’m eternally delighted by all the exciting creative projects I’m working on. I’m VERY ambitious. What about you, Capricorn? I’m going to contradict Poe and speculate that your happiness in the coming months will require you to be at least somewhat ambitious. That’s what the planetary omens are telling me. So what are the best goals and dreams for you to be ambitious about?

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: It’s time to launch Operation Supple

Watchdog. That means you should be tenderly vigilant as you take extra good care of everyone and everything that provide you with meaning and sustenance. It means you should exercise rigorous but good-humored discernment about any oppressive or demeaning ideas that are flying around. You should protect and preserve the vulnerable parts of your life, but do so with tough-minded compassion, not ornery overreactions. Be skeptical, but warm; breezily resilient but always ready to stand up for what’s right. (P.S. The better you shield yourself against weird surprises, the more likely it is you’ll attract interesting surprises.)

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: The atoms that compose your body have existed for billions of years. Originally created by a star, they have been part of many forms before you. But they are exactly the same in structure as they have ever been. So in a very real sense, you are billions of years old. Now that you know that, how do you feel? Any different? Stronger? More expansive? More eternal? I bring these thoughts to your attention, Pisces, because 2021 will be an excellent year for you to come to a more profound and detailed understanding of your true nature. I hope you will regularly meditate on the possibility that your soul is immortal, that your identity is not confined to this historical era, that you have been alive and will be alive for far longer than you’ve been taught to believe.

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JANUARY 14, 2021

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JANUARY 14, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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t’s going to be shorter this year, but it’s also coming a lot closer to home: The 2021 Sundance Film Festival is going virtual. A bummer for those who like gathering in theaters to share cinematic discovery. But a boon to those who long to check out a prestigious film festival without the hassle of getting there and the cost of staying there.

Playing Jan. 28 through Feb. 3 on a computer/smart TV near you, Sundance offers 71 features from 29 countries to choose from — 38 of them from first-time filmmakers — and more than a dozen premieres. And if you’re feeling fancy, you can even catch a couple of them on the big screen at Denver’s Sie Film Center. The Film Center is among the 28 venues nationwide partnering with Sundance ‘NIGHT OF THE KINGS,’ COURTESY OF NEON offering an in-person experience, which means you and nine guests can rent out the theaters for $600 (price includes popcorn and soda) and watch one of a dozen titles projected on the big screen. Titles and times are set; visit denverfilm.org/sundance for more.

For the rest of you, Sundance has a variety of passes to choose from: $350 for the all-inclusive festival pass, $75 for a day pass, $15 for a single ticket and $100 for the awards pass.

That one allows you to watch as many of the 32 award winners as you can cram in on Feb. 3.

And there’s plenty of good stuff to get excited about: Passing, the directorial debut from actress Rebecca Hall; Summer of Soul, about 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival; The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, about actor Björn Andrésen; and on and on.

Whatever you chose, make sure to leave room for Night of the Kings, the new narrative from Ivory Coast filmmaker Philippe Lacôte.

Set in a prison located deep in the jungle and ruled by an inmate, Blackbeard (Steve Tientchewu), Night of the Kings opens with the arrival of Roman (Bakary Koné), a young man who Blackbeard commands to tell a tale when the moon bleeds red. It does, and all the inmates gather in a room and bid Roman speak his story. Roman tells them of Zama, a guerrilla Roman knew on the outside, and while he orates, the prisoners act out his story through dance, pantomime and call and response. Roman is charmed, but when he gets wind of ON THE BILL: the fate that awaits once he finishes, Roman pulls a Scheherazade and begins to adorn Zama’s Sundance Film saga with ancient mythology, magic and scenes from a movie Roman saw 20 years ago. It’s a Festival. Jan. tense piece of work, and Lacôte maintains a firm grasp on the material until an odd choice in the 28-Feb. 3. A full lineup and tickets third act — a wizards’ duel with bad CGI — momentarily breaks the spell. are available at fesThat shouldn’t put you off on Night of the Kings (the rest is quite strong), but illustrates a tival.sundance.org. point that while not everything you come across at a festival is flawless, it is also the best way to see cinema off the beaten path.

The Sundance Film Festival comes to Colorado How and what to see at this year’s fest

by Michael J. Casey

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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JANUARY 14, 2021

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BOULDER WEEKLY

BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

Try this week: Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich @ Snarf’s

SNARF’S SANDWICHES. Several locations throughout Boulder County, eatsnarfs.com

OH, YOU KNOW Snarf’s, one of Boulder County’s most prolific sandwich shops. But do you know about its “not on the menu” menu? If not, it’s a list of sandwiches that take Snarf’s style of toasted subs to the max, as evidenced in its chicken cordon bleu sandwich. Snarf’s signature toasted hoagie roll is stuffed with tender rotisserie chicken, ham, provolone and Swiss cheese, brown mustard and the housemade creamy parmesan dressing.

It’s as indulgent as a plate of chicken cordon bleu, only now it’s handheld.

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1 Burgers and pizza are big pandemic winners

Brewers Association announces mentorship program

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is set to release its annual trends report on Jan. 26, but recently offered a sneak peak at what’s inside. After surveying 6,000 restaurant operators and 1,000 customers, the NRA synthesized information from a crazy year in the industry for the report. What it found was many restaurants pivoted, in the midst of reduced dining capacity, to streamlined menus, alcohol to-go, and selling groceries. The NRA also asked restaurateurs what their topselling items were: burgers, pizza, chicken and breakfast items topped the list. “These food and menu trends didn’t offset the industry’s devastation, but they do illustrate the resiliency, innovation and commitment of restaurateurs,” said Hudson Riehle, NRA senior vice president, in a press release. “The pandemic served to accelerate many trends we were already seeing, while it taught more consumers how to digitally access the restaurant meals they wanted, so expect many of these innovations to be longterm trends and not fads.”

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The Boulder-based Brewers Association (BA), a nonprofit trade group for independent craft brewers, recently announced the launch of a mentorship program, aimed at helping aspiring craft brewers break into the industry. The program has a specific eye toward increasing diversity in the workforce, leadership and ownership of craft breweries. The 12-week program pairs aspiring brewers with people established in the field, and will cover everything from technical brewing to serving and tasting beer, guest experience, brewery safety, event planning and business management. “This mentorship program is an incredible resource for anyone looking to jump-start their career in craft beer,” said Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, equity and inclusion partner at the BA and director of the mentorship program, in a statement. “Likewise, this is also an opportunity for craft beer professionals from across the spectrum to learn from one another and to hear directly from people whose experience of the industry may be very different from their own.” Applications are open now through Feb. 28 at brewersassociation.org/programs/brewers-association-mentorship-program/participant.

JANUARY 14, 2021

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JapangoBoulder

JANUARY 14, 2021

Founded July 2019

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

UPSLOPE

HAZY PALE ALE

The Hazy Pale Ale is Upslope’s latest yearlong offering. After extensive experimentation, brewers came up with a hazy IPA that’s juicy and smooth, but has a hoppy crunch that keeps it from being straight juice. Pale in color, with distinct haze, you’ll get orange peel, tropical fruit and a whiff of fresh pine. As hazy IPAs have taken over taprooms across the country over the last year or two, it’s refreshing to taste one so balanced.

Hops for days

Upslope’s new offering makes for a good at-home tasting flight

SPRUCE TIP IPA

by Matt Cortina

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f you’re like me, you’re eager for breweries to open at full capacity — to try samplers of beers and unique taproom-only offerings; to order flights and taste the contrast between different styles and chat about your findings with friends and strangers.

While Upslope’s tap rooms (Lee Hill and Flatiron Park) are open for patio service, you may still be more inclined to imbibe from home. Luckily the folks at the Boulder brewery have assembled a Hop Mix Box that includes four different expressions of India Pale Ale, and which makes for a good at-home tasting flight.

It’s not quite the same — nothing quite has been over the last year — but it’s a good replication of the taproom experience. Find the Hop Mix Box wherever good beer is sold for a limited time; here’s what’s inside.

INDIA PALE ALE

Upslope’s standard IPA is a pure expression of the style. It pours a deep copper, and the nose is imbued with citrus and a hint of caramel. On the tongue, it’s remarkably balanced, making it an easy sipper, even at 7.2% ABV. With a sturdy malt backbone, the hops won’t overwhelm, but a bitter bite on each sip affirms the style.

CITRA PALE ALE

Move on to the Citra Pale Ale to taste the tropical flavors some hops provide. The goldenrod-colored ale packs a punch of grapefruit, apricot and other light-colored tropical fruits, courtesy of the heavy dosage of Citra hops Upslope brewers add in.

Bitterness (only 37 IBUs) is subdued by a pleasant citrus and floral flavor, and a touch of malt makes it very smooth.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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This one’s for the bitterness junkies.

Smacking of fresh pine, due to the addition of Simcoe and Cascade hops, this crunchy ale is a perfect contrast to the Hazy Pale Ale. It’s amber in color, with a healthy malt foundation, and you’ll taste pine, of course, but also melon and candied citrus.

ONE SUPPLEMENT

One thing missing from the Hop Mix Box is Upslope’s experimental IPA, which is a canned, rotating offering. Pick it up as a single to complement your flight. Currently, you’ll find an IPA brewed with orange blossom honey made with Nelson Sauvin, Strata and Sabro hops — the honey sweetness balances the tropical and citrus notes from the hops for a refreshing, interesting brew.

JANUARY 14, 2021

Craft Brewers Conference moves to September, and Denver

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he 38th edition of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America has been rescheduled to Sept. 9-12 and will take place in Denver (as opposed to San Diego in March, as was originally planned).

“Shifting to September in Denver provides us with an opportunity to potentially convene in person, making it possible to do what brewBREWERS ASSOCIATION ers do best — build community through sharing our expertise and passion, and learn from each other,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO of Brewers Association (BA), which organizes the event, in a statement.

The conferences provides an opportunity for brewers and those interested in brewing to learn about the latest technicial brewing resources, participate in courses and explore business development opportunities.

Meanwhile, the BrewExpo is the largest trade show for brewers, according to the BA, and offers a chance for brewers to connect with other members in the industry and explore new technologies.

More info at craftbrewersconference.com.

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Expires 1/31/2021

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BOULDER WEEKLY

Little farm, big impact Browns Farm in Niwot prepares for a year of continued growth

by Matt Cortina

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s Browns Farm in Niwot prepares to enter its third growing season, farm manager Catherine Blackwell is taking joy in the little things. To work on a small farm (seven acres of land, three of which are farmable, 1.5 of which are actually farmed) is to do the work that got you interested in sustainable agriculture to begin with.

“On a bigger farm, often times you are filling a role, and on a little farm, often times you’re all the roles,” Blackwell says. “I still get to hand-weed... for any farmer, that’s the sort of stuff that’s just natural. It’s nice to spend an hour a week doing it for old time sake.”

Blackwell spent time at bigger operations that provided critical experience, including McCauley Family Farm and Oxford Gardens. It’s at the latter that she met John Brown, a longtime fixture in the local ag scene. With some acreage in Niwot, Brown offered Blackwell a farm managing gig, and she took it.

Now, Blackwell, Brown and a team of parttime staff members are trying to build on a year that, despite the pandemic, saw growth for the small operation — after adding in a CSA early last year while the markets stalled, Browns Farm began to grow a following.

“I was blown away in all honesty,” Blackwell says. “Sold out of CSA shares, and when the [Longmont farmers market] opened back up, we had a line on Saturday mornings. Staffed as full as we could be. All in all, for us, it was a pretty fruitful year.”

A small farm has its benefits — for one, it allows Blackwell to grow a diversity of crops, as opposed to commodity farms.

“That’s our insurance,” she says. “Yes, a hailstorm might come and wipe out all of one thing, but something else can push through in two weeks time. At least we’re going to be able to scrounge something up for market.”

And for two, Blackwell’s able to grow things that people are asking for, as well as things she just wants to grow herself.

“Being from the South,” says Blackwell, who grew up in South Carolina, “when I first moved out here to Colorado, some of the staples in my diet were kind of hard to find.

Black-eyed peas and okra and different heritage squashes and heritage varieties from the South, I wanted to grow just to feed my soul. ... Last year was my first year growing artichokes and celery because when I reached out to our Listserv, a lady that shopped at the Longmont market said she had to drive down to Denver Union Station to buy those things.”

But, of course, there are challenges to operating a small

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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farm. You have to make enough money to pay employees, and that requires maybe charging more for crops and, critically, explaining to the consumer why, for instance, a cucumber costs twice as much as one from the grocery store. That component of the local ag equation is critical to growing it.

“It pains me to still see farmers and farm interns, as valuable as those experiences are, if we are not offering payment for those experiences, we’re really excluding an entire class of individuals who have interest but can’t afford to not get paid,” Blackwell says.

And, Blackwell says, though hail has ravaged crop fields over the last several years throughout Boulder COURTESY BROWNS FARM

County, an unlikely environmental source is hampering crop growth on a more regular basis.

“My largest concern is the elk,” she says. “They’re in our fields, and they’ll eat an entire bed’s worth of beets.

When I contacted Colorado Wildlife, they said, ‘File a report and we’ll pay for damages,’ but this is a lot of money that is coming out of taxpayers’ dollars to pay for food that’s never coming to market.”

Ah, the list of challenges of agriculture in Colorado is long. But a willing customer base and determined farmers like Blackwell is what overcomes the weather and wildlife and brings us closer to a food system that’s truly of and from the community.

The best way to reach that end? Start small.

Browns Farm’s CSA is now open for registration at brownsfarmniwot.com/csa.

JANUARY 14, 2021

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CBD for strawberries

New research suggests CBD’s unexplored antimicrobial properties can extend shelf life of certain produce

by Will Brendza

W

hen Haley Inselberg came across research that showed CBD has antimicrobial effects against MRSA (an antibacterial-resistant “superbug”), the gears inside her head started turning. She wondered: What other similar applications could there be for CBD? As someone who’s always been interested in discovering new plant-based antimicrobials, and as a graduate research student at the University of Southern Florida’s cell biology, microbiology and molecular biology department, Inselberg is well-suited to answer that question. Along with Dr. Maria Cecilia do Nascimento Nunes, Inselberg set about arranging an experiment to do exactly that.

“I wanted to try to actively show the antimicrobial potential of CBD oil using the materials that I had on hand,” Inselberg says.

And, because Dr. Nunes’ food biochemistry lab already does a lot of testing on Floridagrown strawberries, there was at least one fruit readily available. Strawberries were perfect, she says, because their decay is easily detected visually.

So, Inselberg put the berries to the test.

The experiment’s methods were relatively simple: Inselberg used a pipette to administer a highly concentrated solution of CBD isolate and MCT oil (50mg/mL) to the strawberries, rubbing it in by hand. One group of treated and non-treated fruit was then kept at 1-degree Celsius, and another at 10-degrees Celsius, both for eight days. Inselberg evaluated their visual appearance before storage and regularly during it.

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“I was hoping that the CBD oil would have a strong enough effect on the strawberries that we would be able to actively see a difference in the visual quality of the fruit and would be able to show that it was capable of reducing microbial growth,” she says.

A goal which Inselberg seems to have achieved.

Not only did the CBD-treated strawberries remain looking fresher than the non-treated strawberries, but they had notably less bacteria as well.

“Results from this study showed that CBD oil was effective at maintaining the visual appearance of strawberries, above the minimum threshold of a visual rating score of 3, compared to the fruit that

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was not treated.” The study’s abstract reports. “It was also found that CBD oil was effective at reducing the microbial load on treated strawberries compared to fruit that was not treated.”

The research suggests that CBD is, in fact, an effective antimicrobial for certain produce — opening wide the doors of possibility for further research. Could this apply to other produce? Is there a viable means of employing this on a larger scale?

Maybe, says Inselberg. But scaling up to an industrial level would be immensely cost prohibitive today. Commercial 50mg/mL CBD oil, like Inselberg used in this experiment, runs anywhere from $50-$130 per 30 mL bottle. Applying that to the 1.23 trillion tons of strawberries produced in the U.S. annually would be an expensive ordeal. If there’s a way to use CBD on strawberries or other produce to extend their shelf life, Inselberg says, it would likely be at home on an individual or family scale.

However, increasing the shelf life of fruit was never the aim of Inselberg’s research in the first place. The takeaway she’s excited about has more to do with how CBD oil affects microbial growth and how we can apply that to a much broader degree.

“There are so many problems arising with antimicrobial resistance, I think it is really important for us to come up with other viable safe alternatives to this issue,” Inselberg says. “Obviously, my study needs a lot more research before we can start using CBD as an antibiotic to treat microorganisms, but it is a very early stepping stone to show that there is a potential for it.”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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last word AWARD-WINNING ARTISAN CANNABIS & EXTRACTS SINCE 2009 ALL TOP SHELF BUDS. NO STRAIN RESTRICTIONS. ONE TIER PRICING.

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Now featuring $50 shake OZ’s for medical members!

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5420 Arapahoe, Unit F • 303.442.2565

JANUARY IS MONTH! CEL MONTH

In Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr and Freedom

With special favorite BWC w

OUR FLOWER OUR QUALITY YOUR LOW PRICES

80

$

popcorn Ounce

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ounce

See our ad below

Mix & Match

“Weed Between The Lines” on page 30

nuhi sugar wax & shatter 4G for

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ALL SALES VALID 1/14/21 - 1/18/21

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www.thchealth.com

Rec 21+ Happy Hour: Tues-Sat 8-9 am/pm, Sun & Mon all day long!

Mon - Sat: 8am - 9:50pm • Sun: 9am - 9:50pm

537 Canyon Blvd. Boulder, CO 720-532-8664 • www.thchealth.com

Get your LOBSTER ROLLS!

New England or Connecticut style Voted Best Seafood Boulder East County 5 years running!

Photo: Susan France

IS BUY LOCAL

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$26 6 Seed packs from CO Seed Inc. HELPINGHANDSDISPENARY.C0M 25% OFF Rosin & Bubble Hash!

PEARL STREET MALL - BOULDER 303.444.1564

PROMO CODE: HASHJAN

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