Boulder Weekly 3.24.2022

Free

Every

Thursday

For

28

Years

/

w w w. b o u l d e r w e e k l y. c o m

/

March

24

-

30,

■ The chilliest Longs Peak Duathlon, p. 14 ■ Al Di Meola tells George Martin why the Fab Four were fab, p. 19 ■ K9 dogs are doggone gone, p. 39

JOINING FORCES

The FBI has been partnering with local police forces for decades, and Boulder’s up to bat—but what does it mean when federal and local policies collide? by Emma Athena

2022

*At participating stores only. Discount applies to materials only on select items; cushion, labor, and installation charges are additional. Prior orders exempt. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer ends 4/18/2022. All offers are for retail customers only and are not applicable to contract/commercial work. See store for details on all offers and warranties. ©2022 Carpet One Floor & Home®. All Rights Reserved. **At participating stores only. See store for details. No interest will be charged on the promo balance if you pay it off, in full, within the promo period.

If you do not, interest will be charged on the promo balance from the purchase date. The required minimum monthly payments may or may not pay off the promo balance before the end of the promo period, depending on purchase amount, promo length and payment allocation.

Regular account terms apply to non-promo purchases and, after promo period ends, to the promo balance. New Account APR is 29.99%. Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders: See your credit card agreement terms. Subject to credit approval.

Safe, full capacity dining, and outdoor patio. Bar open. news:

The FBI has been partnering with local police forces for decades, and Boulder’s up to bat

by Emma Athena

adventure:

The story of a very cold, very determined Longs Peak bike-to-hike-to-summit winter adventure

by Justin Simoni

overtones:

The esteemed guitarist Al Di Meola on unplugging, the sound that won’t go away, and Chick Corea

by Dave Kirby

nibbles:

At a Colorado intersection, meat, mushrooms and pastry build personal and cultural bridge

by John Lehndorff

drink:

Deviate off the beaten path for some unique tastes

by Matt Maenpaa

10 14 19 30 33

THANK YOU BOULDER

WINNER OF 6 BEST OF BOULDER AWARDS

departments 7 8 17 23 28 29 35 36 39

The Unrepentant Tenant: Rent control: Why and why not?

Letters: Your views: signed, sealed, delivered . . .

Art & Culture: Keeping it weird and accessible with Left Hand Artist Group Events: What to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do . . .

Astrology: By Rob Brezsny Film: Criterion releases ‘The Last Waltz’ on 4K UHD/ Blu-ray Cuisine: Where to eat Korean fried chicken variations with a side of creamy sweet polenta Savage Love: Quickies Weed Between the Lines: Cannabis legalization has made many police drug dogs “obsolete”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

BEST APPETIZERS / TAPAS

• Best Food Delivery • Best Kid Friendly Restaurant • Best Restaurant Dessert • Best Restaurant Service • Best Cocktails

Open Everyday 5:00 - 9:00pm Happy Hour 5 :00 - 6:30pm

3970 N. Broadway • Boulder • 303.786.9004 DAGABICUCINA.COM MARCH 24, 2022

l

3

VOTE NOW!

A

B

B

VOTE FOR US!

B

TM

A

Vote for us!

Longmont • Boulder Westminster

play, stay, eat, sleep, Repeat!

Tattoos / Piercing / Jewelry www.tribalrites.com

303.442.2602 • cottonwoodkennels.com 7275 Valmont Road • BouldeR, co 80301 open 7:30 am - 6:00 pm eVeRy day!

US VOTE FOR 303.545.6262

2010 10th St., Boulder, CO zoemama.com

VOTE FOR US!

BEST PIZZERIA 1647 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder, CO • 720-328-2324

www.BrooklynPizzaBoulder.com

V

R

M

FOOD Appetizers/Tapas Asian Fusion Bagel Bakery BBQ Breakfast/Brunch Burger Business Lunch Catering Chinese Restaurant Donuts Fine Dining Restaurant Food Truck Gluten-Free Menu Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt Indian/Nepali Restaurant Italian Restaurant Japanese Restaurant Kid-Friendly Restaurant Lyons Restaurant Mexican Restaurant New Restaurant Niwot Restaurant

B

B

Overall Restaurant Pancake/Waffle Pizza Place to eat outdoors Place to go on a first date Restaurant Dessert Restaurant Service

Veggie Burger Wings DRINKS Bar Beer selection Cidery Cocktails Coffee House Coffee Roaster Craft Brewery Distillery Happy Hour Latte/Mocha Margarita Teahouse Wine Selectionentertainment and CANNABIS Bargains at a dispensary Budtender CBD Products Edibles Flower Medical Marijuana Dis-

VOTE US BEST MEDITERRANEAN 2426 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder 303-443-0596 www.kalitagrill.com

Sandwich Seafood Sushi Restaurant Take-out Thai Restaurant

pensary Recreational Marijuana Dispensary Selection at a dispensary Wax HOME & GARDEN Carpet/Flooring Electrician Florist Furniture Store Heating, Venting, and Air Conditioning Home Builder/Contractor Home Finishing Home Repair/Handyman Hydroponic Store Kitchen Supply Store Landscaper Mattress Store Nursery/Garden Center Painter Pest Control Plumber Roofing Contractor

VOTE FOR CO LANDMARK REALTORS, BEST OF BOULDER!

B O U L D E R VA L L E Y ’ S # 1 B O U T I Q U E R E A L E STAT E B R O K E R AG E & LU X U RY L E A D E R - S I N C E 1 97 7 3 LOCAL OFFICE BOULDER | NIWOT | LOUISVILLE

720.829.7009 • FREERANGEMOVERS.COM 4

I

MARCH 24, 2022

LOCAL | INDEPENDENT |

I

FEMALE-OWNED

303-443-3377 WWW.COLORADOLANDMARK.COM

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

All ballots must be submitted online.

Vote at boulderweekly.com.

Scan to take the survey directly from your smart phone or tablet!

Vote McDonald Carpet One, Best Carpet and Flooring

Locally owned and operated since 1997

“THANKS FOR VOTING US THE BEST!”

303.443.5885 TAYLORMOVE.COM ENTERTAINMENT & CULTURE Art Gallery Bank/Financial Institution Festival/Event Live Jazz Venue Museum Music Venue Non-Profit Open Mic Place to Dance Place to Play Pool Place to Wi-Fi Private School Public School (K-8) Public School (9-12) Sports Bar FITNESS & HEALTH Acupuncture Clinic Barber Shop Chiropractor Climbing/Parkour Gym Dance Studio

Day Spa Dental Care Golf Course Gym/Fitness Center Hair Salon Hospital Lasik Services Martial Arts

Orthodontist Physical Therapist Pilates Studio Tanning Salon Urgent Care Center Veterinary Care Yoga Studio RETAIL Auto Dealer - New Auto Dealer - Used Auto Service/Repair Bicycle Shop Bookstore Car Wash Clothing Store - Children’s Clothing Store - Men’s Clothing Store - Used Clothing Store - Women’s Business Owned/Led by Female CEO Computer Repair Dry Cleaner

V

Massage Medical Doctor Nail Salon

Farm Gift Store Grocery Store Hardware Store Hotel Independent Business Jewelry Store Liquor Store Music Store Natural Foods Store New Business Optical Store Pet Store Real Estate Group Shoe Store Shopping Center Stereo/Electronics Storage Facility Tattoo/Piercing Parlor Tire Shop Tobacco/Pipe Shop Toy Store

E L E VAT I O N S

Big on a local level.

Equal Housing Opportunity

Federally insured

by NCUA

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

PLEASE VOTE FOR US 728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 www.SingingCookStore.com

I

MARCH 24, 2022

I

5

ST. VRAIN HABITAT RESTORE

L

HAPPY HOUR

10am - 5pm Monday - Friday

$3 Draft Beers - 16 oz $5 House Margarita - 16 oz $3 Mimosa Taco Tuesday $2 Tacos 2030 Ken Pratt Blvd. • Longmont, CO • 303-776-1747 blueagaverestaurant.net

ife in moments that matter – it’s more than just a lamp; it’s illuminating the pages of your favorite novel. It’s more than just a dining table; it’s a place to share meals with loved ones. It’s more than just a hammer; it’s creating hope for your family.

When you shop at ReStore, you are not just buying products; you are building a better future.

ware, and much more! Proceeds support affordable homeownership opportunities in our local community for hardworking families.

Shop Tuesdays for our special discount days for seniors, veterans and active military, teachers, and first responders. Great items.

Great prices. Great cause. ReStore – life in moments that matter.

St. Vrain Habitat ReStore 1351 Sherman Drive, Longmont 303-776-3334 www.stvrainhabitat.org/restore

St. Vrain Habitat ReStore sells low-cost home improvement goods to the public – appliances, building supplies, furniture, home goods and décor, plumbing, tools, and hard-

Longmont’s

LONGMONT’S NEWEST STEAKHOUSE featuring NoCo’s Best Beef and Freshest Seafood in town

INDOOR FLEA MARKET Cakes, Pies, Pastries, Cheesecake, Cookies, and more!

Specializing in Wedding Cakes and custom decorating.

Locally owned & operated since 2020 HOURS: Tuesday - Thursday 11am - 10pm • Friday is 11am - 11pm • Saturday is 9:00am - 11pm • Sunday is 9am - 8pm

300 Main St. Longmont, CO • (303) 834-9384 • dickens300prime.com

1201 S. Sunset St. Longmont, CO 80501 303.776.6605

NEW HOME of Marketplace Bakery! Fresh Breads Daily

LIKE US ON

720-684-6884 • 900 S. Hover St. Unit F, Longmont CO

Open Monday - Saturday 9am-6pm Closed Sunday frontrangefleamarket026@gmail.com

OVER 90 DEALERS! Items & Gifts for Ages 0-99 FURNITURE NEW & USED HOME DECOR & TONS MORE! LOCALLY OWNED FOR OVER 30 YEARS!

Farow is based on the philosophy of combining hyper-seasonal, high quality ingredients with creativity

Longmont’s source for BEAUTIFUL QUALITY GLASS 341 MAIN ST. • LONGMONT, CO Join us Everyday for Happy Hour 4p-6p 7916 Niwot Road • www.farowrestaurant.com

20%

303-827-3181

LIKE US! facebook.com/publicmon

1351 Sherman Dr, Longmont Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm Shop Online https://bit.ly/3lwMBxf

0

ENTIRE PURCHASE

IN STORE & ONLINE *Expires 4/30/2022

Shopping in store? Show coupon at register.

Shopping online? Enter code: SPRING20 at check-out.

We’re Moving!

ose-

Family-friendly brewery serving handcrafted lagers and ales Hours: Mon-Thurs 3-9pm • Fri 3-10pm • Sat 12-10pm • Sun 12-9m

6778 N. 79th St. Niwot, CO • 303-834-9123 fritzfamilybrewers.com

t ae

Thur-Sat 3/24-26 12:00 - 5:00pm

303.444.8088

2536 Spruce St. Boulder

BOULDER COUNTY OWNED AND OPERATED

303-485-1730 • 247restoration.com

WE SPEAK LOCAL.

Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Caitlin Rockett Senior Editor, Emma Athena News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Contributing Writers: Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Shay Castle, Angela K. Evans, Mark Fearer, Jodi Hausen, Karlie Huckels, Dave Kirby, Matt Maenpaa, Sara McCrea, Rico Moore, Katie Rhodes, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Tom Winter SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer March 24, 2022 Volume XXIX, Number 29

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. © 2022 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.

Rent control: Why and why not?

by Mark Fearer

M

y debut column two weeks ago went into an abbreviated history of rent control (RC) in Boulder and Colorado. Now it’s time to deal with the present.

A sadly relevant detour: As I write this, I read the headline, “U.S. rents hit new high”—something I referenced in the first line of my first column. National rents for single family homes jumped 12.6% from last year—double the inflation rate, and far above average wage increases. While I’ll be addressing this more in later columns, inflation actually has little to do with rents for existing rental housing—but wage levels are painfully relevant for most renters.

This brings me to why we need rent control. To state the obvious: We’re in the midst of the worst affordable housing crisis ever with rents at unsustainable levels— rents are simply out of control.

One consequence is that tenants are increasingly fi-

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

nancially stressed. Going a little deeper, part of that stress translates into needing to move more often when the rent takes an even bigger bite out of relatively small wages. A growing number of people just barely hanging on to housing are pushed into homelessness. On a community level, lack of individual stability leads to lack of neighborhood stability. The constant churn of renters due to rent raises means tenants feel less and less rooted to a place.

It also means more people leave a community after failing to find affordable rents. If they still work in that community, they have to commute farther, leading to more traffic congestion, climate degradation and a lack of connection to the city they work in. Additionally, families with children have less school stability.

The good news is that rent control (RC) can have the largest and quickest impact to stabilize almost half of the population. It’s already happened around the country.

Almost 200 cities in California, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. have laws that regulate rent increases. Not all cities in those states have RC, but it seems to be slowly increasing.

It should be noted that there are many different kinds of rent stabilization programs throughout the country, so see UNREPENTANT TENANT Page 8

MARCH 24, 2022

l

7

UNREPENTANT TENANT from Page 7

one can’t make too many generalizations about RC. But the sky-is-falling crowd continues to make unsubstantiated general predictions.

where the crisis lies.

So it is somewhat irrelevant if RC exempts new construction or not, since there’s no evidence that more rental units will put downward pressure on rents.

But there is evidence that it may actually do the opposite. “Rent control can increase supply,” states at least one study. “If housing developers cannot generate extra profit through rent increases, it creates an incentive to build more units,” according to one source that cites economist Gary Painter.

DISASTER CLAIM #1 One of the main arguments against RC is that it will hamper/ eliminate new rental units being built because developers won’t build units that can’t maximize profits through endless rent increases.

First, most cities that have RC exempt new construction—so that generally moots the issue. But even if new construction DISASTER wasn’t exempted, CLAIM #2 this claim is based RC oppowe shouldn’t on a faulty premise. nents have been build more permanently I’ll be honest— trying to sow most economists panic for years, affordable housing—we don’t like RC at saying that rental absolutely should. But all. Anything that housing will fall interferes with the apart because it won’t reduce rental sanctity of The landlords can’t prices of existing housMarkets is genraise rent to coverally despised, er maintenance. ing, which is where the especially when it They point to crisis lies. comes to violating RC cities with one of the holiest abandoned and commands, “Thou deteriorating shall worship Supply and Demand.” buildings, such as NYC. Wrong and The economic high priests say that wrong. less supply triggers more demand, and I know of no city that doesn’t allow therefore prices go up (not because it maintenance or improvements to be costs more). Conversely, more supply passed on in rent increases. These costs means less demand—and prices will (along with repairs, taxes, utilities and drop, or at least stabilize. other legitimate costs) are allowed in In housing, this is simply not true. raising rents. Using NYC as a poster Even as supply has been increasing, child for abandonment because of RC when was the last time you saw rents completely ignores that virtually all dropping (other than momentary cities—including those without RC— seasonal dips)? Whether in Boulder have deteriorating housing stock. Here or any other urban/suburban area, no in Boulder, we have plenty of examples matter how much housing is added, of poor maintenance or lack of repairs rents don’t go down. They continue by landlords, when there is no rent to rise, supply be damned. And of control. course, this is in the absence of RC. This is a bogus argument, and Housing is an inelastic market. again, there is little to no evidence No amount of added supply will allesupporting it. viate the ongoing shortage of affordYou would not know which cities able housing, especially in a city like have rent control unless you live in Boulder, which is highly attractive to states that allow RC. In other words, people who want to move here, and although the rental-industrial complex has a 1% growth cap. In other words, and economists often predict disaster we can’t build our way out of the rent- for any city enacting RC, it never comes al housing crisis. This doesn’t mean true. That’s why those cities still have we shouldn’t build more permanently rent control—it works. affordable housing—we absolutely This opinion column does not should. But it won’t reduce rental necessarily reflect the views of Boulder prices of existing housing, which is Weekly.

THIS DOESN’T MEAN

8

l

MARCH 24, 2022

Correction: In the article “Choosing how to heal” (Weed Between the Lines, March 17, 2022), we incorrectly stated that if both psilocybin initiatives end up on November’s ballot and both receive enough votes to pass, the one with the most votes “wins.” The correct verbiage is “the initiative with the most votes would prevail in all particulars in which there is a conflict,” according to C.R.S. §1-40-123(2).

SUPPORT THE LIBRARY DISTRICT I support the creation of a library district for Boulder County.

I am a senior African American woman who has lived many years in unincorporated Boulder. I was brought up in the Jim Crow South of North Carolina where everything, including libraries, was completely segregated. Topics often came up in the classroom that I wanted to know more about. Usually the very small school library could not fulfill that desire. What I wanted to know might be in the white public library, but unfortunately, I was not allowed to use the white library. I learned early on that there is a connection between illiteracy, education in schools, and education through available library use.

When libraries finally opened their doors to people other than whites, it was a bittersweet joy: we could now read newspapers and magazines without having to buy a l

subscription; check out any book we wanted; and even ask the librarian to buy a book that it did not have!

I imagine that the doors of all libraries in the U.S. are now open to people like me as well as other diverse and underserved populations in the 21st century. However, there are still barriers that prevent optimal use and growth of our libraries: barriers that can be surmounted by a small increase in property taxes so as to rehire laid-off staff, more needed staff, attack illiteracy in Boulder through the Boulder Reads Program, and maintain buildings and resources to a safe level.

A library district for Boulder County would ensure that more people could make use of the pleasures that so many of us enjoy and take for granted.

Annette Dula/Boulder IN RESPONSE TO ‘BRITTLE CITIES’ In response to Sam Becker’s article about affordable housing in Boulder (News, “Brittle Cities,” March 10, 2022), I have these things to say. For some reason the writing focuses on Boulder City and County, possibly because that is where the most recent tragedy affecting housing occurred, with the strongest emotional appeal.

Mr. Becker says, “...the history of unaffordability in Boulder dates back to settler-colonialism and genocide of Indigenous peoples.” Well, this

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

statement applies to unaffordability everywhere in the U.S., not just Boulder. Why is there a need to say, “... to conserve formerly inhabited land (seasonally inhabited by Indigenous peoples) for recreation, ...wealthy residents (European Americans, I presume) purchased open space... (which now) forms a moat around the city.” How is this different from any wealthy person purchasing multiple acres of land, stolen from Indigenous peoples, as private property or farm or ranch land? Is that land considered a “moat” around their house? It doesn’t appear to help the situation to try and “white elite” guilt people into endless development. Open Space preserves the land, not just for recreation, but for flora and fauna, for nature and soil and a buffer from continuous asphalt and cement.

When addressing affordable housing, why is it rarely suggested to repeal the ban on rent control in Colorado? That would have kept the greedy landlords from raising home rentals from “$2,400 to $3,000 or more” monthly after the fire. Why is more, denser development (“building out and building up”) often suggested as a solution to housing unaffordability? I’ve seen so many apartments and big houses built, or being built, in Boulder City and County recently (think Google campus, now-unoccupied office complexes [which could be turned into affordable housing], apartments replacing mobile homes, buildings razed and replaced by apartments [infill], apartments above businesses, giant homes on tiny lots, etc., etc.). How can there be a housing shortage? Oh, yeah, it’s “affordable” housing shortage. Honestly, I don’t want to look up at the foothills to see them covered in houses, if I could see them at all behind the “infill and vertical development.”

I do agree with Mr. Becker’s suggestion to encourage the governments to “take steps to prevent rising housing costs, including rent control, rent stabilization, and other methods to prevent gentrification and stabilize property values.” Property values have soared so much that some people are being property-taxed out of their long time (as in parent’s childhood) family homes. I’m sorry if these ideas cut into the profits of landlords (who often live out of state), realtors and developers. Perhaps you, too, can find

a smaller, more affordable home. Yes, we could also encourage building simpler, smaller homes that require less energy to build, heat, cool and power, and that would leave more space for increased tree density, too.

Perhaps endless population growth and building/development is simply unsustainable, especially in a state suffering such drought and extremely poor air quality. As more people are realizing that, housing costs and availability may return to

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

some semblance of rational on their own...?

R. Lawrence/Boulder SENATOR BENNET CARES ABOUT THE CHILDREN Special thanks to Senator Bennet for caring enough about America’s children to call out Congress for not extending the Child Tax Credit (Letters, “Finding a way forward on the Child Tax Credit,” March 10, 2022).

Once again families across America

are choosing between rent and food.

How many children must suffer before Congress takes action? Let’s put the pressure on by demanding the 51 members of the Senate who ignored children and families to take action.

Pass Senator Bennet’s letter on to friends in other states and ask them to make sure their senators support this critical initiative for America’s future, all children and families will be grateful.

Willie Dickerson/Snohomish, WA

CALL NOW TO BOOK THE BAND FOR YOUR PRIVATE PARTY OR SPECIAL EVENT 303-819-8182 www.reverbnation.com/hindsight2 l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

9

Joining forces

The FBI has been partnering with local police forces for decades, and Boulder’s up to bat—but what does it mean when federal and local policies collide?

Emma Athena

O

n Feb. 1, 2022, Boulder’s City Council voted 6-3 to allow a Boulder Police Department (BPD) officer to join the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Denver, a federal anti-terrorism operation that’s been running in the Mile High City since 1994—but only if the BPD-FBI memorandum of understanding (MOU, a formal but not legally binding document that outlines an agreement between two parties) is amended to address some transparency, accountability, and bias concerns surrounding the partnership.

Council asked for the MOU to explicitly state the BPD-JTTF officer will remain bound by local department conduct policies even when engaged in the FBI’s JTTF projects. This stipulation would diverge from the standard JTTF agreements that exist in nearly 200 U.S. cities today; typically, when local law enforcement officers engage with JTTF work, they’re treated as federal law enforcement officers, thereby allowed to operate under federal policies and procedures, instead of local ones.

Council also requested the MOU include clauses to specify just one BPD officer will participate in the JTTF, and that an annual report of task force activities will be produced for council (though the metrics and content expected in the report were not discussed).

According to BPD Chief Maris Herold, the amended MOU was returned to the FBI, and the document remains in the federal agency’s hands.

“Our legal teams and their legal teams all the way to D.C. are working through these [changes],” she says. When a decision will be made about the MOU and BPD’s involvement in the JTTF is unknown. The FBI declined to comment for this article.

Herold, who took the helm of BPD in 2020, says the delay is due, in part, to the fact that legislation passed in Colorado “after the George Floyd murder [created] a different state than the FBI is accustomed to.”

She cites Colorado’s progressive body-worn-camera mandate and the 2020 ban on qualified immunity as examples of post-Floyd changes that’ve widened gaps between local and federal policies. (By contrast, FBI agents are not currently required to wear body cameras and are protected by qualified immunity, though national debates about the merit of said policies are ongoing.)

“I really don’t know how this is going to turn out,” Herold says, but “after my two years here, there is a great need to have this agreement.”

BPD receives 80,000 calls for service every year, Herold says, characterizing Boulder as a “target-rich environment for potential terrorism threats” since it’s home to major research institutions, Jewish and Muslim places of worship, women’s health centers, LGBTQ+ and refugee communities, tourist populations, and high-profile landmarks.

Over the years, terrorism threats have increased, Herold says,

10

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

which is why the BPD-JTTF partnership is necessary—take the March 2021 King Soopers’ mass shooting, for example, or February 2022’s close-call with a wanted man from California hiding on University Hill; and, according to a 2021 Southern Policy Law Center report, 18 hate groups currently operate in Colorado, with 715 hate and 488 anti-government groups active elsewhere in the country. JTTFs aim to “create familiarity” among local and federal law enforcement teams, ensuring collaboration streams are in place before crises occur, per the FBI website.

As Herold explained to Council during the BPD-FBI MOU public hearing on Feb. 1, joining a JTTF adds valuable resources to the department; not only would it lead to extra response support in the event of emergency—what we saw in response to the incidents at King Soopers and on University Hill are examples of JTTF-level support, Herold says, as she’d been working closely with the FBI in preparation for presenting the MOU to Council—it would also allow the FBI to share high-clearance information with the BPD-JTTF officer, who would be trained on the FBI’s dime for security clearances higher than Chief Herold’s. New investigation technologies would also be delivered to Boulder to help assess and address terrorism threats.

“My main concern is keeping the community safe,” Herold says.

“That’s it. There’s nothing more hidden in there.”

Yet many community members, including those specifically identified by Herold as potential terrorism targets, are concerned the BPD-JTTF partnership will introduce more problems to an already broken system; the partnership invites the FBI, an agency with a history of problematic investigatory practices, into local information systems; it also lends the BPD officer to FBI projects, which could lead to scenarios where the BPD officer is asked to operate outside of Boulder’s local police policies and procedures.

“In Boulder, our police department has a well-documented problem with bias, specifically racial bias,” explains Lindsey Loberg, member of Boulder’s Human Relations Commission, the city board that advocates for amicable relations among community members and reviews local human rights concerns. “I know that this is a systemic issue hundreds of years in the making, and I know it is an ongoing problem.”

Herold acknowledges concerns around JTTFs and the FBI exist, but that all boils down to trust: “Do you trust me? Something bad may happen, but I’m going to hold people accountable. I’m going to be transparent.”

In communities elsewhere, however, JTTFs have further frayed existing trust issues between law enforcement and populations at risk for discrimination. “There’s different standards for how a federal agent can operate compared to a local one,” says Brian Hofer, chair of Oakland, California’s Privacy Advisory Commission and executive director of Secure Justice, a non-profit organization advocating for reduction in government and corporate overreach. In 2020, Hofer helped lead a coalition of more than two dozen social justice groups in a successful effort to remove the Oakland Police Department from participation in the Bay Area’s JTTF, following in the footsteps of other cities like Atlanta, Saint Paul, San Francisco, Albuquerque, and Portland.

“The concern everywhere is that weaker federal standards are problematic,” Hofer explains. “When these local officers get assigned to these task forces, they’re no longer legally local officers. They are federal agents,” which means they’re treated differently in court and disciplinary matters, and also allowed to use federal investigatory measures, he says. “Some of the federal tactics are extremely dangerous.

You can put people under surveillance without even any reasonable suspicion. You could do demographic mapping. [There are] a lot of BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

use-of-force differences, and the way criminal intelligence is treated and commingled with immigration [law enforcement] obviously is a big [difference],” as ICE is “the second-largest partner in the JTTF. And they share all the data.”

Herold assures participation in the JTTF will not compromise Boulder’s status as a sanctuary city: “I can guarantee at the Boulder Police Department, nobody’s interested in anybody’s immigration status.”

‘Insurmountable’ conflict

In the U.S. there are more than 18,000 local police departments, each subject to different state, county, and city laws and codes, with different policies, practices, and officer training programs. “There is no universal standard for the structure, size, or governance of police departments in the United States,” explains the U.S. Justice Department in Policing 101, its “Police-Community Relations Toolkit.”

The law enforcement standards that govern BPD were designed according to the U.S. and Colorado constitutions, with local details added via community input during public hearings and study sessions over time.

As a JTTF officer, a BPD officer could be acting against local regulations when complying with FBI standards.

“That creates a conflict that I believe is insurmountable,” says former FBI special agent Michael German. In 2018 and 2020, he testified in Portland and Oakland (respectively), in favor of the cities withdrawing from JTTFs; because the partnership introduces double-standards to local law enforcement agencies at a number of points, he argued, it effectively allows the FBI to pick and choose which policies—federal, state or local—behoove their interests at any given time, something he and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) call “policy laundering.”

German was assigned to a JTTF in the ’90s as an undercover FBI agent in Southern California, working on domestic terrorism investigations of criminal activity by white supremacists. The JTTF program was in its third decade of operation at the time, having been created after the 1972 Munich Olympics, when an attack on Israeli athletes pushed the FBI to funnel more resources into the prevention and disruption of terrorism both abroad and domestically.

“The concept was that different federal and state law enforcement agencies all have different strengths and weaknesses,” German says. The system worked well during his first years as a JTTF agent, he recalls; in the ’90s, the FBI’s rules were “at least as strong, if not stronger than most other federal, state, local law enforcement agencies,” so participating in a JTTF “was sort of raising the level of control over the activities.”

That changed in 2001. In the wake of 9/11, the FBI pivoted to focus on information gathering for the explicit prevention of crimes, work that requires prediction.

After 9/11, the FBI’s rules were reduced significantly, “so that they’re now below what many other federal and particularly state law enforcement rules require,” says German, who left the FBI in the mid-2000s after experiencing its operational standards decline; since 2014 he’s been a fellow at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, which seeks to ensure that the U.S. government respects human rights and fundamental freedoms in conducting the fight against terrorism.

More changes occurred in 2008 and 2011, German

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

“DO YOU TRUST ME? Something bad may happen, but I’m going to hold people accountable. I’m going to be transparent.”

—Chief Maris Herold, BPD says. “The FBI modified its own internal policy, to create pre-assessment authority, that even without formally opening an investigation, FBI agents can conduct a lot of investigative steps—like searching online sources, including subscription sources, searching government databases for information about somebody. So these rules no longer protect individual rights and privacy, and create an opportunity for agents to allow their bias to drive who gets investigated.”

He explains: “Instead of focusing on evidence to suggest the subject under investigation had engaged in some kind of wrongdoing or was planning to, the analysis was turned to what the agent’s purpose was: So as long as the agent asserted that the purpose was to prevent crime or terrorism or some other national security threat, they could investigate somebody.

“That’s where bias starts to drive investigations, because you’re no longer using evidence to justify your investigation, you’re using other factors and presuppositions about who might be harmful in the future.”

Policies governing information disclosure can also differ between federal and local agencies, making requests for information protected by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) subject to higher levels of scrutiny and redaction when the FBI is involved. “The FBI has very strong protections against disclosure, and even more to the point, since most of the activity is secret, even from the police department, there’s little way for the community to find out exactly what they’re doing with city and state resources,” German says. (An information request submitted to the City on March 8, asking to review FBI-BPD communication records between December 2021 and February 2022 is still pending review.)

In his 2019 book, Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy, German details how these changes—justified as the response to accusations that pre-9/11 intelligence collection protocols were too strict to have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attacks—transformed the FBI into “arguably the most secretive domestic intelligence agency the country has ever seen.”

Plus, JTTFs are operationally redundant, German says. After 9/11, “intelligence fusion centers” were established across the country, places where federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies—including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security—could share information with one another and collaborate on actions.

“So if the fusion center is operating properly, there should be no information or very little information that the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) has about pending threats that isn’t shared broadly with local law enforcement already.”

BPD Chief Herold, however, says the FBI is “not legally bound to communicate the delicate details of how to prevent things from happening,” and therefore needs l

MARCH 24, 2022

the JTTF, and a BPD officer trained to work with them, as a supplemental information source.

CU Boulder’s Police Department (CUPD) is also currently seeking participation in the JTTF. “The partnership among Boulder Police, CUPD, and the FBI is vital to protect the safety of the community, and we are looking to strengthen this relationship,” Doreen Jokerst, assistant vice chancellor for public safety and CUPD chief, said in an emailed statement. “It is vital on projects ranging from missing persons cases to protecting Boulder’s and CU’s federally supported laboratory infrastructure.”

Kevin Klein, director of the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC, the state’s intelligence fusion center, nestled under the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management), serves on Denver’s JTTF Board and works closely with the FBI-Denver Special Agent in Charge, Michael Schneider, who declined to be interviewed for this article.

Klein says the joint terrorism task force is a critical part of CIAC’s regional operation. While his team collects and shares information about terrorism threats with law enforcement agencies of all stripes across the state, the JTTF acts upon the information, conducting investigations and field work. Without them, he says, the center wouldn’t be able to do much with the information they gather.

He also highlights how partnering with local police departments can help the FBI address “cultural differences” that crop up without local liaisons, who are naturally better informed about community nuances.

The partnership is a win-win in Klein’s eyes, especially considering the FBI has only about 12,000 agents, which are spread thinly around the globe: “Local law enforcement provides bodies to the JTTF, the FBI then provides funding, training, security clearances—those types of expenses,” Klein says. “It’s a force multiplier.”

Reduced accountability and oversight

Boulder’s City Council addressed the possibility and concern of double-standards in amendments to the draft MOU, but similar efforts to ensure local JTTF officers adhere to local policy haven’t proven successful elsewhere.

Before Oakland’s City Council voted to remove its police force from the Bay Area JTTF, it tried to rectify the partnership’s mismatched policies with a resolution requiring Oakland Police Department (OPD)-JTTF officers “to at all times follow state and local laws and policies,” says Javeria Jamil, who in 2020 worked with the Asian Law Caucus, an organization that helped lead both Oakland and San Francisco away from JTTF partnerships. Jamil now serves as the legal and policy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jamil started working with the Asian Law Caucus during the resolution’s first year on the books in Oakland, recalling “there was a lot of struggle there.” For instance, “we had to keep on arguing with [the JTTF], going back and forth, telling them that they’re misreading the California law,” she says; information that was once available via records requests organization suddenly wasn’t anymore. “[OPD had] released this information in other instances. So why [the new] exception?”

When the summer of 2020 hit, Oakland, a longtime hub for activists, hosted some of the nation’s largest see JTTF Page 12 11

JTTF from Page 11

FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEART, WE WANT TO THANK OUR COMMUNITY FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES! 5340 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder • 1015 Pearl St, Boulder • 1521 Pearl St, Boulder 1898 S. Flatirons Ct, #110, Boulder • 1232-A S. Hoover St, Longmont OZOCOFFEE.COM

• Gifts for any cook • Fun and colorful kitchenware • Specialty foods, local and imported • Gadgets, cookware, and kitchen essentials • Louisville’s one-of-a-kind kitchen shop 728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 www.SingingCookStore.com

Way to Go out Green, Your Grace!

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

Archbishop Tutu died December 26, 2021.

He cared deeply about our planet.

The Natural Funeral, Colorado’s holistic funeral home, was the first in the state to offer Water cremation (also known as aquamation) and Body Composting (Natural Reduction).

We also offer Green Burial and Reverent Body Care™ (ceremonial washing and anointing of the body at death with essential oils) and Flame Cremation.

Contact Karen van Vuuren or any of our staff to find out how to minimize your final footprint.

720-515-2344 info@thenaturalfuneral.com TheNaturalFuneral.com Live and Die Your Values 12

l

MARCH 24, 2022

social justice demonstrations. “There were numerous reports and incidents,” during these gatherings, Jamil says, “where it was clear that the OPD wasn’t following their own rules and regulations.”

This echoes a 2010 report from the ACLU of Colorado confirming the Denver JTTF has, at times, targeted “peaceful, political activists for harassment and [has been] building files on constitutionally-protected political activities and associations that have nothing to do with terrorism or other criminal activity.”

In a statement, the ACLU’s legal director at the time, Mark Silverstein, said, “These documents confirm that the FBI’s anti-terrorism unit is targeting nonviolent activists and unjustifiably treating constitutionally-protected dissent as though it were potential terrorism.” The Denver Police Department declined to be interviewed for this article.

Under the Trump administration, Hofer, with Secure Justice says, “Those last few years were so unbelievably bad for the JTTFs—targeting the DAPL pipeline protesters, targeting Black Lives Matter organizers, helping ICE deport people that were critical of ICE, like DACA students, [and] they did infiltrate Occupy Oakland when we were here.”

A letter sent by dozens of Bay Area civil rights organizations to Oakland’s City Council in September 2020 pointed to San Francisco’s experience with the JTTF. For five years, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) “assured elected officials and city residents that SFPD officers participating in the JTTF were following all state and local laws and policies,” but via a 2019 records request, the coalition of organizations found a white paper from 2016, Jamil says, “an analysis that the FBI did for the SFPD around their participation in the JTTF,” which concluded the FBI could only comply with the city’s “Safe San Francisco Civil Rights Ordinance” if its standing policies, which are identical to the Oakland Ordinance, were weakened.

“And so we [told the FBI], ‘We don’t want our police to be working with you,” Hofer says. “You could be putting our undocumented folks at risk.’”

For many people, “reduced accountability and oversight for law enforcement makes them less safe from police violence,” Boulder Human Relations Commissioner Loberg says. “More surveillance, more data collection, and more data sharing between law enforcement bodies all undermine Boulder as a sanctuary city. The extent to which all people can participate in public life and access services diminishes, and quality of life diminishes as a result. This makes Boulder less welcoming and inclusive, and it also makes Boulder less safe.”

Beyond the presentation of bias and transparency issues, Hofer says what ultimately sold Oakland’s City Council on its JTTF withdrawal was a lack of “helpful incidents; thankfully, there were no actual terrorist attacks, [but] with no success cases there’s nothing actually there [to justify its need], and that’s mostly what the council voted on.”

Yet it’s difficult to measure the success of anti-terrorism work, says Colorado Information Analysis Center Director Klein. “A lot of it is what I call the paradox of prevention,” he says. “When you’re able to intervene at a really low level, [the threat] doesn’t happen. That’s the good news: we’ve processed a lot of information that we’ve given to the FBI, and there’ve been some interventions.”

According to Herold, talks about BPD joining the Denver JTTF have been ongoing since the day she took office: “They approached me about this,” she says.

If Boulder’s amended MOU isn’t approved by the FBI, Herold says, “Colorado is going to really have to take a hard look at this moving forward, because it’s hard to get exact alignment on these issues, and even though I think our federal partners across the country are moving in the same direction that local municipalities are moving in— about trying to have progressive policies—sometimes they’re just different, and they can’t be aligned perfectly to meet our state mandates.

“I can only speak from my experience,” she says, having worked with JTTF agents and officers while serving on police forces in Cincinnati, Ohio, before her tenure in Boulder. “I understand that there are groups of people that historically have been targeted [by federal agents]. I have not seen that personally, but there’s no doubt in my mind that in some part of history there [were] serious concerns,” she says. “And I most certainly would not tolerate that.”

When asked how she’ll ensure bias stays out of the BPD-JTTF partnership, she says, “I’m not concerned with it at all. ... I believe in the detective [who’s been picked to receive FBI training for the JTTF]. I believe in our partners at the FBI, and one thing that I do well is hold people accountable. ... Everybody knows that about me. If there’s one thing that I will do ... I will hold you accountable to a high standard.

“At the end of the day, I just feel like I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t have this agreement, and I might not get it,” Herold says. “I understand [people’s] concerns, I really do, but I have to look at it as: How do I best prevent community harm? And this is just another way that I prevent community harm—that’s it.” l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

SPRING SANDAL SALE All Men’s & Women’s Sandals Included Even New Arrivals!

Boulder Weekly Market A market for discounts on local dining Up to 25% off purchases New merchants and specials added regularly Check it out so you can start saving!

Comfortableshoes.com BOULDER On the Downtown Mall at 1425 Pearl St. 303-449-5260 & in The Village next to McGuckin 303-449-7440

DENVER Next to REI at 15th & Platte at 2368 15th St. 720-532-1084

In store • Online • Curbside

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

bestofboulderdeals.kostizi.com Go to website to purchase

MARCH 24, 2022

l

13

JUSTIN SIMONI

Taking the long way up

The story of a very cold, very determined Longs Peak bike-to-hike-to-summit winter adventure

by Justin Simoni

I

’m out the door by 1 a.m., heading north from South Boulder. I dodge drunk CU students just coming in for the night as I ride the icy streets through town.

Welcome to the latest stunt I’ve planned for myself: a winter bike-to-summit of Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park’s 14,255-foot mountain, known as Neníisótoyóú’u to indigenous peoples of Colorado. I’ll be attempting to summit via the Keplinger’s Couloir, a 2,000-foot gully of snow and loose rock carved out of the remote south slopes, found after a 7.5 mile trudge deep into the Wild Basin backcountry. It’s late January, cold and snowy. The sun will set at 5:17 p.m.

I’ve attempted this feat three times before. Though I’ve stood atop Longs Peak a dozen times in the winter, summiting the mountain via this gully has always been just beyond my reach. No one likes to turn back from a big goal, but safety is paramount. My plan has always been to make it there and back home in a single day.

Even in summer, most people do the route as part of an overnight backpack. In winter, the conditions are much colder, slower, and more dangerous.

The Longs Peak Duathlon

We call this bike-to-summit adventure the Longs Peak Duathlon. I’ve done nearly 50 of them: Forty miles of biking to reach the trailhead, a 10- to 20-mile romp in the national park (depending on my route), then 40 miles back home to Boulder.

The first recorded Longs Peak Duathlon happened the summer of 1977, when Boulder’s Cleve McCarty brought his 12-year-old son Eric on the endurance adventure, which, 32 years later, Eric would repeat with his own son. Legendary brothers Roger and Bill Briggs were also known to complete Longs Peak bike-and-hikes, with Bill bagging more than anyone until such adventures caught my eye in the early 2010s. Roger notched one of the most formidable trips when, in 1991, he free-soloed the hyper-steep and classic Casual

14

l

MARCH 24, 2022

LONGS PEAK: Route that goes straight up the mountain’s as seen from the sheer diamond face after cycling from south side. The first Boulder. recorded Longs I got hooked on self-powered mounPeak Duathlon—80 tain adventures after my first Longs Peak miles of total biking, Duathlon in May 2013. The following plus 10- to 20-miles winter, I managed the first-known winter of hiking—happened duathlon of Longs Peak via the Loft, an on an overnight excursion in the east-facing couloir that splits Mt. Meeker summer of 1977. and Longs Peak apart. It took 19 hours Justin Simoni wanted and added to my list of accomplishments, to up the ante by which includes pedaling a single-speed completing the feat during the 2012 Tour Divide, a 2,700-mile in the winter—in a self-supported mountain-bike race from single day.

Banff, Alberta, Canada, to the Mexican border with New Mexico; also my 60-day endeavor to summit Colorado’s 100 tallest peaks via only bike and foot.

By the time I set out that cold January 2022 morning, I had more than proved myself in the mountains. But I still hadn’t quested Keplinger’s.

There’s still time

Planning a duathlon means making difficult decisions. Weight is critical. Warm, waterproof winter boots are eschewed for Italian trail runners with sheet metal screws drilled into the outsole for traction.

Pants are demodé: Running tights are lighter. Food rations are minimized. On the ride north, I’m sustained by a large bottle of kefir and a defizzled energy drink. The rest of the day will be powered by sour candy, jelly beans and caffeine shots.

After leaving Boulder’s city limits, I ride west through Jamestown, onto Overland Road toward the Peak to Peak highway, which amounts to four hours of pedal pushing, mostly uphill. The more I climb, the colder and windier it gets. I ride with fewer layers than makes good sense: If I ride too warm, I’ll end up drenched in sweat that will freeze once I stop. Taking breaks eats valuable time, so I don’t.

I enter James Canyon and the road is covered in a veneer of ice, which I note might present a problem on the way down, promising myself I’ll remember such details 24 hours later.

Overland Road clings to the side of the hill, facing a deep canyon plunging down the opposite side. These very switchbacks ended a previous duathlon. My Christmas Eve present that year was a l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

snapped chain and a long walk home.

Another attempt in March of 2021 was thwarted by fierce wind at the Peak to Peak turnoff. Those very winds threw K2 summiteer Alan Arnette across the nearby trail on Twin Sisters, breaking his leg on a rocky outcrop. Safe to say I’d made the right choice turning back that day.

My bike and I roll into the Wild Basin trailhead at 5 a.m. There’s no one to greet me, or check for my national parks’ pass, no real clue that something unique is about to begin hours before the sun even thinks about rising.

I plop myself down. Off come my bike shoes and neoprene gaiters; on go my trusty La Sportivas; out come the trekking poles. I strap my snowshoes to my back.

The route up Keplinger’s can be broken up into three segments. First, a straight, seemingly endless trail toward Sandbeach Lake. No views, little change in elevation. The snow is deep, but I’m too stubborn to put on snowshoes. It’s faster to hike without them.

Only one landmark breaks the monotony: the crossing of Campers Creek. Before even reaching the trail head I’d run out of liquids, so I fill up my Nalgene and stuff it into a wool sock with a hand warmer, praying it won’t freeze—it’s the only guaranteed source of water for the rest of the route; I’ve set myself up to be massively dehydrated.

Four miles into sloppy, snowbound conditions, I turn off the trail toward the south side of Longs Peak. Here, the snowshoes go on and stay on until I reach the couloir’s base at 11,900 feet. Even stopping for this short time leaves me chilly.

I thank the previous snow-shoers for the trench they carved earlier that week. Under the northeast flanks of Mt. Orton, I see signs of recent avalanche activity: the snowshoe tracks suddenly disappear under debris that’d come from high above. Future slides are all but a given. Even a small one could bury me in snow the consistency of quick-set concrete with enough force to break a leg.

My first view of Keplinger’s couloir comes around 9 a.m., eight hours after I left Boulder. It’s incredible: a quarter-mile vertical stripe of snow from base to summit—the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I remember the last time I’d taken in this view.

It was late in the day—too late, I’d decided, to safely ascend. Today, I check my watch: there’s still time.

One horizontal mile further, I reach the couloir’s base. I stash my snowshoes, some batteries, extra food, and warm layers: I’m betting it all on going light.

From here, I can see Keplinger’s couloir, about as wide as the street I live on, filled in with deep, unconsolidated snow; ribs of slabby rock stick through, bits of moraine jut out like stepping stones.

I begin moving upward. The sugary snow swallows me up, so I move to the rock ribs, but they’re tricky to climb, and I opt for the silty moraine, which makes for awkward walking. I probably look pretty stupid up here.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Crossing danger once more

Keplinger’s Couloir has one interesting historical note to its credit. It was used for the first Anglo ascent of Longs Peak when one-armed Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell summited in 1868.

A trip report was published in the Rocky Mountain News, written by Judge Lewis Keplinger. (It’s quite probable that the mountain had already been summited by indigenous people residing in the area, who probably had their own name[s] for the mountain and its couloir.)

These days, most people favor a start from the east side of Longs, where a well-maintained trail is many miles shorter and helpfully marked with spray-painted bull’s-eyes.

I move sluggishly up the couloir, broiling under even these light layers. The gully acts like a solar oven, reflecting and focusing the sun’s rays onto me. Despite the below-freezing temperature, I begin to strip.

Shirtless and sweating, I top the couloir.

It’s a short distance to the bottom of Homestretch, where I’ll merge with the well-known Keyhole route and its final, easy pitches, guided by the bull’s-eyes painted on rocks. But before me now is real danger. I’ll soon be sandwiched between two cliff faces, and traveling over the worst snow conditions I’ve ever seen on Longs. Blocks of compacted wind slab rest on delicate, powdery hoar. I’m cold, alone, hours away from help. A single step, a slide, and a steep plunge could end more than just my adventure.

It can take months, even years, to recover a body up here.

I stash the rest of my gear and my pack, bringing only the essentials: crampons, ice axe, phone, emergency satellite communicator, extra pair of glove liners and some candy. No headlamp—motivation to get back before dark.

It’s slow work crossing the snow. Rock-hard wind slabs force me to backtrack several times. At one point, I attempt to climb onto the rock face above me to escape the unsupportive snow, but I cliff myself out as I try to traverse.

Finally, I hit Homestretch. I don’t try to stop the tears that hit me, thinking I’ll soon reach my goal. But mingled with relief and pride is the knowledge that I’m truly only half-way; I have to reverse my path, cross danger once more, this time after 13 hours of activity. I’ve only drank a few liters of water and tossed down some candy since I started on foot.

I stay on the summit just long enough to snap a bleary-eyed photo and let my partner know I’m l

MARCH 24, 2022

alive. It is 4:20 p.m. I have less than an hour of daylight left to make it back to my pack stashed in the couloir below.

I remember not one breath from the traverse back. As the last light winks out, I reach my pack and put on my head torch and exhale. The world shrinks to what the light touches.

Climbing down, I take large strides into unconsolidated snow up to my thighs. Gravity aids my descent and sooner than expected I reunite with the rest of my cache. Every layer goes back on. From deep within my now-cold lungs I begin to wheeze.

My head, pounding from the effort, altitude and dehydration, remembers the creek is still several hours away. I rest only once, leaning against a tree for 10 minutes until the chill urges me on.

Reaching the creek, I drink JUSTIN SIMONI as much ice-cold water as my stomach can handle, each sip like an ice axe striking my aching head.

I reach my bike at 11 p.m., 23 hours into this adventure and more than 6 hours after I’d left the summit. I crawl into the pit toilet for a nap, grateful for its relative warmth. Thirty minutes is almost enough to gather my thoughts, but my nose pushes me onward.

Of all the gear I skimped on bringing, I didn’t neglect extra socks. I trade in the wet/cold ones before pointing the bike south to ride home.

It’s not all downhill from here: Before I lose 5,000 feet of elevation, I need to climb 2,000.

Each hill worsens my wheeze.

All I can do is purse my lips, breathe slowly through my nose then out my mouth, protecting me from hyperventilating and passing out.

An invisible river of cold air rushes down the canyon along with me. Damn valley inversions. I want to cruise as fast as I can, but I have to temper my speed. Somehow, I have remembered the ice on the roads. I shiver as the mile markers tick down.

Old Stage Road is finally in sight—the last hill before Boulder’s city limits! I give my bike a little bounce and feel the rim hit the pavement with the weight of my body and gear.

I’ve flatted on a downhill, five miles from home at 3 in the morning. Muscle memory changes the tire, and I pedal on.

It’s quiet through town in the early hours of Monday morning, my faintly rasping breath the only soundtrack. Nothing stirs at my Martin Acres home as I peel off each sweat-logged layer and settle into the shower. I sit on the tiled floor; there’s no strength left in my legs.

In four hours, I’m due at work—another 20 mile bike ride away. l

15

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

MEDIA SPONSORS IN KIND SPONSORS

16

l

MARCH 24, 2022

COMMUNITY PARTNERS INCLUDE:

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MATT MAENPAA

Keeping it weird and accessible with Left Hand Artist Group

by Matt Maenpaa

A

break in Colorado’s early spring snows brought a warm, sunny day to Longmont last April. Outside the Senior Center in Roosevelt Park, locals festooned in strange and colorful costumes brandished pool noodles and wandered through a “karma wash station” to pick up good vibes.

Onlookers’ grins were all the reward the merry troupe needed for that first Absolutely Absurd April Fool’s Parade put on by the Left Hand Artist Group (LHAG).

Founded in 2013 by Don Wilson, LHAG started as a group of friends getting together to share a few beers and talk art. Over the years the group has expanded to a couple hundred members, including artists, musicians, writers, poets and their supporters. Art from LHAG members can be found adorning the walls of breweries like Wibby, 300 Suns, Bootstrap and Grossen Bart, and of course Left Hand Brewing Company, as well as Longmont restaurants The Roost and Cheba Hut. Anyone can join LHAG by showing up for a meeting, joining the Facebook group or visiting the newly-minted website, lefthandartistgroup.org. Meetings are typically held the first Sunday of the month, rotating between breweries. All mediums are welcome, and liking beer isn’t a requirement for membership.

“We just appreciate good people joining the group,” Wilson said at the last meeting.

Wilson still helps out the organization as one of the volunteer curators, managing the art at Left Hand Brewing Company, but the founder has passed the reigns of leadership to an interim board of directors, who are putting in the work to make LHAG a place that supports artists and the community.

“As far as our place in the community, we start from the ground up,” says board member Salowa Salzer.

“LHAG is a little wild. We do parades of lights and we’re the ones playing 500 different kinds of music. People are riding around on scooters in our April Fool’s Parade. And we represent the arts—not just visual arts. It’s about the synergy of all the arts played together.”

Each board member has their story of how they joined or bonded with the group. Amy Heneghan joined when she moved to Longmont, though her mother was already a part of the group. Belinda Pelletier, a working artist, joined after hearing about the group from her BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

son, and joked that she was only slightly disappointed it wasn’t a group for left-handed artists.

For Tony Kindelspire, a former journalist and editor for trade magazines, the experience was eye-opening.

When he joined, the group was significantly smaller. At that first meeting, everyone went around the room to introduce themselves and talk about whatever art projects they were making—mosaics, oil paintings or other mediums—until it came around to him.

“I’m sitting there so freaked out when they asked, ‘What do you do, Tony?’ and I said, ‘I guess I do words’,” he says.

Kindelspire leaned on words because he wrote for the Times-Call, he explains, but he wrote prolific amounts of poetry in his younger days. Spending time in LHAG encouraged him to dig out his old poetry and start writing more, to the point where he’s self-published a few books of poetry. Since then he’s also taken up painting.

“I couldn’t draw a barn to save my life but I realized being in this group, you don’t need to be able to draw a barn. I had never been exposed to this amount of creativity,” Kindelspire says.

“It’s a strange thing to try and describe. There’s a great quality as far as the arts are concerned, but it’s welcoming to people who call themselves dabblers. Because they aren’t dabblers. It’s a journey out of dabbling and into the arts,” Salzer adds. “It blossoms out of that.”

Many LHAG members boast membership to more than one arts collective, including the Firehouse Art Center and Longmont Artist Guild, and LHAG often collaborates with other artistic organizations on events, like the Firehouse’s ArtWalk in the summer.

Like many nonprofits, LHAG struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic—meetings went digital as venues closed for in-person meetings, gathering masked and distanced outdoors when the weather allowed for it. In the past year, LHAG officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, opening up the potential for growth along with new fundraising opportunities.

“We haven’t really been able to fundraise for ourselves before, that’s sort of why we became a 501(c)3,” Andy Schwartz, LHAG’s treasurer, explains. “So we still want to do all these free events, I don’t think that will ever change, but now we can have these fundraising events that will let us give back to the community in other ways.” l

MARCH 24, 2022 l

INFO BOX: Left Hand The group is planning Artist Group Absolutely the return of its big creAbsurd April Fool’s ative event this year, the Parade. 5:47 p.m.

Label Show.

Senior Center, RoosWhen Wilson was evelt Park, 910 Longs working at Left Hand Peak Ave., Longmont.

Brewing Company Meet LHAG at its next several years ago, the meeting at 300 Suns brewery had an excess of Brewery, 335 First labels from discontinued Ave., Unit C, Longbeer gathering dust. The mont, on April 3. brewery donated the labels to the group, which were distributed among members to create art. Since then, the Label Show has become LHAG’s biggest fundraiser, racking up donations in the thousands each year.

Creations for the show aren’t restricted to labels from Left Hand Brewing, or even strictly labels. Past years have seen creative works built around stenciled brewery logos, worked into textile for fashion shows, even a full-sized suit of armor made from beer cans. The only requirement is that at least half the proceeds from each sale are donated to LHAG. This year’s Label Show is being planned for June, the first since 2019, though a venue hasn’t been set. Still, one can expect live bands, local food and plenty of beer once they lock in the date.

Before then, LHAG will see the return of the Absolutely Absurd April Fool’s Day Parade. Once again on April 1, starting at the Senior Center in Roosevelt Park at 5:47 p.m. The gathering is open to anyone who wants to join.

During the first parade in 2021, with COVID-19 restrictions still firmly in place in Boulder County, Heneghan and the board weren’t sure what the turnout would be.

One couple showed up in what looked like homemade dinosaur costumes after seeing the event posted on community social media app NextDoor, she says, and were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t an April Fool’s prank. All told, around 60 people showed up.

“We learned that people needed permission to smile and laugh in a time in our world that’s been really challenging,” Heneghan says. “It was like magic last year.”

17

WWW.FOXTHEATRE.COM

WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM

1135 13TH STREET BOULDER 720.645.2467

2032 14TH STREET BOULDER 303.786.7030

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUN 3 ..................................................................................................... TAYLOR FEST JUL 15 ...................................... COLORADO’S FINEST UNDERGROUND HIP HOP

APR 30 ............................................................................... EVERYONE ORCHESTRA

FRI. MAR 25

SAT. MAR 26

TAJ MAHAL SEXTET

88.5 KGNU & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

THE MAIN SQUEEZE

CARY MORIN

CLOUDCHORD

SAT. MAR 26

WED. MAR 30

ANDERS OSBORNE & JACKIE GREENE

ROOSTER PRESENTS

DEL WATER GAP

JONATHAN SLOANE

TAYLOR JANZEN, CRÊPE GIRL

TUE. MAR 29

THU. MAR 31

AL DI MEOLA

HARVE

KAEGI, GANO B2B RPSM, TREJO B2B SPYDA & MORE

THU. MAR 31

FRI. APR 1

GRATEFUL WEB & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

DEAD FLOYD

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

LEGATO

BANSHEE TREE

FRI. APR 1

GRAHAM GOOD & THE PAINTERS, STURTZ

97.3 KBCO PRESENTS: 2022 ONE WORLD TOUR

THE WAILERS

SAT. APR 2 BASSTROYD: NIGHT OF THE CHOPS

BASSTROYD, LIFE AND DEATH, ASHTROLOGY & MORE FRI. APR 8 TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENTS

KEEP OFF THE GRASS

GREEN BUDDHA

WED. APR 6 88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

MARTY STUART AND HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES WED. APR 13

THE ROCKY COASTS, BUTCHCOP

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS: JUKEBOX CHARLEY

SAT. APR 9

CHARLEY CROCKETT

WESTEND

VINCENT NEIL EMERSON

RYNE, GANO

FRI. APR 15 - SAT. APR 16

WED. APR 13

ROOSTER PRESENTS: THE DOIN SHOWS PLAYIN MUSIC TOUR

OPIUO

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

STEVE GUNN

SUN. APR 17

AMERICAN CULTURE

BOB MOSES

FRI. APR 15

AMTRAC

ROOSTER, TERRAPIN CARE STATION & PARADISE FOUND PRESENT

FRI. APR 22

DRY ICE, ROSE VARIETY

THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS

THE VELVETEERS

97.3 KBCO & SKA BREWING PRESENT: GET A JOB TOUR 2022

SAT. APR 23

SAT. APR 23

97.3 KBCO & PARADISE FOUND PRESENT

MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS

97.3 KBCO, PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

BOOMBOX FEAT. BACKBEAT BRASS

SAMMY BRUE

ETHNO

THU. APR 28

MON. APR 25

GRATEFUL SHRED INDUSTRIES, RELIX, PHILM & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT: GO EAST III TOUR

CHANNEL 93.3 & ROOSTER PRESENT: PUP RETURNS: THANK FUCKING GOD

PUP

GRATEFUL SHRED

SHEER MAG, PINKSHIFT

SAT. APR 30

FRI. MAY 6

ROOSTER PRESENTS

BURY MIA

THE PURPLE TOUR

PI’ERRE BOURNE

THE LOSERS CLUB, DAYSHAPER, SLAP HAPPY

SUN. MAY 8

THU. MAY 5

GOOD TO SEE YOU 2022

MR. MOTA’S GRADUATION PARTY KNUCKLE PUPS

HENRY ROLLINS MON. MAY 9

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE

FRI. MAY 6

DELTA SPIRIT PALM PALM

MON. MAY 9

MAY 15 MAY 17 MAY 19 MAY 22 MAY 23

...................................................... DAVID BROMBERG QUINTET ................................................................ THE MUSIC OF CREAM ...................................................................... BRUCE COCKBURN ............................................................................... TODD SNIDER ................................................................. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF

INDIE 102.3 PRESENTS

THE CHURCH MAY 12 ................................ THE THUGS FEAT. SEAN KELLY (FOX 30TH) MAY 13 .................................................................. BOUND FOR PEACHES MAY 14 .................................................................. START MAKING SENSE MAY 17 ............................................................................. NILÜFER YANYA MAY 20 ......................................................................................... SON LUX

18

l

2028 14TH STREET NOW FT. MCDEVITT TACO SUPPLY SUPER HEADY TACOS! 303-786-7030 | OPEN DURING EVENTS

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

COURTESY THE KURTLAND AGENCY

A

Al Di Meola: In his life

bout a week into the deeply unsettling military disquiet unfolding in Ukraine, I caught Al Di Meola on an off day at his New Jersey home, as he was preparing for a tour swing through the Western U.S. Televised images of Russian tanks, urban destruction and bellicose, anti-NATO vitriol coming from the Kremlin had us all on edge—as of this writing, it still does.

Fairly close in age and both growing up near the New York metropolitan area, I asked Di Meola if, like me, he flashed back to those days in grade school when the pall of nuclear dread was an everyday part of life. For us, it was 9:15 a.m. on Fridays: The sirens went off and we all had to practice the “desk dive.”

“Oh, my God,” he laughed, “the air raid drills. Yeah, I remember all that. We were worried about those Cuban missiles, from the Russians. We had to do those drills, like, every day.

“As if the desk was going to save us, right?”

Past is prologue, someone once wrote, and it might be, at least on the tangled ribbon of history. The Kremlin reminds us that the ’60s weren’t that long ago, and maybe in some respects never really ended. Last December, Peter Jackson did kind of the same thing, refreshing our connection to the Beatles with his “documentary about a documentary,” Get Back.

Di Meola, though, didn’t need the reminder. A lifelong fan himself, he released a generously received solo album of Beatles interpretations back in 2013 called All Your Life, recorded in the same Abbey Road studios as the originals, a rare and remarkable opportunity that brought some light into the guitarist’s life at a time when he was entangled in some pretty dark personal affairs.

“I had some days off from my summer tour back then, and on days off, the guys in my band, who were all European, would all fly home, and I was still going through all this [personal turmoil], just sitting in the hotel room, losing my mind. I decided that would be a good time to start assembling some of the Beatles’ music, and just blend whatever I could lend to it, maybe

The esteemed guitarist on unplugging, the sound that won’t go away, the Fab Four, and remembering Chick Corea

by Dave Kirby

see DI MEOLA Page 20 BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

19

ALEXANDER MERTSCH

DI MEOLA from Page 19

write some parts to extend certain sections.

“So, I was looking around for a studio where I was at the time, which was in Prague, and I just couldn’t find anything. And it just dawned on me, out of the blue: Abbey Road. And I wasn’t even sure it was still operating. I called up a guitar player friend of mine in London and he says, ‘I don’t know, I’ll look into it.’ Calls me back and says, ‘Yeah, they’re still operating—they have one day.’ I said, ‘Grab it !’ And then, one day opened up to three days.

“Every moment there was a thrill, it was like being in Disneyland,” DiMeloa added.

“The kind of feeling you don’t get as an adult anymore.”

But after three days, the project wasn’t quite finished, and what happened next… well, it’s one of Di Meola’s favorite stories, he relates it at his live shows and we don’t want to spoil it, but suffice to say that a very weird coincidence aligned to the completion of that project that gave it a kind of blessing that any musician growing up in the glow of the Beatles could only dream about. You’ll hear it at the Boulder Theater gig on March 29.

Fast forward to March 2020, and while he was satisfied that the solo acoustic project achieved what he wanted, Di Meola decided to take it a step further, fully orchestrating another set of Beatles tunes and releasing it as Across the Universe. “[At that time], I really wanted to do something unique, and it was,” Di Meola said.

“But then I thought, wouldn’t it be great to do another record, but full production, in my own studio. And added some electric, which I used as the lead voice for the melody.

And also played the drums, which, in hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have,” he laughed.

If the bookend Beatles projects seemed a curious departure for those who recognize Di Meola as a firebrand electric fusion guitarist, graduate of the landmark ’70s Chick Corea-led fusion band Return to Forever and a player of nearly unparalleled virtuosity, it was a natural evolution and a gesture of appreciation for a guy who, by his own admission, wouldn’t be a guitarist at all if it weren’t for the Beatles.

He related a funny story along those lines.

“George Martin actually presented all of us in Return to Forever [with] a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC, which was another surreal moment. I got to sit backstage with George and got to talk to him alone. I told him what the Beatles meant to me, and still do mean to me, and he was totally flabbergasted. He had just heard us play, and he knew Return to Forever very well, and he just couldn’t understand how someone playing that music could have ever liked the Beatles.

20

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

LIVE MUSIC!

ON THE BILL: “I said, ‘What are you talking about, George? I mean, Al Di Meola. 8 p.m. because of them I play guitar—a whole generation of Boulder Theater, us started playing guitar because of them.’ He was like, 2032 14th St., ‘Really?? I mean, they were OK, not on the same level Boulder. Tickets: $35as, you know, Rogers and Hart.’ $45, axs.com “I actually found myself arguing with George Martin about how great the Beatles were. ‘Are you kidding me?

Those songs were mind blowing.’”

Easing away from the RTF-influenced, Latin-influenced electric fusion over the years, Di Meola has explored more laconic postures, such the jazzier, more nuanced (and ironically titled) Kiss My Axe from the early ’90s, various explorations of world music both solo and with his European acoustic band World Sinfonia, meditations on Tango and interpretations of its master Astor Piazzolla, and most recently, extended original works on nylon string guitar, borrowing from Spanish and classical influences on recent releases like the thoughtful and evocative Opus (2018).

Like many musicians born from the fusion jazz genre, Di Meola has devoted much of his later career toward composition, and distinctly directed toward acoustic guitar. A growing distance from his incendiary electric legacy is in part due to his lifelong passion for Latin music, but also a function of physical limitation. His last electric live release, Elegant Gypsy and More, came out in 2018, a review of tunes from his second solo record and some extras, a blistering re-affirmation of his power as a Les Paul-wielding behemoth. But it was an outlier.

“Yeah…I have tinnitus,” he admitted. “I really can’t do it. Even with the headphones on. I was doing overdubs last night, using click tracks. The ringing is like another level.

It never goes away, 24/7, and it can drive you insane.”

All those years of that ’71 Les Paul through Marshall stacks…

“It’s a lot of things,” Di Meola said. “It started with a head injury when I was a kid, and it just progressed. Some people are genetically predisposed to it. It just takes a loud burst of sound to start the overreaction of neurons to the brain.

“And then when I got the gig with Chick, I’d be onstage right next to his keyboard stack. Those high notes from the Fender Rhodes, he’d be banging those notes, ‘da-dada da-da-da,’ and the horn of his speaker would be right next to my left ear. I mean, I wasn’t in a position, 19 years old, playing in my favorite band, to say anything.

“But yeah, years of onstage drums and Marshall amps took their toll. You know, you’re young, you think you’re invincible. All musicians have hearing loss. Virtually all.”

Even if some don’t really cop to it.

“Pete Townshend,” Di Meola said. “I mean, he has it really bad. But he downplays it. He doesn’t even blame it on the music. He says, ‘Oh, I’ve got this speed boat, I think the wind in my ears caused it.’ I say, ‘Pete, Pete, c’mon, you had 16 Hiwatt amps onstage. You had exploding drums!”

But all of this, Di Meola’s lengthy and sometimes blessed/sometimes turbulent travels through the business, will all be revealed when he’s finished with his autobiography, with which he says he’s about halfway finished. Including the real story why Return to Forever essentially dissolved at the cusp of mega stardom after the band’s luminous The Romantic Warrior release (recorded at Caribou Ranch) from 1975. Most students of the era will concede the band’s disassembly probably marked the end of the great ensemble fusion bands as the genre splintered into more player-focused projects.

For his part, Di Meola has profoundly mixed feelings about Chick Corea, who passed away last year. Deeply indebted to the keyboardist for plucking him out of obscurity to take the guitar seat in Return to Forever and encouraging him to write and constantly push the envelope, Di Meola still laments the band’s breakup, mired as it was in hurt feelings, legal unpleasantness and yearslong regrets about unfinished business and RTF’s unfulfilled potential as an instrumental four piece.

(Corea reassembled the band with his wife, Gayle Moran, on vocals, and added a horn section, neutering the band’s by then well-established repute as an electric powerhouse.)

All that was gingerly set aside when the band reunited in 2008 for a tour of the States and Europe, and Di Meola expressed at least some gratitude that that tour actually came off.

“Y’know, Chick…” Di Meola draws a long breath, “I hold him in the highest regard.

I’ve compartmentalized him. He was a big inspiration. He was a great player, a great improviser, a great writer, and he’ll be forever in my heart. He called me when I was 19, encouraged me to write music. There was so much positive about Chick.”

“I just wish…”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

DIG DEEP Friday, March 25: 6:30 - 8:30pm NO COVER Happy Hour drink specials 4-6PM Trivia Night Every Wednesday Win a $50 bar tab 2355 30th Street • Boulder, CO tuneupboulder.com

MARCH 24, 2022

l

21

r u o T ART

“Deluxe infrared sauna sessions combined with salt therapy for the lungs and skin.”

No

By appointment only, at

Infraredsalttherapy.com Mandala Integrative Medicine Clinic

Bo

Art Distri

or . t c

g

March 26-27 and April 2

825 S. Broadway Suite #50 • Lower Level

1:00-5:00 pm Visit artist’s studios, NoBo galleries, local shops and pop ups in NoBo area.

For Tour Map: 28

FRON T RAN G E

B ROA DWAY

Free

Water for a Month

Taste The Difference

ST

R

EE

T

LE E HI LL

Y E LLOWPI N E

ROSEWOOD

Try Eldorado Natural Spring Water Today!

Enter code BW21 at checkout

E COM E! OR EXPL th Nor r e Bould

www.EldoradoSprings.com • 303.604.3000

l

NoBoArtDistrict.org

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Think all water tastes the same?

See why Eldorado Natural Spring Water keeps winning awards for taste.

22

TH

MARCH 24, 2022

l

QUI N C E

Boulder Arts Commission Colorado Creative Industries Bill Snider • Emerald Management • National Endowment for the Arts Boulder County Arts Alliance Cherry Creek Mortgage StudioDoorz • MJ Galleries Boulder Chamber • Create Boulder • Boulder Arts Association • Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau • Month of Modern

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

E VENTS

EVENTS

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

■ Boulder Arts Week

March 25-April 2, various locations around Boulder, boulderartsweek.org The City of Boulder is the home to thousands of artists and over 140 arts organizations. Boulder has the nation’s third-highest concentration of artists, right behind Los Angeles and Santa Fe, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. Boulder Arts Week celebrates and supports our neighbors and friends, featuring digital and in-person arts and culture offerings, including art walks, exhibitions, performances, dance, music, theater, public art, lectures, readings and workshops at venues throughout the city. See all Boulder Arts Week events at: boulderartsweek.org

■ CC Season Kick-Off Party & Weekly Thursday Night Group Rides

5:30-9 p.m. Thursday, March 24, Full Cycle & Colorado Multisport, 2355 30th St., Boulder. Free, bouldercyclingclub.org Boulder Cycle Club is expanding its partnership with Full Cycle Colorado MultiSport this year by adding regular weekly rides on Thursdays from the shop.

Wheels out at 5:30 p.m. for both road rides and gravel rides. Stay tuned for routes and rides in the coming weeks. Upon return from the rides, enjoy a brew and food options from Full Cycle’s bar and grill. If you are new to gravel riding, Full Cycle can rent you a ride at a special discount to let you give it a try.

■ Boulder Samba School: Brazilian Bateria Samba Percussion Class ■ When Words Guide Us: Poetry Workshop with Exhibiting Artist Paula Gasparini-Santos

3-4:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder.

Free, thedairy.org In connection with her exhibition Forgiving Myself, currently on view at The Dairy, artist Paula Gasparini-Santos will lead participants through an introduction to subconscious poetry creation. With guidance, Gasparini-Santos will help participants create words for healing and a deepened understanding of self.

■ Author Talk: Scott Carney and Jason Miklian—‘The Vortex’

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder.

Tickets: $5, boulderbookstore.org In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most densely populated coastline on Earth. Over the course of just a few hours, the Great Bhola Cyclone would kill 500,000 people and begin a chain reaction of turmoil, genocide and war.

The Vortex is the dramatic story of how that storm sparked a country to revolution. Authors Scott Carney and Jason Miklian take us deep into the story of the cyclone and its aftermath, told through the eyes of the men and women who lived through it.

1-3 p.m. Sunday, March 27, Frequent Flyers Aeriel Dance, 3022 E. Sterling Circle, Boulder. Free, bouldersambaschool.org This class will introduce participants to the instruments, techniques and rhythms of Brazilian samba music, focusing on the music of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All instruments, including caixa (snare), surdo (bass drum), agogô, chocalho, repenique and tamborim will be provided. Only indoor, softsoled shoes or socks may be used in the studio. Additionally, all participants are required to wear a mask at all times inside the building.

■ Sleep Out to End Youth Homelessness

6 p.m. Thursday, March 24, First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St., Boulder. Free, tgthr.org/sleep-out TGTHR is hosting our 10th Sleep Out to raise awareness of the difficulties young people experiencing homelessness face. You’re invited to join a night outside to raise critical funds for TGTHR’s programs, raise awareness of youth homelessness, and inspire others to join the movement to end this solvable issue. With a goal to raise $200,000 to provide life-changing assistance and support to youth who need us the most, every dollar raised transforms the future of hundreds of youth who’ve endured the realities of homelessness. Sleep Out in-person on March 24 in Boulder, or host your own Sleep Out on March 26 at your desired location and time, and tune in for TGTHR’s virtual Sleep Out program.

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events see EVENTS Page 24

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

23

EVENTS from Page 23

■ ‘Death of the Pugilist’

■ Open Wall: Exhibition and Sale

March 25-27, Boulder Museum Of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Free, bmoca.org Celebrate local art at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s Open Wall.

Local artists and art lovers alike are invited to this self-curated exhibition and art sale. Throughout the weekend, visitors to Open Wall can purchase art from local, established and emerging artists, which supports the local art community and BMoCA. After installation on Friday, March 25, Open Wall art will be on exhibition and for sale in BMoCA’s event space starting at 6 p.m.

Friday, March 25 through Sunday, March 27.

■ A Night of Adventure with Ryan Van Duzer

6 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, The Tune Up, 2355 30th St., Boulder. Free Head to The Tune Up for an evening of stories from locale adventurer extraordinaire Ryan Van Duzer. Van Duzer creates content with the intent to inspire viewers to get off their couches.

His adventures include bike touring, mountain biking, trail running, racing ultras, trekking, Burning Man, exploring Latin America and traveling the four corners of the world.

■ Nashville Ballet with Rhiannon Giddens

7:30 p.m. March 29 and 30, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver, newmancenterpresents.com Featuring an original score by Grammy Award-winning and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient Rhiannon Giddens, with spoken word performed by Nashville poet and author of Lucy Negro Redux Caroline Randall Williams.

■ The Bouldy Rainbow Rocky Shadowcast

4 p.m. Sunday, March 27, Lyons Middle / Senior Auditorium, 100 McConnell Drive, Lyons. Tickets: $20-$30, bit.ly/deathpugilist Death of the Pugilist is an experimental ensemble piece based on award-winning American novelist Daniel Mason’s short story of the same title. This powerful performance, composed of five musicians, is a 60-minute story narrated in its entirety through an array of different musical genres, instruments, styles and sounds. The musical tapestry weaves genres from baroque, folk, blues, and more in between the narration of a young man as he comes of age in a rough-and-tumble boxing profession. It explores the working-class life in 1820s England, set on the quayside docks. Simple storytelling and narration combined with synergy of world-class musicians brings the audience to the side of the boxing ring and fully immerses you into the story. MinTze Wu, creative producer with BenFeng Productions and violinist, first premiered Death of the Pugilist to Lyons in 2009 when she curated the Sounds of Lyons festival.

■ ‘Bear Grease’

8 p.m. March 25 and 26, 4 p.m. March 27, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Tickets: $20-$25, thedairy.org Crystal Lightning (Enoch Cree Nation) and MC RedCloud (Huichol/Wixaritari) have put together a great cast of Indigenous creatives to showcase Native American talent in the theater scene. The cast consists of Teneil Whiskeyjack (Saddle Lake Nation), Bryce Morin (Enoch Cree Nation), Tammy Rae (Whitefish Lake Nation), Skylene Gladue (Beaver First Nation), Ger Carriere (Cumberland House Cree), and Rodney McLeod (Frog Lake Nation). The all-Indigenous cast will share with their reimagining of the classical musical Grease by making it culturally relevant with hints of Native American humor and pride.

■ DPCA presents ‘Tootsie’

7 p.m. Friday, March 25 and 26, Spark Theatre, 4847 Pearl Parkway, Suite B4, Boulder. Tickets: $15-$20 at Eventbrite Based on the 1973 musical stage production, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with music, book and lyrics

by Richard O’Brien, remains a queer cinematic milestone. This production is a parody tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s-1960s, combining elements of unintentional dry humor, portentous dialogue of schlock-horror, Steve Reeves muscle flicks and 50s rock ‘n’ roll all come to life in this musical. Upgrade your ticket to include a favor bag and a photo with the cast!

Proceeds directly benefit the artists. For ages 18 and over.

March 29-April 10, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St., Denver. Tickets: $35-$115, denvercenter.org This laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Tootisie features a hilarious Tony-winning book by Robert Horn and an outrageously clever score by 2018 Tony-winner David Yazbek.

■ Vicky Hamilton, ‘NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission: Saying Goodbye to Asteroid Bennu and Preparing to Say Hello to the Returned Sample.’

7:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, Chautauqua Community House, 301 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder. Tickets: $15, chautauqua.com NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission seeks answers to some of human-kind’s oldest questions. Where did we come from? What is our destiny? Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid, may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and Earth’s oceans. see EVENTS Page 26

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

24

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

April 6–9 4 days • 100 speakers • 125 events Endless possibilities

Back in Boulder this year.

Join us in person or livestream. Free and open to the public.

Learn more and register at colorado.edu/cwa

EVENTS from Page 24

CONCERTS

COURTESY BLVCK HIPPIE

EVENTS Thursday, March 24

Colorado Songwriter Showcase. 7 p.m.

Stewart Auditorium, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. Tickets: $12-$18 BBYMUTHA. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $15.50 Lee Brice. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. Tickets: $39.95-$75

Friday, March 25

UP TO 11: (Above) Memphis-based indie rock band Blvck Hippie will bring its gritty underground ethos to Trident Cafe on March 29.

(Facing) BBYMNUTHA came to prominance in 2020 with her track “Rules.”

She’ll be at the Bluebird on March 24.

Melodies from the Land of Roses and Nightingales. 3 p.m. Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Tickets: $25-$70 Stuart MaKaskie. 6 p.m. Caffè Sole, 637 S. Broadway., Boulder. Suggested $15 Gasoline Lollipops with The Runaway Grooms. 7 p.m. The Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. Tickets: $20 Taj Mahal with Cary Morin. 7 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder.

Tickets: $45-$57.50 Emily Scott Robinson. 7 p.m. eTown, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. Tickets: $20 Aqueous. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $18 Journey Girls. 8 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont. Tickets: $10-$12 Yoke Lore with Dafna. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Tickets: $15-$18 ARMNHMR. 9 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $19.99$$49.75

26

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

FROM THE DIVIDE TO YOUR DOOR!

WILLIAM JOHNSON

Said The Sky. 8 p.m.

Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver.

Tickets: $29.50-$79

Offering Glass Bottle Options

March 26

Dawn Hodges Quartet. 6 p.m. Caffè Sole, 637 S. Broadway, Boulder. Suggested $15 Anders Osborne & Jackie Greene. 7 p.m.

Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. Tickets: $25-$29.50

INTRODUCTORY OFFER: Free Two 5-Gallon Bottles of Water & One Months Rental on the Dispenser of Your Choice 303.440.0432 • www.IndianPeaksSpringWater.com LOOK FOR OUR SOLAR WATER CART AT BOULDER EVENTS

The Main Squeeze.

8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder.

Tickets: $17.50-$20

March 27

Hamilton Loomis. 6 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont.

Tickets: $20 John Mayer. 7:30 p.m. Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

March 28

Just Friends. 7 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. Tickets: $16 Porches. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $18

March 29

Tyler the Creator 7 p.m. Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver Blvck Hippie. 7 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Tickets: $10 Al Di Meola. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. Tickets: $35-$45 Nation of Language with Glove, Ducks Ltd. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $20

March 30

Beach House. 7 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. Tickets: $35-$75 Leprous. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $25 Del Water Gap. 8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Tickets: $17-$20

March 31

Dead Floyd with Legato. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder.

Tickets: $12.50-$15 Wilderado. 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Tickets: $20

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

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

27

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

LIBRA

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: In 1904, it wasn’t illegal to use perfor-

mance-enhancing drugs during Olympic competitions. Runner Thomas Hicks took advantage of this in the marathon race.

The poison strychnine, which in small doses serves as a stimulant, was one of his boosters. Another was brandy. By the time he approached the finish line, he was hallucinating and stumbling. His trainers carried him the rest of the way, and he was declared the winner. I recommend you make him your inspirational role model in the coming weeks. How might you cheat to gain a great victory? APRIL FOOL! I lied. While it’s true that a meaningful triumph is within your reach, you’re most likely to achieve it by acting with total integrity, following the rules, and imbibing no stimulating poisons.

TAURUS

2011 10TH STREET, BOULDER CO (ON PEARL AND 10TH) OPEN 9AM - 11PM WELCOME. A SOLITUDE PLACE FOR STUDY, WORK, GATHER & MEET. WE INVITE YOU TO COME RELAX, BREATHE, DRINK, EAT AND LOVE. ENJOY OUR SELECT MENU OF AROMATHERAPY INFUSED OXYGEN THERAPY, HERBAL ELIXIR TEAS, COFFEE, ORGANIC WINES AND ORGANIC DESSERTS.

APRIL 20-MAY 20: Science fiction aficionado Wil Wheaton suggests that all of us should have the following: 1. a nemesis; 2. an evil twin; 3. a secret headquarters; 4. an escape hatch; 5. a partner in crime; 6. a secret identity. Dear Taurus, I have doubts that you possess any of these necessities.

Please embark on intensive efforts to acquire all of them.

Your deadline is April 21. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. There’s no way you could add all those things to your repertoire in such a short time. See if you can at least get a secret identity and a partner in crime. It’s time to have wicked fun as you add to your potency and effectiveness.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: “I hate being on my best behavior,” wrote

Gemini author Colleen McCullough. “It brings out the absolute worst in me.” In the coming weeks, I hope you avoid the danger she describes. Don’t be on your best behavior!

Emulate Gemini filmmaker Clint Eastwood, who said, “I tried being reasonable, but I didn’t like it.” APRIL FOOL! I lied. Here’s the real truth: Being kind and generous and reasonable will be your secret weapon in the next three weeks. Doing so will empower you to make interesting and unforeseen progress.

JUNE 21-JULY 22: A Tumblr blogger named Alyssa complains, “I’m still peeved that I can’t fly or set things on fire with my mind.” You might share that feeling, Cancerian. But here’s the good news: I predict that you could soon acquire, at least temporarily, the power to fly and set things on fire with your mind. Use these talents wisely, please! APRIL FOOL! I lied.

In fact, you probably won’t be able to fly or set things on fire with your mind anytime soon. However, you may acquire other superpowers that are only slightly less fantastic. For example, you could change the mind of an ally who has been ridiculously stubborn. You could uncover a big secret that has been hidden. You could mend a wound you thought would never heal. Any other superpowers you need right now?

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: I suspect that only a Leo would say what Leo

filmmaker Stanley Kubrick once asserted: “You know, it’s not absolutely true in every case that nobody likes a smart ass.”

In accordance with astrological omens, I authorize you to prove his assertion. Be the kind of smart ass that people like.

APRIL FOOL! I’m half-joking. The truth is, I hope you will be the kind of smart ass that people absolutely adore and get inspired by.

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: In honor of your arrival in the most lyrical and soulful phase of your cycle, I offer you advice from poet Richard Jackson: “The secret is to paint your own numbers on the clock, to brush away those webs that cover the wild country of the soul, to let your star hover between the flowers of the moon and the flowers of the sun, like words you have never spoken yet always hear.” APRIL FOOL! I partially lied.

I don’t think you should paint your own numbers on the clock.

But the rest of what Jackson said is totally applicable and useful for you.

28

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: “If you can’t make fun of yourself, you don’t have a right to make fun of others,” said comedian Joan Rivers. I agree! So if you are feeling an irresistible urge to mock people and fling sarcasm in all directions, please prepare by first mocking yourself and being sarcastic toward yourself. APRIL FOOL! I lied. I will never authorize you to make fun of others. Never! In the coming weeks, I hope you’ll do the opposite: Dole out massive doses of praise and appreciation toward everyone. To prepare, dole out massive doses of praise and appreciation toward yourself.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: In the traditional opera performed in China’s Sichuan province, magical effects were popular. One trick involved characters making rapid changes of their masks.

The art was to remove an existing mask and don a new one with such speed that the audience could not detect it. An old master, Peng Denghuai, once wore 14 different masks in 24 seconds. This is an antic I think you should imitate in the coming days. The more frequently you alter your persona and appearance, the more successful and popular you’ll be. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. I recommend that you gleefully experiment with your image and exuberantly vary your self-presentation. But don’t overdo it.

CAPRICORN

CANCER

VIRGO

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: “I want excitement,” declared Libra novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, “and I don’t care what form it takes or what I pay for it, so long as it makes my heart beat.” In the coming weeks, I hope you will make that statement your motto. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. While I do foresee you being able to gather a wealth of excitement, I hope you won’t be as extreme as Fitzgerald in your pursuit of it. There will be plenty of opportunities for excitement that won’t require you to risk loss or pay an unwelcome price.

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: A nutritionist named Mark Haub decided to try losing weight by eating only sugary treats. For 10 weeks, he snacked on junk food cakes, cookies, and sweet cereals. By the end, he had lost 27 pounds. In accordance with astrological omens, I suggest you try the metaphorical equivalents of this project. For instance, work on deepening your relationships by engaging your allies in shallow conversations about trivial subjects. Or see if you can enhance your physical fitness by confining your exercise to crossing and uncrossing your legs as you sit on the couch watching TV. APRIL FOOL! I lied. Here’s your real horoscope: For the next four weeks, take better care of your body and your relationships than you ever have before in your life. Make it a point to educate yourself about what that would entail, and be devoted in providing the most profound nurturing you can imagine.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: Aquarius-born Giordano Bruno (1548–1600)

was bravely heretical in his work as a philosopher, poet, mathematician and friar. He angered the Catholic Church with his unorthodox views about Jesus and Mary, as well as his belief in reincarnation, his practice of occult magic, and his views that there are other stars besides our sun. Eventually, the authorities burned him at the stake for his transgressive ideas. Beware of a similar outcome for expressing your unusual qualities! APRIL FOOL! Luckily, no punishment will result if you express the rich fullness of your idiosyncrasies in the coming weeks. I’m happy about that, since I’m encouraging you to be as eccentrically yourself as you want to be.

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: Life is too complicated to accurately com-

prehend. There’s too much to know! It’s impossible to make truly savvy and rational decisions. Maybe the best strategy is to flip a coin or throw the dice or draw a Tarot card before doing anything. APRIL FOOL! While it’s a fact that life is too complex for our conscious minds to fully master, we have massive resources available on subconscious and superconscious levels: our deep soul and our higher self. Now is an excellent time to enhance your access to these mother lodes of intelligence.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Stressed Out? Think Massage!

Play this movie loud

Call 720.253.4710

Criterion releases ‘The Last Waltz’ on 4K UHD/Blu-ray

by Michael J. Casey

All credit cards accepted No text messages

A

master among masters, the filmography of Martin Scorsese is nothing to sneeze at. Raging Bull, GoodFellas, The Irishman—you know the lineup. But what sometimes gets overlooked are the documentaries, a dozen of them, personal and nuanced ON THE BILL: works that play like B-sides to his singles. Take the Criterion’s set of The 1970s: Mean Streets shows the trappings of life outside Last Waltz includes the home, and Italianamerican brings that back to the living the restored film on room. American Boy pairs hauntingly with Taxi Driver, but 4K UHD and Blu-ray, nothing matches the pound-for-pound grandiosity and interviews, an addiexcess of New York, New York like 1978’s The Last Waltz, tional jam session newly restored and available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from from 1976 and an The Criterion Collection. essay by Amanda After eight years as one of the seminal backing bands Petrusich. in rock ’n’ roll history, Robbie Robertson of the Band decided to call it quits and wanted to go out with a bang, one last concert. The place: San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. The date: Thanksgiving Day 1976. A full dinner was served. An orchestra played while the audience danced. Then the Band took the stage and welcomed friends (Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, and on and on) for one of the greatest concerts ever. It was a seven-hour affair—the ’70s were nothing if not excessive—and Robertson figured if they were going to do it, they might as well record it.

Scorsese loved the Band and agreed something should be shot, if for no other reason than posterity. Maybe black-and-white videotape would suffice. Then they considered 16 mm film. Not good enough. Might as well use 35 mm. But why use one 35 mm camera when you can use seven? And why use standard camera operators when you can hire the greatest cinematographers of the time? Then Scorsese took the setlist and broke each song into storyboards so everyone would have a plan. Ever since Scorsese saw Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffmann as a boy, he’d wanted to make a “composed film.” The Last Waltz might be his greatest success.

I don’t think Scorsese’s made anything with this much joy in it. Yes, there’s the music—Robertson’s raucous riffs, Levon Helm’s driving rhythm, Richard Manuel’s honkytonk piano, Garth Hudson’s ethereal keyboards, and Rick Danko’s perfectly rock ’n’ roll vocals on “Stagefright” is transcendent—but there’s also the camaraderie. Scorsese is known for making movies about the corrupting influence of male bonding. And though Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Mavis Staples make an appearance, The Last Waltz is primarily a boys club. But watch how the one-upmanship of the performers is in service of the creation, not the creators. This stage pulses with everything but toxicity.

There’s an interesting dichotomy in Scorsese’s films. He makes spiritual works— movies of Jesus, of the Dali Lama, of missionaries—but his street movies might resonate with God just a little more. Same here. Watching The Last Waltz is like going to church. My proof: Watch the Band perform “The Weight” with The Staples Singers—if Mavis’ phrasing of the second verse doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will.

“The Weight” is one of the Band’s most recognizable songs. But here, Scorsese finds something new. Cutting between performers, the lights coming up and down behind them, the synthesis of image and sound, lyric and music that meld into something that can only be described in a single, solitary word—spoken by Mavis Staple, quietly under her breath so as not to spoil the magic—as the last note fades away: “Beautiful.”

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

Dine-in | Pickup | Delivery | Expanded Patio

MARCH 24, 2022

l

29

and health impacts of carnivorous dining is admirable, Polis’ poorly named event miffed the meat-raising folks of the state. The day wasn’t billed as pro-plant, but rather as anti-cow during a time when the pandemic had made agriculture just that much harder to do. That time also focused our attention on the serious value of having food produced locally without supply chain issues.

“This started as a big F-U to Jared Polis, but it’s become a good way to get the local farm families together,” noted one attendee.

The menu served at picnic tables in the parking lot offered diners either chicken strips or Rocky Mountain “oysters,” fried breaded slices of calf testicles. The first 200 people got a free hamburger, and the meal included iced tea and a portion of mixed berry, peach or tart cherry cobbler from pastry chef Brittany Deutsch of Milliken’s Tastes of Travel World Bakery.

I told Deutsch I’d tasted pies that included smoked ingredients but never a whole smoked pie. She said she had seen pies,

Smoke gets in your pies

At a Colorado intersection, meat, mushrooms and pastry build a personal and cultural bridge

I

story and photos by John Lehndorff

went down to the crossroads in Mead ready to exchange my mortal soul for a slice of smoked pie. I was outside The Merc, the combination store, deli and butcher shop near the intersection of I-25 and CO-66.

I had hit the road March 19 based solely on a social media post advertising mythical “smoked pies.”

When I arrived with the roar of semis in the foreground and made-for-selfie peaks in the distance, I realized that the gathering had a theme.

The Merc’s second annual Meat-In was advertised as “a celebration of agriculture in Colorado.” It was in response to Governor Jared Polis’ declaration of March 20 as “Meat Out Day.” While the inclination to support plantbased eating and lessen the environmental

30

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

especially cobblers, baked SMOKED VITTLES: in smokers in Kentucky. On (Left) Blue oyster a whim, she had the pit boss mushrooms and sirloin steak on John Shaffner’s put blueberry and strawberry chuckwagon grill. rhubarb pies into a hot smoker.

(Right) Smoked blueThe result was amazing. berry and strawberry I tucked into a slice of bluerhubarb pies from Tastes berry-packed pie in a buttery of Travel World Bakery. graham cracker crust that had been smoke-baked and dished with Deutsch’s signature frozen whipped heavy cream laced with honey “from my Dad’s hives,” she said.

Frankly, it was a moving taste experience that made a lot of sense once it was in my mouth. It was like eating smoked brisket and fruit cobbler on the same paper plate... without the brisket.

Surprisingly, several people in line said they had served smoked pie. The sensible reason was that when your smoker is hot and smoking anyway, you might as well use it to cook everything you’ve got.

Deutsch and her husband also offered some of the baked goods she sells at The Merc and at farmers’ markets and festivals, including bourbon- and bacon-infused cheesecake, and a double cherry pie with a flaky crust made tender with black pepper BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

OPEN FOR DINNER! 4 - 8ish Wednesday - Saturday

Voted East County’s BEST Gluten Free Menu

WORKING THE GRILL: Zach Hedstrom of Boulder Mushroom grills Blue Oyster mushrooms at The Merc.

vodka and vinegar.

I enjoyed talking to all sorts of people at the event. John Shaffner was standing in front of his working chuckwagon in a well-worn cowboy hat. He was expertly grilling massive sirloin steaks over hardwood charcoal. This literally wasn’t Shaffner’s first rodeo, since he has cooked at roundups, reunions and Western events for years. He said he had never heard of smoked pie, but I told him to try it and he really liked it.

Zach Hedstrom had never sampled smoked pie either. He manned a booth offering beautiful blue oyster mushrooms from his Boulder Mushroom farm in north Boulder. He talked about the medicinal and healing properties of fungi and his work with locals, like Mark Guttridge at Longmont’s Ollin Farm, to use mycology to help regenerate farmland, but also fire-scorched mountain terrain. Hedstrom was invited to the Meat-In because his gourmet culinary mushrooms are sold at The Merc.

I prompted Hedstrom to meet John Shaffner, which is how he came to rub some blue oyster fungi with vegetable oil and salt, and grill them in the smoke next to slabs of juicy rare to medium-rare beef. Farm folks took notice, asked for a bite of the fungi delight and bought a pound to take home.

The Meat-In wasn’t a fundraiser; it was a gettogether, all about social solidarity.

Politics were not on the menu, at least from what I could see or hear. There was one beef banner but nothing political on the many pickup trucks.

I’m sure I could have ruffled some feathers by asking what the farm and ranch families thought about plant-based meats, but I was there for the pie and to appreciate the profound power of food to build suspension bridges over our great social, religious and political canyons.

Local food news

Boulder’s Eric Skokan (Black Cat Farm Table Bistro) heads-up an all-Colorado cast of finalists for the James Beard Awards in the Best Chef: Mountain category that includes Dana Rodriguez (Work & Class), Jose Avila (El Borrego Negro), Cody Cheetham (Tavernetta) and Caroline Glover (Annette).

Words to chew on

“What happens at the table is among the most important activities in civilization. It is about intimacy, convivium, creativity, appetites, desire, euphoria, culture, and the joys of being alive.” —Bill Buford John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM, streaming at kgnu.org.)

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

Order Online at morningglorylafayette.com New Hours: Sun & Mon 7:30a-3p Wed - Sat 7:30a-8p 303.604.6351 | 1377 FOREST PARK CIRCLE, LAFAYETTE

Hello Boulder!

We can’t wait to welcome you through every season ahead. Opt for a cozy indoor dining experience with enhanced cleaning protocols and our air filtration system or enjoy all of your Japango favorites on one of our four heated patios. Prefer to indulge in the comfort of your home? We can do that too with curbside pick up.

Hope to see you soon!

Daily 11am-10pm | 303 938 0330 | BoulderJapango.com JapangoRestaurant MARCH 24, 2022

l

JapangoBoulder 31

S I M P L E

|

L O C A L

|

FA R M

T O

TA B L E

VOTED

BEST AMERICAN RESTAUR ANT

5 7 8 B r i g g s S t re e t E r i e, C O 8 0 5 1 6 303.828.1392 www.24carrotbistro.com

BRUNCH

S AT & SU N 9 AM - 2 PM

LUNCH

TUE-FRI 11AM-2PM

DINNER

TUE-THUR 4:30PM-9PM

F R I & S AT 4:30PM-9:30PM

S U N D AY 4:30PM-9PM

Winner of Best Slice!

• BEST PIZZA SLICE • BEST FOOD ON THE HILL • BEST FOOD DELIVERY • BEST LATE NIGHT

659 30th Street Williams Village • Free Delivery 303-447-FAST (3278) 3117 28th Street North Boulder • Free Delivery 303-442-FAST (3278)

WE DELIVER TO GUNBARREL/ LOUISVILLE EVERY NIGHT!

520 W South Boulder Rd Lafayette • Free Delivery 720-598-FAST (5123)

Online ordering at www.cosmospizza.com

Download our app for great deals on your favorite pizza!

32

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Deviate off the beaten path for some unique tastes

by Matt Maenpaa

L

et’s set the stage: A small stone top bar, MATT MAENPAA wild murals on the opposite wall and tree branches glimmering in the rafter of the ceiling. You haven’t wandered into a magical forest bar, just the home of DV8 Distillery.

Finding DV8 is a small adventure in itself, hidden in east Boulder behind car dealerships and auto repair shops, but the adventure is worth the effort. Co-founded by Johnathan Tilley (JT) and Rawley Gunnels in 2015, the distillery continues to grow its offerings of off-the-beaten path spirits and events.

The big draw is a Celiac-friendly approach to vodka, gin and whiskey with DV8’s unique rice-based spirits. The spirits are mashed, fermented and distilled in-house with a focus on quality and character. The gin is a stand out, what Gunnels describes as a “wet gin,” as opposed to a classic dry gin. Juniper berries are present but not prevailing, instead making way for floral layers of lavender and cardamom carried by a potent blood orange note. to go through and highlight elevated cocktails that put the DV8’s vodkas are also noteworthy—the base spirit emphasis on our spirits,” Larsen says. is distilled from rice as well, with a clean taste, while the Distilleries have to get creative with their cockEarl Grey vodka packs in bergamot and black tea from tail menus and Larsen’s rises to the challenge with Boulder’s Dushanbe Tea House. In the tasting room, the libations for almost any taste. Even without spirits like vodka gets a little stranger. Fruit and coffee infusions rum and tequila in the portfolio, there’s no shortage of liven up the distillery’s cocktail portfolio, along with a clever takes.

Thai-inspired vodka packed with herbs like basil, mint Larsen developed the “Thaigerita” after countless and cilantro, along with ginger, lime and the spicy hint of requests for a margarita. Orange liqueur, lime and agave Thai chile. syrup mellow out and elevate the complex flavors of the Whiskey drinkers aren’t left out to dry. DV8 boasts Thai infusion, giving the illusion of a spicy margarita.

Colorado’s only 100% rice-based, single-barrel whiskey, The “Deviant Daiquiri” crosses the threshold between aged for at least a year on American oak. Filling out the the simplicity of a Hemingway daiquiri and a classic bottle shelf is a five-grain bourbon blended from a combi- gimlet. A hint of sweetness cuts the tartness of the lime, nation of DV8’s rice whiskey and sourced bourbons from backed by a sweet, rich maraschino cordial that lifts out larger producers. the floral qualities of gin, making for an easy summer Bringing it all together is DV8’s charming tasting sipper. room, under the guidance of bar manager Andrew LarsLeaning into something just a little weird, Larsen en and mixologist Alex Ballas. recently added a twist on a Manhattan utilizing DV8’s “Alex and I put together this menu and we really tried new peanut butter bourbon. Though the classic Manhat-

tan components—whiskey, vermouth and cherry—are present, the choice of bourbon gives the cocktail the idea of a liquified peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Delicious and well worth a taste if you’re willing to dispel any preconceived notions of what a Manhattan should be before you sit down with it.

Visits to DV8’s tasting room, which is currently expanding to welcome more bodies, are more than just a chance to cozy up to the bar and sip spirits. The distillery has leaned into their motto of deviating from the norm, inviting the queer and kink communities to party down as well. With warmer weather in the not-too-distant future and COVID-19 hopefully settling down into an endemic state, DV8’s bigger parties will return and expand into their parking lot.

“I really feel like DV8 is a hidden gem of Boulder,” Larsen says, “The people that want to come here because of the environment that not only JT and Rawley but all of our bar staff have tried to foster where you can come and be yourself.”

LONGMONT’S NEWEST STEAKHOUSE featuring NoCo’s Best Beef and Freshest Seafood in town

Locally owned & operated since 2020

NOW SERVING BRUNCH SATURDAY & SUNDAY 9am - 3pm

HOURS: Monday - Thursday 11am - 10pm • Friday 11am - 11pm • Saturday 9am - 11pm • Sunday 9am - 8pm

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

300 Main St. Longmont, CO • (303) 834-9384 • dickens300prime.com MARCH 24, 2022

l

33

WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR THIS YEAR? Vote for your favorite coffee shops, restaurants, hair salons, dispensaries, local celebrity, and so many more!

Ballot closes at midnight on April 2.

DINING ROOM NOW OPEN Call for Take-Out & Delivery

Alcohol Delivery available with your order

Gondolier Longmont 1217 South Main St. • 720-442-0061

Gondolier Boulder 4800 Baseline Rd. • 303-443-5015

Take Out & Delivery Available at Both Locations

gondolieritalianeatery.com

Welcome

TO GONDOLIER ITALIAN EATERY Where Going Out Feels Like Coming Home

VOTED BEST BBQ Best Margarita Best Place to Eat Outdoors Best Restaurant Service Best Take-Out Best Wings

701 B Main St., Louisville, CO

•

720-583-1789

www.lulus-bbq.com

34

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

JOHN LEHNDORFF

by JOHN LEHNDORFF

Mono Mono Korean Fried Chicken

Where to taste the fried chicken variations with a side of creamy sweet potato polenta

E

xcept for rice and beans, there may be no more global dish than fried chicken. At Lafayette’s new Mono Mono Korean Fried Chicken, double-frying creates a thin, crackly skin with a barely-there spiced crust on drumsticks deep-cooked to the bone. Dipping fun ranges from spicy mayo to extremely potent garlic sauce.

On my first visit, I also gnawed on bulgogi, bone-in charcoal-grilled beef short ribs in an appealing garlic, ginger and fruit marinade. On the side was house-fermented kimchi, steamed rice and coleslaw.

Returning to the eatery that once housed the short-lived Uturn BBQ, and a Burger King before that, I settled in at a picnic table with lots of napkins, a tabletop container for discarded bones and a pulsing K-pop soundtrack.

Mono Mono’s signature chewy Secret Sauce Chicken is boneless, skinless thighs fried in a unique crunchy coating, drenched in spice, salt, sweet and umami.

I stretched the flavor envelope with the spicy rice cake, which isn’t really explained on the menu. This isn’t those crunchy puffed rice snacks. Korean rice cakes are like thick noodles or dumplings—dense and chewy. These are simmered in gochujang, the Korean sweet chile sauce giving Sriracha a run for its money, with classic mixed vegetables. A grilled shishito pepper, tomatoes and crumbled cotija cheese tops it, but the unexpected surprise are thin slices of mild fish cake.

The Lafayette eatery is the third Mono Mono location owned by JW Lee, an unsung legend in Colorado restaurants. His company operates 20 eateries, including Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, and Seoul ManDoo in Aurora.

In retrospect, I should have ordered a beer. This cuisine was created to be paired with adult beverages. The Lafayette location came with a working brewery, which is expected to open eventually.

I’ll have to go back for Mono Mono’s famous wings and cross-cultural fusion items like buttered skillet corn with stretchy mozzarella and cilantro, or Korean spaghetti with Parmesan, bulgogi nachos or Cajun chicken salad. For weekend brunch: Stir-fried kimchi rice and vegetables and a sunny side up egg.

JOHN LEHNDORFF

T

he opening of Jax Fish House in 1994 changed the way Boulder saw seafood. Thanks in part to overnight FedEx and UPS from the coasts, Dave Query was able to dish a world of seafood with an emphasis on sustainability, creating an oyster cult in the process.

In the late 1990s, Jax shared this requested recipe for this creamy stuff, which makes an ideal base for seriously spiced fish, seafood and vegetable dishes.

Jax Fish House Sweet Potato Polenta 1 pound of sweet potatoes or yams 3 tablespoons honey

Another Roadfood Attraction: Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery

F

ried chicken aficionados come in more than one flavor. For the crust people, Denver’s Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery serves up satisfaction with a thick and crunchy robe—tempura batter seasoned with Old Bay—good enough to be served by itself. Inside is an amazingly juicy, slow sous vide-cooked boneless Colorado chicken breast. If that wasn’t enough fun, I tried it at the Englewood location with chipotle-infused honey, bacon gravy, white cheddar polenta and sauteed Swiss chard. A sandwich variation features tzatziki sauce, feta cheese and red onion.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Boulder Recipe Flashback: Jax Fish House

l

1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg 2 cups whipping cream 2 cups milk 1/2 pound cornmeal Peel and chop sweet potatoes, cover with cold water and boil until soft. Strain and puree in a food processor. Add one cup of cream. In a saucepan, add sweet potato and cream mixture plus honey, salt, nutmeg and one cup of cream and milk.

Simmer slowly, stirring frequently.

Whisk in cornmeal and continue cooking for about 15 to 20 minutes until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust salt. If too thick, add more milk. Makes about six servings.

Variation: Substitute broth for milk and coconut milk for cream.

Add 1 cup chopped roasted green chilies.

Culinary Calendar: All Fruit

T

ired of getting rutabagas and other confusing veggies in your CSA box?

Longmont’s Ya Ya Farm & Orchard offers an all-fruit CSA this summer starring Longmont-grown stone fruit (like peaches), pears and apples, and includes pie cherries, apple cider and honey, plus occasional melons. No curly kale included. yayafarmandorchard.com

MARCH 24, 2022

l

35

BY DAN SAVAGE Dear Dan: My boyfriend and I have not had sex for more than two years.

When I first asked him about it, he hemmed and hawed. When I pressed him, he said he doesn’t have any interest.

I felt like he was not telling me the whole truth. When I suggested he tell his doctor, my boyfriend said he could not do that because his doctor is an old family friend.

He won’t go to another doctor. I don’t know what to do. Staying in a long-term relationship without sex does not appeal to me. But I love him, so leaving him is not an option. On all other levels we have a great relationship. But I miss his cock and I miss intimacy. I have tried many things, but I am sick and tired of being refused. I used to think that it was my fault but no longer accept the blame.

What can I do?

—Unhappy Not Having Any Penetration Play In Literally Years

March 25 - 28, 2022

Dear UNHAPPILY: If you’re going to rule out leaving, UNHAPPILY, your options are staying and enduring a sexless existence or staying and having sex with other people. If you don’t wanna be accused of cheating, you’ll have to ask your boyfriend’s permission to seek sex elsewhere. If you don’t wanna ask his permission or you ask and don’t get it, well, then you’ll either have to endure a sexless existence or discreetly fuck other people when you have the chance.

(I hesitate to describe that as cheating in a case like yours, UNHAPPILY, since you wouldn’t be cheating your boyfriend out of anything he seems to want.)

Dear Dan: I’m a 65-year-old gay man and over the past few years, I’ve completely lost interest in having sex with other men. Coincidentally, pleasure from the prostate has gone to a whole new level. I am now having the most intense and powerful prostate-induced orgasms one could ask for—like joining the universe intense. Do I need to see a therapist?

—My Orgasms Are Now Sensational Dear MOANS: Only if you’re unhappy, MOANS, and you don’t sound unhappy to me. (And if you were, you might be better off seeing a sex worker.)

Dear Dan: I broke up with my boyfriend about one month ago after almost a year together. I’m 22 and he’s 20, and we met at work. A month after we started dating, his mom died. He is a jealous and controlling person, whereas I’m a very friendly and outgoing person,

36

l

MARCH 24, 2022

l

and he didn’t like it that I had friends.

He was constantly worried I was cheating on him, and I would reassure him as best I could. I tried to be understanding because, again, his mom had just died. But nothing helped. A month ago, he started yelling that he now knows for sure I had cheated on him at least three times, even if he doesn’t have any proof. (I never cheated on him.) So, I broke it off. But he continues to send me dozens of abusive text messages every day. At the same time, he makes excuses to see me. Two weeks ago, he came over to get his phone charger, which was not here. Today, he came demanding a sweatshirt, which I do not have. Between these surprise visits he sends text messages saying he would be happy if something terrible happened to me. What should I do?

Blocking him isn’t an option, as we continue to work together, and must communicate for work-related reasons.

—Pushy Ex Abusing Confused Ex Dear PEACE: Get him fired, PEACE. Show his text messages to your boss or to HR, and demand they do something about the hostile work environment he’s created for you, i.e., tell your bosses you expect them to fire him. If your employer won’t fire your ex, PEACE, talk to a lawyer about suing your employer and, if you must, seek employment elsewhere.

I’m sorry this is being done to you, PEACE, and in the future... a controlling, possessive piece of shit who “constantly worries” you’re cheating on him needs to be dumped immediately. Because those sorts of “worries” always—always—become angry and sometimes violent accusations in the end.

Dear Dan: When the Bible says “come” it means cum. That seems rather important for deciphering its hidden meaning. It’s all about the importance of sperm retention. Dry ejaculation is the desert, Israelites are sperm cells, Jacob’s Ladder is fighting the urge to ejaculate, ejaculation is Christ rising to Heaven to meet God, Aaron’s rod is his penis, Moses’s staff is his penis. And so on.

—Intense Biblical Studies Dear IBS: I don’t argue with crazy people on subways, in restaurants, on airplanes, or at family gatherings. So, whatever you say, IBS, whatever you say.

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

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

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

All ballots must be submitted online.

VOTE NOW at boulderweekly.com.

Ballot closes at midnight on April 2.

There is only one Best of Boulder™ Only in the Weekly.

Medical and Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries

VOTE FOR

Dab Dispensary Dandelion Drift Eclipse Cannabis Company Euflora Extract Labs The Farm Fresh Baked

14er Holistics Ajoya Boulder Wellness Center The Bud Depot Complete Releaf

BOULDER’S PREMIER DISPENSARY

Green Dragon Green Dream The Green Solution Green Tree Medicinals The Health Center Helping Hand Herbals Herbal Wellness Igadi Karing Kind Kind Castle LivWell Magnolia Road

HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE WITH QR CODE OR BOULDER WEEKLY FOR VOTING!

Marquis Cannabis Medicine Man Native Roots North Boulder Wellness Center Options Medical Center Starbuds Terrapin Care Station The Peaceful Choice The Republic TweedLeaf Twin Peaks Dispensary Verde Natural Village Green Society Zengold’s Lyons

ESTABLISH 2010 WWW.FRESHBAKEDBOULDER.COM 2535 Pearl St. Boulder, CO 80302

Vote for

Best Dispensary in Boulder & Longmont

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

I

MARCH 24, 2022

I

37

All ballots must be submitted online.

Vote at boulderweekly.com.

Scan to take the survey directly from your smart phone or tablet!

Medical and Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries 14er Holistics Ajoya Boulder Wellness Center The Bud Depot Complete Releaf Dab Dispensary Dandelion Drift Eclipse Cannabis Company Euflora Extract Labs The Farm Fresh Baked

Green Dragon Green Dream The Green Solution Green Tree Medicinals The Health Center Helping Hand Herbals Herbal Wellness Igadi Karing Kind Kind Castle LivWell Magnolia Road Marquis Cannabis

Medicine Man Native Roots North Boulder Wellness Center Options Medical Center Starbuds Terrapin Care Station The Peaceful Choice

The Republic TweedLeaf Twin Peaks Dispensary Verde Natural Village Green Society Zengold’s Lyons

VOTE FOR US!

Local organic full spectrum

Write-In Best CBD products sold at

Tonic Alchemy Lounge

O

UN

TY

DANDELION 845 Walnut St Boulder, CO 80302 303.459.4676

O

O

BO

ULDER

C

2021 EAST BOULDER COUNTY WINNER

GROWN

LOVE

nativerootscannabis.com

38

Voted Best of Boulder for 7 Years!

Let’s Make It 8!

!

BEST F

VOTE FOR US!

BOULDER 1146 Pearl St #200 Boulder, CO 80302 720.726.5126

FOR U TE S

V

on 10th and Pearl or online at rite-mind.com

I

LONGMONT 19 S Sunset St Longmont, CO 80501 720. 340. 4870

MARCH 24, 2022

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Hanging up the K-9 harness

someone for illicit drug possession. (Which, in the humble opinion of this cannabis columnist, sounds more like a superpower than any kind of “deficiency.”)

“A lot of drug dogs became obsolete overnight,” Lenny Frieling, a Colorado Criminal Defense Attorney with NORML who specializes in drug-related cases, says. “If [a drug dog] alerts to the smell of pot, what does that mean now? Well, it just means they alerted to the smell of pot. So what? That doesn’t mean anything anymore [in states with legalized cannabis].”

That simple fact has forced a lot of Colorado’s drug dogs into an early retirement in recent years. Because, as Frieling explains, it’s very hard to untrain a dog to

detect cannabis. “Pot desensitization training” is not only very costly, very difficult and takes a long time, but it also increases the chances that a dog will make a mistake and muddy up the officer’s basis for probable cause.

By contrast, using a dog that is “proofed off” marijuana (i.e., a dog that was never trained to detect it) guarantees the animal is only alerting to an illegal substance like cocaine, heroin, meth or ecstasy.

Arvada Police Officer Brian Laas, president of the Colorado Police K-9 Association, told 9 News that it’s an “absolute detriment” to police dogs if they’re trained to

detect marijuana today.

“More than likely within the next few months to years, there’s no way you’d be able to use [a marijuana] dog for criminal cases,” he told 9 News. One of Laas’ own dogs, a K-9 officer named Beaker, had to be retired early for exactly that reason in 2017.

Lass estimates that this policy change could have forced as many as 25 of Colorado’s 125 K-9 officers into early retirement (roughly 20% of the state’s drug dogs).

For older dogs like Beaker, that’s not such a big deal— but for younger dogs trained just prior to this court ruling, it’s a problem. Fully training a drug detection K-9 officer can cost taxpayers between $10,000-15,000. That’s an expensive asset to cut short of a 5-10 year career.

This problem isn’t unique to Colorado, either. All across the country, dogs that were trained to detect cannabis nugs are becoming nugatory. Last year, Virginia retired 13 K9 officers early, after the state voted to legalize cannabis. In Massachusetts two of the state’s drug detection dogs were moved to patrol, then retired within 18 months. In Washington, California and Oregon the story is the same.

“The trend is everywhere,” Don Slavik, executive director of the United States Police Canine Association, commented to the AP. “Once you train a behavior in a dog, that never goes away.”

So what can be done with these highly trained, highly skilled K-9 officers?

In Washington state, some police dogs have been through marijuana desensitization training, which takes 30 days of intensive re-education as well as daily reinforcements to permanently modify the dog’s behavior. Here, the Colorado K-9 Association has adopted some young police dogs and donated them to police forces where they can still be useful (in prohibition states).

Most, however, like Kilo and Beaker, are being adopted by their police handlers. They’re no longer busting people and ruining lives for cannabis possession or for possession of any other drug, for that matter. They’re peacefully enjoying early retirement.

And hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, the rest of America’s police K-9 officers can join them.

MARCH 24, 2022

39

Cannabis legalization has made many drug dogs “obsolete,” bringing about early retirement for K-9 police officers everywhere

by Will Brendza

I

n 2015, Kevin McKnight was pulled over in Moffat County for a routine traffic stop that ignited a nation-wide conversation about drug dogs—one that would send many K-9 officers into early retirement.

During McKnight’s traffic stop, Officer Bryan Gonzales brought in his partner, a drug-detecting K-9 officer aptly named Kilo. The highly trained canine had a very specific purpose: to alert at the slightest whiff of heroine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine or cannabis.

And when he approached McKnight’s vehicle he sat down and “pointed”—indicating that there were drugs in the truck, giving Gonzales probable cause to search it.

Sure enough, the officer found a meth pipe with white residue inside the vehicle. He arrested McKnight, but the ensuing legal battle would determine that Gonzales actually didn’t have probable cause to search the truck in the first place. Because, even though Kilo had alerted, and even though Gonzales found illegal drug paraphernalia in the car, Kilo couldn’t identify whether he’d smelled meth or if he’d just smelled cannabis—which was also in McKnight’s vehicle. The defense argued that Kilo could have been alerting to the legal substance, making Gonzales’ search and seizure unlawful from the get go.

McKnight was let go—and not long after, so was Kilo.

That case went to a Colorado Court of Appeals in 2017. And the three-judge panel agreed with the municipal court, ruling that if a drug-sniffing dog is trained to detect marijuana, cops need more cause than a K-9 alert to search a vehicle without permission; any dog trained to find marijuana could compromise the ability to convict

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

l

last word VOTE NOW!

Ann al e of o lder

allo lo e a midni

TM

on April

See our ad below

“Weed Between The Lines” on page 39

PUT YOUR $ WHERE

YO

Photo: Susan France

JOIN US FOR WALLEYE WEEKENDS! Direct to us from Red Lake Nation Fishery, MN (720) 630-8053 • 11am-9pm

Atlas Valley Center, SW corner of Arapahoe and 95th

www.eatreelfish.com

IS BUY LOCAL

Met Your Soul Drum Yet? Taste for yourself Ask about our 30 day free trial 303-604-3000 www.eldoradosprings.com

HAND DRUMS, DRUM SETS, AND LESSONS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES.

The Drum Shop 3070 28th St., Boulder 303-402-0122

CLEAN GREEN CERTIFIED FLOWER DAILY MIX & MATCH OZ SPECIALS PEARL STREET MALL - BOULDER

HELPINGHANDSDISPENARY.C0M

Open daily from 10am-7pm

LYONS

BUDDEPOTDISPENSARY.COM

B