City Weekly December 28, 2023

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Corporate abuse and environmental harm dominate Project Censored’s Top 10 suppressed news stories of 2023.

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“Unfinished Work,” Dec. 14 Private Eye

I loved, loved, loved John Saltas’ piece on Mike “Weasel” Lee. It amazes me that the people of this state voted him into office again.

Lee has boasted about doing away with Social Security, which I have paid into since I was 15, and I now live on—barely.

I understand Lee was the one who introduced the “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell to Donald Trump’s

team. Lee also didn’t want to certify the election of our President Joe Biden. Hopefully, he will pay for that!

I believe in unions, for they protect the workers. “Right to work” is a joke—who the heck came up with that? A Republican, probably.

I have been a lifelong Democrat!

DEBRA FOREMAN

Kearns Absolutely! Mike Lee is disgusting.

He’s a parasite; he is a blight on Utah. Impeachment material!

MANGIABENE801

Via Instagram

“Use of Force,” Dec. 14 Cover Story

Good journalism. Keep steppin’ up.

DHARMALAB

Via Instagram

Trumpism Fundamentalists

Christian fundamentalists bewilder me, Their devotion to Trumpism is hypocrisy.

What is the attraction for white evangelicals?

More psychology than their theology mystical.

Common tenets bind Trump and fundamentalisms, Devoid of compassionate Christian value truisms.

“Certainty,” “ferocity” and “solidarity.”

They share in challenge to our democracy.

Certainty, arrogant without doubt, self-righteousness, Ferocity, cruel behavior, other’s “evil” to suppress.

Solidarity, devote loyalty for the “true cause.”

For our nation prayerfully, an unfortunate pause?

Scripture tells us beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, For both our politics and religion, a dire warning.

GEORGE KIBILDIS Sparta, New Jersey Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern?

Write to comments@cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media.

We want to hear from you!

THE WATER

COOLER What are three words to describe 2023? Also, what are you doing for New Year’s Eve?

Wes Long

“Busy, momentous, hopeful.” As for New Year’s, it’s board games, shrimp cocktails and a Twilight Zone marathon for us!

Kelly Boyce

Psychedelics. Creativity. Creator. As for NYE: Saturnalia presented by Mutiny Music Collective at the Complex!

Benjamin Wood

“Hail the whale.” For NYE, I’ll be in Las Vegas enthusiastically squandering what little money I have left over from holiday shopping and year-end bills.

Katharine Biele

Stressful, hate-filled, dry. I wanted to go to Vegas to see John Oliver and Seth Meyers, but I’m staying home—as usual.

Kayla Dreher

Love, art and advertising. I have not planned anything for New Year’s yet but I will be wearing a sparkly dress.

Derek Carlisle

Creativity, outdoors and evolving. Looking forwards to creating cocktails with my love and hanging out with my pugs.

Jerre Wroble

Chopping, dicing and mincing! NYE?: Unpacking from a road trip and settling in..

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OPINION

BY JOHN RASMUSON

Rizz Up

I

n awarding this year’s Nobel Literature Prize to Jon Fosse, the Nobel committee cited the Norwegian writer’s “sensitive language that probes the limits of words.”

I’m not familiar with Fosse’s work—and I don’t know exactly what the Nobel committee had in mind—but there is no doubt that words have limitations. But because we take words for granted, their limits are mostly overlooked.

Who but wordsmiths take note of verbing and other mutations? Or of words flaming out like meteors? Or of words worn thin by overuse? Who reminds us that what was once “groovy” is now “rad”? (Back in the groovy times, “software” was unheard of and “hardware” applied to bolts, screws and nails.)

Writing the roughly 900 words of this column is like dry-stacking a stone wall. Without mortar, rocks of all sizes and shapes must interlock, just so. Wobbly stones doom a wall.

Similarly, a paragraph is a construct of words that fit together snugly. If the right words aren’t in the right place, if they wobble, the sentences don’t work. The higher the wall—or the more complex the subject—the greater the effort required.

It took a Bloomberg columnist 40,000 words to explain “cryptocurrency.” Bill Clinton used words to wall off the scandal of an Oval Office tryst: “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” he dissembled.

Probing the limits of particular words is an exercise to put off until the crops are in. For present purposes, however, this autobiographical sentence sets up “scone” and “Coke” for examination: On Friday night, we sometimes walked to VaLora’s on 2100 South, where my lawn-mowing wages bought a scone and a cherry Coke.

VaLora’s is decades gone, but owing to the hours my friends and I spent there, I know “scone” denotes a deepfried, puffed-up slab of bread dough—offered today at Penny Ann’s Cafe or Sharon’s Café—served hot, with honey and butter. However, order a scone in any eatery outside of Utah and you get a baked, biscuit-y confection—a dense pastry like the kind Starbucks sells.

At the heart of the disparity is geography. Place is a limiting factor, with “scone” being the “closest thing to a truly unique word in the vocabulary of Utah,” writes David Eddington in his new book Utah English.

However, when it comes to a nonalcoholic, carbonated beverage, Utahns have at least a half-dozen words to choose from, according to Eddington—“soda,” “pop,” “Coke,” “soft drink,” “seltzer” and “soda pop.”

Even so, the hands-down preference is “soda,” just as it is on both coasts.

In Utah, “soda” has gradually eclipsed “pop” in the last 25 years. (No one orders a “dirty pop” or “dirty soft drink,” do they?) Words like “soda” and “pop” are words in flux. So are personal pronouns like “they.” “Woke” has morphed from a hip-hop lyric to the polemics of Ron DeSantis in 15 years. The definitions of more than 2,250 words were revised last year, according to Dictionary.com.

Such messing around with words is best done in December when the dictionary companies announce the Word of the Year (WOTY). The selections are based on the number of lookups on the dictionaries’ websites and apps.

I look forward to the new words each year because they freeze-frame America’s evolving culture. In announcing the top words, the Oxford Dictionary said that they reflected the country’s “ethos, mood or preoccupations” while showing “potential as a term of lasting cultural significance.”

The Oxford Dictionary estimates English has a lexicon of about 170,000 words. As many as 47,000 have succumbed to their limitations and disappeared into obsolescence. Dictionary.com reported 566 words coined in 2023. “Authentic” was not one, but it was Merriam-Webster’s pick for WOTY.

It is a familiar adjective. It has been in service of the genuine and the unpretentious for many years. (The contempt of Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield for “phoniness” dates to the 1940s.) The authentic self is at risk in the social media arena. Even Elon Musk thinks so. He recently called on world leaders “to speak in their authentic voice as opposed to how they think they should speak.”

No surprise that “AI,” or artificial intelligence, was chosen as a WOTY, by Collins Dictionary. More interesting was the choice of an AI-related verb, “hallucinate,” by both Cambridge University Press and Dictionary.com. It refers to a flawed AI response to a human’s prompt.

But “Rizz,” a derivative of “charismatic,” was picked

by Oxford Dictionary as the year’s most significant word.

The sibilant noun is defined as “style, charm or attractiveness (to potential romantic partners).”

It seems to be taking root. It was a runner-up WOTY last year, and it now has taken on a verb dimension as in: “Bill Clinton was rizzed up by Monica Lewinsky.”

“Rizz” had plenty of competition. The WOTY selection process left dozens of runners-up on the field. This year’s batch includes “situationship,” “de-influencing,” “parasocial,” “beige flag” and “Swiftie.”

I was surprised that “Swiftie” didn’t dominate. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour had rizz.

At press time, the American Dialect Society is still accepting nominations for a 2023 WOTY “from across the lexically inclined world and beyond.” I toyed with the idea of submitting “The Utah Way,” the sunny slogan in which Utah’s ruling class loves to bask. As they break into a chorus of “Kumbaya,” however, hypocrisy is busily at work behind the scenes.

I wanted my WOTY to point it out. I considered “Utah Aweigh” before settling on “The Utah Wayward.” The latter establishes a category for the Republican pols who test the limits of self-interest with a smile, a shoeshine and a MAGA hat. CW Private Eye is off this week. Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net

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HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE |

@kathybiele

MISS: Satanic Panic

We had to look up the definition of “evil” after Gov. Spencer Cox invoked it: “Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.” Our governor, who called on us to pray for rain, does believe in supernatural forces. If, as he said, our universities “bordered on evil,” he must be seeing some supernatural element to their diversity policies. When they say the devil’s in the details, they mean it. Cox, however, missed the details. Universities are not requiring employees to sign diversity, equity and inclusion documents, as several academics told The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake Community College, “seeks to cultivate an environment of respect and empathy, advanced by diverse cultures and perspectives,” and asks “What does it mean for you to have a commitment to diversity?” If Cox sees that as evil, he isn’t paying attention to the country. The evil definition gives this example: “the world is stalked by relentless evil.” Governor, that’s not from diversity or inclusion.

MISS: Swing and a Miss

As long as we’re talking about evil, let’s ask Congressman Burgess Owens what he thinks. First, let’s make clear that he really hates Black Lives Matter. In an op-ed for Fox News, Owens condemned BLM as a terrorist organization. “Even after witnessing BLM’s disgusting response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, some schools refuse to sever ties to BLM,” he wrote. Because so many Americans “believe” anything they hear, here are the facts—PolitiFact, for example. “Black Lives Matter is not a terrorist organization nor a terrorist movement—and no responsible source would describe it as such,” David Sterman, an international security senior policy analyst at the New America think tank, told PolitiFact. Same from the Anti-Defamation League. We’re pretty sure Owens probably thinks BLM is run by antifa—another misunderstood movement. Instead of fear-mongering and untruths, Owens might try other media organizations, like The New York Times, where Masha Gessen—a Jewish writer—wrote a thought-provoking piece on the shadow of the Holocaust.

Difficult issues require broad thinking.

HIT: Extra! Extra!

Present company included, Utah has witnessed a shrinking media environment over the past decade. With fewer reporters and a diminishing news landscape, Utahns should welcome a new outlet covering state policy and politics. The Deseret News reported that the group is forming under the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which is active in all but two states. If you’ve ever thought that news from either The Salt Lake Tribune or Deseret News has been insufficient, for whatever reason, you’ll be glad to know that the States News network draws from a national donor base. Any bias that comes with Utah media will likely be dampened by a national focus. As the Legislature readies to lay its heavy hand on Utahns next year, we can look forward to some competition at the state level. CW

BY BILL FROST

Fallen Foes

A

s you know, Salt Lake City Weekly is currently celebrating 40 years of publishing. Wes Long has been going hard into the paper’s history with his City Weekly Rewind series— he’s even mentioned me as one of the lone visionaries writing about TV entertainment in the alt-weekly universe (“visionary” being my description, not his, but I’m sure that’s what he meant).

There have been a few upstart competitors to City Weekly over those four decades. Such as the long-dead The Event (which actually came before the Private Eye, CW’s original incarnation), The Salt Lake Tribune’s dismal In Utah This Week faux-weekly (later Now In Utah This Week, which really helped), and the so-forgotten-it-may-nothave-existed Salt Lake Observer (like the New York Observer, but worse).

But the most hilariously doomed challenger of them all was The Utah Weekly, a “conservative” alternative weekly launched in 2002. Alternative to what? Utah was at the time—and arguably still is—95% conservative.

It’s like Republicans who bitch about their “voices being silenced” while yakking 24/7 on right-wing TV, radio, podcasts, news sites and everywhere else. Poor, muzzled, red-hatters.

“What’s happening is advertisers are wasting their money, I think, advertising in a newspaper that is in distribution points where some families go in, and maybe Mom looks at it and says, ‘I’m turning this over.’ It’s quite prevalent,” The Utah Weekly’s Rich Kuchinsky told Deseret News in 2002.

“They won’t do that with ours. We will be a hard-hitting, good, clean paper that will carry non-offensive ads.”

First of all, City Weekly’s ads have never been on the front of the paper.

If “Mom” turned the paper over on the rack, she’d get a faceful of “offensive” back-page ads for psychic readings, snowboard trade-ins and “Back, Crack & Sac Wax” (OK, I’ll concede that one).

Secondly, The Utah Weekly may have been “clean” (when the cheap ink wasn’t permeating your hands), but it was far from “hard-hitting” or even “good.” And, most egregiously for an alleged alt-weekly, it was utterly devoid of humor. Even those self-righteous hippies at The Austin Chronicle know how to have a laugh—but only one per week, and it’s usually about hazy IPAs. The Utah Weekly didn’t last long, disappearing as inconspicuously as it had arrived. Turns out, there wasn’t an overwhelming demand for a conservative alt-weekly to counter the “liberal” damage to society that City Weekly had wrought. CW Grand Poobah John Saltas has eaten baklava over the bones of many a newspaper enemy, but The Utah Weekly was the least consequential of them all.

Now excuse me while I turn to this issue’s City Weekly Rewind to see if Wes Long has any further praise for me.

(See? Gotta have that humor.) CW Small Lake City is home to local writers and their opinions.

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Auld Lang Syne O’ the Times

A&E

Guests celebrate Last Hurrah 2022 at The Gateway

A roundup of places to celebrate New Year’s Eve and ring in 2024.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

o matter how the year about to end might have treated you, and how anxiously you might anticipate the year to come, lots of folks naturally approach the blank slate of a new year with a need to celebrate. Plenty of opportunities to ring in 2024 dot the Utah landscape, so here are just some of the ways you can join with other revelers for a little auld lang syne.

Last Hurrah 2023 @ The Gateway: Downtown Salt Lake City’s biggest public party for New Year’s Eve returns to The Gateway with a free event open to the public from 8 p.m. – midnight on Sunday, Dec. 31. Pop-up bars will offer draft beer, wine, hot cocktails and hot chocolate in the main plaza, while Gateway merchants and restaurants will be open late for dining, shopping and other events like “Laser Taylor Swift” at Clark Planetarium. Live entertainment includes buskers throughout the venue, and stage performances by Blindlove and Cardinal Bloom. 400 W. 200 South, atthegateway.com Gold and Glitter New Year’s Eve Gala @ The Leonardo: If you’re looking to get a little fancier in the downtown Salt Lake City core, consider this upscale event at The Leonardo. Get dressed up and walk the red carpet into a venue offering delicious catered cuisine, live DJ dancing, door prizes and other party activities. Enjoy a complimentary midnight champagne toast, and a confetti drop as the clock turns over to 2024. Guests also get full access to The Leonardo’s exhibits, and two floors of cash bars. The event runs 9:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.;

PHOTO COLLECTIVE STUDIOS

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tickets start at $100 per person, with a 10 percent discount for Leonardo members.

209 E. 500 South, theleonardo.org Millcreek Early Eve/Newphoria: The shiny new Millcreek Common hosts a pair of events suitable for a range of ages. The Early Eve party is a great option for families with younger children, or those who have just moved past the “staying up until midnight” point in their lives. From 6 p.m.

– 8 p.m., enjoy DJ dancing, party favors, games, food trucks and an 8 p.m. fireworks show, with ice skating available for an additional fee and reservation. Tickets are $5 per person, with kids under 2 free. For the later-night revelers, Newphoria runs 8:30 p.m. – 12:30 p.m., with 21+ drinks, appetizers and specialty cocktails. Live music entertainment is provided by Club Mungo and The Sugatones, leading up to midnight fireworks with a balcony view. Tickets are $20 advance, $25 at the door. 1354 E. Chambers Ave., millcreekcommon.org Mountain America Expo Center Ball Drop: The south end of the valley swings

for the fences with the 6th annual event at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, billing itself as “the largest midnight celebration in Utah.” Admission is available for ages 18 and up, with a 21+ area for drinks, plus free energy drinks for that needed late-night boost. Entertainment comes by way of five different DJs and a festival stage, leading up to the midnight confetti, balloon and light-up ball drop. Food and other concessions will be available throughout the evening. The event runs 8 p.m. – 1 a.m., with tickets ranging from $25 general admission to $50 VIP with special “skip the line” and stage access. Parking is free on site. 9575 S. State St., Sandy, thepartytix.ticketsauce.com Ski Resort New Year’s Eve Torchlight Parades: The unique geography of the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back offers multiple opportunities for unique ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve, including at Utah’s many ski resorts. At Snowbird (snowbird.com), enjoy the Torchlight

Parade and fireworks from 6 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., plus fire pits and hot cocoa on the Plaza Deck until 7 p.m. Alta Resort (alta. com) has a limited number of torchlight lift tickets available, with bonfire at 5 p.m. and torchlight parade/fireworks at 6 p.m.

Solitude Mountain Resort (solitudemountain.com) presents its free synchronized torchlight team show and fireworks display 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Canyons Village (parkcitymountain.com) starts its live music entertainment by Rage Against the Supremes at 5:30 p.m., leading into a 7:30 p.m. fireworks display. Brian Head Resort (brianhead.com) presents a torchlight parade at 7 p.m. and fireworks at 7:30 p.m., with live music by Muddy Boots 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. and no cover charge.

Plenty of clubs and bars will be featuring their own parties and entertainment, so be sure also to check out the website for your favorite venue. Wherever you find yourself: Drink responsibly, drive safely, and we’ll see you all in 2024. CW

One Night in Memphis: Presley, Perkins, Lewis & Cash

COURTESY PHOTO

Jay Whittaker

COURTESY PHOTO

There’s a natural magic to the mountains of Utah, to be sure, whether it’s the snow-covered wonderlands of the winter or the dappled beauty of the summer. Yet it can also inspire even more kinds of magical creation—which is exactly what happened more than a decade ago, when Ice Castles founder Brent Christensen relocated here from California. Facing a bit of winter cabin fever with his six children, Christensen crafted an ice cave for the family yard. And he knew he was on to something special when it became popular not just with his own kids, but with others from his neighborhood and all across town.

Now, Christensen’s Ice Castles have become a popular seasonal attraction in six states, including Utah’s version in Soldier Hollow. The massive structures include ice slides for speedy downhill swooshing, tunnels for crawling, massive caverns and amazing hand-carved ice sculptures. The whole thing also receives a stunning lighting package to add even more magic to the location. For those who want an added, private experience, you can reserve a private alcove space for special occasions like a marriage proposal, or take a sleigh ride to and from the castle through a gorgeous woodland trail.

Soldier Hollow Ice Castles are currently scheduled to open up on Saturday, Jan. 6, though timing can vary depending on weather conditions. Tickets are $25 general admission, $17 ages 4 – 11; visitors can purchase sleigh rides or reserve the private alcove for an additional cost. Visit icecastles.com/utah for reservations, available dates and additional event information. (SR)

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Though he’s a Southern California native and currently based in Massachusetts for his performing career, Jay Whittaker has some pretty strong Utah ties. It was while living here that he launched his stand-up comedy career, he hosted plenty of panels and celebrity guests at the annual FanX convention in previous years, and he’s still a regular on the locally-based Geekshow Podcast. It was also here where he chose to record his recent comedy special Unprecedented (available on YouTube). He also has his own very particular memories of how he spent New Year’s Eves in Utah, ahead of his return shows leading into 2024.

“Well first off,” Whittaker shares via email, “the ones I can remember were spent at bars that no longer exist: Green Street, Vortex, Port O’ Call, Maxwell’s downtown SLC, Bayleaf Cafe. Holy shit, I feel old. I used to spend my pre-comedy days dancing my ass off and losing articles of clothing. Once I got into comedy, I took the easy road and mostly worked that night. Being with souls that crave laughter on New Years is something special. We can’t wait for what the new year brings, but let’s laugh first. My favorite kinda audience. Plus, I’m less likely to lose clothing.”

You too can wind down 2023 in a humorous, fully-clothed (one hopes) manner when Jay Whittaker stops in at Wiseguys Jordan Landing (3763 W. Center Park Dr.) on Dec. 29 – 31, with performances 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $25; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

Ice Castles @ Soldier Hollow

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December 4, 1956 has taken on an almost mythological status in the history of early rock and roll. That’s the day when Sun Studios in Memphis hosted a recording session by rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins that eventually featured a few other familiar names: a 21-year-old piano player named Jerry Lee Lewis, and a couple of more established musical stars, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. The subsequent jam session was turned into a P.R. opportunity by Sun Studios impresario Sam Phillips, who dubbed the musicians the “Million Dollar Quartet.” That designation became the name of a jukebox musical that hit Broadway in 2010.

Several alumni of Million Dollar Quartet came together under the supervision of creator/director John Mueller—who originated the role of Carl Perkins—to create One Night in Memphis: Presley, Perkins, Lewis & Cash. The 90-minute show features live re-creations of performances by the four legendary musicians, with a set list that features some of the most familiar vintage hits in American rock and roll history: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “I Walk the Line,” “All Shook Up,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and more. There’s even a version of one of the songs from the Million Dollar Quartet sessions, a group performance of “Down By the Riverside.”

One Night in Memphis: Presley, Perkins, Lewis & Cash stops in at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre (328 Main St.) for three performances, Dec. 26 – 28 at 8 p.m. Visit parkcityshows.com for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

MARY SIVERSTEN

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ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3, 2024

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Media censorship patterns signal a deeper truth: Our economics and our species’ survival are deeply at odds.

Each year, Project Censored releases a list of the Top 10 unand under-reported news stories. Part I of the 2023 list—which included the ubiquity and regulation of dangerous chemicals, the blurring lines between Big Tech and Big Brother, the potential for stalkerware to be used against abortion patients and the erroneous claims of so-called “carbon offset” programs—was published in the Dec. 21 issue and is available at cityweekly.net.

Part II continues below.

6. Unions Won More Than 70% of Their Elections in 2022, and Their Victories Are Being Driven by Workers of Color

Unions won more than 70% of their certification elections in 2022, according to reporting by NPR and The Conversation, and workers of color were responsible for 100% of union growth, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute reported by Payday Report and the New Republic.

More than 2,000 petitions for union representation were filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in fiscal year 2022 (from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022), up 53% from FY 2021. Roughly 1,200 certification elections were held, with 72% voting to certify a union as their collective bargaining agent.

“The entire increase in unionization in 2022 was among workers of color—workers of color saw an increase of 231,000, while white workers saw a decrease of 31,000,” EPI wrote in a Feb. 2023 press release.

EPI also noted that “Survey data show that nearly half of nonunion workers (48%) would vote to unionize their workplace if they could. That means that more than 60 million workers wanted to join a union, but couldn’t.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act provide crucial reforms that would strengthen workers’ rights to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.” It passed the House in 2020 and 2021 but died in the Senate, where it needed 60 votes to pass because of the filibuster.

“Seventy-one percent of Americans now support unions according to Gallup—a level of support not seen since 1965,” Project Censored noted. “Dismantling existing barriers to union organizing and collective bargaining is crucial to generating a more prosperous, equitable economy,” EPI concluded.

More than a quarter of 2022 union elections—354—were held at Starbucks, Marick Masters explained in his January 2023 article for The Conversation. “Workers at Starbucks prevailed in four out of every five elections. Workers at Chipotle, Trader Joe’s, and Apple unionized for the first time, while workers at Microsoft and Wells Fargo also had wins,” Project Censored reported.

Union activity spikes during times of social unrest, Masters reported. Unionization rose from 7.6% to 19.2% from 1934 to 1939, during the Great Depression, and from 20% to 27% between 1941 and 1945, during World War II. “Masters described the current wave of union activity as driven by record levels of economic inequality and continued mobilization of workers in ‘essential industries,’ such as healthcare, food and public safety, who were thrust into harm’s way during the global pandemic,” Project Censored noted.

“Whereas Republican and Democratic politicians often separate concerns over working conditions and pay from issues of identity, these data demonstrate how identity and workers’ rights are closely connected,” Project Censored added. “Unionization and labor struggles are direct mechanisms to better accomplish racial and social equality; the ability for people to afford to live happy and dignified lives is inherently tied to their ability to enjoy fundamental social and civil rights within those lives, too,” Prem Thakker noted at the New Republic.

Despite these gains, “the power of organized labor is nowhere close to what it once was,” Project Censored wrote.

“As Masters pointed out, more than a third of workers were unionized in the 1950s, whereas only a tenth were in 2021.

Before the 1980s, there were typically more than 5,000 union elections in any given year, and as recently as 1980, there were 200 major work stoppages [over 1,000 workers],” compared to just 20 in 2022, which was still 25% above the average over the past 16 years.

“Corporate media coverage of the labor resurgence of 2022 was highly selective and, in some ways, misleading,” Project Censored reported. There’ve been hundreds of articles on union organizing at Starbucks and Amazon and among graduate students, and “Yahoo republished Masters’s The Conversation article about union success in elections, and Vox, Bloomberg Law and The Washington Post all remarked on organized labor’s recent string of certification vote victories,” they noted. “Yet corporate coverage of current labor organizing often fails to address the outsized role played by workers of color in union growth.”

Nor has it placed recent union successes in the historical context of prolonged decline, largely due to private employers’ heavy-handed efforts to undermine organizing campaigns and labor laws that strongly favor employers.

7. Fossil Fuel Investors Sue Governments to Block Climate Regulations

“Litigation terrorism.” That’s what Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz called the practice of fossil fuel companies and investors suing governments in secretive private tribunals to thwart climate change policies. Litigants claim climate change laws undermine their profits and, thus, they must be compensated under what’s known as “investor-state dispute settlement” [ISDS] legal actions, Rishika Pardikar reported for The Lever in June 2022, following a paper in Science by lead author Kyla Tienhaara the month before. It found that “Global action on climate change could generate upward of $340 billion in legal claims from oil and gas investors,” which, “is more than the total level of public climate finance globally in 2020 ($321 billion).”

A good portion threatens the global south. “The five countries with the greatest potential losses from ISDS are Mozambique ($7 billion-31 billion), Guyana ($5 billion-21 billion), Venezuela ($3 billion-21 billion), Russia ($2 billion-16 billion) and the United Kingdom ($3 billion-14 billion),” Tienhaara reported, saying, “If countries decide to also cancel oil and gas projects that are currently under development, this could introduce substantial additional financial losses from ISDS claims.”

BY PAUL ROSENBERG, RANDOM LENGTH NEWS comments@cityweekly.net

“Such [litigation] moves could have a chilling effect on countries’ ability to take climate action because of the fear and uncertainty they cause,” Pardikar noted. “New Zealand, for example, recently said that it could not join the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international consortium of governments working to phase out fossil fuels, because doing so ‘would have run afoul of investor-state settlements,’” Lois Parshley reported for Grist in January 2023.

Project Censored also cited Lea Di Salvatore’s December 2021 report that fossil fuel “investors succeeded in 72% of all cases,” winning an average over $600 million, “almost five times the amount awarded in non-fossil fuel cases.” In addition, secrecy is the rule. She noted, “Fifty-four percent of the concluded fossil fuel cases are confidential—while their existence is known, no case-related documents, such as awards or decisions, have been made public.”

Although the tribunals may sound like courts, they aren’t.

“Because ISDS systems are written into thousands of different treaties, each with different wording, there’s also no system of precedence,” Parshley wrote, after noting the practice of ‘double batting,’ in which one individual may act as arbitrator, legal counsel, expert witness and tribunal secretary, either sequentially or even concurrently. Most come from “an elite group of approximately 50 arbitrators who are regularly appointed” to most cases, researcher Silvia Steininger told Pardikar. Conflicts of interest “are viewed as commonplace in international investment arbitration and considered an inherent part of the system,” the Law Review article Parshley references said. What’s more, “Just because arbitrators decide something in one case doesn’t mean that logic has to be applied to another. Proceedings can be kept confidential, and there is no way to appeal a tribunal’s decision,” Parshley noted.

Tienhaara’s paper ended with a section “An Abolitionist Approach,” where she warned, “Reformist approaches would be time-consuming and likely ineffectual, based on the experience of previous efforts.” Abolitionist examples include “Terminating all bilateral investment treaties” in order to “prevent existing leaseholders from accessing ISDS,” as South Africa and others have done “without any resulting reductions in foreign investment.”

Negotiating the “removal of ISDS clauses from trade agreements, as the United States did with Canada in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” is also possible. “Another option is for states to withdraw consent to ISDS in cases involving fossil fuel investments, emulating the approach taken by Singapore and others to remove the threat of ISDS claims from the tobacco industry.” But abolitionists face two problems: “sunset clauses” that extend treaty protections “for 10 to 20 years for investments commenced prior to termination,” though they can be nullified, and resistance “from states with powerful fossil fuel lobbies.”

Parshley noted that the Energy Charter Treaty, “ratified by over 50 primarily European countries,” is the largest international agreement protecting fossil fuel companies. After six countries announced their withdrawal and a modification effort failed, “the European Parliament called for a coordinated European Union departure from the treaty altogether,” but they still face sunset clause threats.

While the Independent also reported on ISDS lawsuits “it only briefly touched on the concern that these lawsuits could prevent climate action,” Project Censored noted. “Beyond this handful of reports, the topic has received little coverage from major news outlets.”

8. Proximity to Oil and Gas Extraction Sites Linked to Maternal Health Risks and Childhood Leukemia

DECEMBER 28, 2023 | 13

GRAPHICS BY ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

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“Corporate profits in the U.S. surged to an all-time record of $2 trillion in the second quarter of 2022 as companies continued jacking up prices, pushing inflation to a 40-year high to the detriment of workers and consumers,” Jake Johnson reported for Common Dreams in August 2022.

“Astronomical corporate profits confirm what corporate executives have been telling us on earning calls over and over again: They’re making a lot of money by charging people more, and they don’t plan on bringing prices down anytime soon,” the Groundwork Collaborative’s chief economist, Rakeen Mabud, said.

This followed Johnson’s earlier reporting in March that the average bonus for Wall Street employees rose an astounding 1,743% between 1985 and 2021, according to an analysis by Inequality.org of New York State Comptroller data.

Then, in December 2022, he reported that “earnings inequality in the United States has risen dramatically over the past four decades and continues to accelerate, with the top 0.1% seeing wage growth of 465% between 1979 and 2021 while the bottom 90% experienced just 29% growth during that same period,” according to research by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). As a result, the average incomes of the top 0.1% rose from 20 times that of the bottom 90% in 1979 to more than 90 times as much in 2021.

“The fossil fuel industry has enjoyed especially lavish profits,” Project Censored notes, citing Jessica Corbett’s July 2022 reporting for Common Dreams that the eight largest oil companies’ profits spiked a whopping 235% from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022, for a combined $52 billion profit, according to an analysis by Accountable.US. “Make no mistake; these profits mark a large transfer of wealth from working- and middle-class people to wealthy oil executives and shareholders,” Jordan Schreiber of Accountable.US told Corbett. “While many consumers were feeling the heavy burden of a life necessity suddenly doubling in price, oil executives were keeping prices high to maximize their profits.”

“ExxonMobil profited $17.85 billion; Chevron, $11.62 billion; and Shell, $11.47 billion,” Project Censored notes.

“Notably, in 2021-2022, the oil and gas industry spent more than $200 million lobbying Congress to oppose climate action.”

Coverage of all this was scant. “The establishment media have reported intermittently on record corporate profits, but this coverage has tended to downplay corporate use of inflation as a pretext for hiking prices,” Project Censored sums up, citing examples from Bloomberg, ABC News and The New York Times where the role of greedflation was debated.

“The Times quoted experts from EPI and Groundwork Collaborative but refused to draw any firm conclusions,” Project Censored noted.

In addition, “The EPI study on the accelerating incomes of the ultrarich was virtually ignored” while the massive Wall Street bonuses got some coverage, they report: “Reuters ran a story on it, as did the New York Post.

CNN Business noted that ‘high bonuses are also good news for Gotham’s tax coffers.’” CW

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At least 1,733 environmental activists were murdered between 2012 and 2021—nearly one every two days across 10 years—according to the Global Witness study, Decade of Defiance. The victims were “killed by hitmen, organized crime groups and their own governments,” Patrick Greenfield reported for The Guardian. “Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras [were] the deadliest,” with half the attacks taking place in the first three countries, each reporting around 300 killings.

“This has been going on for decades,” scientist, activist, and author Vandana Shiva wrote in a foreword to the report.

“The report shows Brazil has been the deadliest country for environmental defenders with 342 lethal attacks reported since 2012 with over 85% of killings within the Brazilian Amazon,” Stuti Mishra reported for the Independent. “Mexico and Honduras witnessed over 100 killings while Guatemala and India saw 80 and 79 respectively, remaining one of the most dangerous countries.

The report also notes 12 mass killings, including three in India and four in Mexico.”

“The killing of environmental activists has been concentrated in the Global South,” and “Indigenous land defenders are disproportionately impacted,” Project Censored warned. “The Guardian reported that 39% of those killed were from Indigenous communities, despite ... constituting only 5% of the global population.”

“This is about land inequality, in that defenders are fighting for their land, and in this increasing race to get more land to acquire and exploit resources, the victims are indigenous communities, local communities, whose voices are being suppressed,” the BBC concluded.

“Threats to environmental activists are not limited to killing,” Project Censored noted. “Environmental activists also face beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) brought by companies, sexual violence and surveillance. A separate April 2022 report from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, as reported by Grist, documented more than 3,800 attacks on human rights defenders—including not only killings and death threats but also beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and lawsuits—between January 2015 and March 2021.”

But, “campaigners are hopeful that progress is being made,” the BBC reported, citing the sentencing of a former energy executive to 22 years in prison in Honduras for the murder of worldrenowned activist Berta Cáceres in 2016, as well as promising international agreements.

The Escazú agreement, the first environmental and human rights treaty for Latin America and the Caribbean “commits countries to prevent and investigate attacks on environmental defenders,” and went into force in 2021. Mexico has ratified it, but “others including Brazil and Colombia have not” so far, the BBC said. There are also plans by the European Union to pass laws making companies responsible for rights abuses in their supply chains. “These are game-changing decisions that could make a real positive impact for environmental defenders,” Shruti Suresh told the BBC. “We should be optimistic. But it is going to be a difficult and challenging road ahead.”

There’s been scattered coverage of Global Witness’s report. A September 2022 New York Times article reporting how Mexico was deemed the deadliest country for environmental activists, a short piece the next month in The New York Times’s climate newsletter “Climate Forward’’ about why Latin America is so dangerous for environmental activists, and a Feb. 26, 2023, Los Angeles Times op-ed about attacks on Mexican Indigenous communities fighting climate change all referenced Global Witness’ findings.

But, “Otherwise, the corporate media have largely ignored the Global Witness study about the deadly wave of assaults on environmentalists during the past decade,” Project Censored noted, adding that it had previously covered the 2014 edition of Global Witness’s report, “which was also significantly under-reported by establishment news outlets in the United States.”

10. Corporate Profits Hit Record High as Top 0.1% Earnings and Wall Street Bonuses Skyrocket

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“Two epidemiological studies, from 2021 and 2022, provide new evidence that living near oil and gas extraction sites is hazardous to human health,” Project Censored reports, “especially for pregnant mothers and children, as reported by Nick Cunningham for DeSmog and Tom Perkins for The Guardian.”

Based on 1996-2009 data for more than 2.8 million pregnant women in Texas, researchers from Oregon State University (OSU) found that “for those pregnant women within one kilometer of drilling there’s about a 5 percent increase in odds of gestational hypertension, and 26 percent increase odds of eclampsia,” researcher Mary Willis told DeSmog. “So, it’s this really close range where we are seeing a potential impact right on women’s health.” Eclampsia is a rare but serious condition where high blood pressure results in seizures during pregnancy.

“Notably, the data in the OSU study predate the widespread development of ‘fracking,’ or hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting gas and oil from shale beds by injecting fluids at high pressure,” Project Censored pointed out.

The second study, from Yale, did study fracking. It found that “Young children living near fracking wells at birth [less than two kilometers (approximately 1.2 miles)] are up to three times more likely to later develop leukemia,” according to an August 2022 Guardian story. “Hundreds of chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues may be used in the [fracking] process, including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, benzene and radioactive material,” they explained.

The study, based on 2009-2017 data from Pennsylvania, compared 405 children aged 2 to 7 who were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia with an additional 2,080 children, matched on birth year, who didn’t have leukemia. The findings aligned with others, as DeSmog discussed.

“One consistent takeaway from so many health studies related to fracking is that proximity is key,” they reported. “The allowable setback in Pennsylvania, where our study was conducted, is 500 feet,” Yale researcher Cassandra Clark told them. “Our findings … in conjunction with evidence from numerous other studies, suggest that existing setback distances are insufficiently protective of children’s health.”

State and local governments have tried to create health buffer zones, but, “The oil industry has consistently fought hard to block setback distance requirements,” DeSmog reported. For example, “In 2018, the oil industry spent upward of $40 million to defeat a Colorado ballot measure that would have imposed 2,500-foot setback requirements for drillers.” Regulations are so weak that “In Texas, drilling sites can be as close as 45 meters from residences,” Willis told them.

“Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new proposed rules that would require 3,200-foot setbacks on new oil and gas drilling, which would be the strongest in the nation and aligns with the distance where Willis’s studies find the most serious risks for pregnancies,” DeSmog reported. “But those rules would not affect existing wells.”

No major U.S. newspapers appear to have covered either the OSU or the Yale study at the time of Project Censored’s publication, although “Smithsonian magazine, The Hill and WHYY—an NPR affiliate serving the Philadelphia region—covered the fracking study.”

9. Deadly Decade for Environmental Activists

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14 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

Rewind Vo l u me 19: 2002 t o 2 0 0 3 years of

salt lake

CITY WEEKLY

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

T

en years after moving to weekly publication, John Saltas noted on May 30, 2002, that with 26 employees, scores of freelancers and distribution drivers and printing 60,000 papers every week, “we’re quite content just the way things are. Outside of not having Deedee Corradini to kick around anymore, that is.”

But then, things seldom stand still for very long. During this year, City Weekly bid adieu to Christopher Smart as managing editor and welcomed John Yewell for what would be a brief nine-month turn at the helm. And we weren’t the only ones going through shakeups. The Tribune got a new owner in Dean Singleton; the Utah Starzz left for San Antonio; and the debacle over First Amendment rights and easement control continued to simmer around a plaza on Main Street acquired in the late ’90s by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ben Fulton wrote of the life, murder and artwork of Salt Lake’s Valarie Martinez; Rebecca Vernon reported on Mormon rockers; Scott Lewis tackled the coverage of Elizabeth Smart’s abduction and discovery; and Katharine Biele covered a ballot initiative opposing the storage of radioactive waste in Utah by the Envirocare company.

“Every issue is just another issue,” concluded Saltas in that May 30 editorial, “one more chance to get it right, and one more chance to kick some pompous ass right in the ass. I’ll always enjoy that.”

Remembering Vol. 19: In the fog

Throughout 2002, the Bush administration had been laying the groundwork for an American invasion of Iraq in domestic pronouncements, as well as before the international community. By October, Congress granted the president sanction to act against Saddam Hussein’s government by “any means necessary.”

The instruments of peace also sounded across the pages of City Weekly during its 19th year. Utah activists organized gatherings across eight major cities in the Beehive State on Oct. 7 to coincide with a “National Day of Protest Against War in Iraq.” The Salt Lake

City rally was held at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building and attended by fathers, mothers, siblings, veterans, businesspeople and youth carrying signs, standing in silent prayer and signing peace pledges.

Simple gestures like these were not viewed with much favor by commentators, Paul Swenson noted on Oct. 17, what with the testy media atmosphere concerning peace activism, and the pressures that war fever was having on institutions like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After LDS Apostle Russell M. Nelson delivered a sermon in the church’s General Conference, renouncing war and proclaiming peace in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the institution received media inquiries in view of hostilities with Iraq. Church public affairs spokesman Dale Bills immediately scuttled the subject, saying that Nelson’s discourse had been “oversimplified” by reporters.

“While half a million Europeans have rallied to oppose a U.S. attack on Iraq (with scant news coverage here), even slight deviations from the national war mood appear to make provincial local media and LDS church leaders nervous,” Swenson concluded. “If we can’t debate war and peace issues without allegations of disloyalty, what would be worth fighting for?”

Other peace demonstrations followed, particularly after warfare commenced in 2003. Eleanor Inskip and Tom King— founding members of the grassroots People for Peace and Justice in Utah—put together such events as a Jan. 18 vigil and march to Washington Square, in cooperation with the World Federalist Association, the National Conference for Community and Justice and Mormons for Equality and Social Justice.

Roughly 3,000 people attended the event.

Besides discrete organizations, many citizens voiced their own misgivings and opposition to the Iraq War, from weekly “Honk for Peace” demonstrations every Thursday in front of the federal building to letters published in the paper.

Michael Dodd, a Marine vet, wondered in a Feb. 6 missive whether reinstating the draft would reawaken citizens into ques-

tioning national policies, as in Vietnam, and for armchair hawks to finally lose their sway over the public mind.

“We have come full circle,” he remarked.

“Our complacent populace rarely exercises its right to vote, and our military is comprised mostly of the economically disadvantaged. Currently, the middle and upper classes remain largely unaffected by our president’s desire to destroy Iraq in a unilateral display of Western justice for all.”

Others, like educator Ljubica Roth, looked to what might be done to build a better future. Roth was then the director of the Utah Peace Institute and an adviser for one of its extension programs, the Young Refugees of Utah for World Peace. She observed that the first hurdle to achieving peace was to have a grasp of what peace even is.

“Peace is not just the opposite of war,” Roth told Ben Fulton on Sept. 5. “Peace is the highest level of human thinking. You find that for many people, trying to describe peace is like trying to describe a color.”

In retrospect

For the July 25 issue of 2002, the staff at CW looked back in celebration of 10 years as a weekly. Preceding issues had prepared for the occasion with a “Word on the Street” section featuring feedback from locals about what the paper meant to them and the announcement of a July 27 anniversary party at the Gallivan Center.

When the anniversary edition was published, it provided readers with humorous lists, recollections from Weekly contributors both past and present, a face reveal of longtime satirist D.P. Sorensen, and a countdown of what the staff judged to be the paper’s 20 best and worst moments. Below is a sampling of what the staff judged to be among their notable highlights: Best: “The Spooky Past of Bob Bennett’ ’, Tom Walsh, 1992: “Our debut weekly issue also featured this blazing account of then-U.S. Senate candidate Bob Bennett’s connections to the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon. Congressional investigators said Bennett had a hand in Watergate

burglar Howard Hunt’s activities before the break-in, and a government committee even questioned Bennett as to why he didn’t go to the authorities when, by all evidence, he had foreknowledge about a possible break-in at the hotel.”

Worst: Mysterious sandwich in “Sallah’s Secret Swiss Bank Account,” Lynn Packer, 1994: “Delving deep into the inner machinations of the Bonneville Pacific maze, Packer found a whole load of secret Swiss bank accounts that company officers used for keeping their jet-set lifestyles flush. Illustrating methods of money-laundering, Packer explained two time-worn techniques: the ‘Dutch Sandwich’ technique of layering overseas bank accounts and the ‘Swiss Sandwich’ variation. So, of course, we had to have a photo of a sandwich in the layout. Problem was, this was before the days when our bare-strings editorial staff (an army of two) proofread the layout before it went to the printer. So, there it was. A photo of a sandwich. Without a caption. Without explanation.”

Best: “Naked Truth,” David Madison, 1997: “Not that West Jordan mayoral candidate Kelly Atkinson wasn’t already struggling with allegations of sexual harassment and impropriety. ... Voters figured where there’s smoke there’s fire, and Atkinson lost his mayoral bid. But, perhaps for a brief moment, [Utah Eagle Forum’s] Gayle Ruzicka loved us. Well, at least she interviewed Madison over live radio. Atkinson’s been threatening to sue us ever since.”

Worst: The sexist-fest female butt cover for “1998 in Review”: “In a word, unforgivable.

Really, really unforgivable. Even our copy editor at the time, Kristen Riedelbach, protested mightily. If only we’d listened. Sure, it was for the holidays. Sure, we all wanted time off for Christmas. And we needed a ‘clever’ cover idea. Pronto. But just like mother taught you, shortcuts only come back to haunt you in the long run. How true.

In this instance, we even overlooked the opportunity to work a pun somewhere. ... At least, a later story on the legal battle between Utah’s two bikini teams, ‘Tit for Tat,’ had a measure of sass and sense.” CW

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Best Dishes 2023

Protect Your Loved Ones

The finest plates this year had to offer.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

A

Pho Hanoi at Saola

Twice Baked Chocolate Croissants at Forty Three Bakery

El Lomo at Libertang

10395 S. State Street 801-448-6449 libertango.us It must be a rural suburban thing, but I grew up thinking steakhouses were stuffy, white tablecloth affairs that didn’t know how to have any fun. Libertango’s Argentine vibes are a great contrast to the antiquated idea that steakhouses had to somehow be boring and joyless. From the service to the decor, this place knows how to show you a good time.

Its menu of expertly curated steaks is suited for those looking to splurge a bit, but I’ve found El Lomo to be a nice midlevel entree for when I feel like celebrating. It’s a 10-ounce filet mignon that comes with tri-color carrots and mashed potatoes, but it’s the chimichurri that takes this dish over the top. When combined with that perfectly cooked steak, you get an excellent snapshot of Argentine grilling culture–which is a total blast.

Overall, 2023 has been yet another great year to explore Utah’s culinary offerings–here’s looking forward to 2024.

CW

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733 Genesee Avenue 435-962-1628 fortythreebakery.com Chef Andrew Corrao and his team at Forty Three bakery have always been adept at making next-level pastries, but something about their recently opened space on Genesee Avenue has really helped the menu blossom. I don’t know if it’s simply a distillation of all the good vibes their new space generates on a daily basis or if the team hit some kind of mystical baking synergy in the relocation process, but even the most unassuming pastry on the shelf seems to conceal tasty secrets from beyond.

There’s really no wrong choice at Forty Three Bakery, but I keep going back to their twice-baked chocolate croissants.

Forty Three’s croissants have the bearing of sumo wrestlers–their dainty, buttery lamination has plenty of area to cover, making them a delight to eat. That crispy exterior crumbles with each bite, revealing a chewy, buttery interior with a shock of dark chocolate. Plus, you’ve got that almond frangipane as a little creamy, flavorful bonus. It’s hard to claim perfection when chocolate croissants are concerned, but these will do until the perfect croissant happens to come along.

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3197 S. Redwood Road, Ste. 9 385-229-4074 burgertoryslc.com I visit a lot of restaurants over the course of a year, and never have I felt “seen” as much as I do when I visit Burgertory in West Valley. There is an unspoken convergence among horror movies, punk rock and off-beat diners that serve food that’ll knock you on your ass that has always been a big part of my identity, and Burgertory beautifully personifies all that

greatness. Not only does the interior decor of dungeon-core lighting and wallto-wall horror movie posters always put a smile on my face, but these burgers are not messing around.

Not only are their labels cleverly culled from the annals of horror movie history, but each one is as big, messy and unapologetic as the shock cinema from which they are named. My personal favorite is the Exorswiss & Mushroom burger– thankfully devoid of anything related to split pea soup. The bun is buttery and toasted, the patty is thick and impossibly juicy and the melty, gooey swiss cheese pairs perfectly with the sauteed mushrooms. Get this with a side of Dracula’s Casserole, a decadent riff on mac and cheese with sriracha bacon crumbles on top for best results.

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The Exorswiss & Mushrooms at Burgertory

Pho Hanoi at Saola

Burgers so good they’ll blow your mind!

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7307 Canyon Centre Parkway, Ste. 1 801-944-2949 saolaeats.com I’ve always found pho to be a top tier comfort food. Regardless of where you get it, this piping hot bowl of noodles, bone broth and sliced meat tells some kind of story while warming you up from the inside out. Much like pizza or potstickers, pho is something that is hard for me not to enjoy. With this context in mind, trying the pho Hanoi at Saola made me pause for deeper reflection into my affection for this dish. It’s got all of the wonderful things that make pho such an approachable and soulful dish, but the team at Saola really make their ingredients sing. From the rich, voluminous flavors of the bone broth to the tender slices of filet mignon–hard to go wrong with that upgrade, that’s for sure–this dish is near unto perfection.

The pho Hanoi at Saola encapsulates what makes this restaurant such a treasure. You’re likely going into Saola familiar with the techniques and dishes they’re preparing only to have them smack you upside the head with a bold reinvention of what you thought you knew about Asian food.

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nother year of happily devouring my way through Salt Lake’s local food scene has come and gone, adding plenty of standouts to my dining radar. It’s hard to properly convey the deliciousness that I enjoyed this year in just one article, so we’re really condensing things down to those places that made a particularly strong impression. So, without further ado, here are 2023’s best dishes.

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2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com On Tap: Midnight Especial- Dark Mexican Lager

Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 So. 300 West #100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: You-Tah Coffee Uncommon

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Dog Dag IPA Third Tour, this uses the Veterans Blend Hops

Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: ESB - English Amber

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Golden Sprocket Wit

Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Winter Solstice Wassail Cider and Bee Sting Cyser Hops

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

TWO LOCATIONS

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Down the Road - West Coast IPA

Chappell Brewing 2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer On Tap: WarPig - Cascadian Dark Ale

550 S. 300 W. SUITE 100 SLC 2496 S. WEST TEMPLE, SLC

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com On Tap: Purple Rain - Marionberry Helles

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Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: La Playa-Mexican Style lager Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: 2023 Big Bad Baptist BarrelAged Imperial Stout Variants Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Cask Nitro CO2 Helper Beer 159 N Main Street, Helper, UT helperbeer.com Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: Winter Ale Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com On Tap: Salt City Haze Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com On Tap: Cached Out Hefeweisen -Now available to go!

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Whispers from Krakatoa Helles Lager with Habanero and Mango Proper Burger: Sour Ranger - Blackberry and Lemon Sour Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab, Utah 84532 On Tap: Angus McCloud- Scottish Ale Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Gypsy Scratch Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Identity Crisis Session West Coast Hazy Cold IPA – the name says it all!

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Deep Dive Series - Rice Lager Draft Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Huldra and Holle: Rum barrel aged Imperial Stout with Chaga Mushroom Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com On Tap: Ciders of Spain Good Clean Funk - 6.5% ABV Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Pear Pink Peppercorn & Tarragon Cider Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Slim Shady Gluten Friendly Light Ale Live Music: Thursdays Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com On Tap: Foggy Goggle Winter Lager Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co. 147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/squatters On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co.’s Grandma’s Cookies Nitro Stout

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West, SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com On Tap: Tree Beard IPA w Fresh Spruce Tips and Simcone, Citra & Ekeanot Hops Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: Wake-Up Call Coffee Stout. Collab with KBER 101 and Kings Peak coffee.

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: Bananza Hefeweizen

Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com On Tap: Yacht Rock Juice Box - Juicy IPA TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Dunkel Lager Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Witches Brew Top of Main Brewing 250 Main, Park City, Utah saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch On Tap: Top of Main’s Warmer Winter Spiced Ale Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer UTOG 2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Golden Grant 5% ABV. Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com Wasatch Brew Pub 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch On Tap: Top of Main’s Mother Urban’s Parlor Blonde Ale Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

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18 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

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elper Beer, Utah’s newest brewery, hails from the town that bears their name. The small brewery and pizza kitchen want the Wasatch Front to know that they’re closer than you think and that their ales and lagers are available in pubs and DABS stores as we speak.

Here’s a couple of their beers to help you finish off the holidays.

Helper - Night Indoors: It pours a very deep brown to almost black, with some reddish tinge as a showcase; a thick, creamy tan head stands-up against time, not going anywhere until the last sip. A wide range of notes emerge in a nose consisting of dark chocolate, crème brûlée, espresso coffee, cocoa, caramel, dark bread, molasses, vanilla, some oaky bourbon, a little bit of smokiness and deep roast with some astringency.

There are also subtle esters reminiscent of black currant and a bit of berries—tart as a complement to add some complexity. It’s very aromatic, especially when it starts to warm and open up.

Bittersweet dark chocolate is the most prominent flavor, and it conquered the taste buds at first, then followed and mingled by crème brûlée, espresso coffee, cocoa, caramel, dark bread, molasses and vanilla with quite a bit of astringency compared to the aroma. Hops try to intervene in the middle, with some fruity notes of sour berries and slight black currant. Alcohol heat is there subtly near the end, which is mixed up by its big sweetness, roasted bitterness and astringency that also leave a long tail in the aftertaste. The body is full yet rather syrupy, with medium carbonation that

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BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

ki

Some brew assistance to finish off the holidays

is considered crisp enough and suitable to carry all the things well under the smooth palate, with a very dry finish.

Verdict: This one is very direct and solid, without doubt. Do not underestimate its strength, even if the 12 percent booziness is not fully pronounced, tastefully balanced as it is by its rich, roasted malty goodness. The result is a great sipping brew, perfect to enjoy as the last glass or as the dessert of the session.

Helper - Total Rise IPA: This one draws the eye with a deep haze of gold and peach. Not as turbid as some, the rich visual texture of the beer is solidified by a foamy white cap. A muddled hop array covers bases from citrus to herbal, piney to tropical, grassy to floral and everything in between. Moderately sweet, a malty wheat backbone becomes slightly pastry-like with hints of cobbler and shortbread to the early palate.

Once the ale crosses the middle palate, the full brightness of the hop salad delivers aspects of gooseberry, papaya, mango, apricot, grapefruit and an overall candied citrus taste that all seem of equal fashion, reminding the taste buds of tropical fruit punch and sherbet. Developing an herbal bitterness on the late palate, its botanical flavors display fresh pine, green tea, sassafras, peppery grasses and fresh fruit peels in its final frame. Medium-bodied and trending malty dry, the beer simply cannot resist the crispness and lightly resinous dryness as is the hallmark of West Coast IPA, but its juiciness in hop aroma and taste certainly takes on a radiant and more vibrant character than those of the past.

Verdict: Grapefruit and stone fruit flavor all the way with bread/grain-forward creamy malts that finish somewhat dry and provide an astringency. This is what you drink when you want a 7.5 percent West Coast IPA, but crave something a little fruitier. Don’t deny yourself; it’s light and fruity, but damn good.

Besides select DABS stores, I’ve found Helper’s beer at The Bayou, Slackwater, Beer Bar and The Beerhive. There are many other locations, but these are pubs I can readily identify that have them. As always, cheers! CW

Hop

Santa’s Lil’ Helper

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20 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

the

BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER |

@captainspringer

New Year’s Brunch at Grand America

Kicking off a new year with a brunch event is a great way to get things started on the right foot for 2024. Lucky for you, the Grand America Hotel will be featuring a holiday brunch buffet (555 S. Main Street) to ring in the new year. Diners can pop in and enjoy everything from French toast to eggs Benedict while taking in the posh sights and sounds offered by the Grand America. The brunch event takes place on December 31 and January 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. For those of you who like to bid farewell to the old year and hello to the new with a hearty meal, it’s tough to do better than this brunch experience.

Aprés at the Airstream

Starting this week, Canyons Village (1790 Sun Peak Drive, Ste. B104) in Park City will be hosting a casual dining pop-up called Aprés at the Airstream. It’s a hip little concept that consists of a chrome-plated airstream van that serves up some tasty eats and drinks for those closing out their skiing excursions for the day. The airstream usually sets up shop at Ski Beach, right across from Red Tail Grill. Those eager to check out this pop-up experience can check it out on select days throughout the season from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Check out cvma.com for the full schedule.

Drunken Kitchen Opens

A vaguely mysterious Taiwanese and Chinese food spot called Drunken Kitchen (751 W. 800 South) recently opened its doors. According to their website, the operation is headed by brothers Tim and Joe Rammell who both grew up traveling back and forth from China and Taiwan. At the moment, Drunken Kitchen only does takeout and delivery orders from noon to midnight and is only open on Fridays. They’ve got a few of my favorite dishes on the menu–mapo tofu, steamed pork buns and dan dan noodles just to name a few–so I may need to line my schedule up with the work these two up and coming brothers are doing.

Quote of the Week: “All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.” –John Gunther

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NOW SERVING BRUNCH EVERY SUNDAY

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coppercommon.com • 111 E. Broadway, Suite 190, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Open 7 days a week at 5pm. Sunday brunch from 10:30am-3:00pm

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22 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

The best movies of a perfectly fine movie year

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

I

3

t’s always overly simplistic to try to sum up a movie year, but I think it feels fair to say that 2023 was … fine. That probably doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement as the lead-in to a list of my favorite movies of the year, and that’s not an unfair perception. Some years, it feels excruciating taking that 11th film off of the top 10 list; for this year, there were a few movies I loved, and some more that might not have made the list in any other year.

Still, a year-end list is a chance to draw attention to excellence, and there’s plenty to be found in these movies. Here’s my personal, always-idiosyncratic list, with my annual caveat: The answer to the question “why isn’t [fill-in-the-blank movie] on your list” is quite simply “because I didn’t love it enough to put it there.”

10. The Mission. The year’s best non-fiction film demonstrated unusual subtlety in approaching its central character: John Chau, an American Christian missionary who died in 2018 while attempting to bring the Word of God to an isolated island tribe in the Bay of Bengal. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss employ interviews and animated re-creations of journal entries to paint a vivid portrait of Chau’s unwavering commitment to spreading the Gospel. But was his devotion deserving of respect, or

ing up to a lovely character study full of warmth and understanding about how hard it is not just becoming a woman, but being one.

6. Robot Dreams. Pablo Berger’s dialoguefree adaptation of Sara Varon’s graphic novel applies a touching sophistication to the concept of a “love story” in a vaguely Zootopia-like version of mid-1980s New York City populated by anthropomorphic animals, where a lonely Dog mail-orders a Robot companion. Berger gets wonderfully playful with the details of his setting, but there’s a depth of emotion here both in the idea of how we come to be connected with someone, and how we can choose to move on when those connections are broken.

5. Asteroid City. Wes Anderson’s meticulously-constructed movies have always been about how people who have built meticulously-constructed lives for themselves deal with chaotic change, and his latest—about a group of people facing an alien invasion circa 1955, or perhaps about the creation of a work based on such an event—is no different. The sly humor keeps reminding us that the things we want to be neat and tidy are always messy, and that life—and the art that wants to show us something about that life—is about making peace with that mess.

4. Passages. Tomas (Franz Rogowski), the filmmaker anti-hero of co-writer/director Ira Sachs’ feature, offers a fantastic portrait of a kind of solipsism whereby you just assume everything must be all about your needs. The romantic triangle involves Thomas, his husband of 15 years (Ben Whishaw) and the woman with whom he begins an affair (Adèle Exarchopoulos), brilliantly evoking a certain kind of narcissistic artist so convinced that they feel things more deeply than the rest of the world that the feelings of the other people

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in their lives almost don’t exist.

3. May December. Todd Haynes’ loose reinterpretation of the infamous 1990s Mary Kay Letourneau case—here focusing on an actress (Natalie Portman) researching the woman (Julianne Moore) who eventually married the teen (Charles Melton) with whom she had a tabloid-fodder affair— pokes at both the mundanity and the unknowability behind tales that seem impossibly strange. Through the terrific trio of central performances, it proves absolutely savage at examining the way we so often tell these stories in popular culture, while pretending at caring about their complexity.

2. The Zone of Interest. “The banality of evil” is almost too banal a term for what Jonathan Glazer is up to in his super-loose adaptation of Martin Amis’s novel, focusing on the Nazi commandant of Auschwitz (Christian Friedel), his wife (Sandra Hüller) and children living their lives just steps away from atrocities. The remarkable sound design turns the hum of destruction and gunshots into background noise for people living happily, while the audacious coda reframes the idea for how easy it can be to become numb to the concept of inhumanity on a massive scale.

1. Past Lives. Don’t accept the way that some descriptions of Celine Song’s feature debut reduce it to a story about “regret;” she teaches you from the very first scene that it’s about more than that. Weaving through decades in which childhood not-quitesweethearts Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae-sung (Tee Yoo) enter and exit one another’s lives, it becomes a tale not simply of lost love, but about how much of the way we think about love is shaped by love stories as a creative form. Sometimes, our need to imagine something as “meant to be” makes it hard to see what actually is. CW

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evidence of a problematic colonialist mindset? It’s part of the film’s success that the answer is, “Two things can both be true.”

9. Killers of the Flower Moon. Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of an infamous true story— about the systematic murder of Osage people in Oklahoma in the 1920s to steal away their claims to oil wealth—doesn’t center the Osage themselves, though Lily Gladstone’s performance as one of the victims is a stunner. That’s not inherently a problem, as this story uses Leonardo DiCaprio’s role as a thick-headed fortune-hunter to show the way that racism decays into entitlement, and that the best way to understand America’s original sins is to stare into a face that looks like your own.

8. Poor Things. What would a world built around the desires and expectations of men look like to a woman trying to understand it as a blank slate? That’s the satirical conceit at the center of the story of Bella (Emma Stone), reanimated by a mad scienteist in Victorian London with the brain of a fetus. Stone’s hilarious physical performance and an exaggerated production design that evokes vintage Terry Gilliam contribute to a delightfully naughty challenge to whether the way things have always been makes any sense at all.

7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s seminal tween coming-of-age novel works beautifully because it captures how “coming-of-age” is both biological and emotional. Abby Ryder Fortson is wonderful as the 11-year-old protagonist dealing with adolescent anxieties, but Craig amplifies the story’s themes through the confusion faced

by Margaret’s mom (Rachel McAdams, in a phenomenal performance) over her own next phase in life. There’s just a deft touch to every potentially challenging topic, add-

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Ring in 2024 at Johnny’s!

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NEW YEAR’S EVE

Music Roundup December 2023 One last roundup to finish the year

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

A

s the year comes to an end, it’s enjoyable to reflect on the fun that’s been had in the local scene, but there’s a few days left of 2023, so let’s highlight some great releases before we head into the new year.

Imag!nary Friendz, Stuck: The energy of Ogden trio Imag!nary Friendz is incredibly addicting; after one show, you’ll already be planning on when you can get your next fix. In between shows, you can listen to their latest EP, Stuck. While this was a summer release, I wanted to highlight the EP, as several of the songs were featured on a live performance at Ogden’s Van Sessions in November, serving as a fantastic display of what the Friendz are all about. While it was a little more scaled back compared to their other shows, songs like “Nicci” and “Stuck” from the EP were some of the highlights of their performance. This latest EP is some of their best work yet, and hopefully there’s more like it coming in 2024. Stuck is streaming every where now, and you can find their full Van Sessions performance on YouTube.

Sad Cowboy, We Should Have Seen This Coming: This indie rock band is a musthave in your music library. It’s got everything you’d want from an artist in this genre: mellow and sometimes echoey vocals with guitar that doesn’t have too

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much distortion, but a bit of reverb and relatable subject matter. We Should Have Seen This Coming is a short three-song EP, but it doesn’t feel too short. It does leave you wanting to hear more of what the band can do, though, so hopefully there’s more to come soon from the Cowboys. “We’re Not Talking” is a standout from the trio, because of its cheerful sound while dealing with a bummer of a subject that many of us can unfortunately relate to. Who hasn’t had a fight with their significant other and taken a break from talking? Maybe you’re one of the chosen few who haven’t, but for the majority of us, this song is easy to connect with.

We Should Have Seen This Coming is streaming every where now.

Micah Dean, Am I Asking Too Much?: Speaking of songs that deal with tough relationships, Micah Dean’s new EP Am I Asking Too Much? is a story about all of the struggles that come with being in a partnership, but to the tune of soft pop sounds rather than indie rock. Dean’s smooth, calm vocals are a good listen, especially if you’re in your feelings and needing something to match the mood. With lyrics like “Ain’t easy opening up the way you see me / In the same bed but we’re still lonely / We start to feel it then we fall to pieces,” it’s easy to get sucked into everything Dean is singing about. Over the course of these five songs, you’ll easily become a fan of the pop singer, even if you haven’t heard anything from him before. Am I Asking Too Much? is a perfect EP for those moody days, and it’s streaming wherever you listen to music.

Citizen Soldier, ICU: SLC is home to many different artists who play many different genres, but it seems to have a soft spot for some good ol’-fashioned rock ‘n’

Ne w &

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roll. Citizen Soldier is one of those favorites that has built up a dedicated fanbase in the nearly-10-year career of the band.

Since the band was formed after frontman Jake Segura penned their debut single “Let It Burn” in a psychiatric hospital, mental health is a huge part of who Citizen Soldier is. Segura is now a practicing clinical therapist, and the band continues to focus on themes of intense emotion and mental health. “The band presents an accessible message that combats stigmatization and provides a group therapy dynamic,” the band’s website states. These themes have come through in their work for many years, but they shine particularly bright in ICU. Those who have struggled greatly with mental health will relate to even just the titles of songs which include “Broken Like Me,” “Reason to Live,” “Therapy,” “Talk Me Down” and “You Are Enough.”

Sometimes knowing you’re not alone can

mean the world—especially when it’s paired with a genre you enjoy. Citizen Soldier’s classic hard-rock sound comes complete with strong, gravely vocals, chugging guitar and ripping solos. If you’re a fan of bands like Pop Evil, Adelitas Way, Theory of a Deadman or even SLC’s own Royal Bliss, you’ll find comfort in the music library of Citizen Soldier. Along with ICU, the band also released one more single for 2023, “Wish I Could Cry,” featuring fellow rockers Halocene. Both ICU and “Wish I Could Cry” are streaming every where.

That’s it for 2023, folks. Special thanks to everyone who joined the City Weekly music section to share their journeys and awesome music. Here’s to talking with even more local artists in 2024. CW

Doomcupcake

@LAKYNSATALA

DoomCupcake, Noble Pest, Bruce Lee & The Streetfighters @ Urban Lounge 12/28

If you’ve ever been afraid to express what’s fully going on in your head, for fear of ending up in a behavioral health unit, DoomCupcake’s new album The Grippy Socks Hotel is just for you. The memes involving “grippy socks” have exploded over the years as we all slowly delve into a dark mental-health abyss, so it’s fun to have some music to go with. Led by frontwoman Zaza Historia VanDyke, DoomCupcake was created from the need for something new. “I needed something heavy, loud and powerful to express the struggles, pain and fear of all of the new strife being openly transgender brought, along with the mental health struggles that followed. DoomCupcake was born,” VanDyke told Bold Journey in August. “If you grew up in the early ’00s listening to nu-metal, you will immediately feel the nostalgia of the DoomCupcake sound. From the heavy hitting riffs to the earworm melodies, writing this material has taught me the resilience and fearless pride I walk with today.” The Grippy Socks Hotel is indeed full of nu-metal goodness that will make you have flashbacks to simpler times, but will keep you in the present with its freshness. DoomCupcake is joined by Noble Pest and Bruce Lee & The Streetfighters for an exciting show on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

The Drought, The Lip, Missionary Max @ Kilby Court 12/28

At the end of the year, it’s normal to feel a mix of emotions—perhaps happy that a difficult year is finally over, or sad because another year has zoomed by. It’s now more than ever that we should find reasons to go out and have fun, and you can always find fun at Kilby Court, and this lineup of locals is sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face. SLC indie group The Drought had a great 2023, including releasing their first single “Tiny Room” in July. Their most recent single, “Cloud,” has a slower, more subdued vibe compared to their debut, but they have a great range and can appeal to listeners of different genres. Joining the bill is The Lip, an SLC favorite who knows how to bring the noise. Their newest single “Punch” packs a lot of just that, and the infectious energy of their music will have you dancing within just a couple bars. Their indie-reggae vibes are unforgettable, and after this performance you’ll be looking up when you can see them play again. As if this show wasn’t tasty enough, Missionary Max is swinging by with crisp rhymes that transport you to another world. Missionary Max has had several great releases in 2023, including a full album with fellow artist/producer Willy Lowe. If you’re needing a good send-off to the year, look no further than this show. Come check it out on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 and can be found at 24tix.com. (EA)

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Cut Chemist @ Urban Lounge 12/29

The Drifters @ Egyptian Theatre 12/29-31

According to tradition, New Year’s Eve calls for ringing out the old and bringing in the new. On the other hand, who’s to say that the new can’t be rung in with something that’s old? That premise will be tested when the Drifters ring in 2024 at the Egyptian Theatre closing out the month (and the year). Of course, we shouldn’t expect the original group that formed in 1953—as is the case with most archival outfits these days, today’s Drifters consists of four skilled singers that maintain that lingering legacy, courtesy of such classics as “Under the Boardwalk,” “This Magic Moment,” Up On the Roof,” “There Goes My Baby” and “Save the Last Dance For Me.” There have literally been dozens of Drifters since the originals backed early iconic singer Clyde McPhatter, and later, another Drifters served the same function for the legendary Ben E. King. The present incarnation features Louis Bailey (lead tenor), Stephen Brown (lead baritone), Jerome Manning (second tenor) and Jeff Hall (second baritone), all of whom effectively replicate the songs and style that still resonate some 60 years on. Clearly, there’s something to be said for nostalgia, and the start of a new year would seem as good a time as ever to make good on those memories. The Drifters perform all-ages shows at the Egyptian Theatre at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 - 31. The Dec 29 and 30 performances are sold out at press time. Tickets for Dec 31 cost $39 - $49 at tickets.egyptiantheatrecompany.org (Lee Zimmerman)

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It’s always a nice treat when performances from an artist you enjoyed in your formative years isn’t just a nostalgia trip. Los Angeles veteran Cut Chemist, a.k.a. Lucas McFadden, achieved mainstream success in the ’90s as a founding member of both influential hip-hop group Jurassic 5 and Latin funk outfit Ozomatli. His solo studio albums, The Audience’s Listening and Die Cut, present some of the best soundscapes ever recorded, and showcase his knack for music production and turntablism.

When he breaks out his OG 45s for a live gig … well, it’s hard not to appreciate the mastery. “I just find that the energy is different when I play originals versus reissues or bootlegs. That’s just me.”

McFadden told The Pitch in April. “There’s something about the energy and the history of it being an artifact of the time that gives me a certain energy that I think people can recognize just from my excitement of playing them. It translates to the audience differently.” What I’ve always loved about Cut Chemist is how he manages to chop up all kinds of different samples to create a coherent and original song with a solid pop structure. And he can do this with pure turntable techniques, and he can do it live. Here’s hoping that he works in “Dance the Slurp.” SL Steez and DJ Juggy open. Catch these acts at the Urban Lounge on Friday, Dec. 29. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $22 and can be found at 24tix.com (Mark Dago)

The Drifters

DELAWARE TODAY

Cut Chemist

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FLY (flybassmusic) and KOAN Sound @ The Complex 12/30

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28 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

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Live Music

The EDM scene is getting the perfect sendoff to the year with the biggest show possible: SATURNALIA. While the lineup is stacked with huge artists like ATLiens, Kompany, BARELY ALIVE and Marauda, you won’t want to miss the COLOSSEUM 360 in a separate room from the main stage in The Grand at the Complex. It will have an underground vibe with the audience surrounding the stage in a full circle.

Two artists who keep the integrity of the underground scene are FLY and KOAN Sound. FLY is a Los Angeles-based artist whose music explores the deep low end and sound system culture of trap music, and includes a plethora of UK grime. He started out in the underground bass scene, and gained attention from his 2021 track “Phantom” and in the past few years has established himself in the new wave of bass-music artists, best exemplified in his deep-experimental track “Jinx” released last month. Another DJ duo to look out for on the 360 stage is Will Weeks and Jim Bastow of KOAN Sound. Hailing from Bristol, U.K., they feature a mix of drum-and-bass, glitch hop and U.K. dubstep that is a contrast from the raw and gritty grime from FLY. They’ve been active in EDM since 2008, continuing strong with the release of their 2023 album Led by Ancient Light. It incorporates more orchestral, ethereal elements that at times sound almost completely acoustic. Take in the glitchy fills and vocal samples from both FLY and KOAN Sound to support the less mainstream artists at the biggest EDM NYE event which takes place at The Complex. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $69 at thecomplexslc.com (Arica Roberts)

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WEE C L S @

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Among couples who share their finances, 39 percent lie to their partners about money. If you have been among that 39 percent, please don’t be in 2024. In fact, I hope you will be as candid as possible about most matters with every key ally in your life. It will be a time when the more honest and forthcoming you are, the more resources you will have at your disposal. Your commitment to telling the truth as kindly but completely as possible will earn you interesting rewards.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

At age 10, Becky Schroeder launched her career as an inventor. Two years later, she got her first of many patents for a product that enables people to read and write in the dark. I propose we make her one of your role models for 2024. No matter how old you are, I suspect you will be doing precocious things. You will understand life like a person at least 10 years older than you. You will master abilities that a casual observer might think you learned improbably fast. You may even have seemingly supernatural conversations with the Future You.

According to tradition in ancient Israel, a “jubilee year” happened every half-century. It was a “trumpet blast of liberty,” in the words of the Old Testament book Leviticus. During this grace period, enslaved people were supposed to be freed. Debts were forgiven, taxes canceled and prisoners released. People were encouraged to work less and engage in more revelry. I boldly proclaim that 2024 should be a jubilee year for you Bulls. To launch the fun, make a list of the alleviations and emancipations you will claim in the months ahead.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Scotland used to be a wild land. It had vast swaths of virgin forests and undomesticated animals. Then humans came. They cut the trees, dug up charcoal and brought agriculture. Many native species died, and most forests disappeared. In recent years, though, a rewilding movement has arisen. Now, Scotland is on the way to restoring the ancient health of the land. Native flora and fauna are returning. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose that you launch your own personal rewilding project in 2024. What would that look like? How might you accomplish it?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Renowned inventor Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) felt a closeness with sparrows, finches, pigeons and other wild birds. He loved feeding them, conversing with them and inviting them into his home through open windows. He even fell in love with a special pigeon he called White Dove. He said, “I loved her as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.” I bring this to your attention because I suspect 2024 will be an excellent time to upgrade your relationship with birds, Leo. Your power to employ and enjoy the metaphorical power of flight will be at a maximum.

In the 19th century, many scientists believed the bogus theory of eugenics, which proposed that we could upgrade the human race through selective breeding.

Until the 1800s, most scientists dismissed the notion that stones fell from the sky, even though meteorites had been seen since ancient times. Scientists also rejected the idea that large reptiles once roamed the Earth, at least until the 19th century, when it became clear dinosaurs had existed and become extinct. The moral is that even the smartest can be addicted to delusional beliefs and theories. I hope you purge your own outmoded dogmas in 2024. A beginner’s mind can be your superpower! Discover new ways to think and see.

Go to realastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes.

Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

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“All the world’s a stage,” wrote Shakespeare. He was comparing life to a theatrical drama, suggesting we are all performers attached to playing roles. In response, a band called the Kingpins released the song “All the World’s a Cage.” The lyrics include: “You promised that the world was mine / You chained me to the borderline / Now I’m just sitting here doing time / All the world’s a cage.” These thoughts are prelude to my advice for you.

I believe that in 2024, you are poised to live in a world that is neither a stage nor a cage. You will have freedom from expectations, artificial constraints and the inertia of the past. It will be an excellent time to break free from outdated self-images and your habitual persona.

I propose we make the shark your soul creature in 2024.

Not because some shark species are apex predators at the top of the food chain. Rather, I propose you embrace the shark as an inspirational role model because it is a stalwart, steadfast champion with spectacular endurance. Its lineage goes back 400 million years. Sharks were on Earth before there were dinosaurs, mammals and grass. Saturn’s rings didn’t exist yet when the first sharks swam in the oceans. Here are the adjectives I expect you to specialize in during the coming months: resolute, staunch, indomitable, sturdy, resilient.

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Capricorn-born Lebron James is one of the greatest players in basketball history. Even more interesting from my perspective is that he is an exuberant activist and philanthropist. His list of magnificent contributions is too long to detail here. Here are a few examples: his bountiful support for charities like After-School All-Stars, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Children’s Defense Fund and his own Family Foundation. I suggest you make Lebron one of your role models in 2024. It will be a time when you can have more potent and farreaching effects than ever before through the power of your compassion, generosity and beneficence.

ONLY GAY

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Cancerian author Franz Kafka wrote over 500 letters to his love interest Felice Bauer. Her outpouring of affection wasn’t as voluminous, but was still very warm. At one point, Kafka wryly communicated to her, “Please suggest a remedy to stop me trembling with joy like a lunatic when I receive and read your letters.” He added, “You have given me a gift such as I never even dreamt of finding in this life.” I will be outrageous here and predict that 2024 will bring you, too, a gift such as you never dreamt of finding in this life. It may or may not involve romantic love, but it will feel like an ultimate blessing.

SALT LAKE CITY’S

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“Make peace with their devils, and you will do the same with yours.” The magazine Dark’s Art Parlor provides us with this wisdom about vibrant relationships. I invite you to make use of it in 2024. Why? Because I suspect you will come to appreciate how all your worthwhile bonds inevitably require you to engage with each other’s wounds, shadows and unripeness. To say it another way, healthy alliances require you to deal respectfully and compassionately with each other’s darkness. The disagreements and misunderstandings the two of you face are not flaws that discolor perfect intimacy. They are often rich opportunities to enrich togetherness.

Here are questions for you to meditate on in 2024. 1. Who and what do you love? Who and what makes you spill over with adoration, caring and longing? 2. How often do you feel deep waves of love? Would you like to feel more of them? If so, how could you? 3. What are the most practical and beautiful ways you express love for whom and what you love? Would you like to enhance the ways you express love, and if so, how? 4. Is there anything you can or should do to intensify your love for yourself?

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THIS

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

1. *Pyramus’ lover, in myth 7. Small amount 10. “Better Call Saul” network 13. Birth announcement units 14. Sch. whose mascot is Brutus Buckeye 15. Neither’s partner 16. Sun blockers 17. *Prickly plant 19. Philosopher Marx 20. Tiny 21. “____ Camp: A Disability Revolution” (Oscar-nominated documentary of 2020) 22. TWA competitor 25. Perform well 26. *Toward that place, to Shakespeare 29. *Doubting apostle 30. ____ Center (Chicago skyscraper named for an insurance broker) 31. 1961 Literature Nobelist Andric 32. Fedora, for one 33. When “we’ll be back,” to a TV announcer (or where the starred clues appear in the dictionary) 39. IRS review: Abbr.

40. Woolly mama 41. Host Glass of public radio’s “This American Life” 42. Active volcano of E. Sicily 45. Novelty brand with the slogan “Watch it grow!”

47. “You’ve ____ long way, baby!”

48. *Beachwear choice 49. *Norse thunder god 50. Au ____ (menu phrase) 51. James played by Beyoncé in a 2008 biopic 55. Patronizes a restaurant 57. *Middle part of an insect’s body 59. The night before Christmas, e.g.

60. Gore and Pacino 61. Your padre’s padre, to you 62. Hi-____ images 63. “Just as a heads-up ...”

64. Obtained

1. Apt rhyme for “clock” 2. Dance accompanied by pahu drums 3. “Are you ____ out?”

4. Work with marble or clay 5. Twin or queen 6. Suffix with govern

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Broker, Urban Utah Homes & Estates, urbanutah.com

If Wishess Were Fishes

7. Pacific Northwest carving 8. Tennis icon Arthur 9. It might lead to a revoked lic.

10. “The Verificationist” author Donald 11. Actor Alfred who portrayed Diego Rivera in “Frida” 12. Pancakes with sweet or savory fillings 18. Controversial 1980s-’90s Cincinnati Reds team owner Marge 20. Words before “words” or “1812” 23. Sushi favorite 24. The Silver State 25. Get a piece of 26. Roof goo 27. ____ polloi 28. Gerund ending 29. “Pinball Wizard” band 34. Critics who can’t be pleased 35. Geek Squad members 36. With it 37. Wrath 38. Took a load off 42. Actress Janet with a Tony, Drama Desk and Olivier Award 43. Start of a Hemingway title 44. Hams it up

46. Become too old to qualify 48. Bantu-speaking group in Rwanda 50. National Ice Cream Month 52. Old waste allowance 53. Account 54. Nerve cell transmitter 56. Big lug 57. “You’re it!”

58. “The White Lotus” network

Last week’s answers

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

Come Home for the Holidays!

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

SUDOKU X

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30 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

Information Systems Manager (Draper, UT) Responsible for (1) developing & implementing IT strategies that align with the overall business goals of the franchise; (2) ensuring that the franchise’s IT systems are compliant with data privacy regulations; (3) managing relationships with vendors who provide ITrelated products & services to the franchise. 40hrs/ wk, Offered wage: $96,117/ year, Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems or related required. Resume to CUPBOP CO Attn: Yeiri Kim, 12184 S Business Park Dr #C, Draper, UT 84020

It’s that time of the year when many folks make new year’s resolutions.

Hell, I stopped doing that years ago, because I was a failure at keeping my promises to myself.

It would be more appropriate to say what I wish for, or dream about.

To wit: —That anyone living in a major Utah city must be required to recycle at least paper and plastic and that, if it’s unaffordable, then the local governments should kick in part of the cost. Around two-thirds of all paper products in the U.S. are being recycled but only 10% of plastics are recycled.

—That public transit (UTA buses and Trax light rail) should be free; always.

I pushed for that when I was a board member at UTA and generally got laughs, but with our bad air and all the new construction of “transit oriented” new housing in our major cities, Utah needs to help not just the air but give a break for low-income folks as well.

I believe Santa Cox likes the idea, but the Legislature has to figure out how to fund it. There’s talk on the Hill that there may be a one-year pilot program to test an all-free transit system.

—Massive new affordable housing options. There is a ton of land owned by the state, local governments and even nonprofits/churches that could be dedicated to extremely low-income, permanent housing. People in the service sector making poor hourly wages, single parents and—especially—seniors on fixed incomes need help now and will need more help in the future as prices go up for housing, utilities, food, insurance, transportation, etc.

—Roughly 95% of the men I know personally are terrific. My dream is that they convince the other 5% that are warlords, rapists and murderers of women, elders and children around the world to stop the violence. Women could pull the old Lysistrata story out, where sex is withheld from men until they stop warring, but both past and modern history prove that this 5% don’t care about women and will rape and murder them regardless in their quests for power, control and money.

—Finally, I wish that 2024—the next presidential year for us—doesn’t turn into an utter hell of vitriol, worse than what’s currently out there, and that by some magnificent miracle, the U.S. Congress figures out budgeting solutions and passes reasonable bipartisan bills. This current Congress proved to be the second laziest, most embittered group ever elected. The 118th Congress is on track to be one of the most unproductive in modern history, with just a couple dozen laws on the books at the close of 2023. This is the fewest since at least the 101st Congress, in 1989.

If wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets. May you have a great year end and may we all survive 2024! n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Creme de la Weird

The Kyiv Post reported on Dec. 13 that Russia’s security service, the FSB, has released its 2024 propaganda fundraising calendar, and it’s a doozy! The front cover features “art” of an improbably ripped Vladimir Putin giving his best sultry stare while leaning on a big, black compensator vehicle. Meanwhile, the apocalyptic November image depicts an FSB special forces soldier standing before the U.S. Capitol while drones and helicopters attack it. Is this a popular holiday gift in Russia?

Who knows? The bigger question: Why does the FSB need to fundraise?

Weird Science n Gatorland in Orlando, Florida, can boast a fascinat-

ing new resident: a leucistic white alligator, born on Dec. 7, CNN reported. The female gator is believed to be one of only eight in the world and the only one born in human care. She was hatched along with a normalcolored brother of the same size (about 19 inches long).

“Leucistic alligators are the rarest genetic variation in the American alligator,” the park said. They have bright blue eyes, as opposed to albino gators, which have pink eyes. The public is invited to vote on a name on the park’s social media sites.

n Scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago

Compelling Explanation

Michael Green, 50, and Byron Bolden, 37, were sentenced in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District for felony theft after they shoplifted $2,100 worth of items from a Kohl’s store, The Denver Gazette reported. In Colorado, theft under $2,000 is a misdemeanor, which is why their defense counsel argued that the store was having a sale, and the men had coupons, which brought the value of the items down below the threshold for felony theft. The DA wasn’t having it: “Just because an item is on sale doesn’t mean it’s free to steal,” said John Kellner.

“Retailers in our community are fed up with theft, and my office will actively prosecute these offenders.”

Suspicions Confirmed

Cops in Genoa, Italy, were stumped by a drug-trafficking case, BNN reported on Dec. 1—until they noticed a large number of bald and beardless men visiting a local barbershop. Investigators initiated surveillance and searched the shop, founding 100 grams of cocaine, precision scales and packaging materials. They also found hashish at the barber’s home and evidence of communication with inmates in a Genoa prison. The 55-year-old barber is awaiting sentencing at the Marassi prison.

Crime Report

Wait, What?

Selling homes for 39 years in the Land of Zion

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Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava was arraigned on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles federal court after a bizarrely uninterrupted trip from Denmark to L.A., the Associated Press reported.

The Russian flew in November without a ticket, passport, visa or seat assignment. Flight crew members told investigators that he wandered around the plane and switched seats while talking with other passengers. When U.S. Customs and Border Patrol searched his belongings, they found “Russian identification cards and an Israeli identification card,” court documents outlined. Ochigava gave a variety of explanations, including that he hadn’t slept in three days and wasn’t sure how he got through security in Copenhagen. A trial is scheduled for Dec. 26.

Least Competent Criminal n On Dec. 9, as first responders assisted a person “expe-

riencing an altered mental state” in Columbia County, Florida, Stanley Williams, 35, hopped into the waiting ambulance and drove away, ClickOrlando reported. But officers didn’t have to chase him down—Williams drove to the sheriff’s office operations center and stopped near the main entrance, where he was arrested and taken to a hospital for examination. Williams faces grand theft and evading law enforcement charges.

HOME LOANS MADE BRIZZÉE

n Leonard Thuo Mwithiga, 52, a Kenyan executive, followed

his wife of 22 years to the United States, hoping to convince her to return home, Oddity Central reported. When she refused, Mwithiga allegedly decided she must die. During an Uber ride, Mwithiga told the driver he needed a hitman.

The driver got in touch with Connecticut State Police, who enlisted him as an informant. Between September and December, the two engaged in multiple conversations, which were shared with authorities. Mwithiga wanted his wife “injected with something to make her very sick, ‘like a cancer,’” and for her to die a slow death. On Dec. 4, the informant introduced Mwithiga to a “hitman,” i.e., undercover cop, who was paid an advance. Mwithiga asked that she be killed while he was in Kenya, so he would have an alibi. Instead, he was arrested and held on $5 million bond.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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Kathryn Tunison Smith, 67, of Midvale, Utah, already had five outstanding arrest warrants against her, two involving her neighbors, when she sealed her own fate, ABC4-TV reported. On Dec. 12, she was arrested after a TikTok video came to light depicting Smith making racist and crass comments to a neighbor. In one interaction, Smith came onto the neighbor’s property and “began ripping up (the neighbor’s) garden and continued ... until the neighbor chased her away with a stick,” the charges allege. Mayor Marcus Stevenson posted on X, “I’m hopeful that this is a positive step for the healing of the targeted family, the affected neighborhood, Ms. Smith and our entire community.” She was booked and released on her own recognizance, so ...

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Saw That Coming

Realtor 801-784-8618 bella@urbanutah.com

Babs De Lay

| COMMUNITY |

An unnamed 22-year-old man from Taiwan was detained on Dec. 5 at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok after he was found to be transporting two Asian small-clawed otters and a prairie dog, Metro News reported. The man had the animals stuffed into three separate socks and taped into his boxer shorts; security officers became suspicious about the large bulge below the man’s waistband. They believe he purchased them at a market in the city. The animals were taken to the Wildlife Conservation Office; the smuggler was arrested. “We will catch anyone who tries to take animals on planes,” a Thai customs department spokesperson said.

Julie “Bella” De Lay

| CITYWEEKLY.NET |

The Burnside Shelter in Portland, Oregon, hit the jackpot when workers discovered a pair of gold sneakers at the bottom of a donation bin, United Press International reported. Turns out, the Air Jordan 3 kicks were commissioned by Spike Lee for him to wear at the 2019 Academy Awards—and they’re valued at more than $10,000, according to Sotheby’s. The auction house will donate 100% of the proceeds, expected to be as much as $20,000, to the Portland Rescue Mission, which operates the shelter. Bidding continues through Dec. 18.

Bright Idea

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have created teeny-tiny VR headsets for laboratory mice, Sky News reported on Dec. 8, so that they can experience the freedom they will never have. The Miniature Rodent Stereo Illumination VR has two lenses and two screens to give the little dudes a realistic 3D picture of ... aerial threats, like an owl coming in for a meal. The goggles help the mice “engage with the environment in a more natural way,” said lead scientist Daniel Dombeck.

In Louisville, Kentucky, a statue of President Abraham Lincoln has been seated on a rock, overlooking the Ohio River, since 2009, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

But Lincoln’s top hat, which rested at his side, disappeared sometime at the beginning of December. The sculptor, Ed Hamilton, suspects the hat was stolen: “It was anchored down into that monolith rock,” he said.

“I don’t know what they could have used, maybe some more manpower or some crowbars. Bring the hat back, because you can’t wear it,” he warned potential thieves.

Police and park officials are investigating.

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32 | DECEMBER 28, 2023

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