City Weekly December 25, 2025

CITY WEEKLY CITYWEEKLY.NET DECEMBER 25, 2025

VOL. 42

N0. 31

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UTAH' S INDEPENDENT NE WSPAPER

THE ANNUAL TOP 10 LIST OF BURIED NEWS STORIES HITS THE HALF-CENTURY MARK.

PROJECT CENSORED ONE PART

BY PAUL ROSENBERG, RLNEWS

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D E T CONTENTS N A W R DRIVE eir own ust use th m rs e v ri rivers. D nesdays oking for d lo is ly k le on Wed e b e a il a v a City W e db vehicle an

Project Censored—Part I The annual Top 10 list of buried news stories hits the half-century mark.

Please Call:

Eric Granato

By Paul Rosenberg, RLNews

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Cover art by Anson Stevens-Bollen

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SLC FORECAST Thursday 25 59°/46° Partly cloudy Precipitation: 24%

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Salt Lake City Weekly is published every Thursday by Copperfield Publishing Inc. We are an independent publication dedicated to alternative news and news sources, that also serves as a comprehensive entertainment guide. 16,000 copies of Salt Lake City Weekly are available free of charge at more than 1,000 locations along the Wasatch Front. Limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper can be purchased for $1 (Best of Utah and other special issues, $5) payable to Salt Lake City Weekly in advance. No person, without expressed permission of Copperfield Publishing Inc., may take more than one copy of any Salt Lake City Weekly issue. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the written permission of the publisher. Third-class postage paid at Midvale, UT. Delivery might take up to one full week. All rights reserved.

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Doula Support

@SLCWEEK LY

Across Utah, more families are seeking ways to make birth a calmer, safer and more supported experience. One of the most impactful ways to do this is through the care of a doula—a trained professional who offers continuous emotional, physical and informational support during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.

Research continues to show that having a doula present can lead to shorter labors, lower rates of medical interventions and higher satisfaction with the

birth experience. But beyond the statistics, doula care is about connection— about ensuring parents feel seen, heard, and empowered through one of life’s most transformative moments.

As a certified doula and founder of Doulas of Utah, I’ve witnessed firsthand how personalized support can make all the difference. When a parent feels safe and informed, their body and mind work together more efficiently. Their partner feels more confident and included. And families begin their new chapter with greater confidence and calm.

This kind of support is especially important in a time when maternity care systems are stretched thin and birth experiences can sometimes feel rushed or impersonal. Doulas work alongside medical providers—not in place of them—to create a bridge between families and their care teams. We help translate medical information, remind parents of their options and offer steady reassurance through every contraction and every decision.

In Utah, where our birth rate remains one of the highest in the nation, it’s time

to make emotional and informational support as much a part of birth preparation as prenatal vitamins and hospital bags. Doulas serve families of all backgrounds, offering support in hospitals, birth centers and at home. Our goal is simple: to ensure every parent feels supported, informed and respected throughout their birth journey.

At Doulas of Utah, our team of professionally certified doulas and educators provides unmatched birth and postpartum doula support, childbirth education classes and newborn care workshops, all of which is aimed at strengthening families and improving maternal health outcomes. We believe that when parents are supported, entire communities thrive.

Doula care is a proven, compassionate approach that empowers families and fosters better beginnings. As awareness grows, I hope more Utah families will discover that consistent, unwavering support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum is available to them.

KYLEE ALEJANDRE Founder, Doulas of Utah

“Women’s Work,” Dec. 11 Cover Story

Why give Gayle [Ruzicka] a platform? And don’t say “know thy enemy.” We know more than enough.

ROGER THOMAS Via Facebook [Gayle] Ruzicka? I’m in, I am shocked that she is still slithering among the living.

SAM MILLWARD Via Facebook I really love reading this every week.

STEVE BOULAY Via Facebook What kind of trauma warped Gayle Ruzicka into the monster that she is? She needs professional help ASAP. SHANE WOODBURY Via Facebook Care to sound off? Write to comments@ cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

THE WATER

COOLER If you could erase one technological advancement from the world, what would it be?

Christa Zaro

Artificial Intelligence.

Wes Long

The Internet, and it’s not even close.

Bryan Bale

I’m a technophile, but I’m not especially enthusiastic about so-called Generative AI. I don’t think it should go away, but I do think it should be trained ethically.

Tech companies should stop compelling us to use their “AI” tools, and all users should be opted out by default from having their content used as training material. I think people also need to realize that AI is not actually intelligent; it can’t think, and it doesn’t know anything.

Chelsea Neider

The smart phone, so everyone would be more present.

Paula Saltas Algorithms.

Pete Saltas

AI taking over creative jobs, instead of giving us robots for householder chores.

Benjamin Wood

It’s getting harder and harder to argue that social media writ large has been a net positive for soceity.

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OPINION

BY CHRISTOPHER SMART

Mormon Wives

J

en Shah—the convicted fraudster and former star of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City—is out of prison early and she didn’t even get a pardon from Trump.

No, Wilson, we have no idea why anyone cares about her or the other skanks on Real Housewives. But The New York Times has taken notice of Utah’s female pop culture icons— specifically Mormon women: “Across reality shows, social media and bestselling books, women raised in the church have increased its profile across pop culture.”

Is that good or bad? Hard to tell.

In a recent news story, Shivani Gonzalez gives a rundown of what podcaster Rebbie Brassfield calls, “The best export of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Among them is the hit TV show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, who drink and swing.

Audiences love it when good girls are bad. Two of the “Mormon wives” have been on Dancing With the Stars.

Another Mormon Wives star is slated to appear on The Bachelorette. How is a Mormon wife on The Bachelorette?

Reverse polygamy?

There are Mormon tradwife influencers and best-selling authors and even a hairstyle called Utah Curls. The list goes on. Real Housewife and former Mormon Heather Gay put it this way: “If there is ever a religion that was built for social media or built for Instagram, it’s Mormonism.”

Amen.

What’s Wrong With Utah’s Republican Stinkbugs?

What is it exactly with the so-called leaders in Utah’s GOP? No, Wilson, they really do not seem to like democracy. The question is, are they following Trump’s lead or have they always been stinkbugs? A little of both, maybe.

They didn’t like it one bit when voters, fed up with their unflinching gerrymandering, passed Prop 4 in 2018 to create an independent redistricting commission that might allow Democrats a voice in Congress. The stinkbugs fought it in the courts for years and lost, and then wanted to hang the district court judge and pack the Utah Supreme Court.

So indignant were they, up on their righteous haunches, barking something about how they had the right to keep Utah a one-party state because the Utah Constitution doesn’t allow for democracy. Now they’ve embarked on a quest to gather enough signatures—at least 140,748

by Feb. 14—to put their own petition on the 2026 ballot in hopes of nullifying Prop 4.

Their logic goes something like this: ballot initiatives don’t count, except for our ballot initiative. No Wilson, we are not making this up—they must think everything operates like priesthood meetings.

The way it stands now, a Democrat might get elected to Congress from the newly created district that surrounds Salt Lake City, where a majority vote for Democrats.

OMG, we can’t have that—Democrats are liberal!

Football—Money Talks and B.S. Walks

Well Wilson, we’re going to have to adjust our lingo when it comes to college football. The term “student athletes” now should be “student professional athletes.”

Since the Supreme Court ruled that college athletes could sell their name, image and likeness (NIL), young athletes have become millionaires overnight. The top NIL earner is Texas quarterback Arch Manning, age 20, who raked in $6.8 million in 2025.

Jackson Arnold, age 21, the Auburn quarterback who is ranked 20th in NIL bucks, took in $2 million.

Ferraris, anyone? Diamond ear studs? That won’t mess them up, will it?

Beyond the NIL stuff, universities spend millions annually on football programs. Ohio State spent over $215 million this season. Michigan rolled out more than $180 million, Alabama threw down $173 million. Neither Utah, Utah State nor BYU were in the top 25 spenders.

That could have a lot to do with the U of U’s deal with a private equity firm that reportedly will bring the school some $500 million.

Sure, people are going hungry and lack health care, but this is football in America, damnit.

Speaking of the U of U, longtime football coach Kyle Whittingham is retiring.

He made $6.9 million per year. For the next two years, he will get $3.45 million from the U for consulting. Not a bad gig, if you can get it.

Postscript—That’s a wrap for another exciting holiday week here at Smart Bomb, where we keep track of buildings named “TRUMP” so you don’t have to.

As you know by now, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is now The Trump and Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Officially, renaming the Kennedy Center would take an act of Congress, but what the hell—laws are not for Trump.

Recently, the U.S. Institute of Peace became the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Earlier this year, giant banners bearing Trump’s likeness hung from the Department of Labor building and the Department of Agriculture headquarters.

The staff here at Smart Bomb also took an inventory of private sector buildings named Trump. There are eight “Trump Towers” in various cities and countries; three “Trump Plaza” buildings; three more hotels and at least nine other buildings. There are seven buildings, including casinos, previously named Trump that no longer carry his name. Additionally, there are eight golf courses with the Trump moniker.

The president also wants his name attached to the new Commanders football stadium and he wants a $1 coin with his likeness for the country’s 250th anniversary.

No Wilson, there are no statutes of Trump, yet. But give it time, we’ve got three years to go. CW Private Eye is off this week. Christopher Smart writes the weekly Smart Bomb column, available at cityweekly.net. Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net.

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HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE |

@kathybiele

HIT: Waste Not

As Utah continues to support fossil fuels and dismiss climate change, Salt Lake County has been taking steps toward sustainability. County Mayor Jenny Wilson has unveiled a “Green Vision” initiative to encourage county departments to focus on energy conservation and other environmental efforts. She has recognized departments for water-efficient landscaping, using renewable energy and repairing high-emission vehicles, among other things. “We’re in a very arid state.

We have a shrinking Great Salt Lake.

We can conserve water ... we need to clean up our air,” Wilson told the Deseret News. Not all readers agreed. One commenter called the county “liberal, woke, DEI, democrats with out of touch ideas.” Those ideas, however, may not only save taxpayer dollars but could improve health outcomes and enhance water conservation efforts in the state, where conservation is simply optional.

It’s not lost on us that the state wants to double its energy output while obstructing the development of solar.

MISS: Hard Landing

Our senior senator is at it again. Mike Lee is nothing if not determined to take federal lands out of federal hands.

A recent amendment to an Interior appropriations bill would remove protections from national parks, national scenic or historic trails and wild or scenic trails. Environmental groups worry that removing protections would simply allow the administration to sell off national park lands. This comes on the heels of Lee’s recent defeat within the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” to allow the sale of all public lands. Of course, downsizing national monuments is also on the table of administration priorities. Lee is not the only senator interested in public lands. John Curtis has joined him in advocating for the use of off-road vehicles in national parks. Apparently it’s for “access,” despite the harms to the environment.

MISS: On the Record

Will she or won’t she—or did she?

Those are the questions Utah voters should be asking the lieutenant governor as the Trump administration continues to bully states into handing over voter data. Democracy Docket calls it “a Master Class in Incompetence.” The DOJ is suing officials in 21 states and the District of Columbia. In August, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office shared only voter registration lists that are already publicly available.

“We haven’t identified any federal or state statute that would justify handing over to the federal government the personal identifying information of 2.1 million Utah voters,” Henderson told The Salt Lake Tribune. But now, Stateline reports that Utah is among the 11 states that have expressed willingness to hand over the records. Of course, the DOJ is seeking undocumented immigrants and will hand over the records to Homeland Security. States like Maine, however, have given the administration the middle finger and are fighting back in court. CW

BY BENJAMIN WOOD

Naughty List

M

erry Christmas, Salt Lakers! Our urban family has lots of reasons to be joyful, with many presents under the metaphorical tree.

The holiday season is best spent focused on those who have been nice. But the flip side of Christmas also deserves its due—naughty children destined for a lump of coal or a visit from Krampus.

Salt Lake City is growing up—maturing and evolving into the next iteration of itself. It’s a wonderful thing.

But there are folks among us who have undermined our advancement. And whether their actions are due to active malignancy or simple, naive ignorance, it’s important that we scorn them, lest we risk the spread of their backward ways.

First, Steve and Tiffanie Price. Over and over again this year—like when street projects ground to a halt or when U of U students were told to blow up their class schedules—at least one if not both of the Prices were lurking in the shadows. Incensed over having to share South Temple with a bike lane and unmoved by logic and reason, this pair of wealthy landowners have put their money where their mouths are, whispering in all the right ears and slipping campaign checks into all the right pockets to ensure that drivers remain the dominant species.

Second, Taylorsville Republican Sen. Wayne Harper. The Prices couldn’t do it alone, and they got a lot of help from the Senate Transportation Committee, chaired by Harper, and the omnibus legislation that just so happened to include a provision stripping Salt Lake City of its local street authority. Harper and his suburban colleagues were certain no one actually rides bikes or the bus, so projects like the 9-Line and 200 South transitway must have decimated driving times. Except they didn’t, and even a special UDOT report mandated

by Harper had to concede that conditions are unchanged for drivers, but improved for everyone else.

Third, Zions Bank. It’s an open secret that ZB is the major obstacle to a pedestrianized Main Street. Most skeptics have either been won over or at least neutralized by pop-up Open Streets activations, but Zions Bank owns the last two surface parking lots on Main Street and its suburban workforce would sooner die than walk a block or—heaven forbid—ride Trax to one of the stations located directly outside their workplace.

And finally, the Salt Lake City Board of Education. For simplicity’s sake, a building is either highway-oriented or transit-oriented. Unfortunately, everything the school district currently builds is highway-oriented. The new district office is bad, but the West High rebuild is horrible, promising a carsfirst campus ringed in parking and driveways. The plan’s main entrance is literally oriented toward Highway 89, despite there being little reason (except maybe Instagram selfies) for a person to actually stand where the design choices place them. The insulting decision to sacrifice a surface crossing for a shame bridge places the moldy cherry on this curdled sundae. CW

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Big Shiny Robot Best of Geek 2025 The finest in games, movies, TV and comics from a challenging year.

Ghost of Yotei

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Star Wars: Battle of Hoth

Superman

The Walking Dead: Small Bites

Star Wars: Andor

BY BRYAN YOUNG COMMENTS@CITYWEEKLY.NET

I

n a lot of ways, 2025 hasn’t been a great year. An unrestrained Trump presidency has seen masked secret police marching through the streets, with military forces occupying American cities, all while his drunken Secretary of “War” illegally orders crimes around the world in an effort to align the U.S.A. with a new axis of evil. It has made the need for breaths of escapism necessary.

That’s why it’s been nice to see creators stepping up with such wonderful works across the fields of geekdom this year.

And better yet, no generative AI was used to rot the brains of the creatives during their development—always something an intelligent reader/viewer seeks out.

Without further ado, here are my picks for some of the best escapist geek media of 2025: Ghost of Yotei - The most impressive new video game that sucked me right into its world was the sequel to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. Ghost of Yotei casts you as a woman whose family was murdered by the evil Lord Saito (during his bid to become Shogun) and his enforcers, the Yotei Six. The story is gripping and boldly told as you engage on your bloody quest for revenge. It’s masterfully rendered and fun to play. I wasn’t ready for it to end and still found plenty to do after the story was over.

Superman and Fantastic Four - It was difficult to pick one nerdy movie to top this year’s list, because Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps both gave me incredible on-screen versions of characters I’ve loved since childhood. More than that, both gave me hope and the promise of a better tomorrow through either the decency of a single person’s decisions or through collective action. Both were inspirational; both made me cry.

I know Superman went over with audiences much better than Fantastic Four, though I’m not sure why. Fantastic Four had just as much heart, and Pedro Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic

was a—ahem—fantastic and a much-needed addition to the MCU. I can’t wait to see what both David Corenswet’s Superman and Pascal’s Reed Richards bring to their respective universes.

The Walking Dead: Small Bites - Former SLC native and Geek Show panelist Derek Hunter might have left Utah behind for the warmer climes of California to work on shows like Adventure Time and DuckTales, but he never left comics behind. His work on The Walking Dead’s comedic back-up strip Small Bites (which appears in the Deluxe Editions of The Walking Dead) are—for my money—better than the main book and worth the price of the issues alone. His stories in 2025 have gotten even better and paved the way for his new book with writer Benito Cereno (which you should also get), Hector Plasm: Hunt the Bigfoot.

Star Wars: The Battle of Hoth - The best new board game released this year that’s seen the most action on my tabletop (other than BattleTech: Aces, which just came out and hasn’t had the time to match this one) has been The Battle of Hoth. This game pits players against each other on their own or in teams of two, playing increasingly challenging battles to control the ice world of Hoth. Featuring a unique campaign system with consequences for the outcomes of battles, it has infinite replayablity that rewards strategy and a variety of units that offer surprising depth for such

a simple game. I can play it with my 10-year-old just as easily as with my tactically-minded wargamer friends, and have just as good of a time. It’s that fun and versatile.

Star Wars: Andor Season 2 - The most important geek media released this year was the second season of Andor. It’s hard to imagine a show meeting the moment more consequentially than Andor did in 2025. Through its second season, its increasing relevance only became more staggering. Its grounded realism in a galaxy far, far away—as Cassian Andor fought a fascist Empire and Mon Mothma fought Palpatine in the halls of politics as everything crumbled around them—was as depressing as it was inspiring. It’s no wonder that you can’t go to a protest anymore that doesn’t include signs that boast slogans from the show. Showrunner Tony Gilroy didn’t plan that, per se; he was writing before Trump came to office, with only history as his guide. They say those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and if there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that Americans—particularly Republicans like those in our legislatures (both at the state and federal levels)—have a hate-hate relationship with history. Andor is an ugly mirror held up to that history, forcing us to look at it and say, “This Empire needs to come down.”

Thankfully, we geeks have friends everywhere. CW

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ENTERTAINMENT PICKS,

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Godzillathon @ Salt Lake Film Society

TOJO

For more than 60 years—ever since the radioactive-fire-breathing kaiju first rose from the sea in Ishirō Honda’s original film—Godzilla has been an icon. But over the course of nearly 40 films, plus innumerable spinoffs in animation, games, Blue Öyster Cult songs and the like, the big monster with the roar like rending metal has also been a metaphor for the consequences of human arrogance, in subjects ranging from nuclear war to environmental degradation. Sure, it’s fun seeing people in big rubber suits (and, later, CGI versions of such creatures) go crazy on one another; they’re also enjoyable cautionary tales.

For your post-Christmas enjoyment, Salt Lake Film Society presents a two-night, four-film “Godzillathon,” featuring some of the lesser-known titles in the King of the Monsters’ oeuvre. On Friday, Dec. 26, you get 2016’s Shin Godzilla, the reboot adventure about an ever-evolving Godzilla, plus 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, featuring a robotic version of the big guy. On Saturday, Dec. 27, the bill features 1971’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah—in which the antagonist is a space monster born of feeding on earth’s pollution—and 1989’s Godzilla vs.

Biollante, with a monster generated from genetic experiments on Godzilla’s own cells.

It’s a kaiju-tastic quartet to catch up on many of Godzilla’s adventures.

Salt Lake Film Society’s Godzillathon takes place at the Broadway Centre Cinemas (111 E. 300 South) Dec. 26 – 27 at 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Individual screening tickets are $17, or $55 for a four-film package. Visit slfs.org to purchase tickets and for additional information. (Scott Renshaw)

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Fortune Feimster: “Takin’ Care of Biscuits” Tour

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It seems that all along, Fortune Feimster’s success came from simply being herself. A writer, comedian and actress, she began her nowsuccessful career as a member of the improv troupe The Groundlings, prior to making her television debut on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2010.

She then went on to play the part of Colette in the hit show The Mindy Project from 2015 to 2017, and two years later, began co-hosting the popular radio program What a Joke with Papa and Fortune, which found her and her co-host Tom Papa interviewing comedians and other celebrities while contributing the first live programming on the Sirius XM station Netflix is a Joke.

She expanded her reach while playing Heather in The L Word: Generation Q, a reboot of the critically acclaimed series The L Word. She later added a pair of Netflix comedy specials to her CV: Sweet and Salty, a nominee for a Critics Choice Award; and the aptly-dubbed Good Fortune, praised by the Los Angeles Times as one of the top entertainment offerings of the year. Last May, she returned to Netflix courtesy of Fubar, an action-comedy series co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first starring role in a TV series. To her credit, Feimster continues to come across as grounded and self-effacing, an apparent outgrowth of her unassuming Southern heritage.

Her current tour provides good Fortune that all can enjoy.

Fortune Feimster’s Takin’ Care of Biscuits Comedy Tour comes to the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29. Tickets cost $39.75$61.25; visit saltlakecountyarts.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

COURTESY PHOTO

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theESSENTIALS DECEMBER 25-31, 2025

New Year’s Eve Festivities

COURTESY PHOTO

We can always hope for a less chaotic year in 2026 than we got in 2025—and if you want to celebrate that optimism with a bunch of other revelers, there are always many options.

Downtown Salt Lake City’s biggest free New Year’s Eve party remains Last Hurrah! at The Gateway (100 S. 400 West, shopthegateway.com), centered on Olympic Legacy Plaza. From 8 p.m.

– midnight, activities include live DJ music, street performers and buskers, pop-up bars and a game room full of activities for all ages. And the sky lights up with a fireworks display as the calendar turns over. For indoor adult parties, check out Ball Drop 2026 at 801 Event Center (1055 W. North Temple, thepartytix. ticketsauce.com). From 8:30 p.m. – 1 a.m., celebrate with free energy drinks & water, dance to great music and enjoy a balloon/confetti drop and laser show at midnight; tickets start at $30. Meanwhile, Metro Music Hall (615 W. 100 South, metromusichall. com) brings in New Year’s Eve with the Divas, a drag-stravaganza hosted by Jason CozMo and featuring musical tribute acts ahead of a complimentary champagne toast at midnight; tickets $49.50.

For those of you with youngsters, or have just decided staying up until midnight isn’t for you, consider a couple of “noon year’s eve” early options. The Salt Lake City Public Library hosts its free event at the Ballpark Library Lab (1406 S. West Temple, events.slcpl.org) 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., with photo ops, music, balloons and a noon countdown. And Loveland Living Planet Aquarium (12033 S. Lone Peak Parkway, Draper, livingplanetaquarium.org) will offer activities and confetti countdowns at both noon and 3 p.m., with regular admission. (SR)

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14 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

PROJECT CENSORED PART I

THE ANNUAL TOP 10 LIST OF BURIED NEWS STORIES HITS THE HALF-CENTURY MARK.

BY PAUL ROSENBERG, RLNEWS COMMENTS@CITYWEEKLY.NET

H

alf a century ago, Peter Jensen launched Project Censored, in part as a response to how the Watergate break-in was covered. Richard Nixon didn’t censor the initial reporting, but he didn’t have to. The press simply didn’t cover it with any serious scrutiny until well after Nixon was re-elected.

The story didn’t reach the American people when it mattered most—when they could have done something about it directly themselves, before they went to the polls in November 1972.

Reflecting this, Jensen saw censorship as working differently in a democracy than in a dictatorship. He defined it as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method—including bias, omission, underreporting, or self-censorship—that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in society.”

That happened with Watergate, though the truth belatedly came out. And an echo of the same sort of thing happened just as I was writing this, half a century later.

Six members of Congress who had served in the military or the CIA released a video accurately informing those serving, as they had, that they have the right—and in some cases the duty—to refuse unlawful or unconstitutional orders. President Donald Trump responded on social media by falsely claiming their video message was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” but the New York Times relegated the story to page 16, with a headline that didn’t mention Trump’s call for their execution.

“No wonder Trump thinks he can get away with anything,” said Mark Jacob, a former top editor at both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.

This was only a faint echo of what happened with Watergate—especially given the Times’ diminished gate-keeping role. But those echoes are everywhere around us, every day.

That same dynamic of suppression of information by underreporting and self-censorship is constantly at play, with the same consequence of preventing the public from fully knowing what’s happening in society—particularly in time to do something about it.

For half a century now, Project Censored has been bringing these omissions to light, and while each story highlights a particular omission, they are often complex and interrelated to each other. There’s a perfect example in this year’s top censored story—“ICE Solicits Social Media Surveillance Contracts to Identify Critics.”

Government spying on, suppressing and even criminalizing its critics goes back at least to World War I as a systematic endeavor, but new elements have intertwined with it over time. Racial targeting, private contracting and omnipresent surveillance technology are all present in this most recent example, and are routinely censored in other settings as well.

It’s also an example of systemic abusive policing, which shows up again in stories seven and eight, targeting the homeless for private profit in the first story, and killing four people a day in the second one, mostly in response to 9-1-1 calls, the majority of which involved a non-violent offense, or

no offense at all. Racial targeting is also involved in this story (with Black people and Native Americans far more likely to be killed), as well as in stories number three and four, regarding systemic exploitation of Native Americans and targeting of pro-Palestinian activists, respectively.

Stories four through six involve tech surveillance in different ways, not just targeting activists but also systematically blocking data privacy protections for everyone, and using surveillance technology to harm workers and disrupt unionization at Amazon and Walmart, the largest private employers in America.

In turn, the class exploitation and oppression involved in this last example appears in two others as well, number seven, about private companies reaping over $100 million to sweep homeless camps in California (doing nothing to solve the problem), and number 10 about the extreme under-representation of working class Americans in state legislatures—a censored story about censored voices that fittingly rounds out the list.

This is the deeper point of Project Censored’s list: That it’s not just about this or that suppressed and under-reported story, it’s about a whole different way of seeing the world if that systemic censoring were stripped away. Here, then, is Project Censored’s half-century anniversary list, so you can see for yourself what that means.

capabilities that could take a photograph of a subject and search the Internet to find all relevant information associated with the subject.”

While the document starts “as though this is just a preventative measure to ensure the safety of government employees,” Cushing noted, “there’s plenty of wording later in the document that makes it clear ICE is looking for tech that allows it to monitor people simply because they don’t like ICE.” The First Amendment threats are clear, Cushing noted:

The government shouldn’t be actively monitoring social media users, much less for the stated purpose of tallying the amount of negative references caught in the dragnet. Even if all the information is ‘open source’ (i.e., scraped from publicly-accessible social media accounts), this is not a legitimate use of government power.

It’s especially questionable when the agency desiring to deploy this power can’t seem to differentiate clearly between negative comments and ‘threats’ against ICE personnel.

Again, the bid request wasn’t new. “In 2019, the Guardian exposed that ICE agents had used a series of fake social media profiles linked to a fictitious university to entrap foreign students allegedly seeking to stay in the United States illegally,” Project Censored noted. Further abuses using fake profiles were reported by the Guardian in 2023 as well. That same year, writing for 404 Media, John Cox reported on ICE’s use of a system “to help the agency scrutinize social media posts, determine if they are ‘derogatory’ to the U.S., and then use that information as part of immigration enforcement.”

This was based on documents from an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

While Forbes and the New York Times have covered ICE’s investment in digital technologies targeting immigrants, there was no corporate media coverage of the planned targeting of ICE critics at the time of Project Censored’s evaluation.

1. ICE Solicits Social Media Surveillance Contracts to Identify Critics “Apparently, ICE is feeling it might deal with a bit more backlash than normal now that Trump is back in charge and promising to expel as many immigrants as he can as quickly as he can.”

So wrote Techdirt contributor Tim Cushing in February 2025, commenting on reporting by Sam Biddle for The Intercept, based on a lengthy ICE bid request also reported on by the Independent. It solicited private contractors to “monitor and locate ‘negative’ social media discussion” about the agency. Biddle noted it was “nearly identical” to one from 2020, “which resulted in a $5.5 million contract between [ICE] and Barbaricum, a Washington-based defense and intelligence contractor.” But given the much more sweeping and aggressive role ICE was now poised for, the significance was more chilling.

“People who simply criticize ICE online could be pulled into the dragnet,” Biddle wrote. Saying the document cited increased threats was “being far too kind,” Cushing noted, since “The request for services simply says this is happening, without actually citing anything” as evidence.

Social media content “hostile to ICE” could encompass millions of posts per day, but the document specified that content creators should be assessed for “proclivity for violence” using “social and behavioral sciences” and “psychological profiles.”

After compiling personal information (Social Security numbers, addresses, etc.), contractors are to provide ICE with a “photograph, partial legal name, partial date of birth, possible city, possible work affiliations, possible school or university affiliation, and any identified possible family members or associates.” It also requests “facial recognition

2. Water Scarcity Threatens 27 Million People in the United States

“Nearly 30 million people are living in areas of the US with limited water supplies,” Carey Gillam reported for The New Lede environmental news website in January 2025. But that’s based on a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study—the first of its kind—that assessed water availability in the United States from 2010 to 2020, with a special focus on water quality. And with worsening conditions due to climate change, things could get significantly worse.

Project Censored also noted two other concerns from the top 10 lists of the last two years: the problem of saltwater intrusion and pollution from “forever chemicals” (PFAS), which don’t break down naturally and are linked to cancer, liver problems, birth defects and a host of other serious diseases. USGS Director David Applegate warned of “increasing challenges to this vital resource,” Gillam reported, adding that “People who are considered ‘socially vulnerable’ have a higher risk of experiencing limited water supplies.”

Widespread pollution was a concern “in waterways across the US Midwest and High Plains regions where worrisome levels of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations—tied in

large part to large animal agriculture operations—can pose a threat to human health,” she noted, adding:

Artwork by Anson Stevens-Bollen

The USGS said that “substantial areas” of aquifers that provide about one-third of public water supplies have elevated concentrations of contaminants such as arsenic, manganese, radionuclides, and nitrate, and that low-income and minority-dominated communities and people with domestic wells as their drinking water source experience increased exposure to this type of drinking water contamination.

DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 15

Find Part II of Project Censored’s annual Top 10 list next week in the Jan. 1, 2026, issue of Salt Lake City Weekly.

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Government mistreatment of Indigenous communities was the subject of a series of articles published in 2024-25 by ProPublica, High Country News and Grist, which were picked up by other independent news outlets but were largely ignored by the corporate media.

managed by state agencies ‘generate millions of dollars for public schools, universities, penitentiaries, hospitals and other state institutions, typically through grazing, logging, mining and oil and gas production,’” Project Censored said.

These lands were seized during what’s known as the Allotment Era, following the passage of the 1887 General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act. As Project Censored summarized: “The federal government seized 90 million acres of reservation land from the tribes, labeling it as ‘surplus,’ and gave it to non-Native owners and states entering the union. The program dismantled tribal power and opened tribal lands and natural resources to non-Native citizens.”

States furthered the process of carving up and dissolving tribal lands, some of which resulted in state-owned lands inside of reservations—83 of them in 10 states, according to their research, which resulted in a database of state trust land lessees, searchable by Native American reservation.

This involved painstaking research, since many states don’t make trust land data public.

“Even in the obscure world of trust lands, states’ holdings within reservations have been almost completely unknown until now,” Smith and Rose noted. “The presence of state lands on reservations complicates issues of tribal jurisdiction in regards to land use and management and undercuts tribal sovereignty.

“In some cases, tribes lease these state trust lands within their reservations—essentially paying to use what was once their own land,” they wrote. “An estimated 58,000 acres across several states are leased back to Indigenous tribes for agriculture, grazing, and other uses.”

Their report cited the case of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, which “may have created a model for how tribes can negotiate for large-scale transfers of land back to tribal ownership,” they said. “In 2020, Congress passed a water-rights settlement that cleared the way for the transfer of nearly 30,000 acres of Montana state trust land back to the tribe,” and Montana will receive federal lands elsewhere in exchange.

“Corporate news media have largely ignored these issues,” Project Censored noted, except for a New York Times report about tribes and students suing over layoffs dictated

by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, but it neglected historical underfunding described by ProPublica.

A similar story ran in the Washington Post. CW ©Randomlengthsnews, San Pedro, CA 2025

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3. Indigenous Communities in the U.S. Underfunded and Exploited by Federal and State Governments

The plight of tribal colleges due to longstanding underfunding was reported on by Matt Krupnick in ProPublica, while Anna Smith and Maria Parazo Rose reported on a detailed collaborative High Country News/Grist investigation of how states profit from “trust lands” held on federal Indigenous reservations, generating funding for, among other things, public state universities.

This follows on earlier reporting by Grist and other partners in 2020, focused on how the 1862 Morrill Act granted expropriated Indigenous land to state governments in order to fund universities. Thus, there’s a deep, longstanding connection between these two facets of historic injustice.

“In the 1970s, Congress committed to funding a higher education system controlled by Indigenous communities,” Krupnick explained. “These tribal colleges and universities were intended to serve students who’d been disadvantaged by the nation’s history of violence and racism toward Native Americans, including efforts to eradicate their languages and cultures.” There are now 37 schools in the system, spanning 14 states, but they’ve always been woefully underfunded.

In the original 1978 law, funding was set at $8,000 annually per student affiliated with a tribe, with adjustments for inflation. But those levels have never been met. “Since 2010, per-student funding has been as low as $5,235 and sits at just under $8,700 today,” Krupnick reported, compared to about $40,000 per student if the law had been followed. In total, it’s $250 million less than was promised.

While the failures have been longstanding and bipartisan, as Project Censored described, they’ve gotten even worse under Trump. In a March 2025 follow-up, Krupnick reported, “At least $7 million in USDA grants to tribal colleges and universities have been suspended,” affecting both student scholarships and food and agricultural research. At the same time, Project Censored noted, “federal policy allows state governments to profit from tribal ‘trust lands’ which support, among other things, state land grant universities.”

In 2020, writing for High Country News, Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone reported on the original sin of the land grant universities’ creation under the 1862 Morrill Act, and its consequences. It redistributed nearly 11 million acres, “an area larger than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined,” that was “broken up into almost 80,000 parcels of land, scattered mostly across 24 Western states,” they reported.

They “reconstructed approximately 10.7 million acres taken from nearly 250 tribes, bands and communities through over 160 violence-backed land cessions, a legal term for the giving up of territory.”

Then in February 2024, came the Grist/High Country News report, “detailing how 1.6 million acres of ‘trust lands’

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Project Censored noted specific examples of problems in Texas “because of ongoing drought, infrastructure challenges, and international water rights disputes,” and Florida, with “shortages of fresh water because of rising populations and overexploitation of groundwater … exacerbated by global warming, which has led to more intense, more frequent floods and hurricanes that overwhelm wastewater systems, as well as to periods of drought.”

Elsewhere, “In Virginia, large data centers use as much as five million gallons of water a day, according to a May 2024 report in Grist,” they noted. “Tech companies are consuming massive amounts of groundwater in areas that are already facing water shortages due to rising temperatures.”

Project Censored then widened the lens in two ways. First, it noted reporting by Stephan Prager of Common Dreams based on a joint U.S./UN report, Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023-2025. “This is not a dry spell. This is a slowmoving global catastrophe, the worst I’ve ever seen,” report co-author Dr. Mark Svoboda said. “This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on.” In this context, in 2024, “48 of the 50 U.S. states faced drought conditions, the highest proportion ever seen,” Prager wrote.

Second, it noted a Guardian report that “The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water,” essentially blinding us to the problem. “Both the New York Times and Washington Post have covered the fact that large swaths of the United States are currently struggling with drought conditions,” Project Censored noted. But this discussion is typically framed in terms of the “economic threat to agriculture and other industries rather than as a direct threat to human life.”

As of July 2025, Newsweek was the only U.S. corporate news outlet that appeared to have discussed the USGS report on limited water supplies.

The Adam Sandler “This is how I win” meme from 2019’s Uncut Gems might be the Rosetta Stone for understanding the protagonists of Josh Safdie’s movies, including those with brother Benny: hustlers and on-the-make guys convinced that they’re smarter and more destined for victory than the rest of the world sees in them. That’s certainly true of Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a Jewish youth in early 1950s New York convinced that his skills as a table-tennis prodigy will lead him to the big time—if only he can get out of his own arrogant way. Safdie and regular Safdie brothers writing collaborator Ronald Bronstein craft another blood-pressure-raising episodic narrative out of Marty’s misadventures, particularly once he’s forced to track down a ridiculous amount of money in order to make it to the world championships in Tokyo, and it’s a magnificent mix of existential danger and absurdist hilarity.

And Chalamet’s performance may be his best ever, exuding enough hyper-confident charisma to make it plausible that he could woo a retired Hollywood actress (Gwyneth Paltrow) and pull so many people into his schemes. Safdie even wrangles a great supporting performance out of Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, even if the role of an asshole millionaire isn’t much of a stretch. Topped off by a wonderfully anachronistic score of ’80s synth-pop, Marty Supreme builds to a weirdly emotional climax in which a Safdie hero finally has a different perspective on what it means to “win,” even if he probably still hasn’t. Available Dec. 25 in theaters. (R)

Song Sung Blue BB1/2 Real lives are messy and not easily shapeable into narratives, which is why sometimes a fictionalized adaptation of a documentary probably should have remained a documentary. Greg Kohs’ 2008 non-fiction feature becomes writer/director Craig Brewer’s interpretation of the story of Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) and Claire Stingl (Kate Hudson), a pair of Milwaukee-area part-time musicians circa 1996 who fall in love and form a creative partnership as

16 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

Marty Supreme

Song Sung Blue

Goodbye June BB1/2 Family dysfunction drama tends to work best when it’s narrowly focused, so it’s not surprising that one of the main problems with this one is that it tries to juggle too many characters with too many issues all rushing towards one cathartic deadline.

That moment is provided by the imminent death of June Cheshire (Helen Mirren), whose cancer returns aggressively in the two weeks before Christmas, forcing everyone else—her four children Julia (Kate Winslet), Molly (Andrea Riseborough), Helen (Toni Collette) and Connor (Johnny Flynn), and husband Bernie (Timothy Spall)—to unpack all of their baggage. Winslet also directs in her feature debut, from a script by her son Joe Anders, and there’s a lot of frisky humor around the edges, particularly in the first hour as the characters’ stresses express themselves in wildly different ways. Unfortunately, the scenes where a bunch of people swirl chaotically around June’s hospital room becomes a metaphor for the overstuffed nature of this narrative, which could have used at least one fewer Cheshire sibling—and I’d quickly nominate Collette’s broad parody of a yoga-teaching/sage-smudging/crystal toting earth mama. And considering there are years’ worth of issues being addressed here, some of them get resolved in improbably short conversations. As a holiday tear-jerker, it does effectively jerk some tears—and maybe along the way it could have jerked a character or two out of the second-to-last draft.

Available Dec. 24 via Netflix. (R)

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“Lightning and Thunder” performing a Neil Diamond “experience” tribute act. Brewer sets the stage for the challenging lives that make us want to root for these dreamers—Mike a recovering-alcoholic Vietnam veteran, Claire a single mom with a history of depression—and he certainly finds crowd-pleasing moments in the way Mike and Claire come alive while on stage interpreting Diamond’s classics, and in their biggest improbable wins intermingled with one big life-changing tragedy. Hudson also turns in a particularly wonderful performance, mastering her Wisconsin twang and both extremes in Claire’s personality. The story, unfortunately, doesn’t have the same juice when the songs aren’t playing, and oversimplifies the timeline of the main characters’ lives in order to provide a tidier, more heartstringtugging conclusion. The many real-life threads it needs to incorporate distract from the idea of working-class folks finding purpose in their avocation— a thematic idea that might have been easier to convey if this weren’t an adaptation of a documentary.

Available Dec. 25 in theaters. (PG-13)

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Three new features address appreciating what really matters in life.

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Christmas Presence

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DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 17

30 east Broadway, SLC

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Full-Throttle Fusion

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Halalepeños is the MexicanIndian-American fusion restaurant you didn’t know you needed.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

18 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

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italianvillageslc.com

(801).266.4182 5370 S. 900 E. SLC

o far in my ongoing exploration of Utah’s restaurants, I’ve encountered halal hot dogs and halal fried chicken, which is great. I’m a big fan of any restaurant that creates cultural overlaps like this; I love it when food brings people together. So when I read up on Halalepeños, a new halal Mexican-Indian fusion spot in Riverton, I had to check it out.

Located in a little strip mall just off Bangerter Highway, it hasn’t been open for very long, but the place has already built up a pretty strong audience. During my visit, there was a steady stream of visitors—staff from the nearby tire shop, construction workers on their lunch break, and a few UPS drivers who had talked the place up to one another. Most of them mentioned that it was their second or third time in, which is high praise for a new place like this.

After my wife and I sat down with our order, it wasn’t long before we realized why everyone was hyped up about the Halalepeños experience. The menu’s signature items are tacos, burritos and smash burgers, but each one comes with a great fusion spin. The chief proteins at Halalepeños are birria nihari beef and

ALEX SPRINGER

Saucy and flavorful fusion bites at Halalepeños

chicken tikka—falafel is also available for those sticking to vegetarian options. Like birria, nihari refers to a method of slow cooking protein in a stew that is popular in Indian cuisine.

We tried the birria nihari beef on an order of Fiesta Fries ($13.45), and it was a great way to experience this slow-cooked protein. The joys of golden fries topped with all kinds of meat, cheese and sauces are rarely lost on me, and this is one for the books. The fries are thick enough to create a bed for all the good stuff—not quite steak fries, but plenty of heft nonetheless. Halalepeños has a few different sauces on the menu and this dish makes great use of the chipotle sauce, a creamy, spicy condiment that adds a texture and spicy kick to the fries.

The fries also have a layer of daal, which are the stewed lentils that often precede the entree at your favorite Indian joint. This was the moment that made me realize I was eating something thoughtfully composed. The lentils make an excellent textural element; they’re hearty and smooth at the same time. With the supporting cast of sauces and cheese doing a bang-up job in the flavor department, the beef is primed for explosion.

It’s exactly what you want from a nice stewed protein—extremely tender and full of slow-cooked flavor.

We also ordered some Samosas Supremas with chicken tikka ($12.95)—these can be ordered with the beef, falafel or a mix of chicken and beef, depending on what you’re craving. The basic concept behind these samosas is the same as the fries: They’re the classic, golden brown pockets of potato and peas that get the same sauce and protein treatment. Samosas covered in sauces and meat aren’t as easy to scoop up with a fork, but that doesn’t detract from the tasty flavors.

Though I think I preferred the beef to the

chicken, there was nothing wrong with the chicken tikka. It’s definitely a great protein for those craving that traditional tikka flavor.

These proteins are available in the restaurant’s tacos, burritos and paratha rolls, which swaps out the tortilla for a crispy fried paratha. Each option is a great pick, though the burrito ($9.95-$14.95) is the king of the bunch. It’s a humongous feat of engineering, and it’s always a satisfying way to spend your time at Halalepeños. Of course, those who don’t want to get burrito all over them can go with the bowl ($12.50-$16.50), which adds one of the restaurant’s proteins to a rice bowl on top of a crispy paratha.

One of the biggest surprises on the menu was the paratha smash burger ($12.95). As the name implies, these burgers are pressed into thin patties and then served on two rounds of paratha instead of a bun. It’s sliced into quarters, making it easy to share, and it’s an excellent burger. It completely nails the appeal of a smash burger—the patty gets nice and crispy on the flat top, and the chipotle sauce does an excellent job of bringing together all of the different culinary cultures at play here.

Borrowing liberally from Indian, Mexican and American comfort food classics and keeping everything halal is a tall order, but Halalepeños is really making it work. Based on my experience with a menu that is full of surprises and the chatter among the clientele, it’s the kind of place that has a crystal-clear vision for what it wants to be, and is executing that vision with perfection. CW

HALALEPEÑOS 13686 S. Redwood Road, Ste. B 385-787-4330 Instagram: @halalepenos

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20 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week 2 Row Brewing 73 West 7200 South, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com On Tap: “Juicequake” Juicy Style IPA Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com On Tap: Apricaldera (Jalapeño Apricot Wheat Ale) Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: Pink Boots - Pink Pony Pilz Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com NEW Releases: Kölsch, Dusseldorfer “Alt” Bier Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale Chappell Brewing 2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer On Tap: Pie Hole - Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Ale

Helper Beer 159 N Main Street, Helper, UT helperbeer.com Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: Locals Only Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com On Tap: Winter Ale, Kernza Lager Kiitos Brewing Sugar House Bar 1533 S. 1100 East, SLC KiitosBrewing.com NOW OPEN! Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Hefe Goldbloom Hefeweizen Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Vienna Lager Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: “Big Drop” West Coast Pilsner

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC properbrewingco.com On Tap: I Am The Vvitch - golden ale with pumpkin and spices

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Eternal Sunshine Hard Cider (Clementine and anise)

Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: Edge’s Special Bitter ESB

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA

Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: Six New Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout Variants

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com On Tap: 11 rotating taps as well as high point cans and guest beers

Etta Place Cidery 700 W Main St, Torrey EttaPlaceCider.com On Tap: Legendary Cider, MangoHabanero Session Mead

Park City Brewing 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com On Tap: Jupe-Pow Rice Lager *Now available in cans togo*

Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com On Tap: 302 Czech Pilsner

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Barrel-aged Imperial Brown Ale

Proper Brewing/Proper Burger 857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com On Tap: Gungan Sith Lord (Czech Dark Lager)

Heber Valley Brewing 501 N. Main Street, Heber City, UT hebervalleybrewing.com Freshly Canned: ‘435’ American Pale Ale 6% ABV

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab properbrewingco.com On Tap: Gungan Sith Lord (Czech Dark Lager)

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Gypsy Scratch Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com On Tap: Grand Bavaria Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Dog Tag IPA 5th Tour (Veterans Blend Hops) Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Peacan Pie Ale SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Draft: Vanilla Chai Stout Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: OPEN ROAD SERIES #3 - Barrel Aged Grand Cru Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com On Tap: Scion Cider Smoke Show 10.5% ABV Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Coconut Stout Cider 7% ABV Shades Brewing 1388 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City ShadesBrewing.beer New Batch: Raspberry Pistachio Sour Ale Shades On State 366 S. State Street, Salt Lake City Shadesonstate.com On Tap: Six Wheat Under Hefeweizen Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George SGBev.com Squatters Brew Pub Sugar House 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC squatterspubs.com On Tap: Top of Main Coalition Hellfire Chili Pepper Ale

Squatters Brew Pub West Valley 3555 Constitution Blvd, West Valley City squatterspubs.com On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Hef Baum Hefeweizen Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co. 147 W. Broadway, SLC squatterspubs.com On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Velvet Brimley Oatmeal Stout Squatters Top of Main Brewpub & Brewery 250 Main, Park City, Utah squatterspubs.com On Tap: Top of Main Mother Urban’s Parlor Blonde Ale Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: “Virgil the Guide” (Italian Pilsner); “Smiles und Sunshine” (German Leichtes Weizen) Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap: “Orange Hopsicle” Hazy Pale; “Trouble” American Sour with Mango and Passionfruit TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Twelve taps and high point cans available.

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Goggle Fogger - Hazy IPA; 12th St. Wheat Thieves Guild Cidery 117 W. 900 South, SLC thievesguildcidery.com NEW: Thunderclap - Juicy tropicalhopped cider | 6.5% Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer UTOG 2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Bar Down IPA Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

MIKE RIEDEL

Some Holiday Cheer with Beer A lager and an ale that are perfect for celebrating.

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

W

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DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 21

bold without being exhausting. This is a beer that invites you back for another sip, then another glass.

Verdict: This is a brilliant beer from the Fisher Brewing crew. It showcases their ability to coax massive flavor while maintaining balance and finesse, making this year’s release an easy standout and a memorable pour.

Bewilder - Malt Lab Lager (Lodge Lizard): This winter warmer leans fully into the season, delivering a cozy, spice-forward experience that feels tailor-made for cold evenings and festive gatherings.

From the first pour, the aroma sets the mood. A warming blend of cinnamon and clove leads the way, supported by bright flashes of fresh lemon and orange peel.

There’s a subtle ginger snap in the background, along with a gentle peppery note that adds intrigue without overwhelming the senses. It’s unmistakably spiced, inviting and undeniably seasonal.

On the palate, the beer opens with layers of cocoa and bitter chocolate, creating a rich, slightly dry foundation that pairs beautifully with the spice blend. Cinnamon and ginger weave through the chocolate notes, offering warmth and gentle heat rather than sharp intensity. The citrus peel doesn’t dominate, but instead lifts the flavors, keeping the beer from feeling heavy or overly sweet. Each sip feels well composed, with the spices complementing rather than competing with one another.

The malt base is present but restrained, providing just enough sweetness and body to carry the spices and chocolate without becoming cloying. It’s not too aggressive, allowing the more nuanced flavors to shine while maintaining balance. The clove and peppercorn add subtle complexity toward the finish, leaving a lingering warmth that invites another sip.

Verdict: What truly makes this beer stand out is how well it captures that classic holiday vibe. It tastes like winter in a glass—comforting, spiced, and reflective.

The flavors evoke memories of festive desserts, mulled drinks and crackling fires, all without crossing into novelty territory.

At 7.5 percent, Lodge Lizard lives up to its winter warmer moniker, keeping your core content and satisfied. Merry Fishmas hits at 8.8 percent–and though it has no fruit added (only hops) its bright juicy flavor is the perfect celebratory sipper.

Cheers and happy holidays! CW

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e here at City Weekly’s beer and cider bureau would like to take a moment to thank you all for the kind words, and even bringing your CW clippings with you to your favorite watering hole and saying, “I want this!” For the holidays, I think I’ve found two beers that will please any festive palate.

Fisher - Merry Fishmas: This year’s version absolutely delivers and then some. From the moment the glass is lifted, the aroma sets the tone: a big, expressive stone fruit nose that practically leaps out. Ripe peach leads the charge, joined by apricot and a hint of nectarine, all wrapped in some bright citrus lift that signals what’s coming next.

On the palate, the beer tastes phenomenal; there’s no other way to put it. Waves of peach and citrus flood the mouth, creating a juicy, saturated flavor profile that feels both indulgent and remarkably balanced. Think orange zest, soft tangerine and a splash of grapefruit, all layered over that lush peach character. It’s a damned fruit salad, but in the best possible way—nothing artificial or overdone, just expressive, natural fruit character driven by thoughtful brewing.

As the beer opens up, more complexity emerges. Berries and melon round things out, adding depth and softness.

There’s a gentle strawberry-like sweetness and hints of honeydew or cantaloupe that smooth the edges and keep the beer from feeling sharp or one-dimensional. The mouthfeel is plush and satisfying, with enough body to support the fruit-forward intensity while remaining dangerously drinkable. What really stands out is how polished and confident this beer feels. Every element is in harmony, from aroma to finish, with no single note overpowering the rest. It’s vibrant without being messy,

MIKE RIEDEL

NERD

BEER

the

BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER |

There is plenty going on for New Year’s Eve in downtown SLC this year. From outdoor parties to indoor dining specials, here is a list of some festive ways to ring in the new year.

Last Hurrah at The Gateway

Downtown shopping center The Gateway (atthegateway.com) has partnered with Downtown Alliance to create the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the city. From 8 p.m. until midnight, The Gateway will host an epic New Year’s Eve bash that will feature outdoor performances and a live DJ, street performances, buskers, pop-up bars serving festive drinks and plenty of Gateway-adjacent restaurants will be open a bit late for food and additional drinks. Once the clock strikes 12, the space will light up with the city’s only New Year’s Eve fireworks show. Make sure to dress for the weather, and keep in mind that no outside food or drink will be permitted.

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Hill Top Hospitality, the brains behind local restaurants Urban Hill, Hearth and Hill and Hill’s Kitchen announced its New Year’s Eve programming, and things are looking pretty good come year’s end. Urban Hill will be featuring an elevated, four-course meal for a celebratory dining experience that includes lobster bisque, hiramasa crudo, scallops, Wagyu ribeye and either a champagne pavlova or opera cake for dessert. The meal can be upgraded to include a sommelier wine pairing as well. Over at Hearth and Hill in Sugar House, a holiday special that includes oysters, caviar, Dungeness crab and beef tenderloin will be on the menu. These specials are also available at the restaurant group’s Park City locations.

New Year’s Eve Bar Crawl

Those who want to stay mobile and keep their social options open on New Year’s Eve will want to check out a downtown bar crawl hosted by PubCrawls.com. The event kicks off at Shades on State—check in is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Dec. 31. This event will feature a digital bar crawl map so participants can map out their own way around town, and each participating venue will be offering drink specials and plenty of live music. A ticket to this event will get you into each venue without needing to pay a cover charge, and everything will culminate with a champagne toast at midnight.

Quote of the Week: “Celebrate endings for they precede new beginnings.” —Jonathan Huie

MUSIC

Local bands share what holiday classic they’d want to record (or have recorded).

Cory Mon

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

The Glitter Bombs

actions. Clark, our bass player, would always sing it together as a family. We needed something that was interactive with the crowd and we’ve gotten amazing reactions.

Lisa & The Missing Pieces: We love a good holiday tune! While we haven’t recorded one, every year we do our rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which is built off some great jazz chords. It’s such a sweet song. There are so many incredible holiday tunes across so many genres! Our favorites include: “The Wexford Carol,” “O Holy Night,” and every one of Vince Guaraldi’s songs on A Charlie Brown Christmas, to name a few. But I think Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” would be my choice to record. It’s a playground for vocalists and instrumentalists with its rich, unexpected and evocative chord changes and a bridge that is masterful in creating an emotional peak in the song. We feel the season in this song. It paints a joyful, affectionate and tender picture of the holiday. It’s really a work of art.

Kimi K: If I were to cover a Christmas

song, I think it would be “Where Are You, Christmas” from The Grinch. It just reminds me of my childhood. The emotion and style is something I would want to recreate if I wrote my own Christmas song. It’s always been a favorite of mine.

OrcaMind: One of our favorite Christmas songs to cover is “Snowman,” from the iconic video game EarthBound. It has a melancholy vibe and wintery soundscape that captures the isolated (yet comfy) feeling of winter. The song has an absolutely beautiful melody—and something we do a lot is write lyrics for songs that don’t otherwise have them. The lyrics we wrote for our version of “Snowman” are about wanting to spend time with someone who won’t fully let you in, or feeling like an outsider. It has the imagery of standing outside in the cold and looking in, but observing the warmth inside with gentle yearning. Those feelings can come up more during the holidays, and to reflect on this in a song like “Snowman” has a healing quality and helps others know they aren’t alone in feeling this way. CW

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[it] up to make the version my own. If I’m singing a more serious song, I also enjoy singing “Christmas Shoes.”

The Glitter Bombs: If The Glitter Bombs were to cover a Christmas song, it would have be The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” from 1977. Not only do The Glitter Bombs align with The Kinks’ retro sound, we also connect with their satirical lyrical delivery. In this tune, they were able to sound deceptively festive, telling a story of class struggle. We too dig telling stories of deep emotions with cheeky lyrics. “Crybaby,” our new single, is a good example of that!

Cory Mon: We do cover some Christmas songs. One of the biggest reasons we got into covering Christmas songs is because we play a lot of the ski resorts in town. It’s definitely a fun, upbeat, party-type atmosphere, because it’s usually après-ski. We incorporated some Christmas tunes in our own unique way. The favorite hands down that we do is “Must Be Santa.” It is not a well-known Christmas song, but it’s kind of like the “12 Days of Christmas” where it has

| CITYWEEKLY.NET |

hristmas songs are a staple of the holiday season. While some dread this time of year (I’m looking at you, fellow currentor-past retail workers), many like embracing the spirit and singing along. Because there are so many classic Christmas songs, there are just as many covers to go with them, and nearly every major artist under the sun eventually tries recording a holiday-themed album. Some locals have covered Christmas tunes before while others have ideas of what they would yet cover if the mood felt right.

Scott Lippitt: If I were to cover a popular Christmas song, I would absolutely choose “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I love melancholy, and this song exudes it. In fact, some of the initial lyrics such as, “It may be your last; next year we may all be living in the past,” were deemed “too depressing,” and changed before the song’s debut in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis. I think they should have kept that line.

Pepper Rose: I spent, like, six years in choir, so Christmas music is my secret jam. “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming” is my personal favorite for beauty. We also used to do a punk version of “White Christmas!” Dave says “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” hands down, because he is secretly Buddy the Elf. Tariq Abou-Bakr: A personal favorite of mine is “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” I know it’s kind of a dumb song, but it always makes me chuckle, and I change

BEEHIVE PHOTO

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JEFF BURGENER

The Eight Covers of Christmas

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DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 23

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There’s nothing quite like heading to a concert on a cold winter night—you walk up and wait outside in the cold, excited for the upcoming show. As you’re let in, the warmth of the venue wraps you up like your favorite blanket. Then the excitement ramps up—soon some of your favorite acts will be on stage, performing some of your favorite tracks. It’s especially exciting when it’s a local lineup; local singers/bands always bring their all to each show, and make it the best time. If you’ve felt overloaded with Christmastime festivities, this show will be awesome for letting loose. Headlining is The Narcs, a four-piece group made up of childhood friends who play a mix of alt/rock, indie, funk and reggae.

The Narcs released their debut album Local Hero in November, offering a wide variety of sounds and vibes. The opener “God Sounds” has a heavier alt/rock feel, but then as you get to “Dancing King,” you’re served up some jazzy chords and an insanely tasty bass track. Eyes Buggy and Seeking the Sun are also coming out to join the post-Christmas fun. Eyes Buggy describe themselves as a “proudly peculiar” band, serving up blues, jazz and punk vibes. Seeking the Sun has an addicting indie funk/rock vibe that will fit in perfectly with the other groups. Come hang out on Friday, Dec. 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $13.38 and can be found at 24tix.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

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The Proper Way

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The Proper Way @ Deer Valley Resort 12/27

There’s something to be said for returning to the classics. The Proper Way defines that distinction courtesy of their verve and versatility. A trio of Ogden-based multi-instrumentalists, they defy description courtesy of their varied repertoire. While some see them as a group that follows a strict Americana or acoustic band path, their choice of covers proves they’re not confined to any single genre, as they employ an electric piano and a steady rhythm in their dedication to diversity. The group originally consisted of Shane Osguthorpe and Scott Rogers, a duo that formed in 2016; Carrie Myers, another multiinstrumentalist and singer, joined them in 2018. While they currently exist as a trio, they show no constraints as far as the music that they cover. “We’re as likely to play a classic Willie Nelson song as we are Lizzo or the Avett Brothers or Elton John or John Craigie or Tyler Childers or The Bee Gees or Queen or Prince or John Prine or The Band or the Wood Brothers or a bunch of hymns or Jason Isbell or Tracy Chapman,” they state on their website. Indeed, given that they’ve found a fit for private concerts, weddings and weekends residencies, they can clearly adapt to any occasion. As far as this ensemble is concerned, The Proper Way seems to be any avenue the audience calls for. The Proper Way performs a free show at Deer Valley Resort at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27. Further information at bandsintown.com. (Lee Zimmerman)

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The Empire Strikes Back at Abravanel Hall

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Founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1998, The Motet specializes in funk, soul, Afrobeat and jazz rock, combining those ingredients with a jam band aesthetic. Drummer Dave Watts put the group together with what would become a rotating cast of players drawn from the top musicians in the scene.

Eventually settling into a six-piece, the group self-released their Watts-produced debut album, Breathe, in 1999. The Motet’s deep-groove approach emphasizes improvisation and musical interplay. Even when pop elements have found their way into the band’s music, the jam vibe and a spirit of exploration are at the core of the band’s dance-oriented material. A key ingredient in their success has been their emphasis on a heavy touring schedule, with festival dates a prominent feature of their live work. The group has released ten albums, cultivating a devoted following that appreciates their peerless musicianship wedded to a strong emphasis on funk and groove within the freewheeling context of the jam band scene. With opening act League of Sound Disciples (featuring Jason Hann of String Cheese Incident), The Motet come to Soundwell for a New Year’s Eve performance on December 31 at 8:30pm. Tickets for this 21+ show are $46.03 and available at tixr.com. (Bill Kopp)

Mutiny NYE Show @ The Complex 12/30 - 12/31

This year, Mutiny Music Collective has outdone themselves. New Year’s Eve is notoriously the most difficult night for music collectives to book DJs, since it’s a peak demand night for events, travel and entertainment. So, securing both SLANDER and Sara Landry for this two-night event just goes to show how much Salt Lake City’s scene has grown that big-name artists in the electronic music industry will come to share the transition into 2026 with us.

The first night, headliner SLANDER (duo Derek Andersen and Scott Land) are bringing their emotional, melodic bass (known as “Heaven Trap”) to set the tone for an unforgettable weekend. Their song “Love is Gone” is always a tear-jerker, following their incredible ability for story-telling that feels even more brutal, yet sentimental

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when accompanied by the heavy bass. On the second night (New Year’s Eve), Sara Landry will bring her hard techno sound.

Arguably the biggest DJ of 2025, Landry is all witchy warehouse techno and brings intense, raw energy to her sets. Listen to her songs “Chaos Magicka” or “The Morrigan” to hear the dark feminine vibe that channels euphoria, rage and grief.

Pull up to The Complex on Tuesday, Dec 30 and Wednesday, Dec 31. Two-day general admission costs $218.60, while GA for Tuesday-only or Wednesday-only costs $115. The tiers are selling out and admission prices will go up, so get your tickets fast. Go to thecomplexslc.com to check out the full line-up. (Arica Roberts)

Disney Concerts: The Empire Strikes Back @ Abravanel Hall 12/31 - 1/3

The epic space opera film, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is just about perfect—one of (if not) the greatest sci-fi films and one of the greatest films ever made. The scores from all the Star Wars films are truly magnificent. However, Empire took time with character development, and the music was an integral part of it. It’s hard to believe that the film’s composer, John Williams, came up with so many different tunes in his career and he was never better than he was here. Two new themes were introduced in Empire: “Han Solo and The Princess” and “The Imperial March,” a.k.a. the one everyone in the world hums at the mention of Darth Vader. Both are classics and defined everything that followed. When I first watched Empire, it opened my eyes to how symphonic music can tell a story. It also introduced me to leitmotifs for characters and themes. It still gives me goosebumps to hear “The Duel” during the confrontation between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, and the climax of the line “No … I am your father” is, in my view, one of the great scenes in cinema.

Whatever the films owe to director George Lucas and his other collaborators, the success of the series is inextricable from Williams’ music. Catch the Utah Symphony becoming a part of the action at Abravanel Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 2 p.m and Friday through Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show range from $38 - $112 at utahsymphony.org. (Mark Dago)

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19) In the Brazilian rainforest, Cecropia trees and Azteca ants have a special relationship. The trees’ hollow branches serve as nesting spaces for the ants and offer them sugarrich food. In return, the ants aggressively defend the trees from herbivores and predators, protecting them from damage. This mutualism benefits both species. The trees get protection that enhances their growth, while the ants gain shelter and nutrition. In the coming months, Aries, I invite you to seek symbiosis that’s equally vigorous. Enjoy the fun challenge of reducing your solo struggles as you rouse collaborations that boost your power and everyone else’s. The goal is intelligent alliance, not compromise. Be resourceful as you trade a bit too much independence for just the right amount of interdependence.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) When potters center clay on a wheel, they typically use one hand inside the vessel to apply steady, controlled force. The other hand remains fluid, guiding and stabilizing the outer rim of the spinning clay. This balanced use of pressure—one hand firm and bracing, the other adapting minutely to the shifting clay—helps bring the lump into perfect symmetry.

I propose you make this a prime metaphor in the coming months, Taurus: control meeting surrender. You will be crafting a new balance between security and surprise. Too much rigidity, and the form cracks; too much flow, and it collapses. Practice the middle art.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Astronaut Chris Hadfield has spent 166 days orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station. In the microgravity of outer space, he says, motion is smooth; objects and people float. He marvels at how everything is always moving, yet the pace itself is tranquil and unhurried. I foresee you enjoying a lot of this kind of grace in the coming months, Scorpio: momentum without mania; constant fluidic movement that’s never hectic or rushed. What a great privilege!

I expect you will rack up many flowing accomplishments.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) In Kyoto’s moss gardens, caretakers practice artful arrangement rather than total removal of shed foliage. They use delicate tools to gather trees’ cast-off leaves and arrange them on the moss to create visual harmony rather than bare tidiness. This approach reflects the Japanese aesthetic principles of embracing imperfection. Supposed “flaws” become part of the beauty of the garden. I propose that you regularly adopt a metaphorically comparable approach in the coming months, Sagittarius. Integrate rather than edit. Be creative with what’s changing form. Treat so-called messes and unexpected plot twists not as blemishes but as rich textures that feel meaningful and inspiring.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) A newly planted orchard spends its first year growing roots, not fruit. Underground and unseen, the real work happens.

I surmise that’s like what you will be doing in the coming months, Capricorn: mostly invisible stabilization and preparation. If anyone asks you what you’re producing, smile inscrutably and say, “Depth.” Be committed to the quiet, hidden work rather than any showy song and dance. As my rough and rugged spirit guide Esther likes to say, “You don’t got to prove nothin’ to nobody!” The nourishment you will be storing up will sustain later abundance.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Engineers may engage in “stress testing.” They evaluate a system’s hardiness and reliability by subjecting it to pressure or force. I suspect that life will bring you a benevolent version of this trial in the coming months, Aquarius. That’s a good thing! It’s not meant to break you, but to prove how much resilience you have developed. Situations that might have formerly cracked your confidence will affirm and reveal your upgraded endurance. Take note of your composure and congratulate yourself for it. You will have every right to exult in the vivid evidence of how much you’ve grown.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Piscean author Anaïs Nin wrote, “Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source.” Apply her counsel during the coming months, dear Pisces. Be the great replenisher. Make yourself into a fountain of beauty as you share lavishly. Nurture tenderness and adoration with unexpected flowers, gorgeous music in the midst of the routine, and affection expressed through artful thoughtfulness. Be brilliant and persistent in ensuring that love thrives. Your elegant generosity and fond attention should enrich everything you touch.

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.

DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 29

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) In medieval monasteries, scribes added whimsical drawings called drolleries into the margins of sacred manuscripts. These marginalia included scenes like frogs playing harps, nuns chasing rabbits, and fantastical creatures engaged in playful or absurd activities. How should we interpret these seemingly prankish additions? Scholars disagree. In any case, I recommend you experiment with drolleries of your own, Virgo. Inject improvisation into duty.

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) According to ancient Egyptian myth, the sun god Ra rode a celestial boat across the sky by day. Each night, he plunged into the underworld to wrangle with chaos so he could rebirth light in time for the dawn. That’s your mythic assignment for the coming months, Leo: not to be nonstop luminous, but to renew and nurture your radiance in the dark. Your courage will lie in feeling and learning from your doubts without identifying with them. Your magnetism and wisdom will deepen as you descend. You won’t be less golden for passing through shadow.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) A remarkable species of jellyfish can circumvent the aging and death process that affects all other animals. Turritopsis dohrnii converts its mature, specialized cells back into stem cells, essentially recycling its own body into youth.

The process may repeat indefinitely, making the animal theoretically immortal. In the coming months, Cancerian, your emotional wisdom will also show amazing regenerative power. Challenging and intriguing situations will be opportunities for you to initiate stunning acts of renewal.

Like the jellyfish, you won’t merely manage change but will use it as a catalyst for vigorous growth. Have you ever before been blessed by such wildly rejuvenative powers of metamorphosis? I don’t think so.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Italy’s Orto Botanico di Padova is the world’s oldest botanical garden still in its original location. Since its inception 480 years ago, it has been a center for botanical research, education and conservation. Its layout is striking, a square inscribed in a circle, symbolizing harmonious order. In the coming months, Libra, you will be wise to associate yourself intimately with a similar wonder: an enduring source of beauty and revelation that you can both serve and benefit from.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Poet Audre Lorde spoke of how caring for herself was the exact opposite of being selfish. It was the foundation of her ability to serve and inspire other people. My Aunt Sophie used to say, “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” Educator Stephen Covey advised, “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” Poet Vironika Tugaleva writes, “Learning to love yourself is essential and life-changing.” Everything I just said should be your keynotes in the coming months, Gemini. Boost your self-care to sublime levels.

Add ornament to order. The coming months will reward your serious play. You’ll accomplish more by enjoying the work than by obsessing on perfecting it. A touch of friskiness may even improve efficiency. So when you edit, doodle; when you analyze, wink.

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he most accurate real estate listings will always be in the local multiple listing sites (MLS), as this is where data begins. When I meet with a seller to “list” their home, that means the property will then be entered into the MLS system, which is a public website for folks to see listings for land, homes, condos and multi-unit properties.

Few commercial properties are put on an MLS for public view, but may appear just on that firm’s website. But not all websites for real estate firms are great. Most will have a link for all companies who have listings in their local MLS, bios of their agents and broker and possibly helpful hints to buy and sell, links to favorite vendors, etc.

The system has been around since the late 1800s. It got a serious start over in San Diego in 1885, when real estate brokers shared listing info via runners who took horses, trolleys and later cars to deliver information back and forth between brokerages.

Fast forward to the early 2000s, when some execs at Expedia created the real estate company Zillow with the intent to provide property data and give instant home evaluations, called “Zestimates.” A few years after launching the site, it created the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace and then started (as well as stopped) their “iBuying” program, where they would purchase your home online.

The real estate market was smokin’ hot in 2018, when the company made online offers to home owners. But that soon turned into a big losing part of the brand and was shut down as the market became soft. Their website remains full of information but as a top-selling broker, I can say that Zillow Zestimates are notoriously wrong. I’m constantly hearing complaints about that from clients or am obliged to give clients the real data that shows their property isn’t worth the millions of dollars that a Zestimate gave them.

Zillow right now is in big trouble with the feds. A class action lawsuit claims that Zillow eavesdrops on client communications to catch their agents who recommend lenders that aren’t part of the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace; requires its special “Flex” agents to meet quotas; and cherry-picks highly qualified buyers for mortgages but offers higher loan interest rates and inaccurate disclosures.

These would be RESPA violations, wherein Zillow (according to the lawsuit) is “illegally both giving and receiving a thing of value related to referrals and receiving payments that is not in exchange for completing the property transaction.”

The complaint has been amended after a separate class action suit accusing the firm of using kickbacks to boost its mortgage. There are also accusations that defendants have made claiming RICO violations, alleging that the company runs a criminal enterprise (of sorts) of fraud, extortion, etc.

We shall see what happens with these lawsuits in the coming new year.

Happy Holidays! n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

© 2025

PIECE OUT

BY MATT JONES

ACROSS

1. Ludacris genre 4. Boorish ones 9. Cornfield birds 14. Old French gold coin 15. Couldn’t avoid it 16. Like notebook paper 17. Adam Scott/Ken Marino comedy series about caterers 19. “RRR” setting 20. Resigned noise 21. Hotel professional 23. Yankee nickname beginning in 2004 26. Furnace feeders 27. Northernmost Oregon city 30. Wimbledon unit 31. Recognize from a picture, perhaps 34. It runs Down Under 37. Affected mannerisms 38. Night before 39. Quark’s place 40. Secret agent 41. Place to repair a two-wheeler 45. Foot, in Latin 46. Melodic passages 47. Word after occupational or speech 51. Make over 52. Very perceptive 54. Get ___ the crack of dawn 57. Extremely 58. Persevere 61. “To reiterate ...”

62. Riverbank critter 63. “Educated Guess” singer DiFranco 64. Sagal of “Married... With Children” 65. Actress Davis of “The Babadook” 66. Abbr. stamped on a bounced check

DOWN

1. Agents 2. Palm berry 3. Middle ground 4. A little short 5. Wee fellow 6. What those with anosmia cannot detect 7. USAF stealth planes 8. “I was ___ prepared for this!”

9. Sachin Tendulkar’s sport 10. Small creek 11. More advanced, in a way 12. Fish dams 13. Badlands Natl. Park site 18. Judo moves

22. Dance recklessly 24. Sphere 25. Crafty letters 27. Aliases, for short 28. Little cut 29. “Hey, wait ___!”

32. Dartmouth or Brown, e.g.

33. Hyperpop band 100 ___ 34. Cuisine with doro wat and shekla tibs 35. Io, for one 36. Diamond officials 39. Paired together 41. Prepare 42. “Babette’s Feast” author Dinesen 43. 8 1/2” x 11” paper size, briefly 44. “Able was I ___ I saw Elba” 45. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” surname 47. Arkansas River city 48. Try to swat 49. “Orange” tea 50. Chucks, slangily 52. Drink brand with a

bunny mascot 53. Brooklyn team 55. Miller and Richards, for two 56. Pre-weekend sentiment 59. Louvre Pyramid architect 60. Test for college srs.

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.

WITH BABS DELAY

Broker, Urban Utah Homes & Estates, urbanutah.com

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

SUDOKU X

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30 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

urban LIVING

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

‘Tis the Season

Kathy Allen Duncan, 73, of Topeka, Kansas, passed away in September, The Washington Post reported on Dec. 17. But her husband, “Tuck,” was determined for her spirit to live on during this Christmas season.

Kathy was reportedly a collector of snowmen, with about 1,000 figurines that she displayed each year for five decades. At her funeral, he remembers thinking, “We need to build one more, one last one.” So Tuck, 74, rented out a vacant store in a shopping mall and recruited his family members to create an exhibit of Kathy’s “snowpeople.” The family said that they hoped to spread joy—and they’ve been surprised at the response. Thousands of people have visited in person, and millions more have seen photos on social media. Tuck said the project cost him about $15,000 and was “worth every penny.” The family will disassemble the display on Christmas Eve and split the figurines between them, to make new scenes in their own homes.

Least Competent Criminal

The Police Department in New Castle, Delaware, received a suspicious phone call on Dec. 10 from 21-year-old Kayonne Baxter, who said he wanted to retrieve some items from a Hyundai Sonata that had been towed, Fox29-TV reported. Oh—and Baxter had stolen the car the day before. Baxter was taken into custody on the same street where the Hyundai had been stolen; he was later charged with felony theft of a motor vehicle.

Lady Justice, perched high atop the Butte, Montana, courthouse, has been missing a key item since the year 1911: her scales. But no longer: Government Buildings Manager John Sullivan was able to find a set of scales on eBay for $50 and purchase them, KBZK-TV reported.

“She has a spot for scales ... the hole was there,” Sullivan said. The city borrowed a construction lift to install the new set on Dec. 11, fulfilling a to-do item on Sullivan’s list. “She looked naked without a set of scales,” he said.

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News You Can Use

The first half of December was the darkest since 1934 in Stockholm, Sweden, Yahoo! News reported, with just a half-hour of sunlight in the first 15 days. Meteorologist Viktor Bergman said low-pressure systems with mild and humid weather have contributed to the gloom.

The average number of hours of sunlight for the whole month is 33, he said. In more bad news for Stockholm, the chances of a white Christmas look slim, he said.

Update

News of the Weird told in June 2023 of Cedric Lodge, 58, and his wife, Denise, who had been indicted for stealing and selling human body parts from the Harvard Medical School morgue. NBC News reported that both appeared in federal court on Dec. 16 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Lodge was sentenced to eight years in prison, and Denise was sentenced to just more than a year for helping him. The Lodges offered a shopping opportunity at the morgue, where buyers could pick which donated remains they wanted. They would then take the items home and ship them through the mail.

The parts included heads, brains, skin and bones.

For example, Lodge provided a buyer with skin to be tanned into leather and bound into a book. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said Lodge treated the human remains “as if they were baubles to be sold for profit.” Lodge expressed regret in court.

Off the Shelf

At the Amble Links Primary School in Northumberland, England, naughty elves have taken their game up a notch, the BBC reported on Dec. 17. Some of their hijinks have included bricking up the school entrance, filling the head teacher’s office with balls and getting a herd of sheep to block the school’s entrance. For six years, community members have helped pull off the elves’ pranks. Head teacher Paul Healey said, “There’s just been so much community involvement, which has been tremendous. It does involve some very, very early mornings ... as it’s trying to have things ready for when the breakfast club children start coming in.” Healey loves doing the tricks for the joy it brings the children: “It’s memories for them.”

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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DECEMBER 25, 2025 | 31

This year’s honorary Grinch award goes to the camel that was participating in a “Christmas Spectacular” at the Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston on Dec. 13. The Houston Chronicle reported that as part of a detailed retelling of the nativity, church performers were leading live camels through the megachurch to the stage when one of the animals shot its rear leg out and struck a woman in the audience. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released. A church spokesperson said the church “regrets that this happened. We then discontinued walking animals within the audience seating areas for the remainder of the shows.” Good thinking.

The last three 1-cent pennies ever minted by the U.S. government sold at auction on Dec. 11 for $800,000, the Associated Press reported. The winning bidder also received the three dies that struck those coins.

“I’ve been going to coin auctions for 40 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said John Kraljevich of Stack’s Bowers Galleries, where the auction was held.

The penny was introduced in 1793 and at that time could buy a biscuit or piece of candy. “I think for a lot of people, the ending of production of cents for circulation is an item of nostalgia,” Kraljevich said.

Babs De Lay

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Roy Marsh, 86, was in Lincolnshire, England, earlier this year when, as he was resting on a bench, a leaf blew into his mouth, the BBC reported on Dec. 10. Marsh spit out the leaf, but “just as I got up to walk away, two guys came up to me,” Marsh said. One of the littering enforcement officers told Marsh that he had been seen spitting, to which Marsh reportedly called him a “silly boy.” Marsh then ended up receiving a fine of $334.50, later reduced to $200.70, which he paid. But Adrian Findley, a county councillor for Lincolnshire County, said that enforcement officers are “taking it too far.

If it looks like a genuine accident, then give people the opportunity to apologize and pick it up.” Marsh was quoted saying: “It was all unnecessary and out of proportion.”

Irony

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The Litigious Society

Diane Huff-Medina of Lakewood, California, didn’t even realize her pet cat, Piper, was gone until she looked at her doorbell camera video, KTLA-TV reported. On Dec. 11, an Amazon Flex driver delivered a package to HuffMedina’s front door, then stooped over to pet Piper, who was sitting on the porch. Then the man picked up Piper by her scruff and carried her off to his vehicle.

An Amazon spokesperson called the act “horrible” and said the delivery person is no longer “eligible to deliver to our customers.” Police said the driver had been identified and charges are pending—but Piper is still missing. “I don’t know where she is or if she’s OK,” Huff-Medina said.

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About Time

Cat Burglar

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32 | DECEMBER 25, 2025

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