City Weekly October 21, 2021

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CITY WEEKLY

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U TA H ' S I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R

y n n u F y e n o M Utah's Operation Underground Railroad donated to an Officer Wellness Program, then claimed direct involvement in law enforcement operations.

By Taylor Hartman

CONTENTS COVER STORY

FUNNY MONEY

Utah’s Operation Underground Railroad donated to an Officer Wellness Program, then claimed direct involvement in lawenforcement operations.

By Taylor Hartman

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Cover illustration by Derek Carlisle

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NEWS

Get to know all 19 candidates in the Salt Lake City Council Race with City Weekly’s election preview, “Off to the Races”. facebook.com/slcweekly

DINE

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STAY INFORMED! Want to know the latest on coronavirus? Get off Facebook and check out these three online resources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov World Health Organization: who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 State of Utah Coronavirus Updates: coronavirus.utah.gov

STAFF Publisher PETE SALTAS Associate Publisher MICHAEL SALTAS Executive Editor JOHN SALTAS News Editor BENJAMIN WOOD Arts & Entertainment Editor SCOTT RENSHAW Contributing Editor JERRE WROBLE Music Editor ERIN MOORE Listings Desk KARA RHODES

Editorial Contributors KATHARINE BIELE ROB BREZSNY TAYLOR HARTMAN MIKE RIEDEL ALEX SPRINGER Production Art Director DEREK CARLISLE Graphic Artists SOFIA CIFUENTES, CHELSEA NEIDER Circulation Manager ERIC GRANATO

Associate Business Manager: PAULA SALTAS Technical Director BRYAN MANNOS Developer BRYAN BALE Sales Executives: DOUG KRUITHOF KATHY MUELLER Display Advertising 801-716-1777 National Advertising VMG Advertising | 888-278-9866

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. 15,000 copies of Salt Lake City Weekly are available free of charge at more than 1,800 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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SOAP BOX Utah’s Oath Keepers

A recent story in The Salt Lake Tribune revealed that one of the many people on the leaked Oath Keepers membership rolls is Brian Nielson, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections.

Nielson strongly denies having been an Oath Keeper (a patriot group considered by the feds to be an anti-government militia), but I don’t believe him. First, he is on the rolls. That’s rather self-evident and rather incriminating.

Second, can Nielson be trusted? I used to report on the Sanpete County Commission for the Sanpete Messenger. Nielson attended the commission meetings since he was the Sanpete County sheriff.

Nielson was extremely secretive. At least, while I was around, he would keep information from being made known, whispering to his associates.

He was one of the few people among the many county officials who attended the meetings who would behave this way.

Third, is his alleged involvement in Oath Keepers really a surprise? Nielson worked on a rural Utah police force deep in Trump country. I’d actually be rather surprised if he wasn’t an Oath Keeper. It’s just unfortunate that he is a top official in the state of Utah and that he has this sort of worldview.

A lot of this issue rests on Utah Gov. Spencer Cox for making a poor appointment and favoring someone from his own backyard (Cox is from Sanpete County).

RHETT WILKINSON

Manti

“Surreal in America” Sept. 9 Opinion

While Tom Goldsmith’s opinion piece about surrealness in America was written in scholarly fashion, it lacked the critical

@SLCWEEKLY ingredient of comprehensive analysis. That is, Mr. Goldsmith only shared evidence of surrealness in the Republican Party.

Here are obvious examples of surrealism from the other side: “There is no crisis on the border”; “The $3.5 trillion spending bill has a zero price tag”; “No Americans will be left behind in Afghanistan”; “The Afghan withdrawal was an incredibly successful, humanitarian act.”

And perhaps this one: “Biden is not showing signs of senility.”

ALEX BENNETT

@CITYWEEKLY

@SLCWEEKLY

The last gerrymandering was horrible. I don’t have the answer, but us in blue don’t stand a chance the way things are here in Utah.

DEANNA GARCIA

Via Facebook Correction: A “Good Eats” restaurant listing in the Oct. 14 issue of City Weekly included an outdated address for the Rio Grande Cafe, which is currently located at 258 S. 1300 East in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City

Redistricting 2021

Pretty sure the districts were drawn out last year and this is nothing but a dog and pony show. It will be so much worse.

CATHEY LUKES

Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@ cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

Via Facebook

THE BOX

Name a product or service you love so much that you’d happily be that company’s spokesperson.

Benjamin Wood

Sanuk makes a hybrid sandal/ slip-on shoe that is, IMHO, the perfect footwear.

Carolyn Campbell

I would love to be the spokesperson for Koodegras CBD. I have insomnia, and it helps me get seven hours sleep almost every night.

Mikey Saltas

Salt Lake Barber Co. Every haircut I’ve had there has been better than any other shop I’ve been to — doesn’t matter who I go to, either, they are all great.

Also, Takashi. Give me all the sushi.

Eric Granato

Hemplucid CBD products. They have amazing quality control and an enormous product line.

Eleni Saltas

Nike, Nike, Nike

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Real-Life Comics A

fter writing an opinion column for more than 30 years, I gotta say it was much more fun when fewer people had opinions. Actually, it’s not like people didn’t have opinions all these years, it’s that they had less of an opportunity to express them.

Before Satan allowed them—I mean you—to sign up for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social media platform, they—err, you—basically had no one to share an opinion with outside a handful of co-workers, maybe, or select family members. Sharing an opinion never worked at church because everyone lies at church, any way. It’s the place where everyone agrees to agree, except they really don’t.

For most of those 30 years, persons who had an opinion about my opinion, or City Weekly’s opinion, wrote us letters to the editor. We used to get stacks of them each week, and we’d print as many as space would allow. A printed letter to the editor required a person to sign the letter and grant permission for us to print it. An editor or intern called those letter-writers to validate that it was a real person sending the message.

There have only been a few times when we printed a letter under the banner of “Anonymous.” And even those were after careful vetting from which we decided that the message itself was important enough that we violate our own rule.

Knowing there was a real person behind those letters made for a real opportunity for me. I was especially fond of those writers who took the time to weigh in on a subject, and I’ve tried to reach back to as many as I could with a thank you.

But when someone wrote an angry or even a threatening

B Y J O H N S A LTA S @johnsaltas

letter, I’d write back, and we’d punch back and forth until the banter led to the only sensible conclusion there was.

That is, we’d decide to meet face to face for a drink or lunch or coffee. That has happened countless times. To gain the respect of a former foe is a good feeling. I made some pretty good friends over time who were at first duty- or honorbound to dislike me.

No matter, it worked. Friendships were made and opinions were made to matter. To be sure, my opinions sometimes changed as well. That’s the way it should work. People can agree to disagree, they can agree to speak openly, then they can agree to break bread.

But it no longer works that way. Not even close. On social media, as often as not, a person—or bot—that disagrees with any opinion will cast a narrow net around a select few tried-and-true phrases: you suck; you’re an ass; you’re an idiot; and so on.

I can’t deny I’ve used those same phrases when expressing my own opinions, especially on Twitter. It’s true.

I’ve said at various times that Rep. Chris Stewart sucks, that Rep. Burgess Owens is an ass, and that Sen. Mike Lee is an idiot. Or maybe I’ve said all of that about all three.

I consider each to be horrible human beings and hardly mind saying so.

If they were cast in movie villain roles, Stewart would be Nurse Ratched as he shares her trait of not helping at all when people under her charge are hurt or in pain. Lee is Iago, the dangerous manipulator, seemingly a righteous good guy on one hand, but too willing to deviate by any means and tell any lie. Owens is Count Dracula, an opportunistic blood sucker who only comes out to do harm when no one is looking and otherwise doesn’t do a damned thing.

On each of those occasions, as today, my name appears as it does on my birth certificate. I am certifiably real and certifiably no fan of those men. That’s not how it plays out

on social media, though. Using a real name and an avatar that even remotely resembles the author is a rarity. I’m as likely to be maligned by Borg7patriotzinger as the next guy, and maybe the next guy doesn’t mind, but whoever Borg7patriotzinger is remains a mystery. That troubles me because having a beer with Borg7patriotzinger seems risky. I wouldn’t even know if Borg7, for short, lives nearby (I will not drive beyond Ogden to drink a beer) or is even a real person. Lordy knows those Russians are better at playing social media than I am. I think they’re just trying to rile me up.

And that’s the rub. What I’m saying isn’t new or clever.

It’s been said since the advent of social media—the willingness of everyone to pop off without accountability is harming the crap out of us. There was a time when dialogue was civil—the topics may have been objectionable, but the motive for creating dialogue wasn’t sinister. That’s no longer true. In the good old days when someone popped off with a bad take—say, in a bar, when a guy pulled a demeaning hustle on a waitress—he might have gotten a black eye. He changed his behavior or found a new bar.

That’s civil, right?

Today, bad behavior begets more bad behavior. I know the real names of some social media crazies. They’re only emboldened because they can hide behind their silly stars and stripes parakeet bandito avatar. Take away their superpower, anonymity—and anonymity is indeed powerful as you saw during the Jan. 6 cosplay insurrection—and those folks would return to the decent citizens they were raised to be.

Pull away the masks. Deny the avatars. No more anonymity. Only then can we see each other for who we are, not who our comic minds want us to be. CW Send comments to john@cityweekly.net.

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HITS&MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE @kathybiele

MISS: Growing Pains

Here come all those people streaming into Utah because of our amenities. But will we have those perks in the future? Tree-lined neighborhoods with single-family homes are being pressed by the ever-present need for elusive affordable housing. With a rate of 18.4% over the last decade, Utah is the fastest-growing state in the nation. But neither goods nor the shipping containers they come in can get here fast enough. Salt Lake is building a bare-necessities shipping container project. Then, according to Building Salt Lake, there is a 330,000 squarefoot office space that’s already halfway built, and two new housing structures to come in the Granary District.

Some planning commissioners questioned the wisdom of a 976-stall parking garage in the area, but the vision of a city without cars gave way to the reality of a hot population boom.

MISS: See No Evil

Turns out the divide over Critical Race Theory is both partisan and fantastical. This is really a battle over American Exceptionalism more than truth, because it’s about how people want American children to view their nation’s history. China does the same thing that Republicans aspire to—indoctrinate kids so they don’t stray from the assigned path. The Deseret News ran results from the American Family Survey, now in its seventh year: “Survey results suggest Republicans want to tell a positive story of racial progress, while Democrats see a need to deal directly with the nation’s fraught racial history.” But the whole opposing-view theory has endemic problems, writes Heather Cox Richardson. Teach the Holocaust, but don’t forget the opposing side? It comes down to teaching unicorns and rainbows, or Hitler and Rasputin.

HIT: Yours Is Mine

We feel their pain. Coal country is shrinking and no amount of heart-felt sorrow will bring it back. “It hasn’t been taken very well by people who have worked in the mines,” former coal miner Janice Hunt told The Salt Lake Tribune. “They think the mines will last forever.” Coal is dwindling around the country as climate change takes its toll on health and well-being.

Carbon County is adjusting with solar energy projects and a focus on arts and tourism. And while coal country goes through its contraction, lawmakers may pit it against the state’s urban areas when voting districts are redrawn this year. The economy is changing everything, including the rural-urban divide. Legislators should recognize the commonalities.

CITIZEN REV LT IN A WEEK, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

The Afghans Are Coming

Everyone has an opinion about Afghanistan—whether we should have stayed, whether we should have left, when and how we should have ended this longest war. But the fact is that Utah is welcoming Afghan refugees now, and it’s important for us to understand the factors that brought them here.

At Afghanistan: Informing the Debate, a panel of career national security leaders will discuss “our 20 years in Afghanistan and the complex events that are critical to our national security.” You will hear about the successes and failures in Afghanistan from the perspectives of military, diplomatic and federal civil servants. And of course, you can weigh in with questions. Hinckley Institute of Politics, 260 Central Campus Drive, University of Utah, Thursday, Oct. 28, 12 p.m. Free/register (priority to students) at https://bit.ly/3ACmegU

Multicultural Festival

Utah has the reputation of being all whitebread and conservative, but that has been changing over the years, as the recently released census data shows. The Utah Multicultural Festival will bring people together from throughout the state “to see our Latino multicultural communities proudly displaying their culture through food, music, art and other entertainment.” In 1990, Latinos accounted for only 4.9% of the population. By 2020, that number had increased to more than 15%. Minorities as a whole now make up nearly a quarter of the population.

Debates around immigration purport that the Latino population is overwhelmingly undocumented, but that is not supported by fact. See what the community has to offer.

The Gateway, 400 W. 200 South, Saturday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., free. https://bit.ly/30srkjs

Kids and Climate

After the past few months of fires in the West, it’s clear that breathing is a huge public health issue. But just as it affects adults, children also suffer, perhaps irretrievably.

At Advocating for Children’s Health: Tools from the 2021 Lancet Countdown, pediatricians will discuss findings from the Lancet brief, which is due to be released that very day. How do you advocate for children’s health in a changing climate?

This is the overarching question facing policymakers and the public. “The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international research collaboration that monitors and reports annually on the relationship between health and climate, and its implications for national governments.” Virtual, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m. Free/register at https://bit.ly/30iTmh4

Draw the Lines

Here’s your final chance to tell the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission how you want to be represented for the next 10 years. The commission, formed after passage of Proposition 4, will present its maps to the Legislature soon after this final public hearing. West Valley City Hall, 3600 S. Constitution Blvd., West Valley, Saturday, Oct. 23, 11 a.m., free. https://bit.ly/3FLyvTT

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OCTOBER 21, 2021 | 9

ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, OCTOBER 21-27, 2021

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

Among the canonical works of horror, Bram Stoker’s Dracula ranks with the greatest, and not just because its indelible titular character has become all-but-synonymous with “vampire.” You can get a sense for a story’s greatness from its adaptability to many different artistic formats and interpretations, allowing for new ways to consider its themes. That’s why it’s not surprising to realize that choreographer Ben Stevenson transformed Dracula into a ballet in 1997, and that it was popular enough with Ballet West audiences when it first arrived here in 2011 that it seemed ripe for a Halloweenseason return.

The basics of the narrative are probably familiar enough—the mysterious Count Dracula, his faithful assistant Renfield, a young woman at risk of becoming his next victim—but there’s nothing stodgy about the theatrical energy provided by this version. Elaborate costuming, scenic design and stage effects including characters taking flight provide a unique spectacle, while a 52-piece orchestra plays a

LUKE ISLEY

Ballet West: Dracula

score made up of Franz Liszt compositions to accompany the cast of more than 60 dancers.

It’s quite a grand way for the company to return to full in-person performances.

Ballet West’s Dracula runs Oct. 22-30 at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South), with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday matinees. Tickets are $29-$99, available at arttix.org; face coverings will be required of all patrons for all performances. A special “Dracula Bash” event follows the Oct. 29 performance as an add-on.

Visit balletwest.org for additional information.

(Scott Renshaw)

Pioneer Theatre Company: Ass It’s been a long road towards the world-premiere of Ellen Simon’s Ass, which was originally scheduled to debut as part of Pioneer Theatre Company’s season in spring 2020, after a development process that included readings at the company in 2018. But few collaborators would seem to appreciate the patience required in the creative process like Simon and PTC artistic director Karen Azenberg, who have known each other going back to the Broadway collaborations between their respective fathers—producer Manny Azenberg, and legendary playwright Neil Simon.

“We had a front row seat to our fathers’ friendship and to their professional collaboration, influencing our careers in theatre,” Simon told Broadway world last year.

“We’re excited to continue this partnership as second-generation collaborators.” To which Azenberg added, “It’s gratifying to watch this production come full circle with Ellen. And to witness our lifelong relationship, growing up together backstage in New York, coming around full circle as well.”

The comedic play itself deals with an artist, as well—a celebrated sculp-

COURTESY PHOTO

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ESSENTIALS

the

tor whose health is failing him, forcing him to confront his mortality. His relationships are predictably complicated, including those with his son and his current wife (his ninth), as they deal with the collision between professional excellence and personal messiness that, in contemporary parlance, would be called “problematic.”

Ass runs Oct. 22-Nov. 6 at Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre (300 S. 1400 East), with tickets ranging from $33-$50 advance purchase, $5 more day of show. Visit pioneertheatre.org to purchase tickets, or for information about current health and safety protocols. (SR)

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ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, OCTOBER 21-27, 2021

Technological change often moves faster than the law can keep up with it—and the result is a fraught legal landscape tangled up with questions of ethics and the capitalist push for innovation, in fields ranging from agriculture to medicine. Such a matter forms the foundation of University of Utah law professor Jorge L. Contreras’s fascinating new book The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA. The tale begins with biotech companies like Myriad Genetics using patent law to protect their isolation of specific parts of the human genome, such as the BCRA genes allowing detection of genetic propensity towards certain types of breast cancer. Civil rights attorney Chris Hansen, however, was among those who began asking, “Can a corporation own a part of the fundamental building blocks of what makes us human?”

In 2010, Hansen and the ACLU began litigation challenging the right of corporations to patent parts of the human genome, a fight that led all the way to the Supreme Court.

Contreras goes behind the scenes with many of the key participants, offering an inside look at the legal strategy and the potential consequences on either side of the final decision.

Contreras will be discussing The Genome Defense via The King’s English Bookshop Crowdcast on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at

ALGONQUIN PRESS

Jorge L. Contreras: The Genome Defense

6 p.m., in conversation with author Jordan Fisher Smith. The free, virtual event is open to the public, but advance registration is required via kingsenglish.com. Order the book through the King’s English website, and receive an autographed copy. (SR)

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Broadway Across America: Frozen Anyone who had young children circa 2013 can tell you what a sensation Disney’s animated film Frozen was at the time, inspiring Anna and Elsa costumes by the millions and perpetual sing-alongs to “Let It Go.” It was utterly predictable, then, that Frozen would inspire not just a film sequel, but would follow in a 25-year tradition of Disney bringing some of its biggest animated hits to the liveaction theatrical stage. So it was that the original Frozen creative team—writer/director Jennifer Lee and the songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez— reunited to expand the story for an elaborate Broadway musical presentation.

The basic story itself remains the same, of course, involving the sister princesses Anna and Elsa in the kingdom of

ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, OCTOBER 21-27, 2021 Arendelle, and the clash of wills between them that threatens perpetual winter. But there’s more going on here than a different place to hear all of those familiar songs; a dozen new musical numbers have been added to the soundtrack.

Creative puppeteering effects bring characters like Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer to life, while digital projections allow the stage to come alive with the magical powers of Elsa.

The touring production of Frozen makes a stop at the Eccles Theatre as a Broadway at the Eccles presentation, Oct. 26 – Nov. 13. Face coverings are required of all patrons, regardless of vaccination status, throughout the performance. Special accessibility performances are available for captions (matinee, Oct. 30), audio description (evening, Oct. 31) and ASL (evening, Nov. 5). Visit arttix.org for tickets and additional information. (SR)

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PURPLE MOSS INTERIOR DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY

Salt Lake Film Society returns to in-person service after an innovative digital pivot.ake Film Society’s Tower Theatre

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

B

y the time the Salt Lake Film Society’s two Salt Lake City art-house venues reopen—the Broadway Centre Cinemas on Oct. 22, and the Tower Theatre at a later date due to construction delays—they will have been closed for more than 19 consecutive months. Even for a not-for-profit enterprise, that would seem like a sure recipe for going away forever.

But according to executive director Tori Baker, a quick and innovative pivot is both the reason they’ve survived, and one of the main reasons they waited so long to reopen their doors.

At the time of initial shutdown in March 2020, Baker recalls, the expectations were generally for a relatively brief interruption before resuming operations. “Everybody was talking about one or two weeks [of closure],” Baker says. “I called up our booker, and I said, five or six weeks [for Salt Lake Film Society], something like that. She thought I was crazy.

“In my operational mind, I was thinking, ‘I can’t do anything with one or two weeks; that’s just lost time. I need enough time where my team can be reallocated to do something productive within that six weeks.’”

The first question Baker realized they had to answer was what problem it was that they were trying to solve with any innovation they came up with—and it was not the problem that the rest of the industry seemed to believe it was. “Unfortunately for

many around the art house world, people were reading the problem as, ‘Could people watch a movie,’” Baker says. “But streaming services were already solving that problem.

We were solving the problem of donor and patron engagement, so they knew we were coming back, and fundraising, so we could be solid while we were closed.”

At the time, art-house distributor Kino Lorber had already begun an online streaming network that allowed many art-house cinemas around the nation to piggyback, providing films that at-home viewers could purchase and Kino Lorber would reimburse the theaters. Baker was looking for an online model that would mimic the theatrical model on a digital rather than a physical screen, and would allow the viewers to be Salt Lake Film Society’s own customers, rather than Kino Lorber customers; “That was the road I saw as handing away your donors and patrons to another organization,” she says. Within a few weeks of shutdown, a project spearheaded by SLFS’s Miles Romney became At-Home Arts, a digital platform not only for SLFS’s own virtual cinema, but licensed out to 34 other art-house cinemas around the country.

The key component of that platform was not the ticket sales for movies themselves, which Baker says have been between only

around 10% of what physical theater ticket sales typically were pre-COVID. “It allows us to make an ‘ask,’” Baker says. “Our mission was still very active. How we really survived was through the fund-raising that initiated.”

While the shift to At-Home Arts was crucial in keeping SLFS viable, it’s also part of the reason the organization decided to delay in reopening the venues while other theater chains moved back towards normal operations earlier in the year. While it’s also the case that art houses in general are slower in the summer, when blockbuster releases are more prevalent, and ramp up again during the “prestige movie” fall season leading up to awards announcements, turning the ship back towards physical presentation required a bit more time than the initial shift did.

“It costs to reopen,” Baker says. “It costs to hire, to invest in the facility in a way that doesn’t make it feel like you’ve transported to 1940. And we were doing At-Home Arts with 34 cinemas. The pivot wasn’t insignificant from a human capital standpoint. That pivot takes time. For profit theaters didn’t have to worry about that; they just shuttered, and waited to reopen with movies.”

That wait time has allowed Salt Lake Film Society to engage in some renovations to both of the facilities, and prepare for imple-

Renovations still underway for the Salt Lake Film Society’s Tower Theatre

menting the “Cinema-Safe” COVID safety program initiated by the National Association of Theater Owners. And according to Baker, the reopening week will highlight the kind of programming that separates SLFS from traditional for-profit theaters, like playing not just the new film version of Dune, but also the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune concurrently, with the David Lynch 1984 version of Dune currently scheduled to open Oct. 29..

As for the question of whether audiences are primed to return to theatrical moviegoing—particularly the audience for arthouse films, which tends to be older—Baker believes that rumors of the theatrical experience’s death are greatly exaggerated. “The ‘theaters are dying’ story happens all the time … whether it’s TV, or VHS, or streaming. What people are missing, and will never stop needing, is … that moment, particularly in a technological age, where it demands your focus in that communal setting, in a way it doesn’t when you see it on your laptop or your TV. There’s something palpable about being in the same room with people, feeling the same thing.

That’s irreplaceable.” CW

16 | OCTOBER 21, 2021

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Half Measures

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part One tells only part of its epic story.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

T

o Denis Villeneuve’s credit, he lays it right out there in the opening title card for his new movie: Dune Part One. There was simply no way to condense the sprawling narrative of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction classic into one feature, even a 2-1/2 hour feature, a reality that gifted filmmakers like Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch had already discovered in their own attempts at cinematic adaptations. Like recent examples ranging from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Breaking Dawn to It, this would be yet another case of prioritizing fidelity over efficiency, counting on an audience’s investment in the source material to let them leave the theater believing that half (or one-third, even) of a story was still a whole, individually satisfying movie.

And thus we dive headlong into the galaxy-spanning political intrigues that lead the Atreides family—Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and their son, Paul (Timothée Chalamet)—from their home planet of Caladan to the desert planet Arrakis, where Leto has been assigned by the Emperor to oversee mining operations for the immensely valuable substance simply referred to as “the spice.” Long story short—not particularly short, in this case—the increasingly powerful Atreides family has been set up by the Emperor for possible attack by a rival clan led by Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård, digitally and prosthetically blown up

to Jabba the Hutt dimensions), in addition to the more mundane threats of a harsh planet under an occupying power.

Villeneuve’s adaptation—co-credited to veterans Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts—generally downplays the colonialism angle in favor of the arc of Paul’s hero journey, a Joseph Campbell-ready “chosen one” narrative built on Lady Jessica’s history with a mysterious spiritual order. Chalamet’s brooding style works well for a character haunted by his dream visions, and he does well with the part of Paul’s story that deals much more with confusion and uncertainty than action.

Action is present here in concentrated doses, though, offered in a scope that really is best served on the largest possible screen. As Villeneuve demonstrated in his previous science-fiction efforts like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, he prefers awe to slam-bang spectacle, and his imagery— captured in haunting dusty vistas and accented beams of light by cinematographer Greig Fraser—emphasizes stuff like enormous starships and colossal sandworms.

“World-building” has become a loaded, almost sarcastic terminology when it comes

to storytelling of this kind, but there really is no better word for the detail Villeneuve commits to, from the dragonfly-style design of one of the commonly-used airships, to the functional costuming of the characters, to the rituals and traditions of Arrakis’ native Fremen built on the value of moisture in this world. If your ideal movie experience emphasizes memorable stuff to look at, you’ve come to the right place.

If your ideal movie experience is based on connection to the characters, however … eh. Long stretches of Dune Part One are devoted to making sure we’re clear exactly why the Atreides are coming to Arrakis and the Harkonnens are leaving, to the extent that it’s repeated just on the off-chance that we missed it the first time. Such an intense focus on machinations leaves little room for anything that resembles emotion, aside from the brief bursts of energy Jason Momoa brings as a loyal Atreides soldier/Paul’s best friend, or Skarsgård’s Harkonnen played as what feels like a hat-tip to Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. The repeated glimpses of a premonition by Paul that he will someday have a relationship with a Fremen warrior (Zendaya) only serves to emphasize that

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we’re generally not seeing actual people having actual relationships.

Is that in part a function of the split narrative? Of course. That’s the risk you take as a filmmaker when you start something that the folks who bought a ticket aren’t going to be able to finish for what may be a couple of years. Dune Part One may be quite an extraordinary spectacle, but it could only ever be half of a story, which isn’t even the same as a “middle episode” like The Empire Strikes Back that ends with a cliffhanger.

Maybe this movie will feel different circa 2023-ish, when Dune Part One has been resolved by Dune Part Two. CW

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Utah’s Operation Underground Railroad donated to an Officer Wellness Program, then claimed direct involvement in law enforcement operations.

BY TAYLOR HARTMAN The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Salt Lake City Weekly, Standard Examiner, The Park Record and Daily Herald.

It’s been a year since news broke that Operation Underground Railroad, a Utah-based anti-trafficking nonprofit that has gained international prominence, was under investigation by the Davis County Attorney. But little new has come to light about the nature or scope of the probe.

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project, however, has pieced together clues from a variety of sources that the donation-rich nonprofit may be under scrutiny for exaggerating its role in law-enforcement crackdowns on child predators as a means of self-promotion and fundraising. It also had a special partnership with the Utah Attorney General’s office that may have been exploited toward these ends.

From 2017 to 2020, Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Utah Attorney General’s office through its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. While the donations were strictly for use in promoting the mental health of officers involved in investigating child predators and human trafficking, O.U.R. claimed direct involvement in the arrests of perpetrators and said its collaboration with law enforcement enabled more than 200 investigations.

Funds for Officer Wellness

The Internet Crimes Against Children program (ICAC) is funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Created more than two decades ago to address the increasing number of kids and teens being exploited through the internet, the program works to help state and local law enforcement use technology-based investigations to prosecute child sex crimes.

The federal office provides financial and training support to dozens of local law enforcement agencies. Its most recent reporting shows it has provided $1.2 million in funding to Utah’s ICAC, including $459,553 in 2019 alone.

O.U.R., meanwhile, provided multiple donations to Utah’s program over the years, donating up to $250,000 yearly from 2017 to 2020, according to public tax records and the Attorney General’s office.

Those O.U.R. donations, however, were directed explicitly to fund an officer wellness unit and nothing else. The wellness program helps ICAC investigators by offering therapy and mental health services at no cost. Oftentimes, officers investigating these crimes see graphic images of child abuse, creating a mental strain and a need to process what they’ve seen during their work.

“We’d been approached by O.U.R. to donate to our Internet Crimes against Children Task Force. We told them we’d be interested in that if the money could be used for the Officer Wellness Program to extend it statewide,” said Leo Lucey, chief of the Attorney General’s’s criminal/investigations division.

Started in 2013, the wellness program ran on a limited basis until 2017, as budget constraints meant only a few officers could avail themselves of its services. In 2017, though, the budget was expanded to $750,000 annually, due to donations like O.U.R.’s, and its services were offered to all officers involved in ICAC operations.

y n n Fu y e n o M Indications that the claimed extent of O.U.R.’s involvement in the ICAC program might be questionable were first raised in an Instagram post by Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings. In a message posted before news broke of his investigation into the organization, Rawlings wrote: “Please beware of any individual, entity or organization who solicits your money and may be claiming credit for work to protect children that is actually done by our task force and/or other law-enforcement organizations in Utah and around the world. Get the details before parting with your cash... They have had absolutely zero involvement in any of these arrests and successful prosecutions you see on display on the ‘Wall of Shame’ in the Davis County Attorney’s Office.”

O.U.R. was never specifically named in that or other similar posts. When the Utah Attorney General’s office became aware that O.U.R. was under criminal investigation, it terminated its financial ties to the nonprofit, said spokesman Richard Piatt.

It wasn’t the first time a law enforcement agency severed ties with O.U.R. In 2020, the Washington State Patrol stopped accepting donations from the Utah nonprofit that had helped fund its controversial “Operation Net Nanny” stings, which resulted in the arrests of nearly 300 accused child predators, but which critics accused of entrapment.

When asked about O.U.R.’s partnership with the Washington State Patrol, a spokesperson for the state agency told The Spokesman Review in May that, “it became increasingly apparent that O.U.R. needed us more than we needed them. And they were using our success in the promotion of their activities.”

Extensive investigations by the news organization VICE have also sounded the alarm about O.U.R.’s inflated claims of being at the forefront in the anti-trafficking fight and its integral collaboration with law enforcement.

“What we found aren’t outright falsehoods but a pattern of image-burnishing and mythology-building, a series of exaggerations that are, in the aggregate, quite misleading,” VICE reported in December 2020.

More recently, VICE reported it had confirmed through anonymous sources that the Utah investigation by Rawlings had widened to include involvement by the FBI. CharityWatch, a nonprofit formerly known as the American Institute of Philanthropy, downgraded its rating of O.U.R. last year to a question mark based on reports of the investigation by the Davis County prosecutor.

Claims of Rescues and Arrests

O.U.R. appears to have used its partnership with the Utah Attorney General’s office to make false claims about its involvement in ICAC, despite only donating to the Officer Wellness Program. In September 2017, O.U.R. boasted on its blog that its assistance directly helped Utah’s ICAC Task Force in making arrests.

The blog post states: “support provided to Utah ICAC

by Operation Underground Railroad within the last three months has led to the arrest of seven more individuals for sexual exploitation of children involving the Internet.”

O.U.R. also claimed that the task force was able to initiate nearly 200 more investigations “due to our collaborative efforts in the past three months.”

In July 2019, the organization made similar claims in a blog post, saying that its support of ICAC led to 10 arrests, 24 rescues and 55 investigations from January to April of that year.

When asked about the claims made by O.U.R., Piatt, the Attorney General’s spokesman, said the office was not aware of them, but acknowledged the agency did provide arrest statistics to the organization.

“O.U.R. received quarterly statistical reports that showed the number of arrests,” Piatt told The Utah Investigative Journalism Project. “Since they had donated to the Officer Wellness Program, they were kept in the loop about what ICAC had been doing.”

Piatt explicitly stated that O.U.R. had zero involvement in ICAC beyond its donations.

“They did not, and wouldn’t be allowed to participate in ICAC operations,” Piatt said. “One hundred percent of O.U.R.’s donations were used for the Officer Wellness Program. O.U.R. was not part of active or day-to-day operations of ICAC in any way.”

Additionally, Piatt said that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes—known to be a vocal supporter of O.U.R. and who was on its advisory board and has participated in its undercover operations and fundraising—was “walled off” from the agreement and donations, and he had nothing to do with facilitating them.

Outside of the Officer Wellness Program, Piatt said that O.U.R. did provide some training to the Utah ICAC task force. He said the organization brought in a guest speaker to a training for forensic investigations specific to ICAC work.

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Experts say public and private partnerships are not uncommon and they can be done ethically, though conflicts of interest can arise. David Buhler is a regents professor for the University of Utah’s Political Science Department, and was formerly a state senator, executive director of the state Commerce Department and state commissioner of higher education. He says when examining the general nature of private-public partnerships, it’s important to look at why an organization may be making donations.

“Look at the motives. Are they getting some gain?” Buhler asked.

“Are they getting any kind of unfair benefit that isn’t available to those who aren’t participating?”

In O.U.R.’s case, the nonprofit was provided with investigation and arrest statistics from the Attorney General’s office, which it used on its website to promote the organization and, likely, provided it a talking point for fundraising, which has exploded in recent years. O.U.R.’s most recent tax filing showed it received $17.5 million in donations in 2018 alone.

Buhler, still speaking in generalities, said that conflicts of interest can especially occur if government regulators or law enforcement are involved.

“I think you have to look at the individual circumstances,” Buhler said, “particularly for agencies or offices that are involved in either regulation or law enforcement, then I think it can become more problematic. There are some things you can do to safeguard—like having transparency definitely helps.”

Years before the Attorney General’s office began accepting donations from O.U.R., auditors in Utah’s capitol were already blasting the lack of transparency in how the ICAC program was run and how money was spent. A 2015 budget report to the Legislature said there was insufficient accounting, making it impossible to verify that funds given were being spent correctly.

The report stated that accounting errors were due to “previous management” not wanting to reveal details of the ICAC program. It also said investigators weren’t reporting their time correctly while they worked on the task force. The report went on to say that neither personnel issues nor the concern of program transparency justified the accounting problem.

“This issue could indicate lack of strong overall management of these programs and is a concern that needs to be addressed in the future,” the report said.

If the Attorney General’s office addressed the concerns brought up in the report, it’s unclear how, as financial information on the ICAC task force remains limited. In February 2018, Reyes came before Utah’s Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee to answer questions on his budget and potential cuts of state funding for an ICAC program meant to teach children internet safety. In the hearing, Reyes mentioned there were partnerships between the ICAC program and private companies but he didn’t go into detail. Reyes mentioned that ICAC partnered with Microsoft, Adobe, and “many others.” O.U.R. was never mentioned.

“Because of our private partnerships that we have, over $200,000 [in equipment] for our mobile forensic unit that helps our ICAC team was purchased,” Reyes said. He also boasted about the officer wellness unit, saying the Attorney General’s office was able to secure funding for the unit without coming to the state for more money.

“We haven’t come to the state [for the officer wellness unit],” Reyes said. “We’ve been able to subsidize that.”

Aside from Reyes speaking about the ICAC budget in 2018, details about the nature of the unit’s funding were scarce or nonexistent.

On Utah’s public-facing transparent budget portal, the task force has no information beyond its revenue and expenditures, making it impossible to discern how the office was spending funds it received from O.U.R. or other private organizations. It remains unclear if the Attorney General’s office ever informed legislators, the public or anyone else about the money it was receiving from O.U.R..

A public records request filed by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project seeking information on how much money the office received from O.U.R. and written communications between the nonprofit and the state agency was denied by the Attorney General’s office, citing the confidentiality of the ongoing investigation. O.U.R. did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local media and providing important investigative reporting to local communities. Learn how to support their efforts at utahinvestigative.org/donate.

When it’s Reyes, it pours

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes addresses the crowd during a 2018 election watch party held at Mitt Romney’s Orem campaign headquarters.

BY BENJAMIN WOOD

I

f it’s true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, then Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes is having one helluva time. Since his appointment as the state’s top prosecutor in 2013, Reyes’ name has been a regular fixture in local news headlines, albeit not always for the best reasons.

It would be unfairly reductive to evaluate the performance of an attorney general based solely on high-profile criminal takedowns. But it’s also hard to deny the dearth of memorable convictions and/or settlements in Reyes’ proverbial trophy case, particularly when compared against a pattern of questionable campaign fundraising, opaque private-sector contracting and unilateral intrusions into federal court disputes, in which Utah’s Attorney General has sought to—among other things—repeal Obamacare in the midst of a pandemic, restrict abortion rights, roll back LGBTQ workplace protections and, most egregiously, throw out the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Here’s a look at some of the ways that Reyes made news in the lead-up and aftermath of his reelection last year.

—In May 2019, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) entered into a contract with Liberty Defense to test artificial intelligence-driven body-scanning technology at crowded, public events. Critics questioned the terms of the contract—like allowing a private company to use Utah State and AGO imagery on promotional materials—as well as the privacy implications of the technology, which generates and analyzes 3D facsimiles of a person without their knowledge or consent.

—Later that year, in August 2019, AGO representatives were pressed to explain their partnership with another next-generation security company, Banjo, during a heated legislative hearing in which both Republicans and Democrats chafed at the company’s “live time” threat-detection software, describing it as a Big Brother-style mass surveillance operation. Multiple pieces of legislation were sponsored in response aiming to limit the funding and scope of the Banjo experiment.

—Two months later, in October 2019, Reyes announced that charges would be filed against an Arizona elected official who was ultimately convicted of fraud and human smuggling. The arrest in that case, and the bulk of prosecution, were handled by Arizona law enforcement.

—In January 2020, Reyes’ reelection campaign admitted to lying on multiple occasions about its use of more than $50,000 in donations from Washakie Renewable Energy, whose executives have pleaded or been found guilty of fraud. After federal indictments were leveled against the company, a spokesman for Reyes’ campaign asserted that the donations had been placed in escrow, going so far as to call this reporter’s questions about the matter “stupid” and refusing to comment further. In fact, the funds had already been spent on campaign operations when those questions were raised.

—A few weeks later, in April 2020, the Attorney General’s office was compelled to cancel its contract with Banjo after revelations surfaced that the company’s founder had participated in Ku Klux Klan activities—including the drive-by shooting of a synagogue—around 1990. An investigation by the Utah State Auditor later found that Banjo had misrepresented its ability to perform “live time” data analysis, and that the AGO had failed to properly vet the company before agreeing to pay it $20 million.

—That summer, in July 2020, the vulnerability of Reyes’ incumbency was demonstrated when the attorney general survived a competitive primary challenge by Utah County

EVAN COBB, DAILY HERALD

‘Transparency Definitely Helps’

Attorney David Leavitt. The Republican nomination was ultimately decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points before Reyes went on to comfortably secure reelection in the general election against Democrat Greg Skordas.

—Newly reelected, in November 2020, Reyes cast undue aspersions against the nation’s election results, saying that defeated former President Donald Trump would win a second term once all of the “legal” votes were counted. He also announced that he’d be taking “personal time” to assist an unfounded—and ultimately unsuccessful—attempt to overturn Arizona’s certified election results.

—The following month, in December 2020, Reyes unilaterally involved Utah in a Texas lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election, drawing public criticism from both outgoing Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and incoming Republican Gov.-elect Spencer Cox. Despite that lawsuit failing, and claims of significant voter fraud being thoroughly, and repeatedly, debunked, Reyes has never publicly apologized for, nor withdrawn, his anti-democratic statements and actions.

—Also in December 2020, Reyes launched lawsuits against Google on behalf of the state, accusing the company of acting as a monopoly and charging unreasonable fees through its app store. Dozens of states would later join a Utah-led, bipartisan legal challenge against the tech giant.

—In January of this year, state Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, filed legislation to begin an impeachment inquiry into Reyes, specifically over the Attorney General’s support for the Big Lie of widespread ballot fraud and Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results. The impeachment legislation was dead on arrival.

—In March 2021, Reyes signed onto another out-ofstate, federal lawsuit, this time challenging the Biden Administration’s plans to calculate the social costs of greenhouse gasses. Reyes and his fellow Republican attorneys general argued that the mere act of estimating the impact of climate-change-accelerating emissions is an unconstitutional overreach by the executive branch. The lawsuit was dismissed in late August.

—In July 2021, Reyes announced that Utah would receive $309 million from opioid manufacturers and distributors, or roughly 1% of a $26 billion settlement stemming from thousands of lawsuits nationwide against pharmaceutical companies.

—And last month, in September 2021, Reyes preemptively signalled that he and other Republican attorneys general intend to sue the Biden Administration over an as-yet-unreleased executive order requiring private-sector employees to be either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to routine infection testing. CW

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Award Winning Donuts

Enzo Sushi Nachos at Garage Grill

The Garage Grill proves that sushi is the best pub food.

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AT A GLANCE

Open: Mon.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun., 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Best bet: The Crabby Patty Wagon Can’t miss: The Enzo Sushi Nachos

HAND

’m back on my neighborhood gastropub kick, and boy do I have something special in the chamber for this week.

I’m sure any readers from the Draper and Sandy area have heard of The Garage Grill (1122 E. Draper Parkway, 801-532-3339, thegaragegrill.com), but I stumbled upon it out of a hangry bit of happenstance.

I don’t find myself going up the hill into downtown Draper too often, but my wife and I were doing a bit of patio dining exploration, saw The Garage Grill’s pearlescent neon sign lit up, and decided to roll the dice. Like most memorable dining experiences, we went in not knowing what to expect—and The Garage Grill did not disappoint.

While I can’t say I have a deep admiration for classic cars, garages or any of the associated accoutrements, I can respect a place that really throws itself into its own world. As the name implies, The Garage Grill has completely committed to a NASCAR-inspired aesthetic—plenty of fullybuilt automobiles are scattered around the inside for decorative punch. A big part of this artistic decision comes from owner Steve Pruitt, a veteran of the racing world who turned his attention to the restaurant and brewery scene; Pruitt also owns Salt Flats Brewery, which provides a variety of craft beer options for Garage Grill diners.

During my first visit, I was impressed by

PLENTY OF PATIO SEATING

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BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

pletely caught off guard by a burger, but I must give all the kudos to the Crabby Patty Wagon. It’s not something you can get just anywhere, and the flavor combos work extremely well with one another.

After my first experience, I had to take another trip to see how their sushi was. The Garage Grill has its share of traditional sushi rolls like the Drop Top California ($10) and the Rolls Royce Vegas ($13)—renamed to match the gearhead aesthetic, of course.

No shade to these rolls, but if you’re going to get sushi here, might I recommend the Enzo Sushi Nachos ($15). I can almost hear all the sushi purists out there audibly gasping in reaction to such a union, but if you’re like me and get a little giddy about profane dishes like this, then you’ve got to check it out. It’s a grand pile of seaweed salad, tobiko, ahi tuna, crab salad and spicy mayo piled high atop a stack of crispy wonton wrappers. The wonton wrappers are light and crispy, but thick enough to scoop up a generous pile of ahi tuna and crab salad.

For an extra eight bucks, you can get a generous portion of king crab added to the pile, which I must recommend. It’s immensely fun to eat, and packs a flavor combo that will please sushi fans of any background.

From its racecar garage concept to its delightful mosh pit of a menu, The Garage Grill is full of surprises, sophisticated taste sensations and no shortage of local craft beer. I’ll be looking forward to having my expectations subverted again during my next visit. CW

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Garage Rock

the creative take on traditional gastropub fare. Sure, you can get chili cheese fries, pizza and burgers, but you would be remiss to skip things like the Speedway Tachos ($13) which apply the nacho formula to a pile of golden crispy tater tots, or the Kuruma Lettuce Wraps ($12) stuffed with carrots, peanuts, edamame and kimchi with some sweet Thai chili sauce. For me, the lettuce wraps were the tip of the Asianinspired iceberg that is waiting for unsuspecting visitors.

Though a lot of Asian food is perfect for the gastropub scene, it’s not something I personally have seen often here in the Beehive State. The presence of sushi, edamame and miso soup at The Garage Grill feels like a swing for the fences, and it’s something that could fail miserably in the wrong hands. I am happy to report, however, that the Asian influence on the Garage Grill’s menu is a definite home run (or whatever the NASCAR equivalent is).

My first foray into this unexpected hybridization of sushi and pub food was the Crabby Patty Wagon Burger ($16). It has the look of a traditional pub burger—a golden toasty bun with a thick ground beef patty—but it’s the addition of tempura-fried shrimp, spicy crab slaw and eel sauce that launch this burger into uncharted territory.

At first, it seemed like a bit of a novelty, some way to force cohesion between the sushi menu and the traditional pub food menu. But as soon as I took my first bite, I realized that some serious culinary thought went into this dish. The spicy crab slaw added some creaminess and spicy mayo flavor with a hint of sweetness, and that tempura shrimp delivered a nice crunch. It’s the eel sauce that sends this entrée over the top, though. I plan on using this condiment a lot more on my own burgers as its rich, savory flavor amplifies the flavor of the burger itself. It’s been some time since I was com-

ALEX SPRINGER

705 S. 700 E. | (801) 537-1433

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onTAP S ON U W FOLLO GRAM A T S IN

KLY

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A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com On Tap: Feelin’ Hazy

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Bougie Johnny’s Rose

Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: Wit Chamberlain Belgian Wit

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Stillwater Whiskey Aged Hard Cider

Squatters 147 W. Broadway, SLC Squatters.com

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

Ogden River Brewing 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

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

Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: Fresh Brewed UPA

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Whispers of the Primordial Seai

Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: Double Barrel Big Bad Baptist

Red Rock Brewing Multiple Locations RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Baked Pastry Stout

Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: Red Ale

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Project Porter

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Extra Pale Ale

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: Deseret Dunkel

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Lupulin Dew

Hoppers Grill and Brewing 890 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale HoppersBrewPub.com Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Jackson 7 Fresh Hop IPA

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Pumpkin Spice Latte Ale Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Pumpkin Cream Ale

Strap Tank Brewery Multiple Locations StrapTankBrewery.com Springville On Tap: PB Rider, Peanut Butter Stout Lehi On Tap: 2-Stroke, Vanilla Mocha Porter TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Edel Pils Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Nut Brown Ale Toasted Barrel Brewery 412 W. 600 North, SLC ToastedBarrelBrewery.com Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer UTOG 2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: BEER! American Ale Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com Wasatch 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC WasatchBeers.com Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

Two beers this week pay homage to counterculture heroes.

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

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Tribute Attributes

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his week, we honor two beers that praise a couple of Utah originals: Albert E. Becker, founder of Becker Brewing and Malting; and Kevin Kirk, owner and impresario of the Heavy Metal Shop. While their contributions couldn’t be more opposite, your counterculture sensibilities were likely influenced by both.

Ogden River/Becker’s Best - American Pilsner: Head brewer/partner Pat Winslow spent hours poring over old invoices archived at Utah State University, to figure out what ingredients were used to produce Becker’s original lager. “Not everything available then is available now,” Winslow says, “but I’ve found malt and hops that are very close.”

The tribute lager that Winslow came up with is crystal-clear, with a light gold body and a thick, sudsy head. Sweet, crystal malt aromas emerge, along with a sweet grass scent—pungent, with a light citrus undertone. The flavor is extremely well-balanced, featuring a hint of toffee sweetness (crystal malt?) at the start. But as the beer moves over the tongue, a breadlike maltiness starts to edge forward, before mixing nicely with the hops. It’s not overly aggressive in the hops, simply a nice balance to the slight sweetness. A fine base of light cereal grain flavor mixes with a good hop bitterness presence from start to end. The 5.0 percent ABV mouthfeel is very nice thanks to a carbonation level appropriate to the lager style.

Overall: I’ve since sat down with a sixpack, and it is extremely drinkable. I’m very impressed by this first offering from

this resurrected label. And Winslow says there are more mid-20th century retroflavors to come.

SaltFire - Heavy Metal Parking Lot: When I first met Kevin Kirk, The Heavy Metal Shop was located in Sandy on 9400 South. He shared with me his love of metal, Alice Cooper and that he once dated my cousin. Thirty-four years later, the Heavy Metal Shop is still killing it—and with help from SaltFire’s Ryan Miller, we all get to celebrate Kevin’s iconic music store with a beer as black as his T-shirt collection.

My aggressive pour created a cascading action that eventually settled into nearly three fingers of dense, deep-tan head that looked like the top of a root beer float. Its retention was such that I held it up to the light to check for color and clarity, only to be blown away by its ruby color when held to the light. The nose is subtle, but still manages to have some complexity: light bubblegum and cocoa, light notes of roasted malt, some brown bread and grain. It lacks presence, but for a dark lager, it’s definitely better than you would expect. Swirling doesn’t add anything to the picture.

The first swig starts off with a good amount of sweetness, mostly raisins and a touch of a vinous note, before moving into a subtle mix of cocoa, light chocolate and roasted malts. Some chalk and slight woody bitterness appear on the finish.

Nothing outstanding, just a very efficient and well concocted beer. What it lacks in complexity, it makes up for with solid balance and integration.

Overall: It’s quite flavorful for an American black lager, and something I’ll easily take over the more char-forward black lagers and ales I’ve visited recently. This is an above-average-to-good beer which I can see becoming a staple at Saltfire. Oh, and did I mention the ABV is 6.66 percent? I’m told that’s spooky!

I know for a fact that Heavy Metal Parking Lot is available at Aces High Saloon in SLC, and of course Salt Fire’s beer store and bar in 16-ounce cans. Right now, Becker’s Best American Lager is only available on draft and in 12-ounce cans at Ogden River Brewing. You may end up seeing it at grocery stores in the coming months. As always, cheers! CW

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Word of Fenice Mediterranean Bistro (126 S. Regent Street, 801-359-4500) taking over the spot previously occupied by Fireside on Regent has been pinging around the interwebs since early summer. All that pentup anticipation can now be released, as the owners announced the restaurant’s grand opening—and yes, it will make good use of that fabulous pizza oven that Fireside left behind. Diners can expect a wide range of wood-fired pizza, homemade pasta and large plates like osso bucco and seafood cioppino. Regent Street has been in dire need of a local fine dining establishment for the downtown theater crowd for some time, so we’re glad to see Fenice stepping up to the plate.

Utah Multicultural Festival 2021

The Utah Arts Alliance (utaharts.org) and the Utah Hispanic Business Bureau are hosting this year’s Utah Multicultural Festival at The Gateway (400 West 200 South, atthegateway.com) this weekend. It’s an opportunity to explore and connect with Utah’s Hispanic community through live music, interactive events and excellent food. Events like these are great ways to experience the diversity that Utah has to offer, especially through the lens of food and music. This two-day event takes place on Oct. 23 - 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and it will be a great place for families to spend some time taking in some local arts and food.

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The event formerly known as Women’s Redrock Music Festival rebrands to emphasize their diverse mission.

BY ERIN MOORE music@cityweekly.net @errrands_

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fter skipping 2020, the pioneering desert festival formerly known as Women’s Redrock Music Festival is back, with a new locale and new name: Redrox Music Festival. According to the festival’s Production Director Hillary McDaniel, it’s a name that better signals the diversity the festival has always had, but also one that rings in a new future as they launch for their 13th year on Friday, Nov. 5.

McDaniel has been attending the festival for years—first as a concert-goer, then playing in some bands, and later as a volunteer.

In 2018, while volunteering as Production Director, things became more serious when the festival’s founders decided to step down, asking those who were interested in keeping it going to fill in their roles. McDaniel was one of those, and also one of the new organizers who voted to change something that had set the festival apart for its entire existence: its name.

“The history of the festival is that it’s always been an inclusive festival,” McDaniel explains. “So even though it was called the Women’s Redrock Music Festival, they’ve always had transgender performers, transgender volunteers and staff members, they’ve always had non-binary people involved.”

It’s an important distinction, since other “women’s” fests, like Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, famously excluded trans women. “We decided to change the name to Redrox. The ‘x’ just really represents [those] non-binary identities, and we felt it was more inclusive because a lot of the people who come to the festival aren’t women either,” McDaniel says. And while from the beginning, there have been questions about who the festival is for, McDaniel adds, “I think the ‘x’ that we chose is really just a variable, it’s for anybody who craves this kind of content and who wants to be part of this revolution in music.”

However, the town of Torrey—which had hosted the festival for its entire existence—won’t be part of this new chapter. The fest was a project of the Entrada Institute, which withdrew fiscal sponsorship in 2019, an act that dominoed into the fest’s usual Torrey

Toby Beard Band at Past Redrox Music Festival venue not volunteering to host anymore. “It never was an option for us to not have this festival,” McDaniel says of their decision to immediately scout for new potential festival locations.

After some searching, the organizers eventually landed on Springdale, a small town with a population of around 700 at the very mouth of Zion National Park. “We knew it was a town that would be safe for queer performers and for people of marginalized genders, because they had a Pride parade several years ago, and they have a lot of members of the community who are LGBTQ,” McDaniel says. They also point out that while Torrey was not originally too warm to the “lesbians from Salt Lake City” who started coming to town, they eventually embraced the festival.

Bringing the Redrox revival to Springdale continues the work of providing community to queer people in rural spaces, while also allowing city dwellers to connect with nature. “I just think it’s important for our communities to work side by side to gain allies and demystify who queer people are, to be able to show how much art, talent, music and beauty is in this community,” says McDaniel.

Facing a smaller budget this year, they’re also focusing less on pulling in big acts. “One of the things I’m passionate about is creating experiences for people that are transformative, and introducing people to bands they’ve never heard of,” McDaniel says.

“This year, for the most part, it’s musicians and drag performers that are right here in your own backyard.” Some of those artists include musicians like Keyvin VanDyke, Courtney Lane, Rainy Dawn, Amanda Barrick, Vengeance Tampon, Marny Proudfit, Talia Keys, and local drag artists like Izzy Lovely, Kay Byee, Madazon Can-Can, London Skies, Pauper Cherry, Mik Jäger, Sammee St. James, plus comedy from Natashia Mower.

The lineup’s diversity is in step with Redrox’s new fiscal sponsor, Rock Camp SLC—a nonprofit that focuses on providing youth of marginalized identities space to thrive in music, in an industry that is still deeply dominated by men and cis artists. “I think it’s really important to push those people right to the front, so that you see them that one time and then you’re buying their merch, going to their next show and helping them build a scene here with people whose voices just don’t get heard, and don’t get booked as often,” McDaniel says. “That’s a big part of the mission of our festival, to amplify these stories, because we really do believe that they’re revolutionary. The only thing that I really believe in to make true change in the world is art.”

If you want to be part of this new chapter in Redrox history, head to the Bit & Spur in Springdale the weekend of Friday, Nov. 5 - Saturday, Nov. 6. Single day tickets are $30 - $50; area resident, youth and senior weekend passes are $40; and all other weekend passes start at $75. Visit redroxmusicfestival.org for tickets, full-lineup and more info on getting down to their new stomping grounds. CW

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James Taylor and Jackson Browne at Maverik Center

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine certain artists playing a big arena; how does the gentle voice of James Taylor fill the Maverik Center?

But the artist has been selling them out for decades, since he found fame in the ’70s with his feel-good classic albums, an era from which songs like “Fire and Rain,” “Carolina in my Mind,” “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved

By You)” and “You’ve Got a Friend” all came.

He’s found success even outside his initial hits era, though, earning a number one spot on US charts with his 2015 album Before This World, and proving that his songwriting prowess and creativity are as strong as ever. His greatness will be joined on stage by Jackson Browne, another artist who made his name and fame in the ’70s with enduringly catchy songs like “Stay” and “Running on Empty,” sharing in common with Taylor a playful earnestness that obviously resonated with audiences then, and still resonates now. Both artists have recently released albums, for Taylor’s part with his 2020 album American Standard (what an apt name for his work) and for Browne’s, his 2021 release Downhill From Everywhere. See both artists play the new hits and old alike at their upcoming all-ages Maverik Center show on Oct. 22. Doors are at 6 p.m. and tickets range from $64.50 - $130.

Buzzards & Bees Returns to Downtown Provo

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One of Provo’s most spooktacular events is back this Halloween season, and the lineup is one that best not be missed. Taking up more than 10 venues in Downtown Provo and featuring more than 80 bands, Buzzards & Bees is not just a Halloween music fest, but an immersive, delightful Halloween event.

While everyone loves Halloween, anyone who knows music in Northern Utah knows that Provo has a distinct penchant for the excessive, the dramatic and all things quirky, odd or over-the-top—just look at the inside of Velour.

So, the community is well-built to pull off this

city-wide celebration of all things scary, spooky and costume-y. Come dressed in your goth kid best for the Friday night kick-off Goth Prom dance party and see what I mean. The party will be DJed by KiD MACHiNE, and there will be a crowning of the Goth King & Queen at the end of it. Besides Goth Prom, Buzzards & Bees attendees can spend the weekend wandering historic Provo, catching tons of our best local bands and artists, like Brother., Michael Barrow & The Tourists, Little Moon, Mmend, The Solarists, Roadie, Drusky, Jenn Blosil, Sunfish, Bly Wallentine, Cherish DeGraaf, Future.Exboyfriend and Angie Petty, plus a ton more. There’s also secret shows, though one has to watch @buzzardsandbees on Instagram to find out how to win tickets to those. The whole Oct. 22-23 event is a whopping $15, all-ages, and $10 for Goth Prom-only tickets.

Visit buzzardsandbees.com for tickets, info and updates on venues, maps and schedules.

Skalloween with The Anchorage

Ska fans delight! There’s a Halloween event for you, and it’s packed with locals. Of course, real local ska fans will already have been anticipating this Skalloween, as it’s the 10th that favorite ska acts like The Anchorage have been part of. For this year’s Skalloween, they’ll play on Friday, Oct. 22 alongside acts The Makeways and The Avenues at Kilby Court, where in addition to vaccines, negative tests and masks, they’re also requesting something a little more light-hearted—costumes!

For those who decide to mask up and suit up in a scary Skalloween fit, expect some of The Anchorage’s convulsing ska takes, pulled from recent releases like the EP What We Go Through, which follows their 2015 album Regrow and their 2011 album Bridges, both holy little ska gems in their own right. For their part, The Makeways just released their second EP Feelin’ Good last year, which delivers a, well, “feel good” island swing to contrast old school ska punk like that from The Avenues.

The show is all-ages, doors are at 6 p.m. and tickets are $8 at kilbycourt.com.

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Miss Great Beehive State 2020 Rose Nylon

STEVEN CONLIN

SEPTEMBER SHOWS

Miss Great Beehive State 2021 is On Lloyd Banks at Soundwell Among all the fun things to do and see in October, there’s now also some pageantry, thanks to a postponement of the Miss Great Beehive State competition earlier this fall. It’s now time for the tradition, though, and it all goes down on Sunday, Oct. 24 at Metro Music Hall. Miss Great Beehive State celebrates the rich culture and tradition of drag artistry in Utah, and also creates an opportunity for local queens to gain some recognition and lasting titles for their efforts in the local drag world. While surely just as fun as any drag show, Miss Great Beehive State uniquely divides contestants and parts of the show out into categories, like any beauty pageant does. The categories in 2020’s pageant included “creative presentation,” “talent,” “evening gown” and an “on-stage question,” and the local queen Rose Nylon ended up taking home the title, joining a colorful cast of Miss Great Beehive State’s past. There is no sneak-preview of who will be competing this year, but that surprise can be part of the fun.

The 21+ show starts early at 5 p.m. and tickets are $15.

Legendary co-founder of G-Unit, Lloyd Banks, is coming through to Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 23 when he stops in at Soundwell for a night of contemporary rap classics. Banks made a name for himself even as G-Unit itself was still making a name for itself, releasing his own solo work among the stops and starts that his group was experiencing throughout the early 2000s. After the release of G-Unit’s successful 2003 debut album Beg for Mercy, he released his own album that same year in the hard and edgy Mo Money in the Bank, following it up with 2004’s The Hunger For More, famous for hits like “Karma” and “On Fire.” His work with G-Unit and his solo projects were part of a defining moment in early 2000s hip hop and rap, where they mainstreamed a style of noirish grit and a thrumming backbone of guitar and bass samples that lent intensity to their stone-cold raps. While Banks and the other consistent half of G-Unit, 50 Cent, have since parted ways due to a mysterious feud, Banks has stayed busy with his own work, releasing just this year a new album, The Course of the Inevitable, his first solo work since 2010’s H.F.M. 2. The album has found favorable response in hip hop circles, which are probably happy to see the legacy rapper back with such a lengthy album after such a long time. The show is 21+, starts at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are $30 - $35. Visit soundwellslc.com for tickets and more info.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY B Y R O B

B R E Z S N Y

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.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Even the wisest among us are susceptible to being fascinated by our emotional pain. Even those of us who do a lot of inner work may be captivated and entranced by frustrations and vexations and irritants. Our knotty problems make us interesting, even attractive! They shape our self-image. No wonder we are sometimes “intensely, even passionately, attached to suffering,” in the words of author Fyodor Dostoevsky. That’s the bad news.

The good news, Aries, is that in the coming weeks, you will have extra power to divest yourself of sadness and distress and anxiety that you no longer need. I recommend you choose a few outmoded sources of unhappiness and enact a ritual to purge them.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) In Norway, you don’t call your romantic partner “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” You say kjaereste, which is gender neutral and is translated as “dearest.” In Sweden, you refer to your lover as älskling, meaning “my beloved one.” How about Finland?

One term the Finns use for the person they love is kulta, which means “gold.” I hope you’ll be inspired by these words to experiment with new nicknames and titles for the allies you care for. It’s a favorable time to reinvent the images you project onto each other. I hope you will refine your assumptions about each other and upgrade your hopes for each other. Be playful and have fun as you enhance your empathy.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Nigerian poet Ijeoma Umebinyuo writes, “I will always want myself. Always. Darling, I wrote myself a love poem two nights ago. I am a woman who grows flowers between her teeth. I dance myself out of pain. This wanting of myself gets stronger with age. I host myself to myself. I am whole.” I recommend you adopt Umebinyuo’s attitude as you upgrade your relationship with yourself. It’s time for you to pledge to give yourself everything you wish a lover would offer you. You’re ready to claim more of your birthright as an ingenious, diligent self-nurturer.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) “The reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day,” writes author Anne Lamott. I will add that on rare occasions, virtually everyone in your tribe is functioning at high levels of competency and confidence. According to my analysis, now is one of those times. That’s why I encourage you to take extraordinary measures to marshal your tribe’s creative, constructive efforts. I believe that together you can collaborate to generate wonders and marvels that aren’t normally achievable. Group synergy is potentially at a peak—and will be fully activated if you help lead the way.

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) I believe your plan for the rest of 2021 should borrow from the mini-manifesto that Aquarian author Virginia Woolf formulated at age 51: “I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped.

The thing is to free one’s self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded.” Does that sound like fun, Aquarius? It should be—although it may require you to overcome temptations to retreat into excess comfort and inertia.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough,” writes author and philosopher Alain de Botton. That’s too extreme a statement for my taste.

But I agree with the gist of his comment. If we are not constantly outgrowing who we are, we are not sufficiently alert and alive.

Luckily for you, Pisces, you are now in a phase of rapid ripening.

At least you should be. The cosmos is conspiring to help you learn how to become a more vibrant and authentic version of yourself. Please cooperate! Seek all available updates.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) As author David Brooks reminds us, “Exposure to genius has the power to expand your consciousness. If you spend a lot of time with genius, your mind will end up bigger and broader than if you spend your time only with run-of-the-mill stuff.” I hope this strategy will be at the top of your list during the next four weeks. You will have abundant opportunities to put a lot of “excellent stuff into your brain,” as Brooks suggests. You are also likely to be a rich source of inspiration and illumination yourself. I suspect people will recognize—even more than they usually do—that being around you will make them smarter. I suggest you help them realize that fact.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “I haven’t had enough sleep for years,” author Franz Kafka (1883–1924) once confessed to a friend. It showed in his work, which was brilliant but gaunt and haunted. He wrote stories that would be written by a person who was not only sleep-deprived but dream-deprived. The anxiety he might have purged from his system through sleep instead spilled out into the writing he did in waking life. Anyway, I’m hoping you will make Kafka your anti-role model as you catch up on the sleep you’ve missed out on. The coming weeks will be a fantastic time to fall in love with the odd, unpredictable, regenerative stories that well up from your subconscious depths while you’re in bed at night. They will refresh your imagination in all the right ways.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) Cancerian philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote, “I am unlike anyone I have ever met. I will even venture to say that I am like no one in the whole world. I may be no better, but at least I am different.” I urge you to make that your own affirmation in the coming weeks. It’s time to boldly claim how unique you are—to be full of pride about the fact that you have special qualities that no one has ever had. Bonus: The cosmos is also granting you permission to brag more than usual about your humility and sensitivity, as well as about your other fine qualities.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Nobel Prize-winning poet Odysseus Elytis was speaking like a consummate Scorpio when he said, “What I love is always being born. What I love is beginning always.” Like most Scorpios, he knew an essential secret about how to ensure he could enjoy that intense rhythm: He had to be skilled in the art of metaphorical death. How else could he be born again and again? Every time he rose up anew into the world like a beginner, it was because he had shed old ideas, past obsessions and worn-out tricks. I trust you’ve been attending to this transformative work in the past few weeks, Scorpio. Ready to be born again? Ready to begin anew? To achieve maximum renaissance, get rid of a few more things.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) The band Creedence Clearwater Revival, led by Gemini musician John Fogerty, achieved tremendous success with their rollicking sound and socially conscious lyrics. They sold 33 million records worldwide. In 1970, they were the best-selling band on the planet, exceeding even the Beatles. And yet, the band endured for just over four years. I foresee the possibility of a comparable phenomenon in your life during the coming months. Something that may not last forever will ultimately generate potent, long-term benefits. What might it be? Meditate on the possibility. Be alert for its coming. Create the conditions necessary for it to thrive.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Self-help author James Clear describes a scenario I urge you to keep in mind. He speaks of “a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two.” Clear adds that “it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.” You’ll thrive by cultivating that same patience and determination in the coming weeks, Libra. Proceed with dogged certainty that your sustained small efforts will eventually yield potent results.

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9. Horn of Africa country: Abbr.

10. U-turn from NNW 11. Debonair 12. Prilosec target 13. Delany of “Desperate Housewives” 14. Ink 19. Android alternative 20. Chinese zodiac rodent 24. Tennis’ Novak Djokovic, for one 25. Supporter 26. “Dude, you gotta be kidding me ...”

27. 1940s-’60s singer Frankie 29. Use steel wool on 30. Brewery that co-distributes Not Your Father’s Root Beer 32. Finds incredibly desirable 33. Item that may say “his” or “hers” 34. Sells in the stands 36. Bit of advice 38. Abate 41. Perry Mason creator ____ Stanley DOWN Gardner 1. Julie Andrews or Helen Mirren 42. Concern for a poll 2. “Jumping Jack Flash, it’s ____ ...”

43. Possible effect of doping 3. “If something can go wrong, it will” principle 48. “The Thrill Is Gone” bluesman 4. Like some pride or parks 50. Ray who sang with the Glenn Miller 5. Persistently demanded payment from Orchestra 6. First half of a Beatles title 51. Do a price check on, perhaps 7. Heisman Trophy winner Flutie 54. Ming in the Basketball Hall of Fame 8. Airport locale

56. Extreme degree 57. Spanish eyes 58. National sport of Japan 59. Computer science pioneer Turing 60. Legendary Greek mount 61. Ship-related: Abbr.

62. Actress Russell of “The Americans” 63. Prophetic O.T. book quoted in “Pulp Fiction” 65. Young grizzly 66. Before, to Dickinson

Last week’s answers

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.

1. “Nooooo!”

5. Artfully avoids 11. X-ray units 15. Contents of un río 16. WWII subs 17. Three-vowel berry 18. Person who is two-thirds German theologian but 100% Civil Rights leader?

21. James Bond’s specialty 22. Actor Quinn 23. Rinsed (off) 24. Their maximum scores are 1600 26. Kirk ____, first actor to play Superman on the big screen 28. Put to rest, as rumors 31. Set in a man cave 35. Attended 37. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” author Eric 39. Eggs on a sushi roll 40. Person who is two-thirds ‘80s R&B star but 100% “Stranger Things” star?

44. Actress de Armas of “Knives Out” 45. Fuel-efficient Toyota 46. Vocalized one’s displeasure 47. Rookie, briefly 49. “Final Destination” actress Ali ____ 52. Misfortunes 53. They’re exchanged at parting 55. Gives a bit 57. Tennis star Naomi who said in 2021 “It’s o.k. not to be o.k.”

60. Common course penalty 64. Person who is two-thirds labor organizer but 100% boxing champ?

67. Its flag displays a curved dagger known as a khanjar 68. Disney villain partially inspired by drag queen Divine 69. Richard of “Chicago” 70. Dance partner?

71. Scrambled, as eggs 72. Killmonger’s first name in “Black Panther”

2

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9.

ACROSS

1

MILLIE BOBBY BROWN

© 2021

SUDOKU X

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38 | OCTOBER 21, 2021

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A new housing study released by Utah’s Kem Gardner Institute is about the worst news a potential home buyer or renter could get, as the future of improving Utah’s housing shortage is looking very grim. Several key findings will certainly give you a palm-tothe-forehead slap, so make sure you’re sitting down and have an appropriate beverage or smoke to dull your reactions.

1. The average home price in the state is now $460,000, and only half of all citizens here can afford the mortgage payment associated with this kind of purchase.

2. It is unlikely that our housing bubble will burst in the next two to three years, meaning inventory for rentals and purchases will remain extremely low.

3. Since 2000, the median sales price in Utah for homes and condominiums has averaged more than 5% growth annually and at this rate, the price of the typical home doubles every 13 years. When the U.S. economic recovery took hold after the 2008 recession, price increases accelerated, averaging 10% annually. Thirteen years later, in the second quarter of 2021, homes saw an unexpected and unprecedented 29% surge in prices— despite the global pandemic and recession.

4. The median sales price of new construction homes is up 13% in the Greater Salt Lake market area.

5. The Gardner Institute found that renters have not escaped the effects of the housing shortage and that vacant units are nonexistent. Households looking to rent face a waiting period—sometimes several weeks—before a vacant unit is available in their desired community. For existing renters, the housing shortage means a rent hike.

We’re experiencing the first double-digit rent increases for the Wasatch Front counties since pre-Great Recession years. All indicators point to a continued serious shortage of housing in Utah, despite the boom in new residential construction.

6. A huge part of the housing shortage has to do with the global supply chain. For example, Spain, Italy and Lithuania are significant sources of glass and aluminum materials. Germany supplies plumbing materials and South Korea exports heating and air conditioning systems. But by far, the most important global source of building materials is China. According to FW Dodge Data, 30% of all building material imports to the U.S. come from China, including flooring, electrical, hardware and plumbing materials. With the outbreak of COVID, many Chinese manufacturing plants supplying building materials have locked down, disrupting the supply chain and causing building delays and higher construction costs.

So, what do you do if you want to buy? Logic would lead me to suggest you buy or rent something as soon as you can, as prices are going to keep going up due to the statewide shortages.

Mind you, I’m a real estate broker so of course I’d recommend those options. But the data doesn’t lie. The institute found that many people don’t have enough money for a down payment on a purchase, but there are some great no-down loans available out there. n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

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Inexplicable n This mystery is also solved: Police in Japan have Doctors at Klaipeda University Hospital in Lithuania been working for months to figure out why a light were shocked to discover the source of a man’s abdomipole in Suzuka suddenly snapped at its base on Feb. 18. Most light poles in the country last for 50 years or more, nal pain through an X-ray, The Guardian reported on Oct. 1. Apparently as a response to giving up alcohol about a but this one was only 23 years old. NBC New York reported on month ago, the man had swallowed more than a kilogram of Oct. 1 that forensic scientists found 40 times more urea at the metal objects: nuts, nails, bolts, screws and knives. It took sur- pole’s base than was found on nearby poles. Yep, dog pee killed geons three hours to remove the pieces and repair the inner walls the light pole: Urea and sodium in dog urine caused the pole to of the stomach. The unnamed man is being kept under observa- erode. The new pole is up, but dogs are already marking it with their caustic streams. tion and has been offered psychological assistance.

Precious Mistaken Identity Animal control officers were called to a home in San Mateo, Fargo, North Dakota, insurance agent Bill Fischer has a perenCalifornia, on Oct. 3 to rescue a stranded tarantula on the roof, nial battle with a certain red squirrel, Fox23-TV reported.

United Press International reported. But according to the Every fall, the animal squirrels away walnuts for the comPeninsula Humane Society, when the officer climbed up to cap- ing winter inside Fischer’s pickup truck, then Fischer has to ture it, she instead found an old Halloween decoration. “It looked remove them so he can drive the truck. This year, Fischer has like it had been up there for a while,” said Buffy Tarbox, commu- collected almost 350 pounds of walnuts from around the nications manager for the Humane Society. “Everyone thought engine, the wheel wells, the front bumper and parts of the it was real.” The fake spider turned up for a few days on various doors. Fischer said he tried spraying the truck with a mixture of Tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper, but now he thinks the desks at the Humane Society offices, then hit the circular file. squirrel is attracted to the scent. “I have to have a sense of humor about this after so many years,” he said.

It’s a Mystery WRAL-TV reported on Oct. 4 that several drivers along Highway 147 in Durham, North Carolina, had experienced Unclear on the Concept a shower of brown, greasy, bad-smelling liquid hitting their Perry County (Arkansas) assistant jail administrator Abby vehicles and subsequently damaging the paint. “It had sort of a Strange has lost her job and is facing felony criminal charges bleach smell,” said Heather Toler. “It was raining down on top after she allowed inmate Sandra Rappold to leave her cell and of the cars. It seems to be acidic based on how it’s eating away go outside to vape marijuana on Sept. 24, Fox16-TV reported. the paint on the car.” The mystery was solved two days later, Investigators said Strange disabled the cell door alarm and gave when representatives of the chemical wholesale company the keys to Rappold. A warning system alerted deputies that a Brenntag informed WRAL-TV that several of its employees door was ajar, and they quickly found both women. Strange also had been depressurizing and disconnecting an empty sulfuric allegedly supplied the vape to Rappold. acid railcar at the company’s facility next to the highway, caus- Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com. ing acid vapor to be released into the air.

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