Issuu

PHOTO BY MARLENE MEJIA

sacurrent.com | December 4â€“17, 2019 | CURRENT

we buy games we pay cash for your cds,dvds,

SELLING TO CD EXCHANGE IS AS EASY AS

blu-rays, games & game hardware

Pu Ed

Fo Ca Co St Di Co Es St Sw Ed Ge

803 sw military | 928-3471 13486 us 281 | 545-3472

Sa Ac Ac Di

6997 bandera rd | 509-3472 5253 walzem | 650-3472

9861 ih-10 west | 641-1600 6900 san pedro | 826-2662

6 SAN ANTONIO LOCATIONS | CDEXCHANGE-SA.COM

Find your unwanted movies, music + games

Go to your nearest

CD Exchange, DVD Exchange, or Movie Exchange location

Get CASH!

We buy blu-rays, 4k blu-rays, dvds, cds, vinyl records,

M Ev M

Cr Gr Gr Ja

video games, game hardware and accessories!

VISIT OUR 6 SAN ANTONIO LOCATIONS | CDEXCHANGE-SA .COM

Ch Ch VP Cr Di Se Di ww

Na Vo (88

Sa 91 Sa sa

Ed Di Fa Cl

Sa lim

Ge 1. 2. 3. Ple Ev

Co co or Pu ma sta bu ab Su the pu

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

in this issue Issue 19_25 /// December 4–17, 2019

A Whole New World

San Antonio Current

The Expanse’s fourth season broadens its horizons

Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin

Editorial

39 Food

Food & Nightlife Editor: Lea Thompson Calendar Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Staff Writer: Chris Conde Digital Content Editor: Sarah Martinez Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Daniel Conrad, James Courtney, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney Editorial Interns: Diana Amaya, Brianna Espinoza, Trevor Flynn, Georgie Riggs,

Sweet (and Sour) Success

Chamoy City Limits makes a colorful leap into the brick and mortar world

By the Numbers: Delicious Tamales

Advertising

Sales Manager: Joseph Allen Account Manager: Mallory Jochen, Cristal Colleli Account Executives: April Miller, Mike Valdelamar Digital Sales Specialist: Mike Valdelamar

Table Talk

Marketing and Events

43 Music

Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque Marketing & Events Interns: Marlene Mejia and Caitlin Muñoz

Hanging with Homeboy Sandman

Creative Services

Creative Services Manager: Tina Corbeil Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna Graphic Design Interns: Pedro Macias, Raquel Prado, Jacqueline Rivas, Gabriela Rivera

Ahead of his San Antonio show, indie rapper Homeboy Sandman reflects on the state of hip-hop

Circulation

Circulation Manager: Justin Giles

Controlled Chaos

Business

Pinko’s new album You and You is a leap forward in texture and dynamics

Business Manager: Sonia Acosta

Euclid Media Group

Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Creative Director: Tom Carlson Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Director of Digital Sales: Fran DiCarlo www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com San Antonio Current 915 Dallas San Antonio, Texas 78215 sacurrent.com Editorial: (210) 227-0044 / Fax - (210) 227-7755 Display Advertising: (210) 227-0044 Fax: (210) 227-7733 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member San Antonio Distribution – The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Get listed 1. Visit sacurrent.com 2. Click “Calendar” and then “Submit an Event” 3. Follow the steps to submit your event details Please allow 48 hours for review and approval. Event submissions are not accepted by phone. Copyright: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2019 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.

Music Listings

15 Feature

Walter Lippmann in Wonderland

53 Etc

Crossword Puzzle

Project Censored’s Top 10 news stories corporate media ignored in 2019 BY PAUL ROSENBERG

07 News

Center City Giveaway

SA has awarded businesses with millions in free downtown parking. Is it an economic booster or corporate welfare?

Tax Increment Financing Gives San Antonio a Blank Check for Downtown Projects — and for Developer Subsidies Councilman John Courage Makes Listening Part of Public Service

22 Calendar Calendar Picks Art Pick

31 Arts

Studio Visits

Inside the symbolic psychedelia of San Antonio artist Angela Fox

35 Screens Love Lost

Marriage Story spans emotions to deliver a mature, heartbreaking look at divorce

Deep Waters

Houston filmmaker Trey Edward Shults splits his Waves into two equally profound halves

On The Cover: This week’s issue features the cover art for Project Censored’s Censored 2020: Through the Looking Glass, a rundown of stories overlooked and underreported by corporate media. sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

2ND ANNUAL

A W I NT ER WO ND ERLAN D FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

THURS. DECEMBER 12 TH 5-8PM THE SHOPS AT LINCOLN HEIGHTS 999 E BASSE RD, SAN ANTONIO, TX 78209 FREE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY EVENT! CREATE MEMORIES AT KID-FRIENDLY CRAFT STATIONS, REAL SNOW & MUCH MORE! HAVE YOUR PHOTO TAKEN WITH SANTA!

6 CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Basse & Broadway Complimentary Santa Photo with Canned Food Donation, benefiting San Antonio Food Bank

SA has awarded businesses with millions in free downtown parking. Is it an economic booster or corporate welfare? BY SANFORD NOWLIN

hen then-San Antonio mayor Julián Castro announced his 2010 plan to kickstart the Decade of downtown, he ushered in an era of public incentives to draw people and businesses back to the center city. Among those were $6.5 million in free parking subsidies to a pair of companies already heavily invested in San Antonio. In exchange, all those businesses needed to do was relocate jobs downtown. Those 10-year incentive deals will be up for potential renewal in 2021, and critics including Castro himself — now a Democratic presidential hopeful — argue that they’ve robbed the city of tax revenue for what amounts to a corporate handout. “The original idea was to spur investment back in the urban core of the city, but it’s clear that the private sector is going to take care of that themselves,” said Castro, who was mayor when city council approved both deals in 2011. “People want to be in the urban core.” City economic development officials defend their use of parking incentives, however, saying they help rejuvenate downtown and bolster economic opportunities. But, by the city’s own records, their effect on job growth is minimal. One of the companies receiving the free parking, HVHC Inc. — more commonly known by its Visionworks eye care brand — was required to relocate just 85 jobs from Latham, New York, to receive more than $3 million in subsidized parking in city-owned lots. The other beneﬁciary, business insurer Argo

Group Inc., wasn’t required to create any new jobs — only to move 200 employees from the suburbs into a building on Houston Street in exchange for nearly $3.4 million in free parking. Both companies agreed to meet the city’s minimum wage requirements and pay an average annual salary of at least $50,000. Even so, quick math shows that the city gave up more than $800,000 in revenue over 10 years for each of the 85 job relocations it incentivized. “Few economists would approve of this kind of corporate welfare,” Trinity University Economics Professor David Macpherson said. “You’re giving up millions of dollars in tax revenue for what? It’s just lining the pockets of these ﬁrms. It’s crazy.”

“Catalytic” Deal Despite the criticism, San Antonio doesn’t appear to have lost its appetite for providing downtown parking incentives. This summer, insurance giant USAA completed the $5.9 million expansion of a parking deck for its downtown employees. The city granted the company a 10-year, $2 million tax abatement plus a $4 million loan in exchange for $70 million in upgrades to its two downtown oﬃce buildings, including the parking addition. USAA also agreed to bring 1,500 additional jobs to the city through new hiring or relocations. When announcing the package in late 2017, then-city manager Sheryl Sculley described the jobs guarantee as “catalytic.” Mayor Ron Nirenberg trumpeted USAA’s parking development as

news

Center City Giveaway

Sanford Nowlin

a boon. After all, the firm agreed to make 1,000 of its spaces available to the public on nights and weekends. But critics argue some or all of those USAA jobs likely would have come to San Antonio anyway. Around 19,000 workers, or more than half of the company’s total payroll of 34,000 is located in the Alamo City — by far the company’s largest concentration of employees. USAA was unavailable for comment by press time. Alejandra Lopez, interim director of San Antonio’s Economic Development Department, defended the USAA deal and said the city offered its free-parking incentives because there was an economic benefit to the companies’ investment in downtown. “No two projects are exactly alike, but they must produce a public benefit,” Lopez said in an emailed statement. “The city wants to ensure the business community is able to thrive locally to provide a variety of employment opportunities.”

Changing Course

The recent incentives extended to USAA come at a time when San Antonio is ostensibly trying to shift cars off its streets to avoid congestion and achieve carbon neutrality. Making downtown parking easier — not to mention free — for major employers moves in the opposite direction, critics charge. However, Lopez said city economic development incentives have evolved to include programs that promote the use of public transit. “As a city, we are working toward a more multimodal future through our long-range transportation plan as part of SA Tomorrow and SA Connect, as well as partnering with VIA on their long-range planning efforts,” she said. “Additionally, our most recent tax abatement guidelines have a partnership option that includes commuter benefits for all employees.” During Castro’s recent San Antonio campaign stop, the former mayor said he’s concerned about the downtown incentives he unleashed nearly a decade ago. As President Obama’s Housing and Urban Development chief, he became aware of a nationwide trend of low-income residents being displaced by development. He’s since made affordable housing a key part of his campaign platform. Whether or not that change represents political opportunism, Castro wasn’t shy about urging San Antonio’s leaders to alter course on downtown. Instead of subsidizing corporate investment, he said, they should focus on protecting residents from the displacement and gentrification that come along with it. “You need to take care of that more than worrying about new investment downtown,” Castro said. “That investment is already happening. It doesn’t need to be incentivized.”

or more on downtown development incentives, check out the City Scrapes column on page 9.

Find more newsmore coverage Find news every day at sacurrent.com

news CITY SCRAPES

Tax Increment Financing Gives San Antonio a Blank Check for Downtown Projects — a nd for Developer Subsidies BY HEYWOOD SANDERS Let’s review some recent city spending downtown: • $6 million for bike lanes on Avenue B and Alamo Street • $1.3 million for public improvements at St. Paul Square • $3.1 million for HVHC parking subsidies • $3.4 million for Argo Group parking subsidies • $40.2 million for “Bexar County Projects,” including San Pedro Creek improvements • $76 million for “Other City Projects” A million here, a million there, $40 million over there — pretty soon it amounts to real money. In this case, it’s public money, real money from a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, shorthanded as TIRZ in city speak. Tax increment finance has been around for decades, beginning with a few states in the era of federal urban renewal projects. It enables cities to capture the increased property value from new private development in a specific “zone.” The idea is those future “increments” could be employed to pay for the public investment needed to spur that private investment. The first major use in downtown, the Houston St. TIRZ, was created in 1999 to support the plans of Federal Realty Investment Trust to “revitalize” Houston Street. The initial zone was a modest one, with just enough taxable value to finance the public improvements Federal wanted, including connections from the River Walk to Houston Street, handicap-accessible elevators, façade improvements on Houston and work on Presa Street. Federal promised to turn Houston Street into a retail mecca boasting major national stores — maybe even a Barnes & Noble or Bath & Body Works! — but that dream largely fizzled, although we did get a new Walgreens. But in 2015, the city expanded the boundaries of the zone, pushing them up North Main Street beyond Martin Street and south all the way to César Chávez Boulevard, increasing the area’s taxable property base by about five times. And that meant there were a lot more public dollars to be spent on big downtown projects, like the Alameda Theatre restoration, the new Frost Bank Tower and the San Pedro Creek improvements. 8

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Sanford Nowlin

Houston Street, while still not a retail mecca, has now become a fiscal goody basket yielding tens of millions in new public dollars committed to the area, with little public oversight and recognition. And those dollars will continue to flow to “Houston Street” until the zone expires in 2034, well beyond former Mayor Julián Castro’s Decade of Downtown. One big question about the TIRZ involves public accountability. Having seen the earlier promises of revitalization go unfilled, are city officials capable of providing some serious assessment of what the public improvements and investment in this part of downtown have actually yielded? Or are we looking at a perpetual cycle of new plans and proposals to bring Houston Street back to its glory days, accompanied by the need for more public funds? And Houston Street isn’t the only big TIRZ money machine in the central city. The funds for the bike lanes on Avenue B come from a separate Midtown TIRZ. That zone encompasses a total of 458 acres, stretching north along Broadway all the way to Hildebrand Avenue and along North St. Mary’s Street to Mulberry Avenue, and south down to East Houston Street. The Midtown TIRZ therefore includes all of the

Pearl, neatly capturing the increased property values from that project and the adjacent areas and using them to fuel tax subsidies for the new apartment and condo developments. That means subsidy deals for things like the renovation of the former San Antonio Light building on Broadway, at a cost of $2.5 million, the new office building for Credit Human and even $2.7 million for the new Brackenridge Park Garage being completed on the west side of U.S. Highway 281. And just like its Houston Street counterpart, the Midtown TIRZ is the gift that keeps on giving, in effect — for now — until 2031. Then there’s the $1.3 million for St. Paul Square and Sunset Station. That’s from yet another zone, the Inner City TIRZ. For a city where local oﬃcials seem addicted to big projects — and developers addicted to public subsidies — the TIRZs appear to be the gift that keeps on giving. Heywood Sanders is a professor of public policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

or a deeper dive on SA’s downtown parking incentives, see our story on page 7.

sacurrent.com | December 4â€“17, 2019 | CURRENT

STD Clinic | 512 E Highland , SA TX 78210 | 210-207-8830

@BIKINIOFFROAD

#dammitderek

LET US BUILD YOUR RIG YOUR WAY REPAIRS • MAINTENANCE • SUSPENSION UPGRADES • TIRES & WHEELS • FABRICATION • OFF ROAD LIGHTING + MORE!

7227 ECKHERT RD. SAN ANTONIO, TX 78238 210.401.JEEP (5337) 10

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

news

Jade Esteban Estrada

GLITTER POLITICAL

Councilman John Courage Makes Listening Part of Public Service BY JADE ESTEBAN ESTRADA

or San Antonio City Councilman John Courage, 68, the journey of leadership and volunteerism began as an only child growing up in his native Massachusetts. He was 12 years old when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Texas soil. His mother was a big fan of the late president, and he remembers the event affecting him deeply. “I wanted to be as much of a public servant to people in my community as he was as president at that time,” the District 9 councilman says during our interview in his small office at Plaza de Armas. Over the course of his life, he’d have several opportunities to serve before he finally won public office. Courage arrived in San Antonio in 1971 when he joined the Air Force — one of those times when he devoted his life to the public good. “I guess the biggest complaint some people have is that they think that I’m a liberal — way out there on the left or something,” he says. Though he tries not to label himself, he does aim to be in tune with the needs of his constituency, which is something he thinks a council member should do

regardless of their political leanings. This year, San Antonio elected a female-majority council for only the second time in the city’s history. I ask him if the atmosphere on the dais feels different in any way. “You know, I really don’t see there being a real difficulty with the new council,” he replies thoughtfully. “I think it’s a lot like what we’ve been doing. The biggest difference was that there was some political animosity because of a prior council person and their goal to become mayor.” He is, of course, referring to former District 6 City Councilman Greg Brockhouse, who garnered 49% of the vote in his bid to unseat Mayor Ron Nirenberg earlier this year. Since then, Courage feels the dynamic has changed. “This council I think is very good with talking with one another, listening to one another and trying to collaborate greatly,” he says. Courage describes District 9 as “the thoughtful and considerate part of the city. I think [my constituents are] looking for a continuation of the stability in their district that they enjoy, but at the same time, they

recognize that they’re a conscientious partner in the whole city.” Recently, I ran into Courage and his wife Zada at a Bexar County Democratic Party event. How they met, he says, is a funny story. “We actually met at a singles club,” he says. “Not a club — it was a group for singles with children. It was called Phoenix, kind of rising from the ashes of a previous relationship, so to speak.” The first time he asked her out didn’t go as planned, however. “She said, ‘I don’t date people in this group.’ So, it was a challenge, but I accepted that challenge,” he says with a smile. This month, they’ll celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. Zada’s last name before they married was True, her first husband’s surname. When she married Courage, she combined the names. “So, she’s Zada True-Courage,” he says with pride. “And our marriage is a marriage of true courage.” I ask Courage to share the best advice he ever received. “I’d have to say it’s being a good listener,” he says. “When I was younger and energetic and maybe looked to be more involved and do more things, I kind of wanted to share what I thought about things. I’d find myself getting ready to say what I wanted to say while someone else was trying to talk with me and tell me something. I learned, a long time ago, the importance of being in the moment and listening to what the other person has to say, and understanding where they’re coming from before you’re ready to go ahead and develop your own thought and express that.” This practice serves him well as he taps into what he calls the “collective wisdom” of the city council. With all the talk of wisdom, I ask him what he recalls gleaning from his parents. He explains that his parents divorced when he was a toddler. His father, who wasn’t involved in his life, died when Courage was 7. He lost his mother shy of her 50th birthday. “So, I really never had a father in my life. My mom pretty much raised me on her own. It was very hard for her. She had been from a big family, never graduated from high school, never achieved a lot, and she had some physical and mental problems that really made it challenging for her.” Courage, who was 30 at the time of his mother’s death, only fully realized its significance later. “I lost my mother before I really had the opportunity to go back and call on her to help me understand more of where I came from and what kind of advice or wisdom she could give me,” he says. “And so, I just don’t have that kind of background to be able to give you a better answer. I was an only child and you know I pretty much made my way from when I was 20 and I left home and joined the service.” The story helps explain why listening and being in the moment have helped Courage absorb the highs and lows of both his personal and public life. With a combination of warmth and gentle statesmanship, he smiles and adds, “You never know what’s comin’ down the road.” sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

HEALTHY KIDS NEEDED FOR A STUDY ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

We are conducting a study on brain development using MRI to study the structure and function of the brain. There is NO radiation in MRI. To be in the study the child should: • Be 8-17 years old • Have no psychiatric diagnoses • Have parents with no psychiatric diagnoses

Children will be: - Given pictures of their brain - Given a certificate from the University acknowledging their successful time volunteering in research - Given the gratification of knowing their participation may help other kids who are seriously ill - Paid for their participation

If you are interested in participating in this research, Please Call (210) 450-8362 OR BDstudySA@uthscsa.edu

Weekend Appointments Available

12 CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Now Accepting Nominations Submissions Due: January 31, 2020

The City of San Antonio is seeking nominations for the position of Poet Laureate! The San Antonio Poet Laureate is an honorary position whose role is to promote the literary arts and literacy within the community and create a greater appreciation of the poetic arts through the reading and writing of poetry.

Visit SanAntonio.gov/Arts for guidelines. Contact Leslie Chasnoff at 210.207.1435 or leslie.chasnoff@sanantonio.gov for info. sacurrent.com | December 4â€“17, 2019 | CURRENT

J.B. WOOLFSHEDS CUSTOM WOOD STORAGE BUILDINGS & GARAGES

(210) 681-SHED (7433) STORAGE SHEDS GARAGES CARPORTS/PATIOS CONCRETE WORK SIDEWALKS | DRIVEWAYS CUSTOM BUILT WOOD STORAGE B U I L D I N G S & G A R AG E S , B U I LT O N YO U R LOT !

6018 EXCHANGE PARKWAY | WOOLFSHEDS.COM

The The Santa Santa Express Express Weekends 12:30p-4:30p

Santa Santa is is Bilingual Bilingual

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Portion of the proceeds will benefit

cally produced the stories that make Project Censored’s list in the first place. “The self-appointed curators, often wielding proprietary algorithms, summarily dispense with facts and ideas that they determine to be false — or maybe just dangerous to their agendas,” Attkisson notes. “Thanks to them, we will hardly have to do any of our own thinking. They’ll take care of it for us.” Does that seem hyperbolic? Well, read on, dear reader, read on. In Project Censored’s No. 2 censored story this year, you’ll discover Facebook partnering with a NATO-sponsored think tank to “monitor for misinformation and foreign interference” — a think-tank whose funders include the U.S. military, the United Arab Emirates, weapons contractors and oil companies. And whose board includes Henry Kissinger, the world’s most famous war criminal. Who better to tell you who to believe? Or better yet, decide who you’ll never even hear from? “Through the Looking Glass.” Yes, indeed. In the beginning, Project Censored’s founder, Carl Jensen, was partly motivated by the way that the early reporting on the Watergate Scandal never crossed over from being a crime story to a political story until after the 1972 election coverage. It wasn’t censorship in the classic sense practiced by church and state since time immemorial, but it was an example of something even more insidious, because no clear-cut act of censorship or all-powerful censor was needed to produce the same result of a public left in the dark. Jensen, defined censorship as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method — including bias, omission, underreporting or self-censorship — that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in its society.” And the most obvious way to start fighting it was to highlight the suppressed information in the form of the stories that didn’t get widely told. Thus, Project Censored and its annual list of censored stories was born. Jensen’s conception of censorship may be light-years away from how most media figures think of things. But while introducing this year’s list of stories, the volume’s co-editor Andy Lee Roth quotes media legend Walter Lippmann echoing the same sensitivity in his 1920 book, Liberty and the News: “Whether one aspect of the news or another appears in the center or at the periphery makes all the difference in the world.” But Project Censored was never just about the individual stories, it was about the patterns of marginalization and suppression that could be seen through the lens of connecting them. In his introduction, Roth says, “identifying these unifying themes is one significant way to gauge the systemic blind spots, third rails, and ‘no go’ zones in corporate news coverage.” He identifies several such patterns, which are stronger and more vivid in full list of Project Censored’s Top 25 stories, but still illuminating in terms of the Top 10. Stories 1 and 2 deal with press freedoms; stories 2, 4 and 9 concern corporate misconduct; stories 2 and 10 address technology, stories 3 and 4 tackle the environment; stories 5, 6 and 8 describe gender inequalities; and stories 6, 7 and 8 deal with criminal justice, prisons and detention. As you can see, patterns overlap. Stories 2, 4, 6 and 8 are all part of at least two. And there may well be other patterns you discover for yourself. These patterns don’t just connect issues and problems that those in power would rather neglect. They also connect people, communities and potential solutions, which those in power would rather see stay disconnected. So, don’t just read the following as a list of stories “out there.” Read it as an opportunity to connect.

Project Censored’s Top 10 news stories corporate media ignored in 2019

BY PAUL ROSENBERG

very year, Project Censored scours the landscape for the most important stories that the mainstream corporate media somehow missed, and every year the task seems to get a bit stranger. Or “curiouser and curiouser” as suggested in the subtitle of this year’s volume of their work, Censored 2020: Glass which includes their full list of the top Through the Looking Glass, 25 censored stories and much, much more about the never-ending struggle to bring vitally important hidden truths to light. In the foreword, “Down the Rabbit Hole of ‘Media Literacy’ by Decree,” Sharyl Attkisson, an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, highlights the absurdity of “so many well-organized, well-funded eﬀorts to root out so-called ‘fake news,’ which — as we’ll see below —have signiﬁcantly impacted the kinds of journalists and outlets who have histori-

1. Justice Department’s Secret FISA Rules for Targeting Journalists The federal government can secretly monitor American journalists under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which allows invasive spying and operates outside the traditional court system, according two 2015 memos from then-Attorney General Eric Holder. The memos were obtained by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Freedom of the Press Foundation through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which was reported on by The Intercept, whose parent company provides funding for both organizations, but was virtually ignored by the corporate media. The secret rules “apply to media entities or journalists who are thought to be agents of a foreign government, or, in some cases, are of interest under the broader standard that they possess foreign intelligence information,” The Intercept reported. Project Censored cited “concerning” questions the memos raise: First, how many times have FISA court orders been used to target journalists, and are any currently under investigation? Second, why did the Justice Department keep these rules secret when it updated its “media guidelines” in 2015? And, third, is the Justice Department using FISA court orders — along with the FBI’s similar rules for targeting journalists with National Security Letters (NSLs) — to “get around the stricter ‘media guidelines’?” 17 6 The corporate media virtually ignored these revelations when they occurred. The sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

I WILL AGGRESSIVELY

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

LAW OFFICE OF HECTOR GONZALEZ III SPECIALIZING IN DWI • CRIMINAL DEFENSE • PERSONAL INJURY

HG3LAW.COM | 909 NE LOOP 410 SAN ANTONIO, TX 78209 | 210-495-9999 | 16

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

/HECTORGONZALEZIII

6 15 subsequent media interest in FISA warrants targeting

Trump campaign adviser Carter Page “has done nothing at all to raise awareness of the threats posed by FISA warrants that target journalists and news organizations,” Project Censored observed. They ended with a quote from Krishnan, summarizing the stakes: “National security surveillance authorities confer extraordinary powers. The government’s failure to share more information about them damages journalists’ ability to protect their sources, and jeopardizes the news gathering process.”

2. Think Tank Partnerships Establish Facebook as a Tool of U.S. Foreign Policy In the name of fighting “fake news” to protect American democracy from “foreign influences,” Facebook formed a set of partnerships with three expert foreign influencers in 2018, augmenting its bias toward censoring left-leaning and progressive voices. In May 2018, Facebook announced its partnership with the Atlantic Council, a NATO-sponsored DC think tank to

Biodiversity in November 2018. The proposal, which Jonathan Watts, writing for The Guardian described as “a 200m-hectare sanctuary for people, wildlife and climate stability that would stretch across borders from the Andes to the Atlantic,” was advanced by an alliance of some 500 indigenous groups from nine countries, known as COICA — the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin, who called it, “a sacred corridor of life and culture.” “We have come from the forest and we worry about what is happening,” declared Tuntiak Katan, vice president of COICA, quoted in The Guardian. “This space is the world’s last great sanctuary for biodiversity. It is there because we are there. Other places have been destroyed.” The Guardian went on to note: “The organisation does not recognise national boundaries, which were put in place by colonial settlers and their descendants without the consent of indigenous people who have lived in the Amazon for millennia. Katan said the group was willing to talk to anyone who was ready to protect not just biodiversity but the territorial rights of forest communities.” In contrast, The Guardian explained: “Colombia previously outlined a similar triple-A (Andes, Amazon and Atlantic) protection project that it planned to put forward with the support of Ecuador at next month’s climate talks. But the election of new rightwing leaders in Colombia and Brazil has thrown into doubt what would have been a major contribution by South American nations to reduce emissions.” “monitor for misinformation and foreign interference.” “It’s funded by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force, along with NATO, various foreign powers and major Western corporations, including weapons contractors and oil companies, (including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell),” noted Adam Johnson, writing for the media watch group FAIR, noted. It went on to note that the major news outlets covering the story said nothing about any of the above conﬂicts of interest. In September, Facebook announced it would also partner with two Cold War-era U.S. government-funded propaganda organizations: the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute. In October 2018, Jonathan Sigrist, writing for Global Research, described one of the greatest Facebook account and page purges in its troubled history: “559 pages and 251 personal accounts were instantly removed from the platform. … This is but one of similar yet smaller purges that have been unfolding in front of our eyes over the last year, all in the name of fighting ‘fake news’ and so-called ‘Russian propaganda.’ ”

3. Indigenous Groups from Amazon Propose Creation of Largest Protected Area on Earth When news of unprecedented wildﬁres in the Amazon grabbed headlines in late August, most Americans were ill-prepared to understand the story, in part because of systemic exclusion of indigenous voices and viewpoints, highlighted in Project Censored’s number three story — the proposed creation of an Amazonian protected zone the size of Mexico, presented to the UN Conference on

4. U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Set to Unleash 120 Billion Tons of New Carbon Emissions Three months after the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that we have just 12 years to limit catastrophic climate change, Oil Change International released a report that went virtually ignored, warning that the United States was headed in exactly the wrong direction. The report Drilling Towards Disaster warned that rather than cutting down carbon emissions, as required to avert catastrophe, the United States under Donald Trump was dramatically increasing fossil fuel production, with the United States on target to account for 60% of increased carbon emissions worldwide by 2030, expanding extraction at least four times more than any other country. References to the report “have been limited to independent media outlets,” Project Censored noted. “Corporate news outlets have not reported on the report’s release or its ﬁndings, including its prediction of 120 billion tons of new carbon pollution or its ﬁve-point checklist to overhaul fossil fuel production in the US.”

5. Modern Slavery in the United States, Around the World An estimated 403,000 people in the United were living in conditions of “modern slavery” in 2016, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, or GSI, about 1% of the global total. The GSI deﬁnes “modern slavery” broadly to include 18 6 forced labor and forced marriage. sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

6 17 Because forced marriage affects 15 million people, more than a third of the global total, it’s not surprising that females form a majority of the victims, 71%. The highest levels were found in North Korea, where an estimated 2.6 million people — 10% of the population — are victims of modern slavery. The GSI is produced by the Walk Free Foundation, whose founder Andrew Forrest called the U.S. figure, “a truly staggering statistic, [which] is only possible through a tolerance of exploitation.” “Walk Free’s methodology includes extrapolation using national surveys, databases of information of those who were assisted in trafficking cases and reports from other agencies like the UN’s International Labour Organization,” explained The Guardian. There are problems with this, according to others working in the field, The Guardian noted. There’s no universal legal definition, and tabulation difficulties abound. But the GSI addresses this as an issue for governments to work on and offers specific proposals. “The GSI noted that forced labor occurred ‘in many contexts’ in the US, including in agriculture, among traveling sales crews and — as recent legal cases against GEO Group Inc. have revealed — as the result of compulsory prison labor in privately owned and operated detention facilities contracted by the Department of Homeland Security,” Project Censored noted. Newly restrictive immigration policies have further increased the vulnerability of undocumented persons and migrants to modern slavery.

6. Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Sex Trafficking Criminalized for SelfDefense On January 7, outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who had been sentenced to life in prison in 2004, at age 16, for killing a man who bought her for sex and raped her. Brown’s case gained prominence via the support of A-list celebrities, and Haslam cited “the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.” But despite public impressions, Brown’s case was far from unique. “There are thousands of Cyntoia Browns in prison,” organizer Mariame Kaba, co-founder of Survived and Punished, told 18

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Democracy Now! the next day. “We should really pay attention to the fact that we should be ﬁghting for all of those to be free,” Kaba said. “When you look at women’s prisons, the overwhelming majority, up to 90% of the people in there, have had histories of sexual and physical violence prior to ending up in prison.” “In contrast to the spate of news coverage from establishment outlets, which focused on Brown’s biography and the details of her case,” Project Censored wrote, “independent news organizations, including The Guardian, Democracy Now!, Rolling Stone and Mother Jones, stood out for reporting that cases like Brown’s are all too common.” Later in January, Kellie Murphy’s Rolling Stone story quoted Alisa Bierria, another Survived and Punished co-founder, and highlighted several other cases prominent in alternative media coverage. In May, Mother Jones reported on the legislative progress that Survived and Punished and its allies had achieved in advancing state and federal legislation. “Corporate news organizations provided considerable coverage of Cyntoia Brown’s clemency,” Project Censored noted. “However, many of these reports treated Brown’s case in isolation, emphasizing her biography or the advocacy on her behalf by celebrities such as Rihanna, Drake, LeBron James, and Kim Kardashian West.” It went on to cite examples from the New York Times and NBC News that did take a broader view, but failed to focus on sex traﬃcking or sexual violence.

7. Flawed Investigations of Sexual Assaults in Children’s Immigrant Shelters “Over the past six months, ProPublica has gathered hundreds of police reports detailing allegations of sexual assaults in immigrant children’s shelters,” the nonproﬁt news site reported in November 2018. “[The shelters] have received $4.5 billion for housing and other services since the surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America in 2014 [and the reports reveal that] both staﬀ and other residents sometimes acted as predators.” “Again and again, the reports show, the police were quickly — and with little investigation — closing the cases, often within days, or even hours,” ProPublica stated. In the case of Alex, a 13-year-old from Honduras used to highlight systemic problems, the police investigation lasted 72 minutes and resulted in a three-sentence report.

There was surveillance video showing two older teenagers grabbing him, throwing him to the ﬂoor and dragging him into a bedroom. But ProPublica reported, “An examination of Alex’s case shows that almost every agency charged with helping Alex — with ﬁnding out the full extent of what happened in that room — had instead failed him.” “Because immigrant children in detention are frequently moved, even when an investigator wanted to pursue a case, the child could be moved out of the investigating agency’s jurisdiction in a just few weeks, often without warning,” Project Censored noted. “When children are released, parents or relatives may be reluctant to seek justice, avoiding contact with law enforcement because they are undocumented or living with someone who is.”

8. U.S. Women Face Prison Sentences for Miscarriages “There has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions, candidate Donald Trump said in early 2016, which led to a wave of denials from anti-abortion activists and politicians, who claimed it was not their position. These women were victims, too, they argued: that had always been their position. But that wasn’t true, as Rewire News reported at the time. Women were already in prison, not for abortions, but for miscarriages alleged to be covert abortions. And that could become much more widespread due to actions taken by Trump Administration, according to a 2019 Ms. Magazine blog post by Naomi Randolph on the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision — especially if the decision is overturned. “Pregnant women could face a higher risk of criminal charges for miscarriages or

stillbirths, due to lawmakers in numerous states enacting laws that recognize fetuses as people, separate from the mother,” Project Censored explained, adding: “One example that Randolph provided is in Alabama, where voters recently passed a measure that “endows fetus’ with ‘personhood’ rights for the ﬁrst time, potentially making any action that impacts a fetus a criminal behavior with potential for prosecution.” Collectively, these laws have resulted in hundreds of American women facing prosecution for the outcome of their pregnancies.” Indeed, a 2015 joint investigation by ProPublica and AL.com found that “at least 479 new and expecting mothers have been prosecuted across Alabama since 2006,” under an earlier child endangerment law, passed with meth-lab explosions in mind, which the “personhood movement” got repurposed to target stillbirths, miscarriages and suspected self-abortions.

9. Developing Countries’ Medical Needs Unfulfilled by Big Pharma “The world’s biggest pharmaceutical ﬁrms have failed to develop two-thirds of the 139 urgently needed treatments in developing countries,” Julia Kollewe reported for The Guardian in November 2018, according to a report by Access to Medicine Foundation, which “found that most ﬁrms focus on infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis but had failed to focus on other serious ailments. ... In particular, the foundation called for an infants’ vaccine for cholera and a single-dose oral 21 6 cure for syphilis.”

CHECK OUT FRESH DAILY CONTENT AT Check out fresh daily content at sacurrent.com

SACURRENT.COM

MON- FRI 5:30AM-4PM | SAT 6:30AM-4PM • SUN 7:30AM-3PM

521 E Woodlawn Ave. • 210.737.8646

sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

Linking Small, Minority, Women, & Veteran Business Owners to opportunities for over 19 years! Meet Federal, State & local agencieS PLUS Private Companies Who Want to Do Business With You!

AnyO n CAn E AttEn D!

frEE

ADMiSSiOn & PArking

COMMODitiES  SErviCES  COnStrUCtiOn

Join Us!

Billions of Dollars in Contract Opportunities!

Wednesday, December 11, 2019 7:00am-3:00pm freeman Expo Hall San Antonio, tX

Sponsored by

B r E A k fA S t P r O g r A M

Veterans

gEOrgE B. HErnAnDEz

Business & Resource Center

President/CEO University Health System

B r E A k fA S t r E M A r k S

LUnCH PrOgrAM

Lunch MC: Diana S. Sanchez President/CEO San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

george eorge Prochaska regional Commissioner for fAS, general Services Administration (gSA)

rODnEy StrOng

James Josey

CEO, griffin & Strong “impacting Economic inclusion”

Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) US State Department

BEXAr COUnty COMMiSSiOnErS COUrt

nelson W. Wolff County Judge

Sergio “Chico” rodriguez

Commissioner, Pct. 1 20

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Justin rodriguez Commissioner, Pct. 2

kevin A. Wolff

Commissioner, Pct. 3 veteran, US navy

tommy Calvert

Commissioner, Pct. 4

“TURNED THE TREND OF TYPICAL VAPING AND SMOKE SHOPS TO THE MODERN ERA...” -A. M . , GOOGLE REVIEW

“NICE STOCK AND EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT VIBES WITH THE HOME FEELING...” -N. T., GOOGLE REVIEW

“QUALITY PRODUCTS AND HAVE EVERYTHING FROM VAPING GEAR TO GLASS PIPES AND CIGARS...” -M. D. , GOOGLE REVIEW

“I GIVE THIS PLACE 10 STARS OUT OF 5! BEST SMOKE SHOP I’VE BEEN TO...” -R. M . , GOOGLE REVIEW

6 18

It’s not all bad news. “The foundation’s report also highlighted 45 best and innovative practices that could ‘help raise the level of standard practice’ and ‘achieve greater access to medicine,’” Project Censored noted. “The report highlights examples such as the development of a child-friendly chewable tablet for roundworm and whipworm, which infect an estimated 795 million people,” The Guardian reported. “Johnson & Johnson has pledged to donate 200 [million] doses a year until 2020.” The possibilities underscore why attention is vital. Attention makes a difference, Project Censored pointed out: “In an effort to mobilize investors to pressure pharmaceutical companies to make more medicines available to developing countries, the foundation presented the findings of its reports to 81 global investors at events in London, New York, and Tokyo. As of April 2019, Access to Medicine reported that, since the release of the 2018 Access to Medicine Index in November 2018, 90 major investors had pledged support of its research and signed its investor statement.” But attention has been sorely lacking in the corporate media. “With the exception of a November 2018 article by Reuters, news of the Access to Medicine Index’s findings appear to have gone unreported in the corporate press,” Project Censored concluded.

10. Pentagon Aims to Surveil Social Media to Predict Domestic Protests “The United States government is accelerating efforts to monitor social media to preempt major anti-government protests in the U.S.,” Nafeez Ahmed reported for Motherboard in October 2018, drawing on “scientific research, official government documents, and patent filings.” Specifically, “the social media posts of American citizens who don’t like President Donald Trump are the focus of the latest U.S. military-funded research,” which in turn “is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to consolidate the U.S. military’s role and influence on domestic intelligence.” The Pentagon had previously funded Big Data research into predicting mass population behavior, “specifically the outbreak of conflict, terrorism, and civil unrest,” especially in the wake of the Arab Spring, via a program known as “Embers.” But such attention wasn’t solely focused abroad, Ahmed noted, calling attention to a U.S. Army-backed study on civil unrest within the U.S. homeland, titled “Social Network Structure as a Predictor of Social Behavior: The Case of Protest in the 2016 US Presidential Election.” Ahmed discussed two specific patents which contribute to “a sophisticated technology suite capable of locating the ‘home’ position of users to within 10 kilometers for millions of Twitter accounts, and predicting thousands of incidents of civil unrest from micro-blogging streams on Tumblr.” Project Censored made no mention of any coverage of this story by corporate media.

HAPPY HOUR PRICING! TUESDAY + WEDNESDAY 4-7PM!

10% OFF ALL MERCHANDISE EXCLUDING TOBACCO PRODUCTS.

2019 finalist

3 CONVENIENT SAN ANTONIO LOCATIONS

9822 Potranco Rd #115 • 210.684.2285 19422 U.S. Highway 281 N. #105 • 210.251.4058 7325 N Loop 1604 W STE 101 • 210.988.3720

HOME FRAGRANCE WITH STYLE. Scentchips is celebrating 40 years of handcrafting superior home fragrance. Our highly-fragranced Wax Melts have been perfected with decades of experience. Choose a fabulous Fragrance Blend and stylish Warmer today!

SCENTCHIPS.COM

sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

4-1 start, things quickly soured for San Antonio, resulting in a staggering eightgame skid that seemed to sap the souls of frustrated fans with each defeat. The last time San Antonio lost eight straight basketball games, current assistant coach Tim Duncan was a senior at Wake Forest and Murray was an infant. The longest losing streak under coach Greg Popovich fittingly ended at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, where Popovich and the Spurs captured their first NBA championship. For the longest tenured coach in the league, and a franchise at a crossroads, those days are far behind. A victory against the Sacramento Kings would be a welcome boon. $10-$751, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5140, attcenter.com. — M. Solis

Courtesy of Híjole SA

THU | 12/5 – FRI | 12/6 ART

‘BLACK CHRISTMAS’ L

The holidays may not seem like the most obvious time to take a trip into a world of darkness and neon florescence, but therein lies the marvel of Híjole SA’s newest exhibition. The gallery is offering the chance to wander a black-lit wonderland it’s billing as “Black Christmas.” The night of alternative holiday cheer will feature glowing sculptures, a UV-reactive acrylic pour, San Antonio cityscapes and bioluminescent pieces, all created

Courtesy of the Majestic Theatre

by local artists. These cosmic works of visual overload will be displayed under alternating daylight and UV black light bulbs so viewers can absorb the works in both their original form and their UV transcendence. Don’t worry — “Black Christmas” won’t include stabbings a la the horror movie of the same name. But do expect it to showcase a darker version of yuletide cheer. Free, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, 7-10 p.m. Friday, Híjole SA, 1420 S. Alamo #205, (210) 833-5483, facebook.com/ hijolesa. — Brianna Espinoza

THU | 12/5 – FRI | 12/6 ART

‘SEEING GHOSTS’

Mixed media and collage artist Tim Olson wasn’t looking for a pet. But when he saw a small, mottled kitten run out of a storm drain at a rest stop on the Texas-Oklahoma border, he did what most of us would do: rescue her. He didn’t give her a name, because he was just going to keep her until he could find her a suitable home. “Yet,” he says, “here she still is.” After posting a series of fictionalized conversations with the “nameless kitten” on Facebook — in which the tortoiseshell feline sneeringly criticizes Olson’s less-than-lucrative artistic pursuits and pointedly declares, “That Schro-

Tim Olson

dinger was a complete bastard” — Mockingbird Handprints’ Jane Bishop’s interest was piqued. She asked Olson to put on a show, and “Seeing Ghosts” was born. Olson is displaying a bevy of collages and illustrations featuring the kitten as well as a selection of his other output, a series of deftly shaded bird sketches and minimalistic portraits that often integrate collage and wordplay. The best part? Nameless kitten, who is leash-trained, will be the guest of honor at Thursday’s opening reception. Free, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday, Mockingbird Handprints, 1420 S. Alamo St. Suite 108, (210) 878-5711, mockingbirdhandprints.com. — Kelly Merka Nelson

FRI | 12/6 COMEDY

THEATER

JERRY SEINFELD L

Boy, these pretzels are making us thirsty — for more Jerry Seinfeld bits, that is. Lucky for us, the famed comedian is bringing his latest stand-up tour to San Antonio just in time for the Festivus season. Whether you’ve been binging his eponymous ’90s sitcom or wrapping up the latest season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, chances are you’re familiar with the comedian’s classic jokes. He’s not shy about playing the hits, and says as much on his Emmy-nominated Netflix show, but that’s because there’s a reason that they’re hits. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are running low and pricing high at press time, but anyone willing to stay up for his 9:30 p.m. performance can enjoy cheaper, more plentiful seats. $65-$175, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Daniel Conrad

FRI | 12/6 SPORTS

SPURS VS. KINGS p

Heading into this NBA season, a sense of optimism surrounded the Spurs, largely due to the return of Dejounte Murray from a torn ACL that kept him off the court last season. After a promising

Spurs Sports and Entertainment

22 CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

FRI | 12/6 – SUN | 12/15 A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE MUSICAL p

Charles Dickens’ yuletide tale has survived more than a century of adaptations, with everything from live television productions to Muppet movies following Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey from greedy misanthrope to Christmas-loving humanitarian. If it seems overdone at this point, that may be the Bah Humbug energy threatening to overtake our collective Christmas spirit, because there’s no story more appropriate for a yearly, seasonal retelling than this one — maybe with the exception of Love, Actually. Directed by San Antonio College theatre professor Ronald Watson and with choreography from local actress and dancer Kate Ragan, the Woodlawn Theatre’s musical version of A Christmas Carol will

calendar

Courtesy of Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club

geles Lakers. Much like Clarkson’s current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Spurs have struggled this season, shuﬄing lineups in search of answers and cohesion. Most of San Antonio’s shortcomings can be attributed to a lackluster defense that’s somehow regressed since last season when they were, in coach Gregg Popovich’s estimation, “middle of the road.” If the Spurs are intent on turning their season around, rapid strides on the defensive end are in order. $10-$1,661, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5140, attcenter.com. — MS

Courtesy of the Majestic Theatre

be performed every weekend until Christmas, making it hard to come up with an excuse to skip it that doesn’t sound Scroogeian. $18-$30, 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays through December 23 (see website for additional showtimes), Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 267-8388, woodlawntheatre.org. — Georgie Riggs

SUN | 12/8 COMEDY

JONATHAN VAN NESS: ROAD TO BEIJING L

Don’t forget to get a hair trim and put on some moisturizer before Jonathan Van Ness brings his comedy realness to the Majestic Theatre. You may have seen the quick-witted hair stylist on his Game of Thrones recap web series “Gay of Thrones” or binge-watched him making over the world one zhoosh at a time on the Emmy award-winning Queer Eye, but his live tour is bringing us something completely different. Van Ness’ new stage show is all about the trials and tribulations of figure-skating — a lifelong obsession of his — as he prepares for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Yes, you read that right, henny — Van Ness is an Olympic hopeful! Exchanging his scissors for blades, this energetic mustachioed queen is here to tickle your funny bone with his

Courtesy of the Majestic Theatre

gymnastic antics, delivered with the energetic compassion that Queer Eye fans have grown to love. $35-$65, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — BE

MON | 12/9 MAGIC

CRISS ANGEL RAW: THE MINDFREAK UNPLUGGED L

Bust out the all-black wardrobe — former musician and current magician Criss Angel is back, touring with his new show RAW: The Mindfreak Unplugged. Remembered as the star, creator, executive producer and director of mid-aughts A&E series Criss Angel Mindfreak, the alternative magician brings his iconic illusions and street magic to an intimate, non-MTV-esque “unplugged” setting. Joined by assistants and face-painted in a rather un-raw manner, Angel’s promised stripped-down magic show might bring back that childlike wonder of “How did he do it?” — or just make you Google the how-to videos for his tricks. $49.50-$300, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — BE

THU | 12/12 SPORTS

THU | 12/12 – SAT | 12/14 COMEDY

TOM GREEN L

Comedian Tom Green might not be at the height of popularity like he was when he hosted the outrageous prank program The Tom Green Show on MTV in the late ’90s. But the Canadian funnyman and actor, who just became a United States citizen last February, is keeping busy with stand-up comedy performances and showing up in a movie or reality show at least once a year. Unfortunately, in 2019 Green starred in one of the worst films of the year — Iron Sky: The Coming Race — where he played Donald, the leader of a cult that worships the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. Green was also a contestant on the second season of Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year, where he shared a living space with Kato Kaelin, Joey Lawrence and Anthony Scaramucci. After a months-long hiatus, he returned as host of The Tom Green Podcast, which he is currently reformatting — in September, he jumped online to “test” his new system and talk to random listeners who called him. We’ll tune in as soon as he invites The Mooch as a guest. $22-$35, 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (866) 4683399, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — Kiko Martinez

SPURS VS. CAVALIERS 5

Courtesy of the Woodlawn Theatre

Through three seasons at Karen Wagner High School, where his jersey is now retired, NBA veteran Jordan Clarkson led the Thunderbirds to an astonishing 105-14 record, including two state semifinal appearances. The former San Antonio High School Player of the Year returns to the AT&T Center, where his professional career originally tipped off as a member of the Los An-

Spurs Sports and Entertainment

SUPPORT THE

LGBTQ COMMUNITY L BY BECOMING A PATIENT

SERVICES INCLUDE:

LGBT Specialty Care | Primary Care Gender Care | HIV/HEP C Care PrEP & PEP | On-site Pharmacy All major health insurances accepted. All proceeds benefit LGBT patients who are uninsured.

H E A LT H E Q U I T Y C L I N I C | 3 0 3 N . F R I O | 2 1 0 - 6 8 8 - 5 7 9 2 | M – F 8 A M – 4 : 3 0 P M FOR MORE INFO, VISIT AARCSA.COM | SERVING THE HIV COMMUNITY SINCE 1990 24

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

calendar ART

‘RE/DEVALUING COLORISM: INTERSECTIONS OF SKIN COLOR AND CURRENCY’

Guest curated by Aissatou Sidime-Blanton, “Re/ Devaluing Colorism: Intersections of Skin Color and Currency” showcases work by 14 artists — the majority of whom are African American — that address the harmful eﬀects of colorism, “ranging from self-loathing to the sexualization of women of ‘indeterminate’ origin.” Featured artists include Bernice Appelin-Williams, Rabea Ballin, Lauren Cross, Barbara Felix, Pallavi Govindnathan, Jin-Ya Huang, Ann Sole Sister Johnson, Lauren Kelley, Dan Lam, Vicki Meek, Deborah Roberts, Susan Sponsler, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga and Montoya Williams, many of whom are creating new work Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen for this exhibition. The Southwest School of Art will host a constellation of additional events during the exhibition’s four months on display, including an art catalogue release party in conjunction with DreamWeek on January 10, an art workshop for girls on January 25 and a poetry, song and dance performance by Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson and Amber Ortega on March 6. “Re/Devaluing Colorism” will remain on view through April 5. Free, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Russell Hill Rogers Galleries at the Southwest School of Art, 1201 Navarro St., (210) 200-8200, swschool.org. — KMN

FRI | 12/13

THU | 12/12 – SUN | 12/15 THEATER

ALL IS CALM 5

Remember that time the holiday spirit hit pause on World War I? On Christmas Eve, 1914, a sudden hard frost covered No Man’s Land, and homesick soldiers on both sides filled the air with spontaneous shouts of seasons’ greetings and carols. Spontaneous ceasefires crept up along the Western Front as war-weary men arose from the trenches to exchange gifts, bury their dead and even play soccer together. The conspicuous absence of the monumental “Christmas Truce” from history textbooks inspired Peter Rothstein to create the radio musical drama All Is Calm in, which brings to life the voices of WWI soldiers using first-hand accounts, drawing on “letters, journals, oﬃcial war

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Siggi Ragnar

documents, poetry, gravestone inscriptions — even an old radio broadcast.” This month, the Public Theater presents its fourth consecutive presentation of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at UTSA’s downtown Buena Vista Theatre, running concurrently with the lighter fare on deck at its theater off Ashby — Elf the Musical. $15-$30, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through December 22, UTSA Buena Vista Theatre, 501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., (210) 733-7258, thepublicsa.org. — Trevor Flynn

suggestions for these quick-witted comedians to act out in imaginative games and musical mischief. Featuring the seminal and famously well-shod Ryan Stiles, major recurring guest Jeff B. Davis, American TV actor Joel Murray (Mad Men, Shameless), Canadian comedian Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall, Celebrity Poker Showdown) and the musical stylings of Second City veteran Bob Derkach, the live improv tour seems equipped to bring down the house. $29.50$65, 8 p.m., H-E-B Performance Hall, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — TF

FRI | 12/13 COMEDY

WHOSE LIVE ANYWAY? 5

Everything may be made up, and the points may not matter, but the improvisational comedy formula of Whose Line is it Anyway? has been reliably gut busting for more than 30 years. A decade after the series’ UK debut in 1988, its American counterpart continued to popularize improv comedy and enjoyed a recent revival on The CW in 2014. In mid-December, San Antonians can offer their own

Courtesy of Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

FRI | 12/13 – SAT | 12/14 FI LM & CLASSICAL MUSIC

THE WIZARD OF OZ: LIVE IN CONCERT L

There is no logical reason why The Wizard of Oz has entered the Christmas film canon. The 80-year-old Judy Garland vehicle following a young girl’s journey through the fantasy land of Oz has zero mentions of the holiday, and its tornado-centric plot suggests a time of year far warmer than a Kansas December. Nevertheless, the film persists as a delicacy that, while available year round, somehow feels special during the holiday season — like tins of popcorn or the inevitable pair of socks received from a distant relative. The San Antonio Symphony will accompany a screening of the film with a live music performance of its Oscar-winning soundtrack, bringing the thrill of live instrumentals to a film that still packs on the charm decades after its original release. $26-$65, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — GR sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

SPAMILTON SPAM ILTON AN AMERICAN PARODY

created, written, and directed by

GERARD ALESSANDRINI

JANUARY 14 -26 | EMPIRE THEATRE

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

calendar

Matthew Murphy

TUE | 12/17 THEATER

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

In the three years since the start of its original Broadway run, Dear Evan Hansen has garnered an amount of praise that seems unlikely for a play addressing teen suicide. Even more unlikely in this acclaim is its depiction of these themes through music, somehow bringing levity to the tragic subject matter. The musical follows anxious teen Evan as he forms meaningful connections with a local family, but under deeply dark false pretenses. With six

Tony awards, a Grammy and an Emmy under its belt, Dear Evan Hansen sings its way to San Antonio for the first time with its national touring cast, featuring Stephen Christopher Anthony as the titular Evan and Jessica Phillips as his love interest Zoe. The tickets may be as hard as to get as Hamilton on some days, but luckily, it’s staying at the Majestic for nearly a week, giving ample time for longtime fans and newcomers alike to see the musical. $45-$686, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday (through December 22), Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — GR

THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW

sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

Spend the Holidays with

MAGIK

NOVEMBER 19 - DECEMBER 19, 2019

DECEMBER 12-15, 2019 THE EMPIRE THEATRE

DECEMBER 6 - 7, 2019

DECEMBER 21-24, 2019 THE MAGIK THEATRE

MAGIKTHEATRE.ORG

THE MAGIK THEATRE | 420 S Alamo St | 210.227.2751 28

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

calendar | art pick

We are #1 in the #2 business!

THU | 12/5 - FRI | 12/6

@niceguyportapottys www.niceguyportapottys.com

24 hour line: 1-888-578-9656

Ryan Parker ART PICK

‘LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER’

Whether you’re wrestling with a bout of seasonal affective disorder or dreading the arrival of your annoying relatives, FL!GHT Gallery’s serving up a cure for what ails you in the form of “Looks Good on Paper,” a group show uniting four talented artists bound by the common thread of animation. A two-man show that evolved organically into a quartet of creators from diverse professional backgrounds, the exhibition employs cartoons as the “jumping-off point for investigating a deeper form of visual expression.” An accomplished Austinite who co-founded the artist collective Okay Mountain and currently teaches at Texas State University, Sterling Allen often spins everyday objects — from plastic water bottles to tie-dyed T-shirts — into conceptual sculptures and installations rooted in “the visual vocabulary of illustration.” A member of the eclectic FL!GHT family since its inception, illustrator and alleged peanut butter and bacon sandwich lover Ryan Parker charts a more traditional course through humorous ink cartoons addressing relationships, parenting and other slice-of-life topics. Known for a signature blend of hyper-local satire and pop nostalgia, San Antonio’s own Robert Gonzalez is the effortlessly funny animator behind Janie’s Guide to Fiesta — a Current-commissioned web series that showed viewers how to disguise a beer cooler in a baby carriage and make a wreath out of discarded chanclas. And tying up the foursome is Lance Myers, a seasoned animator, writer and director who’s loaned his talents to big-budget productions such as Space Jam and A Scanner Darkly. Currently working as animation director of the Austin-based video game development company Stoic Studios, Myers will be on hand during the opening receptions to sell copies of Clash of the Christmas Clones, his new children’s book involving RoboSanta, never-ending yuletide cheer and elves who chat about jazz and postmodernism. Free, 6-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, FL!GHT Gallery, 112R Blue Star, facebook.com/ﬂightsa. — Bryan Rindfuss

COWTOWNBOOTS.COM 210-736-0990

50% OFF OF SELECT GROUP OF

JUSTIN BOOTS

NEW SELECTION OF LADIES BOOTS NOW 10% OFF MENS EXOTIC BOOTS NOW 10% OFF | ALL BELTS 20% OFF

4522 Fredericksburg Rd. WONDER LAND OF THE AMERICAS: Mon-Sat 10-7p • Sun 12-5p sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

rock the vote! Vote for your favorite holiday display from November 29 - December 19. You can vote one time in each category once per day.

winners will be announced at the New yearâ€™s eve celebration! www.lightupdowntownsa.com #samayorludt 30

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

arts Bryan Rindfuss

Studio Visits

Inside the symbolic psychedelia of San Antonio artist Angela Fox BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

he terms “loud” and “psychedelic” might more readily bring to mind a rock ’n’ roll sub-genre than an expression of visual art, but both are hallmarks in the recent work of Angela Fox. The San Antonio artist and educator has developed a recognizable style informed by strong female characters, skulls, cats, scorpions, snakes and mosaic-like motifs. Often blending autobiography and mythology, her visually arresting output can be simultaneously dark and playful — vipers slither through eye sockets, floating heads brandish forked tongues and characters appear engaged in bizarre rituals. Born in the small South Texas town of Beeville and raised in the San Antonio suburb of Kirby, Fox didn’t consider art seriously until a high school teacher soured her love for theater. “She really turned me off of theater forever,” Fox recounted. While studying art and art history at University of the Incarnate Word, Fox worked between drawing, painting, printmaking and mixed media, at times challenging the confines of self-portraiture by presenting an idea of herself as a skeleton. After graduating from UIW in 2004,

Fox moved to California to pursue a master’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Exercises in Self-Defense Although Fox had applied to the school’s painting department, it was the printmaking department that accepted her. Fortunately, the school allowed for cross-disciplinary studies. “The first year I did mixed media, because I just really didn’t know what I wanted to do with printmaking,” Fox said. Eventually, she found her way in printmaking and began exploring the possibilities of making multiples. Inspired in part by the trials of navigating San Francisco and feeling “completely too young” for grad school, she started making woodcuts of female characters — perhaps alternate versions of herself — and assembling her prints in wall installations. “I think a lot of it was this mentality of self-defense and kind of building a little wall around yourself with like-minded people or like-minded things. … I had never even been there before. … And so, I think it was a little bit

Bryan Rindfuss

of shock. … I had this weird case of imposter syndrome, and so I didn’t feel like I should have been there [or] that I was good enough to be there, because everyone was older and smart and amazing, and I just felt really lost. So, that’s the first thing I thought to do was make art that made me feel OK.” Devoid of distinguishing characteristics and often decked out in black leggings and pointy black boots, these interchangeable figures birthed a consistent theme in Fox’s work: the concept 32 6

Find more artsmore coverage Find news every day at sacurrent.com

arts

Bryan Rindfuss

6 31 of tribes, gangs and groups.

“It’s a tribe and a gang and a group, but it’s also that idea of self-portrait — like a person multiplied. Like yourself multiplied, or like your army of yourself.”

Texas Calling After earning her master’s degree, Fox decided to stay in San Francisco and pursue a career in art. Although things were working out well — she landed a decent job at a commercial printing press, found an affordable Russian Hill apartment with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, made artwork in her spare time and even started showing in local galleries — she started questioning her professional trajectory in the city. “I think I was just concerned about getting the right kinds of experiences under my belt faster,” Fox said. “And it was a little impossible to do it there … If you think about how many MFAs are coming out of the Bay Area, it was really competitive. I was making ends meet, but when I’d come home to visit, I was struck by the things that felt like a luxury to me.” After working at the printing press for a year, Fox decided to pursue something closer to her heart and closer to home. So, she contacted UIW to inquire about a teaching position. “They said, ‘We can offer you a drawing class.’ So, I got one drawing class lined up. And so that’s how I started teaching. I came back in mid-2007 and started in the fall.” Around the same time, Fox started apprenticing for a tattoo artist and practicing her skills on her family. “I tattooed my parents, myself, my sister and my brother — the whole family,” 32

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

she said. “I did it for a year and decided that it was not for me, mostly because I wanted to be really, really good at it. I wanted to make my art, and I wanted to teach, and I wanted to be good at all three things … I think I got frustrated that I wasn’t immediately good at it.” Tattooing may not have been in the cards, but a teaching career was. Now 12 years into the game, Fox currently teaches six classes — art appreciation, color theory, two-dimensional design and three levels of drawing — between UIW and San Antonio College.

The Home Studio Fox has never been a huge fan of traditional art studios and even avoided them in grad school in favor of working on the floor of her apartment. Fittingly, her current study setup is smack in the middle of her 1920s-era home in Olmos Park Terrace. Efficient, tidy and compact, it comprises only essentials — a desk, chair, lamp, brushes and a bar cart stocked with her longtime medium of choice: gouache, an opaque type of watercolor she favors for its intense hues and velvety finish. On the wall, a mood board displays images of wild cats, snakes, floral patterns and the tiger-riding Hindu goddess Durga. Mixed among her paints and brushes are a hot-pink Oaxacan alebrije, an intricately decorated Polish Easter egg (a gift from her mother) and a symbol dictionary Fox reads during her downtime. Typically beginning with a pencil sketch, her paintings develop organically. “Sometimes when I’m painting, there’s more of an interest in designs and patterns and ornamental use of things

Bryan Rindfuss

more than the actual subject itself,” Fox said. “It’s become super-intuitive. A lot of the time I might have a feeling that I’m going for. Everything I’m working on now, I want to be super loud and almost psychedelic in colors, so that’s kind of the palette that I’ll reach for. … I’m really trying to push it into something that’s overly ornamental, or overly stimulating as far as color goes.” Despite a creative process she likens to stream of consciousness, Fox’s output is cohesive, based not only on her eye-popping palette but the visual vocabulary she’s developed over the years. “I use snakes a lot because they’re feared, but they’re also positive symbols of regeneration and growth,” she explained. “But they’re also about destruction. … Scorpions are about chaos, destruction and evil. I like putting all these heavily loaded powerful symbols in there.”

Highlights and On the Horizon Since her return to San Antonio, Fox has blipped the Current’s radar on several occasions. One of her signature girl gangs landed on our cover in 2014 in conjunction with the Blue Star Contemporary exhibition “Spatial Planes.” We also geeked out over her cultish zine Enter the Snake Clan in 2016 and previewed her Gravelmouth Gallery exhibition “Heart of a Snake” in 2017. Last year, Fox’s visibility grew considerably when Gravelmouth proprietor David “Shek” Vega tasked her with translating her typically small-scale work to two 15foot pillars underneath I-35 as part of the

Bryan Rindfuss

San Antonio Street Art Initiative. “I was terrified and nervous,” Fox said. “[But] it ended being a lot of fun … I liked being on the lift for the first time — you’re up there shaking and painting and it’s terrifying. That was some of the most fun I’ve ever had painting, because it was so physical.” Fresh off a Los Angeles exhibition curated by Australian artist and kindred spirit Svetlana Shigroff, Fox is in the process of preparing for an October 2020 solo show at Freight Gallery. Although she says she’s “petrified” by the idea of filling the large gallery, she seems to be on the right track. “I’m happy with where I think I want to go … I want to do a really big series of super, super, super colorful ornamental pattern-oriented work. Where it’s just really based on vision, like the idea of seeing the colors, and seeing the patterns, so it’s really like eyeball-oriented.” For more about Angela Fox, visit angelafox. net or follow her on Instagram @angelafoxart.

Friday, December 13 | 6:00–8:00 p.m. Free with Museum admission

Music: PM Soul | Tours: 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m. Cocktails: Tre Trattoria (Cash bar)

200 West Jones Ave | samuseum.org In the event of inclement weather, Art Party is held indoors. sacurrent.com Art Party is a collaboration between the San Antonio Museum of Art and KRTU Jazz 91.7

| December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

YOUR HOMETOWN SPICE COMPANY SINCE 1985.

THIS DECEMBER AT ALAMO

SOUTH TEXAS SPICE CO. PARK NORTH • STONE OAK • WESTLAKES

DRAFTHOUSE.COM 34

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Retail - Institutional - Specialty Blends 8oz. - 300lbs. or more 210.436.2280 • 2106 Castroville Rd • 78237

Marriage Story spans emotions to deliver a mature, heartbreaking look at divorce BY KIKO MARTINEZ

arriage Story, the emotionally devastating divorce drama by director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale), begins with Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) listening to her husband Charlie (Adam Driver) reel off a list of qualities he loves about her. Charlie commends his wife for always knowing the right thing to do, giving him and their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson) haircuts and having the ability to drive stick, just to name a few. The recognition of these small things would likely be considered thoughtful and romantic to most people if, say, Charlie was making a speech at a surprise birthday party for Nicole or reciting his vows. It’s less chivalrous, albeit just as impactful, when Baumbach reveals that Charlie’s praise for her is coming at the behest of a mar-

Netflix

riage counselor who’s mediating their separation. Baumbach knows divorce well — personally and, in turn, cinematically. His 2005 independent, dark comedy masterpiece The Squid and the Whale was a semi-autobiographical look at his own parents’ divorce during the mid-1980s in Brooklyn. He uses his own divorce from his wife of eight years, actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, to give Marriage Story an authentic structure. What surges out of his screenplay is a heart-wrenching story about what is essentially the slow and untimely death of a once-loving relationship. Johansson and Driver deliver career-best per-

A24

Deep Waters

Houston filmmaker Trey Edward Shults splits his Waves into two equally profound halves

ilmmaker and Houston native Trey Edward Shults (Krisha, It Comes at Night) has no intention of restraining his talent as a writer and director. His latest feature Waves, only the third of his career, builds on the intensity and humanity of his first two projects and never lets up. Waves is split into a pair of separate narratives. The first, which plays like a lit powder keg ready to explode at any second, tells the story of Tyler Williams (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a popular and accomplished high school senior and student athlete with a bright future. His character is much like the teenager Harrison

played earlier this year in another weighty drama, Luce. Although Tyler seems happy, his father Ronald (Sterling K. Brown) is an intimidating presence in his life. Ronald loves his son but pushes him to do his best — whether it’s in the classroom or on the mat as an elite scholastic wrestler. With the pressure building, however, Tyler loses control when he suffers a serious injury to his shoulder but tells no one about it. Not only does Tyler begin masking his physical pain with opioids, he conceals his emotional health from everyone except his younger sister Emily (Taylor Russell in an Os-

screens

Love Lost

formances, and there is absolutely no doubt they will be nominated for everything they qualify for this awards season. The honest dialogue creates a dynamic between the two that’s difficult to capture, especially since these kinds of storylines can backslide into melodramatic pits where no one can breathe. Luckily for Johansson and Driver as well as Oscar nominees Laura Dern (Wild) and Alan Alda (The Aviator), who play two of the couple’s divorce lawyers, Baumbach’s skill and maturity as a writer and director is evident early on. While much of Marriage Story seems to focus on one particular aspect of the divorce — whether they’ll live in LA or New York to raise their child — the film is more than just a waiting game to see how a judge is going to rule. Instead, it’s a touching narrative that conveys a deep-seated message on the significance of self-reflection and the loss of identity after sharing a life with someone for so long. It may sound like audiences could drown in a sea of sorrows, but Baumbach allows Marriage Story to materialize from a broad palette that includes plenty of humor, joy and tenderness. Thematically speaking, it’s all been done before, but when the little moments shine, Marriage Story rises above the rest. Marriage Story debuts on Netflix December 6.

car-worthy performance) when he learns his girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie) is pregnant. Tyler’s gradual downfall and the predictable fallout are tragic, but they lead the film into its more hopeful half that focuses on Emily and the impact her brother’s impulsive decisions have had on the family. Feeling like an outcast, Emily’s outlook on her situation changes when she meets Luke (Lucas Hedges), a sweet-hearted classmate who becomes someone she can confide in. From an audiovisual perspective, Waves is easily one of the most confidently directed independent films to hit the big screen this year. The drama is scored sublimely by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network), and its sound design, combined with detailed and unique cinematography by Drew Daniels (It Comes at Night), makes for a series of abstract sights and sounds. Shults’ script is profound too, as he finds a way to seamlessly transition from the first hour of the film into a second that is completely distinct in tone. The familiar messages of tragedy, faith and redemption are not lost on either side. There is little these characters can do when the tide starts turning and they find themselves floating in the middle of a restless ocean. But in Waves, Shults reminds viewers that all storms — even those that seem to destroy everything in their path — shall pass. Waves opens exclusively at the Santikos Bijou Cinema Bistro December 6. For our interview with actor Kelvin Harrison Jr., visit sacurrent.com. — Kiko Martinez

Find more news Find more every day at film stories sacurrent.com

COCKTAIL COMBO PACK

JÄGER CHURRO FRAPPE 24 $

1 oz Jägermeister 1 oz RumChata Blend with ice; pour in festive glass; garnish with cinnamon stick and whipped cream

nov 18-dec 31

COMBO PACK INCLUDES: • Jägermeister 375ml • RumChata 375ml

Mix, Match, ; Save

20% off 6 OR MORE BOTTLES

Cocktail Combo Packs make entertaining easier! We start with a simple yet delicious cocktail recipe, and then package and price two products together. Look for more Cocktail Combo Packs in stores and online this season!

order online for pick up or delivery at select locations • twinliquors.com

ORDER ONLINE FOR PICKUP OR DELIVERY IN SELECT AREAS | TWINLIQUORS.COM

*Holiday Wine Sale runs 11/18/19-12/31/19. Discount off regular priced 750ml bottles of Wine. Some exclusions apply. Please drink responsibly.

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

No further discount on sale items. Not to be combined with Twin Deals or Double Value Daily. Please drink responsibly.

screens

Amazon Prime Video

A Whole New World

The Expanse’s fourth season broadens its horizons BY KELLY MERKA NELSON

hen Syfy cancelled The Expanse in 2018, it seemed like yet another science fiction show cut down in its prime, doomed to go the way of Firefly and The 4400. What’s worse is that readers of the James S. A. Corey novels knew that the series was only just reaching where things start to get really good. But in a move that has become commonplace over the past decade, Amazon played deus ex machina, swooping in to save the show just in time for what would be its biggest season yet. Fittingly, Jeff Bezos made the announcement at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles a mere few weeks after the show was given the ax. As season three’s final episodes aired, fans who’d “read ahead” were hopeful that a move to Amazon Prime Video would mean that the transition into the fourth novel’s literally expansive setting would be backed up by the production values it deserves. And boy howdy, it is. Like Netflix, Amazon knows the winning formula for rescuing cancelled series: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The result is a new season of The Expanse that retains what fans know and love, with the added benefit of a more “grown up” atmosphere — we’re not on Basic Cable anymore, Toto. The first episode of the season comfortably lays out the plot arc and major players, although it plays loosely with time in a way that may confuse watchers who’ve forgotten that it takes quite a while to travel from Earth to the edge of the solar system, even with

the Expanse universe’s trademark Epstein Drive. The truce between the factions of Earth, Mars and the Belt is shaky at best, and now that the protomolecule-constructed Ring has put interstellar travel into humanity’s hands, anything could happen. With all this in mind — and a spectral Miller breathing down his neck — Captain James Holden is sent with the crew of the Rocinante to a newly discovered planet with two names: Ilus, from the Belter refugees who arrived there first, and New Terra, from the the Earth corporation that has an official charter to operate there. The introductory episode also shows off the enhancements provided by the move to Amazon. For the first time, Shohreh Aghdashloo is able to play U.N. diplomat Chrisjen Avasarala with the proper vocabulary. No longer are we relegated to a paltry few swears a season, but are up to almost an f-bomb a line. Rather than overdo it, though, Aghdashloo takes her enhanced diction in stride, smoothly folding the fucks into her performance. As in past seasons, The Expanse maintains a surprising level of tangibility for a space opera by eschewing copious CGI in favor of physical props and sets whenever possible. Anyone concerned that Ilus/New Terra would be a green screen nightmare can lay their worries to rest, because scenes planetside were filmed on location. As the Roci crew marvels at the new horizons unfolding before them, viewers also feast their eyes on palpable vistas that give the characters’ arrival to a new world more weight than a CGI landscape would have offered. The inclusion of a fully built set of the Ilus/New Terra settlement is just the icing on the cake.

The cast is up to all their old tricks — Cas Anvar (Alex Kamal) and Wes Chatham (Amos Burton) return to their roles with particular panache, and Thomas Jane’s transformation into the ProtoMillercule gives his hardboiled character new life. And just because Bobbie Draper isn’t around much in the novel Cibola Burn doesn’t mean we have to spend an entire season sans Frankie Adams. To keep her in play, the showrunners integrated material from elsewhere in the book series to let viewers keep an eye on the action on the inner planets while the Roci crew faffs around in interstellar space. The Expanse’s casting department must’ve also made the move to Amazon, because season four’s newcomers are top notch. Burn Gorman (Torchwood, Pacific Rim) is killer as company man Adolphus Murtry and it’s nice to see Jess Salgueiro shine as Chandra Wei after her character’s immediate obliteration on Amazon’s The Boys. As an added bonus, both actors have excellent onscreen chemistry with Chatham’s Amos, albeit for very different reasons. Similar to past seasons, the action of the novel is sped up considerably, covering a lot of narrative ground in the six episodes provided to reviewers. Still, this is nothing new, as the show moved quickly through the preceding action to keep the narrative running at an even keel. Plus, with four more books of material on the horizon, Expanse fans likely won’t be faced with an endof-series blowup a la Game of Thrones. The Expanse may not be the best sci-fi TV series ever made, but it’s certainly in the running, and with Amazon’s backing the show may very well fulfill fans’ dreams for a series covering the full narrative arc of the books. The fourth season shows exactly what has drawn both book-reading fans and new watchers to The Expanse, and cements its reputation as gripping, well-made speculative television. The Expanse season four will be available to stream in full on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, December 13. sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

Join us for a

Wine Party

Hula House

NOW OPEN!

Located off Bandera & 410 | 5819 NW Loop 410 Suite #120 San Antonio, Texas

(210) 288-5124

this SATURDAY, DEC. 7 from 5-8 pm

Sampl e 20+

high-end w ines pai r ed w i th c h e f - m a d e b i t es fro m H a n zo

10 0%

of the proceeds benefit Yoga Day 5 0 1 c 3 limited tickets include food, drinks & music at bit.ly/hanzowineparty

Open Mon-Sun 10am-9:30pm | Hulapokeusa.com

JAPANESE STYLE GASTROPUB | 7701 Br oa d way S t. # 124 | ha nz oBa r .com

POOL • DARTS • PING PONG

ENJOY OUR PATIO AREA

200 10141 Wurzbach, San Antonio, Texas 78230 • (210) 877-2100 wurzbachicehouse.com • Corner of Ironside and Wurzbach 38

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

1338 E HOUSTON ST

@TUCKERSBARSA

food Lea Thompson

Sweet (and Sour) Success

Lea Thompson

Chamoy City Limits makes a colorful leap into the brick and mortar world BY LEA THOMPSON

ith its colorful mangonadas, spicy chili con carne and sweet and sour chamoy cups, Chamoy City Limits’ brick-andmortar location has so many things going on, it almost seems like it shouldn’t work. Yet it does. Owner Ana Fernandez has tapped into San Antonio’s rich, storied food culture and created something all her own. You might recognize Fernandez from her popular food ventures — the Institute of Chili, a food truck inspired by San Antonio’s Chili Queens, or Chamoy City Limits, another food truck specializing in icy sweet treats often embellished with its namesake sweet and tangy pickled fruit sauce. During the week, the recently opened restaurant provides Fernandez with the space she needs to operate her catering company. On the weekends, it opens the doors to the public while the like-named food truck travels to locations throughout the city. Don’t be surprised if the new eatery is busy, as visitors and families fill the shop to sample its signature over-the-top raspas and savory Tex-Mex bites. Fernandez and her team keep the lines moving fast and the patrons happy with eats such as chicken fideo — finished with cilantro and a dash of Valentin hot sauce — and the brisket waffle, a sweet Belgian waffle topped with 12-hour smoked brisket. And, of course, it also dishes up hearty red chili, served with homemade sweet cornbread and jalapeños.

a crunchy base for sweet and luscious scoops of corn in a cup-inspired ice cream — again topped with chamoy. Those textures and flavors that could easily become overpowering or create unappetizing combinations, but Fernandez controls every aspect of the process, making them “I started the [Institute of Chili] to pay work well together. homage to the original San Antonio Chili The Rusa Classic, a pink beverage that’s Queens, and now we serve it here,” Fernandez said. “We use real peppers. The process is very seemingly a cross between a raspa and a slushy, is topped with sour candy, homemade laborious, but you can taste the difference. chamoy and pickled fruits, This is the state dish, so we providing an experience wanted to make sure that it Chamoy City Limits that’s sweet, sour and bubbly really honored that history.” all at once. Fernandez also happens to 447 W. Hildebrand Ave. #105 The entire dessert menu is be a trained professional art(210) 744-0000 customizable, and though it ist who specializes in painting chamoycitylimits.com offers endless combinations urban landscapes of South and options, they rely on the Texas. Surprisingly, the walls same core ingredients. There of Chamoy City Limits are are a ton of raspa places in San Antonio, but largely empty, but Fernandez has big plans few use so many fresh ingredients and create for the decor in coming months. so many dishes from scratch. “I don’t rush into things,” she said. “EvenFriendly advice to diners, however: don’t tually I will put photos up, but I don’t want to do something I regret. What I do has to say expect to finish the raspas or chamoy cups alone. And if you want to try multiple dishes, something.” bring partners to help you finish. Multi-genThe art came before the food trucks, but erational families and friends filled the Fernandez applies the thoughtfulness and restaurant booths to share their dishes with intention of her visual work to the restaurant menu. That’s especially evident in the deserts, each other. “I like the idea of being a place where which is where Chamoy City Limits shines. people can make a new memory — having a Its offerings span from keto-friendly options and colorful chamoy cups to sweet and tangy menu that evokes the past but gives people something new they haven’t had before,” ice cream combinations. Fernandez said. “I like the idea of being that The pineapple upside down cake offers a lady for families, being that lady who made warm spongy base served with homemade the crazy colorful raspas and chamoy cups vanilla ice cream and, naturally, chamoy. It’s that were unlike anything else.” likely to take diners back to childhood visits The restaurant is open from noon to 8 with their abuelos. A crunchy Norwegian krumkake cone, also made in house, provides p.m., Friday through Saturday.

Find more Findfood more& drink news everynews day at sacurrent.com

L i ’ s Si Resta chuan ura San Anton

mon-thur 3p-12a | fri-sat 12p-12a | sun 10a-10p 106 pershing | 210.267.9136 | thepigpensa.com

io’s mosta ut

hentic Chin

FRI, DEC 6TH

DOWN NOT OUT THEY LIVE//SILENT MINORITY

ese cuisin

Weekl y specialunch ls

BYOB

Spice Up Your Week

FRI, DEC 13TH

PSYCHO 78 & THE CRAMP

with our new Spicy Chicken Slider featuring Chile Pequin Oil

SmokE shacK

HOURS:

Mon-Sat 11A -10P Sun 12P-10P

20330 Huebner Road #106, STone Oak lissichuansa.com | (210)499-0070

SAT, DEC 14TH

THE NEXT // MEAN MOTOR SCOOTER // THE WALK OFFS

TUES, DEC 17TH

PUROSLAM PRESENTS:

THE FINAL SUPREMACY SHOWDOWN

Take a break

this year. we cater! CALL OR VISIT TODAY

3714 BROADWAY ST | 210.957.1430 | M-S 11-9P | CLOSED SUN | SMOKESHACKSA.COM 40

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

SAT, DEC 21st

BILLY CONQUER

GIVE THE GIFT of

DREAMBORED AND TYLER JORDAN

MON–FRI | 4pm – 2am SAT–SUN | 5pm – 2am 2423 N St Mary’s St | TheMixSA.com

LET US HELP WITH YOUR HOLIDAY PARTIES + CATERING.

honchoschurros.com

6421 Broadway St. | OPEN DAILY 12PM-10PM

food lP Smal late Nu By the

mbers

THANK YOU SAN ANTONIO!

By the Numbers: Delicious Tamales BY LEA THOMPSON

Courtesy of Delicious Tamales

uilding on family recipes from her childhood in Laredo, Valerie Gonzalez teamed up with her then-husband in 1980 to open the first Delicious Tamales location at 1901 Cincinnati Road. Three years later, another followed at 1330 Culebra Road, and it’s since become the company’s headquarters. For many San Antonians, the chain is a go-to for the holiday Mexican food staple.

HERE’S A BY-THE-NUMBERS LOOK AT ITS BUSINESS:

2.1 MILLION 70 DOZEN

NUMBER OF TAMALES PRODUCED YEARLY NUMBER OF TAMALES PRODUCED EVERY 2 MINUTES

NUMBER OF FILLING OPTIONS

NUMBER OF SAN ANTONIO LOCATIONS

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS!

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BAGEL SHOP! (210) 691-2245 | 10918 WURZBACH STE 132 SAN ANTONIO, TX 78230

local o locl al ca

lolcocacalall local

Source: Delicious Tamales BY LEA THOMPSON

OPENINGS

Churroholic, a California-based cinnamon bun franchise, is opening a new San Antonio location at 1812 S. Alamo St. in January 2020. … Blue Star Brewing Co. is bringing its organic brews to a new home: North Star Mall. ... Smoke Shack BBQ is expected to open a new restaurant at the San Antonio International Airport in 2020. … Boston’s, a growing pizza and sports bar franchise, is looking to open new locations throughout San Antonio in the next 10 years. … Sabor CocinaBar reopened in a new location at 4331 McCullough Ave. … Jason Dady’s Santa

Talk

Shack, a Christmas-themed pop-up bar, is now open at 520 East Grayson. … Artea has opened with Asian bites and bubble tea at 6362 De Zavala Road, #108.

CLOSINGS

There are no more chicken fried steaks to be had at chef Tim Rattray’s Fontaine’s Southern Diner & Bar, located 906 E. Elmira St., which closed last week. … Speaking of Rattray, after seven years of serving modern BBQ to The Pearl, his restaurant The Granary closed on November 30. … And speaking of Rattray yet again, the chef filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation for both businesses. … The Patio Southtown has closed at 1035 S. Presa St. bar, though owners say there are plans to reopen at a new location in the future.

BREAKFAST IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY. WHY NOT ENJOY IT WITH US?

OPEN DAILY FOR BREAKFAST 7AM 999 BASSE RD, #193 FIND THE SHOPS ATLINCOLN LINCOLN HEIGHTS AT EE BASSE RD, #193 FIND US US AT AT THE 999 BASSE RD, #193 FIND THE SHOPS SHOPS AT ATLINCOLN LINCOLNHEIGHTS HEIGHTS 999 999 EE BASSE RD, #193 FIND US US AT AT THE SHOPS AT HEIGHTS 999 E BASSE RD, #19 FIND AT THE SHOPS AT LINCOLN (210) 824-9600HEIGHTS MENU: ORDERUP-SA.COM ORDERUPSA (210) 824-9600 MENU: ORDERUP-SA.COM 999 E BASSE FIND US US @ ATORDERUPSA THE SHOPS AT LINCOLN HEIGHTS (210)824-9600 824-9600 MENU: MENU: ORDERUP-SA.COM RD, #19 ORDERUPSA (210) ORDERUP-SA.COM ORDERUPSA @ 999 E BASSE RD, #193 FIND US AT THE SHOPS AT LINCOLN HEIGHTS 999 E BASSE RD, #193 FIND US AT THE SHOPS AT LINCOLN HEIGHTS

(210) 824-9600 MENU: ORDERUP-SA.CO ORDERUPSA @ 824-9600 MENU: ORDERUP-SA.CO ORDERUPSA 999 E BASSE RD, # FIND US @ ATORDERUPSA THE SHOPS(210) AT(210) LINCOLN sacurrent.com December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT 41 (210) 824-9600| HEIGHTS MENU: ORDERUP-SA.COM ORDERUPSA 824-9600 MENU: ORDERUP-SA.COM @ @ ORDERUPSA (210) 824-9600 MENU: ORDERUP-SA.C

open Mon-Sat 11A-7P | Sun. 12P-5P

BROADWAY5050.COM

DAILY DRINK & LUNCH SPECIALS

Holiday Menu Appetizers

Quail Lizzies $2.50 ea Chicken Lizzies $10/lb Brisket & Pimiento Popper $12/lb Stuffed Mushrooms $1.75 ea

F RIDAY, DECEMBER 6T H

V!VA AMERICANA LAUNCH PARTY | 6PM

Dips & Spreads

Queso Blanco w/ Chorizo 8oz $5 Pimiento Cheese 8oz $4 Spinach Ranch Dip 8oz $4 Jalapeño Popper Dip 16oz $8 Chicken Salad 16oz $8

Mains • Available Raw or Smoked Prime Rib 1/2 or whole roast

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 T H

ALAMO CITY ARSENAL, HOLIDAY SHINDIG | 11:30AM

Dean & Peeler Bone-in $24/lb • Dean & Peeler Boneless $27/lb Wa g y u b o n e l e s s $ 4 7 / l b • C h o i c e B o n e l e s s $ 1 9 / l b

Whole Tenderloins

Dean & Peeler $39/Lb • Choice $30/lb

Stuffed Mains • Available Raw or Smoked Boudin Stuffed Quail $10 ea Whole Boneless Chicken $25 ea

Jalapeño Pecan Cornbread Stuffing

• Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

Boneless Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

Jalapeño Pecan Cornbread Stuffing • Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 4 T H

THE ORIGINAL POP! SWAP - 4-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! (FREE EVENT) | 11AM-3PM

Charcuterie Boards Small • feeds 3-4 • $75 Medium • feeds 5-7 • $85 Large • feeds 8-12 • $95 C u s t o m S i z e s Ava i l a b l e

Extras

Ta m a l e s • B r i s k e t o r P o r k • $ 1 8 / d o z e n Brisket Chili $8 pint C o u n t r y B r e a k fa s t S a u s a g e $ 8 / l b Apple Cranberry Pecan Breakfast Links $8/lb H o l i d ay H e at S a u s a g e $ 8 / l b Horseradish Cream Sauce $5 pint Garlic Rosemary Compound Butter $5 qter lb

TRIV IA EV ERY TUESDAY N I GHT WITH GEEKS WHO DRINK | 8PM

WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY KARAOKE | 10PM

SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH | 10AM - 3PM

Sides

Brisket Mac & Cheese • $5 pt • $10 qt Mexican Street Corn • $6.50 pt • $13 qt T w i c e B a k e d P o tat o e s 2 / $ 6 4 / $ 1 2 Jalapeño Pecan Cornbread Stuffing $15 1.5 qt Chorizo Cornbread stuffing $15 1.5 qt

CA L L : ( 2 10 ) 8 3 2 - 0 0 5 0 E M A I L : L ATC H@ B R OA DWAY5 0 5 0.C OM

just in time for the holiday season!

M-SAT 11A-2A SUN 11A-12A (210) 832-0050

3710 Broadway St • smokeshackfamily.com • 210-549-1090

5050 BROADWAY ST. ALAMO HEIGHTS, TX 78209

Pecan Pie $18 • Pumpkin Pie $18

BOOK YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY!

Desserts

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

music

been doing this now, which is getting on a dozen years, I’ve been able to not be so judgmental and be open to all varieties of artistic energy. What’s your take trap and mumble rap, which are less lyrical in form? I think being able to rap really well is a component of hip-hop and rap. The other day I was analogizing hiphop to gymnastics. We all know what gymnastics is — it’s flips. You got the pommel horse, the uneven bars, you know what I mean? If somebody just walked across the mat, that’s not gymnastics. Nobody would be like, “Oh, that’s part of gymnastics.” You know what I’m saying? So, I mean, you asking me, “Is it part of hip-hop when somebody does something that isn’t hip-hop at all?” No.

Hanging with Homeboy Sandman Ahead of his San Antonio show, indie rapper Homeboy Sandman reflects on the state of hip-hop BY CHRIS CONDE

ueens-born Homeboy Sandman pairs clever rap cadences with the kind of poetic imagery only well-seasoned emcees can conjure. As evidence of his mic prowess, the rapper is connected to Stones Throw Records, an LA-based label known for top independent hip-hop talent including Jonwayne, Quasimoto and Madvillian — the collaboration between masked rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib. With Homeboy Sandman hitting Paper Tiger on Sunday, December 15, to promote his new release Dusty, it seemed like a good time to pick his brain about his hurdles as an indie rapper and advice for up-and-coming microphone fiends. He spoke to the Current by phone last week.

Controlled Chaos Pinko’s new album You and You is a leap forward in texture and dynamics

an Antonio’s Pinko is back with a new album, You and You, that pushes the trio into new sonic territory that tempers its hammering noise rock a dose of subtlety. Composed of guitarist-vocalist Guillermo Alejandro Mendez, bassist Jared Ismael Flores and drummer Luke Zachary Mitchell — the latter of which joined at the end of 2017, Pinko write noise rock that could serve as a perfect soundtrack for the dawning apocalypse. You and You, the band’s fifth release, is a big step forward in the songwriting department. It showcases more texture and dynamics, painting a more vivid picture of what Pinko is trying to express — which

Johnny Navarro

How’s tour been so far, and what’s been the reaction to the new record? Tour’s been a great deal of fun to this point. Yeah, you know, I’ve been doing a lot of the new Dusty records — the crowds have been great people — familiar with the work and excited about the work. What’s been your biggest impediment coming up in the indie rap world? I really think my biggest impediment has been myself — getting into my own way with all of my my keep-itreal, keep-it-indie, underground, purist kind of dogma. I’ve been really closed minded at times in regard to individuals, artists, opportunities. I think that it comes from a good place — like, it’s important to me to be true to myself artistically. At the same time, in the time I’ve

Mendez says the duality of light and darkness. “The album is essentially a really simple play on Yin and Yang,” Mendez said. “Honestly, if there was anything that stretched over the entire record, I feel like we’ve done a much better job of loud-quiet dynamics. … We’ve always gone a million miles an hour, and a specific change since we’ve gotten Luke is that we’ve all been able to go a little softer and then even heavier — and that’s something we’re super proud of.” The album’s opener — also its title track — lurches the band into a whirlwind of Jesus Lizard-inspired chaos punctuated by moments of metallic hardcore reminiscent of Norma Jean. The frenzy isn’t uncontrolled, however. The band unleashes on their instruments like savage animals joining a battle royal. Guitar distortion, bass rumblings and drums hits topple over one another before being harnessed back into synchronicity. The music is heavy and loud, and the mix is damned near perfect.

What kind of advice to someone who’s pursuing hip-hop as a career? I would just tell them from my own experience, don’t be afraid to change and evolve. Don’t feel pressure to be the same person you were five minutes ago. Welcome change. Change is a constant, don’t limit yourself artistically. Don’t limit yourself creatively. Allow yourself to grow and think outside of the box. … I used to be vegan, I’m vegan now again, but I made songs that touched on me being vegan. When I wasn’t vegan anymore, a lot of vegan fans were like, “Oh, he ain’t vegan no more,” you know what I’m saying? “We rocked with him because he was vegan.” I also used to be in a very socially conscious, revolutionary-minded stage. People rocked with me because of that. People rocked with me because of all different types of things. I think the people that continue to rock with me are the ones that rock with me because my music is one of a kind and it’s pushing the envelope. … There’s gonna be some overlap [of those people and the] people who are actually making their own judgements about connecting to your music at a deeper level. Those people you’ll have a good chance of keeping as long as you’re not wack. With Dr. Bobby Banner, MPC, Mad One, SpyMC, JKnodic, Brainwavve and Stormshadow. $10, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

Josh Huskin

Pinko will tour the new record through May of 2020, heading up the West Coast through Seattle for two weeks before then looping into the Midwest for its closing week. The band will also play an album release show on Friday, December 20, featuring The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Vampyre, Exhalents and Rats. $5-$7, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. — CHRIS CONDE

Find more music coverage Find more news every day at sacurrent.com

3 3 0 e g r ay s o n s t OLD 97’S HOLIDAY HOOPLA!

JACK INGRAM HOLIDAY ACOUSTIC TOUR WITH JON RANDALL

THUR. DEC 5 | DOORS: 7P | SHOW: 8P

FRI. DEC 6 | DOORS: 8P | SHOW: 9P

BOYS DON’T CRY : A CURE EXPERIENCE

SAMMY JOHNSON

SAT. DEC 7 | DOORS: 8P | SHOW: 9P

SUN. DEC 8 | DOORS: 7P | SHOW: 8P

FRI • DECEMBER 6 SAM RIGGS

WITH DAMON CURTIS

THE HAYRIDE HOP WITH BRIAN & THE BLACKOUTS

BUTTERCUP PANICS EARLY: EARLY BIRD CONCERT BUTTERCUP & PANIC AT THE COSTCO

MON. DEC 9 | DOORS: 7:30P | SHOW: 8P

WED. DEC 11 | DOORS: 5P | SHOW: 6P

FRI • DECEMBER 13 JOSH WARD

WITH TRISTON MAREZ

CHRIS DUARTE GROUP WITH GUEST MARK SEARCY

RUBEN V CHRISTMAS SHOW

THUR. DEC 12 | DOORS: 7P | SHOW: 8P

FRI. DEC 13 | DOORS: 8P | SHOW: 9P

SAT • DECEMB ER 14 THE LAST BANDOLEROS WITH MICHAEL GUERRA & THE NIGHT’S CALLING

FRI • DECEMBER 20 ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO WITH GUEST PATRICIA VONNE

CAROLYN WONDERLAND WITH GUEST SHELLEY KING

SAT. DEC 14 | DOORS: 7:30P | SHOW: 8:30P

SUN. DEC 15 | DOORS: 6:30P | SHOW: 7:30P

CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED WITH WAVES

S AT • D E C E M B E R 2 1 RANDALL KING

WITH WYNN WILLIAMS

L I V E AT F L O O R E S . C O M

samsburgerjoint. com 44

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

14492 OLD BANDERA RD. HELOTES, TX 78023

TU E S DAY - B A R WA R S @ 8 T H U R S DAY - CO L L E G E N I G H T @ 8 F R I DAYS - R E T R O D I S CO & COUNTRY DANCE @7 & S ATU R DAYS - L A D I E S N I G H T @ 7

S A N A N T O N I O ’ S O N LY S A T U R D A Y

Ladies Night NO COVER FOR ALL LADIES TIL 10PM

$2 DOLLAR MARGARITAS

$3 Giveaways, live music, drink specials, and one big ass birthday cake to celebrate!

F R O Z E N H O U S E WI N E BAR & BEER SPECIALS

• TIL 10PM •

FREE DANCE LESSONS FROM 7-8PM

COLD BEER

GOOOD TIMES

BAR EATS

OPEN TIL 2AM 7 DAYS A WEEK! 16080 SAN PEDRO AVE | (210) 462-1894 | LUCYCOOPERS.COM

BOOK YOUR HOLIDAY/REUNION PARTIES NOW!

(210) 496 - 9453 | WILDWESTSANANTONIO.COM

21025 Encino Commons Blvd, SA, TX 78258 sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

Trans-Siberian Orchestra PRESENTS

TS TICKE LE A ON S W! NO

TRANS-SIBERIAN.COM

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

music | music Picks top pick

HELLOGOODBYE

Wednesday, December 4 It’s been more than a decade since Hellogoodbye’s tragically overplayed “Here (In Your Arms)” came out, and maybe enough time has passed let that song back into our hearts. Traveling solo, frontman Forrest Kline is making his way to the Alamo City to showcase his singer-songwriter chops. And yes, we’ll probably hear an acoustic version of “Here (In Your Arms),” so don’t worry. $15-$18, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — Chris Conde Courtesy of Hellogoodbye

Wednesday, December 4

IAN MOORE

Billed as “An Acoustic Evening with Ian Moore,” this gig provides Austin-based guitarist Moore a chance to focus on the quieter side of his psychedelic soul rock. Moore’s releases, including Strange Days and Toronto, have certainly showcased ability to try different approaches. $15-$70, 7 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — Rhyma Castillo

WYNONNA JUDD

The country music legend will bring holida cheer to Gruene with her band The Big Noise and her annual holiday tour, billed as Wynona’s Rockin’ Christmas. Her stand at Gruene also includes a Thursday, December 5 date, but that one’s already sold out. $49.50, 7 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — Mike McMahan

Thursday, December 5

OLD 97’S

Dallas’ alt-country trailblazers Old 97’s are swinging through in support of the album Graveyard Whistling and on a jaunt billed as the Holiday Hoopla tour. Frontman and dreamboat Rhett Miller will open the show with a solo set, after which self-described “DIY punk rock magician” Caseymagic promises to mystify with close-up sleight-of-hand before the big event. $25-$150, 7 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson Street, (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — Lance Higdon

Friday, December 6

D.R.I., WARTORN AND MORE

During the ’80s, Houston-born D.R.I. helped create thrash, releasing a handful on influential albums of hyper-speed screeds against war, capitalism, parents, preppies and other ills. While the band’s roots were in punk, its ferocity won over plenty of metal fans as well. Tourmates Wartorn specialize in metallic crust punk with overtly political lyrics. Mix in three local openers and you’ve got a recipe for tinni-

tus. $16-$20, 8 p.m., 450 Soledad St., (210) 225-0007, facebook. com/bonds007rockbar. — Sanford Nowlin

DAVID ARCHULETA

As 2008 runner up on pop culture juggernaut American Idol, Archuleta jumped into the public eye while still a teen. He Since then, he has released two Christmas albums, the second of which was Winter in The Air in 2018. Appropriately enough, he’s out on a tour focused on holiday tunes. $29.50$65.00, 8 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 2238624, tobincenter.org. — MM

on the dance floor. “Barrio big band” Bombasta provides local support. $10, 9 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — RC

Saturday, December 7

SPIES LIKE US, THE BOOKED

San Antonio ska band Spies Like Us were a mid-’90s local mainstay thanks to peppy live shows and a crack brass section. They’ve been staging periodic shows again, this time team up with Corpus Christi’s The Booked. $5-$8, 9 p.m., Bang Bang Bar, 119 El Mio Dr., (210) 320-1187, thebangbangbartx.com. — RC

DOC WATKINS TRIO

SA jazz fixture Doc Watkins convenes his trio with bassist Brandon Guerro and drummer Mike Poster for the second of four consecutive Saturdays at his club, Jazz, TX, playing tunes from Vince Guaraldi’s iconic soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. $15, 5:15 p.m., 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 6, Suite 6001, (210) 332-9386, jazztx.com. — LH

LA DISPUTE, TOUCHE AMORE, EMPATHY

Grand Rapids, Michigan’s La Dispute are one of the pioneering post-hardcore bands that helped bring the genre’s sound to the masses. Torche Amor and Empath round out an intense lineup. $25, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — CC

top pick

JACK INGRAM, JON RANDALL

An early start to the yule season need not include Grandma’s tales of St. Nick or sub-par carol singing. Texas singer-songwriter Ingram’s acoustic holiday tour will feature songs from eighth album Midnight Motel, which was written in part in the wee hours after his kids were put to bed in an effort to “bring people into that space with me.” Fellow Texan Randall, who produced Ingram’s LP, will open the show. Randall launched his career as the guitarist for Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers back when he was just 20. 8 p.m., $15-$90, Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — Jay Nanda

BLACK TAFFY

Dallas-based Black Taffy might be the ideal artist to educate millenials on what music was like before Spotify or even CDs existed. He uses cassette tape loops to create his sounds. The first-born son of Pentecostal music ministers, he’s dabbled in Christianity, voodoo and the occult. Experience how BT combines those elements via cassette decks and a vibraphone — and learn a thing or two about being resourceful. $10, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — JN

EL DUSTY & THE HOMIES LIVE

Enjoying cumbia music is pretty much a requirement for any San Antonian — and El Dusty & the Homies certainly know their way around its distinctive beat. Known for genre-bending production and catchy hooks, Corpus Christi-based El Dusty can even make your mom shake it

Courtesy of Bun B

BUN B, Z-RO, SLIM THUG AND MORE

Friday, December 6 H-Town in the mutha-fuckin’ house, yo! If you’re a hiphop fan and you’re not completely amped over this Houston takeover, what are you even doing in Texas? Featuring rap legends Bun B, Z-Ro, Slip Thug and Lil Flip to name a few, this show should serve a reminder that Houston’s contributions to the genre are heavy and lasting. $43.50-$63.50, 7:30 p.m, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., theaztectheatre.com. — CC

sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

MILITARY 20% OFF EVERY DAY WITH VALID I.D. FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST ON CLASSES, EVENTS, SPECIALS & MORE MEGAPLEXSA.COM

25% OFF ANY PURCHASE WITH THIS AD | EXPIRES DEC. 24, 2019. VALID AT EITHER SAN ANTONIO LOCATION. EXCLUDING SALE ITEMS.

CHECK-IN ON

FOR 20% OFF

OPEN DAILY: 7AM - 2AM | 9405 IH-35 @ THOUSAND OAKS | 210-595-6781 | 11827 HWY 281 N @ NAKOMA | 210-404-0011 48

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

music | music Picks top pick

top pick

Courtesy of The Number 12 Looks Like You

THE NUMBER 12 LOOKS LIKE YOU, MOON TOOTH + MORE

NILE, TERRORIZER

Sunday, December 8 Extreme-metal mavens have probably already added this heavyweight bill to their calendars, but it may even hold appeal for casual fans of the genre. Nile has emerged as one of death metal’s most consistently interesting bands by fusing brutal technicality with Egyptian lyrical themes and Middle Eastern melodies. For its part, Terrorizer was there at the creation of grindcore. Many consider the band’s late ’80s masterpiece World Downfall equally influential to early releases by Napalm Death and Carcass. Throw in support from Flesh Hoarder and three other strong local acts, and you’ve got a varied sampler of the most brutal edges of metal. $21, 7 pm., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., therockboxsa.com. — SN

Monday, December 9 For a group from New-effing-Jersey that took its name from an episode of The Twilight Zone, it’s only fitting the quartet of TNTLLY fuses styles from progressive metal to punk and jazz. After ending a lengthy hiatus a few years back, the band is back full-bore and touring behind new album Wild Gods. Get there early enough for the “chaotic partycore” of Steaksauce Mustache, particularly if you’re a fan of Every Time I Die and Iwrestledabearonce. Long Island’s Moon Tooth match polyrhythmic metal grooves with ’90s altrock vocals and bluesy guitar solos for a strange amalgam that work. 6 p.m., $16, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — JN and CC

top pick Sunday, December 8

SCARLETT O’HARA, SOMEWHERE TO CALL HOME, SLEEPWALKER Hailing from McAllen, Scarlett O’Hara have made serious inroads in the metalcore scene. The band’s tour marks the end of a short hiatus. $15, 9 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — MM

WATABOU, DECIDE TODAY, BESTIA

The Brick at Blue Star is hosting Watabou’s 2019 Tour of West Turtle Island — otherwise known as “North America.” The group’s 2019 LP Coaxial Chaos is a mix between hardcore and techno, at times sounding like the soundtrack to a final boss battle in a video game. $5, 6 p.m., Brick at Blue Star Arts Complex, 108 Blue Star, Suite 1773, (210) 262-8653, brickatbluestar.com. — RC

Wednesday, December 11

BUTTERCUP, PANIC! AT THE COSTCO

What do Willie Nelson, Foreigner and Huey Lewis & The News have in common? They’ve all shared the stage with San Antonio art-pop band Buttercup. Vocalist Erik Sanden, gui-

tarist Joe Reyes and bassist Odie are capable musicians and songwriters who also have a knack for onstage surprises. For instance, they might even make a sandwich on stage. Seriously. Former Spurs player Brent Barry is opener Panic! at the Costco’s frontman. $12$45, 6 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 East Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — JN

ANDREA BOCELLI

The legendary Italian tenor is headed to the Alamo City. A “diamond edition” of his most recent album, Si, was released earlier this month and features a duet with… Jennifer Garner? $81-$271, 7 p.m., AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 440-5000, attcenter.com. — MM

Thursday, December 12

DAISYCHAIN, REMANON, BAD HEART

Chicago’s Daisychain is a dynamic soulrock outfit where the vocals are the star attraction. Sophie Williams and Nickole Regala harmonize beautifully together, but their guitar and bass skills aren’t too shabby either. San Antonio prog band Remanon provides plenty of instrumental prowess. $5, 8 p.m., Fitzgerald’s Bar, 437 McCarty Road, Suite 101, (210) 607-7007, fitzrockssa.com. — RC

BLACK LIPS

Ben Rayner

Saturday, December 14 For the past 10 years, Atlanta’s Black Lips were sort of a shorthand for rock ’n’ roll excess: too much reverb, too many drugs, too much, uh, inspiration from OG garage bands like Creation or The Seeds. But the group’s recent swerve towards country and western may just change some minds. Pedal steel licks careen all over recent single “Gentlemen,” and while Jared Swilley’s voice is still more Steve Jones than George Jones, he recounts a litany of regret worthy of any Hill Country ice-house crooner. Supported by Houston DJs Vinyl Ranch and local space country wunderkind Garrett T. Capps, the Lips have lined up Saturday night’s surest shot at a honky-tonkin’ good time. Free, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — LH sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

Open 3p-2a Everyday • Happy Hour 3-7pm Daily

MONDAYS: $5 COMBOS TUESDAYS: SHOT SPECIALS ALL DAY: $2.75 WELLS • $2 ZIEGENBOCK DRAFT “RIVER RAT SPECIAL” ALWAYS!

PSYCHIC HAPPY HOUR EVERY TUESDAY • FROM 6:30 - 8:30PM

E. Houston St.

N. Presa St.

RIVERTINI AWARD WINNER 600 N. Presa St. Inside the Maverick Building 210.267.9885 | THELOCALBARSA.COM | LIKE US ON

THELOCALBARSA

College St.

HOURS

MON-SUN 4PM-2AM

LATE NIGHT MENU + DAILY HAPPY HOUR

LIVE MUSIC EVERY SATURDAY | OPEN MIC EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT

210.369.9192 | FRANCISBOGSIDE.COM | 803 S ST. MARY’S STREET |

Monday

HAPPY HOUR A LL DAY

+ Live Music By C hris Cr uz | 10P - 2A

Tuesday

Your Favorite Neighborhood Bar,

! Now Openn!

17803 La Cantera terrace #1200 Sa, TX 78256 | (210) 310-3733

HAPPY HOUR TIL MIDNIGHT + Open Mic | 9:30P - 2A

Wednesday

Music by C liff Crawford

Thursday

VAMO S A TEQUILA! ME NU + DJ Biig Mike

Friday

Music by DJ Therapy

Open at Noon on Sundays for College Football on the Big Screen! 1160 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205 Open Daily 'Til 2 am • Happy Hour All Day Sun + Mon, 4-8 PM Tues-Sat 50

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Sunday

HAPPY HOUR A LL DAY Music By C3 Tri o Tri o

music Thursday, December 12

JOHNNY P AND THE WISEGUYS

Celebrate the 104th birthday of The Chairman of the Board with trumpeter-vocalist Johnny Panzarella and his medium-size band The Wiseguys, who’ll be delivering energetic interpretations of Sinatra’s best-loved classics. $25, 8:30 p.m., Jazz, TX, 312 Pearl Pkwy, Building 6, Suite 6001, (210) 332-9386, jazztx.com. — LH

Friday, December 13

NITE, MOZE PRAY, NILBOG

Dallas synth-poppers Nite, darkwave band Moze Pray and electro-industrial act Nilbog will take over the Amp Room for a night of moody textures that provide a perfect excuse for donning some black eyeliner. $5, 9 p.m., Amp Room, 2407 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 320-2122, theamproom.com. — CC

DOUG E. FRESH, YING YANG TWINS, DA BRAT AND MORE

You already know what it is, girl: the throwback party of the year. Doug E. Fresh, Ying Yang Twins, Da Brat and more rappers from bygone days will hit the Aztec Theatre to remind us that hip-hop from the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s still bangs. $53-$103, 6 p.m., The Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., theaztectheatre.com. — CC

SHE WANTS REVENGE

Dec. 6

KOO KOO KANGA ROO

Dec. 7

ALL HALLOWS EVE

FT. BLOODY CAPE & REANIMATION

Dec. 8

NILE FT. TERRORIZER

Dec. 14

DIAMANTE

Does she want a dancefloor-friendly take on Interpol’s take on Joy Division? If so, she’ll get it from the San Fernando Valley’s premier club-goth duo. $26, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St, papertigersatx.com. — LH

Dec. 13

top pick

Nightmare Before Christmas Bash

Dec. 6 Dec. 13

SMALL TOWN TITANS

BAD LUCK

Machado Cicala

CHER

Tuesday, December 17 Does Cher really need an introduction? Probably not. A living legend in her own right, Cher’s waded into numerous genres while always staying anchored in accessible pop. With releases spanning nearly seven decades, she’s proven herself a timeless icon while continuing to woo new generations of fans. The diva is touring a new album, Dancing Queen, and it doesn’t seem like she’s close to ending her reign. $47-$952, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5140, attcenter.com. — CC

Dec. 14

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

PURCHASE TICKETS AT BOX OFFICE AT THE ROCK BOX M-SA 10A-5P TICKETFLY.COM 1223 E HOUSTON ST. SA, TX 78205 | THEROCKBOXSA.COM | sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

HAPPY

HOUR

A L L D AY SUN-MON

Playmates and soul mates...

San Antonio:

210-320-5825 18+ MegaMates.com

C O L D D R A F T & H A N D C R A F T E D C O C K TA I L S .

LOCATED IN THE PEARL.

312 PEARL PARKWAY | BLUEBOXBAR.COM | HOURS: MONDAY - SUNDAY, 4PM - 2AM

HAPPY HOURS: MONDAY - SUNDAY, 4PM - 8PM

Real Singles, Real Fun... 30 Minutes free for Men, always free for ladies.

1-210-933-1103 More Numbers: 1-800-926-6000 Livelinks.com 18+

Real hot chat now.

30 MINUTES FREE TRIAL

210-933-1113

The hottest place for latin chat. HALF HOUR FREE TRIAL

210-447-1103

Fonochatlatino.com

FREE TRIAL 52

Discreet Chat Guy to Guy

18+

210.320.6103

CURRENT | December 4â€“17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

E M P LOY M E N T

J O N E S I N ’ C R OS S W O R D BY M AT T J O N E S

Looking for a Roommate

Must be over 40 Honest and Reliable Ask for James Hill 210-277-7367

NEWS NEWS CULTURE CULTURE FREE FREE

Logistics & Supplier Relationship Coordinator for Vilore Foods Co, importer/distributor of specialty branded foods from Mexico. Design & analyze operational solutions utilizing forecasting/ demand planning for product transportation optimization, cost containment, capacity enhancements & routing & distribution optimization. Implement inventory tracking system for warehouses. Optimize alliances w/suppliers. Automate rebate programs to increase price effectiveness. 40 hrs/wk. Reqs: Bach’s degr in business reltd major such as int’l trade or logistics & 4 yrs of exp in logistics management. Foreign equiv degr acceptable. To apply mail resume to ATTN: Noelia Garcia, 3838 Medical Dr, San Antonio, TX 78229.

online: www.sacurrent.com online: www.sacurrent.com

BUY, SELL, TRADE, SEARCH, FIND, POST DO IT ALL @www.sacurrent.com

“Save IT Till the End”— those last two. ACROSS 1 “Anaconda” singer Nicki 6 Bot. or ecol. 9 Earth-shaking event 14 Singer with three albums named after ages 15 PC key beside the space bar 16 Detach 17 Salad ingredient that’s fuzzy on the outside 19 ___ di pepe (tiny pasta variety) 20 Shoo-___ (favorites) 21 Raise crops 22 Barn-roof adornments 23 Drug buster, for short 25 Much of Mongolia 28 Titular host of NBC’s “Game of Games” 30 It can cause a row 31 Geometry calculations 33 Belt loop puncher 34 False pretense 38 Busy spot for Finnish travel 42 “Bonanza” role 43 Linseed product 44 “I have ___ / the plums ...” (poem line spoofed in memes) 45 Big ___, California 46 De-lumps, as flour 48 Obi-Wan or Luke, e.g. 53 It’s got 14 points on Malaysia’s flag

56 Not just some 57 Aquatic barrier 59 Nutritional amt. 60 Anniversary gift before wood 61 Dwyane Wade’s team for most of his career 63 Singer Cleo or Frankie 64 1099-___ (bank-issued tax form) 65 Decline slowly 66 Beginning 67 “Evil Dead” hero 68 Puff pieces? DOWN 1 “___ Whoopee” 2 Menzel of “Frozen 2” 3 Bygone documentaries 4 “Thrilla in Manila” victor 5 “Bring the Funny” judge Foxworthy 6 “Lord of the Rings” villain 7 Get on up 8 “Addams Family” cousin 9 Eighth note, in the U.K. 10 “The Last of the Mohicans” character 11 “___ kettle of fish” 12 Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph 13 Are real 18 Boil over

24 Reunion group 26 “Field of Dreams” state 27 “The Burning Giraffe” painter 29 Acronymic 1992 single by The Shamen (from “Boss Drum”) 31 “That feels good!” 32 “Can’t Fight This Feeling” band ___ Speedwagon 33 Feel unwell 34 Petty arguments 35 Great series of wins 36 “___ you kidding me?” 37 ___ Dew (PepsiCo product) 39 Grammatical subject 40 Welsh stand-up comedian Pritchard-McLean 41 Court judge 45 Evil computer system in “The Terminator” 46 Dagger holder 47 “Big-ticket” thing 48 Jiggly dessert 49 Aquafina competitor 50 Leary of the “Ice Age” series 51 “Fame” actress Cara 52 Goofy smiles 54 “It’s ___!” (“I’ll see you then”) 55 Hotel postings 58 Alfa Romeo rival 61 “Paper Planes” rapper 62 “Last Week Tonight” airer ANSWER ON PAGE 25

TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

EXAMPLE A NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND INTENT TO OBTAIN AIR PERMIT RENEWAL PERMIT NUMBER 43775

APPLICATION Deansteel Manufacturing Company, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for renewal of Air Quality Permit Number 43775, which would authorize continued operation of the Steel Fabrication Facility located at 931 South Flores Street, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas 78204. This link to anelectronic map of the site or facility’s general location is provided as a public courtesy and not part of the application or notice. For exact location, refer to application. http://www. tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/hb610/index.html?lat=29.416666&lng=-98.499166&zoom=13&type=r. The existing facility is authorized to emit the following air contaminants: carbon monoxide, exempt solvents, hazardous airpollutants, nitrogen oxides, organic compounds, particulate matter including particulate matter with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less and sulfur dioxide. This application was submitted to the TCEQ on October 29, 2019. The application will be available for viewing andcopying at the TCEQ central office, TCEQ San Antonio regional office, and the San Antonio Public Library, Central Library, 600 Soledad Street, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas beginning the first day of publication of this notice. The facility’s compliance file, if any exists, is available for public review in the San Antonio regional office of the TCEQ. The executive director has determined the application is administratively complete and will conduct a technical review of the application. Information in the application indicates that this permit renewal would not result in an increase in allowable emissions and would not result in the emission of an air contaminant not previously emitted. The TCEQ may act on this application without seeking further public comment or providing an opportunity for a contested case hearing if certain criteria are met. PUBLIC COMMENT You may submit public comments, or a request for a contested case hearing to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below. The TCEQ will consider all public comments in developing a final decision on the application. The deadline to submit public comments is 15 days after newspaper notice is published. After the deadline for public comments, the executive director will prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. Issues such as property values, noise, traffic safety, and zoning are outside of the TCEQ’s jurisdiction to address in the permit process. After the technical review is complete the executive director will consider the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. If only comments are received, the response to comments, along with the executive director’s decision on the application, will then be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments or who is on the mailing list for this application, unless the application is directly referred to a contested case hearing. OPPORTUNITY FOR A CONTESTED CASE HEARING You may request a contested case hearing. The applicant or the executive director may also request that the application be directly referred to a contested case hearing after technical review of the application. A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court. Unless a written request for a contested case hearing is filed within 15 days from this notice, the executive director may act on the application. If no hearing request is received within this 15 day period, no further opportunity for hearing will be provided. According to the Texas Clean Air Act § 382.056(o) a contested case hearing may only be granted if the applicant’s compliance history is in the lowest classification under applicable compliance history requirements and if the hearing request is based on disputed issues of fact that are relevant and material to the Commission’s decision on the application. Further, the Commission may only grant a hearing on those issues submitted during the public comment period and not withdrawn.

sacurrent.com | December 4–17, 2019 | CURRENT

2 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU

6826 N LOOP 1604 E SUITE 101, SA,TX 210-368-2224

14791 IH 35 N, SUITE 103, SELMA, TX 210-277-7167

#1 TRUSTED C BD STORE • • • •

A N X I ET Y ST R E S S PA I N I N F L A M M AT IO N

• • • •

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS P TS D CANC ER D E PRESSION

• • • •

W ITH DRAWALS F IBROMYALGI A H EART H EALT H MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

• • • •

I NS O M NI A P S O RI AS I S ACNE I BS / CRO HNS / U C

Valid Only @ Nacogdoches or Selma Location

10 OFF

ENTIRE PURCHASE OF $75 OR MORE Valid Only @ Nacogdoches or Selma Location

Valid Only @ Nacogdoches or Selma Location

LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE FIND JOY & BALANCE DURING THE HOLIDAYS WITH OUR PREMIUM CBD PRODUCTS 54

CURRENT | December 4–17, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Come see Our New Crop

Texas Orchard Pecans!

San Antonio, Tx

Orchard Fresh Pecans from the beautiful

Texas Hill Country

Celebrating 101 Years in the Texas Pecan Industry. Pecans harvested at the peak of pecan season, to insure the freshest & best tasting pecans! R.B. Bagley & Son’s Pecans is a 5th generation family-owned business proudly offering Texas Orchard Pecans. Proudly serving the San Antonio area since 1988 as a local harvest buyer & slowly growing into it’s very own home. Not only do we buy your new crop Pecans but we sell our Orchard Pecans. We grow & offer Pecan Cultivars such as Pawnee, Cheyenne, Wichita, Choctaw & others. Pecans are offered by the pound.

IN-SHELL • SHELLED HALVES • PECAN PIECES

WE BUY PECANS! Please call 210-534-4515 422 E Mitchell St, San Antonio, TX 78210