San Antonio Current - November 1, 2023

T H E C A C T U S B R A B A R N | W O M E N O F W I N E | E L E C T R O N I C A P I O N E E R P L AY I N G S A |

NOVEMBER 1 - 14, 2023

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CURRENT | September 7 – 20, 2022 | sacurrent.com

FIGHT HUNGER WITH EVERY STEP! Lace up your running shoes and gather with family, pets, and the entire community on Thanksgiving Day at 8:30 AM for the San Antonio Food Bank’s Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk at the Commander’s House in Downtown San Antonio.

REGISTER ACCESS EARLY BIRD PRICING THROUGH OCT. 31

Every registration provides a turkey for a family facing hunger this holiday season.

safoodbank.org/turkeytrot sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

Publisher Michael Wagner Editor in Chief Sanford Nowlin General Manager Chelsea Bourque Editorial Digital Content Editor Kelly Nelson Contributing Arts Editor Bryan Rindfuss Food and Nightlife Editor Nina Rangel Staff Writers Michael Karlis, Brandon Rodriguez Interns Amber Esparza

in this issue Issue 23-22 /// November 1 – 14, 2023

33 Music

Rocking It With Ratboys

Contributors Abe Asher, Bill Baird, Ron Bechtol, Danny Cervantes, Macks Cook, Brianna Espinoza, Dalia Gulca, Anjali Gupta, Colin Houston, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Kevin Sanchez, M. Solis, Caroline Wolff, Dean Zach

The guitar-fueled indie group is hitting the Alamo City on the heels of its best album yet

Advertising Account Manager Marissa Gamez Senior Account Executive Mike Valdelamar Local Culture Creative Agency Director Mindi Overman

Sonic Trailblazer

Creative Services Creative Services Manager Samantha Serna Graphic Designers Pedro Macias

Electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick playing San Antonio concerts at Urban-15

Events and Marketing Marketing and Events Director Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager Chelsea Bourque Events & Promotions Coordinator Chastina De La Pena Social Media Director Meradith Garcia

Critics’ Picks

Circulation Circulation Manager Justin Giles Chava Communications Group Founder, Chief Executive Officer Michael Wagner Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer Cassandra Yardeni Operations Director Hollie Mahadeo Director of Agency Services Mindi Overman Social Media Director Meradith Garcia Director of Digital Content Strategy Colin Wolf Art Director David Loyola Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon chavagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com San Antonio Current sacurrent.com Editorial: editor@sacurrent.com Display Advertising: marketing@sacurrent.com

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

16 Feature

Coming Clean

San Antonio looks to harm reduction to deal with the opioid crisis while Texas lawmakers keep waging the drug war

The San Antonio Current is published by Chava Communications Group

09 News

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The Opener

Bad Takes

San Antonio and its leaders shouldn’t shy from meaningful discussions about the Middle East conflict

Pink-Slipped by AI?

A study predicts artificial intelligence will crater San Antonio’s job market. Not everyone agrees

Campus Closures

Task force recommends consolidating schools and early childhood centers in Edgewood ISD redesign

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19 Calendar Calendar Picks

24 Arts

Out of the Bra and into the Barn

San Antonio artists Leigh Anne Lester and Jayne Lawrence resurrect their experimental gallery concept T H E C A C T U S B R A B A R N | W O M E N O F W I N E | E L E C T R O N I C A P I O N E E R P L AY I N G S A |

NOVEMBER 1 - 14, 2023

26 Screens

Elvis and She

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla memorably recreates the world of the teenager who fell for Elvis Presley — and then fled her gilded cage

29 Food

Women of Wine

Despite disparate backgrounds, Salena Guipzot and Hailey Pruitt are helping lead San Antonio’s wine evolution

O

n the Cover: A new proposal likely to go before City Council would use San Antonio’s opioid settlement money to expand the availability of Narcan. Cover design: Samantha Serna.

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

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Bad Bunny is skipping San Antonio on his latest tour, leaving local fans unhappy. More than 50,000 people packed into the Alamodome to see the Puerto Rican reggaeton star last September, but he booked no return engagement. Instead, he’ll stop in Dallas, Houston and Austin. “Benito this could be us, but you’re playing,” the official Alamodome account tweeted in response.

Basketball legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce sung the praises of Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Garnett’s podcast last week. Garnett said he thinks the Silver and Black will return to the NBA playoffs this year, while Pierce said Wemby is already one of the league’s top-five skill players. “He can get the ball in traffic and dunk over everybody,” the former Celtic said.

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Activists blasted Mayor Ron Nirenberg and other members of City Council for leaving or not showing up to a public comment session on the ongoing violence in the Middle East. Nirenberg walked out of the session without an explanation as a series of speakers urged the city to break off its friendship agreement with Tel Aviv and decried Israel’s attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip. By the end of the session, only four councilmembers remained.

Morgan’s Wonderland is set to add $6 million in new attractions in time for the 2024 season. In the meantime, the San Antonio theme park designed for people with special needs will close for four months following Halloween so renovations can take place. The planned attractions as part of the park’s biggest-ever addition will include a wheelchair-accessible ride, a 4D cinema, a passenger boat ride and a four-seat zip line. — Abe Asher YOU SAID IT!

“She has chosen to marry some folks and not others.

She has chosen to discriminate between some folks in the state of Texas, in favor of other people — and it flies in the face of impartiality.”

— Douglas S. Lang,

lawyer for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, on its decision to reprimand Judge Dianne Hensley of Waco for her refusal to oversee same-sex marriages.

ASSCLOWN ALERT

Trading jabs and changing the subject with Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Poor Matt Rinaldi.

First the Texas Republican Party chair had to explain himself for showing up at the offices of far-right political action committee Defend Texas Liberty on the day it hosted white supremacist and Adolf Hitler enthusiast Nick Fuentes.

(After a bombshell Texas Tribune report on the meeting, Rinaldi disavowed Fuentes and denied he knew the controversial media figure was in the same office even though the pair’s visits reportedly overlapped by 45 minutes.)

Next, Rinaldi — who was bankrolled by Defend Texas Liberty’s chief funders while he served in the Texas House — faced pressure from Speaker Dade Phelan to return $132,500 the Texas GOP received this election cycle from the PAC. (Rinaldi responded by lobbying petty insults at Phelan and calling on him to step down.)

Now, amid an escalating war of words, Phelan has turned the tables and called for Rinaldi’s resignation. “If we’re to ‘root out this cancer’ [of antisemitism] as Lt. Gov. [Dan] Patrick states, those efforts begin with Matt Rinaldi’s resignation as Chair,” Phelan wrote on social media.

Predictably, Rinaldi again tried to change the subject, this time accusing Phelan of being drunk while presiding over the House — a flimsy claim first aired by indicted Texas Attorney

General Ken Paxton shortly before the House began impeachment efforts against Paxton on corruption charges.

“Dade Phelan’s beer goggles have prevented him from seeing the truth,” Rinaldi fired back in his best middle school lunchroom-ready response.

For all Rinaldi’s attempts to shift the discussion by trading in infantile verbal jabs, he’s repeatedly proven himself to be a Fuentes-adjacent figure.

For example, Chris Russo — the guy who drove Fuentes to the meeting at Defend Texas Liberty’s office — is the president of Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant group that days prior partnered with Rinaldi in calling for the state legislature to pass draconian anti-migration measures, according to a report by online news organization Just Security.

It’s time for Rinaldi to stop dealing in cheap insults, stick to the subject and truthfully address his connections with Fuentes.

If he can’t, then reasonable Republicans — assuming there are any left — have no one but themselves to blame for the letting this assclown further stain their party. — Sanford Nowlin

Delia’s Tamales, a South Texas food institution with a popular location in West San Antonio, is in legal hot water. Plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in Hidalgo County Court claim the McAllen-based company ran a scheme in which it helped employees attain bogus Social Security numbers so they could work at the chain.

The business withheld federal taxes from the workers’ paychecks, then kept the money for themselves, the suit alleges. Delia’s denies the claims.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last week said his campaign will use the $3 million it received from a political action committee whose top officer recently hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes to purchase Israeli bonds. Patrick’s announcement is a change from an earlier statement that he wouldn’t return the money the campaign received from Defend Texas Liberty. Patrick also decried antisemitism more broadly, saying it’s “not welcome” in the Republican Party.

— Abe Asher

Mere weeks after City Council approved a plan to spend $29 million getting the Alamodome ready to host the 2025 Final Four, the city is spending another $1.2 million on mold removal at the facility. The mold issue reportedly stems from leaks that damaged 3,200 square feet of the Alamodome roof, allowing moisture inside.

Houston-based Cotton Commercial USA will carry out the remediation.

Facebook / Matt Rinaldi

Facebook / Delia’s

Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com

TACLA# 49866E/M-43381

NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACTION ON APPLICATIONS FOR CONVERSION OF BASE IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER TO UNRESTRICTED IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER The General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority (“EAA”) proposes to grant an application to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules. A copy of the application, the technical summary, the General Manager’s proposed action, and the proposed amended regular permits are available for public inspection at the EAA’s offices at 900 E. Quincy Street, San Antonio, Texas Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Electronic copies may also be obtained by request to Jennifer Wong-Esparza at jesparza@edwardsaquifer.org or (210) 222-2204.

The General Manager proposes to approve the following applications to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules: Continental Homes of Texas, LP - Filed an application on July 11, 2023. The application seeks to convert 38.895 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Acres (HIA).

The applicant or any other Edwards Aquifer permit holder may file a written request for a contested case hearing on the proposed actions with the EAA by no later than December 4, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. in accordance with § 707.603 of the EAA’s Rules. The EAA’s Board of Directors will consider approval of the application and issuance of the proposed amended regular permits within 60 days of publication of this notice unless a request for contested case hearing is timely filed. If no timely requests for contested case hearing are filed, the application will be presented to the EAA’s Board on the date of the hearing for final action.

This notice is issued pursuant to § 707.525 of the EAA’s Rules.

ISSUED THIS 1st DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2023.

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

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news BAD TAKES

San Antonio and its leaders shouldn’t shy from meaningful discussions about the Middle East conflict

BY KEVIN SANCHEZ Editor’s Note: Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.

A

condemnation that displays motivated selection condemns itself.” — Gerald Cohen, Ways of Silencing Critics

I had the good fortune to hear Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel speak in the mid1990s when I was in middle school. Just as his poignant 1960 memoir Night did, his talk compelled me to think about controversial and weighty subjects I hadn’t before.

For example, he said the first recorded instance of genocide he could find was committed by the nation of Israel. It’s documented in 1 Samuel 15, verses 2-8: “This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ So King Saul summoned the men at Telaim — 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. He took the king of the Amalekites alive and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.”

A kill list cataloging breast-feeding newborns alongside the livestock no doubt rubs modern sensibilities the wrong way. But back when I was a Christian, you’d be surprised how many of my fellow believers — dedicated to interpreting the Bible as the literal word of God — tried to excuse the divine injunction in the above passage.

“The Israelis were attacked first,” I was told, or “The Amalekites were evil incarnate,” or “You cannot impose contemporary ethical standards on the ancient past,” and so forth. To which I would immediately reply, “What could possibly justify putting infants to death? Who could give such an order?”

At the risk of offending all three Abrahamic religions, I’m against killing children, and I don’t buy that any omnibenevolent deity would order a leader to do so. Instead I hold King Saul and his soldiers wholly responsible for their own actions. I took Wiesel’s message to be that “Never Again” must apply to all people everywhere, because if we let our hearts harden enough, we’re all capable of rationalizing atrocity.

After Hamas’ vicious Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians, the San Antonio City Council had no difficulty expressing solidarity with the victims.

To a member, each seat on the Council echoed the words of District 3’s Phyllis Viagran, “When an attack on humanity like this happens, it is important that all levels of government use their voice to condemn such actions.”

Yet no similarly shared condemnation has emerged in response to the Israeli Defense Forces’ brutal bombing campaign of Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

Indeed, when pro-Palestinian activists spoke during the City Council’s public comment session last month, more than half of council members either left during or didn’t show up, refusing to even hear them out.

On Oct. 19, the Current stood alone in covering the walkout.

“By the end of public comment, there were four members of our council left to listen,” District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez tweeted afterward.

“As a Jew, I’m deeply ashamed of the inaction that the City Council has taken,” Judith Norman, a Trinity University professor and member of Jewish Voice for Peace, remarked at the time. “I’m deeply grateful to the two City Council representatives who have spoken out against this.”

In addition to McKee-Rodriguez, District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo has lamented the loss of innocent life on both sides of the conflict.

Contrast that with District 10’s Marc Whyte.

“I want everyone in San Antonio to remain vigilant.

We are only three hours from our border, and recently we know we’ve had thousands of people come across that border,” he said in an Oct. 12 tweet. “I want to again call on the federal government to do its job, close the border. And for all levels of government dealing with the folks coming across, we need to do the best we can to make sure we know where these people are coming from and what their intentions are. Just like our great country emerged stronger after 9/11, after the dust settles on this, Israel will be stronger as well.”

Setting aside that asylum-seekers fleeing persecution and looking for work shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence as a military dictatorship like Hamas — a terror group that’s clearly not synonymous with the Palestinian people — we should ask whether the U.S. did “emerge stronger after 9/11.”

We “tortured some folks,” to quote President Barack Obama’s blithe admission, squandering the

Michael Karlis

world’s goodwill and irreparably damaging U.S. prestige. We rushed into roundups of Muslim Americans and enacted Constitution-shredding domestic mass surveillance. We launched two wars which devolved into decades-long quagmires, wasting trillions of dollars and costing the lives of thousands of soldiers and countless innocent civilians. Was that strength, or succumbing to the same bloodlust which we have had no qualms about condemning in our enemies?

And consider the stakes for free discussion after 9/11 and today.

Recently, professors and students have been blacklisted and smeared and unions have been sued for statements they issued on the current Middle Eastern conflict. Many have conflated expressing any form of sympathy for Palestinians with endorsing terrorism.

Perhaps national security is too important to be left up to nation-states. This charade where the UN Secretary-General issues empty proclamations and the peace movement yelps without consequence is not working to keep warring sides from slaughtering civilians.

We require an international legal order with teeth, one that’s capable of stopping ethnic cleansing in its tracks. And there can be no lasting peace anywhere without addressing the root causes of deprivation, desperation and injustice.

“The opposite of love is not hate but indifference,” Wiesel often said.

Love and hate are heated emotions, after all, whereas indifference is cold. Perhaps this is the silver lining to the vitriolic conversation in which we find ourselves.

We care. If we didn’t, we would not be arguing.

Let’s try to continue to listen to one another instead of walking away. sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

news Pink-Slipped by AI? A study predicts artificial intelligence will crater San Antonio’s job market. Not everyone agrees.

BY MICHAEL KARLIS

I

n recent months, San Antonians have shared a chuckle reading news stories about what artificial intelligence programs think the average Alamo City resident looks like or their perceptions of how homes here look compared to those in Dallas, Austin and Houston.

However, that amusement could give way to panic, according to some predictions. AI is poised to cause the loss of some 150,000 jobs in the San Antonio metro area over the next four years, according to a recent study by research firm Chamber of Commerce.

Much of that displacement will be among the city’s most vulnerable workers — those with low skills who are already working for low wages, the report also warns. Some of the losses will be offset, naturally, but not by positions the terminated workers can easily slide into.

“Roles such as data analysts, scientists, machine learning specialists and cyber security experts could grow as much as 30% within the next five years” due to expanded use of AI, according to the Chamber of Commerce’s analysis.

Trinity University economics professor David Macpherson said he understands concerns about AI, especially in low-wage San Antonio. However, he doubts about the speed at which it can replace humans on the job.

“The Industrial Revolution happened in 1820,” Macpherson said. “By 1900, one in three Americans was still farming.”

Even though Macpherson doubts AI will send short-term shockwaves through the labor market, he said San Antonio is taking some of the right steps to future-proof its economy. Still, he added, leaders should take steps now to mitigate technology’s effects on low-skilled and low-wage workers.

Service sector slump San Antonio ranks as the No. 6 metro when it comes to risk of AI-spurred job losses between now and 2027, according to Chamber of Commerce. To generate its predictions, the research firm used data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), a non-governmental organization representing multinational companies.

According to the analysis, 149,860 jobs, or 14.29% of all jobs in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area, are at risk of AI-related replacement. The bulk are in the service industry, which accounts for more than a quarter of all jobs here, according to the Dallas

UnSplash / maximalfocus

Federal Reserve.

Nationally, the jobs most at risk of AI-related replacement include low-skilled administrative positions such as cashiers, clerks, data entry personnel and bookkeepers. The WEF predicts robots could replace more than 26 million U.S. jobs in those fields by 2027.

Those same office and administrative support occupations have already experienced the steepest employment declines in the San Antonio area over the past five years, according to the study. The space has shed 29,790 jobs locally since 2018.

However, as many as 69 million jobs could be created worldwide due to AI by 2027, the study also predicts. Plus, global gross domestic product is projected to grow by $15 trillion as the new technology expands.

Here’s the tradeoff, according to the study: most of the new jobs and wealth will benefit white-collar professionals in the medical, financial and tech fields. In contrast, blue-collar and pink-collar workers — many of whom never recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, let alone the COVID-19 pandemic — are at risk losing their livelihoods.

Brave new world Although some low-skilled workers will be thrown out of work as AI becomes more integrated, Trinity’s Macpherson disputes the study’s doom-and-gloom predictions.

Expansions in other parts of the economy will offer other jobs for low-skilled workers, the economist said, pointing to home healthcare aids and personal

care aids. Neither of those professions requires a college degree, yet they’re among the fastest growing in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What’s more, local leaders are already preparing San Antonio and its residents for the brave new world of technology, Macpherson argues.

When Boeing signed a seven-year naming rights deal for the Tech Port + Arena at Port San Antonio earlier this year, the aerospace giant — which has hired more than 3,000 Alamo City residents since 2018 — ponied up $2.3 million to help prep San Antonio children for a career in STEM. Earlier this year, the University of Texas at San Antonio teamed up with the University of Texas Health Science Center to offer a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Science in AI, a five-year dual-degree program.

Local efforts to promote STEM and other industries that might benefit from an AI boom are already paying off, Macpherson added.

Last month, defense contractor General Dynamics unveiled plans to set up cybersecurity operations at Port San Antonio, a venture that will create 50 hightech, high-skilled jobs.

Although the recent developments suggest the tech revolution isn’t passing San Antonio by, Macpherson still recommends that city leaders work to negate the negative effects of AI on the local economy by focusing on job retraining programs.

At the same time, he’s not buying warnings of a robot-generated economic apocalypse.

“I mean, 15% of jobs in that quick a time just seems like too much,” he said. “AI is still in its infancy, and it’s got a lot of errors.” sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

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news Campus Closures

Task force recommends consolidating schools and early childhood centers in Edgewood ISD redesign

BY BRANDON RODRIGUEZ

O

ne of Texas’ most historically disadvantaged school systems is facing a tough decision that could disrupt the education of as many as 10,000 students.

San Antonio’s Edgewood Independent School District is considering school closures as it grapples with decades of declining enrollment and funding challenges, school officials warned during a series of October community meetings.

Since the pandemic, the 19-school district has seen a drop in enrollment of roughly 2,000 students. Forecasters only see that number getting worse.

“It’s almost a perfect storm,” Edgewood Assistant Superintendent Roberto Basturo said of the declines during a Tuesday, Oct. 24 meeting that included anxious parents, teachers and students.

The gathering was the last of three town halls the inner-West Side district held to discuss a “redesign plan” to address its mounting challenges.

“This is part of an ongoing [effort] — this is not something completely new,” Edgewood ISD Superintendent Eduardo Hernández told the Current. “I’ve been talking about changes and being more strategic with our money, using our money in ways that elevate our staff to retain [students and staff].”

Many variables are at play during the deliberations, from teacher retention to building cost, which Hernández has been trying to improve over his last five years with the district, he added.

“But I understand when the moment comes for that conversation,” Hernández said. “Sometimes those things end up being tossed out, because raw emotions [take over].”

Tense meeting After almost two hours of at times contentious community comment, Hernández stoically told the Current he doesn’t take anything personally.

Even so, during the barrage of criticism from parents, Hernández kept his back turned to those speaking, an act some members of the community called “disrespectful.”

During the session, attendees questioned everything from the timeline of the process to a $90,000 increase in Hernández’s salary, which critics said should have gone to schools.

As they addressed district officials, some parents shed tears as they said school closures might force them to walk their children through dangerous neighborhoods to get to a new campus.

Brandon Rodriguez

“These are difficult conversations,” Hernández said to the Current. “We’re affecting people’s history.

Bottom line. And this is more than just a physical movement. Our schools have always been the hub of communities, regardless of where you grew up.”

During the meetings, Edgewood brass presented the 11 recommendations from a task force made up of teachers and parents that would restructure the district’s K-12 education centers.

However, district officials said they most likely will only end up implementing a few of those suggestions, district Chief of Staff Olga Moucoulis explained.

The challenges facing Edgewood ISD are numerous and complex. During the meeting, school officials cited declining birthrates and aging populations as reasons for the dwindling enrollment. What’s more, at least 59 charter schools are located within a five-mile radius of the district, according to school officials.

“It’s an over-saturation of schools,” assistant superintendent Basturo said. “So not only are we seeing a decline in enrollment, overall, but we also have a lot of schools that [have] just popped up in the past few years.”

Tough choices While no decisions on campus closures will be made until a board vote on Nov. 14, the plan may result in a recommendation to combine campuses and programs within the Edgewood district, according to school officials.

One of the schools slated for potential restructuring is the Edgewood Fine Arts Academy, a campus some in the crowd said has left a positive impact on its students. Task force officials want to restructure

the dedicated Fine Arts Academy to be a 6th through 12th grade campus.

Andrea Mendez, a student at the Fine Arts Academy who once supported the consolidation of schools, told the crowd she has since changed her mind.

“After hearing the concerns of middle schoolers and the fine arts students, [consolidation] shouldn’t be a possible thing,” Mendez said. “Nobody will be comfortable. The environment will be hostile, and it wouldn’t work out there,” Mendez added.

Ruby Sanchez — a freshman at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy — told the crowd her parents bring her from New Braunfels daily to attend the school. Her dream is to be an actress, she added, and the academy allows her to visualize that dream.

“Now, when I came to this school, my life fully changed,” Sanchez said. “I met amazing students at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy, and I was accepted with open arms, and I knew I was meant to be here.”

After presiding over three grueling community meetings, Hernández said he understands the community’s emotional response, which he likens to a grieving process.

“They’re grieving that they potentially might lose something that they’ve held very dear to their heart,” Hernández added.

The deliberation over campus closures isn’t unique to Edgewood. Other San Antonio school districts are also grappling with declining enrollment numbers.

Harlandale and South San ISD closed schools this year, while San Antonio ISD is debating a recommendation to close 19 schools.

“I try to always listen, but also understand that in my role, I have to go with what’s best for the majority,” Hernández added. sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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news

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Coming Clean

San Antonio looks to harm reduction to deal with the opioid crisis while Texas lawmakers keep waging the drug war

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

D

istrict 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo this summer filed a council consideration request to designate opioid-related overdoses a public health crisis and focus on efforts to help reduce fatalities among those already grappling with addiction issues.

The harm reduction component of the plan includes boosting community access to Narcan, the nasal spray form of naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. Further, the proposal would help create and strengthen programs to aid pregnant individuals and mothers in the grips of opioid addiction.

“The intent is to create a plan to ensure that every dollar we received from the settlement is used intentionally and that we’re using these funds to help alleviate the crisis that we’re seeing,” Castillo said.

“We want to ensure that these funds are being used

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

for the reason why we received them and that we’re moving with intention.”

In 2021, the Texas Attorney General’s office obtained a $4.4 million opioid settlement for San Antonio, which will be paid out over a period of up to 20 years. Bexar County, which separately received a $14.4 million settlement, earlier this year established a framework for how it will spend its funds.

There’s an urgency to figure out how to disperse that money as overdose deaths from fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid often used to cut other street drugs, continue to rise across the country. A 2022 lab analysis by the DEA found that four in 10 fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills on the street contained a potentially lethal dose of the drug.

Texas reported 1,692 synthetic opioid-related deaths in 2021, nearly double the death toll of the

year before, according to state numbers. Meanwhile, Bexar County alone accounted for 246 overdose deaths that year, and its death rate for opioids is 33% higher than the state average.

Life-or-death matter Experts argue that harm-reduction efforts such as those in Castillo’s request are vital since many at high risk for fentanyl exposure.

A 2023 report from the Texas Center for Justice and Equality cautions that the state isn’t adequately funding treatment programs for people dealing with substance abuse disorder. Texas’ ongoing refusal to accept the federal Medicaid expansion has also left many without the insurance coverage necessary to seek medical help.

“Not only does Texas unnecessarily over-criminalize recreational drug use with devastating consequences, but its approach to dealing with substance abuse disorder — from punishment, to abstinence, to lack of adequate support — is failing Texans and costing lives,” the report said. “State and local decision-makers must take crucial steps to implement viable, effective programs and strategies that focus on meeting people’s needs.”

To be sure, Castillo’s efforts to strengthen harm reduction in San Antonio comes as the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature continues to take a tough-on-crime, drug-war driven approach to dealing with the opioid crisis while virtually ignoring the importance of harm reduction. It’s an approach that’s already proven to be a nationwide failure, according to drug policy experts.

In April, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly to decriminalize fentanyl test strips, which people can use to test street drugs to check whether they contain fentanyl. However, the state Senate failed to take action on the measure, allowing it to die before it reached the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott.

After years of opposition to decriminalizing the strips, Abbott had publicly stated he would support such a bill during the past legislative session. Even so, the governor didn’t make decriminalization one of his legislative priorities for the special session he subsequently called to debate school vouchers.

“I think it was a failed opportunity to ensure that we were deploying all tools available to us, and access to fentanyl testing strips is one of the many ways that we can save lives,” Castillo said of the failed bill. “I really do believe we missed an opportunity, but there’s always a chance for us to revisit that conversation.

We know that there was an appetite, but somewhere along the line it fell through.”

On the other hand, the Legislature did pass a measure ratcheting up the penalties for producing and selling fentanyl by classifying overdoses from the drug as “poisonings.” Theoretically, that allows prosecutors to pursue murder charges against those convicted of giving someone a fatal dose of a fentanyl-laced substance, knowingly or unknowingly.

Drug policy experts blasted that piece of legislation, saying it’s likely to scare people away from calling for help when someone they’re around someone succumbing to an overdose. Similar laws in other states have led to higher overdose deaths and misguided criminal charges against people who aren’t drug dealers but family or friends who happened to be present when someone experienced a fatal OD, they warned.

“No study has ever shown that increasing penalties for drug usage has ever reduced drug usage in people who have a drug addiction,” State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said in a speech opposing to the bill, according to the Texas Tribune. “You’ve probably already decided how you’re going to vote, and that’s fine. What I’m here to do today is speak against the continuation of the drug war and the continued incarceration of people for drug addiction instead of providing them the help and care they need to not be addicts.”

Bolstering programs, meeting needs If adopted, Castillo’s request would beef up existing local programs that distribute Narcan to at-risk populations. For example, the UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing oversees the Texas Targeted Opioid Response grant, a state-funded program that provides free doses of Narcan.

Castillo’s proposal would help smaller nonprofit

Courtesy Photo / City of San Antonio

groups access and distribute the drug as well. Under current state law, organizations and people who want to distribute naloxone must obtain state approval to do so, which requires both training and an administrative process the councilwoman said can be difficult for individuals or grassroots organizations to navigate.

That expansion of Narcan distribution would help bolster existing programs such as the San Antonio Fire Department’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, which works to reduce addiction and deaths, according to Castillo.

“What’s encouraging is that, for example, the county has already dispersed and trained [personnel in the] sheriff’s office to issue and disperse Narcan,” she said. “So, there are strategies already being deployed, but the goal of the council consideration request is to create a framework and to scale up while to ensuring that we’re not duplicating efforts.”

Additionally, the request would also increase funding to address one of San Antonio’s most significant ongoing health issues — neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, which occurs when a newborn is

Councilwoman Teri Castillo has initiated a request for San Antonio to use its opioid settlement money for harm reduction programs.

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exposed to addictive drugs in the mother’s womb.

Bexar County accounts for a third of Texas’ Medicaid patients who deliver babies born with NAS, according to Castillo’s office. It’s also ranked first in NAS cases among Medicaid births since 2009.

If adopted, the request would fund assistance for expecting mothers experiencing opioid addiction through a variety of city departments, Castillo said. Those departments could then connect more mothers to resources to help them address their addictions, improving the outcomes for their children and potentially saving their own lives.

“I think one of the frustrations that we have is seeing the limited resources that are available,” Castillo said. “As a city, San Antonio does go after grants to support harm reduction strategies. However, there’s such a high need.” sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

COMEDY

CHRIS TUCKER Comedian and actor Chris Tucker is bringing his high-energy standup routine to town with The Legend Tour 2023, his first sizable road journey in more than a decade. Known for his roles as Detective James Carter in the ‘90s blockbuster hit Rush Hour and the motormouthed Smokey in Friday, Tucker took a step out of the limelight to focus on philanthropic work. However, the comedian — who was influenced by the no-holds barred humor of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor — recently returned to acting roles, including playing Howard White in Amazon Studios’ AIR, a docu-drama about Michael Jordan’s revolutionary shoe deal with Nike. Tucker also released a Netflix special in 2015 that demonstrated that he hasn’t lost his chops behind the mic. $39.50-$124, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333,

FRI | 11.03 SUN | 11.12

majesticempire.com. — Michael Karlis

SPECIAL EVEN T

WURSTFEST

calendar

THU | 11.02

Jaime Monzon

In 1845, a German nobleman named Prince Carl established a settlement on the banks of the Guadalupe River, naming it after Solms-Braunfels, a county in west-central Germany. Today, New Braunfels celebrates those roots with a 10-day bash known as Wurstfest. During the event’s 62nd installment, a specially created fairground will come alive with music from anyone from orchestras to polka bands and even master yodelers, not to mention carnival rides, shopping from local vendors and of course bier und wurst, alongside other German delicacies and drinks. Events will take place at the Wurstfest Grounds at Landa Park — including the Stelzenplatz expansion located across the Comal River. The “Wurstwagen” shuttle service offers a way to get around. While there’s no official dress code, “dirndls, lederhosen, and silly hats are encouraged,” as the fest’s website says. $18-$22.50, 4-11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday, 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5-11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4-12, 120 Landa St., New Braunfels, (830) 625-9167, wurstfest.com. — Dean Zach this being a standard greatest hits package. Indeed, Izzard’s

the festival, representing the triumph of light over darkness

penchant for thought-provoking surrealism is enough of

and good over evil. At this year’s celebration, revelers will

FRI | 11.03

a stock and trade that Monty Python’s John Cleese once

light 2,000 diyas and set them afloat on the River Walk —

dubbed her “the lost Python.” Even standard comedic topics

and that’s just the beginning. The event will feature a river

COMEDY

— from familiar pop culture to drugs in sports — get a new

parade, a Bollywood dance party, a Rangoli (Indian floor

twist when given the Izzard treatment. In one of her most

art) competition, vendors, traditional food and handicrafts

famous bits, for example, she suggests that there should

as well as local associations representing India’s various

British comedian, actor and political activist Eddie Izzard’s

be a “Stoned Olympics,” in which spectators fill the stands

states will perform dances unique to their regions. This year

The Remix Live tour is being billed as a chance for her to

to watch athletes try to compete while baked out of their

also includes a new section for kids — Pataka Playground —

“remix and re-imagine” select bits from 35 years of standup

minds. Whatever an Izzard “remix” looks like, it’s bound to

and the night will close with a fireworks display. Free, 4:30

performances. However, given the gender-fluid comic’s sur-

be a wild, side-splitting ride that hops between the familiar

p.m.-midnight, Arneson River Theatre, 418 Villita St., and Hemis-

real, stream-of-consciousness delivery, it’s hard to imagine

and the outer limits. $50-$70, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E.

fair, 434 S. Alamo St., anujasa.com/diwali-sa. — Dalia Gulca

Shutterstock / Tinseltown

EDDIE IZZARD

Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Sanford Nowlin

SAT | 11.04 SPECIAL EVEN T

DIWALI SA The traditional five-day celebration of the Indian holiday of Diwali is compacted into one spectacular night at what’s billed as the largest city-sanctioned and -sponsored such festival in the United States. Put on by Anuja SA — a nonprofit created to promote the sister city alliance between San Antonio and Chennai, India — this year’s event marks the

Reminder:

15th anniversary of Diwali SA. The name of the Hindu festival, one of the subcontinent’s biggest holidays, derives from the Sanskrit word meaning “row of lights,” and it takes place on the darkest night of the darkest month in the Hindu calShutterstock / Fred Duval

endar. Traditionally, multitudes of diyas, or lamps, are lit for

Jaime Monzon

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

improvtx.com/sanantonio | 618 Nw Loop 410, SaN ANTONIO, TX 78216 | 210•541•8805

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Jason Cheny

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

calendar SAT | 11.04 COMEDY

MARGARET CHO Since bursting onto the scene in the 1990s as a comic unafraid to share bold, brash, and unapologetic takes on race, sexuality and social issues, Margaret Cho has emerged as an icon for women, the LGBTQIA+ community, Asian Americans and other marginalized groups. The Emmy and Grammy-nominated comedian, actor and musician’s latest outing is billed as her Live & Livid tour and promises to maintain her rep for speaking frankly on political and social matters. Cho has been named one of the Top 50 Stand-up Comics of All Time by Rolling Stone, one of the Top Nine Female Comedians of All Time by Vogue and one of the 50 People Who Changed American Comedy by CNN. Folks looking for a preview of Cho’s current takes can check out her latest comedy special Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration, streaming now on Netflix. $35-$200, 7:30 p.m., Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, 226 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — MK Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

TUE | 11.07 SUN | 11.12 TH EATER

ANNIE

Shutterstock / Eugene Powers

SUN | 11.05 SUN | 12.03 SPECIAL EVEN T

It doesn’t take a musical theater connoisseur to recognize the red curls and infectious optimism of one of the world’s most adored orphans. The seven-time Tony Award-winning musical Annie features some of Broadway’s most iconic anthems, including the climactic “Tomorrow,” along with a show-stopping lineup of emerging young performers and an enduring message about the bonds we forge in the most unexpected places.

Against the backdrop of New York City in the throes of the Great Depression, the story begins in the Hudson Street Orphanage, where Annie and dozens of other young girls buckle under the weight of verbal abuse from the foul-tempered overseer Miss Hannigan. After capturing the heart of local billionaire Oliver Warbucks, the love Annie has always dreamed of is well within her reach, but complications arise as she struggles to let go of the idea that her birth parents might still be out there and willing to take her back. Having spawned three film adaptations and nearly 2,500 live performances across the globe since its debut in 1977, Annie remains consistently relevant by reminding us that every hard knock in life is tinged with hope — if only we search hard enough. $45-$150, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Caroline Wolff

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL BAZZAR Inspired by a traditional Middle Eastern bazaar, Cirque Du Soleil’s BAZZAR features an eclectic troupe of acrobats, musicians and dancers

ple. BAZZAR is an homage to the origins of Cirque Du Soleil, featuring

creating a bustling sensory experience that evokes a traditional open-

30 gorgeously costumed performers with skill specialties ranging from

air market. This run of performances marks the contemporary circus

roller skating to fire manipulation to hair hanging. The show’s colorful

company’s first visit to San Antonio since 2006, and the first time the

characters follows the lead of their Maestro who, with the help of his

Alamo City gets to see one of the Quebec-based troupe’s “Big Top’’

hat, leads them in games of imagination and creative generation, all

stadium shows. As implied by the name, these shows take place in a

the while falling victim to the plots and pranks of a devious trickster.

massive circus tent more than 20 yards tall with seating for 1,500 peo-

Expect a performance rich with twists, turns and memorable musical and acrobatic performances. $46 and up, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, additional showtimes available online, Nelson W. Wolff Stadium, 5757 US-90 W., cirquedusoleil.com/bazzar. — Macks Cook

SAT | 11.11 SPECIAL EVEN T

YANAGUANA INDIAN ARTS FESTIVAL

Courtesy Photo / Cirque du Soleil

Courtesy Photo / Briscoe Western Art Museum

educator Tim Blueflint. Also look out for craft-making activities, including pinch pot sculpting

In celebration of people who played an instrumental role in shaping

and cardboard loom weaving, as

the city of San Antonio, the Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival is an all-day

well as art demonstrations held in

cultural celebration of Native American identity and achievement.

the Jack Guenther Pavilion. Free,

Scheduled throughout the day, activities including pow wow-style

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Briscoe Western Art

drum circles and dancing by United San Antonio Pow Wow and Enemy

Museum, 210 W. Market St., (210)

Horse Drumming, storytelling by Amy Bluemel and more. The gath-

299-4499, briscoemuseum.org. —

ering will conclude with a flute performance by renowned artist and

Colin Houston sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

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Familiar foes return to the Frost Bank Center on Sunday night when Jimmy Butler and the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat face the Spurs, now augmented by No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama. In his five-season tenure with the Heat, tough-as-nails Texas native Butler has led the team to the NBA Finals on two separate occasions, dispatching former conference champs the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks along the way. San Antonio’s showdown with Butler and the Heat comes in the midst of group play, with matchups against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings as part of the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. The new tournament continues through Dec. 9, culminating with semifinals and championship contests in Las Vegas. All eyes will be on Wembanyama and the Spurs, who have the most nationally televised tournament games in a Western Conference group that also includes league darlings Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. $30 and up, 6 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com, Bally Sports SW-SA. — M. Solis

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Leigh Anne Lester and Jayne Lawrence stand outside of the 13-foot-tall Cactus Barn, which they assembled from a Home Depot kit. The pair previously ran Cactus Bra Space at Blue Star.

a

Leigh Anne Lester

Out of the Bra and into the Barn

San Antonio artists Leigh Anne Lester and Jayne Lawrence resurrect their experimental gallery concept

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

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aunched in 1993 by like-minded artists and UTSA grads Leigh Anne Lester and Jayne Lawrence, Cactus Bra Space helped pave the way for many other artist-run spaces in the Blue Star Arts Complex.

Quirkily named after a sadistic-looking brassiere Lester fashioned from cactus pads, the gallery championed an experimental ethos during an impressive 19-year-run, hosting exhibitions for many well-known contemporary artists including Chuck Ramirez, Katie Pell, Ethel Shipton, Chris Sauter and Dario Robleto.

In 2012, Blue Star began an extensive remodeling

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

project on the building that housed Cactus Bra. “They ended up saying, ‘We want to keep you, but we’re reconfiguring and it’s going to be a smaller space,’” Lester said. “It was still pretty reasonable rent and we were actually looking into [staying, but] the construction took so long that we got started thinking of different ways to generate money and still do exhibitions. And then we got to grieve it and let it go.”

While Lester and Lawrence are both accomplished artists who have long held day jobs — Lester manages the long-running Blue Star folk art gallery San Angel and Lawrence taught art at UTSA until recently — they have also kept a candle burning for Cactus Bra’s

next incarnation.

“Ever since I moved downtown, it’s been an obsession that would come and go,” Lester admitted.

“We’ve talked about it for years, sitting in the backyard getting drunk after dinner,” Lawrence added.

Fittingly, Lester’s picturesque backyard is exactly where their collaborative endeavor is being resurrected in the form of Cactus Barn. After ordering a 13-foot-tall barn from Home Depot, the duo realized a contractor was not in the budget and got to work building it themselves.

“Instead of a boob lift, we did a barn raising,” the duo jokes on their new Instagram page @cactusbarn23.

“It was blood, sweat and tears in terms of how Jane and I put our backs into it and got it done,” Lester said. “Which makes it more ours in a wonderful way.

But I never ever want to do taping and floating again — just so we’re clear. Don’t ask me. … It all worked out in the end. If you’ve been by my house [lately], the barn kind of jumps out like a boogeyman. But once you get used to it, you don’t see it.”

Very much in keeping with the conceptual spirit of its predecessor, Cactus Barn will specialize in installation work — an angle of contemporary art Lester and Lawrence don’t see enough of in San Antonio.

“Even though we showed all kinds of work at Cactus Bra, I think the thing that excited us most were the installations that people did — because they literally transformed a small rectangular space into something totally amazing,” Lawrence said.

When asked about installation highlights of the Cactus Bra era, Lester paused and scanned her memory.

“We had one artist, Ian Pedigo, who built two structures that had doorbells in them,” she recalled.

“It blew the breakers out and that happened more frequently than I care to say. That was a fun one. …

Rebecca Hollen covered the floor in beeswax — and then we had an ant problem. … And Michele Monseau covered the floor in cereal boxes and vintage velvet pillows.”

Although it would come as no surprise if there’s a reprisal of Cactus Bra alumni at Cactus Barn, the inaugural show belongs to Lawrence herself. A surreal symphony in pink, the installation employs a playful format to explore loaded topics.

“The title of the show is ‘Love and Rage in Times of Conflict,’ and the idea is that those are the two most emotive, motivating emotions,” Lawrence explained.

“When they come into a conversation, they can really stop the conversation. So I’m thinking about how things are [playing out] politically today and how people are communicating. So I [decided to do] a show that was tongue-in-cheek and had a comical approach to the idea.”

That comical approach is exemplified by a ninefoot-tall sculptural chrysanthemum outfitted with human teeth and a tongue lapping up some sort of medication.

“You can decide whether it’s the morning-after pill,

arts Leigh Anne Lester

viewers of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors whether it’s a drop of acid, or whether it’s — isn’t destined for the bin.

Viagra,” Lawrence said with a laugh.

“This is not something you’re going to put A constant presence in her work, insects into a cardboard box and recycle,” she said. also make appearances in the form of ants But perhaps the most unexpected aspect and flies navigating the space. of “Love and Rage in Times of Conflict” is Lawrence’s use of paper as a sculptural Lawrence’s unabashed use of pink. medium nods to her 2020 Blue Star Berlin “If you say you hate residency, during which something, you have to she created a large-scale investigate it — and I hate installation featuring walls, pink,” Lawrence said. “So shelves and park benches ‘Love and Rage in I thought, ‘Alright, I am crafted from paper and going to embrace pink and cardboard.

Times of Conflict’ just go for it. And it influ“When the show was all Opening reception 5-8 p.m. ences the show and makes done, I folded it all up into Friday, Nov. 3 it more feminist. But that’s a little box and walked it Cactus Barn, 613 Mission St. been my go-to anyway: down to the recycle bin,” cactusbarn.org talking about gender and Lawrence said. “It was gender identity and roles refreshing just to be able to and conflicts.” recycle the materials — and Following the inaugural to not own it forever. … I show at Cactus Barn, Lester and Lawrence wanted to push that further.” plan to program the space with exhibitions Upon hearing this anecdote, Lester is quick based on both invitations and submitted to point out that Lawrence’s nine-foot chryproposals. During our chat, Lester mentioned santhemum — which might remind some

Jayne Lawrence

Left: Jayne Lawrence and her husband Whitney install Cactus Barn’s inaugural show. Right: One of the pieces in the new show depicts a flower with teeth and a tongue gobbling down a pill.

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that the barn’s unique shape and acoustics would work well for both sound and video installations. And if Lester ever needs to occupy the barn for her own creative practice or studio visits, she plans to activate Bitti’s Gambrel — a street-facing portion of the barn’s facade that could be used as an artist’s canvas.

Whatever’s on the schedule, Lawrence and Lester hope to establish Cactus Barn as an early stop for First Friday art-crawlers.

“The neighbors like it, thankfully,” Lester said. “And we’re planning on having openings at the geriatric sort of time so it doesn’t become a party space. You know, come to the show, have a tipple and then head on your way to First Friday.”

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

Connection matters.

Turn to the people and things that make life happier and healthier.

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla memorably recreates the world of the teenager who fell for Elvis Presley — and then fled her gilded cage

BY CHUCK WILSON

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s Priscilla — filmmaker Sofia Coppola’s engrossing new film — begins, it’s 1959 and 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) is living in Wiesbaden, West Germany, where her stepfather, an Air Force captain, is stationed. Lonely for her friends back in Texas, Priscilla spends a lot of time painting her nails, spritzing her hair with Aqua Net, and reading fan magazines about the stars of the day, among them Fabian, Bobby Darin and that paradigm-shifting sensation, Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), who just happens to be in Germany, too, serving out his own military service.

This is a story about a time when people drank Coca-Cola from a glass bottle, and indeed, in the opening sequence, Priscilla, wearing a pretty pink sweater, is sitting at a drugstore counter, sipping a Coke with a straw. (Elvis drinks his Cokes with a straw, too.) A man approaches. Priscilla has caught the eye of a polite young Army officer (Luke Humphrey) who invites her to join him and his wife for a party in the coming weekend at the off-base home of his good friend Elvis Presley. He’s sure Elvis will enjoy meeting a young person from America, especially one from the South.

A 24-year-old man setting out to woo an adolescent girl is unsettling, then and now, but Coppola leaves judgment to the viewer, and instead holds tight to Priscilla’s worldview, as recalled in her 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me. Priscilla is rightly sure that her parents (Ari Cohen and Dagmara Domińczyk) will refuse to give her permission to accept the invitation, but they eventually give in. The polite officer wins them over. Riding in the backseat on the way to the party, her best coat buttoned up tight, Priscilla wears a pleased smile — not, one senses, because she’s on her way to meet a star, but because she won out over her parents. She’s 14, and set free suddenly, like a heroine in a story. That freedom will prove to be boundlessly enticing.

If the first half of Priscilla is about what happens when two young people ride fame and exhilaration into a marriage they’re not the least bit prepared for, and the second half is what happens when reality pops their balloon, as it were, the party Priscilla attends in West Germany is addictively fabulous, for

screens

Elvis and She

Sabrina Lantos

her, and for us. There is Elvis, mad handsome, in a room that is half-lit and warm, like a jazz club. Elvis is instantly charmed by Priscilla even as he realizes she’s absurdly young.

Then he goes to the piano and just for her, pounds out a thrilling, blistering “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and that, maybe, is the first time Priscilla realizes, “Oh, wow, I’m with Elvis.”

Elordi never sings again in the film, but in that one number, and in the ways in which his Elvis remains a brilliantly gifted, easily manipulated fool, he becomes an icon who’s more relatable than the version depicted in Baz Luhrmann’s over-amped Elvis. Coppola is interested in the star’s inner angst only insofar as how it affects Priscilla, who is independent-minded enough to find her way to Elvis but not strong enough to prevent that rebellious spirit from being subsumed by his will.

It will take Priscilla more than a decade to hear own voice again. Spaeny plays Priscilla from age 14 to 28, flawlessly, in a performance that seems likely to become classic.

Much of the film is taken up with the minutiae of Elvis and Priscilla’s romance, which is interrupted by his remaining military service, Hollywood film duties and the need to win over her parents. Elvis begins taking prescription drugs to stay awake and go to sleep and

Priscilla begins popping them too, to keep up with him, to be a part of his world. They help her to transform into the glammed-out arm candy Elvis needs, even as their subsequent marriage and the birth of Lisa Marie eventually pull her back to Earth. She tries to grow up, to evolve, but he doesn’t. Increasingly miserable in his career, Elvis broods and becomes unpredictable. Suddenly angry, he strikes Priscilla, then rushes to apologize, saying, “You know I’d never hurt you in any real way.”

Like Coppola’s best films — The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette — Priscilla is evocatively tactile. Its rooms, from Priscilla’s teenage bedroom to Elvis’s clublike German digs to Graceland itself, are rich in detail and texture. We can feel ourselves in those rooms, alongside Priscilla, who likes to rub her toes in the shag carpeting.

Priscilla is partly a movie about the joy of being in exotic places you never expected to be in and the time it can take, the years even, before the moment arrives when you realize the room you once loved is now soulless and empty. You think, oh so clearly: I gotta get outta here. At age 28, Priscilla Presley lived that moment, got into her car and drove away from the land of plenty, making her a heroine worthy of a movie to call her own.

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

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Women of Wine

Salena Guipzot prepares to conduct a tasting at her West Side shop focused on Mexican wines.

M Despite disparate backgrounds, Salena Guipzot and Hailey Pruitt are helping lead San Antonio’s wine evolution

BY RON BECHTOL

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idway through a personalized tasting at Casa Guipzot, a West Side shop and tasting room dedicated exclusively to the wines of Mexico, Salena Guipzot casually dropped an intriguing comment: “The majority of winemakers now in Mexico are women.”

When challenged, she admitted that the observation is anecdotal — although she does attend many trade events in-country in the process of both educating herself and selecting Mexican wines to offer in San Antonio.

Globally, the estimates range from 10% to about 18%.

And historically, with the possible exception of three undaunted widows in post-Napoleonic France’s Champagne region — Clicquot, Bollinger and Pommery are all prestige brands to this day — wine has long been a man’s world. For women, inheritance through the death of their husbands was the primary path to positions of power in

the business up until the 1970s, not only in France but in the United States, according to industry sources.

Fortunately, that’s all changing.

In the wider wine world, women winemakers’ names adorn bottles from Argentina to Australia, and the numbers of female certified sommeliers are rapidly increasing.

Beyond that, women not only purchase more wine than men at the retail level, but they’re often the sellers and educators who help us understand more about the craft and what’s now available on the market.

Which brings us back to Casa Guipzot. A guided tasting of three wines will set you back $35, and it’s pretty much a guarantee that you will never have tasted any of the wines.

Even before the first cork is drawn, Guipzot, a third-generation West Sider, will quiz you about preferences, then regale you with a little Mexican wine lore: 15 states in Mexico

are making wine, for example, and the oldest winery in the Americas is Casa Madero, dating from 1597. Then she’ll produce something to taste — in my case, a chardonnay from Cava Quintanilla in San Luis Potosí. It was cool, with hints of melon and green herbs — and she sells the bottle for $52.

When I asked about price resistance, Guipzot explained that she’s experienced little: “I just sold six bottles last night.” Despite premium pricing, she also said that she thinks of her place — “the only exclusively Mexican wine shop in the U.S.” — as being a community space, especially for women.

To further Guipzot’s commitment to diversity, she has also forged a partnership with Alamo Colleges to encourage Chicanos and women to get into wine. Wine tours to Mexico and an upcoming program that combines a wine tasting with entertainment provided by a Mexican opera singer only further her goal of “curating experiences” around wine.

If Mexican wine doesn’t become the next big thing, it won’t be for lack of trying on Guipzot’s part.

And the business appears to be more 31

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food

Courtesy / Star Chefs

29 than a flash in the proverbial pan.

Casa Guipzot just completed a year in business.

Certified Sommelier Hailey Pruitt also recently celebrated her first year as director of the wine program at The Cellar and Mixtli, San Antonio’s most ambitious Mexican restaurant.

Like Guipzot, she also has a love of Mexican wines. But the two women’s paths into the wine business could hardly be more different. Guipzot, with no previous experience, had an epiphany tasting wines on a trip to her husband’s home state of Coahuila. Pruitt came into wine in a more traditional way: she started in the service industry while initially pursuing a degree in bio-medical science at Texas A&M, worked her way up from waitressing, to hosting, to wine and cocktails.

In pursuit of higher levels of wine knowledge, Pruitt took a job developing the program at a restaurant in Bryan.

“We chose mostly natural and organic wines, but the clientele wasn’t really ready for it then,” she admitted.

Family reasons then brought her to San Antonio, which she saw as “a fresh market.” Her determination to become a sommelier kicked into gear as she worked in private events and banquets to prepare for tackling the rigorous exams. Almost daily for a year, she and her domestic partner, David, got up each morning and did blind tastings all the while studying for the first-level exam, which includes knowledge of grape varietals, geographic regions and history.

Both passed the initial exam in Febaruary 2022. From there, she decided to tackle the second — the tasting and

Sommelier Hailey Pruitt has directed the wine program at The Cellar and Mixtli for a year now.

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serving portion — which she passed that same December.

“I don’t personally feel much prejudice as a woman in the industry,” Pruitt said. “I don’t find it’s a boy’s club … and at Mixtli, the level of creative control I’m allowed is gratifying.”

The restaurant’s menu featured nine bottles of wine, none of them Mexican, when she arrived. Now, there are now upwards of 160, of which 21 are currently Mexican. At The Cellar, which has seats for 12, she conducts wine classes and tastings and also hosts an independent wine club with a focus on Texas wines. One of her recent tastings focused on woman owner-winemakers.

Pruitt has also had requests for personal cellar consultation and will soon direct Mixtli’s own subscription wine program. All this in addition to contemplating her attack of the next levels of professional certification, the exams for Advanced Sommelier and Master Sommelier. In the U.S. only 25 women are among the ranks of the latter.

But despite all the gilt-edged diplomas, Pruitt strives to keep her wines as undaunting as she is in person.

“I don’t ever want anybody to feel bad about their preferences,” she said.

“If they want a big Napa Cab with their ceviche, then that’s what I’ll serve them.”

With women such as Guipzot and Pruitt leading the charge, each in her own way, this former beer city’s collective palate is clearly in good hands.

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The guitar-fueled indie group is hitting the Alamo City on the heels of its best album yet

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

T

he friendship of guitarist-vocalist Julia Steiner and guitarist Dave Sagan of indie-rock quartet Ratboys started with a burned mix CD. And it recently culminated with the release of another one — albeit of a more ambitious variety.

The pair came together over a shared love of music in 2010 as Notre Dame University freshmen and never stopped sharing. Their meeting came about after Steiner noticed that Sagan’s Facebook profile featured a Rickenbacker bass and she took a chance with a friend request.

The Chicago-based band — which performs Thursday, Nov. 2 at Paper Tiger — has spun that affinity for sharing music into a string of five albums since 2015, including The Window, which dropped this year. Philadelphia act Another Michael opens the show.

Ratboys’ sound mixes classic indie-rock songwriting with a hint of alt-country, fervent guitar playing and an exuberant vibe that practically explodes from the speakers.

Indie bible Pitchfork described the group as being in the “Superchunk/Breeders tradition,” an accurate summary which Steiner finds flattering.

When Steiner and Sagan met and began swapping CDs, the former was a bedroom songstress, given the name “Ratboy” as an inside joke among high school friends. Sagan heard her potential and decided to add his own bit, birthing a musical duo that eventually grew into a band.

Things started rocky. Since the Ratboys name sounds fitting for a ’70s punk outfit, the group frequently ended up on mismatched bills.

“We would get booked on hardcore, aggressive punk shows,” Steiner said. “[But] people were open to our type of music. At the time I was playing acoustic guitar, so it was very different from the punk bands on the bill.”

Empowered It took Steiner a while to start playing electric, and she admitted she never so much as touched a plugged-in guitar prior to meeting Sagan. She credits her musical collaborator

music

Rocking It With Ratboys

Alexa Viscius

with pushing her — and the whole band — to think outside the box.

She also credits the legendary Chicago indie scene for inspiring the band’s pursuit of a sound unencumbered by conventional expectations.

“That’s empowered us to make the music we want to make and not worry about how it will be received here,” she said.

After a series of increasingly assured releases, Ratboys this year dropped The Window, a new high-water mark that surpasses its previous best, 2020’s tuneful Printer’s Devil.

Some of The Window’s depth as a musical document stems from its COVID-19 layoff.

That lull in shows gave the band time to focus and tinker with the recording despite its preference to keep touring.

“It sounds finished in a way I’m not sure our other records do,” Steiner said.

The emotional title track provides an example of Ratboys’ ability to craft songs that work on multiple levels.

“It deals with the death of my grandmother and processing loss but also the joy that comes from remembering someone who you’ve lost and all of those things,” Steiner explained. “So, that is a mix of emotions, but it makes me quite happy, in an odd way, to play that song.”

Another clear highlight is the album opener, “Making Noise for the Ones You Love,” easily its noisiest and most rocking cut. It’s hard to imagine a song this raucous being birthed when Steiner was creating songs in a bedroom with an acoustic guitar.

No pressure

Ratboys’ latest album, The Window, reflects the band’s chance to stretch out in the studio and tinker with the recording process.

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Even stacked against those high points, “Black Earth, WI” emerges as The Window’s creative zenith. Its collaborative spirit goes back to those compilation CDs from Steiner’s and Sagan’s early friendship. The track features poetic lyrics, plaintive vocals, an epic guitar solo and even a “Hey Jude”-esque middle interlude — all over the course of its nine-minute runtime. Sort of like a mini-mix CD. “That’s probably [the track that] transformed the most over playing together as a full band and writing together,” Steiner said.

“We were enjoying ourselves and not putting pressure on ourselves to end the song early.”

Given the strength of The Window, it’s clear Ratboys has the ability to make compelling music. But can a guitar-driven indie band build a respectable career in a day when pop and hip-hop rule?

Steiner thinks so. She points to pop singer Olivia Rodrigo’s choice of The Breeders as an opener for her next tour as a sign that mainstream artists are drawing openly from indie influences.

Still, the members of Ratboys are realistic about their expectations, Steiner added.

“Being an indie rocker is quite challenging and super different from how it was 10 years ago,” she said. “While the ceiling is maybe higher, the floor is kind of lower.” $16, 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, Paper Tiger, 2410 St. Mary’s St., papertigertx.com.

Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

come see what’s new

999 E. Basse | San Antonio, Texas 78209 | theshopsatlh.com 34

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music

Courtesy Photo / Urban-15

Sonic Trailblazer

Electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick playing San Antonio concerts at Urban-15

BY BILL BAIRD

M

orton Subotnick — an electronic music pioneer credited with inspiring artists who range from Daft Punk to Kraftwerk — will perform four concerts Nov. 10-12 at San Antonio arts nonprofit Urban-15.

The Urban-15 shows are expected to be among the 90-year-old Subotnick’s final shows before he steps back from live performances. San Antonio is one of just six cities included in his As I Live and Breathe Tour, which also includes Berlin, Vienna, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

The inclusion of the Alamo City dates stems from a longstanding collaborative friendship with Urban-15 head George Cisneros.

Subotnick is widely regarded as one of the fathers of modern electronic music. His 1967 album Silver Apples of the Moon, released by Nonesuch Records, is recognized as the first electronic piece specifically commissioned for the LP format. The release had a seismic effect on the global music scene and has since been entered into the Library of Congress’ National Register of Recorded Works.

Prior to recording Silver Apples, Subotnick worked with Ramon Sender and Pauline Oliveros to establish the San Francisco Tape Music Center. That entity, along with pioneering musician Don Buchla, played a pivotal role in transforming synthesizers — once an expensive institutional obscurity — into instruments in widespread use.

This won’t be Subotnick’s first San Antonio concert. He’s performed here, starting in the ’80s, as part of Cisneros’ ambitious 3rd Coast New Music Festival. In 2013, he performed Silver Apples of the Moon in its entirety.

Projections by German video artist Lillevan will accompany Subotnick’s San Antonio performances. The concerts also will feature an “open conversation” during which the composer will field questions from audience members.

Tickets, which run $40 general admission or $20 for students, are available via Urban-15’s website, which is included in the listing below. $20-$40, Friday, 8 p.m. Nov. 10, 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 11 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, Urban-15, 2500 S. Presa St., (210) 736-1500, urban15.org. sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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critics’ picks Friday, Nov. 3

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin For a certain type of person, this evening will have a “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter” kind of feeling. And that person loves prog rock and horror flicks. Eerie Italian prog act Goblin will do a live recreation of the score to the 1985 film Demons, produced by horror maestro Dario Argento and directed by Lamberto Bava, while the movie screens behind the band. Expect a high-quality performance that will highlight the role of music in cinema.

Though the band will play the soundtrack, the original work is credited to Goblin mainstay Claudio Simonetti alone. $29.50-$49.50, 7:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — Mike McMahan Jeff Plankenhorn The heartfelt lyrics of singer-songwriter Jeff Plankenhorn demonstrate the grit of the musical nomad’s career. Born in Ohio, raised in Michigan, he found his calling in Memphis after a chance run-in with Ray Wylie Hubbard. After residing in Texas for the past 20 years, Plank moved again to Canada’s Vancouver Island.

Plankenhorn’s September release Alone At Sea showcases his soulful sound, which seems a perfect complement to a Texas roadhouse and a cold beer. $30, 7:30 p.m., The Redbird, 1260 S. Business I-35, New Braunfels, (830) 606-7886, redbirdlisteningroom.com. — Danny Cervantes

Saturday, Nov. 4 The Lighthouse and the Whaler With a name inspired by Moby Dick, Cleveland’s The Lighthouse And The Whaler has evolved from humble folk origins into a formidable indie-rock trio. The band’s latest single “Water Walker” puts its gentle but driving sound on full display, at times evoking the soundscapes of Explosions in the Sky. The sweeping melodies of lead vocalist Michael LoPresti evoke a variety of moods, all supported with the musicality of bassist Ryan Walker and keyboardist-guitarist Mark Porostosky. $15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — DC

Sunday, Nov. 5 Bob Log III, Powdered Wig Machine “Eccentric” might be an understatement when it comes to Bob Log III. The one-man band plays slide guitar while clad in an Evel Knievel-style stunt suit and singing through a telephone receiver-wired helmet — all while playing drums with his feet. Consider it a punk-inspired approach to old-time blues pepped up with oddly entertaining antics and a bizarre stage presence. San Antonio’s similarly strange

Drive-By Truckers Courtesy Photo / Drive-By Truckers

Powdered Wig Machine open the show. Led by drag character Patricia, who wears a roach-infested wig, the band delivers an outlandish mix of performance art and psychedelic rock showcased on It’s What I’ve Always Wanted, its recently released debut album. $12-$15, 8:30 p.m., The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com. — Dalia Gulca

Tuesday, Nov. 7 Plini, Strawberry Girls, Standards There was a time when it seemed like guitar shredders might be relegated to the dustbin of music history. But then came a new wave of sixstring monsters — referred to by some as “Satriani-core” — who are keeping the spirit alive.

Australia’s Plini, one of the most notable of that new breed, has released a flood of LPs packed to the max with guitar-driven compositions. The big difference in this generation of players, as opposed to Joe Satriani himself, is that these guys aren’t writing what boils down to instrumental pop music. Plini’s tunes are challenging, technical compositions that pull from styles including math rock, djent and jazz. $28-$30, 7 p.m., The Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St. (210) 772-1443, therockboxsa.com. — MM

Wednesday, Nov. 8 Sitting on Stacy When you’re part of the In-N-Out Burger’s 75th anniversary celebration alongside ZZ Top and 311, you’re doing something right. And for

March release In the End It Always Does builds on a foundation of electronica with music-minded lyrics and Bain’s engaging presence. $25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — DC

Cali’s Sitting on Stacy, that something is mixing power-pop with lots of “ooh-ooohs” with ska for a sound that recalls classic acts such as Sublime and NOFX, but with its own personal spin. The band even claims the Beach Boys among its fans, so it’s got something going on in the catchy category. Oh, and did we mention Sitting on Stacy also toured with the Jonas Brothers? $15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — MM

Thursday, Nov. 9 Wynonna Judd In what’s become a tradition for artists across all musical genres, country legend Wynonna Judd is hitting the road to play her first two solo albums back to back. The Back To Wy tour will feature Judd performing 1992’s Wynonna and 1993’s Tell Me Why in their entirety. At the time, her debut album was the highest-selling debut for a female artist, moving some 5 million units. $49.50-$300, 8 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — DC

Saturday, Nov. 11 The Japanese House, Quinnie The delicate but deliberate voice of The Japanese House frontwoman Amber Bain emerges as if from a digital dream. While the band’s electropop sound is reminiscent of fellow British acts Imogen Heap and Frou Frou, Bain layers synths, guitars and her voice into a sum greater than its parts. The Japanese House’s

Drive-By Truckers Can you mix the diametrically opposed styles of classic rock and punk? Hell yes you can, and no one does it better than Athens, Georgia’s Drive-By Truckers, a band that’s been delivering politically charged anthemic rawk for damn near three decades. The group first made waves with 2001’s Southern Rock Opera, which asked listeners to revisit Lynyrd Skynyrd via a young man who left the South and discovered punk. Frontmen Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley have songwriting and guitar chops for miles, and thankfully have shown no signs of slowing down. $30-$45, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — MM Dead Weight, Zero In, Hurtle, Despero, American Swine, Service Cock This show celebrates 10 years of existence for headliners Dead Weight, the self-described “worst band in San Antonio.” Self-deprecation aside, the group pairs a furious pace with thunderous, intense lyrics — and the rest of the lineup matches its energy. Expect a blend of punk and hardcore long on gritty, frenetic energy and battering drums and guitars.

Austin-based Despero lean more punk. $15, 7 p.m., The Starlighter, 1910 Fredericksburg Road, thestarlighter.com. — DG

sacurrent.com | November 1 – 14, 2023 | CURRENT

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“Repartee Report”--injecting some humor.

by Matt Jones © 2023 Matt Jones Across 1. Giraffe’s striped cousin 6. Jack squat 10. Window attachments?

14. “American Idol” runner-up Clay 15. Spanish blossom 16. Great Lake near Ohio 17. Untouchable Ness who now only focuses on silly people?

19. Bettor’s giveaway 20. “Got it,” from the days of beatniks 21. Car care brand 23. Arch with a double curve (by golly!)

25. French friend 26. The splendor of fading roses?

32. Air Force student 33. Burr in “Hamilton” 34. Vocal affirmation 36. “Touch of ___” (1958 Orson Welles film noir) 37. NATO alphabet vowel 38. ___ the crack of dawn 39. “Steal My Sunshine” group 40. Building girder 41. Like neon or xenon 42. How to say “Thanks for activating the lights” in German?

45. 180-degree turn, slangily 46. Stadium once used by the Mets 47. Earlier in the day 38

CURRENT | November 1 – 14, 2023 | sacurrent.com

52. Upper level 55. Coffee containers 56. Voting bloc that’s cool, Daddy-O? 59. Head of Notre Dame?

60. Taylor of “Mystic Pizza” 61. Charcuterie arrangement 62. Sites for some animal relocations 63. School founded by Henry VI 64. Dog that didn’t return for the “Frasier” reboot, understandably Down 1. Quaker bit 2. Fuzzy fruit 3. Actor Tamiroff of “Touch of (36-Across)” 4. Fluffy’s temporary place while the family’s out, maybe 5. Keen perception 6. Gridiron gp.

7. Shawkat of “Arrested Development” 8. “Let’s Make a Deal” option 9. Design school student, often 10. Block-dropping game 11. Neighborhood 12. Statement of charges 13. Offer at retail 18. Olympic fencing sword 22. Prophetic sign 24. Cancels 26. Gestured goodbye 27. “Let It Go” performer Menzel 28. Flashy parrot 29. Cologne brand named after a Musketeer

30. Blood bank’s “universal donor” 31. Be nostalgic 32. Cartoon fan’s souvenir 35. T, on the NYSE 37. Like some commands or speed limits 38. Took down a bowler?

40. Mike and ___ (fruit-flavored candies) 41. Minutes played, in hockey stats 43. Hospital professionals 44. Spring melt 47. “The Simpsons” lawyer Lionel 48. Cookie that’s kosher and vegan 49. Commandment preposition 50. Walking pace 51. Scandinavian capital 53. “___ no idea!”

54. Bank opening?

57. Article in Der Spiegel?

58. China’s Mao ___-tung

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