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SN&R | 04.09.15

April 9, 2015 | vol. 26, issue 51

A sound investment I got my first job the summer after I turned 16. It was in fast food, and while some of my friends enjoyed vacation days at the river, I wiled away hours mopping floors, prepping food and taking orders. I came home, always exhausted and smelling of grease.

For this I was paid $3.35 an hour.

My weekly paychecks were microscopic, but I was only saving for a car, not trying to pay the rent or support a family. Still, the low pay was demoralizing. I hated that job and quit as soon as I found a betterpaying opportunity.

Fast-forward several decades and my experience as a member of the working class is much different.

I have it pretty well: Not only do I make much more than California’s $9 minimum wage, I also have health insurance and a partner who helps shoulder expenses.

Not everyone has it so easy, however (See “How much are you worth?” by Nick Miller, SN&R Feature Story, page 14). There are those who work 40 hard hours a week and still struggle to buy groceries or pay for utilities and other basic necessities.

Of course I know that while it may be relatively easy for corporations such as Wal-Mart and McDonald’s to give workers a raise, it will be harder for small mom-and-pop businesses to absorb the cost of a higher minimum wage.

Harder, but not impossible. And, frankly, it’s a smart business move.

Higher-paid employees enjoy higher job satisfaction. Happier employees typically means lower turnover. Satisfied employees feel valued and, in turn, are more committed to their work, to their employers.

Paying minimum-wage workers a better, living wage—from a moral and economic standpoint—makes for a sound investment.

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40 Meg Masterson, Garrett McCord, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Shoka Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Associate Art Director Brian Breneman Ad Design Manager Serene Lusano Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designers Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Kyle Shine Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Steven Chea, Evan Duran, Wes Davis, Luke Fitz, Taras Garcia, Michael Miller, Bobby Mull, Shoka, Darin Smith, Lauran Worthy

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

Co-editors Rachel Leibrock, Nick Miller Staff Writers Janelle Bitker, Raheem F. Hosseini Assistant Editor Anthony Siino Entertainment Editor Jonathan Mendick Editorial Coordinator Becca Costello Contributing Editor Cosmo Garvin Editor-at-large Melinda Welsh Contributors Ngaio Bealum, Daniel Barnes, Rob Brezsny, Jim Carnes, Cody Drabble, Deena Drewis, Joey Garcia, Blake Gillespie, Becky Grunewald, Lovelle Harris, Jeff Hudson, Jim Lane,

—Rachel Leibrock

rac hell@ n ews r ev i ew . com

Chief Marketing Officer Rick Brown Advertising Manager Corey Gerhard Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Joy Webber, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Joseph Barcelon, Meghan Bingen, Lee Craft, Teri Gorman, Dusty Hamilton, Dave Nettles, Matt Richter, Lee Roberts, Julie Sherry Senior Inside Sales Consultant Olla Ubay Sales Assistant Matt Kjar Director of Et Cetera Will Niespodzinski Custom Publications Editor Michelle Carl

BEFORE

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NEWS

President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Rosenquist Accounting Specialist Nicole Jackson Accounts Receivable Specialist Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney DeShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz

STORY

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Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in SN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. SN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.

Advertising Policies All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

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STREETALK

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BUILDING A

HEALTHY S A C R A M E N T O

Going with the Grains WSWA fights poverty in South Sacramento B Y A LY S S A N O E L L E R A S M U S S E N

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very Sunday, “Mama Laurie” distributes fresh fruits and vegetables to her neighbors in the South Sacramento neighborhood referred to as the Grains.

for long-term solutions, to get to the root causes of poverty, and to include the people that are experiencing poverty involved in the solution building,” according to Sanchez.

Stretching from 41st to 47th streets and bookended by Franklin Boulevard on the west and Highway 99 on the east, the low-income neighborhood has attracted visits from the Western Service Workers Association, a labor union seeking to end poverty. This past summer, Laurie met a member of the WSWA on her doorstep during a weekly canvas and has been volunteering with the group ever since.

The union uses an 11-step benefit program to provide members with essentials such as clothing, health care and food. This is accomplished through the work of volunteers and support from allies like the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative.

More than 150 people with a chronic cash deficit receive food from Laurie and other WSWA members each week.

“Every Sunday we go to the farmers market and pick up fresh fruits and vegetables which are very good, and are usually very inaccessible,” says Elena Sanchez, the WSWA’s operations manager.

Though many businesses pitch in, regular donations come from the Davis Food Co-op, Freeport Bakery and the farmers market. The free and fresh food helps to fight hunger in the Grains neighborhood.

“Everybody is always happy to get something, especially around my neighborhood,” Laurie says.

Since its founding in 1973, the Western Service Workers Association has aimed to “fight

“EVERY SUNDAY WE GO TO THE FARMER’S MARKET AND PICK UP FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES WHICH ARE VERY GOOD, AND ARE USUALLY VERY INACCESSIBLE.”

Velma Jacques, a member and volunteer with WSWA. “It is really inhumane that they can turn off people’s electricity.”

Jacques is part of the utility advocacy group and works alongside the medical group to be sure that members are being treated fairly.

While working to help others, community members like Sanchez and Jacques are meeting another objective of the union: to build a fighting voice.

“It’s incredibly empowering for somebody, and it makes a big difference,” Sanchez says.

BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES In 2010, The California Endowment launched a 10-year, $1 billion plan to improve the health of 14 challenged communities across the state. Over the 10 years, residents, community-based organizations and public institutions will work together to address the socioeconomic and environmental challenges contributing to the poor health of their communities.

Volunteers with the Western Service Workers Association including Elena Sanchez, far right, meet with residents in the Grains neighborhood in South Sacramento every week. Photo by Louise Mitchell.

Elena Sanchez, Western Service Workers Association Operations Manager

Another issue facing residents is keeping the electricity on. Roughly 5,000 Sacramento homes have their power disconnected every month. Utility shutoffs have increased due to a reduction of funds for LIHEAP, a federal program that assists low-income families with their utility bills. This has created more traffic at the WSWA office.

“Some of these families have children in the home, and elderly that are sick,” says

Your ZIP code shouldn’t predict how long you’ll live – but it does. Staying healthy requires much more than doctors and diets. Every day, our surroundings and activities affect how long – and how well – we’ll live.

Health Happens in Neighborhoods. Health Happens in Schools.

Health Happens with Prevention.

PAID WITH A GRANT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT 4

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SN&R | 04.09.15

www.SacBHC.org

“A dark comedy about someone’s life after being on reality TV.”

Asked at Naked Lounge Coffee House in Midtown:

What would you write a book about?

Doyle Croy cannabis consultant

It would be about the second civil war. I believe that, over cannabis, that we and the government who are trying to take it away, will create a second civil war at some point in time. I’m actually working on this book, and it’s signed off by “Just Another Pot Smoking Hippie.”

Matt Erickson

Lindsey Pavao

marketing

musician

I wrote a blog post called “The Three Best Classes I Ever Took.” I went and got two bachelor’s degrees and went back and got my MBA, and I found myself just as stuck as any other time. I would write about the business world from a real-world sense about how to properly network and properly sell yourself.

Richie Smith

Sean Nichols

musician

A dark comedy about someone’s life after being on reality TV. I want to write an I Heart Huckabees-esque satire on our culture of reality TV’s “reality” versus reality reality, and how they smash up against each other, from a first-person perspective. The hero would be a kind of dark person who was well-meaning.

Stephanie Cremin

administrator

I’d write a comic book for kids. It’d be all stick figures.

Or a flipbook. No, I would do a series–that’s what I’d do. It would be stick figures who say really dark, finite shit. There’s no real joke.

It’s just two stick figures having conversation. That’s where the comedy would be, because it wouldn’t be very funny.

A historical novel. I’m really not sure what time period, though. … A historical time period is a little more interesting, in my opinion.

You get a little more license.

If you want to make a statement in historical or science fiction, people accept it. If you put it in the current setting, people could get all bitchy and upset.

cafe manager

I’d have to put more thought into that. I like to read sci-fi and fantasy, but I don’t think I’d go in that direction at all. I’d write something completely different. I’d probably write some dystopian literature, set in the future. The way our world is going now—yeah, it would be a dystopian social commentary.

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THINK FREE.

Kill it, reform it

6 | SN&R | 04.09.15

The recent news that a proposed initiative bill, the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” would require the execution of gays and lesbians in California has, quite rightly, generated a great deal of attention.

This “kill the gays bill” is the brainchild of a Southern California lawyer named Matt McGlaughlin.

Since McGlaughlin is not speaking to the press, we have no idea if he’s serious about this law or if it is an example of an attempt to satirize a fundamentalist point of view that has fallen victim to Poe’s Law, which states that extreme views eventually become so extreme that they are impossible to satirize.

While the initiative, unconstitutional on its face, is most likely an exaggeration of a particular insanely extreme point of view, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the “Sodomite Suppression Act” has exposed how desperately California’s initiative process is in need of reform.

With a filing fee of only $200, it is unavoidable that there will be nuisance or hobbyhorse initiatives proposed. At the very least, the initiative process needs to cost proponents the amount of money that the attorney general and the secretary of state must spend in order to prepare the initiative for circulation.

Despite the obvious illegality of the proposed initiative, it The “Sodomite appears there is no provision in the law for the attorney general Suppression to deny its certification. While Act” has exposed the likelihood of this particular initiative making it onto the how desperately ballot and then being approved California’s initiative by voters is slim, there needs process is in need to be some mechanism to keep initiatives that advocate murder of reform. out of circulation.

And finally, as we have long argued here at SN&R, the use of paid signature gatherers is another obviously undemocratic loophole in the laws which govern the initiative process. Allowing proponents of initiatives to pay as much as $12 or $13 per signature makes it inevitable that deep-pocket special interests and well-funded campaigns will continue to promote initiatives at the expense of grassroots campaigns.

At its heart, the initiative process is intended to offer the citizenry of the state of California an opportunity to weigh in and propose necessary laws that, for whatever reason, their elected representatives have not enacted. Unfortunately, in the last three decades, the process has become a means by which extremists can For an expanded version of this gain publicity with very little expenditure. story, visit The initiative process has, in fact, become the www.newsreview.com. opposite of the intended democratic process. Where once it was envisioned as a way to encourage citizens to become involved, it is now the province of a small group of people, and worse yet, the plethora of initiatives and referendum on some ballots may be discouraging voting.

We urge the California Legislature to increase the cost of an initiative so that it is self-sustaining.

We further encourage the Legislature to begin examining an amendment that would eliminate the practice of using paid signature gatherers.

It is more than time to return the initiative process to its democratic roots, and take it out of the hands of the monied special interests, the attention seekers and the fringe extremists. Ω

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

Give up on ‘choice riders’ Re “Taken for a ride” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature Story, March 26): You’re absolutely right that RT is screwing the poor in order to tilt at the windmill of getting non-poor people to ride transit. And that effort is a complete waste of time; as long as driving is an option, everyone who can afford to will continue to do it.

I just hope SN&R readers will come out in force when letter of RT holds hearings for its next proposed light rail line, or the week the one after that. No matter how much you’re protransit, light rail is always a huge waste of money compared to running the same service using buses.

Get real, guys. Public transportation is and always will be strictly a welfare service for people who either can’t afford to drive or can’t qualify for a driver’s license. Run it that way, and stop bitching about people who have the common sense to drive cars. And start building freeways again; the increasing population needs them.

John Galt

S a c ra m e nt o

Hold RT riders accountable Re “Taken for a ride” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature Story, March 26): I think that Regional Transit does a pretty decent job overall for the Sacramento area. However, as a person who moved from the East Coast and who has used several public transit systems in various cities, it totally baffles me that RT would, of all things, yank its buses in certain areas and the transfer program from patrons, yet provide the possibility of free rides on light rail. At least with the transfer system there’s accountability that the fare has actually been paid.

Pat King Sacramento

from the college or university and a scholarship as well.

If you begin to pay these athletes and they are no longer receiving a scholarship, they will have to pay for their education.

Less than 2 percent of all college athletes will become professionals in their sport. So, what about the 98 percent? If they now are going to be paid and have all of the extra expenses of attending a college or university, they are going to be in the same or worse position as other college students. They will leave college with a degree (possibly) and a huge student debt.

Paying college athletes just doesn’t pencil out.

William Levin Sacramento

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Re “Pay college athletes” (SN&R Editorial, March 26): Student-athletes can’t have it both ways. They can’t receive an income |

Online Buzz contributions are not edited for grammar, spelling or clarity.

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A few RT thoughts Re “Taken for a ride” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature Story, March 26): I really enjoyed Cosmo Garvin’s article about Regional Transit. He provided a lot of information and made some really good points. ...

Garvin noted that several of the bus routes discontinued in 2009 are feeders to light rail. I hope RT recognizes that, with their current fare policy (no transfers), they often lose two fares for each lost passenger when they discontinue one of these routes—the fare for the bus and the fare for the light rail. There is a cost savings for discontinuing the bus, but there is no cost savings by not having this rider on the train.

Stephen Miller East Sacramento

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A different proposition A more detailed analysis of mental-health initiative reveals success story

EntEr Sn&r’S

College Essay Contest! thE prizES: First place will receive a $2,015 award, plus $750 for second place and $500 for third place.

thE rulES: High-school seniors graduating in 2015 are eligible. Only one entry allowed per student, and you must live in the Sacramento region to apply. No SN&R employees or their relatives may enter. thE dEtailS: Essays can be no longer than 650 words. Email essays as a Word document or PDF attachment to collegeessay@newsreview.com, with the subject line “College Essay Contest.” Deadline is Friday, May 1, at 5 p.m.

FirSt placE prizE SponSorEd by

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In 2004, California voters approved the Mental Health Services Act, a.k.a. Proposition 63, which levied a 1 percent tax on state millionaires to support mental-health programs. Over the last 10 years it has raised more than $13 billion for these programs.

Earlier this year, the Little Hoover Commission, which is a bipartisan board composed of public members appointed by the governor and state Legislature, came out with a report critical of Prop. 63. l ne

by Jeff VonKAe In response, former state Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (an author of Prop. 63) j e ffv @ne w s re v i e w . c o m and the California County Behavioral Health Directors Association recently provided data demonstrating the effectiveness of Prop. 63.

While this may have the appearance of a tempest in a teapot, it’s a pretty important teapot, directly impacting millions of Californians suffering from mental illness. What’s more, to quote the Little Hoover report, mental-health professionals everywhere want to know “whether California’s … new prevention-oriented mental health practices are paying dividends.”

So, are they? According to the Little Hoover report, “The results on all fronts, even if actually being accomplished, cannot be convincingly demonstrated.”

Harsh language. Especially considering that, in 2000, a Little Hoover Commission called for major reforms of California’s mental-health system. Prop.63 was designed to accomplish the very things that the previous commission advocated in 2000.

Why is the current Little Hoover Commission so critical of Prop. 63? There are a Read the Little Hoover Commission Report, few reasons: “Promises Still to It clearly would have been better if the proviKeep: A Decade of the sions of Prop.63 were passed by the Legislature Mental Health Services instead of the voters. Among other things, this Act,” at tinyurl.com/ LittleHoover225. probably would have prevented us having two oversight bodies, one overseeing previously existing programs and one overseeing Prop. 63 Read the Steinberg programs.

Institute for Advancing But it is highly unlikely that taxing the rich Behavioral Health Policy & Leadership to benefit poor, politically powerless, mentally and the County ill people would have ever passed the state Behavioral Health Legislature. Therefore, Steinberg and mentalDirectors Association health advocates went directly to the voters report, “Mental Health Services Act through the initiative process. And, remarkably, Delivering on Promise their initiative passed. to Californians,” Passed in 2004, when the state was relatively at tinyurl.com/ flush, Prop. 63 was designed to bring new SteinbergCBHDA. resources, especially for prevention and early detection, to the county mental-health programs.

But during the recession, mental health and social service programs were slashed.

Jeff vonKaenel As a result, existing programs were cut at the is the president, same time that new programs were being added.

CEO and majority In some years, the state’s reductions and the owner of the News & money added by Prop. 63 were nearly identical.

Review newspapers in Sacramento, Chico This created fertile ground for disagreement and Reno. about where Prop. 63 money should be allocated.

But without Prop. 63, there would have been no revenue to backfill programs, and many more people would have suffered.

Better data will not eliminate these disagreements about resource allocation. And it’s silly to complain that the goals of Prop.63 have not been fully met without recognizing that the state dramatically decreased mental-health funding during the recession.

Nevertheless, the commission does have a point: There should be measurable outcomes.

These measurements were recently provided

by Steinberg and the CBHDA. More than half of Prop. 63 funding goes to “whatever-it-takes” programs providing intensive services for the “homeless and others with the most severe mental illnesses, and urgent care for those with more moderate conditions.”

Despite its problems, and despite being implemented during a catastrophic recession, Proposition 63 is an incredible success.

In a study of the 35,110 people served by county Full Service Partnership programs in 2011-2012, there were dramatic results.

Individuals in the programs had a 47 percent decrease in homelessness, a 42 percent decrease in psychiatric hospitalizations, an 82 percent decrease in arrests and a 27 percent decrease in incarcerations. Remarkable.

Twenty percent of Prop. 63 funding goes to prevention and early intervention programs run by the county mental-health directors.

Here’s where the data is lacking. It’s difficult to demonstrate that because of early intervention or prevention, something that could have happened did not happen. There are too many uncontrollable variables, and many of the potential benefits are still to come. But we should give county mental-health directors the freedom to run prevention programs in their own counties.

Why? Over the last two years, I have met with dozens of county mental-health directors and their staffs, through the client publications division of the News & Review. The directors are very impressive. Smart, committed public servants, willing to make less money than their colleagues in the private sector. By experimenting and adopting best practices, these directors are developing cost-effective prevention and early detection programs. Each county has different needs and different resources, putting the directors in a far better position than state bureaucrats or the Little Hoover Commission to know what programs will work. We need to give them the chance to do it.

Despite its problems, and despite being implemented during a catastrophic recession, Prop. 63 is an incredible success. With restored funding and additional revenue from the Affordable Care Act, the vision of the Little Hoover Commission in 2000 will be realized.

And millions of Californians will benefit. Ω

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by SN&R staff

SCORE KEEPER Sacramento’s winners and losers—with arbitrary points

Watchdogged

In the nick of time

Five days after SN&R called out the  Sacramento County Office of Inspector  General for being a dead phone line  and empty desk when it comes to  monitoring the sheriff’s department,  the county announced it would  start beating the bushes for a new watchdog—more than two years after  the last one resigned. “It is absolutely  necessary, but recently the county  has struggled to find the right fit for  the position,� board of supervisors  chairman Phil Serna said in a  statement. “[W]e’re reaching out again  to all qualified individuals who can help  us establish a strong, transparent  and independent oversight function.�  Better late than never.

A 38-year-old man accused  of physically assaulting his  two young children and then  attempting to kill them and himself  by flushing his car with carbon  monoxide was apprehended in  his Carmichael home Saturday  night. Deputies with the  Sacramento County Sheriff’s  Department went to the home  when the two kids, ages 8 and 10,  didn’t return to their custodial  parent from a scheduled visit.  After receiving no answer at the  door and hearing a car running  in the garage, deputies forced  their way in and rescued the semi-conscious kids.

+2

+ 1,000

Pick a cardroom Gambling that there would  be no public outcry, the  Sacramento City Council  was asked Tuesday to 

ease up on its cardroom restrictions. After looking  at how the cities of Citrus  Heights, Folsom and Rancho  Cordova handle their  betting parlors, Sacramento  city staff proposed  scrapping betting limits  and restrictions on where  cardrooms can set up. The  vote was held after print  deadline.

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Foreign substance What was that  watery substance  dropping from the  skies earlier   this week? Rain, you say? Nope, SN&R  doesn’t recall ever  hearing of it.

+ 96

ILLUSTRATION BY N&R STAFF

More cowbell?

Christopher Walken’s fever will finally catch a  break—we’re all getting more cowbell. On April 1,  the Sacramento Kings announced a 6-ton  cowbell would be installed on top of its underconstruction downtown arena. A release said  the 52-foot-tall hunk of metal would be made of  100 percent locally sourced, recycled cowbells,  and feature the names of “prominent local cows throughout Sacramento history.� Yeah, the date  made us suspect an April Fools’ prank as well.

+ 52

Modern Spirituality

Oh, see?

Heart-Centered, Light-Filled, Spirit-Led

On why we need more transparency when it comes to unions’ collective bargaining Don’t laugh, but maybe Orange County has something to teach us about good government here in Sacramento.

Orange County, a.k.a. Red County, the sprawling home of John Wayne, the “kill the gays” ballot measure and, in the ’90s, the nation’s then-largest municipal bankruptcy? Good government?

It’s called the Civic Openness In n vi ar G Negotiations process, or COIN. It started O

by COSM in the O.C. city of Costa Mesa, as a way cosmog@ newsrev iew.c om to shine a light on collective bargaining with public employee unions.

The model has come up in public meetings hosted by Eye on Sacramento and the Sacramento Chapter of the League of Women Voters as part of their ongoing ethics and transparency project.

Here’s the problem: Labor negotiations between the City of Sacramento and its various unions—cops, firefighters, office workers, etc.—happen over the course of several months and take place entirely behind closed doors.

And the public, which is footing the bill, doesn’t know what’s in any contract until the deal is done. Sure, there’s a city council vote.

But that’s mostly a formality. “At that point, it’s over. It’s done,” says former Sacramento City Manager Bill Edgar, who’s been through this process a few times. “It’s just unrealistic to think you’re going to unravel that at a council meeting at the end.”

A related problem is that the city council people who are there to represent the public interest are in office in large part because of the generous campaign donations they receive from the unions they are negotiating with.

A good example of the process is the surprisingly sweet deal firefighters got with the city back in January. The firefighters agreed to pay more of their own pension costs, but also got 12 percent raises, costing the city an additional $8 million over the next two years. None of this information was made public until a few days before the city council unanimously approved the contract.

The city of Costa Mesa and the county government of Orange County are trying a different approach. COIN requires the details of all the offers and counter-offers between the government and labor unions to be made public as negotiations go along. And an independent auditor provides a running breakdown of the costs of each proposal.

Craig Powell with the local government watchdog group Eye on Sacramento thinks the COIN model would be good way for Sacramento citizens to keep costs down and increase government transparency. “This way, the public and elected officials can see what the real costs are. If the costs are out of line or unfair, people can call bullshit,” says Powell.

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The problem with the COIN approach is pretty obvious. “The unions are going to hate it,” says Edgar.

They certainly do in Orange County.

There’s a complaint from the state Public Employees Relations Board alleging that COIN violates workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

COIN has been in place for one budget cycle in the city of Costa Mesa. But Jennifer Muir with the Orange County Employees Association says it hasn’t achieved the cost savings that were promised. And she says COIN could be used to politicize bargaining.

Muir also said it’s unfair that contracts with private companies don’t get the same scrutiny.

The union complains that billions in private contracts are awarded by county government, with little public information about how lobbying and campaign donations affect contracting decisions.

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And an Orange County grand jury recently complained that O.C. has “historically been a hotbed of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of authority,” owing to the influence developer money.

OK, so not a great model for good government in every regard. Interestingly, the O.C. grand jury has twice recommended adoption of an ethics commission to watchdog government corruption. That’s one of the major reforms being examined by Eye On Sacramento and the League of Women Voters, too.

Bites is no union-basher; you can get that from any number of other newspaper columns in this town. And it seems obvious enough that some people see COIN as a good way to stick it to unions.

But Peter Scheer with the California First Amendment Coalition says that doesn’t make greater transparency a bad idea. “You can be pro-labor and still want to ask these questions,” says Scheer, a self-described progressive Democrat. He argues that secrecy around collective bargaining is driving local governments toward bankruptcy, as in Vallejo a few years back. He’s not sure if COIN is the right model, but says there should be a way to shine more light on labor contracts.

“It seems nuts to have the most essential decisions facing a local government being made in secret,” Scheer added. Ω

STORY

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No silver bullets Activists lobby the city to repeal anti-homelessness laws while leaders urge people to focus on solutions Is enforcement of the city’s anti-camping ordinance out of control?

That’s what many homelessness activists are by Nick Miller saying this week at City Hall. And they’re armed with numbers. ni ckam@ Last year, for instance, city police and park news r evie w.c om rangers cited 1,030 homeless individuals for “illegal camping,” a misdemeanor that comes with a $230 fine. So far this year, there were 108 citations in January, only 18 in February, and another 56 as of March 12. This in addition to fines for light-rail, bike and pedestrian infractions.

While the truth behind these numbers remains uncertain, their magnitude is turning heads.

“It’s an ugly policy for dealing with homeless people. And it’s costing the city money,” argued Delphine Brody, an activist and regular speaker at Tuesday city council meetings.

The city’s anti-camping law makes it illegal for an individual to camp or possess “camp paraphernalia” on public or private property. (Your kids are still allowed to camp out on a summer night in your backyard—but for one night only.)

Activists were scheduled to petition city council this past Tuesday night to repeal the anticamping ordinance, or at least put a moratorium on enforcement. That’s not going to happen, however, and city leaders hope to redirect these activists’ focus from enforcement and onto solutions.

“My goal is that this group of individuals will become partners” in the effort to end homelessness, said Councilman Jay Schenirer, the city’s de facto leader on poverty issues.

A worthy goal, and perhaps even one that is mutual. But although both sides probably have more in common than they realize, they remain at odds.

Homelessness ‘triage’ The anti-camping ordinance works like this: If law enforcement encounters an individual camping—this could be sleeping in a park, as per the ordinance’s language—they’re cited under City Code 12.52.030. It’s not an infraction, which could result in a fine, but a misdemeanor, which could result in criminal jail time.

Mark Merin, who has sued the city over the anti-camping ordinance and is currently working on an appeal, says that police cite so many homeless people that the courts and district attorney physically “can’t prosecute all the people that are cited.”

That’s where Ronald Blubaugh comes in.

He volunteers legal services at the Tommy Clinkenbeard Legal Clinic inside Loaves & Fishes, where homeless people who’ve been cited by law enforcement can go for help. The clinic 12

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is a joint venture with Legal Services of Northern California and the Sacramento County public defender’s office.

Most of the volunteers’ work at the clinic is spent converting tickets and fines into community-service hours.

“Every time I’m in there, there are people coming in with their tickets,” he said.

The majority of citations are for riding light rail without paying a fare, but the second most common are misdemeanor citations under the anti-camping ordinance. There are also numerous tickets for jaywalking and “every kind of bicycle and pedestrian infraction you can think of,” Blubaugh said.

Homeless people who receive an infraction have to trek out to the Carol Miller Justice Center, near Folsom Boulevard and Power Inn Road. “But it’s really hard for homeless people to go to Carol Miller,” Blubaugh explained, so people either fail to appear—and in turn get a bench warrant for their arrest. One way or another, they often end up at the clinic.

Every $100 in fines translates to six hours of community service. Last year, people who came through the clinic performed 11,312 hours at Loaves & Fishes alone (they also do hours at Volunteers of America, the homelessness center at the former Mather Air Force Base, The Salvation Army and other locations). That’s more than $188,000 in fines avoided.

He likens his work with homeless people to that of an emergency-room doctor. “What we do, it’s just sort of triage,” he said.

“The wounds are all of their tickets.”

Is it harassment?

Homelessness activist Brody is a leader in the effort to repeal the anticamping ordinance. She has many homeless friends who’ve been fined under it, and says even the process of getting them dropped and performing community service amounts to a form of harassment.

“That’s still an undue burden on homeless people,” she said.

Paula Lomazzi, with the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, agrees.

“I don’t think there should be laws against people living outdoors. We need to refocus our efforts helping them find housing and get off the streets.”

This past Tuesday, Lomazzi and other activists convened at the Capitol to support a new Right To Rest Law, known inside the building at Senate Bill 608. This bill addresses laws similar to Sacramento’s anti-camping ordinance.

Its author, Senator Carol Liu, wrote that she’s pushing the new law because “it’s time to address poverty, mental health, and the plight of the homeless head-on as a social issue and not a criminal issue.”

Liu cited a recent report by the UC Berkeley School of Law Policy Advocacy Clinic. This study shows that the number of anti-homelessness laws passed in California rose significantly in recent years. “In total, the 58 cities researched in the study have enacted at least 500 anti-homeless [laws]—nearly nine laws per city on average,” she wrote.

Blubaugh, who sees victims of these laws firsthand at the legal center each week, agrees that the new policies are “incredibly unfair.”

“It punishes people for sleeping. It’s ridiculous, the ordinance is ridiculous,” he said.

He also points out that it’s not cheap to cite all these people and divert them into community service—only to see them back out on the streets. He calls it a vicious cycle. “How much money goes into this business, all the police officers that have to go around patrolling for homeless people, and all the court time dealing with homeless people?”

The Sacramento Police Department would not discuss the illegal-camping ordinance with SN&R. Councilman Schenirer, who provided this paper with the data on citations, says he’s looking closely at the law’s enforcement. He also hopes to take a ride-along with police to see first-hand how it is enforced.

The bigger picture The illegal-camping ordinance debate was part of a larger homelessness discussion this week at City Hall. And, depending where you sat, the glass was either half empty or half full.

On one end of the debate were local poverty activists. They’re not happy with the city’s efforts to get people into housing.

Meanwhile, on the other end are local electeds and homelessness advocates.

Their goal is to educate these relentless

activists on the programs that the city and county recently have implemented.

They also want to bring activists to the table. But they don’t yet want to discuss a repeal of any laws that allegedly criminalize homeless people.

This homelessness showdown actually began months ago, when the activists started appearing at Tuesday night city council meetings. Each week. After week after week.

And even before meetings, when they’d show up on Ninth Street outside City Hall and serve free meals to hungry people—which violates the city ordinance against nonpermitted public feedings.

“I kind of admire them a lot, keeping this up, and also serving food,” says Lomazzi. “They’re keeping city council members’ minds on it.”

And they’ve had an impact: Council members Schenirer and Jeff Harris have met not once, but three times with the activist contingent in recent weeks. And, this past Tuesday, April 7, the city had scheduled an hourlong discussion on homelessness as part of the weekly citycouncil agenda.

PHOTO BY EVAN DURAN

BEATS

Midwife solution Amber Evans probably won’t give birth like she envisioned.

At seven months pregnant, Evans is one of the thousands of California women who wants a home birth. But she’s had trouble finding a licensed midwife in the Sacramento area who will accept Medi-Cal. She can’t afford the $3,500-$4,500 a midwife charges, so Evans is stuck delivering in a hospital.

Sarah Davis, a licensed midwife and policy chair for California Association of Midwives, said the demand for out-of-hospital birth services is more than midwives can meet right now. According to the California Medical Board’s 2013-14 annual report, there were only about 300 licensed midwives to handle more than 3,000 requested home births. But two proposed state bills may help women like Evans exercise their personal or religious preference and gain greater access to midwifery care.

Senate Bill 407 would allow licensed midwives to work as eligible providers of the Medi-Cal Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program. That means more low-income women could choose to deliver in a birthing center with a midwife.

Typically, two licensed midwives attend a home birth, a challenge when midwives are in short supply, especially in underserved or rural communities. If passed, SB 408 would allow midwife assistants to perform basic procedures like administering medications or drawing blood, under direct supervision of a licensed midwife, allowing midwives to spread out and serve more women. (Brooke Purves)

Billable powers

More than 1,000 homeless people were cited last year under the city’s illegal-camping ordinance.

The city’s goal at the meeting was to before is that we have one coordinated for doing a “wonderful” job and called outline all the programs and services that outreach system.”

Common Cents a “great program.” address regional homelessness issues. They This new system is called Common “The obstacle is that government does invited representatives from Sacramento Cents. The goal of this program is not move as quickly as people would like,” Steps Forward, the lead coordinator on “Housing First,” and it’s a little different Schenirer said of these complaints. But, homelessness matters, and others to testify than what has been done before in that the he also reminded, Common Cents is very on what they’re doing. goal is to make sure groups are all on the much in its nascent phase.

The city had a budget surplus of same page. Steps Forward is the lead on Meanwhile, challenges persist. The $17 million this past fiscal year, of which Common Cents. councilman says his office is getting it has spent approximately $11 million.

So far, the program has contacted nearly more and more calls about people campSchenirer is hoping for $500,000 to 400 homeless individuals in the city and ing in parks. And, he added, 12 percent spend on homelessness, as part of Steps county, according to Steps Forward. Of of Sacramento Police Department calls Forward’s strategic plan. Initially, the this number, 310 have taken an assessment are about transient and homelessness number hoped for was $1.7 million. interview, which helps them match up with problems.

But Schenirer reminded that the city is the appropriate housing needs and services.

Solutions? He likes the idea of partnernot a homelessness safety net. “The city Only 30 people have been placed into ing with the homeless community, such as should not become a provider of services emergency housing, and 14 into permanent hiring homeless individuals who can take for the homelessness,” he told SN&R. housing. care of public and park restrooms. “I think Nevertheless, the city did hire a homeThere are a total of 474 emergency shel- that’s a great idea,” Schenirer said. less services coordinator, Emily Halcon, ter beds in the city, 525 transitional-housing “There’s no silver bullets here,” he who just started in January. beds and 1,538 permanent supportive added. But he and others are sincerely Halcon reiterated that one of the big housing units. working on solutions. “I do want to live in a goals of the city is to be more efficient Activists are critical of this program, community that is compassionate and takes about homelessness and not duplicate what saying it’s not sufficient to address the care of its own.” Ω other organizations—be it the county, Steps thousands of homeless or housing insecure, Forward, the Sacramento Housing and and that it’s not swift or inclusive enough in Redevelopment Association—are doing. its efforts.

“Homelessness is not bound by jurisdicBut not all activists are as frustrated. tion,” she reminded. “What’s different than Lomazzi commended Steps Forward B E F O R E | N E W S | F E A T U R E S T O R Y | A R T S & C U L T U R E | A F T E R

Those tasked with representing the poor are about to get a long-awaited pay bump.

On Tuesday, Sacramento County supervisors were slated to approve pay increases for the first time in nine years to the civil attorneys and paralegals who provide mandated representation to those who cannot afford it.

These probate and family law attorneys currently earn $80 an hour, while their paralegals make $15 an hour. Under the proposed rate increases, attorneys would earn the same amount for guardianship or conservatorship cases, $10 more an hour for contempt cases and $20 more an hour when arguing whether to terminate parental rights. Paralegals would see their hourly wages bumped 37.5 percent to $24 an hour. Both parties would also start receiving annual cost-of-living increases ranging from 2 percent to 4 percent.

According to a county staff report, the rate increases will allow the Sacramento Superior Court to retain and attract experienced family law and probate attorneys. The annual cost to the county is estimated at $45,000, based on the historical number of hours billed, the report says. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

Pricking students A California bill that mandates schools to be equipped with potentially life-saving EpiPens and staff that knows how to administer them is taking hold in Sacramento County.

On Tuesday, county supervisors were poised to empower their health officer to make emergency epinephrine auto-injectors available in school districts throughout the county. These EpiPens are used when someone experiences anaphylaxis, often due to a food allergy, insect sting or adverse drug reaction.

Before Senate Bill 1266 was signed into law in September, schools were permitted but not required to have EpiPens available for their students. SB 1266 amended the California Education Code and required school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to provide school nurses and trained personnel with the EpiPens, a county staff report says. A joint-powers organization called the Schools Insurance Authority, along with local school nurses, asked Sacramento County Health Officer Olivia Kasirye to act as the authorizing physician responsible for signing the prescription orders, the report adds. (RFH)

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YO

WHaT aRe ImagIne

you’re a 37-year-old woman, three months pregnant, living in the arden-arcade area, taking the bus to your job at Burger King, where every week you work 40 hours but only earn $9.25 for each. The proverbial burgerflipping and hot-oil frying. On more days than you like, the bus is late.

You usually run out of money well before the first of the month. This sounds like a brutal reality. But it’s everyday life for Holly Diaz.

Yet Diaz says she actually likes being in the fast-food industry. “I’m good at working with customers,” she explained. “And if you are, then you can advance.”

But advancing doesn’t always mean earning more when it comes to corporate America. She’s worked at Burger Kings since the day after Christmas in 2008 and still only earns 25 cents more than the state minimum wage. “I’ve been applying for other jobs, but they’re not there,” she explained.

Welcome to post-recession America.

Diaz and others are quick to point out that low-wage jobs are growing faster than any other paying gigs in the United States.

The Department of Labor agrees with this.

And it’s not just fast-food gigs.

Josephine Brown teaches preschool.

You’d think that she’d at least earn a decent salary, perhaps like public-school teachers.

Not quite: She makes $11.44 an hour.

How can a teacher, even one without a college degree, make that little money? “I don’t know. I ask the same question,” Brown said. “It’s pretty heartbreaking that we don’t make more than we do.” She recently had to get a second job to make ends meet.

But the two women aren’t giving up.

They’ve joined thousands of other lowwage workers as part of the “Fight for 15,” a national labor movement demanding a higher minimum wage. This next Tax Day, on April 15, these activists will be going on strike in hopes of raising attention about their bottom-feeder pay.

The movement to up wages has caught fire during the past six months. In November of last year, five U.S. states elected to increase their minimum wages. In San Francisco, voters upped the minimum wage from then-$10.74 an hour to $15, following suit with Seattle.

Here in Sacramento, there’s traction to pass a similar citywide minimum-wage ordinance. Mayor Kevin

14 | SN&R | 04.09.15

Johnson has stated raising Sacramento’s minimum wage as a goal this year, and he has some support on city council, including Councilman Jay Schenirer.

But there are legitimate worries that raising the minimum wage could have a negative impact on local businesses.

Sandra Lemos owns three boutique-style fitness studios with nearly 45 employees on payroll. She supports paying people higher than the minimum wage. But she also worries that if Sacramento were to up its lowest pay à la what was done this past year in San Francisco or Seattle, local small businesses would have a hard time surviving.

“I do believe in a minimum wage increase, but no small business has that capability to overnight increase payroll by 30 percent,” she said.

Yet low-wage workers like Diaz are getting louder. “I’m here to demand that we get paid $15 an hour, because that’s what we need to survive,” she says. “I make barely over the minimum wage, and that’s not cutting it. As soon as I pay my bills—if I can even pay my bills—I’m broke the very next day.”

The wage wars

Let’s clear up some of the myths about minimum- and low-wage workers.

Most people, for instance, believe that the majority of minimum-wage earners are young kids, summer-job high-schoolers or part-time teens. But according to the Department of Labor, 88 percent of minimum-wage earners are older than 20.

About 53 percent of these workers are full time. And 55 percent of these workers are women.

Brown has taught preschoolers for more than 10 years at Childtime, a child-care center in Natomas. She’s not a minimumwage worker, but a city ordinance that upped Sacramento’s bottom wage would certainly impact her $11.44 hourly rate.

Until this happens, however, she’s had to take up a second job, at WinCo in Elk Grove. She says she’s now working nearly 70 hours a week. Plus, she’s also studying early childhood education at Sacramento City College.

“I live paycheck-to-paycheck. I’m scraping,” she told SN&R. She receives no government assistance and isn’t even

eligible for Medi-Cal, she says. She doesn’t have medical insurance now and is trying to figure out how to afford it through the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.

She says her friends are “shocked” when they learn that she makes $11.44 an hour as a teacher. “I do this for the kids, for the children,” she said. “I’m happy with what I do, even though it doesn’t pay.

I love what I do.

“That’s why I’m joining this fight, so that I can earn more and keep doing what I love to do.”

Brown is one of many local child-care workers who’ve joined the Fight for 15. She and her colleagues’ stories resonate with the community, with voters—and they’re a big reason why people are electing to increase wages across the country.

In Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska, voters in this past election increased the statewide minimum wage. And this despite big wins for the Republican party in those states and elsewhere. One might think that the GOP and low-income workers are diametrically opposed. But that wasn’t even the case in Wisconsin, where union-busting

OU

Low-i ncom e wor ker s i n hundr eds of U. S. c i t i es wi ll go on st r i ke next week, aski ng for a r ai se. Her e i n Sacr am ent o, t her e’s a push t o bum p t he m i ni m um wage, t oo.

B ut som e wor r y i t wi ll hur t local sm all busi nesses.

by NICK MILLER nickam@newsreview.com

WORTH? Gov. Scott Walker was re-elected, but multiple regional minimum wages also were voted up.

Perhaps this new Fight for 15 movement is less about progressives versus the right and more about widespread disappointment with the economy’s sluggish recovery and the downward trending of wages in general?

Purchasing power has declined since the late 1960s, according to the Department of Labor. The issue of wages not keeping up with inflation is only exacerbated by exorbitant CEO salaries, as noted by new billboards promoting wage equality, paid for

by The California Endowment, throughout the city.

Mayor Johnson clearly recognized this national trend to want to increase low wages and, during his State of the City speech in

January, said that upping the city’s minimum wage would be a priority.

The mayor’s press secretary, Ben Sosenko, told SN&R that his office would be rolling out a minimum-wage task force “over the next few months” to meet with interested groups and see what makes sense for Sacramento. “The Mayor believes all working adults should be able to earn enough to support their families and make their way into the middle class,” Sosenko wrote.

He noted also that, last year, Mayor Johnson oversaw a unanimous vote at the U.S. Conference of Mayors to call for a raise in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Meanwhile, labor’s new focus on increasing minimum wages has even caught the attention of companies like McDonald’s

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photo by nick miller

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Holly Diaz wants to see her hourly pay rise from $9.25 an hour to $15. She’ll be protesting this next Wednesday as part of the Fight for 15 movement.

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continued from page 15

and Wal-Mart, who both employ millions of low-wage earners.

“

“That’s why I’m joining this fight, so that I can earn more and keep doing what I love to do.“

”

Josephine Brown

preschool teacher, on why she is fighting for a minimum-wage increase

The nation’s largest employer, Wal-Mart, announced earlier this year that it would raise the wages of its poorest workers to $10 an hour by next February.

McDonald’s also apparently felt the pressure and, last month, announced that it would be upping its wages to at least $1 over the federal minimum ($7.25 an hour).

But critics and even The New York Times were quick to point out that BEFORE

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McDonald’s move amounted to little more than a publicity stunt. The Times editorial board wrote that a fair wage would be one that paid McDonald’s workers enough so as to not rely on government aid. “Research indicates that half of fast-food workers rely on public aid, with an estimated $1.2 billion a year in taxpayer dollars going to supplement low wages at McDonald’s.” Many argue that this money should come from corporate profits, not taxpayers.

The increase at McDonald’s is only good for about 10 percent of the work force, who are employed by corporate stores and not franchises, and nearly all of the company’s employees will earn less than $10 an hour. Many will only earn $8.25 an hour.

And this is why, on April 15, Diaz and hundreds of other workers throughout the country will be walking out on their gigs at fast-food restaurants in hopes of getting a raise to $15 an hour.

Will they be willing to compromise on that number? “The fight clearly states $15 an hour,” Diaz pointed out.

“And I will not take any less.”

will it hurt Small businesses?

While most of the low-wage debate here in Sacramento and nationally is on fast-food powerhouses and corporate retailers, an increase in the local minimum wage would certainly have an impact on small businesses here in our backyard.

Dimple Records, for instance, is one of those prototypical local small businesses STORY

that would be impacted by wage increases.

There are seven Dimple locations regionally, three of them in the city of Sacramento, and the company has more than 150 employees on its payroll. Business at these stores—the sale of CDs, records, books, DVDs and more—is very dependent on changes in the economy, according to owner Dilyn Radakovitz.

“As gas prices went down recently, our sales went up,” she explained. “Our customer is in tune with the economy.”

To that end, wages presumably impact Dimple’s bottom line in a big way.

So, what if Sacramento ups its minimum wage?

“If the minimum wage increases [and wages go up], we’ll have to make price adjustments,” she said. Because of this, there will be things that customers “won’t buy any more, or maybe they won’t buy as much”—perhaps because they can purchase the items cheaper at Best Buy or on Amazon.com.

But will a minimum-wage increase hurt her business—especially because she employs many low-wage college kids?

“I don’t think so,” she answered. “If it’s done across the board, everybody’s involved, everybody’s going to have to change their pricing structure to pay their bills.

Not everyone in the business community agrees. Especially in the restaurant industry, where owners worry that they’ll no longer be able to make ends meet if they have to give more money to bartenders and servers, many of of whom already take home generous pay via tips.

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Other restaurateurs point out that they’ll need to raise prices if the minimum wage goes up—even if it doesn’t rise all the way to $15 an hour, but especially if it does. Higher prices, they argue, put them at a competitive disadvantage regionally.

Who’s going to drive in from Elk Grove to Midtown for a newly minted $18 cheeseburger when they can get one for $10 or less in the suburbs?

There have also been recent reports that the minimum-wage increases in cities such as Seattle and Oakland have had an adverse impact on minority communities.

The Seattle Times reported on April 5 that customers at Vietnamese restaurants have rebuffed attempts to raise prices of pho soup. Same for the costs of dishes at restaurants in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Here in Sacramento, small-business owners like boutique-fitness-studio owner Sandra Lemos worry that raising the minimum wage too quickly, and too steeply, would be a bad move. She owns three boutique yoga and pilates locations called The Dailey Method, including one location in downtown Sacramento, and her employees, who are mostly part-time women looking for supplemental income, earn more than minimum wage. She competes with national chains like 24 Hour Fitness and California Family Fitness.

“I’m an advocate of a higher minimum wage,” she said—but the city needs to be careful about how it implements a wage bump.

For instance: If Sacramento were to raise its minimum in one fell swoop, like what’s happening in San Francisco, staying afloat would be hard. “If you think about increasing anybody’s expenses 30 to 40 percent,” she said, “it really worries me.”

Lemos pointed out that she can’t pass along payroll costs to her customers, too, because they will only pay so much for yoga or fitness before they defect to companies like 24 Hour, who are better suited to absorb payroll hikes.

Raising the minimum wage in the city also might put Sacramento at a competitive disadvantage with regional businesses.

Lemos operates studios in Folsom and Roseville, too. “For me, it would be ‘Well, I’m just not going to do business here’ if things got too tough,” she said.

UC Davis economics professor and director of the Center for Poverty Research Ann Huff Stevens says that when people are “talking about moving $9 an hour to $15 an hour, we know virtually nothing” about how that will impact WHAT ARE employment or small businesses. “We really don’t know, and so WORTH? there’s a risk.”

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She agrees these new local, municipal low-wage ordinances could spur negative impacts, such as motivating companies to move across city-limit lines, as has been threatened in Los Angeles, where there are discussions to raise the county minimum wage to $15 an hour. This is “worrisome,” she says.

There are, of course, benefits to wage increases. For instance, “by raising the minimum wage, we can dramatically improve dependence on the safety net,” she explained. This means less people on food stamps and the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.

Her advice for Sacramento would be to carefully raise wages at the bottom, make small adjustments to the minimum wage, and also think about using the tax system to benefit low-income workers (such as lobbying for a statewide earned income tax credit, which would “effectively be a subsidy for low-income workers.”)

George Jouganatos, a lecturer in economics at Sacramento State, says he’s not too concerned about a minimum-wage increase harming local businesses.

For instance, some suggest that raising wages will lead to less jobs and inflation. “The reality is that unemployment hasn’t risen” where the minimum wage has gone up, he explained. He also said an increase in prices may not sustain if the costs are passed on to consumers, many of whom will have more to spend because of wage increases.

“The folks making more money, what do they do with it? They’re going to spend it. A higher minimum wage would be spent quite a bit in Sacramento,” he said.

Jouganatos argued that a higher minimum wage could have positive economic impacts, such as higher productivity, happier workers, less employee turnover and, ultimately, lower costs to companies.

“If we raise folks above poverty, then maybe we’ll get rid of some of the misery,” he explained, suggesting that the city and business interests would save money on anything from social services costs to crime enforcement to graffiti abatement.

He agreed with the business community, however, that there might need to be “exemptions to minimum-wage laws,” such as in the restaurant industry.

It seems most small-business owners support some kind of increase. A Department of Labor survey from last June found that “more than three out of five small business owners support increasing the [federal] minimum wage to $10.10.”

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Dream jobs and realities What would Holly Diaz do with a raise? If her paycheck went from $1,100 a month to $2,400?

How would she spend that extra money? A vacation? Disneyland? Maybe spoil herself a bit?

“I would get my bills caught up,” she said, point-blank.

Diaz is at least a couple of months behind on the electric bill. On top of that, it’s $400 a month, at least, just to rent a room today. A Regional Transit bus pass is $100 a month. And, since she has a baby coming in October, she should probably be thinking about getting her own place, she

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says, which will more than double her rent and utilities.

“I’ve got to take care of the baby now, and it’s not going to be easy. I have to think about him.

Or her.”

A lot of people say that low-wage jobs such as fast-food are supposed to be stepping stones to something else. Temporary. Beginner work.

“I would like to ask these people, these business people and politicians who condemn what we’re fighting for, how many low-income jobs have they ever worked,” Diaz said. “Are they aware of what’s even happening? I don’t feel like they care.”

She wonders if they know that, for instance, she is on Medi-Cal for the baby, because Burger King does not offer affordable medical care. This STORY

essentially means that the public is subsidizing Burger King, since it can’t offer competitive health care for its full-time workers. “I work for a company that doesn’t even care about their employees.”

Josephine Brown says she would definitely enroll at Sacramento State if she was earning $15 an hour. “I can’t afford to attend now,” the 32-year-old explained.

But she’s not hopeless. And neither is Diaz.

They’re confident that this Fight for 15 will pay off in the end. Diaz hopes she’ll be able to save up not just for her kid, but to move on to another job someday.

What would be her dream job? “To be a lawyer,” she said, “fighting for children’s rights.” Ω

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Many Dimple Records employees are part-time college students making low wages. But there are also veteran, essential employees making a decent living, according to owner Dilyn Radakovitz. What happens to a local small business’ payroll if the minimum wage shoots up?

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Photographer Wes Davis’ daughter Bijou appreciates the coziness of the Warehouse Artist Loft’s lobby.

by JANELLE BITKER // janelleb@newsreview.com photos by WES DAVIS

The courtyard features giant installations from Sacramento artists Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel.

The neW WARehOuSe ARTIST LOfTS OpenS ITS dOORS TO SAcRAmenTO’S ARTS And enTeRTAInmenT cOmmunITy

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was still dark out when Trisha Rhomberg queued up to apply for an apartment at the Warehouse Artist Lofts on R Street. She set her alarm for 4 a.m. and snagged the 36th spot in line last October.

A bride and groom pose in front of Jose Di Gregorio’s mural, probably the most photographed piece of art at WAL.

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Most residents started moving into WAL in January, eager to not only furnish and decorate their new, energyefficient and affordable abodes, but to explore what this new housing community can really do—and if the R Street corridor can really become the creative soul of the city.

Folks who swing by the official opening celebration on Thursday, April 9, will be wowed by stunning installations by local artists, as well as killer amenities like a dance studio, classroom, music room and rooftop garden with clear views of downtown Sacramento.

There’s also the public marketplace, which will feature Rhomberg’s shop Old Gold. It’ll stock vintage clothing and local handmade goods—a brickand-mortar Etsy of sorts. She hopes it’ll open by May 1, pending construction progress.

“Everyone shops online, and that’s affordable and cool and all,” Rhomberg says, “but I think people still need a place to go and talk to people and have that tactile, physical experience.

It helps you gain more respect for the craftsmanship.”

Rhomberg is one of the former owners of Bows & Arrows, the gallery, cafe, music venue and boutique concept that closed in February 2014. Shortly thereafter, Rhomberg had a baby and dedicated time to motherhood. All the while, she took classes in laser-cutting, stained glass, welding, jewelry and other maker skills. She met local creatives— brilliant creatives—who inspired her to open a shop to help those people sell their work. Now she’s partnered up with Racks Boutique owner Rachel Fowler, Erica Setness and Arlene Trompczynski for Old Gold. Voila, art jobs.

“I view myself as a microphone,” she says. “I want to shout from the mountaintops that this person is the raddest musician ever, or she makes the coolest, most beautiful wood furniture.

I want to be the one to brag about these people. As a painter and a maker myself, it’s really weird and awkward to toot your own horn.”

Rhomberg also hopes to sell things created by WAL residents—just one form of collaboration expected from the community. That’s developer Ali Youssefi’s vision for WAL: a place for artists to live together and team up to positively impact Sacramento.

“One of the ways our city is going to grow and become a cooler place to live and visit is if we have more arts and entertainment,” he says. “That means we need to be attracting more artists, not just to visit but to live here.”

Youssefi has long been an affordable housing developer as vice president of CFY Development Inc. But why throw art into the mix? He says he believes in

An artist’s return See SECOND SATURDAY

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DIY in the 916 See NIGHT&DAY

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Hands-on vinyl revival See COOLHUNTING

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Nice girls don’t win See ASK JOEY

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Trisha Rhomberg stands in the construction site that will soon house her new shop Old Gold.

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From bottle caps to the big league

talked about relaunching his Porch Sessions acoustic video series at WAL as the Loft Sessions; Tre Borden, the brain behind the seven-month gallery Exhibit S inside the deserted Sacramento Downtown Plaza; Michelle Alexander, an artist and executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento; muralist Jose Di Gregorio, whose work you’ll recognize from Ruhstaller Beer’s barley wine bottles; and hundreds more.

Resident, Beatnik Studios co-owner and professional photographer Wes Davis sees WAL as a place for “conversations between artists on how to have a sustainable future.” He wants residents to band together and learn from one another, particularly from a business standpoint.

“Every artist has heard the phrase, ‘It’d be great exposure,’ says Davis, who is also an occasional contributor to SN&R. “I want to make sure this community doesn’t get caught up providing free creative development in town.”

That said, Davis does see WAL as a great resource to the public for finding artists, for connecting with people and embarking on projects together. But questions still loom about how WAL, a private residence, will handle so much public attention. There’s talk of events in common spaces—film screenings, concerts, art shows. Will all be invited into these artists’ home?

“One Of the ways Our city is gOing tO grOw and becOme a cOOler place tO live and visit is if we have mOre arts and entertainment. we need tO be attracting mOre artists, nOt just tO visit but tO live here.”

Ali Youssefi developer, Warehouse Artist Lofts its power. He’s always loved to paint, and still dedicates time to the city’s arts as a board member at the Verge Center for the Arts, B Street Theatre and the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts. He reached out to local artists to shape WAL’s design in the planning stages, ultimately resulting in mixed historical and modern architecture; retail and residential space; and affordable and market-rate housing.

“It was important for us to make sure this was unique to Sacramento and our artists,” Youssefi says. “This is unlike anything else in the country.”

At its most basic function, WAL is a place to live. But even that alone is great, Rhomberg says.

“It’s going to allow a few more artists to survive and keep creating,” she says. “That might mean there are two more places to see art, or two more places to see live music, or a few places to meet and generate more ideas.”

WAL’s artists come from a variety of disciplines—some established, some just emerging. There’s soul singersongwriter James Cavern, who has BEFORE

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Youssefi says it’s up to the residents to figure this part out, but that privacy is important. Resident panels are just getting formed to take up different topics, including events. As an eventplanner at Beatnik, Davis says he has some concerns.

“We could certainly do little events with bands or poets who live here, but once you open it to the public or charge covers, that’s going to get really complicated,” he says. “Doing events is a full-time business. You can’t expect artists to volunteer over and over.”

But you can expect the influx of bodies to influence R Street as a whole.

Sacramento performance-painter David Garibaldi moved into a studio right across from WAL—a big deal for the arts community. Meanwhile, a long lineup of businesses is prepping to flood the corridor this year.

“R Street is unique. It’s got a lot of historical character,” Youssefi says.

“With Verge [Center for the Arts] and Beatnik, there already have been artists here. This is just meant to help build a critical mass. I want to see more festivals and an art walk—and not just one block, but a real art walk with WAL as an anchor.”

Rhomberg agrees, predicting a shift in Midtown’s landscape. Ideas are percolating, and people are watching.

“It’s like this energy ball [WAL] creates interest from the outside, and it gives the people who are inside living here a little push to connect and make things happen,” Rhomberg says. “There’s a lot of buzz. Buzz is always good.”

The annual rite of baseball’s spring training has become much more interesting for locals ever since Sacramento’s River Cats team inked a deal to be the San Francisco Giants’ minor-league AAA team. In mid-March I traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., to interview, in Spanish, some of the Giants’ Caribbean-born players about their journey to the Grandes Ligas.

Some of those players have since been dispatched to play for the River Cats, but some will likely be called back up to the Giants as the inevitable injuries, trades or low performances require fresh replacements.

The story of their travels to the minor league and beyond is one of adventure and ambition.

Venezuelan-born back-up catcher Guillermo Quiróz explained that as child, “We played with whatever, broom handles, rocks … We would take bottle caps or crushed aluminum cans and fling them—you could get a lot of crazy movement with those things,” he said with a grin.

Likewise, Giants closer and Dominican native Santiago Casilla fashioned a glove out of cardboard, cutting holes for his fingers. He even whittled his own bats.

Venezuelan infielder Ehire Adrianza noted that “where I come from, life was not easy.” Starting at the tender age of 2, however, he and his little friends found playtime an escape, making balls out of wadded-up paper or plastic.

By 7 or 8, most baseball-loving kids joined organized leagues, or at 13 attended special baseball academies. The Venezuelan-born Yusmeiro Petit—an MLB record holder for most consecutive batters retired (46, set last year)—said that he wanted to quit school just to play baseball. His mother protested, saying, “If you don’t go to school and get good grades, you can’t play baseball.” And so he passed all of his classes (“Saqué las notas necesarias”).

Joaquín Árias, a key utility infielder for the Giants during the last two of the team’s three World Series championships, is the youngest of 21 children (no, that’s not a misprint). He didn’t get his first mitt until he was 10; before, he mostly just played bare-handed. He signed with the Yankees at age 16 with a $300,000 bonus and he still sends a lot of his money home, buying new houses for family members (seven and counting for Árias).

None of the players I interviewed spoke English when they arrived in the United States. That could be problematic, especially if as a pitcher, your catcher’s first language is English. “It was really hard at first,” noted pitcher Jean Machi, who arrived in the U.S. at 17. Bilingual coaches and other players have helped with communication.

Finally, I asked why so many Caribbean-born players dominate in the major leagues. The answer was universal: hard work, dedication and the joy in playing: “Alegría para el juego,” said opening-day backup catcher Héctor Sánchez.

Grinding poverty, and the absence of distractions like video games and social media, meant that kids still always played outside (a culture that disappeared here 30 years ago). Seeing other Caribbean players on the TV was a very real stimulus for most kids. Or, as Sanchez explained, “You sacrifice everything to achieve your dream.”

Grinding poverty, and the absence of distractions like video games and social media, meant that kids played outside.

—Tom Blodget

Check out the Warehouse Artist Lofts grand opening at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, at 1108 R Street.

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PHOTO BY FRANK OCKENFELS | ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Tournée du Chat Noir (Tour of the Chat Noir), 1896. Color lithograph, 55 7/8 x 39 3/8 in. Stichting Het Kattenkabinet, Amsterdam.

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Experience Paris at the turn of the 20th century—cabarets, cafés-concert, circuses, dancehalls, and brothels. This exhibition celebrates avant-garde artists who offered a new look at modern life in a shifting society. Don’t miss your chance to view worldfamous art up close and personal at the Crocker. Closes April 26.

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April picks by Shoka

A modern master Wynn Bullock is considered to be a 20th-century master of photography along with his peers Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. It’s no mystery why: Even though he died in the 1970s, his work still looks modern and relevant PHOTOGRAPHY today, not to mention it’s exquisitely exposed in the camera and on the print—but it deserves mentioning. Bullock pushed the medium of photography by experimenting with alternative processing and new techniques. He reins in light and the narratives around his well-balanced compositions so delicately, such as in his iconic “Navigation Without Numbers,” where an infant napping on a black bed seemingly floats away from his mother in this dark sea, while she is in on the other side of the bed, head down, drowning, knowing that she will have to give her baby up soon.

It should be a treat to have a gallery full of his work on display this month at Viewpoint.

Where: Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, 2015 J Street, Suite 101; (916) 441-2341; www.viewpointgallery.org.

Second Saturday reception: April 11, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Through May 2.

Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 6 p.m.; Friday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.

“Navigation Without Numbers” by Wynn Bullock, silver gelatin print, 1957.

Back at the palette Tim White has said that a year-and-a-half ago, he almost died in a car accident. It resulted in a traumatic brain injury for the Arts & Leisure bassist and former SN&R scribe. He had to relearn how to do many things, including walking, but he’s not wasting his time not being creative these days. He’s back to playing PAINTINGS in the band, and this month marks his first “sizable show” of paintings since the injury.

It’s good to see him back at the palette.

“Untitled—Woodlake Home” by Ric Blackburn.

Northern neighbors Don’t be surprised if you are surprised by the loveliness of the Woodlake neighborhood in north Sacramento. It’s bordered by Highway 160 and Arden Way, and a canopy of stately trees ensconce the homes here, many built around the 1930s and GROUP SHOW ’40s with an Englishcottage influence. Also residing in the shade of the mature canopy is a collection of artists, and while it has not been verified whether these particular residents were created in the 1930s and ’40s as well, that is of little consequence. However, they have banded together to show their artwork in The Woodlake Artists’ Colony—Spring 2015 exhibition at Gallery 2110, which has newly relocated from Midtown to Woodlake’s Del Paso Boulevard border. A lovely concept.

Where: Elliott Fouts Gallery, 1831 P Street; (916) 736-1429; www.efgallery.com.

Second Saturday reception: April 11, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through April 30.

Hours: Friday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; and by appointment.

“White Hot And Cold” by Tim White, oil on canvas, 2015.

Where: Gallery 2110, 1023 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 333-3493; www.gallery2110.com.

Second Saturday reception: April 11, noon to 9 p.m.

Through May 2.

Hours: Thursday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.

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15 OLD SOUL CO. 1716 L St., (916) 443-7685, www.oldsoulco.com

16 RED DOT GALLERY 2231 J St., Ste. 101; www.reddotgalleryonj.com

17 SACRAMENTO ART COMPLEX 2110 K St., Ste. 4; (916) 476-5500; www.sacramentoartcomplex.com

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6 CUFFS 2523 J St., (916) 443-2881, www.shopcuffs.com

7 ELLIOTT FOUTS GALLERY 1831 P St., (916) 446-1786, www.efgallery.com

8 EN EM ART SPACE 1714 Broadway, (916) 905-4368, www.enemspace.com

9 HARMONY ROUGE INTERIORS 2317 J St., (916) 432-0443, www.harmonyrogue interiors.com

10 INTEGRATE SACRAMENTO 2220 J St., (916) 541-4294, http://integrateservices sacramento.blogspot.com

11 KENNEDY GALLERY 1931 L St., (916) 716-7050, www.kennedygallerysac.com

12 LITTLE RELICS 908 21st St., (916) 716-2319, www.littlerelics.com

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21 TIM COLLOM GALLERY 915 20th St., (916) 247-8048, www.timcollomgallery.com

22 UNION HALL GALLERY 2126 K St., (916) 448-2452

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24 VIEWPOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC ART CENTER 2015 J St., (916) 441-2341, www.viewpointgallery.org

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25 WKI 2 STUDIO GALLERY 1614 K St., Ste. 2; (916) 955-6986; www.weskosimages.com

Downtown/olD Sac 26 ARTHOUSE ON R 1021 R St., second floor; (916) 455-4988; www.arthouseonr.com

27 ARTISTS’ COLLABORATIVE GALLERY 129 K St., (916) 444-7125, www.artcollab.com

28 AXIS GALLERY 625 S St., (916) 443-9900, www.axisgallery.org

29 CROCKER ART MUSEUM 216 O St., (916) 808-7000, www.crockerartmuseum.org

30 E STREET GALLERY AND STUDIOS 1115 E St., (916) 505-7264

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IV THE BRICKHOUSE ART GALLERY 2837 36th St., (916) 457-1240, www.thebrickhouseartgallery.com

35 ARCHIVAL FRAMING 3223 Folsom Blvd., (916) 923-6204, www.archivalframe.com

36 CAPITOL FOLK GALLERY 887 57th St., Ste. 1; (916) 996-8411

2700 Front St., (916) 446-5133, www.larazagaleriaposada.org

32 SMITH GALLERY 1020 11th St., Ste. 100; (916) 446-4444; www.smithgallery.com

33 TEMPLE COFFEE 1010 Ninth St., (916) 443-4960, www.templecoffee.com

V CG GALLERY 2900 Franklin Blvd., (916) 912-5058, www.facebook.com/CgGallery

VI DEL PASO WORKS BUILDING GALLERIES 1001 Del Paso Blvd.

37 CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO 7055 Folsom Blvd., (916) 278-8900, www.capradio.org

38 FE GALLERY & IRON ART STUDIO 1100 65th St., (916) 456-4455, www.fegallery.com

39 GALLERY 14 3960 60th St.,

(916) 456-1058, www.gallery14.net

40 JAYJAY 5520 Elvas Ave.,

(916) 453-2999, www.jayjayart.com

41 WHITE BUFFALO GALLERY 3671 J St., (916)

31 LA RAZA GALERíA POSADA

(916) 400-3008, www.facebook.com/ lebonvida

752-3014, www.white-buffalo-gallery.com

VII DELTA WORKSHOP 2598 21st St., (916) 455-1125, www.deltaworkshopsac.com

VIII GALLERY 625 625 Court St. in Woodland, (530) 406-4844, www.yoloarts.org

IX GALLERY 1855 820 Pole Line Rd. in Davis, (530) 756-7807, www.daviscemetery.org

X GALLERY 2110 1023 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 476-5500, www.gallery2110.com

XI KVIE GALLERY 2030 W. El Camino Ave., (916) 641-3663, http://kvie.org/gallery

off map

XII PATRIS STUDIO AND ART GALLERY

I ARTSPACE1616 1616 Del Paso Blvd., (916)

XIII SACRAMENTO FINE ARTS CENTER

3460 Second Ave., (916) 397-8958, http://artist-patris.com

849-1127, www.facebook.com/artspace1616

II BLUE LINE GALLERY 405 Vernon St.,

5330 Gibbons Blvd., Ste. B, in Carmichael; (916) 971-3713; www.sacfinearts.org

Ste. 100 in Roseville; (916) 783-4117; www.bluelinearts.org

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Sacramento Dog Show Thursday, april 9, Through sunday, april 12 For those who have never witnessed an official dog show, know that this is serious business. The breeders of animals ranging from Afghan hounds to Icelandic sheepdogs spend all year grooming and tending to their little friends’ every need. This is an all-day event so bring some CANINES extra money for food and drink. $7.50, various times at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Boulevard; http://sacramentodogshow.com.

—Eddie Jorgensen

Fight for the Climb saTurday, april 11 This fundraiser with high-rising aspirations will raise money for the American Lung Association of California. Fight for the Climb “vertiSTAIRS cal road race” will test participants’ lung capacity as they ascend the stairways of the 34-floor, 423-foot Wells Fargo Building. Early registration is recommended. $25, 8 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Building, 400 Capitol Mall; www.lung.org/ pledge-events/ca/sacramento-climb-fy15.

—Alan Sheckter

Slow Art Day saTurday, april 11 Often at museums, there’s so much to see, we breeze by each piece after giving it maybe 10 seconds. Is that enough time to soak in its intricacies? Slow Art Day, a global event which includes the Crocker Art Museum, invites people to savor five pieces of art for ART 10 minutes each, and then meet with other attendees over lunch to discuss their experiences. $10, 10:30 a.m. at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street; www.crockerartmuseum.org.

—Aaron Carnes

DO IT YOURSELF,

S

ometimes it seems like the entertainment options in Sactown are relatively passive: We go somewhere, have a drink and watch a performance or show of some sort in silence.

The performing artist may or may not engage with the audience, and the members of an audience may or may not be encouraged to bob their heads or dance. This week, however, there are plenty of chances to change the way we interact with our entertainment. A handful of pretty cool events—all featuring DIY arts or some sort of interactivity—will give Sactown residents a chance to create their own fun and entertainment.

On Saturday, April 11, the second annual Indie Arcade Gaming Expo (www.indiearcade.org)

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presents a number of local, independently created video games for the public to demo and play. There will also be a number of local guest speakers, retro and current generation video game tournaments, and live music from Petriform and the Reno Video Game Symphony. It happens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at neighboring event spaces Cafe Colonial (3512 Stockton Boulevard) and The Colony (3520 Stockton Boulevard).

Tickets are $7 for students and $15 for the general public.

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Speaking of home programming, young and aspiring computer programmers ages 8 to 16 can visit the Franklin Community Library (1055 Franklin High Road in Elk Grove) to learn Scratch (https://scratch. mit.edu), a programming language invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The event is free, and so is Scratch, which can be used to create stories, games and animation. This Scratch class happens from 4 p.m. to

STORY

5 p.m. on Friday, April 10, and laptops are provided.

The Verge Center for the Arts (625 S Street, www.vergeart.com) hosts a pair of cool classes this week: one called “Record Making: The Vinyl Revival,” and another called “Mobile Mill.”

The former ($20-$25, 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15) shows people the process of vinyl record making—including mastering, pressing, and packaging. And the “Mobile Mill” class is a two-day papermaking class ($65-$85, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12) that’ll teach people how to get pulp from recyclables, and make block prints. It’s taught by Jillian Bruchera of mobile papermaking studio the Mobile Mill.

—Jonathan Mendick

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The Sacramento Ball Sack and Beer Fest saTurday, april 11 The name might sound crass, but it’s a family-friendly event for a good cause: raising money for the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation. The event offers silly games like pin the ‘balls’ on the donkey BEER and potato ‘sack’ races, and craft beer for the adults. $10-$30, noon at Wake Island Watersports, 7633 Locust Road in Pleasant Grove; www.sacramentoballsackandbeerfest.com.

—Aaron Carnes

Coronation Ball saTurday, april 11 The annual events hosted by The Court of the Great Northwest Imperial Empire on behalf of the LGBT community begin on Friday. The main attraction is CELEBRATION Saturday’s Coronation Ball when Emperor XLI Matthew Bunch and Regent Empresses Paul Domemoore Crouch and Kristara Chastain end their reigns and pass on their crowns. $40, 6 p.m. at Sacramento Inn and Suites, 1401 Arden Way; www.cgnie.org.

—Trina L. Drotar

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771 Ikea Court, West Sac • (916) 905-1111 WickedWestPizza.com

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Rice plates for all afritada ricE platE, WandEring boba I’ve heard various theories about why Filipino food isn’t more popular in the United States, but one is that it’s too “weird” for Americans (see: balut). That’s where the Wandering Boba food truck’s rice plates come in. They’re easily accessible for even picky, unadventurous people, but still pack flavor for Filipino food fans. Take the afritada rice plate ($9): a heaping pile of rice topped with a creamy coconut-milk curry with chicken, onion, bell pepper, potato, carrot and mild spices. Most of Wandering Boba’s plates with comforting meats and rice are just as enticing— check its social media accounts for the daily special and the truck’s location. www.wanderingboba.com.

—Jonathan MEndick

Almond joy alMond Milk, thE Mill

IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

Dream big

by JanEllE bitkEr

Dreamers: A few weeks ago, we reported Cookies & Milk’s plans to expand into daytime cookie deliveries, and at some point, open a brick-and-mortar. Those efforts might get accelerated if they win the Downtown Sacramento Foundation’s Calling All Dreamers competition, which announced its 10 semifinalists last week. Among the contenders, six are food-related.

Another high-profile one is Roots Creative Kitchen, which comes from Melanie Weir, the owner of Gluten Free Specialty (2612 J Street). It’s currently Midtown’s only completely gluten-free food market, and Weir wants to add a cafe to prepare hot food for those with food allergies and special diets. Another: Elk Grove’s Whey2Go already ships its proteinpacked beverages around the country, BEFORE

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business start-up package, including up to six months free rent downtown and $10,000 in cash. Andy’s Apothecary (1012 9th Street) won two years ago, and the coming-soon-to-R-Street Metro Juice Company received an honorary prize last year.

JanEllEb@nEWsrEviEW.coM

but now the business is proposing a retail storefront as well.

The final three are a bit less established. There’s Figs & Feta, pitched by food blogger Alexandra Salidas Roll.

She’s proposing a Greek dessert and pastry shop, which would also offer grab-and-go meals and Greek pantry items. Karma To Go would offer a mix of ready-to-eat and take-and-bake meals geared toward families on plant-based diets. The Sacramento Spice Emporium would sell spices, teas and other dried, edible goods sourced internationally.

The next phase of the competition occurs behind-the-scenes, with semifinalists hammering out their business plan revisions. Look for chosen finalists April 29 and vote for your favorite until May 26. The winner will ultimately win a $100,000

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The Mill may be yet another coffee shop in Midtown, but unlike some other spaces, the place is almost always invitingly quiet and peaceful. And they’re slowly finding their own twists on coffee, with beans from Temple Coffee Roasters. Last month, The Mill unveiled its housemade alternative to cow and soy milk, pressed from almonds, macadamias, dates and water. Alone, it’s sweet, the Mill(k) smooth and, obviously, nutty. In a latte ($6), it merges with the coffee’s bitterness to create a smoky almond blend that’s most certainly a joy. You can also get it in a cappuccino ($5), which stays nice and foamy thanks to the macadamia nuts.

1827 I Street, www.themillsacramento.com.

—anthony siino

Boo hoo: If you are a Wahoo’s Fish Taco fan, then I am sincerely sorry for your loss. The Midtown post (1820 L Street) of the Southern California-based Mexican food chain closed its doors last week. Then, oddly, Wahoo’s reopened them at 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday for just two hours, only serving $1 beers. The format is expected to last until May 1.

Management didn’t show up to Wahoo’s either day last week, so no, I have no explanation for you.

Like a bunny’s bite EastEr Egg radish We may be past Easter, but spring farmers markets are the place to find the Easter egg radish. Beautiful orbs in a rainbow of pastel colors, this variety makes a lovely addition to salads. Other types of radish are abundant now as well; ask for a taste if you’re concerned about spiciness. If you do acquire especially zingy radishes, thinly slice and soak them in ice water for a few hours—they’ll lose some of their bite. A classic French snack is to slip a little nugget of high-quality butter between slices of radish and sprinkle them with fleur de sel. Bon appétit!

Southern charm: The owners of South (2005 11th Street) leased out a neighboring business and are turning it into a private dining room—a new option for your big work engagements, birthday dinner parties if you’re popular and so forth. It’ll seat up to 50 guests and launch mid-April. Ω

—ann Martin rolkE

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HoiCin Cantonese Restaurant

and seasoning. Flecks of fried garlic and diced scallion accompany the tofu for astounding finish.

Spring pea tendrils are on the menu but 9555 folsom boulevard, (916) 369-8915, weren’t quite in season yet; instead, they www.hoicin.net were substituted with ong choy, or Chinese Dinner for one: $15 - $20 spinach. Ong choy are verdant, musky greens Good for: well made chinese-american fare similar in taste to spinach with a wilder side and catonese cuisine that drinks hard liquor and tells bawdy jokes.

Notable dishes: deep-fried flounder Cooked with a bit of broth and a flurry of minced garlic, the table quickly decimated the generous mound that was served.

A plate of Beef Chow Fun can be ordered Nearly 10 years ago, Kate Washington, a dry or wet—the latter is served with gravy. previous SN&R restaurant reviewer, wrote The dry version is a tangle of chewy, wide a review called “Shell Game” where she rice noodles tossed with snappy bean sprouts detailed her adventures at nibbling deep-fried and cuts of beef. It’s a homey dish that the crab innards at a Chinese restaurant on table dismissed as the least interesting of our Folsom Boulevard called HoiCin (See “Shell order, yet no one refused seconds.

Game,” SN&R Dish; July 21, 2005). At the Oh, but let’s talk about the pork belly, time, I’d just graduated UC Davis and was which the table cheered at upon its arrival. just starting out as a food writer. Enamored Fatty slabs—no exaggeration—are served with her account, I clipped out the review and with their skin intact. The skin and fat melts stuffed it in a notebook determined to go. apart in your mouth, the meat shredding apart I just found that notebook while cleaning at the merest bite. It’s all punctuated by out my garage and there, still neatly dry-preserved mustard greens that folded if not yellowed from the add a bitter counterpoint to slice decade, was Washington’s Deepthrough the more unctuous review. textures. Cantonese-style fried diced So, 10 years later, I cooking at its finest and finally decided to go and in unlikely to be found on tofu are the and fashion a literary form other menus. of book-ending. potato chips of Washington spent much To begin, HoiCin’s of her review glorifying the menu: You “Fine Modern Asian the Sampan Fried Crab, Cuisine” (as described on cannot eat confettied in chiles and scalthe restaurant’s sign) is hardly lions. Sadly, the dish is out of just one. modern. Rather, this is more season, so we instead ordered typical Chinese-American fare the deep-fried flounder. with a few truly authentic Cantonese And so the entire flounder arrived, dishes thrown into the mix. seasoned in a sweetened soy sauce. A glorious However, what sets it apart from other presentation ensued as the backbone was Chinese-American restaurants is its level surgically removed tableside. The fresh, flaky of execution. Flavors are clean and light, as bits of white fish and crackling skin were opposed to sugary and oily as most Chinese devoured till only pin bones and part of the restaurants tend to be. head remained. Even the cracker-like fins Take the Wor Wonton Soup: the filets of were nibbled away. Crab-shmab, this flounder chicken and beef you find in most wonton was fantastic. soups are tough and chewy from being overHoiCin is a welcome change from the boiled, vegetables are limp and the wontons everyday Chinese menu, and as Washington likely store-bought. Here, the house-made said, “You could do a lot worse than to take wontons are full of flavor, the chicken soft them to HoiCin for one of the more interesting and supple, vegetables have a crisp bite—all Chinese dinners.” of it in a hauntingly savory broth.

Someday I plan to return to finally try Deep-fried diced tofu are the potato chips the crab. Hopefully before another 10 years of the menu: You cannot eat just one. They gets by me. Ω arrive billowing hot and tantalizing. Placed on the tongue, their crispy exteriors release salt

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I’M A PIZZA GUY!

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Nacho average ice cream party Melanie Weir opened the Gluten Free Specialty Grocery Store (2612 J Street, Suite 1; www.facebook.com/glutenfreespecialty) a few years back to give locals with food allergies and celiac disease a place to shop. Now, she’s planning on growing the business to include a gluten-free cafe, kitchen and restaurant called Roots Creative Kitchen. To do so, she’s launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign (www.igg.me/at/roots) hoping to raise $60,000. It’ll be combined with an additional $90,020 of funding already invested by other local individuals and companies. The Indiegogo campaign runs through April 24, and if all goes to plan, construction could begin in May and Roots Creative Kitchen could be open by the end of the year. But first, to raise awareness of (and funds for) the campaign, there’s a “nachos and ice cream party” happening at the grocery store at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 11. It’s $15 for either nachos or ice cream, or $25 for both. Find out more at www.facebook.com/ rootscreativekitchen.

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BEFORE

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“All of our counselors are former clients,” Cox says. “We don’t speak from some hilltop — we meet people where they’re at and relate to them.”

Counselors not only understand firsthand the challenges of overcoming addiction, they also provide a model of hope for successful recovery. All counselors have years of experience in navigating recovery.

“Getting sober is easy. Staying sober is the battle,” Cox says.

Cox himself has struggled with addiction since a very early age. As early as 8 he was experimenting with recreational use of narcotics, he says.

“If fear is stopping you from reaching out and asking for help, conquer it.”

Greg Cox Program director, River City Recovery Center

He recently celebrated 10 years of sobriety, and has River City to thank for it.

“This is the place that gave me my foundation for sobriety,” Cox said.

Now it’s Cox’s life goal to give back in as many ways as he can, including overseeing every aspect of the recovery program in his role as program director.

Residential recovery is one option for those seeking help with addiction. Residents can live at the center for periods of 30 days, or for longer or shorter periods, benefiting from a drugand alcohol-free environment and intensive support for recovery for the duration of the stay.

Along with intensive counseling through Alcoholics Anonymous, program options at River City

WE’VE HELPED OVER 6,000 MEN & WOMEN RECREATE THEIR LIVES

include recreational sports like baseball and volleyball, with full courts on-site, and referrals for vocational training. The center also offers a variety of healthy menu options, all part of ensuring their clients are given the best chance at getting clean and staying clean.

Cox says it’s of the utmost importance that his clients understand that being an addict is not the end of the road.

“If fear is stopping you from reaching out and asking for help, conquer it,” Cox says. “You may have to jump through some hoops to stay sober, but it’s worth it.”

BY LEXI BRISTER

Sacramento News & Review and California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) have partnered to tell sponsored stories that share the joys of recovery, break down the barriers of stigma, and employ individuals, families and the community to form a united front against the disease of addiction. To find more about recovery and resources offered in the community, visit www. newsreview.com/sacramento/ ccapp.

CCAPP’s Directory Some of Sacramento’s Drug & Alcohol Programs, Organizations, Recovery Centers, and Transitional Homes: MAAP Inc.

4241 Florin Road Sacramento, CA 95823 (916) 394-3489 www.maap.org

NCADD Sacramento

Mission: One of the oldest and largest sober living communities in California. We are both a transitional sober living community as well as an intentional sober living community. Our community is run by the peers for the peers.

About Us: • 13 beautiful homes in middle class neighborhoods • 17 AA or NA meetings per week on the main block • Phase I: shared rooms all inclusive including restaurant quality meals • Phase II: private rooms • Over 130 residents • We are a community, not just a typical sober living environment • Visit us at: CleanandSoberSacramento.com

Payment Options: Payment by cash, check or credit cards

8946 Madison Ave, Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 961.2691 34

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Clean & Sober Transitional Living Inc 8938 Madison Ave Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 961-8934 www.clean-and-sober-living.com

1446 Ethan Way Sacramento, CA 95825 (916) 922-5121 www.ncaddsac.org

Priorities Clinic

Strategies for Change

Gateway House

4343 Williamsbourgh Dr. Sacramento, CA 95823 (916) 395-3552 4441 Auburn Blvd Ste E Sacramento, CA 95841 (916) 473-5764 www.strategies4change.org

River City Recovery Center Inc. 500 22nd Street Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 442-3979 www.rivercityrecovery.org

3647 40th Street Sacramento, CA 95817 (916) 397-2434 4049 Miller Way Sacramento, CA 95817 (916) 451-9312 www.gffw.org

Sacramento Recovery House

Med Aid

3100 Stockton Blvd Sacramento, CA 95817 (916) 736-3188

Harm Reduction Services 2800 Stockton Blvd Sacramento, CA 95817 (916) 456-4849 www.harmreduction.org

Sacramento County Dept of Health & Human Services Alcohol & Drug Services 3321 Power Inn Rd Ste120 Sacramento, CA 95826 (916) 874-9754 www.DHHS.saccounty.net

1914 22nd Street Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 455-6258 www.sacramentorecoveryhouse.org

For more information about these companies please look on our website: www.newsreview.com/sacramento/CCAPP.us

photo by Ensup/istock/thinkstock

FRIDAY NIGHT

FIND OF THE WEEK

Audiophiles go artisanal

Kid-free, complicated SelfiSh, Shallow, and Self-abSoRbed The title refers to what other people think of the decision to remain childless, because none of the writers here come off as particularly bad. What does come through in Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen BOOK Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids (Picador, $26) is that whether or not the decision to forgo reproduction was deliberate, it’s always fraught with emotional and cultural baggage.

The collection includes essays from Geoff Dyer, Lionel Shriver, Anna Holmes, Paul Lisicky, Sigrid Nunez and UC Davis professor Pam Houston. In “The Trouble With Having It All,” Houston writes incisively about the demand that women successfully juggle parenthood and careers, and insightfully about how being in the world, with or without children, is always about love.

—Kel Munger

Book it, play it gig Salad If you’re band or entertainer and have trouble booking gigs, you may be in luck. Gig Salad is a new site dedicated to helping both artists, bookers WeBsite and event planners match each other’s needs. Have a UB40 cover band and want to play corporate events? Are you a struggling motivational speaker whose fan base has not yet been exploited?

Gig Salad can help with all that and more. Whether it’s about playing large-scale events or small parties, this site makes it that much easier for an artist to be seen (and heard) while, similarly, making event planning a breeze. Doubleplusgood. www.gigsalad.com.

—Eddie Jorgensen

Youth, empowered SacRamento young feminiSt alliance convention There’s a myth that teens aren’t socially conscious or politically active. The young women of the Sacramento Young Feminist Alliance COnventiOn will disprove that notion this Saturday with an all-day convention scheduled to take place at the Met Sacramento High School. The event will feature guest speakers including Gender Health Center’s Rachael Hudson on transwomen in feminism and Fight Like a Girl author Megan Seely on organizing. There will also be workshops on zine making and screen printing. The event is open to high school students of all genders. 9:30 a.m, Saturday, April 11; free.

810 V Street, www.facebook.com/sacramentoyoung feministsalliance?fref=ts.

RecoRd making: the vinyl Revival Records on vinyl barely had time to become retro before they started making a comeback, so much so that it’s not uncommon for bands nowadays to release a record digitally alongside vinyl and/or a cassette tape Class instead of a CD (though if you still have your original Walkman, I wouldn’t throw it away just yet; these things clearly have a way of coming back around).

If this news is very circa 2005 to you, you’ve already got a killer LP collection, and the employees at Phono Select Records know you by name, where can you next direct your love for all that is analog? On Wednesday, April 15, the Verge Center for the Arts will be offering a class in the art of vinyl making. Attendees will learn about the entire process, from mastering and pressing to packaging, which traces its roots all the way back to the late 19th century, when inventor Thomas Edison was looking for ways to impress this really cool girl that was super into George Frideric Handel (we kid, we kid).

In all seriousness, there may be no better way to show up your vinyl-collector rivals. And just in time too, because Record Store Day is a mere three days later; what’s hipper than being not only a collector, but an artisanal-vinylrecord maker? Nothing. We looked into it and there is definitely nothing hipper. 6:30 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 15; $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Verge Center for the Arts, 625 S Street; http://vergeart.com/learn/classes/record-making-vinyl-revival.

—Deena Drewis

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Best of Enemies If the Ku Klux Klan wasn’t so monstrous, it could be almost comical, with its Klavens and Wizards and Grand Cyclopes. The Klan was big in the segregated South (and elsewhere), and it’s not by dead yet. Still, we hope these Cyclopes see Jim Carnes the light, shed the sheets and join the rest of humanity.

Celebration Arts’ Best of Enemies, a play

by Mark St. Germain based on the bestselling nonfiction book by Osha Gray Davidson, tells an unlikely—but true—story about the relationship between an African-American civil rights activist and a Grand Cyclops of the KKK during the desegregation of Durham, N.C., schools in 1971.

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Volunteer at Any Age With the Peace Corps Information Session

An unlikely (but true) friendship emerges.

Tuesday, April 14 5 to 7 p.m.

Sierra 2 Center, Curtis Hall 2791 24th Street Sacramento, California

A panel of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served after the age of 50 will share inspirational stories of service and discuss how you can make a genuine difference in communities overseas.

Life is calling.

How far will you go?

855.855.1961 | www.peacecorps.gov 36

| SN&R | 04.09.15

4The Clearing The news is heavy with darkness these days—incomprehensible violence and ethnic cleansings, wars and weapons, murders and mayhem. History reveals it’s been forever thus, as exemplified in playwright Helen Edmundson’s The Clearing that humanizes the conflicts of 17th-century Ireland when Cromwell’s English army sets out to clear the Irish from their homeland.

The personal price paid by those trapped in the conflicts is the focus of Ovation Stage’s production, which tells the story of a young married couple with roots and allegiances in two different countries: Englishman Robert Preston (Zach Coles) and his Irish wife Madeleine (Meghan Nealon). Both Robert and Madeleine are keen on surviving Cromwell’s systematic ethnic cleansing, but each want to take a different route—Robert wants to ingratiate himself with the local English governor while Madeleine’s heart is with her Irish countrymen.

Both Coles and Nealon successfully portray the push and pull of young love under political pressure, making audience members feel for their conflicting views. Brent Dirksen is strong as the heartless governor, and Georgann Wallace and Steve Buri provide the fighting Irish spirit. And the Wilkerson Theatre’s small venue captures the feeling of the villagers being trapped both physically and emotionally.

There is a creative misstep in this production—a musician plays the viola throughout the entire play—even during the dialogue, which proves to be very distracting. Though Patrick Claypool is a talented musician, the music is best left to scene changes or act openings and closings—an easy remedy that would help strengthen the play.

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A poison’s antidote

Best of Enemies; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; $8-$15.

Celebration Arts Theatre, 4469 D Street; (916) 455-2787, www.celebration arts.net.

Through May 9.

Voress Franklin is remarkable as Ann Atwater, a black woman who takes nothing from nobody and speaks her mind (and heart) right in the face of hatred and disdain. Chris Lamb delivers a brave performance as KKK member C.P. Ellis, spouting hatred, flinging the N-word around like he means it and carrying a gun like he intends to use it.

They are brought together—forced, really— when Bill Riddick (Maszaba Carter), a federal mediator for the Department of Education, is sent to oversee school desegregation and puts together a steering committee to reconcile disparate viewpoints. That Atwater and Ellis gain a better understanding of the other is remarkable, but their unlikely friendship is evidence that the poison of prejudice doesn’t have to be lethal.

James Wheatley directs the play as a series of short scenes, slipping back and forth from Ellis’ workplace or kitchen (with wife Mary, played quietly but surely by Amy Williams) and Atwater’s home and their joint scenes. It becomes a little “his scene, her scene, their scene” mechanical, but it works. And there’s only one set, and rearranging chairs and turning a desk into a table are the only changes, so it all moves relatively smoothly. Ω

—Patti Roberts

The Clearing, 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday; $17-$20.

Ovation Stage at the Wilkerson Theatre in the R25 Arts Complex, 1723 25th Street; (916) 606-5050; www.ovationstage.com.

Through April 26.

5

33 Variations

Moises Kaufman’s play about a musicologist looking for the source of Beethoven’s obsession with a minor waltz receives an outstanding production at Big Idea Theatre. Directed by Benjamin T. Ismail, Ruby Sketchley plays the professor and Scott Divine is the maestro himself. Fantastic production values and excellent performances make this a show that ought not be missed. Th, F, Sa 8pm. Through 4/11. $10-$18. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Blvd.; (916) 960-3036; www.bigidea theatre.org. K.M.

3

Oblivion

The tension in this comedy/drama lies between a “tolerant,” secular, 40-something couple and their teenage daughter, who secretly goes on a church retreat (to Mom’s great distress). But the story’s core is actually the parents. Their marriage, and respective careers, have stalled out; they’re almost rudderless, especially when facing an inquisitive girl exploring something they’ve always avoided discussing—religion. Along the way, the show transitions from comedy into something resembling drama (with mixed results). The show’s reach exceeds its grasp but contains several telling and effective scenes. Tu 6:30pm; W 2pm & 6pm;

Th, F 8pm; Sa 5pm & 9pm. Through 4/19. $23-$35. B Street Theatre,

2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.H.

5

Rapture, Blister, Burn

In playwright Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture,

Blister, Burn, the subject matter of life choices is offered up in a thought-provoking and hilarious dark comedy that includes three generations’ takes on women’s issues. Capital Stage’s Shannon Mahoney, in her directorial debut, expertly guides her gifted cast through this Pulitzer Prize-finalist play that includes fascinating examinations of gender politics as well as drink-infused conversations and escapades. Be prepared to have great discussions and debates afterward.

W 7pm; Th, F 8pm; Sa 2pm & 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/12. $22-$38.

1 FOUL

2 FAIR

3 GOOD

Capital Stage, 2215 J St.; (916) 995-5464; www.cap stage.org. P.R.

4

5

The Whipping Man

Buddy Butler directs this powerful play that takes place at the close of the Civil War in Richmond, Va., during Passover. Playwright Matthew Lopez’s award-winning story chronicles a young wounded Confederate soldier’s return home, where he finds his home destroyed and two of his newly freed slaves trying to cobble a life together amidst the ruins of the house. The historic time frame is pertinent: the war is ending, an assassination takes place and Passover is being observed in the relatively large Jewish population who lived in Richmond. The performances are memorable, as is the script, the story and the staging. W,

WELL-DONE

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Th 6:30pm; F 8pm; Sat 2 pm & 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 5/3. $34-$38. Pol-

lock Stage at Wells Fargo Pavilion, 1419 H Street; (916) 443-6722; www.sactheatre.org. P.R.

Short reviews by Jeff Hudson, Kel Munger and Patti Roberts.

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Author Jamie Ford will sign copies of his book on Saturday, April 25.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Community Asian Theater of the Sierra brings to life novelist Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which spent two years on the New York Times Best Sellers list after it was published in 2009. The story interweaves the narrative of a Chinese-American man in Seattle who comes across relics that belonged to a Japanese family sent to an internment camp during World War II with his own upbringing and the bond he developed with a Japanese girl named Keiko. Opening night takes place on Saturday, April 18, at 8 p.m. followed by a gala reception. On Saturday, April 25, the author will be present to speak after the show and sign copies of his books. Ticket prices range from $10 to $15 for dress rehearsal and preview tickets on Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17; normal tickets cost up to $25 for shows Thursdays through Sundays, running through Saturday, May 9, at the Nevada Theatre (401 Broad Street in Nevada City).

—Deena Drewis

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Sacramento Vedanta Reading Group

Danny Collins begins with a quirky breath of fresh air.

“The following,” we are told, “is based on a kind of true story, a little bit.” by Jim Lane Here’s the true story. In 1971 a young British folk singer named Steve Tilston gave an interview to ZigZag magazine in which he expressed concern at the thought of becoming rich and famous; would it negatively effect his songwriting? Tilston went on to a career of, if not wealth and fame, at least steady success in various genres, both as a solo artist and in groups. As of this writing he is alive and well and still working.

3

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What Tilston never knew was that no less than John Lennon read his interview in ZigZag and wrote to him about it. Lennon, who should know, assured the fledgling musician that “being rich doesn’t change your experience in the way you think.” The letter was never delivered, and Tilston knew nothing about it until 2005, long after Lennon’s death, when a collector contacted him to verify its authenticity.

This is the “little bit” that writer-director Dan Fogelman expanded into Danny Collins.

Fogelman is a writer of real, if hit-or-miss, talent: for every Cars or Crazy, Stupid, Love on his résumé, there’s a Fred Claus or Last Vegas to pull down his average. With Danny Collins he takes the ball from Steve Tilston (who was hired as a consultant) and runs with it.

In Fogelman’s version, the nonrecipient of Lennon’s letter isn’t a steady but unspectacular success; he’s Danny Collins (Al Pacino), a superstar who performs before massive crowds in the kind of arena where it takes 10 minutes to get from his dressing room to the stage. Think Neil Diamond or Frank Sinatra. Danny is a star so instantly recognizable that a visiting Martian, seeing him greeted by strangers on the street, could be forgiven for thinking his name is “Holy Shit!” For all that, the only example we hear of Danny’s long parade of top-10 hits is “Hey Baby Doll,” a rock ballad that sounds just as awful as its title suggests.

And there’s the rub. Despite his money and stardom—the Bel Air mansion, the Hefty garbage bags of cocaine, the girlfriend young enough to be his granddaughter (Katarina Cas)—Danny squirms. When his manager Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer) presents him with that recently discovered letter for his birthday, it plunges Danny into a where-did-I-gowrong late-life crisis.

Danny resolves to reclaim somehow that budding young artist who worried about what money and fame would do to him. For starters, he travels to New Jersey, where he tracks down the biological son he’s never met, the product of a one-night stand with a groupie during his drug-hazy youth. The son is Tom Donnelly (Bobby Cannavale), a working stiff with a pregnant wife, Samantha, (Jennifer Garner) and daughter (Giselle Eisenberg). Tom has always known who his father was, but never cared if he ever met him, and he isn’t pleased now that he has. “What are you doing here?” he asks. “What do you want?”

They are reasonable questions, and Danny tries earnestly, if sometimes maladroitly, to answer them. Meanwhile, he flirts with Mary Sinclair (Annette Bening), the manager of the modest hotel where he’s staying, who holds him at amused, indulgent arm’s length.

Between visits to the surly, suspicious Tom and the protective Samantha (Garner is at her wistful, delicate best), Danny plunks away at a rented Steinway in his room, wondering if he still has it in him to write a decent song. Through all this he’s hounded by his impatient manager; much of Danny’s fabulous wealth is spoken for by creditors and ex-wives, and his nationwide tour won’t wait.

Pacino sinks his gleaming teeth into the role of Danny with a gusto that’s charming and infectious. The charm spreads and coats the whole movie like butter over hot pancakes. Fogelman gives Danny no easy path; for every two steps forward he stumbles one step back, and there’s always the siren song of “Hey Baby Doll” and a mirror full of blow.

Pacino sinks his gleaming teeth into the role of Danny with a gusto that’s charming and infectious.

It falls to the canny Frank to offer the last word on Danny. “What I’m saying,” he tells the disgusted Tom, “is the man has a good heart. He just wears it up his ass half the time.” Ω

by daniel barnes & JiM lane

4

’71

TV and music-video director Yann Demange makes an extremely promising debut with the harrowing thriller ’71. The film takes place over the course of one hellish night in Belfast during “The Troubles,” when the city was split into Catholic/IRA and Protestant factions warring even within themselves. Demange’s film follows a British soldier (Jack O’Connell, more magnetic here than in his supposed breakthrough role in Unbroken) trapped behind “enemy lines” after a riot separates him from his platoon. The Bloody Sunday meets Escape from New York set-up provides the film with a gutseizing, action-thriller hook, but Demange makes it clear that everyone is trapped in the crossfire.

The violence in ’71 is sudden and devastating and immediate—you feel it—and although the characters are often a little light, Demange navigates this 1970s urban war zone with the intensity and clarity of a born filmmaker. D.B.

3

Hope he's wearing knee pads.

Effie Gray

4

Effie Gray was delayed by lawsuits since 2012, but its timely release makes it the second big-screen portrayal of 19th-century Scottish art critic John Ruskin in the last couple months. The broodingly handsome Ruskin, played by Greg Wise in director Richard Laxton’s thoughtful but inert period drama Effie Gray, isn’t a lisping buffoon like the one played by Joshua McGuire in Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner. He’s far more loathsome—a cold, cruel, emotionless, impotent mama’s boy, Ruskin weds his teenage protégé Effie (Dakota Fanning) and declines to consummate the marriage, interring her instead with his bizarre family and practically daring her not to stray. Emma Thompson wrote the contentious script, and gave herself a juicy, too-small part as the protective Lady Eastlake, but Laxton does nothing with it, and Fanning is not strong enough to carry the film. D.B.

3

A 40-something documentary filmmaker (Ben Stiller) and his wife (Naomi Watts) meet a younger couple (Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried) who remind them of who they used to be before their lives stalled out in aimless indecision. They enthusiastically indulge a vicarious return to their 20s— until the husband begins to suspect he’s being subtly hustled. Writer-director Noah Baumbach deploys his trademark perception and wry humor with the same acuity and economy he brought to Frances Ha and The Squid and the Whale, and the result is another bull’s-eye—a warmly incisive comedy of urban manners and foibles, sharply observant yet wise and compassionate, satirical yet oddly sweet. Charles Grodin adds a rueful touch as Stiller’s father-in-law, former mentor and focus for his resentment and frustration. J.L.

personal life of her own. A Girl Like Her goes for an ill-conceived blend of found footage and faux documentary that never works, while the script is rarely subtle and often shameless. D.B.

Furious 7

Speed demon Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew (Dwayne Johnson, the late Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, et al.) are being hunted by the brother of a vanquished villain from Fast & Furious 6 (Jason Statham); they join with a shadowy government operative (Kurt Russell) to turn the tables on their pursuer. The preposterous franchise reaches an apotheosis of sorts with a delirious array of death-andphysics-defying stunts, as exciting and enjoyable as they are unbelievable and physically impossible. (On a more subdued note, similar CGI wizardry completes the performance of Walker, who died during production.) Chris Morgan’s script is pretty much beside the point, but it provides director James Wan with an efficient framework, and outlandish as it all is, the movie delivers the goods. J.L.

5

4

Israeli brother and sister writer-directors Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz deliver this riveting movie about the torturous, borderline Kafkaesque procedure that one woman takes to obtain a religious divorce in Israel. Ronit also stars as Viviane, a beautiful and independent middle-aged woman who seeks to legally end a loveless marriage to her estranged and emotionally distant husband. As depicted in Gett, the legal system entirely favors the whims and rights of the male—Viviane is mostly a silent spectator at her own divorce proceedings—and so the husband is allowed to endlessly waffle and delay, outrageously dragging the case out for years. The film is minimalist but moving, A Separation meets Anatomy of a Murder, a methodical and emotional process film fused with a potent legal drama, as well as a fascinating look inside a religious bureaucracy where male supremacy is written into law. D.B.

4

Amy S. Weber wrote and directed this earnest but self-righteous look at highschool bullying, a sluggish life lesson that keeps tripping over its own good intentions. On the same day that her high school gets celebrated as one of the best in the nation, tormented teenager Jessica swallows a bottle of pills, ending up in the hospital on life support while her fellow students struggle to make sense of the suicide attempt. Meanwhile, a documentary crew hired to profile the school is given free rein to roam the halls playing gotcha journalism with troubled minors for some reason, and they discover that Jessica had a tormentor (Hunter King, a potential force of nature) with a complicated

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NEWS

Merchants of Doubt

Director Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) delivers this rote but stirring documentary about the fake experts and pseudoscientists that are employed by corporations to spread doubt in the media about scientific facts. It was a devious practice originally perfected by the tobacco industry, and it’s being taken to new, possibly apocalyptic levels by well-compensated global warming “skeptics.” There are a lot of fascinating stories, including a detailed exploration of the nationally perpetrated hoax that mandated the use of cancer-causing flame-retardant material in couches, but the viewing experience is probably not much different than the experience of reading the 2010 book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. It would have been more interesting to get a psychological exploration into the mind of one of these hired liars, rather than this well-made outrage enhancement device about media manipulation and corporate greed, but Merchants of Doubt remains compelling enough to recommend. D.B.

A Girl Like Her

BEFORE

It Follows

After a drifting suburban Detroit teen sleeps with her new boyfriend, she learns that he has “passed on” to her a malevolent presence, one that will never stop its slow but deadly pursuit. In just his second feature, writer-director David Cameron Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) produces one of the best horror films of the millennium. The story touches on themes of venereal disease, rape, contagion fears, PTSD and more, while combining cinematic influences from zombies, ghosts, slashers, J-horror, conspiracy thrillers, exorcisms, Robert Altman, teen sex comedies, apocalypses, John Carpenter, chase films and the first five minutes of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening into something deeply unsettling and nightmarishly lucid.

Imagine if Texas Chainsaw Massacre-era Tobe Hooper directed a Richard Linklater rewrite of Under the Skin. A few clunky special effects and easy jump scares aside, It Follows is intelligent and terrifying, an instant genre classic. D.B.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem

2

While We’re Young

4

What We Do in the Shadows

Written, directed by and starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, the uneven but uproarious mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows mines a vein of deadpan, observational goofiness that recalls previous Clement-Waititi collaborations like Eagle vs. Shark and the TV

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show Flight of the Conchords. Along with Jonathan Brugh and Ben Fransham, Clement and Waititi play vampire roommates trying to have fun in urban New Zealand while dealing with the realities of modern undead life (they can’t get into most nightclubs because they need to be formally invited to enter) and the difficulties of shared living situations (the chore wheel hasn’t moved in five years). The film excels at finding comedy in those mundane details, and although it never recaptures the comedic momentum of its opening minutes, and the mockumentary format mostly becomes a narrative crutch, there are enough big laughs to forgive a few shortcomings. D.B.

5

8

$

Wild Tales

Argentinian writer-director Damián Szifron’s black comedy anthology, which played festivals throughout 2014 and was nominated for a Best Foreign Film award at last month’s Oscars, is the pinnacle of contemporary revenge films, the granddaddy, the godfather, the boss, the Great Pumpkin. Wild Tales is the revenge film to end all revenge films, a glorious and bonkers blast of visual creativity and storytelling energy, and one of the most purely entertaining films of the year. If the naughty-boy, early-1990s oeuvres of Pedro Almodovar (who also produced) and Quentin Tarantino were somehow able to copulate, then Wild Tales would be their grossly beautiful sextuplet offspring. Wild Tales shuffles juvenile amorality and hand-of-God sermonizing into the same deck, but it’s perfectly pitched, as though the funniest kid in your high school became Scheherazade for two hours. Like a vicious predator, Wild Tales sinks its claws into your neck before you even see it coming. D.B.

4

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Writer Alexi Kaye Campbell and director Simon Curtis hew closely to the facts in telling the true story of Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), who successfully petitioned the Austrian government for the return of five Gustav Klimt masterpieces stolen from her family by Adolf Hitler’s thugs. Mirren is, as always, a formidable tower of strength, as is the oftenunderrated Ryan Reynolds as her American attorney. Daniel Brühl, as a sympathetic Austrian journalist, matches them when he can, though his character is given short shrift in deference to Anglo-American star power (in real life, the journalist’s work was far more crucial to the outcome). It’s an immensely satisfying Davidand-Goliath story, showing that sometimes the good guys win—even if it takes 70 years and the gumption of a Helen Mirren to do it. J.L.

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DRINK, DINE, RELAX.

Metal symphonies to gods and queens Graveshadow’s epic take on the genre mixes thrash, doom, sci-fi and fantasy Sunday, April 12, is William Walker III’s birthday. He will get drunk and watch the Game of Thrones season premiere, and it will be perfect. by Janelle Bitker Walker plays guitar in local symphonic metal band Graveshadow, which surprisingly has just j a ne l l e b @ one song dedicated to Game of Thrones. “Blood ne w s re v i e w . c o m and Fire” is a tribute to dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen, but Walker also has fuzzy visions of songs about the Boltons, Bran Stark and Robert Baratheon, before the drunken hedonism set in.

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ENTER SN&R’S

College Essay Contest!

Is this George R. R. Martin’s favorite band?

THE PRIZES: First place will receive a $2,015 award, plus $750 for second place and $500 for third place.

THE RULES: High-school seniors graduating in 2015 are eligible. Only one entry allowed per student, and you must live in the Sacramento region to apply. No SN&R employees or their relatives may enter.

THE DETAILS: Essays can be no longer than 650 words. Email essays as a Word document or PDF attachment to collegeessay@newsreview.com, with the subject line “College Essay Contest.”

Deadline is Friday, May 1, at 5 p.m.

FIRST PLACE PRIZE SPONSORED BY

THIRD PLACE SPONSORED BY

40 | SN&R | 04.09.15

Anderson from doom and black metal; bassist Bill Armstrong from jazz; and singer Heather Smith from pop and heavy metal.

So instead of just symphonic metal, which can get a little repetitive and simplistic, listeners are treated to unusual breakdowns, bridges and mid-song transformations. Thrash and doom elements bring complexity.

Smith was actually the last to join the band, and a female frontwoman wasn’t always in the game plan. That changed once they heard her growl.

“That was really impressive,” Hudak remembers. “This sweet and cute, bubbly girl could turn into a powerful force on stage that can do just about anything— growl, scream, operatic vocals, beautiful vocals. It gives a lot of diversity to the sound.”

Graveshadow’s diversity will be showcased on its first full-length album, which features the band’s remixed, remastered five-song EP from last summer along with three new tracks.

No release plans just yet, but it’s being produced by Matt Thomas of FallRise and mixed

by Emil Nödtveidt of Swedish gothic metal band Deathstars.

Ralf Scheepers of German power metal band Primal Fear is providing guest vocals on “Blink,” the aforementioned Doctor Who song.

Catch Graveshadow at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, at Ace of Spades, 1417 R Street.

Tickets are $20.

Learn more at www.facebook.com/ graveshadow.

“We’re interested in telling stories and creating an experience instead of just making a political statement,” Walker says. “I got my start in punk; it’s a lot of fun and a great way to educate people. But for our style of music, playing the role of the bard fits better.”

Enter “Blink,” the band’s most doomy track about the predatory Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. Or a three-part concept about Thrall from the World of Warcraft?

That’s in the works. Keyboardist Valerie Hudak pitched a song about The Hunger Games and the band seems on board—as long as they ignore the third book.

“I love stories about women who don’t apologize for anything,” Hudak says. “Especially stories that focus on inspiring revolutions.”

Graveshadow dabbles with personal songs, but generally the six-piece is drawn toward the deep lore of science fiction and fantasy. It fits with Graveshadow’s epic sound—a mix of symphonic, thrash, doom and gothic metal. With a completely collaborative songwriting style, each member weaves his or her background into the result: Walker and guitarist Matt Mitchell come from thrash, punk and heavy metal; Hudak from symphonic metal; drummer Roman

“ We’re interested in telling stories and creating an experience instead of just making a political statement.”

William Walker III guitarist, Graveshadow How did Graveshadow snag such big names for its debut? When the band opened for thrash-metal veterans Flotsam and Jetsam at the Boardwalk last July, the headliner’s manager Jeff Keller approached Walker to offer a little consulting. Consulting turned into full-blown management and connections to international metal artists.

In the mean time, Graveshadow will keep toying with new, fantastical song concepts, such as one about Game of Thrones character Cersei Lannister. Well, maybe not one about Cersei Lannister. As Mitchell notes, “Nothing says ‘great song’ like incest.” Ω

into enormous personalities, beyond the music and the garb. They take on mannerisms, inflections and history: Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs crawled across the floor, spitting water onto the front row; Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav completed several costume changes during and between songs; synth-punk duo Suicide was purposefully disengaging; freak folk duo the Holy Modal Rounders proudly shared that it was the first band to use the term “psychedelic” in a song in 1964.

Every set is a well thought-out piece of musical theater.

To scope out photos and notes from the show, the official hashtag on social media is #sachalloween2015.

Yep, an official hashtag means it’s definitely not a secret anymore, so tell everyone and get ready for a bigger Halloween next April.

Soloing: Sacramento jazz guitarist Ross Hammond’s newest record Flight might be his most personal and quiet yet. Shedding the quartet fans got accustomed to with Cathedrals and Adored, Hammond performs exclusively solo and exclusively acoustic. The result is at once sparse and intricate; merging free-form jazz and bluesy rock, with more folky inspirations.

The 15-track record is comprised of traditional tunes, hymns and originals, all reflective of Hammond’s life in some way. He was, after all, born in the South and basically raised in a church. Meanwhile, songs he wrote for Flight are inspired by family, by being a father.

Hammond keeps things interesting by employing four guitars: a 12-string, six-string, small parlor guitar and resophonic guitar, which has a metal resonator. The 12-string, in particular, Hammond plays fingerstyle. His recording technique maintains interest as well—he simply used a portable recorder wherever, and the captured atmospheric sounds play a role, too.

Flight is officially out Tuesday, April 14, and he’ll have two album release shows: at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at Gold Lion Arts (2733 Riverside Boulevard) and 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, at Luna’s Cafe (1414 16th Street).

Both cost $10 to attend.

Dionne Warwick and her snappily dressed backup singers. Wigs were by far the

most common accessory in the room, and it seemed like there were extras to go around. Our host switched personas from David Letterman to Howard Stern to Gene Shalit.

What really sets the Halloween show apart from other tribute shows is not the size or length or ethos. It’s not about singing along to perfectly executed covers with die-hard fans.

It’s watching local artists transform

BEFORE

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—Janelle Bitker

jan el l eb @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

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YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

Happy Halloween: The annual springtime Sacramento Halloween Show has stayed somewhat secret for years and years. A bunch of local, semi-underground bands would organize themselves into new tribute bands, attempting to reflect a legendary artist’s career in one 12-minute set. With 20-something bands on the setlist, you’d get a full day of awesome music.

The concept is genius alone, inevitably chock-full of crazy costumes, weird shenanigans and hilarity.

Last Saturday’s Halloween featured 28 bands, including Neil Diamond, the Ronnettes, Talking Heads, Simon & Garfunkel and Salt-N-Pepa. Yes, it seems random, but there was a theme: New York and New Jersey bands. Fittingly, a deejay spun New York and New Jersey hits in between sets. LCD Soundsystem crooned “New York, I Love You.” More importantly, if you’ve never heard of the Sacramento Halloween Show, this year marked its ascendance from the underground into a big thing that’ll keep growing and growing.

It was held at the Verge Center for the Arts, with an actual raised stage, professional lighting and a huge improvement in sound. The cover was still more than reasonable at $5 for six hours of music, with beers going for $3.

A surprising delight this year was a condensed version of the Broadway musical Cats. Ten people dressed in leotards and fur engaged in a fully choreographed, legitimately touching series of tunes. I was blown away by the performers’ cat-like movements as much as their gorgeous voices, which elicited a huge standing ovation. OK, the whole room was asked to sit and therefore had to stand, therefore it was an obligation, but a standing ovation just the same.

In the audience, I found myself standing next to Alicia Keys, with her long braids circa 2001. And later,

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

Halloween ascends from the underground

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09THURS

10FRI

10FRI

10FRI

Festival of the Arts

Anuhea

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

Oh!

Downtown Sacramento, 5 p.m., no cover California State University, Sacramento’s Festival of the Arts opens with an event called U-Create! in downtown Sacramento MULTIMEDIA on Thursday, April 9.

It’s being billed as a street festival and CSUS, the Verge Center for the Arts, Beatnik Studios, Insight Coffee Roasters and Axis Gallery are all collaborating on it. CSUS President Alexander Gonzalez will deliver a keynote address at 5:30 p.m. to officially kick off the festival, running daily until Sunday, April 12, and featuring tons of musical performances (including pianist Agustin Anievas, who plays on Saturday, pictured), art, lectures, receptions, food, film screenings, dance and kids’ activities. S Street, between Sixth and Ninth streets; www.csus.edu/festival.

Returning to Sacramento as part of her Aloha Always tour, the beguiling Anuhea is a gifted singer-songwriter who delivers a unique, easygoing brand of reggae-fused pop, in which the songs come first, and ego and attitude are left behind. The 29-year-old Anuhea’s life experiences include college water polo, campus TV anchoring, a film school and a three-week trek to Australia to find her muse. Once back home in Hawaii, her career grew organically from coffee shop open-mic nights to her being the successful, POP/REGGAE in-demand artist of today. At Harlow’s, Anuhea will be performing with her full band; Luisa Lavulo and Finn are set to open the show. 1417 R Street, https://anuheajams. wordpress.com.

—Alan Sheckter

Harris Center, 8 p.m., $20-$38 This year is shaping up to be a favorable one for Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. Willie Nelson’s guitar-slinging son has grown as a live performer with a reputation for putting on a ROCK/BLUES high-energy show. He and his brother Micah started off the year recording with Neil Young after the three bonded at a Keystone Pipeline protest event. Now, he comes to Folsom for the second time in just eight months. Last year, he electrified the crowd at Folsom Live with his music and athletic stage antics. Nelson, whose voice is unmistakably reminiscent of his father’s, is also an excellent songwriter and blues-style guitarist. 10 College Parkway in Folsom, www.promiseofthereal.com.

Shine, 8 p.m., $5 First off, one must give props to Elk Grove rock ’n’ roll cover band Oh! for its terrific name. And yes, the exclamation point is part of the name. The group, which is made up of six seasoned musicians, covers rock ’n’ roll spanning the ages, from the late ’60s to the ’90s, including artists like the Eagles, the Doors, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin, Blondie, the Doobie Brothers and plenty of others. It’s all basically the hard classic-rock sound. The POP members are all excellent musicians and play with a lot of energy, but are mild-mannered on stage. They say they have the “inner souls of rockstars.” 1400 E Street, www.ohtheband.com.

—Aaron Carnes

—Paul Piazza

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w w w. n e w s r e v i e w. c o m

SN&R

Gift certificateS to local merchantS for up to 50% off

Shop local and Save

—Jonathan Mendick

Ace of Spades, 7 p.m., $20

12SUN

12SUN

12SUN

14TUES

Ross Hammond

Shelly Burns

Black Milk

Antemasque

Gold Lion Arts, 4 p.m., $10

Urban Hive, 7 p.m., $10

Ross Hammond is known locally (and nationally) as an experimental jazz guitarist who’s always willing to try new things.

Indeed, he seems to assemble new projects on a near daily basis. He also hosts Nebraska Mondays at Luna’s Cafe, which is basically the weekly music series to be at if you crave underground jazz and avant-garde music. He releases his new solo album Flight at two shows this week (Sunday at Gold Lion Arts and Monday at Luna’s). It’s a purely solo record, with JAZZ Ross playing just acoustic guitars on it (6-string, 12-string, slide).

It’s a unique blend of Delta Blues and free jazz—minimalistic, intimate and wildly adventurous. 2733 Riverside Boulevard, www.rosshammond.com.

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 8 p.m., $15-$18

Celebrate popular songs of 20th century America with Shelley Burns and fellow singers and musicians in a fun, time-traveling POP jam session. “Kiss and Run,” “This Can’t be Love,” “Scotch and Soda,” “The Nearness of You” and “Destination Moon” might be among the tunes performed.

It’s a night of American standards, many pulled from musical theater, that still hold a place in the hearts of many and have influenced numerous younger musicians looking back to “Come Fly with Me,” “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and songs made famous by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Frank Sinatra. Even Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are now singing “Cheek to Cheek.”

1931 H Street, www.shelleyburns.net.

Detroit’s bright hip-hop star Black Milk is both a commanding rapper and producer, earning wide critical acclaim ever since his major solo debut Popular Demand in 2007. His style was immediately fresh: soulful, sampledriven, a little funky and a little jazzy. Since then, he’s released five solo rap records, one instrumental album and a bunch of collaborations—notably one with Danny Brown and a couple singles with Jack White. Indeed, HIP-HOP Black Milk is as versatile as he is prolific. At his Sacramento show, he’ll be joined by his live band Nat Turner, with keys, drums, bass and deejay.

Prepare for some mad energy. 2708 J Street, http://blackmilk.biz.

—Janelle Bitker

—Trina L. Drotar

Ace of Spades, 7 p.m., $20 Antemasque’s self-titled debut came out quietly late last year but gained popularity after the band started touring. While the band EXPERIMENTAL ROCK features former members of At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta (Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric BixlerZavala), their music is always changing at a pace too rapid for their own fans to keep up.

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea did play on and help record their album, but he’s not a member. Instead, the group is rounded out by Dave Elitch on drums and Marfred RodríguezLópez on bass. Fans of Omar and Cedric’s previous bands will love the catchy “4AM,” hooks in songs like “50,000 Kilowatts,” and the sheer power of “Providence.” 1417 R Street, http://antemasque.com.

—Aaron Carnes

—Eddie Jorgensen

ALLE Y K AT Z PRESENTS

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com 4/10 5:30PM $15ADV

FLEETWOOD MASK

THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE TO FLEETWOOD MAC

LONE STAR REVUE (STARRING ANSON FUNDERBURGH, LITTLE CHARLIE BATY, MARK HUMMEL, R.W. GRIGSBY, AND WES STARR) 4/14 7PM $10

4/10 10PM $10ADV

TUBELUBA

THE PRESSURE LOUNGE THEOTOKOS, QUINN HEDGES

(SEATTLE BRASS BAND) BROTHERS GOW, THE SEALEGS

4/11 8PM $15ADV

4/15 5:30PM $15ADV

SIZZLING SIRENS BURLESQUE GLOBAL GUITAR GREATS EXPERIENCE: SEA OF GREEN (THOMAS LEEB, STEPHEN INGLIS, SHAWN JONES)

SAT. APR. 18 | 6PM

2019 O ST | 916.442.2682 BEFORE

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4/16 5:30PM $40 AN EVENING WITH LEGENDARY SINGER

4/12 8PM $15ADV

BLACK MILK

RITA COOLIDGE

WITH LIVE BAND NAT TURNER

| A R T S & C U L T U R E

COMING SOON

4/13 6:30PM $20

THE GOLDEN STATE-

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AFTER

4/17 4/18 4/19 4/20 4/21 4/22 4/23 4/24 4/25 4/25 4/26 4/29 5/01 5/01 5/02 5/02 5/03 5/05 5/08 5/09 5/09 5/13 5/14 5/16 5/20 5/23 5/23

Dwele Tainted Love Agent Orange Cayucas (all ages) The Dead Milkmen Flat Busted The J Band Nora Jane Struthers (all ages) Sir Michael Rocks (all ages) Big Eyed Fish Curren$y (all ages) Big Data (all ages) Life in the Fastlane John Nemeth Andy McKee Killer Queens The Beatles 1965 (all ages) Helmet Once an Empire/Iconoclast Robot Joseph in the Well Solsa Howard Jones Dru Hill Strangelove Ex Hex Shuggie Otis Midnight Players

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NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 4/9

FRIDAY 4/10

SATURDAY 4/11

SUNDAY 4/12

BADLANDS

Tipsy Thursdays, Top 40 deejay dancing, 9pm, call for cover

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover

Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover

BAR 101

101 Main St., Roseville; (916) 774-0505

Karaoke Night, 7:30pm, no cover

IN THE NO, 9:30pm, no cover

VAGABOND BROTHERS, 9:30pm, no cover

Trivia Night, 6:30pm M, no cover; Open-mic night, 7:30pm W, no cover

BLUE LAMP

SAN QUINN, 8pm, $20

RAPPIN E, 6pm, call for cover

Radio Radio ’80s Dance Night, 9pm, $5

THE HOLLAND BROS EXPERIMENT, KATE LIVONI, LEO BOOTES; 8pm W

THE BOARDWALK

EMERALD CITY, GLUG, LESS THAN ZERO; 7pm, $10

RAPPIN 4 TAY, 7pm, $15

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 274-8384

BEAUTIFUL DUDES, LOST LANDER, LITTLE ZEBRA; 8pm, $12-$14

STARZ Dance Showcase, 2pm, $14-$17

COUNTRY CLUB SALOON

DIRK LANG BAND, 9pm-1am, no cover

UNWOUND KICKIN COUNTRY, 9pm-1am, no cover

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

List your event!

Post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo, and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview.com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400 9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247

4007 Taylor Rd., Loomis; (916) 652-4007

THE COZMIC CAFE

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

DIVE BAR

Dueling Pianos, 9pm, no cover

FACES

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Kamikaze Karaoke, 9pm-2am, no cover

Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10

Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10

FOX & GOOSE

STEVE MCLANE, 8pm, no cover

BIG STICKY MESS, BOCA DO RIO; 9pm, $5

THE JOSHUA CAMBRIDGE EXPERIENCE, 9pm, $5

594 Main St., Placerville; (530) 642-8481 1022 K St., (916) 737-5999

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

Hey local bands!

Want to be a hot show?

Mail photos to Calendar Editor, SN&R, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815 or email it to sactocalendar@ newsreview.com. Be sure to include date, time, location and cost of upcoming shows.

THE GOLDEN BEAR

2326 K St., (916) 441-2252

DJ Crook One, 10pm, no cover

DJ Crook One, 10pm, no cover

GOLDFIELD TRADING POST

TERRY SHEETS, 9pm, no cover

CHAD BUSHNELL, 9pm, no cover

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

THE TONE MONKEYS, 9pm-midnight, $5

MACH 5, 9pm-midnight, $5

FLEETWOOD MASK, 7pm, $15-$20; THE PRESSURE LOUNGE, THEOTOKOS; 10pm

Sizzling Sirens Burlesque Experience, 9pm, $15-$300

1603 J St., (916) 476-5076

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 626-6366

HARLOW’S

Uplift The Youth, 10pm, $10

THE HIDEAWAY BAR & GRILL

Trash Rock Thursdays, 9pm, no cover

LUNA’S CAFE & JUICE BAR

Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged, 8pm, $2

1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931

MIDTOWN BARFLY

1119 21st St., (916) 549-2779

THURSDAY, APRIL 9

APOCOLYPTICA ZEROCLIENT - GRAVESHADOW

FRIDAY, APRIL 10

ANUHEA FINN - LUISA LAVULO

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

THE MAINE

REAL FRIENDS - KNUCKLE PUCK THE TECHNICOLORS

TAMARA PHELAN TRIO, AMY REED; 8pm, $5

SEE SPOT PLAY, ORANGE MORNING, LILLI EDWARDS; 8pm, $5

That Thing on Friday, EDM, 10pm-2am, $5

The Drop, house and ’90s hip-hop, 9pm-2am, $3-$5

BOOM BOOMS, JONNY GOLD TRIO; 9pm Tu, no cover

Dragalicious, 9pm, $5

Kamikaze Karaoke, 9pm-2am M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5 Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu, no cover; Northern Soul and Cornhole!, 8pm W, no cover

FRIDAY, APRIL 12

GEORGE EZRA

THE GOLDEN STATE, LONE STAR REVUE; 8pm M, $20; TUBALUBA, 8pm Tu, $10

1417 R Street, Sacramento, 95814 www.aceofspadessac.com

ALL AGES WELCOME!

ANTEMASQUE

FEATURING OMAR & CEDRIC FROM AT THE DRIVE IN AND THE MARS VOLTA

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15

REVEREND HORTON HEAT

KOFFIN KATS - IGOR & THE RED ELVISES THURSDAY, APRIL 16

LIGHTS

SAINT MOTEL

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY UNBLACKENED MONDAY, APRIL 20

TECH N9NE

CHRIS WEBBY - KRIZZ KALIKO - KING 810 - MURS - ZUSE - CHERRY RED

Broadway Beat, 9pm M, no cover; Cactus Pete and jukebox night, 8pm Tu Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M, $5-$20; Open-mic comedy, 8pm Tu, no cover

TUESDAY, APRIL 14

SATURDAY, APRIL 18

BLUE OCTOBER

BRIAN ROGERS, 9pm, no cover

Sunday Sinema, 8pm, no cover

ACE OF SPADES

MONDAY, APRIL 13

TWISTED INSANE, 7pm Tu, call for cover

TOTAL RECALL, 10pm, no cover

228 G St., Davis; (530) 756-9227

2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331

CASEY VEGGIES, 7pm, $20

TRASH MAGIC, MORNING MOUNTAINS; 8pm, call for cover

G STREET WUNDERBAR

2708 J St., (916) 441-4693

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/13-4/15 Mad Mondays, 9pm M, call for cover

COMING

SOON

04/21 04/22 04/25 04/29 04/30 05/02 05/08 05/09 05/12 05/13 05/14 05/16 05/17 05/20 05/29 05/30 06/05 06/12 06/20 07/07 07/09 07/24 08/08 08/28

Enter Shikari Sebastian Bach Parmalee Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def Cole Swindell Saul Hernandez Mickey Avalon & Dirt Nasty Less Than Jake / Reel Big Fish Sepultura Twizted Earl Sweatshirt FallRise The Waterboys Glass Animals IM5 Dokken Nico & Vinz The Story So Far The Original Wailers Shovels & Rope John Mayall Between The Buried And Me Echo & The Bunnymen Moonshine Bandits

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL DIMPLE RECORDS LOCATIONS AND ARMADILLO RECORDS, OR PURCHASE BY PHONE @ 916.443.9202 44

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04.09.15

THURSDAY 4/9

FRIDAY 4/10

SATURDAY 4/11

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

CASEY GROAT, TRAVIS HAYES, MARTIN PURTILL; 8:30pm, $5

ARTISANS, GREENSIDE, SAWDUST; 8:30pm, $5

ALAN MAXWELL, BROKEN RODEO; 8:30pm, $5

Jazz session, 8pm M, no cover; RAMBLIN’ YEARS, WALKING SPANISH; W

OLD IRONSIDES

WHO & THE WHAT NOW, O.C.D.; 9pm, $5

GRUB DOG & THE AMAZING SWEETHEARTS, NICKEL SLOTS; 8:30pm, $7

PHANTOM JETS, PUNCH-OUT, BLAME THE BISHOP; 9pm, $5

HEATH WILLIAMSON, 5pm M, no cover; Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover

ON THE Y

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke fundraiser, 7pm, $7

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

1901 10th St., (916) 442-3504 670 Fulton Ave., (916) 487-3731

THE PARK ULTRA LOUNGE

SUNDAY 4/12

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/13-4/15

Open-mic comedy, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover

DJ Peeti V, 9pm-2am, $15

1116 15th St., (916) 442-7222

PARLARE EURO LOUNGE

Top 40, 9pm, no cover

Top 40, Mashups, 9pm, no cover

DJ Club mixes, 10pm, no cover

POINTDEXTER, 9pm, $5

BIG STICKY MESS, 9pm, $5

SWEET REVENGE, 10pm, call for cover

WONDERBREAD 5, 10pm, call for cover

PETTY THEFT, 10pm, call for cover

SHANA MORRISON, 10pm, call for cover

PETER & THE WORKING CLASS DOGS, CONTACT HI; 8pm W, call for cover

2030 P St., (916) 444-7914

THE KELPS, CHERCH, SLATTERN FIVE, TREE VILLAGE; 8pm, call for cover

Top 40 w/ DJ Rue, 9pm, $5

HUMAN BODY, STRANGE WILDS, LOVE MOON; 6pm; DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9pm

Sunday Night Soul Party, 9pm, $5

Bubble Butt dance party, 9pm M, no cover

SHADY LADY SALOON

TYSON GRAF TRIO, 9pm, no cover

HUMBLE WOLF, 9pm, no cover

THE HUCKLEBUCKS, 9pm, no cover

JIMMY SPERO, 9pm, no cover

1009 10th St., (916) 448-8960

PJ’S ROADHOUSE

5461 Mother Lode, Placerville; (530) 626-0336

POWERHOUSE PUB

614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586

THE PRESS CLUB

1409 R St., (916) 231-9121

SOL COLLECTIVE

Sac Labor Chorus Social Justice Jam Session, 6pm, call for cover

2574 21st St., (916) 832-0916

STARLITE LOUNGE

Documentary film screening, 7pm W, no cover

1517 21st St., (916) 704-0711

DJ Dire DeLorean, DJ Chat Noir, 9pm, no cover

IN THE SILENCE, DISCORDIA, SALYTHIA, DECIPHER; 8pm, call for cover

LONGVIEW, THE FORESOCKS, REVOLVER; 8pm, call for cover

STONEY INN/ROCKIN’ RODEO

TWO STEPS DOWN, 9pm, no cover

Country dancing, 7:30pm, no cover, $5 after 8pm

Country dancing, 7:30pm, no cover, $5 after 8pm

1320 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 927-6023

SWABBIES

X TRIO, 5pm, no cover ; TWENTYFOURTH STREET WAILERS, 9pm, $6

904 15th St., (916) 443-2797

Country dance party, 8pm, no cover

Comedy open-mic, 8pm M; Bluebird Lounge open-mic, 5pm Tu, no cover

STEEL ROSE, 3pm, call for cover

5871 Garden Hwy, (916) 920-8088

TORCH CLUB

Brian Rogers 9pm Wednesday, $5.

Torch Club Funk and soul

PAILER AND FRATIS, 5:30-7:30pm; BIG EARL AND THE CRYIN’ SHAME, 9pm, $7

SHARI PUORTO, 9pm, $8

Blues jam, 4pm, no cover ; You Front the MICHAEL RAY, 8pm Tu, $5; Band Live Karaoke, 8pm, no cover BRIAN ROGERS, 9pm W, $5

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

APOCALYPTICA, ZEROCLIENT, GRAVESHADOW; 7pm, $20

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

ANUHEA, FINN, LUISA LAVULO; 7pm, $20

THE MAINE, REAL FRIENDS, KNUCKLE PUCK, THE TECHNICOLORS; 6pm, $20

CAFE COLONIAL

3520 Stockton Blvd., (916) 718-7055

SHINE

MAT MARUCCI QUARTET, 8pm, $10

1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

OH! THE BAND, RICH CORPORATION; 8pm, call for cover

2015 Sacramento Indie Arcade Gaming Expo, 10am-5pm, $7-$15

Retrogen916 game night, 6-10pm Tu, no cover

GENTLEMAN SURFER, ALTO, SAN KAZAKGASCAR; 8pm, $5

Open jazz jam, 8pm Tu, no cover; Openmic poetry and acoustic, 7:30pm W

RESTAURANT •• BAR BAR CLUB •• RESTAURANT COMEDY COMEDY CLUB

VOTED BEST COMEDY CLUB BY THE SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW!

WEDNESDAYS KNCI 18 & OVER COLLEGE NIGHT

LIVE MUSIC

LET’S NOT GO TO EXTREMES.

April 10

IN THE NO

April 11

VAGABOND BROTHERS

April 12

RICH KRIEGER*

April 17

RICH CORPORATION

April 18

HUMBLEWOLF

April 19

DENVER SAUNDERS*

April 24

D.A.P

April 25

BILLY MANZIK

April 26

DYLAN CRAWFORD *

THURSDAYS

NO COVER BANDS IN THE BACK OPEN MIC UP FRONT COUNTRY DJ IN THE BACK BAND UP FRONT SATURDAYS

COUNTRY DJ IN THE BACK KARAOKE UP FRONT 18 & OVER COLLEGE NIGHT

TRIVIA MONDAYS @ 6:30PM OPEN MIC WEDNESDAYS SIGN-UPS @ 7:30PM KARAOKE THURSDAYS @ 7:30PM

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NEWS

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FEATURE STORY

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A RT S & C U LT U R E

SEAN KEANE, NICOLE CALASICH WEDNESDAY 4/15 THE COMEDY ROAST GAMESHOW

WITH MIKE E. WINFIELD THURSDAY 4/16

CARLOS RODRIGUEZ’S GREEN ROOM

WENDY LEWIS, JASON ANDERSON, ROBERT OMOTO, AND CARLOS RODRIGUEZ FRIDAY 4/17 - SUNDAY 4/19 FROM MADTV AND CHELSEA LATELY!

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BRYAN CALLEN

LEO FLOWERS THURSDAY 5/7 - SUNDAY 5/10 FROM SHOWTIME’S RED-NEXICAN AND HICK-SPANIC!

ALEX REYMUNDO

CONOR KELLICUTT, JIMMY EARLL THURSDAY 5/14 - SATURDAY 5/16 FROM WHITE MALE. BLACK COMIC. AND UNDATABLE! DAVID STUDEBAKER

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! TWITTER.COM/PUNCHLINESAC • FACEBOOK.COM/PLSAC

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AFTER

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04.09.15

2 DRINK MINIMUM. 18 & OVER. I.D. REQUIRED.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE CLUB BOX OFFICE WITH NO SERVICE CHARGE. |

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Full Service reStaurant

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All ads post online same day.

Deadlines for print: Line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Adult line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Display ad deadline: Friday 2pm

ads are

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*Nominal fee for adult entertainment.

All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. Further, the News & Review specifically reserves the right to edit, decline or properly classify any ad. Errors will be rectified by re-publication upon notification. The N&R is not responsible for error after the first publication. The N&R assumes no financial liability for errors or omission of copy. In any event, liability shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by such an error or omission. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

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This reminder is a public service of the N&R

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BEFORE

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fe a t u re

s t or y

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A R T S & C U L TU R E

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AFTER

WITH AD

7 days a week • 10 am to 9 pm

(916) 726–1166

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Massage Therapy

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Got a problem?

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On an unconscious level, you may have been seduced by fairy tales to maintain hope despite the odds.

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I’ve been dating this guy since September but since we came back to college in January, he’s been extremely controlling and definitely emotionally abusive. He calls me pretty horrible names and accuses me of cheating. He actually cheated on me but claims he doesn’t remember because he was drunk. We always break up and I always get back

by Joey ga together with him but I know rcia that I shouldn’t. How do I end things permanently? a s k j o e y @ne w s re v i e w . c o m You have to decide that you are more important to you than he is. Focus on being Joey smart and caring toward yourself, explains Lean In on not on being “nice” to him. One Fox 40 at 9:30 a.m. on of the most damaging behaviors Tuesday, April 14th. ingrained in girls is to be nice no matter the circumstances.

Respectfulness, kindness, courtesy and friendliness are lovely qualities, but they should not be employed when dealing with an abuser.

On an unconscious level, you may have been seduced by fairy tales to maintain hope despite the odds. Stories like Beauty and the Beast seem to say that a man who behaves irrationally or aggressively will eventually transform into a prince—if he is loved and cared for through the dark times.

But that’s a fantasy.

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Beauty, lose that beast

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Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review.

Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question—all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential.

Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@ newsreview.com.

Magical stories (folk tales, nightly dreams) impart a larger truth about our interior life. To gain that wisdom, break open the symbols. Beauty and the Beast reveals the importance of integrating the broken parts of ourselves and reveals how to do it.

We all have aspects of our personalities that are well, beastly.

When we understand why we behave the way we do, we grow in compassion for that aspect of our nature. At that point, we can begin to choose how we act.

We are no longer automatically triggered into lying, screaming tirades, cheating, isolating or other troublesome behaviors. We learn how to care for ourselves in the face of personal difficulty or abuse.

In other words, we grow up. So happily ever after is the interior union between the unhealthy ego and the healthy ego. Or, in fairytale terms, it’s the marriage of the Beauty (in us) and the Beast (in us).

If you’re ready to begin healing, try this: Imagine that you have a severe allergy to your boyfriend (after all, your self-esteem does).

Avoid him at all costs. Severe allergies can land you in the emergency room, right? Delete his phone number, block him from social media and avoid the places you hung out together. You can also write him a short note to break up, if you prefer. But, keep it simple: “Hey, it’s not working out, so let’s end our relationship.”

Don’t explain your feelings. Don’t write a litany of everything you tried to do to make it work. Don’t say you know he tried. All of those behaviors are manipulative because they invite him to respond.

Make a clean break. Remember, he abused you. You deserve better.

My boyfriend has a friend who always drops something inappropriate into conversations. She’ll say, “I was washing my car in a halter top and my tits nearly fell out” or “Some guy grabbed my butt and I liked it.” My boyfriend knows she’s desperate for attention so he ignores it. He hangs out with her because he’s known her since high school. He’s super loyal, it’s one of the things I love about him, but she’s so low-class it’s sad. Will she ever get a clue?

Probably not and he might not, either. He confuses loyalty with a shared history. There’s nothing wrong with letting go of people from your past who are unwilling to evolve. Be glad, though, that your man has enough common sense to realize how desperate his friend is. He’s too smart to be baited, but if he’s a real friend, he’ll challenge her to develop self-respect. Ω

Meditation of the Week “The power to question is the basis of all human progress,” said Indira Gandhi. How well acquainted are your curiosity and your courage?

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Oily tears Hi, Ngaio, I enjoy your articles. I’ve never smoked it but once, finding it wasn’t my thing, but I have no issues with those that do. Which brings me to my question: I’m a 73-year-old male diagnosed with low-stage prostate cancer that will eventually kill me. Luckily for me, a friend with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer, not wishing to spend her final days in misery, elected to use the Rick Simpson procedure. In two months, the tumor had shrunk a third and there were no signs of other M progression. Her last checkup showed no change LU A E B

by NGAIO in her status. After more research and being unimpressed with the traditional options available, I started the treatment two months ago. My question is how is one to tell that they are receiving the a sk420 @ n ewsreview.c om proper product? Is it based on faith? I feel like my next test in two weeks should show me cancerfree as proof that my product was correct. Do you have any idea as to the proper amount? How can you tell the strength, purity? I guess I’m asking for any information you may have on this confusing issue.

—Tom Hello, Tom. I am sorry to hear that you have cancer and I am glad your friend is doing better. I hope the treatment works for you, as well. The thing about the Rick Simpson cannabis oil treatment, a.k.a. Phoenix Tears (http://phoenixtears.ca), is that while the anecdotal evidence is promising (your friend is doing better, I have a friend who beat cancer with it), there are no rigorous studies showing it to be I am sure it will This all goes to show effective. help you, though. At the how prohibition least, it couldn’t hurt to try.

As to your question about is holding us back how to know if you are the right product, from doing serious getting well, it depends. Your letter research into how doesn’t say where you are from, but if you got your oil cannabis helps to from a reputable dispensary fight cancer. in California, you most likely have the right stuff.

Most clubs these days send their products to labs for testing, so you should be OK there. However, the FDA did recently send out warning letters to a few manufacturers of high-CBD products (http://1.usa.gov/19UhWoB) about making unsupported claims and not having very much CBD in their products.

Ngaio Bealum This all goes to show how prohibition is holding us back is a Sacramento from doing serious research into how cannabis helps to comedian, activist fight cancer. I hope the Rick Simpson oil helps. Please and marijuana expert. keep in touch.

Email him questions at ask420@ newsreview.com.

I’m making weed butter for the first time, and I’m seeing so many recipes with totally different steps and methods. Do you have any advice or favorite weed butter recipes? And what do you like to make with it when it’s done?

—Guy Easy and quick: Put some butter and some ground-up cannabis in a crockpot set on low. Let it cook at least two hours or overnight. Strain it and chill it. Boom.

Done. Use it like regular butter. Pound cake is always good, or just slather it on some toast and go about your day. Woot! Ω

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Quick Hits

Myths of ‘420’

I

f you’re a new patient, you’ve surely heard the term “420” associated with cannabis but probably aren’t familiar with the origin story. Don’t feel bad: So many myths have taken root that the truth has become a bit obscure.

Here are some of the taller tales, followed by the actual genesis.

•

The Grateful Dead always stayed in Room 420 of a hotel while touring.

(Nope.)

•

It’s from Bob Dylan’s 1966 song “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35” because 12 times 35 equals 420 and the lyrics include the refrain “Everybody must get stoned!”

(Dylan has said this is a Biblical reference, and other lines begin with “They’ll stone ya …”)

Urban legends •

It’s the penal code for marijuana use in California. (No: Section 42 is “obstructing entry on public land.”)

•

It’s the L.A. or NYC police-radio code for marijuana smoking in progress. (Nope.)

•

It’s the number of chemical compounds in cannabis. (That total is closer to 320.)

•

It represents April 20, the date Jimi Hendrix/Janis Joplin/Bob Marley/ Jim Morrison died. (None died on 4/20.)

•

April 20 is the best time to plant cannabis. (That varies based on location.)

True story In 1971, a dozen high school students in Marin County (San Rafael, to be precise) would gather at a statue of Louis Pasteur or other campus sites to smoke marijuana. The group, who referred to themselves as “the Waldos,” set their meeting time as 4:20 p.m.

— they’d use “420 Louis” or “420” as code.

Sources: LA Weekly, Snopes

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Has Medical Marijuana iMproved Your life?

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by AnthOny siinO

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Uitwaaien is

a Dutch word that means to go out for a stroll in windy weather simply because it’s exhilarating. I don’t know any language that has parallel terms for running in the rain for the dizzy joy of it, or dancing through a meadow in the dark because it’s such nonsensical fun, or singing at full volume while riding alone in an elevator in the mad-happy quest to purge your tension. But in the coming weeks, you don’t need to describe or explain experiences like this; you just need to do them. Experiment with giving your instinctive need for exuberance lots of room to play.

nasty, nagging little demon isn’t nasty or nagging any more. It’s not doing what demons are supposed to do. It’s confused, haggard and ineffective. I almost feel sorry for the thing. It is barely even keeping you awake at night, and its ability to motivate you through fear is at an all-time low. Here’s what I suggest: Now, when the demon’s strength is waning and its hold on you is weak, you should break up with it for good. Perform an ultimate, nonreversible exorcism. Buy it a one-way bus ticket to the wasteland and say goodbye forever.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The

Guerrilla Girls are a group of prankster activists who use humor to expose sexism and racism in the art world. Every so often they take a “weenie count” at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. During their first survey in 1989, they found that 5 percent of the artists who had work hanging in the galleries were women, while 85 percent of the nudes depicted in the paintings were women. More recently, in 2012, their weenie count revealed that four percent of the artists were female, but 76 percent of the naked people in the paintings were female. The coming week would be a good time for you to take a weenie count in your own sphere, Scorpio.

Conditions are more favorable than usual to call attention to gender disparities, and to initiate corrective action.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

The English term “engine” refers primarily to a machine that transforms energy into mechanical power. But its roots are in the Old French word engin, which meant skill or wit, and in the Latin word ingenium, defined as “inborn talent.” I’d like to borrow the original meanings to devise your horoscope this week. According to my reading of the astrological omens, your “engine” is unusually strong right now, which means that your cultivated skills and innate talents are functioning at peak levels. I suggest you make intensive use of them to produce maximum amounts of energy and gather more of the clout you’d love to wield.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When he

was in his fifties, French painter Claude Monet finally achieved financial success.

He used his new riches to buy a house and land, then hired gardeners to help him make a pond full of water lilies. For the first time in his life, he began to paint water lilies. During the next 30 years, they were his obsession and his specialty.

He made them a central feature of 250 canvases, which now serve as one of his signature contributions to art history. “I planted my water lilies for pleasure,” he said. “I cultivated them without thinking of painting them. And then suddenly, I had the revelation of the magic of my pond.” I regard the imminent future as a good time for you to do something similar, Gemini: Create or find a source of beauty that will stimulate your sense of wonder and fuel your passion to express yourself for a long time.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What

I’m about to say is not a hard scientific fact, but it is a rigorous poetic fable. You don’t need to go to the mountain, because the mountain is willing and able to come to you. But will it actually come to you? Yes, but only if you meet two conditions. The mountain will pick itself up and move all the way to where you are if you make a lot of room for it and if you are prepared to work with the changes its arrival will bring.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

“Everything we do in life is based on fear, especially love,” said Cancerian comedian Mel Brooks. Although he was joking, he was also quite serious. More often than we like to admit, desperation infects our quest to be cared for. Our decisions about love may be motivated by a dread of loneliness. We worry about whether we are worthy of getting the help and support we need. It’s a fundamental human problem, so there’s no reason to be ashamed if you have this tendency yourself. Having said that, I’m happy to report that you now have the necessary power to overcome this tendency. You will be able to summon tremendous courage as you revise and refine your relationship with love. It’s time to disappear the fear.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you

were a 4-year-old, cookies might be a valuable treasure to you. Given a choice between a bowl of stir-fried organic vegetables and a plate full of chocolate coconut macaroons, you’d probably choose the macaroons. For that matter, if you were 4 years old and were asked to decide between getting a pile of macaroons and a free vacation to Bali or an original painting by Matisse or a personal horoscope reading from the world’s greatest astrologer, you’d also opt for the cookies. But since you’re a grownup, your list of priorities is screwed on straight, right? You would never get distracted by a sugary, transitory treat that would cause you to ignore a more nourishing and longlasting pleasure. Right?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do you ever feel

reverence and awe, Leo? Are there times when you spontaneously yearn to engage in acts of worship? Is there anyone or anything that evokes your admiration, humility and gratitude? The coming weeks will be a good time to seek out experiences like these. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will get tender jolts of transformational inspiration if you blend yourself with a sublime force that you trust and respect.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): On June 23, 1917, Babe Ruth was the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in a Major League Baseball game against the Washington Senators. After the first batter drew a walk, Ruth got upset with the home plate umpire and punched him in the head.

Ejected! Banished! The Babe had to be dragged off the field by the cops. The new pitcher was Ernie Shore. He proceeded to pitch a perfect game, allowing no further Washington player to reach base in all nine innings. In the coming weeks, Pisces, I see you as having the potential to duplicate Ernie Shore’s performance in your own sphere. Coming in as a replacement, you will excel. Chosen as a substitute, you will outdo the original.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A lot has

happened since you were … uh … indisposed. You’ve missed out on several plot twists. The circle has been broken, repaired, broken again and partially repaired. Rumors have been flying, allegiances have been shifting and riddles have been deepening. So are you ready yet to return to the heated action? Have you learned as much as you can from the commotion that provoked your retreat?

Don’t try to return too early. Make sure you are at least 70 percent healed.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Rent, but

don’t buy yet. That’s my $250-per-hour advice. Keep rehearsing, but don’t start performing the actual show. OK? Flirt, but don’t fall in love. Can you handle that much impulse control? Are you strong enough to explore the deeper mysteries

BEFORE

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NEWS

bRezsny

of patience? I swear to you that your burning questions will ultimately be answered if you don’t try to force the answers to arrive according to a set timetable. I guarantee that you will make the necessary connections as long as you don’t insist that they satisfy every single one of your criteria.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Your

You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785.

And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.

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F E AT U R E

pHoTo BY lukE fiTz

by ROb

For the week of April 9, 2015

STORY

Adventures in gaming Gabriel Gutierrez loves video games and always has, from the time of old-school text adventures and the arcade glory days through to the current generation of high-tech, full-blown cinematic experiences.

He launched Nascent Games, his own development studio, in 2012 to bring his ideas into the hands of the people, and as founder and chair of the Sacramento chapter of the Indie Game Developers Association, he’s working to help others realize their digital dreams as well. This Saturday, his chapter is putting on the second annual Indie Arcade Gaming Expo at Cafe Colonial (see Night&Day, page 29). We met up with him to talk about influences, the Sacramento gaming scene and how to make the jump from gamer to developer.

What’s the local indie game development scene like?

There isn’t a lot. The only other thing is 5th Planet Games. They’re up in Rocklin. Big shout out to my man Rob Winkler at 5th Planet. I know there are a few other little studios here and there. But this is where my problem comes in: The few that are allegedly here, we don’t know what they’re doing! What are they making? That’s what I would love to know. They need to make their presence known.

That seems like what you’re doing, networking.

Yeah, and that’s what we’re trying to do.

Nascent Games, yeah, we’re a start-up studio, but we’re still learning. That’s where the Indie Arcade comes in. It’s a collaborative celebration between my chapter and my studio. I didn’t want this to be just about me, I want it to be about others who are in the same boat. The chapter was formed to provide resources for game developers like myself, aspiring game developers, from all walks of life, to learn, come together and not be afraid to share their ideas with others, to meet the people so we can tell them, “Yeah, you can do this.”

So how do you go about finding talent?

The first bit of talent I met was at SacAnime. At SacAnime, they have an amateur voice acting panel, so I went there. It was funny, because the guys that were up there, they were in Sac, and they were talking about going to the Bay to find work! People were raising their hands, going like, “Wait, wait, wait, what about here, what about in Sacramento?” They were like, “We don’t know of any places in Sacramento.” People were pissed. So after that ended, I raised my hand and I said, “I’m a start-up indie studio here in Sacramento and we’re probably a

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A RT S & C U LT U R E

week old, but I’m looking for help.” I got approached by five or six people by the end of it. That right there was what I knew I needed to do.

What’s the big project that you’ll be showing off at the Indie Arcade Expo?

After the first Indie Arcade, I came up with this wild idea to do this progressive “game jam.” The idea is to spend 10 months to make the game idea you want, and you dedicate yourself. Every month, we do a new game jam to progress, to get together and work on it. Your goal is to take whatever you started last summer and show it off in April. We started it last June, so this upcoming Indie Arcade event will have the three teams that have been working all year long showing off their demos, or full game, depending on wherever they’re at, to the general public. The hope is that something more will come from it. Maybe they’ll want to consider becoming an LLC, where they actually become some business presence in Sacramento.

What’s one of the games you’re working on right now?

Schoolhouse is about a girl, her name is Mahalia. She will be about 9, 10 years old, a Jamaican-Haitian girl, but very light eyes, almost like an anime/comic style—but there’s a reason for the look. That’s part of the mystery of this game. Mahalia wakes up in this abandoned schoolhouse. As she progresses through this main area, she sees the entire schoolhouse is wired with |

AFTER

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bombs. Now the timer for the game starts, when you see that. You have three hours, real time, to get the hell out of there.

It seems like narrative is really important to you, as well as diversity and inclusion.

We’re all human at the end of the day, and we all go through the same shit. The one thing that hasn’t been tackled enough in game development is the fact that it’s not just “you’re a pretty little white girl,” not just “you’re a pretty little white dude” with the same spiky hair, in a desperate situation. There are so many others in similar situations, and what’s good for one should be good for all. We all have our place. I don’t like to pull that kind of card out, but the reality is that [diversity has] been a real deep concern for developers and gamers, and for me, I’m gonna do my part to answer that.

These issues have been there forever, but they’re just bubbling up now.

You see these things from companies from groups saying that we need to have diversity. As far as I’m concerned, the more you say it, the more I don’t care about what you’re saying. Show me! Doing games like that, without having a need to say, “by the way, she’s dark.” Why would I need to justify the cause? Talk to me about the narrative, tell me what you think about that. Don’t point out the obvious thing. Ω

04.09.15

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