s-2016-05-19

FREE inSide

06 New map, K.J. = Ferrari 11 same ol’ politics?

Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 28, iSSue 05

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19, 2016

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building a

HealtHy S a c r a m e n t o

Wanted: More Community Health Workers

by N ata s h a vo N K a e N e l

t

he entire country is facing a shortage of health care professionals, with the Association of Schools of Public Health reporting that roughly 250,000 more public health workers are needed by 2020 to fill the gap. With this shortage, it has become more important than ever to encourage young people to pursue careers in health.

This January, with help from The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative, five high school interns began working at La Familia Counseling Center, Inc., gaining firsthand experience of what it means to be a community health professional, educator and ambassador to their local communities.

Monica Soto, one of the interns from Hiram Johnson High School, says the main reason she applied for the internship was to see different kinds of careers available in health. “It’s not always going to be that you are a doctor or a nurse,” she says. “In a crazy way, even the Zumba teacher can be a health worker.”

Community health careers can include social work, interpreting, counseling, nursing, working as a dental hygienist, learning disabilities specialist, behavioral or mental health clinician, care coordinators, health navigators and much more. But one of the biggest challenges California faces is filling the gap of diversity in the health industry. In 2012, a review by the California Senate reported the state’s current workforce of health

professionals do not reflect California’s racial and ethnic composition or language proficiency.

So during their time at La Familia, the interns planned a health fair for over 400 people, made presentations to their local community about different health topics, including bullying, abuse, hypertension and the importance of good nutrition and exercise, as well as surveying local populations about their health needs and helping them register to vote.

“In a crazy way, even the zumba teacher can be a health worker.” monica Soto, Intern at la Familia Counseling Center, Inc., senior at Hiram Johnson High School

Oreana Luna, an intern from Valley High School, worked on a project about obesity in the Hispanic community, and says, “That project was part of being an ambassador to my community and advocating for them about the risk that obesity does have.”

This internship inspired Oreana “to really do my best and help more people in my community, because that’s the future generation,” she says.

From left, Monica Soto from Hiram Johnson High School, and Oreana Luna and Anthony Lor from Valley High School gained exposure to community health careers during an internship with La Familia Counseling Center, Inc. Other interns (not pictured) are Vanessa Jajar from Luther Burbank High School and Isela Martinez from Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School. Photo by Anne Stokes

change the lives of many people,” she says.

“We all think it is a beautiful thing that we get to work with this community and learn from people you wouldn’t normally associate with.”

After college, both Orena and Monica plan to pursue careers in public health.

Monica was also inspired by her internship with La Familia. “Community workers can

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.

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.

Get involved

la Familia offers a wide of range of educational workshops and programs for adults and children, including karate and Zumba classes, parent support groups, youth leadership groups, women support groups, employment services and more.

Visit lafcc.org or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/lafamiliacounselingcenter

paid with a grant from the california endowment 2 | SN&R | 05.19.16

BuIldIng HEalTHy COmmunITIES

www.SacBHC.org

EditoR’S NotE

MAY 19, 2016 | Vol. 28, iSSuE 05

05 07 08 13 14 18 21 23 26 28 30 37 41 55

18 26 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.

Editor Rachel Leibrock Associate Editor Raheem F. Hosseini Arts & Culture Editor Janelle Bitker Assistant Editor Anthony Siino Editorial Coordinator Becca Costello Contributors Daniel Barnes, Ngaio Bealum, Alastair Bland, Rob Brezsny, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Willie Clark, Deena Drewis, Joey Garcia, Cosmo Garvin, Blake Gillespie, Lovelle Harris, Jeff Hudson, Jim Lane, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Shoka, Bev Sykes, Graham Womack Editorial Intern Kris Hooks

28 Design Manager Lindsay Trop Art Directors Brian Breneman, Margaret Larkin Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designer Kyle Shine Marketing/Publications Design Manager Serene Lusano Marketing/Publications Designer Sarah Hansel Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Darin Bradford, Kevin Cortopassi, Evan Duran, Luke Fitz, Jon Hermison, Shoka, Lauran Fayne Worthy Director of Sales and Advertising Corey Gerhard Sales Coordinator Joanna Graves Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Olla Swanson, Joy Webber, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Angel De La O, Stephanie Johnson, Lee Roberts Sales Assistant Matt Kjar Director of First Impressions David Lindsay Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Larry Schubert Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Daniel Bowen, Heather Brinkley, Allen Brown, Mike Cleary, Jack Clifford, Lydia Comer, Rob Dunnica, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Garry Foster, Joanna Gonzalez-Brown, Greg Meyers, Aswad Morland,

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Never, ever Trump It’s been just over two weeks since Ted Cruz dropped his presidential bid and, I swear, not a day goes by that someone tries to point out why this is a good thing.

Cruz is worse than Donald Trump, they say. The evangelical Cruz is more extreme, they tell me.

That all depends on how you define “worse” or “extreme.”

On the one hand, Trump does not necessarily espouse the hardcore religious views that defined Cruz’s campaign. For example, Trump has said he supports a transgender person’s right to use “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.”

Great. But just because he’s occasionally right doesn’t make up for every time he’s so very, very wrong.

Let’s not forget the proposed wall or the comments about “rapist” Mexicans, nor his plan to deport Muslims.

Let’s not discount his condescending, degrading and objectifying treatment of women.

Most of all, let’s not forget the way Trump has unearthed some of the worst voter factions. During his campaign, he’s earned vocal backing from white supremacists, including endorsements from leaders of the Ku Klux Klan. He’s also encouraged ugliness at his rallies, where many of his supporters have been openly racist and violent toward protesters. Trump has rarely, if ever, condemned those viewpoints or actions.

Trump has opened a political Pandora’s box of racism, hatred, fear and an inclination toward violence over compromise. Those racist, hateful, fearful people have always been there, of course, but Trump’s approval— tacit or otherwise—has given them a louder voice, a bigger platform.

Tell me again how he’s a better GOP choice?

—RAchel leibRock r a c h e ll@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

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“Politics are a Waste of money.”

asked at L and 15th streets:

What is a waste of money?

L aurie Grohowski retired

Politics are a waste of money. This may the first year I don’t vote in my adult life. … Socialism won’t work here, but boy, we do need a push in that direction to get things right again. They only thing I am looking forward to is having Trump take the Clinton dynasty down a little bit.

Saturday, June 25

tim dakin

theresa nannery public health nurse

Consumerism in general is a waste. The advertising that tells us we need to have this or that, the latest thing, and we really don’t. We are told we need more or the greatest and the fastest.

I constantly work towards having less things. The idea of the minimalist is a good idea. I would rather have a simple life.

family counselor

I think the biggest benefit to money is how it can be used to help other people, so I guess any narcissistic use of money. Not that you shouldn’t ever do that. But I think it can often be the biggest waste of money, money that doesn’t benefit anybody else.

Sunday, July 3

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Fast food, man. People waste a lot of money on fast food. The money that we spend on fast food, we could easily go to the grocery store and buy a lot of food-food.

Instead of using of all of the taxpayers’ money on prisoners who can be rehabilitated, keeping the government rich and keeping prisons running, that money should be used towards education. Keeping African-American men and minority men in prison is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

V.P. of California Hospital Association

College tuition is too high.

I wouldn’t characterize it as a waste, but in terms of what our kids get on the other end, it’s just a big bill.

Then they can’t get a job, ever, right out of college that can pay off that big bill. We need to equalize that, and there needs to be some fairness.

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Not nice, Ngaio

The money ride Re “Lost in transit” by Graham Womack (SN&R News, May 5): To [assert that to] succeed in November, the $3.6 billion transportation measure must play to the Sacramento suburbs missed an important point. The Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP) for Measure B, the half-cent transportation sales tax which may be placed on the November ballot, carefully balances funding for road and bridge repair, bike and pedestrian investments, and new capital projects as well as public transit.

While the article questions where all of the money will go, the TEP is publicly available on STA’s website … STA crafted a plan that will fund all modes of transportation and improve efficiency, safety and convenience for all residents in the county. Nearly 30 percent of the funds are dedicated to public transit, although according to SACOG only about 2.6 percent of residents in the region use public transportation. Approximately 70 percent of the revenue will fund road and other transit improvements, including investments in public transit systems in Elk Grove and Folsom. This funding is essential as investing in our roads helps reduce maintenance costs for both cars and buses. This comprehensive plan prioritizes “fix it first” projects for road repair and public transit, sets strict accountability standards and ensures that all transportation projects abide by existing air quality standards.

Jeffrey L. Spencer ex e c utive D i r ect or S acr am en t o Tr an s p or t at i on Aut h o ri t y

Re “Baby steps” by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, May 12): Ngaio, you say “I’m not sure this initiative will pass.

All the growers I know hate this measure. … There is no reason for a grower in Fresno or Calaveras or any city that allows cannabis cultivation to support this measure.” They only hate it because they have been taking advantage of either the black market or the now-absurd “medical excuse” marijuana system, MEMS. MEMS gives them quasi-monopolies and outrageously high prices. Neither of these artificial systems could last and they only exist on the massive suffering from the government persecution of marijuana consumers. “It does nothing to help the folks that need it most. … Without the support of the growers and the hardcore activists, AUMA proponents will have to appeal to the squares.”

I wonder if you know who you left out? Me and the other millions of consumers. It’s not nice to leave out the key stakeholders. Many of us are also “hardcore activists.” You do know that marijuana reform is about ending the monstrous persecution of consumers, right?

AUMA does that. Also, all the growers (and dispensary owners) are not against AUMA. Only a vociferous few. There are many mature, ethical growers and vendors who realize the primary and urgent importance of ending the war on marijuana consumers. As Chris Conrad said on the Drug Truth Network radio show: “A lot of the opposition is coming from people who profit under the current system and really don’t want to see a change.”

John Thomas Wanless Salinas

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Will a proposed new redistricting commission make the city more accountable?

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN BRENEMAN

Blurred lines A proposed independent redistricting commission would create new city electoral boundaries—but can it withstand political meddling?

by Graham Womack

On May 24, Sacramento City Council will consider placing a measure on the November ballot to create an independent redistricting commission that could alter the landscape of local elections for generations to come.

The commission would mirror the model used by cities like Oakland, San Francisco and San Diego. Its process would differ vastly from Sacramento’s last round of redistricting, following the 2010 census, which left many frustrated and angry with both procedure and results.

But at a time when political districts are still largely carved up by politicians and their chosen proxies, will the proposed measure actually push Sacramento toward an accountable future—or just pull the city back to its favor-trading past?

8 | SN&R | 05.19.16

In 2011, an advisory committee, which included then-future Councilman Steve Hansen, created four maps that would have made significant changes to the city’s makeup, including expanding the boundaries of District 2. The committee faced scrutiny and criticisms of political maneuvering and cronyism, however—as well as the accusations that one of the proposed maps had been submitted by an anonymous author, later determined to be Hansen.

Ultimately, the city council went with its own map, which scrapped those expanded District 2 lines.

Back then, critics like Erik Smitt, policy director for the local watchdog group Eye on Sacramento, accused the council of gerrymandering—manipulating district lines for political benefit.

“I believe they did not follow the law,” said Smitt, who contended that his group had prepared maps sensitive to the Latino and African-American communities. He said the council’s final map segmented those communities.

Now comes a plan for a new redistricting commission with the power to create district boundaries, one of many government reforms the city and community groups have debated over the past 18 months. New district lines wouldn’t likely be drawn until after the 2020 census. But the stakes are still high.

“If this doesn’t pass, we go back to the old system, which is the council gets to draw its own district lines,” said Nicolas Heidorn, policy and legislation attorney for California Common Cause.

“Whenever the council is drawing its own lines, it’ll be a much more political process,” he added. “It doesn’t open up as many avenues for the public to have input and say in terms of what happens. We think that the commission process is both fairer and a more inclusive way of drawing the lines.”

But will commission members truly be independent, or just one degree of separation from the politicians who hand-picked them?

The idea of independent redistricting has been gathering momentum throughout California, first with the passage of Proposition 11 in 2008, which mandated that the state use an autonomous commission with power to draw lines for state legislative districts. Likewise, Proposition 20 in 2010 established the same process in California for congressional seats.

Cities like San Francisco and San Diego created independent redistricting commissions in 2001 and 1992, respectively. Oakland followed suit in 2014.

Los Angeles and San Jose also have similar commissions, though they’re strictly advisory.

Mayor Kevin Johnson helped initiate Sacramento’s advisory committee, whose work was disregarded at a contentious

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face the youth July 26, 2011, city council meeting where then-councilors Steve Cohn and Sandy Sheedy each introduced their own maps.

Cohn put forth his map because he said the other maps proposed by the committee broke up neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Sheedy said she had concerns that the advisory committee didn’t draw appropriate lines for a drainage canal north of the American River and the “poorest neighborhoods in the city.”

For his part, Johnson objected to the council’s decision to move the UCD Med Center out of Councilman Jay Schenirer’s District 5 and into District 6.

The council voted to tentatively adopt its own map two weeks later on August 9.

Through a public records request, SN&R obtained dozens of letters of protest writen in the aftermath of that meeting.

In September 2011, city council voted 6-3 to approve its map, with Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, Schenirer and Johnson opposing.

Johnson has since attempted to reverse that defeat, first via Measure L, his 2014 strong-mayor initiative, which included language about transparency, ethics, accountability and redistricting.

Two days after voters rejected Measure L, Johnson created a Good Governance ad hoc committee, which was tasked with government reform and made up of councilors Allen Warren, Ashby and Schenirer.

Johnson requested that the three look at creating a neighborhood advisory committee, an ethics code and committee with a sunshine ordinance, and an independent redistricting commission and budget analyst.

But some critics—including many city residents—were unhappy with the outcome.

Ethics committee or not, they said, the power would still rest with the mayor.

In a letter to Hansen obtained by SN&R, one resident asked the council member to form a redistricting commission with more citizen oversight, “one in which educated citizens can look over the districts and new census data and ensure that the needs of the citizens are being met in each area.”

In December 2014, Johnson and Schenirer successfully put UCD Med Center back in District 5. Council voted 6-2 in support, with Hansen and Jeff Harris in opposition.

Even so, there remained a push for moving Sacramento toward independent redistricting. after the city’s ad hoc committee formed, the Sacramento chapter of the League of Women Voters and Eye on

Sacramento organized 10 public forums that but once the commissioners are selected, were held in 2015. they arguably have the power to draw lines, These forums attracted Heidorn, a politi- regardless of city council’s wishes. cal veteran. Among other things, Heidorn Critics, like Smitt of Eye on Sacramento, worked on Proposition 11 as Common aren’t wholly satisfied. The ethics commisCause staff in 2008. He also took part in sion will lack enforcement power and is Oakland’s redistricting effort. “toothless,” he says.

Heidorn initially joined the coalition Smitt also questioned the city’s use of ad as a volunteer and then as paid staff for hoc committees, which can meet privately.

Common Cause. Soon, the Sacramento “I see no reason in the world to hide coalition looked to incorporate some of the what goes on in government from reporters elements of Oakland’s redistricting model. and the public,” Smitt said.

These elements include a random selecSchenirer, however, argues that the new tion process for coalition members and the committee meets the citizen coalition’s rule that members can’t serve if they have suggestion to use the state’s independent conflicts of interest. Commission members redistricting model. also can’t work for an elected official for “What we tried to do for the work is at least four years thereafter and can’t run take the politics out of redistricting, and for public office for a decade.

I believe the recommendation does that,” That last rule would’ve precluded Schenirer said. three members from the 2011 Concolino agreed, telling SN&R, Sacramento redistricting “It’s just better business. It’s committee from running best practices.” for office in the past Now, city staff is still “I see no reason in few years, includworking to formulate the world to hide what ing Hansen, who much of the package unseated Cohn in of government goes on in government the 2014 election. reforms. It released from reporters and the Last summer, its draft ordinance public.” at the urging of the for the redistricting ad hoc committee, commission, the first Erik Smitt Heidorn, Paula Lee part of the package, policy director, Eye on Sacramento of the League of ahead of an April Women Voters and meeting for its Law and former Fair Political Legislation Committee.

Practice Commission Heidorn’s group recomenforcement chief Gary Winuk mended 15 amendments, nine arranged a meeting with City Clerk Shirley of which were accepted. He said council Concolino, City Attorney James Sanchez should pass the ordinance. and other city staff.

“It’s got independence,” Heidorn said.

The coalition wanted the city to institute “It’s got the power to draw the lines. It’s some of the things Johnson had promised in got requirements to insure that only people 2014: independent redistricting, a sunshine who are impartial serve on the commission. ordinance for transparency, an updated code It’s got strong requirements … to insure that of ethics and an enforcement commission impartiality. And it’s got good criteria for for ethics. They knew they might not get drawing the lines. So in terms of redistricteverything, with Heidorn telling SN&R, ing, I think this is an extremely strong “It’s a negotiated process.” proposal.”

In September the ad hoc committee Once a redistricting commission with presented its findings to city council. In the independent power is in the city charter, days before, the city announced plans to the council can’t do anything to change it institute everything the coalition requested. short of another ballot measure to amend Now, eight of the 13 redistricting the charter. commissioners would be chosen either by “It’s kind of the gold standard for indethe ethics commission or a three-member pendence,” Heidorn said. selection panel whose members would be For now, Smitt will take a wait-and-see selected by the city attorney. Those redisapproach. The new redistricting proposal is tricting commissioners would then choose better—at least for one key reason. the remaining five commissioners and two “The decision is taken out of the alternates, with a three-quarter vote and hands of the politicians.” Smitt says.“It public meetings required for this process. seems to have come through the political As such, the city will still effectively process relatively unscathed so, time to shape the political tone of the committee, move on.” Ω

They may not all be old enough to vote, but a group of young people is hoping to impact Sacramento’s upcoming mayoral election.

With former state Sen. Pro Tem darrell Steinberg in their sights, members of the Sacramento Building Healthy Communities Youth Leadership Team hosted the first in a series of candidate Q&As intended to address the concerns of young people at the Fruit Ridge Community Collaborative Center on Sunday afternoon.

One of the participants was second-year Sacramento City College student Shaniqua Lyman, who started things off on a light note by quizzing Steinberg about the top three songs in his playlist and the person he would most like to spend the day with, dead or alive.

(For the record, Steinberg listed “Drive all Night” by Bruce Springsteen, “Come on in” by Lyle Lovett and the music of Tom Waits, and said he would like to spend a day with late South African President Nelson Mandela.)

The candidate series is aimed at engaging South Sacramento youth in the political process. Its motive—to teach youth that their voices matter even if they are not of voting age.

The youth “need to be heard and listened to especially by our mayor and adult allies,” said Keya Bell, the youth coordinator for People Reaching Out and organizer of BHC’s Youth Leadership Team. “The mayor needs to know what they need and what the challenges are in the communities that they live in and also about the triumphs.”

Before Sunday’s Q&A, Rebbecca Garcia, a 15-year-old Hiram Johnson High School student, said she was eager to ask Steinberg what he could do to increase the number of after-school activities for South Sacramento youth. Youths also expressed desires for a more efficient and cost-effective Regional transit system, more community policing in South Sacramento and the need for entry-level jobs for young people in the area.

“When you actually listen to these young people, they have such creative and great ideas,” Bell said.

Steinberg will be followed by three other mayoral candidates, including two last-minute entries. Aside from Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, Aaron Carranza and Charles Frazier, both of whom filed nomination documents just last month, will participate in the youth-run series. (Corey Rodda)

gRand old PaRty PooPeR As the nation goes, so goes california … in the opposite direction.

At least when it comes to bathroom politics.

While the Obama administration ruffled intolerant conservative feathers last week by directing public schools to let transgender students use the public restrooms that are right for them, the Elk Grove Unified School District reminded that California schools already did so without incident under a 2014 state bill.

Meanwhile, a bill to expand those types of accommodations throughout California was approved earlier this month on the Assembly floor on a 55-19 vote, and is now before the state Senate for consideration.

The legislative proposal from Assemblyman Phil Ting would render all public single-user restrooms as gender-neutral, marking a direct contrast to the nitpicky north carolina law that ties bathroom access to birth records and has merited widespread condemnation from the likes of Bono to the U.S. Department of Justice.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and other state politicians have so far stuck to their guns—flushing their tourism economy down the drain. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

05.19.16 | SN&R | 9

Boxed in A new city ordinance aims to make it easier for convicted felons to get jobs—but critics say it lacks bite

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05.19.16

In 2012, a Sacramento State graduate named Pyerse Dandridge gambled on an investment and lost: He purchased five houses. The properties, however, were attached to faulty subprime loans, and Dandridge was technically engaged in what’s considered a bank fraud scheme. He was arrested by the FBI and eventually served a 12-month term in federal prison. He subsequently spent three months in an Oakland halfway house before, finally, he was free again.

Except that Dandridge’s punishment never really ended. Because of his criminal record, he hasn’t been able to find work other than as a laborer at the few restaurants that concede to overlook his past.

“My sentence is behind me, and I’m ready to move on, but it never really ends—it’s like herpes,” said Dandridge, 37, who now spends time volunteering with the organization Sacramento Area Congregations Together, where he helps the formerly incarcerated.

That would change under proposed new city legislation. Last month the Sacramento City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee unanimously approved to recommend a “ban the box” ordinance that would eliminate a requirement that job applicants immediately inform would-be employers of a criminal record. Some critics, however, say the ban would lack teeth.

It would follow a 2013 state bill that banned the requirement on local and regional government job applications. In 2010, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order banning it on most state job applications.

But, while many consider it a step in the right direction, some social justice advocates and former inmates, including Dandridge, say it doesn’t go far enough.

The ordinance wouldn’t prohibit employers from asking felony-related questions during the hiring process; nor does it stop them from pursuing other measures to dig into applicants’ pasts. “[Employers] still run background checks,” Dandridge said, adding that while it is easy in some cases to move through the initial phases of a job interview, when employers learn of one’s felony past, they’re likely to shut the door. For this reason, Dandridge says he has essentially given up seeking “a professional job” and is instead focusing on public speaking appearances about his experience.

Toni White, a Sacramento criminal defense attorney, calls the measure a good start, however.

The criminal record box on employment applications generates discrimination against an entire class of people while rarely producing any helpful information about a job applicant for the employer, she said. By casting job applicants in a negative light, the box results in reduced employment opportunities for people who may need work the most, White says, and perpetuates the conditions that generate crime in the first place.

“One of the strongest predictors for someone committing a crime is unemployment,” she said.

“That means one of the best ways to get people out of the situation they’re in is to employ them.”

White and her defense attorney partner Christine Morse run Ascend, an education and rehabilitation program for adults trying to leave behind criminal pasts. The idea is to help people escape the cycle of crime and poverty—an objective White says the American justice system fails to meet. She believes the criminal record box on job applications grossly simplifies the complex nature and patterns of poverty, crime and the justice system. By checking the box, a person brands oneself a felon.

“But actually they’re a human being with a felony conviction,” White said. “These are just people who have made mistakes.”

In 2014, the state’s labor code was amended to prohibit public agencies from asking job hunters on application forms if they have been arrested or convicted of a crime before a job interview is conducted. The ordinance recommended by the committee would prohibit entities bidding for city contracts of $100,000 or more from asking job applicants if they have a criminal record. It hasn’t yet been scheduled for a council vote.

A study conducted in the past year by Stanford University also lends legitimacy to the ban-the-box campaign. The researchers looked at the circumstances of employees terminated from their jobs and found that those with a criminal record were not more likely to be fired for poor work performance than those with clean records.

According to the Stanford study, 70 million Americans—about one third of the country’s adults—have been arrested or convicted of a crime.

And that means severe and unnecessary discrimination, White said.

“For someone who has to check that box every time they apply for a job, it means the punishment for the crime they committed never ends,” she said.

“It makes every sentence a life sentence.” Ω

SN&R

by Dave Kempa

91 .6

do things to

in the

916

On StanDS 5.26

Breathalyzer results be damned, a traffic stop on a major holiday could land you in county jail.

At least, that’s what happened to Sacramento attorney Terence Kilpatrick on July 4, 2015, when a failure to properly execute a left turn resulted in his DUI arrest, despite two breath tests detecting no alcohol in his system.

Now, Kilpatrick, 56, has filed a $100,000 claim against the city of Citrus Heights and Sacramento County, charging that the night he spent in Sacramento County Jail constituted false arrest.

It’s unclear how common such arrests are; a representative for the city of Citrus Heights said they didn’t keep such numbers on file.

After an afternoon celebrating the Fourth of July holiday— during which Kirkpatrick says he drank one beer and a couple of alcoholic “little pre-made slushie drinks” over the course of four hours—Kilpatrick was pulled over by Citrus Heights police for failing to properly execute a left turn.

The officer asked the attorney to perform a field sobriety test.

He responded that he had a condition that heavily impaired the vision in his right eye, which impacted his depth perception.

“So I told this guy, ‘I’m not likely going to be able to walk your line very well,’” said Kilpatrick. “Which, I guess I didn’t.”

Despite a negative Breathalyzer test, the officer arrested Kilpatrick on suspicion of driving while under the influence.

Later, he passed another test in county jail.

The claim, which Kilpatrick filed on April 26, outlines the events of the arrest as such: “At this point, the Officer insisted that Mr. Kilpatrick must have used illegal drugs.” He was subsequently booked under suspicion of driving while under the influence.

County officials defended Kilpatrick’s jailing as procedure.

“The [district attorney’s] office will frequently continue cases until blood results are in and it can take months, with the back log,” said Sacramento County Public Defender Karen M. Flynn in an email to SN&R. “If a person is a bit out of control or very sleepy, combative, argumentative, etc., the officer can believe that they are not exercising the caution of a sober person, and arrest them.”

Officers did administer a blood test to Kilpatrick. It came back negative in October 2015, at which point the district attorney’s office dropped the case.

The Citrus Heights Police Department declined to comment for this story. Likewise, both Sacramento County and the city of Citrus Heights declined to respond to Kilpatrick’s claim, saying that it was filed after the six-month filing deadline. However, court records show the city actually received the claim within six months of Kilpatrick’s final court date, during which he learned the results of the blood test.

For his part, Kilpatrick says he’s unsure if he will follow through on a lawsuit.

“I lose a night of my life. I am jailed without cause,” Kilpatrick said. “These guys wrongly arrested me.” Ω

RAYMOND LUKE, JR. AND BRYAN TERRELL CLARK PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS. ALL OTHER PHOTOS BY ANDREW ECCLES.

A negative Breathalyzer reading results in lawsuit for Citrus Heights

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05.19.16

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11

Basic budgeting 101 Health benefit savings could have paid for   wage increases  by jeff vonkaenel

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12   |   SN&R   |   05.19.16

SIeRrAVALlEYlODge.NeT

The Sacramento City Teachers Association and the Sacramento City Unified School District are on a collision course. The negotiations have been stalled for months. The district has proposed a 2.5 percent wage hike and the teachers association wants 5 percent instead. On May 12, the union escalated the tensions, with the SCTA work council unanimously approving a one-daystrike vote. If the membership approves, then the SCTA bargaining team can set the date for a strike.

The union correctly points out that its teachers are paid less than other California teachers, particularly those in the Bay Area and the big districts in Southern California.

The district correctly points out that the costs for health benefits for SCTA are significantly more than other California teachers’. SCTA teachers receive around $20,000 in benefits annually, while the average cost of a teacher’s benefits in California is $13,000.

The union says that the lower wages have made it hard for the district to find qualified teachers. The district counters that if you include the cost of benefits, SCTA teachers’ total compensation is actually higher than compensation in the districts that are the most comparable to Sacramento’s cost of living—Elk Grove and San Juan.

While there will and should be differences of opinion between the union representatives and the district administrators, what is frustrating about this dispute is that it could possibly have been avoided with just a bit more cooperation between the union and the district.

Here’s how. According to the district, the difference between the offered 2.5 percent and the desired 5 percent raise is $4.9 million.

The higher costs of health benefits for SCTA members as compared to

je ffv @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

other California teachers are around $17.5 million. While the SCTA teachers have a great health plan, the district and Sacramento taxpayers are paying way too much for it.

That is why, in 2014, the district proposed sending its health care bid out to market instead of simply accepting the proposed increase. The district estimated this could have saved between $3 million and $6 million without impacting health care coverage. This savings is approximately the amount needed to meet the union’s desired wage increase.

Unfortunately, the union contract named Health Net and Kaiser specifically, so even if the medical benefits stayed the same, changing the health care provider required a modification of the union contract. The union refused. And so the district was unable to put its health care contract out to bid, and continues to pay too much for health care benefits.

When this was going on, I asked SCTA Executive Director John Borsos why he was not in favor of switching health care companies. I thought he’d want to see the money freed up for wage increases. He told me that I did not understand labor negotiations. That is probably true, but I do understand basic budgeting.

The union’s unwillingness to cooperate with the district to reduce health care costs was shortsighted. If the union was facing an adversary hellbent on shutting them down, I could understand its combative stance. But that’s not the case. The other unions in the region are working more cooperatively with their districts. If they really want what’s best for their members and the students, the SCTA should do the same. Ί

The union’s position was shortsighted.

Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority owner of the News & Review.

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Comstock’s magazine’s May 11 piece “Life After KJ” is a puzzler, not the least for how it compares Mayor Kevin Johnson to his predecessor Heather Fargo. While Fargo’s relatively controversy-free tenure made her a “used Honda,” K.J. has been the “political equivalent of a Ferrari—fast and cool as hell, albeit prone to a steady stream of breakdowns that kept him in neutral as often as in overdrive. But who cared?” Who cared, indeed.

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FLipping tHe bird Midtown will get its first high-rise after the city’s planning commission voted in approval of 15-story condo building dubbed Yamanee. But not everyone’s happy, especially 79-year old Donna Roys, a nearby resident interviewed by KCRA who said, “It would stick up like a big sore thumb, like giving the bird to Sacramento.”

hiring!

- 15 illuStration by Serene luSano

StingerS up

StingerS dOwn

the Onion clowned Sac last week with a piece titled “Biologists discover billions of missing bees living anonymously in Sacramento.” The buzzing insects were found in our “sleepy, treelined Northern California city” where scientists “never thought to look” for them.

According to a May 9 Computerworld article, the McClatchy Co.—the chain that owns The Sacramento Bee, along with almost 30 other papers—is moving the bulk of its IT department overseas. McClatchy execs declined to comment for the story, but inside sources report the chain has outsourced the work to the India-based Wipro. It’s estimated that between 120 to 150 jobs will be affected.

+ 1 billion

HAPPY HOUR 4:30-6PM

- 150

• editorial services coordinator/Proofreader • custom Publications Project editor • advertising consultant • distribution driver • news rePorter

for more information and to aPPly, go to www.newsreview.com/jobs.

SN&R is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively seeks diversity in the workplace.

05.19.16

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SN&R

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SN&R’s

2016 election

preview! bad choices, ballot measures and all the big, big money What do you mean it’s not over yet?

Listen, it only feels like the current election cycle has been on a nonstop loop since 2012— at least on a national scale.

Trump and the fractured GOP, BernieBros vs. the Evil Clinton Empire (or, so they say). Hey, we’re exhausted by it all, too.

The voter fatigue struggle is real, folks.

Closer to home, however, things remain interesting—and energizing—in a good way.

There’s this year’s mayoral race, of course, which raises big questions about the future of the city. But there are other interesting power battles as well, not to mention a handful of ballot measures that hold the promise of more taxes and various administrative efficiency fixes.

So much to think about, so little time to figure it out.

With California’s primary just weeks away, SN&R aims to make it easier for voters with analysis, facts and commentary.

Our election preview parses the mayoral campaign funds, examines one of the year’s most hotly contested seats and gives readers a quick-hit primer on ballot measures galore.

Stay tuned for our endorsements in an upcoming issue, but in the meantime, keep calm and election on.

—Rachel leibRock

14 | SN&R | 05.19.16

PRIMARY Doll ARS It’s David vs. goliath vs. Ant-Man in the real race to be Sacramento’s next mayor

BY RAHEEM F. HOSSEINI • RAHEEMH@NEWSREVIEW.COM // IlluStRAtIonS bY JonAtHAn bucK

Y

ou can learn a lot by digging through people’s financial records.

Case in point: In the race to be Sacramento’s next mayor, the varying support for former state Sen. Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Councilwoman Angelique Ashby—the top contenders to replace outgoing Mayor Kevin Johnson—comes down to scale.

According to the most recent batch of campaign disclosure statements filed to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, covering January 1 through April 23, Steinberg and Ashby receive monetary tributes from many of the same interests—builders and developers, public safety unions and attorneys, retirees—and sometimes the very same people. (24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov has some explaining to do at the next fundraiser.)

DARRell SteInbeRg

total contributions this period: $1.8 million outside (sacramento) money: 71% ($1.3 million) cash on hand: $1.6 million

toP 5 contRIbutoRS 1. lawyers

$258,740.20 (14%) [including $5,300 from consumer attorneys and their PAC]

2. Developers and building industry

$221,638.95 (12%) [including $11,000 from Region Builders PAC]

3. Insurance companies

$140,100 (8%)

[including $3,300 apiece from Blue Shield California and American Surety Co.]

4. Health care and medical profession

$138,401.77 (8%)

[including $16,750 from skilled nursing and adult day health-care facilities]

5. Sports and entertainment industry

$70,000.50 (4%)

[including $5,800 from employees of Steven Bochco Productions]

It’s just that Steinberg has received a whole lot more from a larger variety of zip codes.

It’s kind of an apples-and-oranges deal. The termed-out senate leader recently transferred approximately $1.4 million from an untapped lieutenant governor campaign account. In doing so, he capsized a midmarket political race that may end up being the city’s most expensive.

But what is all this money buying—and what favors could Sacramento’s next mayor owe when she or he takes up the gavel? SN&R combed hundreds of pages of financial records to find out.

While it’s too soon to say whether money can buy the love of Sacramento voters, it has injected drama into what was once a polite affair.

Some other things to note: Due to the transfer, more than two-thirds’ of Steinberg’s

war chest originates from outside the city of Sacramento. Which makes sense, since he was a state politician storing up for a possible statewide run that didn’t materialize.

But the onetime councilman has also received considerable contributions from outside of California, like the $3,300 he accepted in 2010 from Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison contractor. Two of his most regular contributors, meanwhile, represent the pipe trades and various Planned Parenthood groups, which have donated $39,400 and $12,600, respectively, in recent years.

Steinberg has also accepted dollars from gaming and gambling interests ($61,000), information technology companies ($49,700) and other politicians ($40,000), with the local reelection funds for Sacramento County

Tony lopez

Total contributions: $13,870 Outside (Sacramento) money: 67% ($9,250) Cash on hand: $1,198.07

Top 5 conTribuTors 1. Attorneys

$6,850 (49%) [including $6,600 from attorney Jeffrey Sevey and his wife Sarah]

2. health care

$2,300 (17%) [including $1,100 from orthopedic surgeons]

3. Family

$1,600 (12%)

[including $1,050 from mother Rachel Lopez]

4. plumbers

$700 (5%) 5. retired athletes

$200 (1%) [including $100 from retired figure skater Gula Palmer and $100 from retired professional boxer Carlos Palomino]

Supervisor Phil Serna and Councilmen Steve Hansen and Eric Guerra chipping in $1,000 apiece. And while he accepted $34,000 from lobbyists and consultants, he also returned $13,250 to those same groups.

Ashby, meanwhile, gave back only one donation—to a Costa Mesa holdings company that contributed more than legally permitted.

She has every reason to keep what she can. The Steinberg transfer added rocket fuel to what had been a foot race. Before it happened, Ashby was within $41,000 of her big-name competitor, helped by the $38,200 in contributions she accepted last year from public safety corners, with five-figure donations from the Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 PAC and Sacramento Police Officers Association Political Activity Fund.

Like Steinberg, she has also accepted big

contributions from developer interests, just not nearly as many of them.

With less than a month to go before the June 7 primary, Steinberg has nearly $1.6 million left to spend. And Ashby, with just $236,000 left in the till, finds herself sharing a proverbial tax bracket with sideshow contestant Tony “the Tiger” Lopez, who has less than $1,200 to promote his spoiler candidacy-slash-reality-TV-bid.

The Ashby camp has howled its protests at the transfer, at first claiming it was illegal under local city campaign rules and then, when that didn’t work, filing a lawsuit last week over a small portion of the transferred funds.

Meanwhile, Steinberg is bringing what he can to bear to avoid a November run-off.

From both campaigns, the message is clear: This race was always about money.

Angelique Ashby

Total contributions: $165,081.40 Outside (Sacramento) money: 30% ($48,848) Cash on hand: $236,203.29

Top 5 conTribuTors 1. Developers and building industry

$74,498 (45%)

[including $11,000 from the Sacramento Builders’ Exchange PAC]

2. business community

$34,230 (21%)

[including $11,000 from the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber PAC]

3. public safety

$15,800 (10%)

[including $11,000 from the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association Small Contributor Committee]

4. Attorneys

$2,550 (2%)

[including $1,150 from Brewer Lofgren LLP partner Martha Lofgren]

5. unions

$900 (0.6%)

*All figures reflect donations or transfers made Jan. 1-April 23. “Developers and building industry” includes real estate and holding companies.

“sn&r’s 2016 elecTion preVieW!”continued on page 16 05.19.16 | SN&R | 15 15

“SN&r’S 2016 ELECTION PrEVIEW!”continued from page 15

First, do no

BY ALAstAir BLAnd & rAHEEM F. HossEini

ns i a g re have s e n he’ll o J ott seat, c s ff onal i r e sh ressi hank y t un cong to t o C to rol of i Bera n e m ont . Am a r c c if sa blican rep u rep

Rep. Ami Bera and Sheriff Scott Jones—different ends of the same card?

ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN BUCK

16 | SN&R | 05.19.16 16

Even before last week’s revelations that U.S. Rep. Ami Bera’s father might spend time in federal prison for violating campaign contribution laws, the younger Bera was losing allies in his re-election bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Elk Grove physician is seeking a second term representing a critical suburban territory that narrowly swings Democratic, but was in Republican control not that long ago. After three closely decided contests, Bera finds himself in a dogfight against yet another Republican, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a first-time congressional candidate aiming for an upset on June 7.

Jones might achieve it, too, but he’d have to share credit for the victory.

Bera is providing plenty of ammunition.

Four years ago, Bera was a hero of the Democratic Party for unseating conservative lion Dan Lungren during the pair’s bruising rematch. But he’s since squandered that support, frustrating his Democratic base by shadowboxing right when they urged him to protect his left.

It was about a year ago, after barely holding on against Doug Ose in 2014, that Bera really started to lose supporters.

The slide began after he supported a federal program called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would give foreign corporations a leg up on domestic ones. That prompted labor unions, once a pillar of Bera’s base, to berate him as a DINO—Democrat in Name Only.

More recently, Bera backed a Republican measure to halt the acceptance of already-vetted Syrian refugees in the United States, potentially sending them back to destabilized war zones. He also has voted to support measures that some warn could loosen regulations on banks and curb food-stamp benefits for the poor.

Robert Longer, a union political leader from Elk Grove, recently told The Sacramento Bee, “I think Congressman Bera needs to do some soul searching as to whether he’s a real Democrat, or not.”

Longer, once Bera’s ally, has become one of his foremost local critics. But he’s not the only progressive to jump off the Bera bandwagon. Early this year, Bera received dismal evaluations from Democratic advocate groups and even lost the unified backing of other congressional Democrats.

Then came the most personal blow.

On May 10, Bera’s father, Babulal Bera, pleaded guilty to laundering personal donations into his son’s 2010 and 2012 congressional races.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, the elder Bera did this by soliciting friends, family members and acquaintances to contribute directly to his son’s congressional campaigns, then paid them back to evade political contribution limits. At last count, authorities have identified more than 130 dummy donations worth more than $260,000, the vast majority of which was spent on Bera’s unsuccessful 2010 race against Lungren.

Bera has denied knowledge of his father’s activities. And while Republican Party agents have scoffed their disbelief, it’s the representative’s legal actions while in office that have done him the most damage.

In a 2015 interview with Politico, Amaya Smith, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, hinted that labor groups would be OK with a Republican taking Bera’s place in Congress.

They may get their wish.

Jones is a big-league political novice, but has run a (mostly) veteran’s campaign by carving out decisively conservative stances on red-meat issues

harm like immigration and guns, though he, too, struggled with the emergence of Donald Trump as his party’s presumptive nominee for president. Jones opted to endorse the divisive mogul, who shares his stance on walls, a gamble that may or may not alienate Latino voters. It recently cost him the political support of the teamsters union, which initially endorsed him.

But whether Jones can scare up any support from disenfranchised Democrats is hard to say. Sheriff since 2010, Jones has, in some interviews, given an impression of a relatively gentle right-winger. He told The Sacramento Bee in January that he supports gay marriage, is neutral on abortion and opposes the Delta tunnels, Jerry Brown’s water-conveyance project that environmentalists, among other critics, say will destroy California’s Central Valley watersheds and the coastal salmon fishery.

On the labor issue that has gotten Bera so much flak, Jones has taken the other side, supporting labor unions and opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Labor unions, once a pillar of Bera’s base, have berated him as a DINO—Democrat in Name Only.

On other issues, though, Jones holds a more conservative line. He is a stanch gun proponent who told SN&R last year that he wants to arm Sacramento’s law-abiding population as a measure to reduce crime. Whereas Sacramento County’s previous sheriff John McGinness granted 303 concealed weapon permits in two years, Jones has issued approximately 1,000 annually since 2010. He recently denied reports that his office has slowed down this practice for political reasons.

Jones’ immigration stance, meanwhile, probably won’t win him many votes from Latinos. The sheriff wants to increase border enforcement and has been accused of violating a state law that protects undocumented immigrants from unlawful jail detentions.

But Bera has similarly shown a degree of apathy toward the disenfranchised. He crossed Democratic Party lines in November by voting for the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act, which effectively makes it more difficult for refugees from the Syrian civil war to enter the United States. The Republican bill easily passed 289 to 137.

Bera was among the 47 Democrats who voted for it. Only two Republicans voted against it.

This is why some accuse Bera of being a Democrat of convenience, staking out whatever position he thinks will earn him the most political capital in the moment. If that was the strategy, however, it got him dropped.

With Jones, the logic goes, at least people know where he stands—easy on guns, hard on immigrants. But with Bera’s loss of the Democratic Party’s endorsement, it’s possible he may have strayed too far.

Playing the ballot Local measures propose raising taxes for libraries and firefighting, but will Sacramento County voters bite? BY GRAHAM WOMACK

A

parcel tax renewal to benefit the library.

A controversial marijuana tax to fund youth services. A city charter amendment regarding the day elected officials take office. A tax to subsidize firefighting services in Isleton.

Those in the city of Sacramento will decide on three key measures June 7; meanwhile, Isleton voters face a vote that may impact their safety.

Except for the charter amendment, each initiative needs the support of at least two-thirds of voters.

Here’s what you need to know about each before casting a ballot next month:

Measure X: While the general fund helps

finance the city’s 12 library branches, more than a third of its funding—$5 million a year— comes from a restricted $31.53 parcel tax that Sacramento voters accepted in 2004. That tax is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2017.

Enter Measure X, which would do two things: extend the tax by 10 years and expand what it can be spent on. Right now, the tax money can only buy “additional” library services, meaning none of the basics that include paying salaries, acquiring books and other media, funding programs for youth and seniors, etc.

Measure X would change that.

But if the initiative fails to win favor with a super-majority of voters, the library system, which also cobbles funding from other sources, would suddenly be faced with a large deficit.

“Measure X keeps us whole,” said Sacramento Public Library Director Rivkah Sass.

There is no formal opposition to Measure X, which won’t affect Measure B, a $12 parcel tax that voters approved in 2014 to raise $1.9 million annually for library services. Sass said that, ideally, she would like the city to solidify library funding beyond these ballot initiatives.

Measure Y: In February, the Sacramento City Council approved marijuana cultivation in Sacramento. Then came the controversial part.

Measure Y would tax cultivation and manufacturing at a 5 percent rate and steer that money—projected to be $5 million a year—toward youth services like after-school programs and sports. The measure’s author, Councilman Jay Schenirer, said 85 percent of the tax would go to programs and services for youth, the majority provided by nonprofits. Schenirer founded his own youth nonprofit, WayUp Sacramento, in 2011. Ten percent would cover administration costs and the rest would go toward evaluating the programs. By contrast, Schenirer said the city dedicates just 1 percent of its general fund to youth.

But the funding scheme has its detractors.

Councilman Jeff Harris argues that the city spends closer to 6 percent on youth programs and that a looming budget deficit makes it unwise to limit the city’s spending ability. “I don’t think it’s fiscally sound policy to take a new revenue source and lock it up in perpetuity,” he said.

Sacramento Children’s Home director Chris McCarty said he understands arguments against Measure Y, but contended that kids have long been an afterthought when it comes to government spending. “If we don’t secure funding for our most vulnerable population, it unfortunately is one of the first things to be cut,” he said.

Measure Z: Under Sacramento City Charter Section 153, elected officials take office the fourth Tuesday following the first Monday in November the year of their election. However, California Elections Code 15372 mandates that county registrars be given 30 days to certify vote results.

Measure Z is a housekeeping item that would amend the charter so elected officials are sworn in at the final meeting in December the year they’re elected. City Clerk Shirley Concolino called the measure “kind of an administrative thing to fix a gap.” It has no public opposition.

Measure B: In the tiny city of Isleton,

paramedic Hailie Schuster gets paid in sleep.

Isleton’s fire department has only one paid firefighter and a team of volunteers, including Schuster, who commutes from Nevada and responds to calls in exchange for sleeping at the station.

If a super-majority of local voters approve it, Measure B would levy a half-percent transactions and use tax for Isleton residents, generating an estimated $90,000 annually. That would allow the fire department to purchase more equipment and potentially hire a part-time employee.

“I don’t think there’s a department out there that doesn’t need a bigger budget for equipment and stuff,” Schuster said.

Volunteer planning commissioner Jack Chima opposes the tax increase, saying this one “is not going to be enough to solve all the problems of the fire department.”

Those problems could eventually fall to Sacramento County, which contracts out its sheriff’s department since Isleton currently has no police department.

05.19.16 | SN&R | 17

ous Betts score nerv is rt Cu n ro me Ca d Cory Barringer an How best friends laughter from their High Anxiety Variety Show

PANIC

Cory Barringer and Cameron Curtis Betts aim to make audiences anxious every month at Naked Lounge Downtown.

18 | SN&R | 05.19.16

AT THe CoFFee sHoP

by AAron CArnes PHoTo by brIAn breneMAn

Basically, summer see NiGHT&Day

21

It was no gimmick when Cory Barringer and Cameron Curtis Betts decided to call their new monthly event the High

Anxiety Variety Show.

These guys are anxious, and they like to talk about it a lot.

At the show’s premiere event, held in April at Midtown coffee shop the Naked Lounge Downtown, the co-hosts opened the evening with casual talk and a few lighthearted jokes. The flier for the show had advertised live music, comedy, interviews and panic attacks—all of which would prove to be technically true.

From the start, in fact, they set a bizarre tone. After the small talk, Betts turned to Barringer and said “Did you know when you and Robin broke up that I tried to sleep with her shortly thereafter?”

Barringer didn’t skip a beat. “I did. … I knew that because you told me,” he said. The answer elicited some pained, awkward laughter from the crowd. Others found it outright hilarious.

That was the whole point, actually, because that’s what the High Anxiety Variety Show is about—anxiety. And Betts and Barringer are maybe the two people best suited for it. Best friends since high school, they play together in the Sacramento band the Kelps and have lived through enough tests of friendship to keep things, well, interesting.

Most importantly, they are eager to talk about all their problems, personally, and with each other, onstage in front of strangers.

That first show’s opening was specifically designed to introduce discomfort. To that end, Barringer had no idea Betts would drop such a potentially painful bombshell during the intro.

The joke, however, didn’t go quite as planned—something that only added to the bit’s genuine sense of unease. Betts was surprised to find out he’d already told Barringer this tidbit from the past and, as a result, didn’t quite get the shocked response he hoped for.

What a way to start a show.

Barringer later called this odd interaction “comedy gold.”

“I’ll leave the genuine laughter to the comics. We’ll stick to making people nervous and wonder why someone let us have a show,” Barringer says.

Now, as the duo preps for its next show, nervousness and angst remain the themes.

Each month, Barringer and Betts plan to interview the musicians and comedians they bring to the Naked Lounge.

samosa paraDise see THe V WorD

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The pair will also record this month’s High Anxiety Variety Show, scheduled for May 27; with plans to release each event as a podcast.

The guest will play regular sets, but Barringer and Betts also want to ask them about their deep, dark apprehensions—because why not?

“We’re not trying to poke fun at anxiety or even celebrate it. This is a place that [we], and most creative people, come from. It’s a unifying bond, and most of our crowd gets that,” Betts says.

The format makes sense. Barringer and Betts are musicians too, of course, but Barringer is also an aspiring stand-up comedian, and Betts has done the open-mic circuit as well. Still, their deepest connection—and the show’s inarguable foundation—is their perpetually worried minds, and the ways they find to deal with them.

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The musician was subject to his own awkward moments, too. During the interview portion of Gathing’s set, Barringer surprised him by asking if he’d ever had a nervous breakdown.

Gathing thought about it for a bit and then told a story about when, at age 18, he started having a loud screaming argument with himself. It got bad as Gathing started hitting himself in the process of the “argument.” He thought no one else was around, only to be humiliated later when he found out that his sister was watching him the whole time. She told him, “You should get some friends.”

Later, Gathing said he would have felt uncomfortable relating this story to someone in casual conversation, but in the context of the show it seemed natural.

“We’re not trying to poke fun at anxiety or even celebrate it. This is a place that [we], and most creative people, come from. It’s a unifying bond, and most of our crowd gets that.”

Cameron Curtis Betts co-host, High Anxiety Variety Show

Although the show is designed to have spurts of chaos, it actually feels focused, with each segment short, sweet and moving along at a quick pace.

That first night opened with a musical guest, followed by two comedians, one after another, and then closed with another band.

Throughout the acts, Barringer and Betts interviewed their guests—something they plan to keep as the format for the foreseeable future.

“I really want it to be the kind of show that you shouldn’t feel comfortable leaving the room because you’re going to miss something,” Barringer says. “Even if you’re not digging the music at that moment, maybe wait, and then get to hear them talk about their process and that’ll inform the next set.”

It all somehow makes sense. Local solo acoustic singer-songwriter Josiah Gathing, a musical guest at April’s show, said he was surprised at how well everything came together.

“I assumed it would be weird and kind of an awkward show, but the audience was really on board with what I was doing. I was playing really sad, serious stuff. It felt like a natural transition into the comedy,” Gathing says.

Betts put the show’s headlining act, Bill L. Wallis, through something similar when he asked how the comedian dealt with the discomfort of performing. Wallis’ answer?

That he liked to press the front of his body on a wall in another room before his set and feel the vibrations of the building.

Awkward.

Later, Wallis said he actually appreciated the exchange.

“It was cool to talk about some real stuff.

Most of the stuff I do in my day-to-day life has some level of anxiety,” Wallis says.

Clearly this isn’t what some might imagine when they think of a typical variety show with magicians, vaudeville, burlesque and corny one-liners. As weird as it all is, however, it’s also sincere.

“We’re both very anxious people. It is the underlying current of a lot of our songs. We wrote a record about it,” Barringer says.

But it’s not going to be all unease, all the time.

“We’re not always going to stay on the topic of anxiety. If the conversation derails into something completely different, we’re going to let it,” Barringer says.

BoNGs BeFore Beer see THe 420

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The show’s chaotic nature is fine by Naked Lounge booker Jeremy Dawson. The Kelps have played the venue for several years, earning an impressive draw, and even teamed up with another local band, Honyock, to play shows under the name Broken Voice Club.

After that ended, Barringer and Betts continued to experiment with formats, including a comedy night. It was Dawson who told the friends they should do a regular monthly show. They could do whatever they wanted, he said. The weirder the better, in fact.

Maybe it’s no surprise, then, that once Barringer and Betts let the idea percolate, they realized they wanted to focus the show on the idea of exploring uncomfortable topics and feelings.

“Every important decision in my life has been completely anxiety-fueled. I can’t believe I’m not sleeping on my parents’ couch right now,” Betts says.

And, maybe it’s no surprise also that working together on this project has brought up many of the arguments, misunderstandings and issues that Barringer and Betts have dealt with over the years as friends. But, while there have been periods in their friendship when they didn’t speak to each other, the show has turned out to be a safe place to work out their differences.

In the end, their bond remains strong.

“I’ve ruined our friendship five times,” Betts says of his kinship with Barringer. “I’m so good at wrecking the most stable and necessary emotional relationship in my life.”

It can’t be that bad because it was Barringer who reached out to Betts about the show.

“Cory texted me and said, ‘We should do a variety show,’” Barringer says. “That will always be the thing, that I still have this person in my life.”

As such, the headlining musical act for their premier show was their own band, the Kelps. Rather than interview themselves, however, they asked audience members what they thought of the show, and how it could be improved. The crowd provided a few suggestions, but in the end it was the hosts who came up with one small change via the addition of chairs onstage during the interviews.

The stand-up interviews seemed uncomfortable in the wrong way, Barringer later explained. That might be the only concession to comfort that the duo will allow. Beyond a few seats, Barringer and Betts say they’ll continue to tweak and alter the show as they go on. Anything to keep it unpredictable and, well, anxious.

“The moment I’m too comfortable in a situation I feel compelled to turn it on its head and try it from a different angle,” Barringer says. Ω

Check out the High Anxiety Variety Show with Madi Sipes & The Painted Blue, Jordan Gannon, Christian Amaral and Rich Corporation, 8 p.m. Friday, May 27, at Naked Lounge Downtown, 1111 H Street. Tickets are $5. Learn more at www.facebook.com/highanxietyvarietyshow or listen to the podcast at www.highanxietyvarietyshow.com.

05.19.16 | SN&R | 19

GILMORE HEATING AIR SOLAR C

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TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE THUNDER VALLEY BOX OFFICE, TICKETMASTER.COM, OR WORLDONEPRESENTS.COM

20 | SN&R | 05.19.16

FOR ThE wEEK OF MAY 19

Pajama Bar Crawl SATURDAY, MAY 21 Bar crawls are fun pretty much no matter what.

But you know what makes them even better?

Wearing your pajamas and being the DRINKS most comfortable. Plus, you won’t even need to change clothes when you pass out at the end. Silly? We say it’s just plain smart. Starting location will be revealed after ticket purchase. $15$25, 5 p.m., (916) 426-9676, www.xososports.com.

—AARon CARneS

We

all have one: that acquaintance who loves to talk about how Girls has really taken a nosedive the last few seasons (“But I guess I’ll watch the last season, just to see what happens”); who enjoys explaining the time signature of every song on the new Radiohead album (“It’s no In Rainbows, but still pretty solid”); and who, every time you bust out your new Tevas so you can give those bunions a little breather, really takes pleasure in pointing out that technically, it’s still spring for another month (“Summer equinox isn’t until June 20, bro”). Listen, this week, the city is acting like summer is already here, and so should you; leave the wet blanket at home to wallow in the logical inconsistencies of Game of Thrones season six.

Beer is by no means exclusively a summer drink, but what’s summer without the image of condensation beading on a cold one as you kick back in the hot sun? The west Coast Invitational: A Craft Brewing Experience goes down on Saturday, May 21, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Miller Park (2710 Ramp Way). Admission gets you unlimited tastings from 40-plus breweries, including local favorites like New Helvetia Brewing and Oak Park Brewing Co. General admission is $40-$50, VIP tickets are $95, and designated-driver admission is $5. Visit www.westcoastinvitational.beer or call (916) 924-3836 for more info.

Also on Saturday, hit up the R Street Block Party taking place at the WAL Public Market (1104 R Street) from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be live music from Sea of Bees and others, live art by the 1810 Gallery, food and drinks, a kids’ zone and a makers mart featuring more than 40 craftspeople from all over NorCal. Check out http://walpublicmarket.com to find out more.

Then on Sunday, May 22, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., local grill masters Burgess Brothers BBQ truck (who will also be at the aforementioned block party the previous day) will be slinging brisket, chicken, ribs and cornbread at New Helvetia Brewing Co. (1730 Broadway) for the BBQ and Beer Buffet. Abundant meat on the barbie and small-batch craft beer? That’s a Sacramento summer for sure. Visit www.facebook.com/ events/513404162188670 for more info.

—DeenA DRewiS

Sacramento Air Guitar Competition SATURDAY, MAY 21 Along with the time-honored art of shower singing, shredding on air guitar is a talent most often cultivated and performed in the privacy of one’s home.

But for one night, invisible axes will be brought out to elevate two masterful fakers who will move on to represent Sacto in the next phase of CONTEST of the United States Air Guitar Regional Finals. $8-$15; 9:30 p.m. at Starlite Lounge, 1517 21st Street; (916) 872-0122; http://usairguitar.com.

—DeenA DRewiS

Davis Pride 2016 SUnDAY, MAY 22 Show support for LGBTQ equality with a jam-packed day of community, starting with a 5K or 10K through the tree-lined streets of Davis followed by food, drinks, live music from country star Ty FESTIVAL Herndon, a teen dance party, a pet zone, and a kids’ zone—something for everyone, in other words. Free admission, $25-$35 to run; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Central Park, 401 C Street in Davis; (916) 266-9630; http://mwqdesign.com/davispride.

—DeenA DRewiS

Intergalactic Expo SUnDAY, MAY 22 Calling all Stars Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly and Farscape fans: Bust out your best Darth Vader or Spock as you peruse the video gaming area, catch lightsaber sparring, listen in on various panels and groove to tunes from Darealwordsound, self-described as a “nerd rap” deejay, all to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. $10; SCI-FI EXPO 10 a.m. at the West Sacramento Community Center, 1075 West Capitol Avenue in West Sacramento; www.intergalacticexpo.com.

—eDDie JoRgenSen

Feast in the Streets 2016 weDneSDAY, MAY 25 This fundraiser for Francis House of Sacramento’s efforts to fight homelessness heads to the “streets” in the courtyard of one of Sac’s former warehouse docks. The fundraiser includes samples BENEFIT from local restaurants as well as beer, wine, entertainment from SacCirque and a live auction. $50; 5:30 p.m. at the Merchant, 1425 C Street; (916) 295-2225; www.francishousecenter.org.

—LoRY giL

05.19.16 | SN&R | 21

SN&R #9: Find out if you can run faster than an ice cream truck.

6 1 9 e h t n i o d o t s g n i h t 6 .

1 9

E D I U G R E M M U S ek! e w t x e n S D n a t On S

22 | SN&R | 05.19.16

IllustratIons by serene lusano

Old school eGGplAnt pArmesAn, itAliAn importinG Co. It’s really easy to goof an eggplant Parmesan, especially when it comes to the eggplant’s goopiness levels. Thankfully, Italian Importing Co. makes a pretty decent single-serving parm that you can get to go with a little salad and a piece of bread ($4.99).

They don’t goof nothing, with the eggplant’s soft texture retaining a pleasing firmness and the cheeseto-sauce ratio passing this mostly-Italian’s homecooking standards. It won’t be the most refined parm, as it is reheated, but it’s still a quality bet for a quick, old-school Italian meal. 1827 J Street, (916) 442-6678.

—Anthony siino

Shockingly mock CuCumber GoshAwk, hAwks publiC house

IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

Chef moves

by Janelle Bitker

From the mother ship: Mother and Empress Tavern are easily two of the most celebrated restaurants in Sacramento. When executive chef and owner Michael Thiemann returned to Sacramento, he brought Matt Masera with him. That’s why it was such a shock to many when Masera recently left his post as executive chef and executive pastry chef.

Masera has since joined Saddle Rock, the upcoming restaurant from Chris Jarosz of Broderick Roadhouse and Localis, as executive chef.

Saddle Rock (1801 L Street) was originally billed as a new American restaurant celebrating Sacramento’s history, with innovative fare from Kevin O’Connor, the young chef behind the Tree House pop-ups and formerly of Blackbird. Obviously,

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

that didn’t pan out. Mere days ago, O’Connor took a job with an olive oil company in Australia.

Masera told SN&R that he hopes the Saddle Rock will open in June.

The big renovations are done—the staircase and bar have been replaced, for example—and now the team is down to the little things, such as choosing tableware.

As for Masera’s planned Maiden Ice Cream, part of the anticipated Mother empire? He still hopes to continue with it in the future, and create full-on desserts based on ice cream that can be sold in restaurants that don’t make desserts in-house.

Previously, you could find Maiden Ice Cream at the Mill in its affogatos, but the Mill recently switched to San Francisco’s Humphry Slocombe.

Lunch is up: Downtown’s newest wine bar Whired Wine (410 L Street) now offers weekday lunch in addition to its evening small plates. The menu features sandwiches, salads, flatbread, charcuterie and cheese plates. Whired went through the trouble of designating which dishes are vegetarian or gluten-free, but oddly, only a bean and lentil salad ($7) contains no gluten.

Some examples: the Funky Mushroom ($9), a sandwich of marinated mushrooms, blue and truffle cheeses and garlic aioli; and the Spaniard ($9), a naan flatbread topped with calabrian aioli, goat gouda, spicy capicola and bell peppers.

Food trucks, it’s what’s for dinner: Competition for SactoMoFo is on its way. Off the Grid, the absurdly popular food truck festival based in San Francisco, will start throwing events in Sacramento in June. No word on location yet, but organizers are slowly leaking information on its Facebook page. So far, we know it’ll use lots of local businesses, such as Slightly Skewed, Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen and Gyro Stop.

Follow along at www.facebook.com/ offthegridsac. Ω

I adore fancy cocktails, but sometimes I have to abstain. Instead of soda or iced tea, I like the fun mocktails at Hawks Public House, crafted with just as much creativity as the boozier ones. The Cucumber Goshawk ($6) is an inspired combination of lime juice, cucumber and Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Aussie soda brand Bundaberg brews with lots of fresh ginger, which adds zing to the puckery lime and balances the fresh cucumber. If you make your own version at home, hop off the wagon and add a splash of rum. 1525 Alhambra Boulevard, http://hawkspublichouse.com.

—Ann mArtin rolke

Frankenfruit Apriums And pluots Like something out of Frankenstein, apriums, pluots and plumcots combine different amounts of their donors.

Apriums look much like apricots, with a dense sweet flesh. Pluots are later-generation hybrids of plumcots and apriums.

They more closely resemble plums, with varietals like Dapple Dandy, which has a mottled greenish skin and vibrant purple flesh. Look for them labeled as Dinosaur Eggs. Ask growers for samples to check the acidity versus sweetness of each kind, then use them for tarts, pies, cheese plates and fruit salsas.

—Ann mArtin rolke

05.19.16 | SN&R | 23

gourmet burgers • All burgers made with beef chuck, brisket & short rib meat • Foccacia buns made fresh daily F e Atured:

blAckberry jAlApeÑo glAze burger

With havarti & crunchy onion strings, drizzled with our house made blackberry jalapeño glaze 8351 Elk Grove Blvd #100 Elk Grove, CA • 916.685.4587 Sun - Thu 8am to 6pm • Fri & Sat 8am to 7pm

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try one oF our neW SaladS!

All Salads come with a Half Roll & butter (excludes side salad) Santa Fe *spicy* Chopped romaine, chicken breast, jalaceno, red peppers, fresh avocado, tomato, pepper jack and tortilla strips served with our signature “Baja” ranch dressing

Great Wall Chopped romaine, chicken breast, red peppers, mandarin oranges, cucumbers, toasted almonds, fried won tons, shredded carrots served with Asian sesame dressing

ChiCken CaeSar Chopped romaine, chicken breast, seasoned croutons, shredded asiago and tossed in our creamy classic Caesar dressing

piCk your CoMBo

Purchase any sandwich, add chips & drink, or choose from our signature soups, salads and sides.

1050 20th Street

(in the MARRS Building)

Sacramento, CA 916.706.0898 24 | SN&R | 05.19.16

OffiCAl ★ PArtner

Help wanted

by Janelle Bitker

railBridge Cellars & Co.

H 921 11th Street, (916) 476-5225, www.railbridgecellarsandcompany.com Dinner for one: $10 - $20 Good for: a glass of wine Notable dishes: the Levine

Railbridge Cellars & Co. tastes like an identity crisis.

Occupying the ground floor of the stately Elks Tower, the 3-month-old restaurant exudes sophistication. Your feet grace Carrara marble from Italy. Framed works of vintage art double as lessons in local history. Art deco light fixtures complete the time travel effect.

Then, you notice those very light fixtures feature logos of the Sacramento Kings and Sacramento State University, and the place suddenly reeks of too much civic pride. And while, yes, the massive windows make the restaurant feel spacious, they also look out onto the Elks Tower’s underground event space.

It’s effectively free advertising for its operator Alexis Ventures, which happens to also own Railbridge Cellars & Co., as well as the winery Railbridge Cellars and its Elks Tower penthouse tasting room.

Regardless, the aesthetics stun when you don’t look too closely.

There’s also a menu devoted to martinis and Manhattans, and a single lamb rib for $14.

That suggests destination-level ambition. Yet, the restaurant is closed on the weekends and ceases dinner service at 8 p.m. most nights. Much of the day features counter-service, with speedy breakfast items and a focus on sandwiches at lunch.

RailBridge tries to be too many things at once, and it shows in the food.

ja ne lle b @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

After I sampled from the happy hour menu, I vowed to never make that mistake again. One evening, a rotating trio of duck ($14) featured seared—and cold—foie gras, duck with hoisin and Napa cabbage, and duck with grits. Across the board, the execution stumbled, but the cold, mealy, mushy grits hid the most unpleasant surprise: bones.

A forgivable mistake? Perhaps. Not the risotto ($9), though. A tall mound of rice—already a sign of failure—arrived hard and undercooked. A pool of liquid that should have been absorbed, but wasn’t, sat below. A bland, textural nightmare.

Most shocking were the tall, slender stalks of wild mushrooms ($12), which felt like rubber and tasted like nothing. Many rounds of salt later, they stubbornly refused to release any flavor.

The dinner entree of seared salmon ($18) fared slightly better. The fish was nearly not overcooked. It perched above the tiniest portion of summer squash and pappardelle, all drowned in olive oil. As this was all I ordered one night, I required a second dinner at home.

I had higher hopes for RailBridge’s sandwiches, since the place is regularly packed at lunch. The Levine ($12), in particular, gets hype for its use of Brent’s Deli pastrami from Los Angeles.

The pastrami earns its delicious reputation. Too bad everything RailBridge was responsible for—the rye, mustard, slaw and fries—cried mediocrity.

The nicoise sandwich ($14) offered a fun idea, but poor execution. The salt bomb of olive tapenade completely overpowered the seared ahi tuna, boiled egg and pickled green beans. A jalapeno-cilantro sauce provided a nice kick to the rock shrimp tacos ($10)—too bad the tortillas felt so stale, like chomping down on a paperback novella.

Clearly, a lot of thought went into RailBridge’s look. Now, it’s time for the food to receive equal attention—its historic home deserves better. Ω

The aesthetics stun when you don’t look too closely.

Join our Family

Chill out with chili

exican dishes! for your favoriteouM r Friendly service

What is American cuisine? It’s a common discussion with no real answer, but one wholeheartedly American dish is chili. Before World War II, there were chili parlors throughout Texas slinging beefy, bean-less versions. That’s another common discussion: what belongs in chili? Beans are contentious in some parts of the country, as are tomatoes. Some recipes call for bacon, beer and chocolate. And don’t even get me started on Cincinnati chili.

In any case, there are no rules for what can and can’t go in the chili at the Old Town Elk Grove Chili Festival on Saturday, May 21, located in the historic Old Town Plaza (9615 Railroad Street).

Admission is free, and $5 gets you six chili samples. With more than 20 cooks dishing out what they think is the best chili around, you may want to plan on additional tasting. More at www.elkgrovechilifestival.com.

Feel at hoMe with s oF tast y Mexican! & generous portion

—Janelle Bitker

NOW SERVING BRUNCH!

(weekends only) 9385 Elk Grove Blvd • Elk Grove, Ca 95624

11am to 9pm Sun-Thu • 11am to 9:30pm Fri-Sat • 916.686.0386

spend less, get more.

Bottomless samosas

By Shoka The concept of bottomless mimosas is fine, but the concept of bottomless samosas is fantastic. The idea, proposed by local comedian and vegan Ted Samson, is sound: Refill plates with the potato-filled, fried golden pyramids as they disappear, just like that brunch-time boozy beverage. While the bottomless samosa isn’t in practice at any Indian eateries to speak of, it would make for the happiest happy hour or lunch special, wouldn’t it? For now, the closest to samosa-refill

paradise is the appropriately named

Samosa Garden (6604 Florin Road), which sells the dumplings for 85 cents each. Grabbing a quick meal and dessert at this no-frills, served-in-disposable-containers, vegan-friendly South Sacramento eatery is only about $5. So, let’s all go to Samosa Garden and other Indian restaurants and request bottomless samosas. Just because it’s not a thing now doesn’t mean it can’t be.

Tuesday, May 24th • 6pm – 9pm Tickets are $25 - Includes a full dinner with many Opa! Opa! Favorites plus a glass of wine or choice of Beer, soda or tea.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT CASHIER! Featuring Live music by One eyed ReIlly! Belly dAnCeRS by jOdeTTe’S SChOOl OF Belly dAnCIng! dj deMeTRe’S MedITeRRAneAn MuSIC plus BAllOOnS by CAROlIne

5644 J Street • www.EatAtOpa.com 05.19.16 | SN&R | 25

ReviewS

40 beers on tap May 20th @ 9:00 pm Way Out West

May 21 @ 9:00 pm Big Trouble Music – Country Variety

The woman within Photo courtesy of rudy Meyers

by Bev SykeS

May 26 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm GoldFish Races + Ballast Point & Drakes Brewing Tap Takeover

Throughout the play, Woman hints at her deep, dark secret and in the telling of the Medea story reveals more and more of her secret until at last, she confesses everything and is doubled over with the pain of her grief.

Deonna Bouye is the one-woman Greek chorus, while Ross Hellwig—tall, strong, and handsome— is Jason, for whom both Medea and Woman fall until his real nature is revealed, something that proves devastating to both women.

Not Medea is very funny, but also packs an emotional wallop. Ω

May 27 @ 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Third Stone Blue – Rockin Blues

May 27 @ 9:00 pm Island of Black and White

May 28 @ 9:00 pm Merle Jaggard - Country, Outlaw Country, Americana

June 4 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Live Music from Cherry Bomb John Cougar Mellancamp Cover Band

June 11 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Another Brick Tribute Show

June 17 @ 9:00 pm Crop Dusters - 90’s Alternative & Rock n Roll

B Street, breaking good

July 9 @ 7:00 am Bus Trip To SF Giants & AZ Diamondbacks Game!

21+ Venue 4007 Taylor Road • Loomis, CA {EXIT I-80 TO SIERRA COLLEGE} 916-652-4007 • countryclubsaloon.com

CALL FOR

ARTISTS

THE SN&R NEWSSTAND ART PROJECT SN&R is seeking artists to transform our newsstands into functional art.

To see how you can be a part of this project, please contact grege@newsreview.com

26 | SN&R | 05.19.16

“Will it be myth or magic?”

Not Medea

4

Not Medea; 7 p.m. thursday, 8 p.m. saturday, 7 p.m. tuesday and Wednesday; $26-$38. B street theatre B3 stage, 2711 B street; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. through June 11.

“Please hug your children when you get home,” asks playwright Allison Gregory in Not Medea. The play, which tells the story of a woman and the intersection of myth and magic, recently opened at B Street Theatre and it’s both captivating and grimly funny.

Directed by Gretchen Corbett, this is a tour de force for actress Lori Prince in this not quite, but almost one-woman show. Prince adroitly slips back and forth between the role of the modern day Woman and the character of Medea, all the while revealing why she feels sympathetic toward the ancient enchantress.

Woman has arrived at the theater in need of a break from mothering; here, she first interacts with the audience, and then, as she walks onto the stage, looking for a seat, she notices the Medea set and confesses that though the play does not end well, she can understand the choices Medea makes.

“Poor Medea wanted to end her personal pain. Yeah, don’t we all? So what? She was a monster.”

Here, Gregory has crafted an interesting plot device in which a woman straddles the modern and the ancient world, fully believable in each.

After more than a decade of planning and fundraising, the B Street Theatre plans to finally break ground on its new Midtown venue this Thursday, May 19. The new 40,000 square-foot complex will be located at Capitol Avenue and 27th Street, on land donated by Sutter Health.

The space is set to include a 365-seat proscenium stage, which will be dubbed the Sutter Children’s Theatre, as well as a 250-seat thrust stage. Plus, there’ll be a cafe and courtyard.

In all, it makes for a $22 million-plus project.

For Producing Artistic Director Buck Busfield, the big advantage of the new complex will be its “venue flexibility, and the ability to extend a hit” by moving a popular show to the other stage.

“We will also be able to seat a lot more people for our Family Series” in the 365-seat theater, he said. The company’s Family Series currently uses a 100-seat space, and “we turn thousands of kids away each year,” Busfield said.

The thrust stage is “designed as a new works theater,” he added, and will be cozy with just 50 more seats than the current B Street Mainstage.

The venue will also be able to accommodate other types of productions including dance and concerts.

“We will be very creative; it will be a very busy place, a nice destination,” Busfield said.

Construction is expected to take place over the next 18 to 20 months. Look for a grand opening in late 2017. The B Street Theatre name will be retained, even though the venue will no longer exist on B Street.

Better yet, it’ll also no longer exist next to the railroad tracks, which means no more noise and rumble from passing trains to distract actors and audience alike.

—Jeff Hudson Learn more about the new B street theatre complex at http://bstreettheatre.org.

Now playiNg

2

Alice in Wonderland

This powerful Pulitzer Prize- winning play explores the racial and ethnic prejudices that persist just below the surface of the everyday politically correct dinner conversation.

Th, F 8pm; Sa 2pm and 8pm; Su 2pm; W 7pm. Through 6/5. $23-$35. Capital

Stage, 2215 J Street; (916) 995-5464; http://capstage.org. B.S.

5

Latin Nights

The Sacramento Ballet explores Spain, Mexico and Cuba in a program of dances that are at times wistful and hopeful, and sometimes so brightly energetic they elicit squeals. Septime Webre’s beautiful Juanita

1 FOUL

Studios for the Performing Arts, 2420 N Street; (916) 552-5800; www.sacballet.org. J.C.

3

Mud Blue Sky

So much talent and preparation have gone into the B Street Theatre’s production of Mud Blue Sky that it’s a shame it isn’t in service of a better play. While the set design and costumes are excellent, it’s Marisa Wegryn’s play that’s weak. What starts out as a sharp, snarky comedy about a reunion of three flight attendants in a motel room during a layover too soon loses focus. The playwright wants to make a serious comment on these disparate lives, but can’t make it work. Aiming for wistful and maybe hopeful, it just ends up sad. Th, F

Short reviews by Jim Carnes and Bev Sykes.

8pm; Sa 5pm and 9pm; Su 2pm; W 6:30pm. Through 6/5.

$23-$35. B Street Theatre, 2711 B Street; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.C.

4

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Su 1pm; W 6pm. Through 5/25. $57. E. Claire Raley

professional female playwright (a contemporary of William Shakespeare) is both timely and timeless in ways that are surprising.

As ribald as anything by the Bard, it gives a new— or old—take on the idea that “girls just wanna have fun.” Gail Dartez directs an outstanding cast that features two remarkable characterizations, that of Ian Hopps as the charming rogue Wilmore and that of self-effacing Paj Crank as the hilarious Ned Blunt. Th, F and Sa 8pm. Through 5/28. $10-$20. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigidea theatre.org. J.C.

On StanDS 5.26

This is a zany adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic by B Street playwright Greg Alexander.

This time around, Alice is a whiny teenager lost without her internet connection.

Good performances in a weird script, suited for ages 5 and up. Sa, Su 1pm and 4pm. Through 5/22. $15$20. B Street Theatre, 2711 B Street; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. B.S.

y Alicia, inspired by an old photograph from prerevolutionary Cuba, is outstanding. Th, F, Sa 7pm;

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Detroit soul city Motown The Musical makes a stop as part of the Broadway Sacramento this week. This touring “jukebox musical” packs in 50-plus pop and soul hits from the 1960s. All the tunes here were ones released by Detroit’s Motown Records, which launched black megastars such as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

Songs include “Aint’ No Mountain High Enough,” “My Girl” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” $24-$97; 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; Community Center Theatre, 1301 L Street; (916) 557-1999; www.californiamusicaltheatre.com.

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The Nice Guys “In the ’70s, we didn’t need drones. We had mustaches and we were happy.”

4

by JIm LaNe

to join him. Rounding out the team is March’s adolescent daughter Holly (a newcomer named Angourie Rice), a savvy young woman who just may be a smarter detective than her old man.

The trailers for director Shane Black’s The Nice Where Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a send-upGuys boast that it’s “from the director of Iron Man cum-homage to the films noirs of the 1940s, for 3.” It would be more fitting to say “from the direcThe Nice Guys, Black and co-writer Anthony tor of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” but Kiss Kiss Bang Bagarozzi have an inspiration more specific Bang was a flop that barely recouped its modest and closer in time: The Rockford Files, the best $15 million budget. private eye series in the history of television.

Still, it had its admirers—I was one of Black gets away with more violence, profanity them—and The Nice Guys makes a great and nudity than network TV would ever companion piece. Like Kiss Kiss Bang tolerate, but his mix of mystery Bang, which teamed Robert Downey and deadpan comedy, the 1970s Jr. with Val Kilmer, The Nice Guys clothes and cars, and Philippe is an amusingly convoluted murder Rousselot’s sun-scalded Ryan Gosling mystery unraveled (more or less) cinematography, all provide a especially shows a by a mismatched team of bottomworld in which James Garner’s feeding detectives.

Jim Rockford would be right hilarious flair for It’s Los Angeles, 1977, and the at home. physical comedy. odd couple here are Jackson Healy As with Kiss Kiss Bang (Russell Crowe)—a thug-for-hire for Bang, Black is better on set-up anybody who wants somebody beaten and complication than he is up—and Holland March (Ryan Gosling), on follow-through and tying off the kind of desperate gumshoe who’ll work loose ends. But when a ride is as wild for a dotty old lady who claims her husband is and as much fun as this, we can overlook it missing when his cremation urn is plainly displayed if he doesn’t quite stick the landing. Crowe on the mantel. and Gosling wallow gloriously in Black and Healy and March’s first meeting isn’t promising. Bagarozzi’s spiky dialogue, and Gosling March is looking for a mysterious young woman especially shows a hilarious flair for physical named Amelia, but Amelia doesn’t want to be comedy. found, and she hires Healy—who promptly breaks The last scene sets us up for a sequel, and March’s arm. the idea of a franchise is appealing. Let’s hope But two other guys are looking for Amelia, and the damn thing earns more than a measly they ambush Healy. He’s tough and quick enough $15 million. Ω to escape their clutches, but Amelia probably won’t be so lucky. So Healy decides to team up with March to find and protect the girl; now all he has to do is convince March, broken arm and all,

1 2 3 4 5 Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

excellent

fiLm CLiPS

2

BY DANIEL BARNES & JIM LANE

Captain America: Civil War

When the U.N. cracks down on the “renegade” superheroes of the Avengers, one faction, led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), agrees that oversight is in order, while Captain America (Chris Evans) and others distrust government and stand up for individual super-freedom. Thus the stage is set for a showdown, with all the CGI mayhem $250 million can buy. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directors Anthony and Joe Russo make a cheerful show of it, giving their gee-whiz comic book audience all they could wish for— and more. But that’s the problem—it’s still just 90 minutes worth of story stretched out to two-and-a-half hours. Still, lovers of the Marvel universe can never get too much, while the rest of us grumble about the Bach we could be listening to, the Tolstoy we could be reading. J.L.

3

3

A Hologram for a King

Ah, white people—there truly is no personal issue so crushingly banal or microscopically inconsequential that they can’t tell a soggy, quasi-inspirational story about heroically overcoming it. Tom Hanks plays disgraced American businessman Alan Clay, who tries to find redemption in the unlikeliest of places: himself (cue AM rock staples). More concretely, Hanks’ IT salesman is trying to find personal and economic redemption in Saudi Arabia, where he has been sent to pitch the monarchy on a hologram conferencing system.

That’s what the movie is about, I swear to God— Tom Hanks looking for Wi-Fi in the desert. And yet for all of the arms-crossed ill will that the premise engenders, writer-director Tom Tykwer has enough conviction and verve to hold your interest. D.B.

3

Keanu

The TV comedy team of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele make their bigscreen debut as two nerds who go undercover (and over their heads) infiltrating an L.A. gang by pretending to be two out-of-town badasses—all to retrieve a beloved kitten stolen during a home invasion robbery. The movie isn’t to all tastes, and not for the prudish or easily offended; Key & Peele (abetted by director Peter Atencio and Peele’s co-writer Alex Rubens) trade in outlandish gender and racial stereotypes in a spirit of extravagant ridicule, and the violence (like the comedy) is way over the top, including the murder of Anna Faris (guest-starring as herself). But their anything-for-a-laugh method benefits from good comic instincts, and the gags come so fast that the duds are swamped by the frequent laugh-out-loud moments. J.L.

3

and save.

See how the show in the movie and the movie itself have the same name? That’s how you know it’s good.

Green Room

Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier follows up his energizing breakthrough Blue Ruin with this intense but generally unimaginative thriller. Anton Yelchin stars as the guitarist and reluctant leader of a bleary-eyed D.C. hardcore band on a disastrous cross-country tour that dead-ends in the Pacific Northwest. The band takes one last paying gig at a bar in the woods before heading home, but when they stumble upon a dead body in the green room, they are forced to defend themselves against neo-Nazi bar owner Patrick Stewart (playing against type, just not very well) and his hatchet-wielding minions. Saulnier excels at awkwardly violent and shocking set pieces but his comfort with intricate plotting and distinctive dialogue is still in the developmental stages. When it comes to suspense, he’s like a musician who knows all the notes but can’t find the rhythm, and Green Room is surprisingly plodding for a terse, largely single-set potboiler. D.B.

The Meddler

Susan Sarandon is the titular busybody, a widow of a wealthy husband with nowhere to spread her inherited riches, ignored by her exasperated single daughter (Rose Byrne) and habitually paired off with sweaty schmoes symbolized by Michael McKean. Cut off by her daughter, Sarandon’s Marnie sticks

Shop

3

Money Monster

The flamboyant host of a TV financial advice program (George Clooney) and his producer (Julia Roberts) are taken hostage on the air by a bomb-brandishing working-class schlub who lost his life savings (Jack O’Connell). Director Jodie Foster grapples reasonably well, probably better than could be expected, with the uneasy mix of comedy and menace in Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore and Jim Kouf’s script. But in the end, neither she nor the cast can overcome the script’s basic problems: (1) the ending is anticlimactic and unsatisfying; (2) O’Connell’s character is a nitwit, the perfect illustration of that old saying about a fool and his money; and (3) there’s something a little too smarmy about a Hollywood studio turning out a screw-Wall-Street movie for the purpose of increasing the value of its own stock. J.L.

her nose elsewhere, befriending an Apple Store staff member (because it’s just fun when they work the product placement into the plot) and romancing a retired cop played by J.K. Simmons (getting a rare shot at the Sam Elliott role, bushy white mustache and all, and totally nailing it). Writer-director Lorene Scafaria made The Meddler as a tribute to her own mother, but for every moment of cut-to-the-bone truth and sharp wit there is a matching scene of low-brow comedy like the one where Sarandon eats an entire bag of raw marijuana flowers and then gets crazy high, even though that’s not how that works. D.B.

2

Papa Hemingway in Cuba

Celebrity suck-up biopics, stories of famous people told through the eyes of their bottom-feeding sycophants, has become a subgenre in the world of independent film. Just in the last year, we’ve seen Elvis & Nixon, Miles Ahead, The End of the Tour and Life, all told from the point of view of a person tangentially related to the film’s ostensible subject. It’s an easy way to offer an awards-baiting role to a slumming actor while also avoiding paying for the rights to a life story that anyone cares about. In the plodding Papa Hemingway in Cuba, the story of the great writer’s final days takes a back seat to Giovanni Ribisi as Ed Myers, a real-life journalist/fanboy who conned and cajoled his way into Hemingway’s favor. It was shot in Cuba at Hemingway’s actual house and haunts, but that’s all there is to recommend. D.B.

2

Ratchet & Clank

An adorable little catlike creature (voice

by James Arnold Taylor) and his equally adorable robot sidekick (David Kaye) join the peacekeeping Galactic Rangers to thwart the evil plans of a mad villain (Paul Giamatti) who is running around destroying planets. Once you get tired of counting off the ripoffs from Star Wars, Power Rangers and so forth, questions inevitably pop into your head while watching this bubble-gum movie: When are the geniuses in Hollywood going to learn that no movie based on a video game has ever made a dime at the

box office? Did Paul Giamatti lose a bet, or owe somebody a favor? How did this junk ever escape from the Cartoon Network? The original 2002 game was developed by a company called, ironically, Insomniac Games—a condition that this movie is guaranteed to remedy. J.L.

3

Remember

3

Sing Street

Christopher Plummer stars as Zev, a newly widowed Holocaust survivor suffering from dementia in Atom Egoyan’s chilly but overly broad mystery Remember. Reeling even further into memory loss after the death of his second wife, Zev slips out of his nursing home and embarks on a hazy mission of revenge against the Auschwitz butcher who murdered his entire family. Zev scrawls notes on his body in order to assist with his periodic memory resets, while a shadowy figure from his past guides him towards the (not very) shocking truth. In other words, this is basically a non-backward Memento with Alzheimer’s and Nazis, informed more by Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s career-long obsession with coping mechanisms in response to unspeakable tragedy than by concerns about momentum and suspense. Plummer does fine work in the lead role, but the supporting players tend to go way over-the-top, especially Dean Norris as a neo-Nazi cop. D.B.

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In 1980s Dublin, a teenage boy (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), tired of being bullied— from both ends, as it were, by priests and other students at his school—and eager to impress a mysterious girl he meets (Lucy Boynton), impulsively decides to form a band. Writer-director John Carney’s flippantly cheeky movie-musical echoes tales of the 1960s rise of bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones: idle knockabout teens forming bands to pick up “birds,” then gradually evolving a sound all their own. And there’s more than a hint of the anarchic, freewheeling spirit (and contagiously joyous music) of A Hard Day’s Night. The only drawback for American ears is the mumbled, almost impenetrable Irish accents (subtitles might help); otherwise, great fun, with a terrific Euro-grunge soundtrack. J.L.

05.19.16 | SN&R | 29

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30 | SN&R | 05.19.16

by Becky Grunewald

LADIES BULL RIDING CONTEST!

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Sunny times That includes the aforementioned Iris DeMent.

Goodman says she listened to DeMent’s classic album Infamous Angel every day in elementary school.

Another influence on the album was producer Ryan Adams, who brought the band in for a whirlwind, weeklong recording session in his studio.

Goodman first bonded with Adams over their shared love of early ’80s hardcore. Over the years, they’ve toyed with the la Sera: Todd wisenbaker, katy Goodman and los angeles. idea of starting a hardcore band, even going so far as to write a few songs. Those songs are lost now, having lived on a computer that has since died.

Katy Goodman is reminiscing about her childhood Wisenbaker was independently introduced to love of country singer Iris DeMent when a skirmish Adams

by Jenny Lewis when he was producing her breaks out between her two cats. The singeralbum, and the two men became, in Goodman’s songwriter of La Sera admonishes one, Miles, to words, “phone friends.” When it came time to pick “chill out, bro.” a producer for the album, Adams was the logical It’s a cozy, domestic scene in her Los Angeles choice. His response? “Fuck yeah, let’s do it!” home, and one befitting the sunny, beatific vibes of Adams pushed Goodman to let loose with her indie rock outfit La Sera’s latest record, Music for voice. And for the first time in La Sera history, she Listening to Music to. also sang live while the guitars and drums were Goodman’s husband and bandmate, Todd being tracked, which lent a coherent mood and Wisenbaker, had just stepped out to get an amp a notable warmth to the 10 tracks. Plus, repaired in preparation for the five-week Adam’s studio lacks high-tech U.S. tour they’re currently on. It’s recording equipment.

Goodman’s longest tour since 2009, “It’s all a very analog, which was with her first band, old-school studio. Based on the influential and critically the equipment there and the acclaimed Vivian Girls. vibe, it was like we were With Music for Listening to recording an album in the Music to, Wisenbaker rose to ’70s,” Goodman says. “It greater prominence in the band. was all tape. It was like For the first time, he’s pictured creepy, weird lamps. … Not on an album cover. He also a Pro Tools scenario. Very makes his La Sera singing debut Katy Goodman old, L.A. rock and roll.” on three tracks. Goodman sounds singer-songwriter, La Sera Does Goodman, a New just a teeny bit annoyed when that Jersey native, think she’ll stay in issue is raised, probably for the 100th L.A., a city that’s been so influential time, and points out that Wisenbaker has on her sound in the last few years? been in La Sera for four years, “almost the entirety “L.A. is definitely the background for La Sera,” of the band,” but concedes that for the first time, the she says. “I started La Sera and a month later moved album is “showcasing his voice.” to L.A. and it was like that was the next phase of my He’s also partially responsible for the country-ish life, kind of like it started all at once. I feel like I’m twang found on much of the record. still in that phase.” Ω “I probably wouldn’t listen to as much country photo by Jake Michaels

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“L.A. is definitely the background for La Sera.”

as I do if I wasn’t married to Todd, but I did kind of grow up on country. Or, like, country folk,” Goodman says. “My mom is from West Virginia and her influence on my musical tastes growing up was very country-based.”

check out la sera at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, at the Davis odd Fellows lodge, 415 second street in Davis. titus andronicus is also on the bill. tickets are $15. learn more at http://iamkatygoodman.com.

SouNd advice

Feelin’ festive Get out: Memorial Day weekend is coming up, and with it, music festivals.

BottleRock Napa Valley is sold out, but there are always ways to snag last-minute tickets if you’ve got the passion and the funds. The three-day lineup includes big names like Stevie Wonder, Florence + the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Lumineers and Lenny Kravitz. Being Napa, there’s plenty of fine wine and delicious food, which also signals the return of the popular culinary stage. Last year, huge crowds showed up to watch Snoop Dogg rolling sushi and Flavor Flav frying chicken alongside celebrity

chefs. This year’s culinary talent is even more impressive than last year, and nonchef sous chefs include Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt (Green Day), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) and Cheech & Chong. Learn more at www.bottlerocknapavalley.com.

For something decidedly smaller and less corporate-feeling, consider the 63rd Strawberry Music Festival.

With camping, kids activities, jam sessions and a lineup highlighting bluegrass acts, indie folk bands and singer-songwriters, it promises to be a family-friendly fun time. Tickets range from $50 for a single evening to $250 for four days with camping at the Nevada County Fairgrounds (11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley).

More at http://strawberrymusic.com.

Then, there’s the Sacramento Music Festival, right in our backyard of Old Sacramento. More than 60 acts will perform in more than a dozen venues over the course of four days.

Once again, there’s an emphasis on jazz, blues and rock. Locals make up a large chunk of the lineup, such as Joy & Madness, Todd Morgan & the Emblems and Vivian Lee. As for headliners, look forward to ’70s band Pablo Cruise, rockabilly bassist the Stray Cat Lee Rocker and swing revival act Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. A complete festival pass goes for $125; single day passes cost $25-$55. Grab ’em at http://sacmusicfest.com.

And a final note: Check out SN&R next week for a music feature about Operation Restore Maximum Freedom, the annual festival by Davis station KDVS, also taking place the same weekend. Think Burger Records bands with local favorites like Screature for the 16th iteration,

all at Sudwerks Brewery (2001 Second Street in Davis).

Yep, the beer shall flow.

Decisions, decisions.

—Janelle Bitker jan el l e b @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

Jazz explorers: What does a sandstorm sound like? This is the question I imagine the members San Kazakgascar asked themselves as they went into the studio to record Twice-Baked Coma.

The psyche-jazz, fusion five-piece defies genre and has done so since 2009’s Idle Ships. Collectively, San Kazagascar is Jed Brewer on guitar, Greg Hain on bass, Chris Hall on saxophone, Robert Kennedy on drums and Tony Passarell on keys, sax, and percussion. Past incarnations embodied a seemingly no wave exotica. The Doors, Sonic Youth and Les Baxter all collide in a San Kazakgascar album. But, April’s Twice-Baked Coma is a four-track frenzy that skronks with an intensity that keeps the sand dunes in disruption. Opener “Sour Creek” is a whirlwind, dizzying and climbing in its build. “Sticky Kitchen” tapers off to a degree. The group settles into a Saharan rock groove, while saxophonist Hall wails like Mingus.

Again, fusion is in full swing, but Twice-Baked Coma feels less at odds with itself.

As inventive and inviting to comparison as San Kazakgascar felt in past recordings, Twice-Baked Coma locks into non-western tradition.

There’s no New York here. No postpunk nor no wave. By “The Tired Shopkeeper,” San Kazakgascar has given itself almost entirely to a foreign region—the dust has settled. “Bullet Train” simply earns its title.

Like the exotica of the 1950s, the EP is men with mostly caucasian names making Middle Eastern music.

But San Kazakgascar should not be construed as colonialist. There is a tradition and adaptation at play, pillars of jazz that prevent a reduction of Twice-Baked Coma as flippant.

My suggestion is to ask the band at its upcoming Press Club performance on Sunday, May 29, about its influences. There are sources at play, they’re just not in our immediate lexicon.

—Blake Gillespie

05.19.16 | SN&R | 31

21 SAT

21 SAT

21 SAT

22 S UN

Poppet

Jackie Greene

Would-Be Train Robbers

Ty Herndon

Warehouse artist Lofts, 3 p.m., no cover

center for the arts, 8 p.m., $40-$42

Your quadrant of Midtown is not legit if it lacks a street party—that’s the new rule in Sacramento 3.0. WAL is shutting down a block of the R Street Corridor INdIe to erect a stage where funkified groove theorists Ideateam will be joined by the Met High School Band, folk-rock maven Sea of Bees and baroque-pop wonder Poppet (pictured). Two words for the lineup: local, dynamic. But, it will be Sea of Bees and Poppet that will be delivering the most transcendental performances. Each singer wields impressive pipes, uncommon abandon and intensity in performance that will arrest the party. 1104 R Street, www.poppet.us.

shine, 8 p.m., $7

Jackie Greene has been crafting albums since 2002, yet his music is a throwback to an even earlier time—that brief sweet spot after rock was done with the psychedelic glamour of the ’70s and hadn’t yet morphed into the mighty hair bands of the ’80s.

Songs were simple, direct and genuine; Greene’s music is similar, a kind of workingman’s rock, with unabashed soulful leanings that amplify the “realness” of his lyrics. In his 2015 album Back to Birth, AMeRICANA Greene’s crooning guitar licks keep the tunes rootsy, while his vocal melodies often deliver a measured yet emotive dose of soul. 314 West Main Street in Grass Valley, www.jackiegreene.com.

—BLake GiLLespie

centraL park, 11 a.m., no cover

Would-Be Train Robbers is made up of bluesy guitar solos, full-bodied percussion and punchy bass lines. Plus, the three-piece rock ’n’ roll band doesn’t skimp on the keys, which elevates its overall sound and adds just enough soul to the party courtesy of vocalist-guitarist Kolton James’ Hammond organ. Would-Be’s self-titled debut ROCK came out last December and showcases the band’s versatility with 12 songs inundated in ’70s proto-punk, blues and pop-rock. Think T. Rex or the New York Dolls stitched together with a little bit of Elvis Costello flair. What’s not to like? MindFlowers and Redleaf will also perform. 1400 E Street, www.wouldbetrainrobbers.com.

—amy Bee

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com

Country music is arguably the least queer-friendly genre around. In 2014, Grammy-nominated Ty Herndon became one of only a handful of country COUNTRy singers to come out publicly. In past interviews, he’s said that he knew he was gay since childhood, but had trouble reconciling that with two major parts of his identity: Christianity and country.

This all makes him a prime headliner for Davis Pride, which got resurrected last year after an inactive decade. Also slated to play is ethereal electropop group the Seshen out of the Bay Area and local Davis musician James Williams. 401 C Street in Davis, www.tyherndon.com.

—steph rodriGuez

—JaneLLe Bitker

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.momosacramento.com

Coming Soon 5/19 6PM $20aDV

5/24 $20aDV 6:30PM

B.O.B.

Father

SCOTTy aTL, LONDON JaE (aLL aGES)

(aLL aGES)

5/20 $22aDV 7PM

5/25 $30aDV 7PM

Kris allen

Ginuwine

MaRIE MILLER, CONNOR & KaRLEE

KaRLOS FaRRaR

5/21 $15aDV 9PM

5/26 $20aDV 5:30PM

(MICHaEL JaCKSON TRIBuTE)

aND THE TROuBS

antsy Mcclain

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5/22 $8aDV 6PM

Musical charis (aLL aGES)

5/27 8PM $15aDV

MiKe lOve

32 | SN&R | 05.19.16

ETHaN TuCKER

05/28 05/28 06/01 06/02 06/03 06/04 06/06 06/08 06/09 06/10 06/11 06/11 06/12 06/16 06/17 06/18 06/19 06/22 06/25 06/26 06/28 06/29 07/01 07/15 07/16

Justin James World’s Finest Islands Orgone Tim Heidecker Peter Case / Dan Bern Domo Genesis Del Tha Funky Homosapien Monophonics / Shook Twins Prince Birthday Tribute Mania: Beatles Experience The Gatlin Cherry Glazerr Pete Rock & CL Smooth Wonderbread 5 Johnny Taylor (Comedy Taping) Chris Webster & Nina Gerber Curren$y Zepparella Royce Da 5’9 Together Pangea Electric Six Jacquees Vienna Teng Slaid Cleaves

5/19

B.O.B. cOncerT afTer ParTY (FRee witH conceRt ticket)

5/27

DJ auDiO 1

5/20

DJ Julian Pierce

(San FRanciSco) (Hip-Hop/R&B) 5/28

eric fOrBes

(Hip Hop/R&B)

5/21

(laS VegaS) (open FoRmat)

DJ Oasis anD ThOmas YOung (open FoRmat)

5/22 6:30pm $10

cOmeDY Burger FeatuRing ngaio Bealum

5/29 Social aRcHitectS pReSent

The BluePrinT suiTe witH DJ play

BREaKinG DoWn RacE BaRRiERS WiTH pELvic THRUSTS.

24 T UE

25 W ED

26 T HU

26 T HU

Father

Ginuwine

The James Hunter Six

Tumbleweed Wanderers

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 6:30 p.m., $20-$25 Atlanta rapper Father makes bangers, and catchy ones at that. As the head of Awful Records and a new figure in Atlanta, he brings an alternative voice to party scene.

That’s not to say he doesn’t make party music. His 2015 record Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First? is an unapologetic record about sex, but with more selfHip-Hop reflection than the title might suggest. His latest, I’m a Piece of Shit, goes full on. It’s a really deep, vulnerable album, full of blunt honesty, regrets, unflattering selfdiscovery and low-key, surreal beats. The tracks still bounce, though. 2708 J Street, www.imdefinitelyapieceofshit.com.

—aaron carnes

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 8 p.m., $30-$35 What kind of sorcery is Ginuwine’s legendary single “Pony”? So many kinds. It was a sex bomb to begin with when it came out R&B in 1996, hitting middle-school and high-school dance floors across the country like a heat wave. Then there was the music video: Ginuwine and friends invading a lessthan-progressive-looking honky-tonk bar and breaking down race barriers with pelvic thrusts. Then there was Magic Mike. And Magic Mike XXL. This song’s been a fever for 20 years and won’t be cooling down any time soon. R&B singer Karlos Farrar will be joining him as part of the Ice Kream Man Tour. 2708 J Street, www.facebook.com/ginuwineofficial.

—Deena Drewis

nevaDa county FairgrounDs, 9 p.m., $20-$250 English R&B singer and guitarist James Hunter returns to the area to headline the first day of the annual Strawberry Music Festival. MOJO magazine crowned him “the United Kingdom’s greatest soul singer” upon reviewing Hold On!, his latest release for Daptone Records, and the praise for his album is anything but hyperbole. Also on the weekend’s ticket is the David Grisman quartet, the Wood Brothers, Mavis Staples, R&B Tim O’Brien and Mary Gauthier. Bring a blanket, low-back chair and a smile to one of the best venues within a 100-mile radius. The festival runs through Sunday, May 29.

11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley, www.jameshuntermusic.com.

sopHia’s tHai KitcHen, 9 p.m., $7-$10 You might be able to glean from the band’s name that it trades in roots-tinged Americana, and the Bay Area FoLK natives have had a good go at it, opening up for the likes of Jackie Greene (who is also playing in town this week) and Angus Stone. The band’s most recent release, Realize, which came out last year, shows maturation, moving more toward Jayhawks and Wilco territory, with heady whiffs here and there of the Black Keys.

Pleasing, nostalgic stuff. Blues-folk band Ohioan opens up with its narrative, mournful tunes about Appalachia. 129 E Street in Davis, http://tumbleweedwanderers.com.

—Deena Drewis

—eDDie Jorgensen

05.19.16 | SN&R | 33

THURSDAY 5/19

FRIDAY 5/20

SATURDAY 5/21

BADLANDS

JODY WISTERNOFF, CUE 22, FREDDY SILVA; 9pm, $5-$15

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Spectacular Saturdays, 10pm, call for cover

Sunday Tea Dance and Beer Bust, 4pm, call for cover

Big Mondays happy hour all night, M; Karaoke, Tu; Trapicana, W

BAR 101

Thursday Comedy Open Mic, 7:30pm, call for cover

BILLY MANZIK, 9pm, call for cover

DEAR LEFT BRAIN, 9pm, call for cover

DYLAN CRAWFORD, 2pm, call for cover

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

BLUE LAMP

24/7, G WILL, YOUNG ZOE, MASTA STEELE, REEK DADDY; 9pm, $15

M.D.C., SHOVE-IT, BEER LORDS, MDL; 8pm, $10-$12

N-men Summer Party, 8pm, call for 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.

101 Main St., Roseville; (916) 774-0505 1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

THE BOARDWALK

314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 274-8384 4007 Taylor Rd., Loomis; (916) 652-4007

RED CITY RADIO, 8pm M; GREENER GROUNDS, 8pm Tu, $10; Comedy, W

THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, 8pm, $47-$52

JACKIE GREENE, 8pm, $40-$42

WAY OUT WEST, 10pm, no cover

WESTBOUND 50, 9pm, no cover

SAWYER FREDERICKS, MIA Z; 3pm and 7:30pm, $20-$22 Corn Hole Tourney, 6pm Tu, no cover

DISTRICT 30

Thomas Jack, 10pm, $12.50

FACES

Everything Happens dancing and karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

Absolut Fridays dance party, 9pm, $5-$10

Party Time dance party with Sequin Saturdays drag show at 9:30pm, $5-$12

FOX & GOOSE

THE MIKE JUSTIS BAND, 8pm, no cover

THE SEA LEGS, BLAKE ABBEY, RICH DRIVER; 9pm, $5

DOLORES 5000, THE BOTTOM FEEDERS, KATMONKEYS; 9pm, $5

Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub quiz, 7pm Tu; All Vinyl Wednesdays, 6pm W, no cover

GOLDFIELD TRADING POST

Line dancing lessons, call for time and cover

Country DJ dancing, call for time and cover

Open-mic night, M

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

Karaoke happy hour, 7pm, no cover

DURAN DURAN DURAN, 9pm, $5

REBEL YELL, 9pm, $5

Trivia night, 7pm Tu; Bingo, 1pm W; Paint night, 6:30pm W, $25

HARLOW’S

B.O.B, SCOTTY ATL, LONDON JAE; 7pm, $20-$25

KRIS ALLEN, MARIE MILLER, CONNOR & KARLEE; 8pm, $22-$25;

FOREVERLAND Michael Jackson Tribute, 10pm, $15-$18

THE HIDEAWAY BAR & GRILL

Punk and glam night with DJ Annimal, 9pm, no cover

MILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAY, JENNY DON’T & THE SPURS; 9pm, $5-$6

LUNA’S CAFE & JUICE BAR

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

Sac Unified Poetry Slam, 8pm, call for cover

Open mic, 3pm, no cover; MIKEY LP, BRIAN RINEHART; 8pm, $5

Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M; Open-mic comedy, Tu; Comix!, 8pm W

Hatcha, Prism, LB & Konfusion; 10pm, $5-$10

Throwdown with Grum, Cue22, B-Funky, Mike & Wike, New Gen; 10pm, $10-$25

Salsa Wednesday, 7:30pm W, $5

EUGENE UGLY, VINNIE GUIDERA AND THE DEAD BIRDS; 8:30pm, $5

JEREMY SETTLES, SAGEBRUSH RUNNER; 8:30pm, $5

NAKED LOUNGE QUINTET, 8:30pm M; KORTET, 8:30pm W, $5

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

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.

STEVE POLTZ, GRANT LEE PHILLIPS; 8pm, $22-$25

COUNTRY CLUB SALOON

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Hey local bands!

1603 J St., (916) 476-5076

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 626-6366 2708 J St., (916) 441-4693 2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331 1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931

Well groomed, 10pm, call for cover

MIDTOWN BARFLY

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

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN 1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

MAC RUSS, COLIN CURTIN TRIO; 8:30pm, $5

FRIDAY, MAY 20

HATEBREED / DEVIL DRIVER DEVIL YOU KNOW

FRIDAY, MAY 27

FRIGHTENED RABBIT SATURDAY, MAY 28

KATCHAFIRE

MYSTIC ROOTS - ELEMENTS OF SOUL - DOLLAR$HORT

MONDAY, MAY 30

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

THE RIDDLE BOX TOUR

TUESDAY, MAY 31

STEPHEN “RAGGA” MARLEY

Sunday Mass with heated pool, drag show, 2pm, no cover

MUSICAL CHARIS, 6:30pm, $8-$10

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05.19.16

FATHER, 7:30pm Tu, $20-$25; GINUWINE, KARLOS FARRAR; 8pm W, $35

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

ALL AGES WELCOME!

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

JOSH THOMPSON MARK MACKAY

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8

A$AP FERG & TORY LANEZ MADEINTYO

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

IAMSU! SKIPPER - SHOW BANGA

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

THE GROWLERS

JONATHAN RICHMAN FEAT. TOMMY LARKINS ON DRUMS

SATURDAY, JUNE 11

MORGAN HERITAGE

THE SKINTS - SQUAREFIELD MASSIVE - TWO PEACE

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL DIMPLE RECORDS LOCATIONS AND ARMADILLO RECORDS 34

EDM and karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5

Cactus Pete’s 78 RPM Record Roundup, 8pm Tu; Twisted Trivia, W

ACE OF SPADES

SN&R

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/23-5/25

ACT OF DEFIANCE, MOTORIZE, BLACK, SCOTT ALLEN PROJECT; 6:30pm, $14

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

SUNDAY 5/22

COMING

SOON

06/18

Leon Larregui

06/19

Waka Flocka Flame

06/22

Berner

06/25

Birdy

06/28

Belly

07/08

Restrayned

07/22

Carcass

07/23

Julieta Venegas

07/26

Savages

07/29

Biz Markie

08/04

Aaron Watson

08/18

Fitz & The Tantrums

08/22

Digitour Summer 2016

08/30

Explosions In The Sky

09/10

Jake Bugg

09/14

Josh Abbott Band

09/17

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

09/28

Echo & The Bunnymen

THURSDAY 5/19

FRIDAY 5/20

SATURDAY 5/21

OLD IRONSIDES

Open acoustic jam, 8pm, no cover

Feminist Fest benefit for WEAVE, 8pm, $10

Lipstick, 9pm, $5

ON THE Y

Open-mic stand-up comedy and karaoke, 8pm, no cover

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

SUNDAY 5/22

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/23-5/25 Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover; Open-mic, 9pm W, no cover

Saturday night karaoke, 8pm, no cover

Open 8-ball pool tournament, 7:30pm, $5

Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Dart and movie night, 7pm W, no cover

Morrissey’s Unhappy Birthday Party with DJ Roger Carpio, 5pm, no cover

Heavy Mondays metal night, 9pm M; DJ Rhubarb Santana, 9pm W

THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE

13 Main St., Winters; (530) 795-1825

PISTOL PETE’S

140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093

POUR HOUSE

Movement: New Order vs. OMD, 9pm, no cover

1910 Q St., (916) 706-2465

POWERHOUSE PUB

STRAIGHT SHOOTER, call for time and cover

JUMPSTART, call for time and cover

8 TRACK MASSACRE, call for time and cover

HARLIS SWEETWATER, 3pm, call for cover

Live band karaoke, 8pm Tu, call for cover; 98 Rock Local Licks, 8pm W

THE PRESS CLUB

PORCH, LOVE MOON; 9pm, $8

Press Club Fridays with DJ Rue, call for time and cover

Pop 40 Dance Party, 9pm, $5

DJ Larry’s Sunday Night Dance Party, 9pm, call for cover

BATTLEHOOCH, MONDO DECO, THE ROYAL JELLY; 9pm W, $8

SHADY LADY SALOON

HARLEY WHITE JR. ORCHESTRA, 9pm, no cover

THE GOLDEN CADILLACS, 9pm, no cover

PETER PETTY, 9pm, no cover

STARLITE LOUNGE

CASTLE, CRIMSON EYE, WORSHIP OF KERES; 8pm, $10

US Air Guitar Championship Qualifier, 9:30pm, $8

STONEY’S ROCKIN RODEO

Country DJ dancing and live band karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 8pm, $5-$7

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 8pm, $5

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

TORCH CLUB

Acoustic open-mic X-TRIO, 5pm; LEE GALLAGHER, 9pm, $6

PAILER & FRATIS, 5:30pm, no cover; PETER PETTY REVIEW, 9pm, $8

BACK IN THE VALLEY, 5:30pm, no cover; DANIEL CASTRO, 9pm, $8

Blues jam, 4pm; Front the Band karaoke, MICHAEL RAY, THE TRIP; 8pm Tu; 8pm, no cover ISLAND OF BLACK AND WHITE, 9pm W

614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586 2030 P St., (916) 444-7914 1409 R St., (916) 231-9121

1517 21st St., (916) 704-0711 1320 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 927-6023 904 15th St., (916) 443-2797

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

HATEBREED, DEVIL DRIVER; 7pm, $21-$25

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

CAFE COLONIAL

Open-mic, 9pm, no cover

3520 Stockton Blvd., (916) 736-3520

THE COLONY

3512 Stockton Blvd., (916) 718-7055

SHINE

Sac’s Coolest Open Jazz Jam, 8pm, no cover

1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 9am-5pm.

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

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FREE!*

*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.

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Colony Rummage Sale, 11am-5pm; JKKFO, SYSTEM ASSAULT; 8pm, $5

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Cory’s Cult Cinema, call for time, no cover

Tanice Jay with Iris Joy Friday 8pm, $10.

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Country DJ dancing, 8:30pm W, $5-$10

Million Dollar Giveaway with Jenny Don’t & the Spurs Friday 9pm, $5-$6.

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by JOEY GARCIA

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#1 PER N&R

No guilt, grandma For 10 years I have happily chauffeured my four grandkids to and from school and to after-school classes and events.

They also stay with me when my daughter and son-in-law travel. Quite unexpectedly, I met a wonderful man, and we are in love. My grandchildren adore him. My daughter, their mother, does everything she can to make me feel guilty about not being as available for childcare. Recently, she “forgot” to invite me to my granddaughter’s piano recital. When I found out and asked about it, she said that she thought I would be too busy to go. Arguing with her is exhausting. I don’t want to miss important moments in my grandchildren’s lives, but I also want my own life. Advice?

Yes. You’ve done nothing wrong. Make that your mantra whenever you’re circling another draining conversation with your daughter. As your thoughts go ’round trying to unearth her resentment, remember that you’ve done nothing wrong.

She’s enjoyed free childcare and you’ve enjoyed time with your grandchildren. It’s not selfish to want to make room in your schedule for a loving companion. Your grandchildren get it and have opened their hearts accordingly. If your daughter can’t pull on her big girl panties and be happy for you, well, you’ve done nothing wrong.

See how that works?

The only dilemma you must face is sleuthing out your grandchildren’s events. Try their school’s website. If it’s not detailed enough, or if the event isn’t school-related, let your grandchildren know that you would love to attend as many of their events as your schedule allows. Ask them to call or text you directly with details. But don’t cut your daughter out of the loop. Ask her regularly whether there are any upcoming events.

Remind her that you would like to attend.

If she makes a stink about your new man, tell her that he is a priority in your life, but not the only priority. Then give her a hug.

Eventually, she will stop pouting, or risk raising kids who act out, too.

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I live with my girlfriend and her three kids. She thinks she is a good mother but her kids have no structure in their lives. They go to bed when they want to, and eat what they want to eat whenever they’re hungry or bored. The two older kids don’t even pick up after themselves.

When I talk to my girlfriend she promises to be better but nothing changes. I feel badly for the kids. The way they’re being raised will hurt them later in life. But if I try to instruct them, they say, “You’re not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do.” It’s frustrating and causing a lot of tension in the household.

Did you notice this lack of structure and discipline before you moved in?

If so, did you imagine your role to be the authoritarian parent? That’s what’s causing tension and drama—your insistence on the right way to live. Yes, it’s possible that structure and discipline would help those kids. But you should have clued your girlfriend into your plan to transform her household before you moved in. I suspect you didn’t because you knew she wasn’t interested. At this point, you won’t create positive change. So accept the household as it is, or move out. Your relationship with your girlfriend doesn’t have to be over, but the tension and drama deserves to be. Ω

You’ve done nothing wrong.

MedITATIoN oF The Week “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive,” said Howard Thurman, author and civil rights leader.

Where is your joy?

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 Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@newsreview.com.

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What’s the right way to get crossfaded? My buddy who’s just getting into it won’t stop puking on my carpet.

—Amy Choor This is the best question I have received in a looooong time. Thank you. Getting “crossfaded” (being high on weed and drunk on booze at the same time) can be hella fun. The challenge is finding the right balance of booze and buds to keep it enjoyable and vomit-free.

Moderation is the first part. There is no reason to smoke all the weed and drink all the booze. A shot or two of this, a dab or two of that and you should be well on your way to finding a happy medium.

But I think the most important part is in what order you ingest your intoxicants. My research and experience have led me to understand that getting stoned before you get your drink on is the best way to avoid the spins and the hurls. Just say this to yourself before you start your adventure: Beer before bongs, you’re doing it wrong.

Bongs before beer, you’re in the clear.

Once you are drunk, it may be better to avoid the marijuana.

Don’t give into peer pressure. Be a responsible drug user. Have fun.

Be careful. Don’t drive. Also, baking soda is a great way to remove vomit from a carpet. Dump a box over the mess and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then vacuum. Good luck.

Are there any lessons for California from Oregon’s implementation of legalization?

—Wes Coast I think California could learn from all of the states that have legalized cannabis.

There have been a few hiccups, but Oregon probably has the best program so far. It’s been successful because the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has been pretty good about keeping taxes low and ensuring that the folks who have been in the game for a while can stay in the game. The biggest thing is not to strangle the new industry with too many taxes. Los Angeles wants to add an extra 15 percent tax to help the homeless. This is almost a good idea, but a 15 percent tax on top of the state tax and the excise tax (if Assembly Bill 2243 gets passed) will do nothing to create the low prices needed to compete with the black market. Colorado and Oregon and Washington all make way more money than they thought they would, so there is no need to squeeze every cent possible from a newly legal industry.

I also think California needs social clubs and cannabis lounges like they have in Alaska. Colorado is having a hard time because tourists can’t find anywhere to smoke, and Portland shut down two of its three social clubs because pot smoke is dangerous or something. There is language in the Adult Use of Marijuana Act initiative to allow for smoking clubs, so that may be one more reason to vote yes. Ω

Don’t give into peer pressure.

Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert.

Email him questions at ask420@newsreview.com.

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FRee will aStRology

by Kris HooKs

by rob brezsny

FOR THE WEEk OF MAY 26, 2016 ARIES (March 21-April 19): “An oar moves a

boat by entering what lies outside it,” writes poet Jane Hirshfield. You can’t use the paddle inside the boat! It’s of no value to you unless you thrust it into the drink and move it around vigorously. And that’s an excellent metaphor for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks, my friend. If you want to reach your next destination, you must have intimate and continual interaction with the mysterious depths that lie outside your known world.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The short attention span is now enshrined as the default mode of awareness. “We skim rather than absorb,” says author James Lough. “We read Sappho or Shakespeare the same way we glance over a tweet or a text message, scanning for the gist, impatient to move on.” There’s a problem with that approach, however. “You can’t skim Shakespeare,” says Lough. I propose that we make that your epigram to live by in the coming weeks, Taurus: You can’t skim Shakespeare. According to my analysis, you’re going to be offered a rich array of Shakespeare-level information and insights.

To get the most out of these blessings, you must penetrate and marinate and ruminate.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “There are situations

in life when it is wisdom not to be too wise,” said Friedrich Schiller. The coming days may be one of those times for you. I therefore advise you to dodge any tendency you might have to be impressed with your sophisticated intelligence. Be suspicious of egotism masquerading as cleverness. You are most likely to make good decisions if you insist on honoring your raw instincts. Simple solutions and uncomplicated actions will give you access to beautiful truths and truthful beauty, especially if you anchor yourself in innocent compassion.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): To prepare you for

the coming weeks, I have gathered three quotes from the Bulgarian writer Elias Canetti. These gems, along with my commentary, will serve you well if you use them as seeds for your ongoing meditations. Seed No. 1: “He would like to start from scratch. Where is scratch?” Here’s my addendum: No later than your birthday, you’ll be ready to start from scratch. In the meantime, your task is to find out where scratch is, and clear a path to it. Seed No. 2: “All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams.” My addendum: Monitor your dreams closely. They will offer clues about what you need to remember.

Seed No. 3: “Relearn astonishment, stop grasping for knowledge, lose the habit of the past.” My addendum: Go in search of the miraculous.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “There are friendships

like circuses, waterfalls, libraries,” said writer Vladimir Nabokov. I hope you have at least one of each, Leo. And if you don’t, I encourage you to go out and look for some. It would be great if you could also get access to alliances that resemble dancing lessons, colorful sanctuaries, lion whisperers, prayer flags and the northern lights. Right now you especially need the stimulation that synergistic collaborations can provide. The next chapter of your life story requires abundant contact with interesting people who have the power to surprise you and teach you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Perfection is a stick

with which to beat the possible,” says author Rebecca Solnit. She is of course implying that it might be better not to beat the possible, but rather to protect and nurture the possible as a viable option—especially if perfection ultimately proves to have no value other than as a stick.

This is always a truth worth honoring, but it will be crucial for you in the weeks to come. I hope you will cultivate a reverence and devotion to the possible. As messy or maddening as it might be, it will also groom your powers as a maker.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): An invigorating

challenge is headed your way. To prepare you, I offer the wisdom of French author André Gide. “Through loyalty to the past,” he wrote, “our mind refuses to realize that tomorrow’s joy is possible only if today’s joy makes way for it.” What this means, Libra, is that you will probably have to surrender your attachment to a well-honed delight if you want to make yourself available for a bright new delight that’s hovering

on the frontier. An educational blessing will come your way if and only if you clear space for its arrival. As Gide concludes, “Each wave owes the beauty of its line only to the withdrawal of the preceding wave.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “How prompt

we are to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our bodies; how slow to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our souls!” Henry David Thoreau wrote that, and now I’m passing it on to you just in time for a special phase of your long-term cycle. During this upcoming interlude, your main duty is to feed your soul in every way you can imagine.

So please stuff it with unpredictable beauty and reverent emotions. Cram it with mysterious adventures and rambling treks in the frontier.

Gorge it with intimate unpredictability and playful love and fierce devotions in behalf of your most crucial dreams. Warning: You will not be able to rely solely on the soul food that has sustained you in the past. Be eager to discover new forms of nourishment.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Here’s how

every love letter can be summarized,” says Russell Dillon in his poem “Past-Perfect-Impersonal”: “What is it you’re unable to surrender and please may I have that?” I bring this tease to your attention because it may serve as a helpful riddle in the coming weeks. You’re entering a phase when you will have an enhanced ability to tinker with and refine and even revolutionize your best intimate relationships. I’m hoping Dillon’s provocation will unleash a series of inquiries that will inspire you as you imagine how you could supercharge togetherness and reinvent the ways you collaborate.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Fifth-century

Christian theologian St. Jerome wrote that “it requires infinite discretion to look for gold in the midst of dirt.” Ancient Roman poet Virgil on one occasion testified that he was “searching for gold in dung.” While addressing the angels, 19th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire bragged, “From each thing I extracted its quintessence. You gave me your mud, and I made gold out of it.” From what I can tell, Capricorn, you have been engaged in similar work lately.

The climax of your toil should come in the next two weeks. (Thanks to Michael Gilleland for the inspiration: tinyurl.com/mudgold.)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “At this time in

my life,” says singer Joni Mitchell, “I’ve confronted a lot of my devils. A lot of them were pretty silly, but they were incredibly real at the time.”

According to my reading of the astrological omens, Aquarius, you are due to enjoy a similar grace period. It may be a humbling grace period, because you’ll be invited to decisively banish worn-out delusions that have filled you with needless fear. And it may be a grace period that requires you to make strenuous adjustments, since you’ll have to revise some of your old stories about who you are and how you got here.

But it will also be a sweet grace period, because you’ll be blessed again and again with a visceral sense of liberation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): More than halfway

through her prose poem “A Settlement,” Mary Oliver abruptly stops her meandering meditation on the poignant joys of spring’s soft awakening.

Suddenly she’s brave and forceful: “Therefore, dark past, I’m about to do it. I’m about to forgive you for everything.” Now would be a perfect moment to draw inspiration from her, Pisces. I dare you to say it. I dare you to mean it. Speak these words: “Therefore, dark past, I’m about to do it.

I’m about to forgive you for everything.”

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.

Pure poetry “And the misery, and the / Anger, and the vow are the same.” Minutes after reciting that final line of Kenneth Rexroth’s “The Bad Old Days,” Chigozie Maduchukwu stood on a stage in the state Capitol and accepted first place at Poetry Out Loud’s California state championship. His rendition of the classic poem, as well as his recitation of two other poems

by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Elizabeth Bishop, also earned him a trip to D.C. for nationals. The junior from Pleasant Grove High School ultimately lost in the nation’s capital, but like many poets, Maduchukwu only performs for the love of the art … and also for SN&R.

What got you into poetry?

I’ve always liked literature. Writing poetry in my free time was enjoyable to me.

And then seeing my sister do [Poetry Out Loud] when I was younger was a really big push for me moving forward with it, because I saw that there was so much more to it than just reading and writing.

You chose the poems to recite in the competition, so what was special about the three you chose?

I looked for poems that I felt I could relate to right off the bat, or ones that I felt I could understand even if it wasn’t about something I had been through. … I didn’t just want one topic or genre.

How different is it reciting other authors’ poetry and reciting poetry that you write?

I know what emotions I have when I write my own poems, so it’s easy to know where I want, or what points I want emphasized.

But when you read somebody else’s poems … it’s a lot of reading, and re-reading, and re-reading them, reciting multiple times until you truly feel what someone was going through during that time.

What’s one of the most powerful lines in the three poems you chose for Poetry Out Loud?

I’d have to say a part in “The Bad Old Days” by Kenneth Rexroth, the third poem that I recite. Near the middle-end part, in the recitation where I start getting frustrated, he starts off with, “The sour smells of a thousand / Suppers of fried potatoes and / … Of my misery I felt rising / A terrible anger and out / Of the anger, an absolute vow.” I just really, really love that line.

PHOTO by kevin cOrTOPassi

With that said, let’s have you answer some questions by only using lines from poems.

In the words of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: “All the poet’s aspirations / Centre in that prayer for light.” It’s almost as if you pray and beg for the light, or the life, of the poet to enter yourself.

OK.

What is your poetry like compared to the poetry that you chose?

What makes a poem great?

Here’s a line from one of my poems: “It’s like the river, the space, or any sort of interpretation forever moving and growing.”

From my own piece of poetry: “Both complexity and simplicity interwoven into fabric of reality.” That’s what makes a poem great. How deep it is, but how easy it can be to understand all parts.

Where does your poetry draw its inspiration from?

So what makes a great poet?

From Elizabeth Bishop’s “Filling Station”: “the rows of cans / so that they softly say: / ‘esso-so-so-so’ / from high-strung automobiles.” It’s the environment that we have, and that’s where I draw my poetry from.

What’s the difference between reciting poetry for competition versus delivering poetry for expression?

A line from my own poetry, “Same difference equals some product.”

Basically, you have the same level of seriousness and desire to understand and to be understood. In the end, people will understand you, somewhere or some place.

When you’re reciting other authors’ poems, how do you make them your own?

Just one line from my own poetry, “Acceptance in one’s effort.” … I’ve read a small book of poems written by kids that are in grade school, and some of the poems are so interesting to read, but they don’t have medals or titles. They’re not acclaimed literary artists, but still their poetry is beautiful. That’s what makes a poet great.

What is the most important poem in history?

That one is hard. To me, the most important piece of poetry in history is “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” It’s a very common love poem, but I think the way it’s structured is so simple and easy to understand. …

To have a true passion for something or someone to count the ways you love them?

That’s my favorite poem by far. Ω

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