s-2018-07-05

+ Yas Queens of England stage, 26

+ A $10 Million Trail

+ Oh snap! the ’90s are Back

News, 08

Music, 30

The ConspiraCy

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Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 30, iSSue 12

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33 29 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 Eric Johnson News Editor Raheem F. Hosseini Managing Editor Mozes Zarate Staff Reporter Scott Thomas Anderson Copy Editor Steph Rodriguez Calendar Editor Maxfield Morris Contributors Daniel Barnes, Ngaio Bealum, Alastair Bland, Brad Branan, Rob Brezsny, Skye Cabrera, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Maia Paras Evrigenis, Joey Garcia, Kate Gonzales, Becky Grunewald, Jeff Hudson, Rebecca Huval, Matt Kramer, Jim Lane, Ken Magri, Michael Mott, Rachel Leibrock, Kate Paloy, James Raia, Patti Roberts, Steph Rodriguez, Shoka, Stephanie Stiavetti, Bev Sykes

30 Creative Services Manager Christopher Terrazas Creative Director Serene Lusano Editorial Designers Maria Ratinova, Sarah Hansel Publications Designer Katelynn Mitrano Web Design & Strategist Elisabeth Bayard Arthur Ad Designer Catalina Munevar, Naisi Thomas Contributing Photographers Rebecca Huval, Kate Gonzales Advertising Manager Michael Gelbman Sales & Production Coordinator Victoria Smedley Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Anne-Marie Boyland, Taleish Daniels, Mark Kates, Michael Nero, Julie Scheff Director of First Impressions/Sweetdeals Coordinator Skyler Morris Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Assistant Lob Dunnica Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Beatriz Aguirre, Rosemarie Beseler, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Daniel Bowen, Heather Brinkley, Kathleen Caesar, Mike Cleary, Tom Downing,

41 Marty Fetterley, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Joanna Kelly Hopkins, Julian Lang, Calvin Maxwell, Greg Meyers, Lloyd Rongley, Lolu Sholotan, Viv Tiqui N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Associate Editor Laura Hillen N&R Publications Writers Anne Stokes, Rodney Orosco Marketing & Publications Consultants Steve Caruso, Joseph Engle, Elizabeth Morabito, Traci Hukill, Celeste Worden President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Director of People & Culture David Stogner Nuts & Bolts Ninja Norma Huerta Project Coordinator Natasha vonKaenel Director of Dollars & Sense Debbie Mantoan FPayroll/AP Wizard Miranda Hansen Accounts Receivable Specialist Analie Foland Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins

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The ‘black mirror’ is real!

“The ‘black mirror’ of the title is the one you’ll find … in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a smartphone.” Writer-director Charlie Brooker, inspired by that image, created his dystopian television series about the unintended consequences of our technological revolution. The metaphor is spoton: Inside our devices, what do we find? A world algorithmically programmed for each of us alone.

What I see in my device is not what you see in your device. Increasingly, the world we see online is a world programmed to reflect our own interests and beliefs. The individuals, entities or algorithms generating content are themselves programmed to maximize our engagement—they exist only to generate clicks—and they’ve learned that the best thing, for click-production, is fear. And fear’s crazy cousin, paranoia.

As a result, the world we find in the palms of our hands can be more terrifying than any episode of Black Mirror.

A related phenomenon amplifies the insanity: with this thing in every hand, every individual can believe that they know everything. No longer infoslaves to journalistic gatekeepers or intellectual authorities, each individual can create their own truth. This has nurtured an epidemic of hyper-cynicism; a nation too jaded to believe any good news they hear, yet prone to believe the most unbelievably dark tale.

And so, some of our neighbors can produce published proof that the tragic 2017 mass-schoolshooting in Tehama County was a false-flag event staged by the gun-grabbing government. Others are convinced that Planned Parenthood is a plot to decimate the African-American population. On 4Chan, we learn that the Deep State is plotting a military “Storm” against patriot Donald Trump. The Golden State Killer’s brother was in on the crime.

And of course, UFOs are real!

The truth is dead. Long live the Internet.

—Eric Johnson e r ic j@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m RIP Anna We were saddened to hear that an ex-staffer, Anna Barela, passed away earlier this month. Anna’s writing and editing helped launch the N&R Publications division, which has now produced over 400 publications for nonprofits and other organizations. She will be greatly missed.

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“Like the iPhone has that faciaL recognition, and What haPPens When you cut your hair?”

askeD at the sacramento convention center:

What technology scares you the most?

krystle becerr a

Damion Dunn

sales associate

caricature artist

Intelligent toilets, because your day can be made or broken by one button. Like a sprinkler system, because if that fails, you will need a change of clothes or a heating system … or automatic flushing, because if that’s broken, water will go all over the place. It’s like take it, don’t spray it.

Location technology, because of the fact that I can turn on my Snapchat and everyone could see where I am at—at all times—and that can be kind of scary. I feel that privacy is an issue on social media because there are no limitations, like you can check in anywhere and be seen in any moment.

clele a abaD

Julius smith

retail worker

I would say a cell phone, because it’s like losing your soul, and if you lose your cell phone, that’s pretty much your life. I think privacy is an issue for cell phones, like the iPhone has that facial recognition, and what happens when you cut your hair?

marketing brand ambassador

GPS, because we are getting tracked by other people and they take that data too ... to see what we like or where we are at so they can market us. It’s also a good thing because it saves peoples’ lives and you can track people who stole your phone. It’s a beauty and a curse.

mat thew bol an

Delil ah Gr aham tour guide

materials handler

I would say cell phones. You have to be careful what you send out ... I will try to be aware of what I say or what I do with my cell phone. I had a situation where my former boss lied to unemployment and said I wasn’t coming into work, so I needed the phone records proving that I texted her saying I was there.

I think being located, because nowadays, anybody can tap into [your phone] and find out where you are and where you live. Most of the time, I turn my [location] off ... I really don’t like it, but then again, it can be a good thing because … if someone gets kidnapped, they can tap in and track them.

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Russian interference: Not a conspiracy theory!

The Republican fundamentalists, evangelicals, conservatives or whatever you call them are on the march, attacking the courts, the media, the intelligence services, and anyone who questions the wisdom, words or actions of Pres.

Donald Trump.

They spin insane conspiracy theories that better belong in the National Enquirer than the halls of Congress.

They accept Donald’s lies and exaggerations over the certainty of the entire American security apparatus that Russia interfered in our elections to help Trump. That’s how brainwashed the Republican base has become.

Get used to it: Mitch McConnell and his brood of GOP senators have gamed the Supreme Court process to guarantee that Republicans will dominate the American and political processes for decades to come. The fascists are on the move and all Americans can say is duh!

ron LoWe nevada City v i a s act ol et t er s @ n ew s r e v i e w . c o m

Please try to understand your biases Re “Why is Sacramento failing its black students?” by Kris Hooks (Feature, June 21): I am a Black mother of five children of which three are males and all now adults. I am also an early care and education professional/expert. My friend Dr. Wood and his colleagues developed this research report.

Please know we as Black moms and dads love our children dearly as all parents. We know children/students arrive to school from diverse backgrounds and unique lived experiences and are deserving of an equitable education. We have teachers and administrators that do not reflect the demographics the children served in our educational settings and institutions, therefore students are left at the scrutiny of those who hold different worldviews. Moreover, Black

preschool children, primarily Black boys, are being suspended and expelled at high rates.

I was recently appointed to the California State Advisory Council on Early Care and Education to co-chair a task force to deal with this unthinkable issue. For those who believe Black parents are abdicating their responsibilities, and choose to make widespread generalizations about this notion, I challenge you to rethink your unfounded beliefs and perception and not lump us all into one monolithic group.

“Preschool to prison” and “school-to-prison” are real phenomena. Unfortunately, the same microaggression and marginalization in our society rears its ugly head in the form of implicit/unconscious bias.

I welcome all of us to take a deep dive and examine our own critical consciousness and deepseeded biases and prejudices, since we all have them. We must also explore the power we

have to act on these biases and prejudices so we continue to strive for a collective of one who cherishes one another and hold one another in high esteem.

Dr. LaWanDa WesLey

read more letters online at newsreview .com/sacramento.

s a c r a me nto v ia ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

@SacNewsReview

#MeToo Re “Your rapist won’t be prosecuted” by Raheem F. Hosseini (Feature, June 28): I was raped in Sacramento in July of 2011, and I reported it. To this day, the perpetrator has not been arrested or charged with that crime.

HoLLy Irene CarDoza

Facebook.com/ SacNewsReview

@SacNewsReview

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The Del Rio Trail will run from William Land Park and the zoo to the Sacramento River Parkway.

Photo by Eric Johnson

The $10 million trail The Del Rio Trail will turn an abandoned railroad line into a regional destination, and help unite the city

by Eric Johnson

The abandoned Sacramento Southern Railroad line, which once carried pears, grapes and asparagus from the California Delta into Sacramento to be shipped to market, already feels, in some places, like an urban oasis.

Near what will be the Del Rio Trail’s northern terminus, across Sutterville Road from the Sacramento Zoo, a hiker or biker moves through pools of shade thrown by native valley oaks and past nicely landscaped South Land Park backyards—many with access gates in their fences. A 10-foot-wide dirt road parallels slightly elevated tracks; in 8 | SN&R | 07.05.18

some places, the old railroad right-ofway widens into scruffy fields.

Over the length of its 4 and a half miles, the Del Rio Trail site is, in other places, overgrown and impassable.

Volunteer cleanup efforts have already begun on the stretch running from Florin Road to the Meadowview/Pocket intersection. If all goes to plan, in a couple years or less, this trail will join the American River Parkway as a destination for hikers and cyclists. More importantly, it will become a local transportation resource, connecting South Sacramento and the city core.

e r ic j@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

Chuck Hayes, a member of the South Land Park Neighborhood Association, has devoted the past year to helping make the trail happen.

“This will mean folks from Meadowview and Pocket will be able to ride all the way to downtown almost entirely on Class 1 off-street paths,” Hayes says—explaining why that designation matters: “The more you can take bike routes off streets, the more comfortable people are.

Off-street bike paths are the best way to get people onto bicycles who aren’t already experienced riders—that’s how

you get someone who isn’t already on a bike to give it a try.”

A few days exploring the trail site and surrounding neighborhoods provide evidence as to why this is the case. The southernmost mile or so parallels Freeport Boulevard. On weekends, serious cyclists can be seen blasting down the boulevard on their way to big days roaming the rural roads of the Delta. But it’s easy to see why there aren’t a bunch of parents and children riding in the bike lane.

The posted speed limit on Freeport Boulevard is, in places, 50 mph—and of course many drivers are ignoring that speed limit. In some places, the abandoned tracks can be seen 100 feet or so from the boulevard.

“I’m one of those guys in spandex some of the time,” Hayes admits, “and other times, when I’m out running errands, I’m just another schmuck on a bike.” His passion for this project clearly arises from a desire to help more ordinary schmucks get in the saddle.

One of Hayes’ favorite facts about this project is something most people

The Ambien murders see neWs

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heATed emoTions would not consider when thinking about a municipal project like this: “At either end of the trail there are shopping centers anchored by grocery stores,” he says. “All of us who live anywhere near this trail are going to be able to do all our shopping on our bicycles,” he says, as if that were just about the coolest thing in the world—obviously.

While many rail-to-trail plans are about recreation, this one is clearly about transportation. The Del Rio Trail will pass within easy cycling distance of five grade schools, two middle schools, two high schools, a library and Sacramento City College. The zoo and William Land Park—the biggest park in the city—are at one end, and the Sacramento River Trail is at the other.

Much of that real estate is within Councilman Jay Schenirer’s district, and he believes this trail might be lifechanging for many of his constituents.

“It’s a matter of culture and habit,” he says. “For folks who live in these neighborhoods, this could make it easier and more fun for them to ride to work.

On weekends, they might want to bike out to Old Sac.” Schenirer says with the arrival of Jump Bikes—which, he points out, are getting three times as much use in Sacramento as in San Francisco—it will be easier and easier for people to get out of their cars.

A related benefit—something that came up repeatedly at a town hall meeting last week—this plan will “activate” the abandoned rail corridor, which, like much abandoned land, fosters its share of crime. “The more eyeballs we put on that trail, the safer it becomes,” Schenirer says.

Unlike many similar projects around the state, which can tend to provoke a NIMBY backlash, the Del Rio project is very popular—polls of neighborhood groups show 80 percent support.

Schenirer is optimistic that this thing is going to happen quickly: “I want to be cutting a ribbon in 18 months.”

The one obstacle to that timeline might be the California State Railroad Museum Foundation, which, along with California State Parks, operates the tourist train that runs from Old Sacramento to the zoo, on the same line. While the foundation has officially declared support for the trail project, it sent a letter to the city in May asking that, in addition to maintaining 98 percent of the tracks for historical

purposes, the plan “show that the rail line could potentially be viable again.”

A negative decision from the state Office of Historic Preservation could delay the project— Schenirer and other supporters are hopeful.

the park bond money might be used for the Del Rio Trail—at this time, the city is applying for a $10 million grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, or SACOG—which Schenirer chairs.)

Doing research in the field for the mark russo, legislative aide to bond, Russo and Garcia visited Pogo Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, Park in Oakland. “It’s an area about the (D-Coachella) grew up just a couple size of this room,” Russo said, sitting blocks from the old railroad in the dark cool of Brownie’s spur. pub on 35th Avenue “I think back to last Friday. “It had the amount of “It’s sometimes been a blight on times I rode my the neighbor‘understood’ that bike to my hood—the only job at Jamba people who certain things are for Juice on used it were Broadway— drug dealers. certain people. Disadvantaged riding in Now it is people might feel that certain traffic on a teeming hot days,” neighborcommunity assets are not for he says. hood “Having this resource, them.” trail would’ve with exercise Mark Russo been huge equipment for legislative aide to Assemblyman Eduardo for me and my kids, a fountain.

Garcia brother.” … Every so often, Russo is they bring farm particularly glad the trail animals to the park for will benefit folks in South the kids to play with. It’s Sacramento, and Meadowview, who can beautiful.” access it via light rail.

Russo was even more excited about a In addition to giving residents a much bigger park that will likely be the break from the drudgery of workday first project funded by the Proposition commutes and striking a blow against 68 parks bond. On Saturday, he met a the fossil-fuel economy, the Del Rio group of folks at Sutter’s Landing Skate Trail is part of a concerted effort to Park to take a walking tour. This spot connect Sacramento’s underserved and along the lower American River has more-well-off neighborhoods. already been earmarked for $20 million “It’s sometimes ‘understood’ that from the state for the construction of a certain things are for certain people,” he park that Russo routinely refers to as says. “Disadvantaged people might feel “our Golden Gate Park.” that certain community assets are not He believes that park, especially for them.” given its proximity to the river, will The city’s ambitious bike-transmake it one of the great urban parks portation plan is explicitly inclusive. in the nation, a regional if not national The South Parkway West Trail Project destination. Anyone who’s spent much would connect the Del Rio Trail to time there might not have a hard time Meadowview. The Garcia Bend Trail imagining that he is not exaggerating. would extend the existing Class 1 levee More importantly, from Russo’s trail on the south side of the Pocket into perspective, this new park will be much of the Pocket/Greenhaven neighaccessible to the same kinds of kids he borhood. The city is also upgrading envisions riding on the trail in his old Meadowview Road between Freeport neighborhood. Pointing to a map on his and the light-rail station. phone, he demonstrates that this new Russo’s been thinking about parks park will be a 17-minute bike ride for as a vehicle for social justice for some folks living up by El Camino in Arden time, because his boss co-authored the Arcade. monumental $4 billion parks bond that “Of course, it will help to have voters approved on June 3, which dedibetter bike pads for them,” Russo says. cates $1 billion to underserved commuAnd he seems confident that it’s somenities. (At one time, it was thought that thing that will happen. Ω

Hundreds gathered at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building on Capitol Mall June 30, rallying in solidarity with demonstrations scheduled throughout the country. The event had a good turnout, but didn’t go well for sacramento mayor darrell steinberg.

As the gathering turned into an all-out march through downtown, police and sheriff’s deputies created a wall of vehicles, officers and bicycles to block marchers from accessing various freeway entrances.

The rally was in response to the Trump administration’s zerotolerance enforcement policy on illegal immigration, which garnered outrage after it was reported that thousands of immigrant children were separated from their parents at the southern border. Trump officials said last month that border agents separated around 2,342 children from their parents between May 5 and June 9. The zerotolerance policy was implemented in April.

Marchers gathered in the hot sun or what little shade they could—and then conflict started sizzling. Julie Steinberg, a cantor with the Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue and wife of the mayor, was booed offstage by activists in the crowd. A number of them yelled, “Darrell Steinberg doesn’t care about black people!” Denessa Atiles, who invited Mrs. Steinberg to the rally, said the incident was unfortunate.

“We did not invite any elected officials—purposely—because we wanted this event to be about the work that the community is doing,” said Atiles, director of the Resistance: Sacramento/Elk Grove. “But I think there are contentions in people who are disappointed with some of the actions of the mayor … and they booed her off stage.”

After a national outcry, Trump signed an executive order June 20 that maintains the zero-tolerance policy but reportedly will avoid separating families. As of Saturday, the administration has not released a plan to reunite the more than 2,000 children already torn from their parents. (Steph Rodriguez)

shAdoW nonprofiT The Placer County grand jury recently challenged roseville officials’ frequent assertion that a nonprofit created by the City Council in 2010 is an independent entity.

The Roseville Community Development Corporation, or RCDC, was formed to help revitalize the city’s historic downtown after Gov. Jerry Brown nixed redevelopment funds. In its new report, the grand jury found that while the RCDC has had a positive impact on Vernon Street, the active role that top city leaders played in managing and operating that outfit equals “a private arm of a public entity, rather than a separate non-profit corporation.”

The grand jury’s findings suggest the RCDC effectively allowed the city to enter into limited liability corporations and partnerships, skirting bidding requirements on projects. The findings also suggest the nonprofit gave the city a foggy avenue for taking out mortgages, owning assets long-term and accepting charitable donations.

City staffers have been intimately involved in the RCDC. Former economic development director Chris Robles acted as its CEO before retiring March 5. He was replaced by yet another city official, Mike Isom. The grand jury found that former City Manager Rob Jensen, who just retired, would consider Robles’ work running RCDC as part of performance reviews for his city job.

Future RCDC operations remains uncertain. The council voted at a February 7 workshop to direct the corporation to pursue a “strategic pause” of its activities. (Graham Womack)

07.05.18 | SN&R | 9

According to Placer County sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Emery, one of the first responders to pull up, Ingram was waiting across the highway from the carnage. A dash-cam video from Emery’s patrol car The Santucci Justice Center in captures Ingram coherently answering the west Roseville was the site of deputy’s questions, explaining where he a major court battle of driving, was coming from, where he was going and killing people, on Ambien. and how the boys were showing off in the roadway—an attempt at victim-blaming photo by Scott thomaS anderSon that was later disproven. Despite Ingram’s apparently lucid answers, Emery’s dashcam shows why the deputy was suspicious.

“Keep sitting there, bud, before you fall down,” Emery warned.

Placer County sheriff’s Deputy Josh Placer man found guilty of Shemenski, a drug recognition expert, double-murder while taking Ambien soon arrived. Shemenski testified that Ingram had slurred speech and delayed responses. The investigator added that he’d

by Scott thomaS anderSon s c o t t a @ne w s re v i e w . c o m cut Ingram’s sobriety test short because he thought his suspect would injure himself.

“I asked him when the last time he went to sleep was, and he chuckled and michael mott about to be thrust into a public story no Placer County attorneys spent weeks said, ‘that sounds funny,’” Shemenski contributed to this teenager could possibly fathom. It was battling over whether two teenagers testified. story. the afternoon of April 3, 2016. The boys were killed by a recklessly dangerous A forced blood-draw later revealed had been hanging out at a pond and skatepill-popper or an accidental victim of Ingram had a significant amount of boarding at a local park. Before heading Ambien-induced parasomnia. The verdict Ambien in his system. home, they’d decided to stroll up Highway was finally announced June 29.

Since Ingram had a prior DUI convic49 to grab drinks at Dutch Brothers. Sitting Charged with two counts of secondtion in 2000, the Placer County district in court two years later, Agosti would degree murder, 64-year-old Philip Ingram attorney’s office elevated his two counts recall suddenly seeing a Ford F250 barrelwas facing a prosecutor determined to of vehicular manslaughter to seconding straight at them. convict him of the highest crime possible degree murder charges. California “They were on the shoulder based on the theory of implied malice. law allowed them to do of the road in a place they It’s a legal maneuver that’s been used to that through the theory should have been safe,” successfully convict suspects driving with “One of implied malice, prosecutor Robert alcohol and methamphetamine in their meaning Ingram took minute they’re Lopez told the jury. system, though the Placer County district conscious, reckless “One minute they’re attorney’s office knows of no previous three friends walking actions he knew three friends walkcases in the region where it’s been tried together, and then next could result in a loss ing together, and with the nation’s most popular sleeping of life. Prosecutors minute, two of them are then next minute, prescription. Every lawyer working on the say their investigatwo of them are case was in uncharted territory. As details dead.” tion revealed Ingram dead.” emerged about a harrowing day along an was a chronic and Robert Lopez Kris Kauderer, a Auburn roadside in 2016, both the prosecudeliberately calculatPlacer County deputy district mechanical engineer tion and defense attempted to explore the ing pill-popper who attorney consequences of an increasingly narcotized who specializes in was constantly medicating accident reconstruction, American public. himself for a pain condition. used photographs, measureThose probing arguments ultimately Lopez presented evidence that ments, forensic mapping and 3D resulted in guilty verdicts against Ingram.

Ingram’s prescription for high-grade laser scans of the scene to determine opiates had run out just before the accident that Ingram’s truck was traveling at They were three teenage boys enjoying and wasn’t eligible to be refilled. nearly 60 miles per hour when it veered a Sunday afternoon in their hometown.

“Ambien was the only thing available into Gaches and Keller, sending one boy One was 15-year-old Jared Gaches, a to him,” Lopez stressed. flying 100 feet as the other was fenderphilosophical piano virtuoso who loved But public defenders Emily Koehler vaulted up and to the side. The blur of swimming, riding dirt bikes and making and Eric Begeschu painted a different violence happened inches from Agosti. new friends. One was 15-year-old Trevor picture of Ingram for the jury. They Kauderer told the jury it was clear Keller, known for his sense of humor, his from physical evidence that all three teens called witnesses to testify their client had warm, encouraging nature and his die-hard suffered a traumatic brain injury from were walking on the far side of the shoullove of football. Rounding out the trio was a work accident in 1996 and now lived der and not wandering in the traffic lane.

14-year-old Nick Agosti, a well-liked kid with a litany of health issues. They had 10 | SN&R | 07.05.18

A sleepless case

Ingram’s roommate testify that he’d never seen Ingram intoxicated. According to the defense attorneys, Ingram had accidently taken one Ambien pill that afternoon, believing he’d reached for his heart medication. The attorneys then called forensic toxicologist Edwin Smith to testify that, based on his evaluation, Ingram had been in a state of Ambien-induced parasomnia during the killings—meaning he was literally sleepwalking and sleep-driving when he took the teenagers’ lives.

“What these compound effects essentially create is a walking zombie,” Koehler summarized in her closing arguments. “It creates a sort of auto-pilot type mode …

This is not a murder, this is an accident.”

The prosecution tried to counter that claim by calling Dr. Anna Lembke, chief of addiction medicine at Stanford University’s Dual Diagnosis Clinic.

Lembke told the jury that, based on her evaluation, Ingram was not in a state of parasomnia during the homicides because he was engaged in conversation at the scene and had a clear memory of the events in the hours and days that followed.

Lembke also testified that Ambien abuse is a fast-growing health threat in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 9 million Americans use prescription sleep medication, with Ambien being the most widely used option.

Placer County DA investigator Vince Dutto presented photographs taken during a search warrant of Ingram’s home: The images show that Ingram kept a meticulously organized cabinet full of differently labeled pills. Lopez argued this wasn’t the cabinet of a man prone to mistaking one medication for another.

“He was impaired but conscious,” Lopez hammered home to the jury.

The guilty verdict was read to a packed courtroom. Tears of both relief and anguish filled the room. Ingram faces up to 30 years to life in prison. He’ll be sentenced in August.

The verdict was a relief to Jared Gaches’ father, Todd Gaches, who said the issue of drugged driving and drunk driving seems to him a rolling tragedy that never stops enveloping more families.

“There’s no words that haven’t already been said to try to reel in how you feel,” the father reflected. “This is going to go on forever, no matter what I say. … Most of the time now, humanity just lets me down.

I’m pretty embarrassed by what we’re capable of.” Ω

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Sacramento man battled insurance company to cover easy-to-treat genetic condition

by Faith Lewis

When Dan LoDolce began experiencing chest pain in his late 20s, he brushed it off as heartburn. He was prescribed antacids and assured it was nothing to be concerned about—despite his LDL “bad” cholesterol level being at 420 milligrams per deciliter of blood, or what’s known as mg/dl. Less than 100 mg/dl is considered healthy by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Several years later, the 32-year-old Sacramento resident still had not found relief from his chest pain, nor had he seen any drop in his cholesterol despite becoming vegan for a year. He returned to his doctor and insisted on a stress test to rule out any problems with his heart.

Four days later, he had a quadruple bypass. Four major arteries in LoDolce’s heart were 80 to 99 percent obstructed.

For most people, high cholesterol is caused by a diet too high in fatty foods. But for LoDolce and the other 5,400 people the FH Foundation estimates live with familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH, in the Sacramento area, high cholesterol is genetic. FH is a common but nonetheless little-known genetic condition that leads to a rapid accumulation of LDL cholesterol starting at birth.

Patients are up against a family history of early heart disease, misdiagnosis and insurance refusing to cover medications. According to the FH Foundation, untreated individuals with FH have a 20 times higher risk of developing heart disease.

Add the fact that more than 90 percent of people with FH are unaware of the condition and you end up with people who suffer severe or even fatal heart attacks early in life.

Following his surgery, LoDolce was started on statins, which brought his cholesterol down to the 160 mg/dl range. His doctor also decided he needed to immediately start on PCSK9 inhibitors, a medication developed to treat extremely high cholesterol such as the levels seen in FH patients.

LoDolce’s insurance denied his claim.

“It seemed strange because that’s what it’s for,” LoDolce said, recalling the nearly four-month

econo lube n’ tune & brakes We offer complete automotive service & repairs Dan LoDolce

LubE, OiL & FiLtEr struggle that ensued as he fought for approval of the PCSK9 inhibitor. “I just had heart surgery at 32.

If anyone is going to be on long-term cholesterollowering meds, that would be me.”

Once again LoDolce found that he had to be his own advocate for his health. He came across the FH Foundation and, with their backing, his insurance company finally approved his treatment. When the PCSK9 inhibitor was added to his treatment regimen, his LDL cholesterol dropped to a healthy 15 mg/dl.

After PSCK9 inhibitors were approved for FH patients in 2015, the FH Foundation found that insurance companies rejected these drugs in 62 percent of cases overall and 63.3 percent of cases for suspected FH patients.

“The system seems to reject people regardless of who they are and rewards persistence,” said Cat Ahmed Davis, the vice president of policy and outreach at the FH Foundation. “We’re not advocating for unfettered access to everything, but we do want those people who have had cardiac events or someone like Dan … to get treatment. There are people who cannot wait to get it right.”

Approximately one in every 250 people worldwide has FH, which makes it nearly as common as rheumatoid arthritis or Type 1 diabetes, according to Ahmed Davis. Yet, the California Department of Public Health acknowledges it doesn’t even keep records of “incidence or prevalence data on individuals diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia.”

Because FH is genetic, it can often be traced through previous generations. There is a 50 percent chance each child born to a parent with FH will inherit the condition.

The FH Foundation is working to increase testing cholesterol at a younger age to detect FH earlier in life and has also started a nationwide database of FH diagnoses to predict who should be tested and follow FH diagnoses through related family members. Ω

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Poisoned wells The Central Valley is plagued with contaminated drinking water

by Judith Redmond

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12 | SN&R | 07.05.18

Water that is safe to drink, straight from the kitchen tap, is more of a luxury than we realize. There are many places around the world where access to safe drinking water is either nonexistent, or only available for a high price. When Californians visit Mexico, we all grab the bottled water, and if we stay with friends or go to restaurants, we hesitate before eating fresh vegetables in case they might have been washed with dirty water.

But did you know that six million of your fellow Californians are also forced to drink out of plastic bottles?

Not because they prefer the taste, but because the water in their communities is in violation of health standards. Most of the problem water is in the Central Valley and Central Coast regions, where the State Water Resources Control Board says that contaminated water is “ubiquitous.” These are highly productive agricultural regions, and they also happen to be the home of 80 percent of California’s 1.8 million adult cows.

One of the most serious water quality offenders in California is nitrate, which causes serious health problems for children and pregnant women and is associated with certain cancers. A recent multiyear study at UC Davis estimated that 550,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer, 240,000 tons of manure nitrogen, and 4,000 tons of urban and food processing waste effluent nitrogen “are annually applied to or recycled in Central Valley agricultural lands for food production.”

Some of the nitrate in these sources leaches to groundwater. The UC Davis study, measuring nitrate loading from various sources, is one of the most complete and meaningful reports in decades.

Because agriculture is demonstrably a major source of the problem, the regulators have their sights trained on California’s farmers. Back in 2012, when the state started really looking into it, another report from UC Davis, this time addressing regulatory options, stated, “Current regulatory programs have not effectively controlled groundwater nitrate

contamination, and water quality in these areas has largely worsened for decades, a trend which seems likely to continue.

Looking forward, promising options exist to manage nitrate contamination of groundwater, but it will take years to decades for source-control programs introduced today to improve drinking water quality.” This report attempted to be optimistic about the regulatory options, but the effort to find a solution has been messy and divisive, with groups representing agriculture, affected communities and the environment all at each other’s throats.

The resulting massive “Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program,” with its extensive monitoring and reporting, doesn’t have a lot of friends in farming country, and I think may be completely unknown in urban circles. With six million acres of irrigated farmland enrolled in the program, farmers are paying well over $22 million dollars a year, and the costs are rising annually.

What to do? Fertilizers are currently exempt from sales tax, and some analysts recommended a fee on the nitrogen in fertilizer as a funding source for cleanup programs, but political realities make this a tough lift. I do think that it could have been an interesting part of a solution because the increased costs would have created incentives for farmers to use fertilizer more efficiently.

Organic farmers, using fertilizers that are much less water-soluble than those used in conventional agriculture, know that their best management practices contribute significantly less to the problem, but the state’s program paints all farmers with the same broad brush. A regulatory approach that rewarded good practices would be a good idea.

The Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program took a different path. It’s too early to tell the results. Will it reduce nitrate leaching into groundwater? At least six million Californians hope so. Ω Judith Redmond is a partner at Full Belly Farm in the Capay Valley.

Round one goes to the soft drink industry by jeff vonkaenel

Imagine that someone goes door-to-door in your neighborhood selling fire insurance saying, “With this policy, you will have special protection.

Otherwise, I will burn your house down.” You and your neighbors decide that you would rather pay for the policy than have your house burned down.

Faced with a soft drink tax in several California cities, and hoping to prevent other cities from considering it, the soft drink industry decided to go into the protection business. They spent more than $7 million on an initiative that would require a two-thirds vote, instead of a simple majority, on any local tax increase. For all practical purposes, this measure, if passed, would burn down any chance of effectively funding local government.

With the threat of the November initiative looming, the soft drink industry then suggested they would pull the initiative from the ballot if the state legislature immediately passed Senate Bill 872, which prevents local communities from enacting new soft drink taxes. This legislation passed overwhelmingly. So, no new soda or food taxes for the next 12 years in California.

This is not illegal. But that doesn’t mean it’s right.

The soft drink industry is big, with U.S. sales of around $80 billion. It is extremely profitable. When you are making a product that is 89 to 99 percent carbonated water, there is not much material cost. And soft drinks are heavily promoted. Coke alone spends more than $3 billion dollars worldwide in advertising each year.

These ads don’t tell the whole story. According to a Tufts University study, obesity-related diseases linked to sugary beverages will result in 184,000 additional adult deaths worldwide, including more than 25,000 Americans

j e ffv @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

each year. These diseases include diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and more. The U.S. diabetes cost alone was $245 billion last year. While there are many factors that impact these health conditions, it is safe to say the health care cost related to soft drinks is staggering. Certain things go better with Coke, but they may not be what you want.

However, it is encouraging that health education campaigns on the dangers of soft drinks have been working. In 2003, American children on the average took in 426 calories a day from soft drinks. This fell to 313 calories per day in 2014. There have been similar declines for adults.

And in cities where there is a soft drink tax, the decline has been even greater. These taxes have also raised considerable amounts for health and youth programs. Berkeley raised $1.5 million last year. Given the relative size of Sacramento County and the city of Berkeley, Sacramento could expect $19 million with a similar tax.

In response to criticism of their actions, the American Beverage Association said, “America’s beverage companies know we must play a role in improving public health, which is why we are taking aggressive actions to help people reduce the sugar and calories they get from beverages.”

It sounds like the low-tar cigarette defense.

Using legal but disgraceful methods, the soft drink industry has won this round. Now we need to figure out how to respond to a foe that is willing to spend billions of dollars in advertising to convince young people to endanger their health by consuming their products. Ideas? Ω Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority owner of the News & Review.

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CONSPIRACY SN&R investigates the wildest conspiracy theories plaguing our divided states of America CONtRIbUtORS: Scott thomas Anderson Kate Gonzales Kalin Jenkins Raheem F. Hosseini Rachel Leibrock Serene Lusano

ISSUE

A conspiracy for dunces America was forged in a conspiracy.

It was a winter morn at Griffin’s Wharf in Massachusetts. Dozens of men, many of them illicit tea smugglers and entitled businessmen, disguised themselves in Native American garb and boarded a vessel fully stocked with a commodity whose taxes helped fund their righteous invasion of “the New World.” In true proto-American fashion, these outlaws wanted the benefits of governance without actually having to, you know, pay for it.

On December 16, 1773, nearly a hundred colonists spent three hours hacking at wooden hatches with prop-tomahawks and shouldering 342 crates of British Early Grey into Boston Harbor’s turgid froth. The vandals called themselves the Sons of Liberty.

Their act of sabotage became known as the Boston Tea Party. And the story of what happened—more than the actual facts—helped galvanize a budding rebellion across the 13 colonies. The Crown was overthrown and a new franchise was started—we call it the United States of America.

Cut to 2018 and America is OD’ing on a different, more destructive strain of conspiracy. Flat earthers. Anti-vaxxers.

9/11 Truthers. Holocaust deniers.

Pizzagate-crashers. At no time in history did the average person have access to the zettabytes of free information than we do and yet we can’t seem to agree on what’s true—and what’s so clearly not. Blame Vladimir Putin. Blame the singularity.

Blame Facebook fraud or tailored Google searches that feed you results that correspond with your ever-shrinking worldview. Whatever the infection point, the prognosis is a terminal case of stupid: A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that nearly a quarter of Americans can’t tell the difference between a fact and an opinion. Worse?

Most of those surveyed disagreed with factual statements that they incorrectly labeled opinions.

This is the age of believing what you want to believe.

Well, it’s time to wise up, America.

As the nation flounders into middle age, SN&R wants to help it rediscover its inner bullshit compass. This issue, we take some of the craziest, weirdest or most pernicious conspiracies plaguing Sacramento and beyond—and diligently report them out to find the actual facts.

Open your mind, check your assumptions and be forewarned: The truth hurts.

(RFH)

keep reading on page 16

07.05.18 | SN&R | 15

The Golden State Killer had an accomplice!

Of the myriad theories swirling since the April 25 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the accused East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer, one of the most interesting is that the serial murderer-rapist may have had help committing the violent crimes that made him one of the most notorious coldcase villains of the 20th century.

Most of the supposition has centered on DeAngelo’s brother. True crime armchair detectives have speculated that John DeAngelo worked in real estate and may have lived in Southern California at the same time GSK waged terror in the area. Also of note: some victims claimed to hear more than one voice during their attacks or helped law enforcement create a police sketch that looked nothing like Joseph DeAngelo.

“Maybe it all started with the brother needing cash to say, support a drug habit or just cash in general and this is how EAR starts,” one sleuth recently posited on the internet forum site ProBoard. “But he gets a real taste for it. He gets goods for his brother to fence to help his brother, and he also gets his rocks off.”

Maybe, sure, but until law enforcement says otherwise, this one remains a theory for the message boards. The DeAngelo with the real estate license has a different middle name than Joseph DeAngelos’s brother and his license was valid between 1978-1982 in National

City. The small SoCal burg is located between approximately 70-200 miles from the crimes the GSK committed in Ventura County, Dana Point and Irvine— and even further afield from Sacramento, where GSK was active during that particular time period.

Still, retired Contra Costa County investigator Paul Holes admits he once considered the possibility.

“I’ve entertained the brother as having some involvement but that is just speculation without any facts to support it,” said Holes, who worked on the GSK case for decades and helped write DeAngelo’s arrest warrant. “[John DeAngelo] does have a fairly lengthy criminal history but mostly low level stuff,” he added. “If DeAngelo had an associate, I think it would have been early on for burglaries—that associate probably was not involved in any of the homicide cases and most of the sexual assault cases.”

Moreover, Holes adds, any accom-plices may have encountered an early retirement.

“I would not be surprised that if there was an associate, DeAngelo may have killed that person, male or female, to protect himself,” Holes said.

(R.L.)

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: The government is totally reading your emails!

QAnon has the truth about

the coming Storm!

I’m old enough to remember when conspiracy theories were harmless fun stories about aliens, Bigfoot (the furry woodland mammal, not the truck) and the Men in Black. No longer a diversion akin to campfire ghost stories, conspiracy theories are now a driving force behind some of the most divisive politics in modern memory. At the center of “the Storm” is a powerful, shadowy figure called QAnon.

First appearing on the bastion of free speech and deep-hitting journalism 4chan, the “Q Clearance Patriot” (as the shadowy figure first called themself) claims to be a Department of Defense insider with top secretlevel clearance as well as solid information on the corrupt Democrats, the “deep state” and the coming counter-coup (referred to as “the Storm” in anon-speak) being waged by the Trump administration and those brave patriots aligned with him.

According to QAnon, all the baddies (Obama, the Clintons, Podesta, Comey, etc.) are actually the true target of Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation, and the crimes they’ve committed—which range from embezzlement to operating pedophile rings to even Satanic drug and sex parties—will soon be revealed.

Unfortunately for QAnon and for the thousands of true believers on Twitter, the long-awaited Justice Department inspector general’s report wasn’t the smoking gun they were hoping for. But don’t worry, QAnon has access to the real,, un-redacted report. And as soon as Trump is ready, it will be released, proving unequivocally that Democrats are lizard people who eat babies and hate freedom.

Any day now … (K.J.)

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: That Pizzagate guy was onto something!

The Constitution is a fake!

It was 2011, Barack Obama was still POTUS and a determined group of Sacramento residents was determined to take back their country.

The Sacramento chapter of the Republic for the united States of America (Yes, the “u’ is lowercase—because, uh, sticking it to the man?) to be specific, fashioned itself as part of a national so-called shadow government determined to “restore” the United States to its lawful roots by reinstating the country’s original Constitution. The original document, they argued without—what’s the word—proof, had been abandoned in 1871 in favor of a new decree that stripped states’ rights and turned the United States into a business entity that would turn every U.S. citizen into an individual corporation off of which it could make a tidy profit.

Corporations are people? Something like that.

16 | SN&R | 07.05.18

The Republic’s mission included occupying current state and federal governments, helping people shrug off credit-card debt, mortgages and various tax obligations by nitpicking through contractual language for loopholes and inconsistencies. Some sovereign citizens have gone as far to refuse to pay for the basics. In 2015, for example, a Sacramento couple found itself surrounded by a SWAT team after telling a Department of Utilities customer service representative they’d answer with a shotgun if someone tried to shut off their water.

(Of note: While so-called “sovereign citizens” are vehemently anti-government, militia ties are not always clear, including RuSA’s).

Now, it’s 2018 and the Sacramento chapter of the RuSA has seemingly disappeared with little to no web presence. And, although the national group still maintains an online

continued from page 15

internet profile, its reach seems more limited than it did nearly a decade ago.

In 2012 the group’s president James Timothy Turner (as in U.S.’s “real” president) was indicted on 10 federal felony counts, including defrauding the federal government, trying to pay taxes with “fictitious financial instruments” and failing to file federal tax returns. In 2013 Turner, who occupies a spot on the Southern Law Poverty Center’s hate group watch list, was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.

Perhaps, too, says John Sims, who teaches constitutional law at McGeorge School of Law, this fade from the spotlight has something to do with the current political environment. With Donald Trump in the highest office, some anti-government types, including members of the Republic, may be less antsy for change.

“My impression would be that certain groups of conspiracy theorists who have been totally opposed to the federal government—especially when the face of that government was a black face that espoused policies they opposed—they may [now] have an antipathy to the current political order,” Sims said.

Whatever the reason for their relative quiet, he adds, the belief that we’ve been living a constitutional lie for 147 years is pure fiction.

“I can’t frame [their] arguments in any way that has any degree of constitutional plausibility or political plausibility. I just can’t,” Sims said with a laugh. “These people imagine that … they have this key and once it’s revealed the whole world will change. But that’s not how things work.” (R.L.)

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: That was not Obama’s birth certificate!

THE CONSPIRACY ISSUE

Planned Parenthood was created to control the black population!

I stumbled onto this explosive provocation only recently, made in passing by a video journalist who happens, not incidentally, to be an AfricanAmerican woman. But the notion that federally funded reproductive health clinics crop up in black communities as part of a disgusting plot to abort black fetuses has been simmering for some time. And it’s faker than Donald Trump’s tan.

Like other conspiracies, this one starts with a few facts that opportunists have extrapolated beyond reason into an Ayn Rand fever dream.

Here are the kernels of truth: Before founding what would eventually become the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Margaret Sanger was such an evangelist for birth control that she shared that gospel with just about any group that would have her, including a women’s chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey in 1926. Sanger was also reportedly sympathetic to the eugenics movement, a since-debunked pseudo-science that argued that controlled breeding could improve the human race. The philosophy was used to justify the forced sterilizations of tens of thousands of people in California alone, a majority of whom were Latinos and other people of color. The Nazis later credited our template for their heinous eugenics experiments during World War II. So ew all around.

There’s no evidence that Sanger supported sterilizing people without their consent so much as she proselytized the importance of conscious conception. She even opined that abortion, which was illegal then, wouldn’t be necessary if every woman had access to contraception.

But nuances be damned. Right-wing operatives have pounced on Sanger’s problematic bio and the black community’s understandable distrust of the medical profession to divide and conquer African-Americans and progressives.

The cynical ploy resurfaced on the high-speed disinformation trail heading into the 2016 presidential election. In those fevered months, Cheri Greven, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which represents the Sacramento region and the East Bay, says she started seeing and hearing about videos posted to Facebook, splicing bits of audio of Sanger speaking to unsavory groups and video of Hillary Clinton espousing her admiration for Sanger.

The not-so-subtle point? Hillary Clinton does not care about black people.

“That stuff takes hold,” Greven said. “For

someone who already has skepticism about the health-care system,” correlating abortion myths to the Clinton campaign, she added, makes for “effective propaganda.”

Citing the cellular robbery of Henrietta Lacks and the decades-spanning Tuskegee clinical experiments, which involved black men with syphilis being duped into thinking they were getting treatment, Flojaune G. Cofer, the director of state policy and research at Public Health Advocates in Sacramento and a trained epidemiologist, says it should be easy to understand why African-American communities would be susceptible to the notion that health clinics are out to get them.

“ All of this is layered on top of just a general mistrust that comes from the centuries of abuse [and] experimentation on black people.”

“All of this is layered on top of just a general mistrust that comes from the centuries of abuse [and] experimentation on black people,” Cofer explained. “When I have conversations with people who don’t have a background in reproductive health like I do, their conversations are always … ‘You know they don’t want us to have kids.’ If you listen to the talking points of the Republican Party, if you listen to the talking points of libertarians, if you listen to the talking points on Breitbart … they see an opportunity to

SN&R investigates the wildest conspiracy theories plaguing our divided states of America

make their point and prey on a real vulnerability in the community.”

Debunkers have been plentiful (Vox had a reliably well-sourced explainer. NPR factchecked the theory into oblivion. Time has a good profile of Sanger), but this conspiracy theory has proved stickier than Mitch McConnell’s uvula.

Pro-life groups like the Family Research Council, the Life Issues Institute and even the moderate black Christian think tank Center for Urban Renewal and Education have parroted it in some form. But Greven says this wedge isn’t being driven by African-American leaders (incidentally, local NAACP prez Betty Williams’ first job was at Planned Parenthood, Greven says), but by white, religious anti-abortion crusaders, whose tactics aren’t always very Christlike.

“They’ll be outside our health centers shouting ‘black lives matter’ to our African-American staff members,” Greven said. “I mean, it’s rough.”

It will only get rougher. The Supreme Court recently ruled that so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” don’t have to divulge to the public that they’re anti-abortion fronts with questionable medical practices (like telling women getting an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer).

Meanwhile, President Trump is about to steer the court further right following the announced retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing vote. There is a real conspiracy to roll back women’s access to contraception, prenatal care and all forms of reproductive health, including abortion, but it’s not the conspiracy that’s being shouted the loudest.

So how does Greven respond when someone brings the thorny claim that Planned Parenthood operates on a secretly racist manifesto? She says she leans in.

“I just respond with the truth that our founder Margaret Sanger, in her efforts to spread the message about birth control … made poor choices speaking to organizations,” Greven said.

“Just meeting people where they’re at, [providing] accurate information and letting them make their own decisions.”

Letting women choose—what an endangered concept. (RFH)

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: Jenny McCarthy knows the secret about vaccines!

keep reading on page 18

07.05.18 | SN&R | 17

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: Elvis and Tupac are alive and living in Orlando!

& Birdie B i L L nsp iracy Siri!" in: "Co

by Serene Lusano

continued from page 17 continued from page

18 | SN&R | 07.05.18

keep reading on page 19

‘Crisis actors’ staged Rancho Tehama school shooting!

As I wandered around Rancho Tehama, tly Is a shadowy network of G-Men secre I also met people who claimed they knew gaslighting the nation? was Jessie Sanders. They insisted Sanders It was a question I’d been asked to to rding Acco . town the of ent resid real cold a consider, at least by the internet, that first the of le midd the numerous witnesses, in I was ront morning I drove into Rancho Tehama. chaotic shootings, Sanders tried to conf ths mon four e som try in that isolated backcoun le time to peop r othe buy to , med unar , Neal on A after a deranged man named Kevin Jans escape. Sanders gave an interview to KCR rifles— arm, Neal used two self-assembled AR-15 aged band dy, bloo his ing hold 3, nel Chan age “ghost guns”—to go on a shooting ramp Danny and said one of the murdered victims, to rs othe nine sent and le peop five d broke that kille then ers Sand d. frien best Elliot, was his d son the hospital, including three children. ar-ol 6-ye t’s Ellio how g ribin desc n dow Or did he? hadn’t been notified yet.

Before I rolled into that broken cattle for “This guy’s going to get a Grimy [sic] on rts repo s a ,” range, I’d checked TV new year the best crisis actor performance of er s37 YouTube from the day of Neal’s murd eEye Snak ed dubb ter YouTube commen e of ’d spree. I soon noticed a theme with som declared. And it wasn’t just people who os. vide the r unde ng the commenters posti Joe G.I. used their age and favorite ngs in According to them, there were no slayi character to craft their moniker They : 2017 14, er Rancho Tehama on Novemb who saw it that way. “You know, ntinsisted the whole thing was a governme it would help if you didn’t use orchestrated spectacle of “crisis actors.” drug addicts for crisis actors!”

Pulling into the hamlet, I spotted a little someone calling himself Tiffany coffee house. Inside I was greeted by the Milfinantor railed under ers, hoax ed Rogers, one of the internet-deem the video. In fact, 14 different s waiting behind the counter. After the chao commenters posting under KCRA’s an oy”— that ensued November 14, Rogers gave report identified Sanders as a paid “dec ’s interview to KPIX Channel 5 about Neal that. at one bad a and school, and thunderous assault on the elementary I found myself wishing SnakeEyes37 ess. busin her from te minu a than less is h d whic coul we so me, with were r inato the Milf point, “I heard about 30 more rounds, at that figure this out: How had the Deep State mscrea ol scho the at ren child ma to I can hear the gotten so many people in Rancho Teha ing,” Rogers told the reporter, “and then ? there g livin ers Sand t abou lie see a n someone yelling, ‘Get down!’ I could The mystery would have thickened whe and help for ng yelli rip airst the on n store gentlema ral gene ma’s Teha ho Ranc I dropped by the screaming, ‘Help me! Help me!’” and talked to Joe, the employee behind who those ng fooli ’t wasn But Rogers g durin store the at counter. Joe had been t consider themselves the keenest and mos the shooting. He’d heard the gunfire echo patriotic among us. ded woo and ing against the shallow hills “If it was real and not a staged false flag, ny ridges. Minutes later, Joe told me, Tiffa an wom d then why all the crisis actors?” a She’ . truck her in up d pulle ep math Phom so called Marina Raider demanded in the and , Neal by s rnment just been shot five time comment section. “Looks like the gove had her 7- and 10-year-old sons. Joe saw really wants those guns.” the blood-soaked bullet wounds punched Glancing around the coffee house, I was had a up Phommathep’s back. Phommathep ent the g impressed by Rogers’ apparent commitm durin ent partm com e glov her in pistol her to spy craft. Here, a full four months after Neal at fire n attack and managed to retur Deep t have TV interview, she was keeping up the before speeding away. “I think I migh and d wan pantep State’s ruse by operating a steam math Phom red mbe reme Joe ” him, hit , she for ing cash register every single morning. Yep look road the n ing before she tore dow with ed flagg was unflappable. She even regaled me soon ep math Phom tion. medical atten y a story about how the night before, a turke ston, who John Phil iff Sher stant Assi n dow born on her farm pecked the eyes out of a new managed to get her family help. eat to er moth own ’s billy the ing caus , goat But according to some YouTube ing me it. Rogers topped that tale off by hand menters, Johnston was not a hero that com sed hman a hot, delicious caramel mocha. I gues morning, but rather a Deep State henc in everyif Rogers was merely a thespian pawn take to e gam long the of part was who d the grand scheme to abolish the Second poste 5 nel Chan one’s guns. When KPIX to the ce eren Amendment, she was playing her part conf press a ing hold ston video of John bitter end.

THE CONSPIRACY ISSUE

after one of his deputies stopped Neal in a gunfight, an online genius calling himself Bob Ross was quick to respond. “So many fake shootings in such a short amount of time,” Ross snarked. “Why are these sheriffs committing treason to help usher in communism?”

While four other flag-waving trolls left similar posts under that video, the conspiracy theorists did meet some resistance in the thread. “This isn’t fake. I know people who live there. I have an aunt who lives there,” Lauren Frost wrote under Ross’s comment.

“Stop with your false flag, disrespectful douchebaggery.”

But Frost, like this reporter, like all reporters—including those at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, who are grieving five of their own after an online troll shot up their newsroom last week—are up against an army of

propagandists who shout “fake news” at any real-world tragedy that exposes their agendas. Twenty children executed at Sandy Hook? That flatulent toad Alex Jones calls B.S. Local demonstrations aimed at a sheriff’s helicopter’s role in Stephon Clark’s death? Sheriff Scott Jones says “paid protesters” are behind them—and wins reelection.

The same anonymous choir argues that someone like Johnston was a puppetmaster of pawns and decoys. These cranks believe someone like Joe—who never even did a TV interview on November 14—could live his life every day at the general store to support a vast conspiracy.

Aldous Huxley wrote that “facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” However, the brave new world we’re racing toward is likely darker than Huxley ever imagined.

(STA)

The truth is out th—we mean here!

When Brent George saw one outside his window in 2009, it wasn’t his first experience with an unidentified flying object—but to this day he hopes it’s the last.

His first encounter was in the early ’80s, as a 13-year-old kid in Worland , Wyo. He can still see the glowing orange vessel in the sky. The second was spotted from his Rosemont apartment in November 2009.

“I see this thing just hovering over the American River,” he remembered.

“Triangle-shaped, all white, no lights at all. All the sudden the thing moves over Rancho Cordova—I would say it gained 3,000 feet of altitude and moved about three miles in one second.”

An aviation enthusiast and “paranormal investigator,” George researched UFOs and the government’s potential involvement with alien technology for a novel he never released. He’s convinced we’re not alone.

“I firmly believe that they’re out there,” he said. “Who are they? What are they?

We don’t know the answers to those questions—how can we?”

Late last year, when media reports revealed the Pentagon’s program to study mysterious aircraft seen by military pilots between 2001 and 2015, it was shown that more UFO-sighting reports came out of California than any other state.

A string of sightings across the country in the late 19th century originat ed here in our capital city.

In 1896, witnesses and newspapers grasped at explanations with sensatio nal headlines like “Strange Tale of a Flying Machine.” This flying machine dubbed the Mystery Airship was seen throughout Sacramento—from Oak Park to the Capitol dome and surrounding areas.

On a November night, George Scott, assistant to the secretary of state, saw a floating light in the sky from the Capitol steps. He convinced friends to follow him up to the dome, from whence they witnessed “a dark body sweeping through the air, adorned with three lights,” according to the online tract UFO’s: A History 1896.

Newspapers weighed in on whether this phenomenon was otherworldly, or a man-made aircraft, or simply a hoax. But the sightings continued, moving to the East Coast and continuing until April 1897. The truth is still unknown. (K.G.)

CONSPIRACY RAtINg: The moon landing was faked by Stanley Kubrick!

conspiracy!

Mad Libs ta k e a i m at f u n !

By Serene LuSano

How to plaY Don’t have a conspiracy you adhere to? Fear not! Or rather, let’s give yourself something to fear—it’s easy! Fill in the blanks below with words that cause you general unease. Once complete, read the sentence below aloud with your chosen conspiracy keywords. Say it louder and often enough, and it might just catch on!

Your Kustom KonspiracY KeYwords 1.) Pagan holiday:

7.) Most dastardly earth element:

___________________________

___________________________

2.) Adjective:

8.) Favorite FBI director:

___________________________

___________________________

3.) Crooked political appointees:

9.) Type of dessert:

__________________________

___________________________

4.) Adjective:

10.) Another word for paranoia:

___________________________

___________________________

5.) Most evil type of dessert:

11.) Hallucinogenic drug:

___________________________

___________________________

6.) Worst kind of animal on earth:

12.) Body part:

___________________________

___________________________

Your “worKing tHeorY” Every ( 1. ) a group of ( 2. ) ( 3. ) meet in a secret ( 4. ) location to discuss world economics, global domination and trade ( 5. ) recipes. Recently though, the secret group known as the ( 6. ) ( 7. ) Society has begun peddling their evil desserts in communities across the country via sidewalk bake sales. Their top sellers are “( 8. )’s buggy brownies,” the “pure bloodline ( 9. )” and, of course, the “( 10. ) cakes”. The sweet treats contain trace amounts of ( 11. ) unbeknownst to the overly-trusting sweet-tooths that consume them, and it is unclear whether the ( 6. )( 7. ) Society

SN&R investigates the wildest conspiracy theories plaguing our divided states of America

is experimenting with ( 12. )-control tactics on the public, or just enjoying good old fashioned fun.

07.05.18 | SN&R | 19

20 | SN&R | 07.05.18

n o ti la u ip n a m t h g u o r D is real!

in an email single response,” Baugh wrote chemtrails. Maybe Whatever you do, don’t call them R. to SN& an awareness of the because it’s just linguistics, or maybe it’s Perhaps he didn’t get a response term that tion nota con g Paw U, a Tha w Kya says s, negative tinfoil-hat-wearin crou the idea is ludi about talk to ers pref on ingt Wig biometeorology e and Dan conjures, but of atmospheric science when discussing his professor ons” ersi disp it’s not , sol says aero U ayed Paw -spr all, “jet at UC Davis. First of ed climate change . ible theories on government-controll poss lly technologica planes can’t methods.

“Civilian planes and most military the are ed, itiat unin ly ,” he said. ible feas it e mak Chemtrails, for the blissful even fly high enough to yed spra tely bera deli ts agen planes, as al ind ogic chemical or biol Those streaks you see trailing beh take your to, raft airc condencial the mer are s, com by gtip sky win s into the well as from the aircraft’ t psychological austion exh and or vap er wat n pick, wage biological warfare, exer whe rs sation that occu warmal glob of cts effe s. the lain trol exp con he , or manipulation, condense to create an icy contrail ington shuns the Wig a h see oug ’ll Alth you . n— ther atio wea the form d and ing “There is an ice clou the that eves beli y antl high or adam ormance term “chemtrails,” he little bit of trail behind high perf age in aggressive what’s happening government is using aircraft to eng efficiency planes,” he said. “That’s this condensasee ’ll you , ling coo climate manipulation. d when you get rapi I would e, issu the of dity vali ury—for the cent a on “Bottom line tion. They’ve been forming for half or deny these nd defe to ble ossi .” imp ly high near that it’s fly argue as long as planes could er solar engineer so-called problems,” said Wigington, a form Furthermore, he adds, Wigington’s a ch, Wat ring inee Eng Geo ntific for scie er rous arch and lead rese lab proof doesn’t hold up to rigo p. grou og chd wat ring inee eng ate clim standards. ge speculators ground Wigington and other climate chan “Finding noxious chemicals on the n dow slow to king wor is feet,” Paw U ent 00 ernm 30,0 gov believe the doesn’t mean it’s coming from the weather. In turn, ch’s claim Wat ring inee Eng Geo climate change by manipulating to said in reference dicon ght drou ed caus e are proof hav , soil says from these actions, he samples collected the chemtra—er, that particulate as es rts.

Stat effo ted n Uni atio tern ipul wes man the ate in tions of the government’s clim n—cluster and cars and from ing com ly like e jet-dispersed aerosol condensatio mor h “[They’re] muc lei that works to create a cloud of condensation nuc chemicals that are on the ground.” l and scientific suppress precipitation.

Even if you ignore such technica not is ing seed of ct effe ing k the government “The drought-caus limitations, it’s ridiculous to thin ington said.

Wig e,” sam the do cial airline s mer anoe com volc , disputed is in cahoots with the entire claims; indeed Wigington says he has proof for his s. industry, he add ch, is rich with conspiracy his website, GeoEngineering Wat “Most of the concept [behind this t men argu the ort supp to ort purp is being that ical data chem and of images theory] is that some kind cial airliners to ” Paw U said. acy, spir con vast that the government is using commer very a at’s sprayed—th ere. osph atm the into ates sands of icul thou part al of met spray heavy “This would have to involve tens tion—so much so rma info have to of ’d y arra You ive rs]. ress mbe imp [me an It’s pilots and ground crew rd of Boa nty Cou sta Sha ” the d off. ince this that Wigington conv have incredible coordination to pull 2014. Then, 15, July on e ming issu clai the , up ible take poss to it’s Supervisors Wigington still believes d voted to determine film and tion ifica mod raft in a unanimous decision, the boar airc e prov es above the Northern photos that dispersion if the white streaks following plan that depicts a jet airline turning jet age foot r vapo and ice of e mad rails stry is in cont indu e re wer enti on the regi ia that Californ spray on and off. It’s not lets drop ted crea entsome ernm gov ms, d er, he clai or, rather, ill-intentione on the conspiracy, he says. Rath . ther wea cerns the on con act ing imp rais an for have intended to airline personnel have been fired the Mount At the time the board, according to and questions. to use any federal ent in the Shasta Herald, rejected a proposal With lawsuits against the governm e. issu the on s tion ques r thei wait to see deny to or e ort hav supp will studies to planning stages, the world skewed,” lly and lega sky, the from “Any federal information will be out es what finally shak need “We . time the at said l appe Sch Supervisor Bill scientifically speaking. to the feds and say, ms seem a local study, then take the results If anything, while Wigington’s clai his with e argu to hard it’s , ‘What about this?’” hed fetc beyond farin a terse But d. boar the on er h. long Eart no is the l Schappe impassioned interest in saving ained that nothing the planet from email, Supervisor Les Baugh expl “The human race has decimated .)

(R.L . said came of the inquiry. he up,” the bottom , we sent a DVD “At the conclusion of our meeting our to est requ e ons resp a of the meeting along with There was not a state and federal representatives.

ple walk among us!

CONSPIRACY RATING: Lizard peo

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

Nazi scum infiltrated the CHP! Two years after a white supremacist rally outside the California State Capitol erupted into Gangs of New York cosplay between stabby skinheads and sign-swinging antifascists, Sacramento County prosecutors are in the process of assigning blame to four defendants—three of whom were there to battle Nazis.

That disproportionate division of responsibility has only added to anti-fascists’ beliefs that cops and prosecutors are abetting a Nazi Fifth Column operating inside the United States under President Trump.

It didn’t help that Trump has sided with white supremacists in the past, most notably following the deadly violence in Charlottesville last summer, which was a sequel to what happened in Sacramento. Or that the CHP was the agency that granted a permit to assemble on Capitol grounds to the Traditionalist Worker Party, a neo-fascist grift engorged by the unlikely ascension of then-candidate Trump, a boarding-school bully with Big Fuhrer soundbites. Or that the CHP declined to withdraw the permit as news quickly spread that the TWP and its enforcers, the Golden State Skinheads, were girding for a bloody scrap with demonstrators in defense of Trump’s xenophobic platform. When said bloodshed occurred that June 2016—in full view of squadrons of CHP officers dressed for a riot but reacting to a flash mob—the few interruptions and no arrests by law enforcement got left-wing sympathizers speculating.

This past February, attorneys for the three “antifa” defendants leveled explosive allegations of a widespread cover-up, perpetrated by the CHP and Sacramento County district attorney’s office and benefiting the Nazis. As part of their exhibits, attorneys included declarations from Cedric O’Bannon, a demonstrator who says he was stabbed by a Nazi while recording the fracas. When he came out of surgery, O’Bannon claims, investigators were more interested in probing him for intel about the counter-protestors than they were about his attacker. He claims authorities took his SIM card without his permission and wiped it of critical evidence documenting the violence.

Authorities have responded that the antifa defendants were the instigators and that demonstrators who were stabbed by the Nazis (at least seven, according to defense attorneys) wouldn’t cooperate with their investigation.

This trial probably won’t answer the accusation that cops are colluding with fascists. But it shows where at least some of the community’s pulse is right now. (RFH)

CONSPIRACY RATING: Lee Harvey Oswald was a pa tsy

THE CONSPIRACY ISSUE

!

07.05.18

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PhoTo CoUrTeSy oF CAT roSS

The comic’s grind Jason Anderson shows what it means to hustle

by KATe GonzAleS

Today is the best day of Jason Anderson’s life.

When he first started telling people that, he hoped it would become his truth. “How are you doing?” someone Jason Anderson performs at an open-mic night at STAB! would politely, but most likely rhetorically, ask. “Best day Comedy Theater, which recently opened on Broadway. of my life,” he’d lie in response.

He had just gotten out of River City Recovery Center in Herald, Calif. after getting clean long enough to substance and rely less on shock humor. And he has convince his parents to loan him some more money. He practiced a lot. used drugs and alcohol for years, and after his addiction “Yeah, pretty much every night,” he said, except reached a severe point, something stuck.

Wednesdays. Those are date nights. “Sacramento’s “I got a month clean and my mind got a little bit better,” great because most nights you can get up at least one he said. “I got involved in the community and I’ve worked time,” for an open-mic. with other alcoholics and drug addicts and I started feeling The comedians who make up the Sacramento like a better person.” scene are so talented, he said, it drives everyone to With work around his sobriety, every aspect of his life be funnier. improved—his marriage, his career as a private investiga“Every single week you’re challenged to write tor and a project he’d worked on about three years: his a little bit better, to do something different,” stand-up.

Anderson said.

When Anderson took his first stand-up class In late June, he competed with 29 other at Sacramento Comedy Spot, he didn’t have comics, many from the Sacramento “I broke much reason for stage fright. He had area, for the Comedy Spot’s annual already bombed in the worst way. character, I Sacramento Stand-Up Competition.

He was about 14, performing a long told them to wait a And although he didn’t take home set of monologues in A Chorus Line, one of the cash prizes, his work minute. That was the when he repeated himself and broke ethic shows no signs of slowing character. worst feeling I ever down. He’s even returning to “I said, ‘No, wait. Hold on a had.”

Sac City College to finish up his second,’” he said, recounting the rules associate’s degree. And to top it off: of live theater he’d defied. “I broke Jason Anderson He’s currently on a bill with Ludacris character, I told them to wait a minute. comic and Vanilla Ice for the XO Festival in That was the worst feeling I ever had.” mid-July in Antioch.

Traumatic childhood experience aside, “With Jason, I enjoy watching him perform he continued to be drawn to performance. He but I also like seeing his opportunities, where I’m wrote and starred alongside his friend in an episode of like, holy shit, he’s got this or he did that,” Ross said.

Bridezillas and tried stand-up after an early-onset midlife “He’s actively participating rather than waiting for crisis in his 30s. stuff to happen.”

In his first set, he made a joke about having sex with Anderson said he’s just focused on doing the right John Ross, who taught the class at the Comedy Spot. thing every day, and now he can honestly say today “He made a joke about having sex with me? I is the best day of his life. actually don’t remember that,” said Ross, who now “I was lying when I first started saying it,” he runs the new STAB! Comedy Theater on Broadway. said. “After a while it started being the best day of “He definitely has an absurd side to him, which I like my life. I kinda kept saying it and it wasn’t a lie a lot.” anymore.” Ω Anderson, like many creatives, can see the weak spots in his early sets. He focused a lot on being gay, a topic he throws casually into his newer sets. He remembers seeing Jason Anderson hosts Molotov Comedy Starring Krista Fatka on his father squirm during the first show he attended, as July 11 at Laughs Unlimited. Show starts 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Anderson sang “Jimmy’s sucking dick,” into the mic while 1207 Front Street. For show info, visit laughsunlimited.com. playing his guitar. With practice, he learned to opt more for

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illuSTraTiOn By SaraH HanSel

Sweet Armenian napoleon, elite bakery cafe

The chicken gyro offers peppery grilled meat, lightly toasted pita and a generous portion of lettuce and tomatoes.

Halal diner Orange Oven 2790 Stockton Boulevard Good for: Greasy-good, quick Mediterranean lunches served by a kind family

Notable dishes: chicken gyro, samosas, fruit freezes

$$$

Mediterranean, Oak Park

The cashier at Orange Oven is desperately trying to close shop so he and his family can pray. But it’s a Friday at 1 p.m., and the word is out about this goofy orange walk-up stand on the outskirts of Oak Park.

A couple walks up to the register. “I’m so sorry guys we’re closed—I feel so bad saying it,” the cashier says. The would-be patrons accept the news sadly, and without hesitation, he caves and places their order for a chicken gyro.

The family that runs Orange Oven is nice, and not in the way that you call everyone nice as an afterthought. They’re, like, remarkably nice. When the cashier finally draws a line and tells patrons the kitchen is closed, he offers them a free meal next time.

“Today we have to go to prayer—it’s almost like missing mass,” he says, “but we really appreciate you coming through and I don’t want to run anyone away. We’ll make sure it’s the best food you ever had.”

I’m not sure I can say Orange Oven serves the best food I’ve ever had, but its street food-style gyros and wraps taste greasy good in a way that health-conscious Mediterranean restaurants can’t touch. The small stand on a corner of Stockton Boulevard is overshadowed by UC Davis medical buildings. It’s a rare slice of bizarro Americana with its thorough commitment to one color—orange folding chairs, orange metal tables, orange roughly-200-square-foot 24 | SN&R | 07.05.18

PHOTO By reBecca Huval

by Rebecca Huval

edifice. Wire mesh shields the kitchen and walk-up counter (“to keep out the flies—not you,” the cashier assures me).

The building dates to 1946, when it opened as the site of Merlino’s Freeze. After the business went bankrupt, two former employees opened Original Orange Freeze Stand.

Then it became Sacto Chicken Co., then Soleil Mexican American cuisine. Orange Oven took over in May. In a hat tip to the building’s history, Orange Oven still serves fruit freezes—your choice of mango, pineapple, strawberry, lemon and orange layered with vanilla ice cream, sourced from Gunther’s. The menu is a mix of diner food you would imagine being served at an all-American walk-up counter, such as burgers and fries, mixed with a fusiony, Guy Fieri-style Mediterranean street food.

In the Taziki Tacos (three for $10), toasted pita swaddles lamb dripping with herbaceous marinade, charred to lock in that umami. The cubes of meat are sprinkled with diced tomatoes, chopped lettuce and—anomalously—shredded cheddar cheese, all tossed with cooling tzatziki. It’s a confusing and delicious mess.

Mine came with samosas on the side—normally four for $3, but a free add-on for me as an apology for a longerthan-average wait. The crunchy fried wrappers contain plush potatoes and peas with a brown-sugar sweetness.

The parantha gyro ($5) came with a deep-fried pita and more sprinklings of cheddar cheese, making me feel elated in the moment and artery-clogged in the aftermath. The more traditional chicken gyro ($6) offered peppery grilled meat, lightly toasted pita and a generous portion of lettuce and tomatoes.

After each meal, the kind kitchen asked from beyond the wire mesh, “Did you like your gyro?”

I always did. Ω

Sacramento has been blessed with an up-cropping of new bakeries and dessert shops, and thankfully, it’s bringing a handful of exciting ethnic bakeries. Enter Elite Bakery Cafe, an Armenian bakery that’s family run with a large selection of Armenian sweets and lunch items.

One particularly noteworthy dessert is the Napoleon ($4), made with an egg-free custard and layers of flaky pastry. Elite’s Napoleon stands out with its coating of crispy pastry shards, giving it a lovely visual effect and textural boost. It’s big enough to split, but I promise you won’t want to share. 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Carmichael, elitebakerycafe.com. —StepHanie StiaVetti

Green goodness Sublime; pineapple mint juice; nekter About to drop dead from heat exhaustion? Green juice to the rescue! Sure, green juices have become trendy, but reality is what it is: Your body needs hydration and nutrients on a hot day. Why not get them both in one efficient package?

Enter Nekter Juice Bar, with locations in both Midtown and Roseville. Of particular note is the Sublime ($6.60-$10.60, depending on size), a frosty cup of refreshment with lime, orange, parsley, kale, spinach and cucumber. It’s green-tasting, but not overly so.

Looking for a lighter, fruitier drink? Check out the uberfresh pineapple mint juice ($6.60-$10.60), an explosion of mouth-puckering tropical acidity with pineapple, green apple, lime and a little mint for extra, “Aaaaaaah ...” 1050 20th Street, nekterjuicebar.com. —StepHanie StiaVetti

THe V WOrd

So-thick-it-sticks vegan yogurt Did anybody else notice the millions of gallons of Greek yogurt that companies were trying to cram down consumers’ throats the past several years? Despite Greek yogurt accounting for 54 percent of the yogurt market in the United States—up from being less than 1 percent nine years prior—according to the DairyReporter in May 2017, there still wasn’t a widely available vegan version at grocery stores with a similar tartness and texture to the tortured-cow original. Brands like Silk, which is almond based, and Forager, which calls itself Cashewgurt, aren’t Greek style, but are good, albeit watery and sweetish.

For a so-thick-it-sticks ’gurt with some stank on it, try homemade vegan greek yogurt from Catching Seeds (catchingseeds.com). The recipe blends then simmers 1 cup soaked and drained raw cashews, two cans of coconut milk, 1/4 cup tapioca starch; mixing in three probiotic capsules; and letting it ferment overnight. — SHoka

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Vietnamese star sauces

by Kate Gonzales

Could Hollywood’s next favorite Vietnamese sauce be made right in Sacramento’s backyard? It’s possible.

The weekend before the MTV Movie & TV Awards aired, Enve Truong was hustling to get his sauces into the hands of actors, rappers and social media influencers. With dozens of bottles and a banner with the Viet Kieu Sauce Co. logo acting as a backdrop for celebrity photo-ops, he headed to Santa Monica for the award show’s swag giveaway event.

The most exciting celebrity sighting? Fresh Off the Boat star Hudson Yang. Truong snagged a photo with the 14-year-old actor holding two of the three sauces Viet Kieu produces.

Truong grew up in Stockton after his family fled Vietnam during the war. With five or six other families, they escaped by boat, rescued by a ship heading to Hong Kong.

The name Viet Kieu, meaning “Vietnamese living abroad,” is a tribute to those who left the same way.

On a Monday morning at Viet Kieu’s Rancho Cordova headquarters, Truong spoke with ease about the

direction of the business—recounting the successful and the stressful events with good humor. He and his wife Mary, a full-time nurse, do everything from the production and bottling of sauces to the marketing and networking, with help from family.

Their sauces—a spicy ginger sauce, a Vietnamese dipping sauce and a lemongrass marinade—are handmade with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and use high-quality fish sauce from the world’s fish-sauce capital, the Vietnamese island Phú Quoc.

Truong has settled into living the dream of running a business, but this time last year, he was scared.

He’d just left a lucrative career as a pharmacist, and they’d just started a family with the birth of their daughter the previous fall.

“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he said. “A lot of people were saying I was crazy.”

Before becoming a pharmacist, Truong said, he was tempted for several years to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. He considered opening an independent specialty

pharmacy, but Mary suggested something close to their family’s heart: food.

“I cook a lot at home … my wife and I are sort of foodies,” he said. “I grew up learning how to cook from my mom.”

When Truong and his four siblings were in college, his mother, Gai Nguyen, lured them back to their Stockton home with large meals featuring their favorite dishes. The memory has become central to Viet Kieu’s story. An illustration of his mother as a young woman is the company’s logo. She passed away 14 years ago.

The Viet Kieu website has step-bystep video recipes, so even those new to cooking Vietnamese food can make a delicious dish for dinner. It’s his hope that his sauce will bring people together.

“To have all the families sit down and enjoy a meal together,” he said. “That’s the thing we want people to enjoy because that brings back our memories of warm, loving family.” Ω

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Mary Stuart

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thu, fri, sat, sun, performance times vary. through 8/4; $30-$15; Davis shakespeare festival at Veterans Memorial theatre, 203 e.

14th street in Davis; (530) 802-0998; shakespearedavis.org.

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5

We’ve come to expect good work from Davis Shakespeare. Even so, Mary Stuart arrives as this summer’s bonus, a strong modern mounting of a classic with two powerhouse professionals as leads, Jamie Jones (Queen Elizabeth I), and Sharon Rietkerk (Mary Stuart, a.k.a Mary, Queen of Scots). Both queens claim rights to England’s crown; their rivalry turns this drama into a political/strategic pressure cooker, with director Rob Salas ramping up the heat.

Surrounding the sovereigns are their fawning courtiers—strategizing spin-doctors, passing secret messages and plotting (a risky game). Ian Hopps is kinetic as the firebrand Mortimer; Gregg Koski plays shrewd backroom manipulator Burleigh; Gina Harrower is Mary’s steadfast lady-in-waiting; Will Oberholtzer plays cautious greybeard Talbot; Hans Eleveld is the charismatic opportunist Leicester, making romantic overtures to both queens.

But the contending queens call the shots. Mary risks execution if she challenges Elizabeth directly, and Elizabeth doesn’t want the blame for Mary’s death. But neither will back down and only one can survive. Their landmark showdown scene is taut and tragic, followed by a somber finale.

The costumes (Caitlin Cisek) and set (Liz HaddenMcGuire) hint at centuries past, but lean more toward dark dystopia. Richard Chowenhill’s apprehensive music adds tension. The script—a modern translation of Friedrich Schiller’s German text from 1800—pays dramatic dividends.

This critic has been waiting years to see this kind of summer festival launch locally. Davis Shakespeare, emerging as our newest professional theater company, is making that happen. Ω

Photo courtesy of yarcenia Garcia

4 Ladies liberty If women had been allowed to participate in the Continental Congress that brought forth our Declaration of Independence, things might have gone more smoothly. Or maybe not.

At any rate, this musical about the revolution of the American colonies to forge the United States gets a revolutionary interpretation in the Chautauqua Playhouse’s all-female version of 1776.

Rodger Hoopman and Warren Harrison direct the large and talented cast of 18 actors and singers. The story dramatizes the efforts of John Adams (a winning Vicki Fortini) to persuade his colleagues in the Continental Congress to vote for separation from Great Britain and to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Prominent figures include Benjamin Franklin (impressively represented by Ruth Robbins-Phillips), Thomas Jefferson (a subdued Celia Green), John Hancock (Linda Taylor, steady and not nearly as bold as the signature on that historic document) and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia (a strong Erin Renfree, who also plays Abigail Adams).

It’s good to be reminded of what it took to make this country and why it must survive.

—Jim Carnes

1776: fri 8pm, sat 8pm, sun 2pm. through July 22; $21-$23; chautauqua Playhouse in the La sierra community center, 5325 engle road in carmichael; (916) 489-7529; cplayhouse.org.

Q:

Now playiNg

3

The Little Mermaid

old plantation songs. Blue Door: 8pm Thu-Fri and 7/5,

Hans Christian Anderson’s delightful fable of the mermaid who longs to be human and the price she must pay to make that happen. Strong performances, beautiful costumes. The perfect family show. Fri 8pm, Sat

8pm, Sun 2pm. Through 7/8; $16-$18; Jean Henderson

Performing Arts Center, 608 Pena St. in Davis; (530) 756-3682; dmtc.org. P.R.

5

Blue Door and Black Pearl Sings!

Two stories of the African-American experience play in repertory at Celebration Arts. Both boast outstanding two-person casts: Tory Scroggins and Tarig Elsidding in Blue Door and Carla Fleming and Lynn Baker in Black Pearl Sings!

In Blue Door, a successful African-American mathematician (Scroggins) facing an identity crisis confronts history in visions of generations of his ancestors (all portrayed

by Elsiddig). In Black Pearl Sings!, a musicologist (Baker) discovers a potential ticket to success in a black Texas convict (Fleming) with a treasury of

1 FOUL

7/6, 7/7, 7/14, 7/21, 7/26 and 7/27; 2pm 7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/28; Through 7/29; $15-$20; Black Pearl Sings!: 8pm Sat, and 7/12, 7/13, 7/19, 7/20 and 7/28; 2pm 7/1, 7/21 and 7/29. Through 7/29; $15-$20; Celebration Arts, 2727 B Street; (916) 455-2787; celebrationarts.net. J.C.

5

The Davis Shakespeare Festival presents this classic musical by Cy Coleman, with orchestra playing the music of Comden and Green. A first rate cast,

s offers gift certificates, gift card ses, and tickets to the best busines ert restaurants, theaters and conc venues in town!

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Thu 8pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. Through 8/5; $30; Veterans Memorial

Theatre, 203 E 14th St. in Davis; (530) 802-0998; shakespearedavis.org. B.S.

check out all deals at:

The Thanksgiving Play

It’s nature vs. nurture in this tale of sexual identity and living truthfully in one’s body. The drama by Anna Ziegler is based on a true story and fits perfectly within the confines of Big Idea Theatre’s 11th season theme: “identity crisis.”

Naveen Bhat stars and Karen Bombardier directs.

Thu-Sat 8pm. Through 7/14; $16-$22, $12 on Thu; Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Blvd.; (916) 960-3036; bigidea theatre.org. J.C.

4

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Boy

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dressed elegantly, cavort on a beautiful set. What better way to spend a summer evening? Show alternates with Mary Stuart. 8pm;

A hilarious, satirical look at the well-intentioned, well-meaning, and at times clueless, efforts of white progressives to grasp the complexities of race, culture and ethnic societal challenges and solutions.

Three woke AF progressive liberals are tasked with producing a politically correct Thanksgiving play for Native American Heritage Month. Thoroughly entertaining, both in subject matter and in the seamlessly synchronized cast. A turkey it is not.

8pm Thu 7pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 2pm, Wed 7pm. Through 7/22; $28-$40;

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

Short reviews by Patti Roberts, Jim Carnes and Bev Sykes.

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Janey Pintar as Hayley, Kelley Ogden as Savannah and Mitch Alaire as Norleen (Mama).

Buckle up Main Street Theatre Works—which stages outdoor summer shows in a lovely amphitheater in the foothills— offers the raucous comedy Mama Won’t Fly, involving an Alabama-California road trip for a wedding, with humorous diversions like a near-fatal visit to an “underwear museum.” Five actors play a host of 20 colorful characters; the cast includes Sacramento stalwarts Kelley Ogden and Janet Motenko. Fri 8pm, Sat 8pm (gates open at 6:30pm).

Through July 21; $12-$20; Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre, 1127 N. Main Street in Jackson; mstw.org.

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Rise and fall

3

The late Whitney Houston boards a plane to her iconic Super Bowl performance in 1991.

3

1945

Hungarian director Ferenc Török has been making short films, documentaries, TV movies and features since 1999, but the sepia-toned 1945 is his first film to ever sniff a stateside release. The movie opens on the morning of August 12, 1945, as news reports of the Nagasaki bombing arrive over the radio in a small Hungarian village.

Despite the lingering presence of Russian soldiers, an impending wedding seems to signify a return to homogenized “normalcy,” but the arrival of two unknown Jewish men dressed in black threatens to expose the town’s legacy of collaboration and theft.

As the men in black slowly approach, the corrupt town clerk scurries to cover his crimes, while the townspeople begin to fall into a debilitating spiral of shame and guilt.

Simultaneously dreamy and sobering, 1945 is an impeccably acted examination of the moral fester of the Holocaust, although the conclusion lacks the necessary impact. D.B.

2 Whitney

by DanieL BaRneS & Jim Lane

by Jim Lane

Those periods of touring left Houston and her brothers to be farmed out to various friends and relatives for long periods, and Macdonald implies that a feeling of abandonment and insecurity sowed The sad arc of Whitney Houston’s life could wring the seeds of Houston’s downward spiral in the tears from a bronze statue, and director Kevin last years of her life. One eye-opening revelation Macdonald’s documentary Whitney is sure to do the comes from Houston’s assistant Mary Jones, who same. Macdonald mixes archival footage and talkingreveals that she was sexually abused between the head interviews with Houston’s family and associates, ages of 6 and 9 by her cousin, singer Dee Dee and if his movie short-changes her music, it compenWarwick (sister of Dionne). Macdonald, without sates with the revealing insights he offers into her life. saying so directly, plants the suggestion that this There are many musical moments in Whitney, but experience led to confusion about her sexuality, they’re only moments: a clip from the videos for “I as seen in her relationship with best friend and Wanna Dance with Somebody” and “How sometime lover Robyn Crawford and her Will I Know,” her first TV appearance futile efforts to make her turbulent on The Mike Douglas Show singing marriage to Bobby Brown work.

Whitney “Home” from The Wiz, things like (Dee Dee Warwick died in Houston’s that. That last is especially electrify2008; Dionne and Robyn brilliant peak made ing; she seems to have sprung Crawford, in Macdonald’s from nowhere at age 19, fully film, are conspicuous by their her drawn-out crash formed as the pop diva we know absence.) and burn all the more she’ll become. But the clip is also Conspicuous by his agonizing when it finally frustrating because Macdonald presence is Brown, who gives us so little of it. That appearinitially gets credit for even came, surprising ance was a bit of musical history speaking on the record, then almost no one. that we’d like to see more of; not squanders it by his gobsmacking all of Houston’s fans were around in assertion that “drugs had nothing to 1983, and those who were probably didn’t do with Whitney’s life,” and his refusal watch Mike Douglas every day. Of all Houston’s to discuss the subject. Those who regard musical legacy, only her iconic performance of “The Brown as a no-talent scumbag who sought to Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1991 Super Bowl gets an bathe himself in his wife’s reflected glory will find in-depth treatment; Macdonald asks us to remember nothing in Whitney to change their opinion. her performances from a few brief, even passing Houston’s brilliant peak made her drawn-out mentions. crash and burn all the more agonizing when it Then again, Whitney is already two hours long, finally came, surprising almost no one. Macdonald and on the whole Macdonald budgets his running traces her career with compassion and sensitivity. Ω time by exploring the forces that shaped Houston’s early development, honing her talent under the sometimes demanding tutelage of her mother Cissy, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin, who gave Houston tough-love training when she wasn’t on the Poor Fair Good Very excellent road touring.

Good

1 2 3 4 5

Boundaries

Just when you start to feel like a churl for condemning every touchy-feely indie dramedy as a creatively bankrupt, Sundance-sloppy ode to mopey narcissism, here comes this dysfunction junction from writer-director Shana Feste (Endless Love).

Vera Farmiga stars as Laura Jaconi, a single mother with the standard-issue misfit son (Lewis MacDougall as Henry), weird job (she’s the put-upon personal assistant of an old friend) and quirky character defect (her apartment houses a veritable zoo of strays).

The easily manipulated Laura also tries to set boundaries with her naughty-boy drug dealer father Jack (Christopher Plummer), but soon enough she is driving Jack and Henry on the prerequisite road trip towards a prefabricated emotional breakthrough. Whatever the film’s admirable ambitions in terms of examining dysfunctional family dynamics and celebrating lives lived outside the norm, Boundaries is almost uniformly lowbrow, with a weak script that severely tests the likeability of Farmiga and Plummer. D.B.

3

Hearts Beat Loud

Another snuggly non-movie from director Brett Haley (The Hero), this time about a sad sack musician struggling to connect with his teenage daughter. As widower Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman) prepares to shutter his musty Red Hook record store, his distant daughter Sam is about to leave for UCLA. Her plans become complicated, for lack of a better word, when Frank and Sam’s father/ daughter jam session inadvertently produces a Spotify “hit.” Offerman is likable as ever, but it’s asking a lot for him to carry a film, especially one without an ounce of urgency in the narrative. Much of the script feels copy and pasted from Haley’s previous efforts, including the burnout best friend who shuffles in every now and then to drop stony bits of wisdom (Ted Danson plays the role here, although Offerman was the stoner friend in The Hero), but the delightful Kiersey Clemons is a revelation as Sam. D.B.

3

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

My bar for all things dinosaur-related, including the Jurassic Park film franchise, has always been notoriously low. The first Jurassic Park movie is generally beloved and iconic, but I also ravenously consumed the sequels, sticking with the franchise through every indefensible decision like a tortured sports fan. Dr. Ian Malcolm’s adopted daughter doing gymnastics to escape the velociraptors in The Lost World? I’m fine with it. A typically moist-eyed Téa Leoni rescuing her parasailing son from dinosaur island in Jurassic Park III? Sure, why not. Jimmy Fallon as Jimmy Fallon in Jurassic World? Yes. But even by my admittedly basement-level standards, J.A. Bayona’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom still feels like a giant glob of triceratops spit lobbed right in

the audience’s face. The first Jurassic World was incredibly retrograde and dumb, but it was also driven by an irresistible premise, while this dutiful follow-up just feels numb and exhausted. D.B.

2

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

The drug war from 2015’s Sicario continues, only the stakes are raised now: the Mexican drug cartels are smuggling terrorists over the border as well as drugs, bringing black-ops specialist Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and maverick operative Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) again into play. Writer Taylor Sheridan is back, but the director this time is Stefano Sollima (in for Denis Villeneuve); the result is viciously efficient and relentlessly unpleasant. Characters are all varying shades of unsavory; even a 12-year-old kidnap victim is set up first as a nasty little brat. The first movie had Emily Blunt’s idealistic FBI agent for us to identify with; she’s gone now, and there’s no one to replace her. The movie’s view of Mexico as a hell-hole of cartel assassins and corrupt cops adds to the overall ugliness. J.L.

2

Tag

Five buddies (Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Burress) spend one month every year playing an elaborate game of tag. This year, one of them (Renner) is retiring without ever being “it,” so the others (including Isla Fisher as Helms’ wife) redouble their efforts. Based on a Wall Street Journal article about 10 real-life pals, Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen’s script dumbs down the story into the kind of dimwit bromance comedy we’ve already seen too many of. Jeff Tomsic’s flailing direction fails—indeed, barely tries—to smooth out the script’s lurching changes in tone from jackass farce to buddybuddy sentiment to group hug. The cast works hard, but they’re in the hands of amateurs. The closing credits run over smartphone video clips of the real game, which looks like a lot more fun. J.L.

2

Uncle Drew

A street-basketball manager (Lil Rel Howery) loses his team to a hated rival (Nick Kroll), so in desperation he turns to legendary old-timer Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving) and his long-ago teammates (Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson), who show that there’s life (and game) in the old boys yet. The message is undercut by the fact that they’re all decades younger than the movie says they are, and under the amateurish old-age makeup, they aren’t actors enough to make it work. Still, on the court they’re a lot of fun in a Harlem Globetrotters kind of way, and the ending of course is never in doubt. Written

by Jay Longino and directed by Charles Stone III, the movie is shambling and awkward between games, but everybody’s likeable and ingratiating if you in the mood for that sort of thing. J.L.

4

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best of Enemies director Morgan Neville delivers this heartfelt tribute to Fred Rogers, the Presbyterian minister turned iconic host of the long-running children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Rogers started on local television in Pittsburgh, but his warmth, sincerity and ability to connect with children eventually made him the face of public television.

In a direct response to the violent, stupid, massmarketed, ad-based poison that was already beginning to dominate children’s TV, Rogers used his program to promote caring and self-worth, while still confronting relevant issues in a responsible manner. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is just as fawning and formally unimaginative as Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s RBG, or any other talking-heads-and-clips documentary for that matter. Neville zips through the usual starryeyed interviews and nostalgia-filled highlight reels, but there is an essential emotional element to the film, one driven largely by a protagonist with a powerful need to express his feelings. D.B.

07.05.18 | SN&R | 29

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Northern California band, taught himself bass, guitar, piano and some sax as he grew as a musician in the punk scene. The band stays true to the original sound of the song, but even as its members are like caricatures in their bright, cartoonish ’90s gear, he said personal style comes through.

“I think everyone eventually adapts their own unique playing style, and I believe mine comes out a bit in every song, however, I try not to branch out away from what is necessary for the particular Friendship never ends when you’re a ’90s cover band. song,” Burns said. “Some of my personal favorite songs are ‘Basket Case,’ and I really like some of the No Doubt stuff because the bassist is amazing.”

Who among us can resist a solid ’90s singalong Some songs naturally lend themselves to the sesh? It can be a bit shameful, belting out “Say it party atmosphere Saved by the 90s is going for (I see Ain’t So” with one arm wrapped around your buddy, you, “Wannabe.”) Others, Finerman said, take some the other swaying your beer in the air like it’s a revving to keep the energy up. lighter. But there’s something about the decade’s pop “A perfect example is ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ music—from Alanis to Britney—that allows us to set Titanic theme song,” he said. (Swoon.) “So we the ego aside in favor of upbeat, neon-lit nostalgia. start it off kind of nice and slow, and toward the end Danny Finerman was living in New York when, of the song, it almost turns into an ’80s hair metalaround 2009, he predicted a trend. The styles of the like ballad.”

1980s had come back around, and he expected the Even with work, some of the decade’s greats ’90s were on deck. don’t work with the vibe; you won’t find Tracy “I said to my friend, ‘Dude, the ’80s are Chapman or Elliott Smith at this party. awesome but the ’90s are better,” he And as much as Nirvana set the stage remembered. You could say he saw it for 1990s rock, even their most “I said coming just around the riverbend. mainstream songs aren’t always a Before velvet chokers and to my friend, great fit. grungy Angela Chase vibes “We did try to play were cool again, Finerman and ‘Dude, the ’80s are Nirvana’s ‘[Smells Like] Teen his friends Alex Rossiter and Spirit’ a couple of times,” awesome but the ’90s Nat Esten launched Saved by Burns said. “But we can’t seem the 90s as a karaoke band. are better.’” to play that, because every time They soon dropped the audiwe do, a huge fight breaks out in ence component to become a Danny Finerman the crowd.” party band playing covers from co-founder, Saved by the Tight. the era. It was successful, selling 90s Recommendation for those attendout clubs in New York City, so ing a Saved by the 90s show: Don’t be when Finerman’s day job moved him a dweeb.

Revisit your favorite shows of the to California, he saw an opportunity to start ’90s to brush up on some hella dope slang. Ω a West Coast branch of the band. They launched the Northern California band in 2015, and today, six branches of Saved by the 90s play concerts and parties nationwide.

Their lineup includes the staples of any selfsaved by the 90s plays ace of spades July 14. doors open at 7 p.m. tickets respecting ’90s pop cover band: Third Eye Blind, Foo are $20. for show info, visit aceofspadessac.com.

Fighters, Spice Girls. Bobby Burns, bassist for the 30 | SN&R | 07.05.18

building a

HealtHy S a c r a m e n t o

Health advocates Seek More Primary Care for Medi-Cal Patients

by Edgar SanchEz

After more than three years of public outcry, Medi-Cal patients will finally be able to access primary care at UC Davis Medical Center.

Unfortunately, only 1,000 patients have been accepted, due to an apparent decision by the insurance company UnitedHealthcare.

UCD officials disagree with the insurer’s recent move to stop assigning new MediCal enrollees to UC Davis primary care physicians.

“UC Davis Health has a contract with UnitedHealthcare to assign up to 3,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries to UC Davis Health primary care providers,” UCD spokesman Charles Casey said recently. “We object to UnitedHealthcare’s actions.”

“A lot of people were upset.”

According to Casey, about 1,000 UnitedHealthcare Medi-Cal members were assigned to UC Davis Health before the insurer suspended accepting new patients on June 1.

Negotiations between UnitedHealthcare and UCD are ongoing.

In a statement, UnitedHealthcare did not address why it stopped enrolling new Medi-Cal patients. Instead, the statement said in part, “With (our) recent entrance into (Sacramento), individuals with MediCal have more health plan options.”

UnitedHealthcare became a new health plan option for Sacramento County Medi-Cal enrollees in October 2017.

The health safety net for low-income Sacramentans suffered a significant cut in January 2015, when the Medical Center began denying primary care to Medi-Cal patients, blaming low Medi-Cal reimbursements. It continued to provide care for Medi-Cal patients with special conditions if their insurance plans authorized continuity of care; and, as required by law, it continued to serve all Medi-Cal patients arriving in its emergency room.

Kim Williams director, Sacramento building healthy communities initiative

Losing their UCD primary care doctors traumatized many Medi-Cal patients. They scrambled to find new ones at other health care systems — not always successfully.

Sacramento County has 442,000 patients in the state-run Medi-Cal. Last year, UCD officials began meeting with the Health Equity Action Team, or HEAT, a coalition of grantees of The California Endowment and other interested partners.

HEAT’s demand that UCD restore full Medi-Cal services has driven the monthly sessions.

uC davis medical Center in South Sacramento is accepting medi-Cal patients for primary care, but only 1,000 of them, due to an apparent decision by unitedHealthcare. Photo by Edgar Sanchez

At a recent meeting, HEAT received encouraging news: up to 3,000 Medi-Cal patients would get primary care doctors at UCD through UnitedHealthcare.

“We felt that 3,000 wasn’t enough ... but it was a starting point,” said Kim Williams, a HEAT leader and director of The California Endowment’s Sacramento Building Healthy Communities initiative.

Then came anger.

“A lot of people were upset” on learning of UnitedHealthcare’s alleged rollback, she said.

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

Health Happens in neighborhoods. Health Happens in Schools.

Health Happens with Prevention.

paid with a grant from the california endowment

BuIldIng HEalTHy COmmunITIES In 2010, The California Endowment launched a 10-year, $1 billion plan to improve the health of 14 challenged communities across the state.

Over the 10 years, residents, communitybased organizations and public institutions will work together to address the socioeconomic and environmental challenges contributing to the poor health of their communities.

connect with building healthy communities at www.Sacbhc.org www.SacBHC.org 07.05.18 | SN&R | 31

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32 | SN&R | 07.05.18

HARDROCKCASINOLAKETAHOE.COM

foR the week of july 05

by Maxfield Morris

snr c a le nd a r @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

Online listings will be considered for print. Print listings are edited for space and accuracy. Deadline for print listings is 5 p.m. Wednesday. Deadline for NightLife listings is midnight Sunday.

Send photos and reference materials to Calendar Editor Maxfield Kate Gonzales Morrisatat snrcalendar@newsreview.com.

Post events online for free at

www.newsreview.com/sacramento newsreview.com/sacramento

MUSIC

MONDay, 7/9 converGe: With Amenra. 7pm, $22.50-$25. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

ThUrSDay, 7/5 ProXY moon: With And Her, which is a confusing name to write out. It’s a free Concert in the Parkway, down by the river. 6pm, no cover. Camp Pollock on American River Parkway, 1501 Northgate Blvd.

sat

PhOTO COUrTESy Of raUL GONzO

07

TUESDay, 7/10 katcHafire: With E.N Young, Notis Heavyweight

GroUnd cHUck Benefit sHow: Kenny Beasley,

micHael mcdonald: See a musician whose work

Jeffrey Valentine, Andrew Harrison, the Baking Soda Boys and more are throwing a couple shows to benefit local musician Ground Chuck, who was recently hospitalized. 8pm, call for cover. The Press Club, 2030 P St.

two tone steinY & tHe cadillacs: Playing at the Fair Oaks Concert in the Park series. 6pm, no cover. Fair Oaks Village Park, 4238 Main St. in Fair Oaks.

Rockaz and Two Peace. 6:30pm, $25-$27. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St. has spanned decades and genres. 7:30pm, $69-

$293.50. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

WEDNESDay, 7/11 accordinG to BaZooka: Playing the Davis

Farmers Market Picnic in the Park. 4:30pm, no cover. Central Park, 301 C St. in Davis.

mUmBo GUmBo: Playing one of the neater

venues around: Fairytale Town. 7pm, $5.75$15. Fairytale Town, 3901 Land Park Drive.

mike BlancHard and tHe californios: Playing

Paint-dipped cinema

on page 35. 8pm, $26-$110. Golden 1 Center, 500 David J Stern Walk.,

fall cHildren: With Until the Unknown, Banger

and R4ID. 7pm, $8. Cafe Colonial, 3520 Stockton Blvd.

Yes, there are some very vibrant colors in this short film.

HarrY stYles live on toUr: See event highlight

at the Winters Friends of the Library Concert. 7pm, no cover. Rotary Park, 100 Main St. in Winters.

witcH moUntain: With Crimson Eye and Astral

Cult. 8pm, $10-$12. Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Blvd.

frIDay, 7/6

Crest theatre, 1:30pm, $10

frankie James Band: With Devin Wright. 7:30pm,

fESTIVaLS

no cover. Goldfield Trading Post, 1630 J St.

william scone: Playing at Free Music

With unique production design that feels like a Wes Anderson-Dr. Seuss fever dream, Sacramento filmmaker Raul Gonzo’s short film Margo Hoo film Couldn’t Sleep! will premiere at the Crest Theatre. Billed as a children’s movie fit for all ages, it follows the title character’s mischievous nighttime exploits in a town addicted to day-glo. Gonzo and a number of the cast and crew will host a

Q&A sesh post-screening; they’re part of a community of camera-wielding artists in need of support. In the wake of the Lady Bird train, we should keep Sacramento cinema-crafters in the spotlight. Film is one of the most powerful forms of media, and Sacramento voices ought to be lifted up. 1013 K Street, margohoo.com.

Fridays. 5:30pm, no cover. McConnell Estates Winery, 10686 West Stockton Blvd. in Elk Grove.

mYlar’s HiPPie HoUr fridaYs: William Mylar and guests play at this unrehearsed, freewheeling performance. 5:30pm, no cover. Louie’s Cocktail Lounge, 3030 Mather Field Road in Rancho Cordova.

SaTUrDay, 7/7 faster PUssYcat: With Faith & Bullets, Abeyance and Nova Sutro. 7pm, $20-$25. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.

moneY man: With POIZ and Free the Lost. 7pm, $27-$102. Ace Of Spades, 1417 R St.

DOKKEN The metal band has much shorter hair than they did in the ’80s, but they still pack a punch. 7/20, 6:30pm, $22, on sale now.

Ace of Spades, eventbrite.com.

JIM GaffIGaN The funny actor

person and comedy guy tells jokes on a stage. 7/21, 8pm, $48-$83, on sale now.

Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, ticketmaster.com.

TIM MCGraW aND faITh hILL The two country icons drop by Sacramento for their world tour, Soul2Soul. 7/22, 7:30pm, $50-$130, on sale now. Golden 1 Center, ticketmaster.com.

LIL UzI VErT, G-Eazy, P-LO, Ty DOLLa $IGN aND yBN NahMIr It’s a hip-hop dream as G-Eazy and Lil Uzi headline the Endless Summer Tour.

Amphitheatre in Wheatland, concerts1. livenation.com.

raKIM The rapper took a decade-long hiatus before hopping back into the scene. 8/4, 8pm, $27.50, on sale ticketfly.com. now. Harlow’s, ticketfly.com.

PaNIC! aT ThE DISCO ISCO

Kids and adults alike should get should get excited, because Brendan Urie’s Brendan Urie’s in a resurgence, and he’s got he’s got some well-laid vocal pipes. pipes.

Hayley Kiyoko is along for the for the ride. 8/14, 7pm, $66.75-$300, in San on sale now. SAP Center in San Jose, ticketmaster.com. ticketmaster.com.

JErry SEINfELD He’s a comedy icon, a national treasure, and

Sing for us, Brendan. Sing.

he’s coming to your town. 8/24, 7pm, $50$165, on sale now. Community Center Theatre, tickets.com.

SaM SMITh The Oscar-winning UK

artist comes to town to perform his second studio album, The Thrill of it All. 8/24, 7pm, $45-$70, on sale now. Golden 1 Center, ticketmaster.com.

Center, ticketmaster.com.

LOS LOBOS See for yourself if Los Lobos are just a one-hit wonder.

Lobos 9/7, 7pm, $29.50-$35, on sale now.

Ace of Spades, eventbrite.com.

Ace

Sa SaCraMENTO BUrGEr BaTTLE It’s hard to buy a Ba

burger burger two months in advance, but it’s worth the foresight. This event it’s sells out early and often. 9/13, 7pm, sells $70-$90, on sale now. Cesar Chavez Plaza Park, eventbrite.com.

Plaza

BUrners on BroadwaY: It’s like being in the desert while staying in Sacramento. Expect a toned-down version of Burning Man, fit for the whole family. 5pm, no cover. 34th and Broadway, 3400 Broadway.

unique marketplace, full of artwork, foods and much more. 12pm, no cover. Sojourner Truth Museum, 2251 Florin Road.

dieP kUc tinH He: A Vietnamese Concert with 7/28, 6:30pm, $30-$300, on sale now. Toyota

it’s going to be a heck of a party, kicking off Black Summer. 8pm, call for cover. Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Blvd.

african marketPlace: Local vendors make up a

for cover. Swabbies, 5871 Garden Highway.

Upcoming shows TKTK Do you have tickets yet? We both know you don’t.

Black sUmmer: With live DJs, dancing and drinks,

SaTUrDay, 7/7

Joel: The famous Billy Joel cover band. 1pm, call

ticket window

frIDay, 7/6

Vietnam’s best. 8pm, $30-$75. Thunder Valley Casino, 1200 Athens Ave. in Lincoln.

SUNDay, 7/8 nortH star Piano trio: Violinist Kristen Autry, cellist Alexandra Roedder and pianist Lynn Schugren play music inspired by female creators. 3pm, $10-$12. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

SUNDay, 7/8 Belated sUmmer solstice PartY: It might be a lame reason to throw a party (showing off a new housing development) but there will be food, drinks and lawn games, so how wrong can you go? 3pm, no cover. The Mill at Broadway, Crate Avenue and Cleat Lane.

¡fiesta de frida!: See event highlight on page

35. 11am, no cover. Latino Center of Art and Culture, 2700 Front St.

west BoUnd Groove: Featuring guitarist Tony Elder, along with Kevin Cain, Ken Berger, Brandon Harris and Ray Iaea. 6:30pm, $10-

fOOD & DrINK

$20. CLARA, 2420 N St.

wHitecHaPel: With the Black Dahlia Murder, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Aversions Crown and Shadow of Intent. 5:30pm, $20. Ace Of Spades, 1417 R St.

frIDay, 7/6 Paint YoUr Pint niGHt: Personalize your pint glass with paint, personifying your perspective of poured potables. Susy from SusyQ Studio

calendar listinGs continUed on PaGe 35

07.05.18 | SN&R | 33

07.05.18 | SN&R | 34

See More eventS and SubMit your own at newsreview.CoM/saCraMento/Calendar

sunday, 7/8

¡Fiesta de Frida! latino Center of art and Culture, 11am-4pm, no Cover

biG idea tHeatre: BOY. Sexual identity and doctors’ roles in deciding those for patients; weighty subjects in this play based on a true story. through 7/14. $12-$22. 1616 Del Paso Blvd.

cHautauQua PlayHouSe: 1776. An all-female

If you’re rocking a unibrow, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do you have what it takes to be a FeStivalS Frida Kahlo doppelgänger? Enter into the look-alike contest at the ¡Fiesta de Frida! This celebration, held on Photo Courtesy of andres alvarez Kahlo’s birthday, also offers art workshops and craft vendors.

Nosh on some authentic Mexican cuisine while you listen to the cumbia band La Diferencia Por Siempre. 2700 Front Street, thelatinocenter.com.

calendar liStinGS continued FroM PaGe 33 will be teaching the class, which includes two glasses to paint and one glass to drink. 6pm, $40. Porchlight Brewing Co., 866 57th St.

saturday, 7/7 aMerican river rancH FarM Stand: Get some fresh-baked bread, some sun-soaked produce or some craft-roasted coffee. There are also non-food-related things to do, including activities, classes and tours. 8am, no cover. Soil Born Farms, 2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova.

absurdity. It’s about a sorcerer. 7pm, $7.50-

$9.50. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

Monday, 7/9 tHe beatleS’ yellow SubMarine: How many music groups make entertaining, featurelength movies? Of that small group, the Beatles stand out. Yellow Submarine is a visual delight, animated beautifully under the direction of Heinz Edelmann. Check out the restored, remastered version of the psychedelic classic. 7:30pm, $10.50. Tower Theatre, 2508 Land Park Drive.

CoMedy filM thursday, 7/5 idiocracy: The Crocker is showing Mike Judge’s Idiocracy outdoors in their courtyard. It’s a pretty funny flick about a dismally regressed future, although there are plenty of hardto-take moments—consider leaving the kids at home. 7pm, $6-$12. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.

friday, 7/6 a wrinKle in tiMe: Watch the really trippy and bizarre book you probably read in elementary school and see if it translates well to the silver screen. 4pm, no cover. North SacramentoHagginwood Library, 2109 Del Paso Blvd.

SPaceballS: Not a lot of good parody movies out there recently, so I guess we’ve got to settle for rewatching ones from the 1980s. Good thing the Star Wars franchise is still alive and well. 7:30pm, $7.50-$9.50. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

saturday, 7/7 MarGo Hoo couldn’t SleeP!: See event highlight on page 33. 1:30pm, $10. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

sunday, 7/8 willow: Some dark fantasy stuff from the mind of George Lucas. It feels a lot like the original Star Wars trilogy, with a bit more ham and

art

on staGe

blacKtoP coMedy: Now Showing! If you want

version of the very American musical that puts faces to American history. through 7/22. $21-$24. 5325 Engle Road #110 in Carmichael.

eaGleS Hall: RSVP presents Cabaret Night. This night of fun includes a catered buffet dinner, which puts it up there in my book. 5:30pm Sunday, 7/8. $50. 124 Vernon St. in Roseville.

Karen’S baKery: Storytime at Karen’s Bakery.

Sounds pretty normal, right? Storytime in a bakery? Well, it’s not normal. There’s going to be animals there. Animals, in a bakery, for storytime. 9:30am tuesday, 7/10. no cover. 705 Gold Lake Drive in Folsom.

MuSic circuS at tHe wellS FarGo Pavilion: Newsies. Travel back in time to when Christian Bale was just a child actor. Before he was Bruce Wayne (who is secretly Batman), he got his start in this musical about newsboys, and I like to think Batman would want you to go see it. through 7/15. $40-$92. 1419 H St.

StaGe riGHt PerForMance SPace: Steel Magnolias. Six women from the South share their trials and tribulations on stage. through 7/15. $10-$15. 4000 San Juan Ave. in Fair Oaks.

veteran’S MeMorial aMPHitHeatre: Mary Poppins. Some truly great music and imaginative characters make this musical a classic. Chim-chim-cher-ee, come sit and see, chim-chim-cher-eet, it sounds pretty neat. through 8/5. $10-$18. 7991 California Ave. in Fair Oaks.

Fairly reserved and with some clever bits, Mean Dave could be worth checking out. 8pm, through 7/5. $15. Nate Jackson. You can expect some pretty typical comedy-style jokes from Jackson and an appearance by Ryan Wingfield. through 7/8. $20. 1207 Front St.

PuncH line: Kris Tinkle. Kris Tinkle does some

pretty okay observational comedy. through 7/7. $17.50. 2018 Punch Line Summer Comedy Bash. Starring DJ Cooch and Kabir Singh. 7pm Sunday, 7/8. $16. 2100 Arden Way, Suite 225.

SoFia tSaKoPouloS center For tHe artS: Men Fake Foreplay. Mike Dugan is a writer and comedian who deals with traditional gender norms. 7pm Friday, 7/6. $30. 2700 Capitol Ave.

toMMy t’S coMedy club: Honest John. Honest John is a white Def Jam comic who first started performing in his middle age years and kept doing it. He does that thing where he says he doesn’t take a side in politics so you don’t know whether you disagree with him. through 7/8. $10-$30. 12401 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova.

FirSt Friday Flow at Sutter’S Fort: Historians

Manetti SHreM MuSeuM: You broke the

agree that John Sutter had no idea what yoga was—that doesn’t stop people from doing free yoga on the grounds of his eponymous fort. 6pm, no cover. Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, 2701 L St.

ocean in half to be here. Andrea Chung’s exhibit explores the effects of colonialism on societies. through 9/2. no cover. Breaking Away. Susan Swartz’s exhibit abstracts landscapes in the medium of paint. through 9/2. no cover. 254 Old Davis Road in Davis.

saturday, 7/7

Gallery 2110: Wounded Deer. This tribute to

bat talK and walK 2018: Bat Fact No. 1: Bats

Frida Kahlo showcases work inspired by her life and work. 6pm Friday, 7/6. no cover. 1023 Del Paso Blvd.

are not bugs. Learn even more Bat Facts at a Bat Talk and Walk. 6:30pm, no cover-$14. Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters, 45211 County Road 32B in Davis.

verGe center For tHe artS: Notebooks of a Body. Examine closely what the newest generation of artists from UC Davis have to say in a cross-medium collection. through 8/12. no cover. 625 S St.

sunday, 7/8 biKe liKe a Girl no droP ride: This is a no-riderleft-behind kind of ride, starting from Folsom and heading on either a 21- or 36-mile trip. It will be pretty hilly. 8:30am, no cover. Folsom Grind, 7610 Folsom-Auburn Road in Folsom.

MuseuMs McKinley library: LEGO Mania! Take some of

taKe aCtion

the best therapy money can buy by building stuff with plastic, interlocking Danish blocks. 3:30pm Friday, 7/6. no cover. 601 Alhambra Blvd.

friday, 7/6

Sylvan oaKS library: Teen Art Acrylic Painting.

Teens ages 13-19 can get a hands-on approach to painting in this free event. 11am Saturday, 7/7. no cover. 6700 Auburn Blvd. in Citrus Heights.

of Monte Cristo. Did you know that Edmond Dantes is the same dude as the Count of Monte Cristo? True story. Anyway, without giving too much away, there’s a whole bunch of revenge to be had in this play. through 7/28. no cover-$23. 3901 Land Park Drive.

beer & roSeS: If you like eating, drinking and labor unions, stop by and share a beer and some conversation at this monthly event. 7pm, no cover. Streets Pub and Grub, 1804 J St.

SacraMento Zoo: Family Overnight. You’ve camped in Yosemite, conquered the PCT, walked the Camino in Spain, sure. But have you spent the night in a zoo? Now’s your chance to check off this box that only the most esteemed wilderness experts can claim. 5:30pm Friday, 7/6. $55-$65. 3930 W Land Park Dr.

Classes friday, 7/6 PetalS & PuncH Floral worKSHoP: You’ve seen flowers before, right? Well, what about floral arrangements? Whatever you’re picturing is the kind of arrangement you’ll learn about at this class. 6pm, $125. Ames Haus, 328 Lincoln St. in Roseville.

williaM a. carroll aMPHitHeatre: The Count

to go into an evening with no idea of what you’ll see, check out the improv showdown at Blacktop Comedy. through 7/20. no cover. By All Means! Roast battles are stressful, so it’s good to remind yourself they’re not real insults. This insult-exchange features Malcolm Hatchett, Jason B, Josh Means and more. 8pm Saturday, 7/7. $10. 3101 Sunset Blvd Suite 6A in Rocklin.

lauGHS unliMited coMedy club: Mean Dave.

friday, 7/6

sPorts & outdoors thursday, 7/5 caliFornia claSSic: Check out the basketball fun as the Warriors play the Lakers and the Kings play the Heat. 12pm, $10-$125. Golden 1 Center, 500 David J Stern Walk.

saturday, 7/7 Golden lecture: This is a free lecture on acrylics, which should open your eyes to what you can do with paint. You’ll even take home a free paint goodie bag, should you choose to attend. 1pm, no cover. University Art, 2610 J St.

Monday, 7/9

Harry Styles Golden 1 Center, 8pm, $26-$110

You’ve heard of him, but he’s never heard of you, and he never will. Yes, Harry Styles, the pop-superstar/ MuSic teen-idol/British-invader, is coming to Golden 1 Center. Sacramento is another notch in Styles’ world tour belt, and he’s joined by country musician Kacey Musgraves. Styles’ smooth crooning is sure to charm your socks off, so if you’ve been wearing that same pair of socks all week, check him out. 500 David J Stern Walk, golden1center.com.

Photo Courtesy of fiona MCKinlay, CC By-sa 2.0

07.05.18

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35

FRIDAY 7/6

SATURDAY 7/7

SUNDAY 7/8

The acousTic den cafe

THURSDAY 7/5

Hussy Hicks, 7pm, $15

Time Warps, 7pm, $5

Ukulele Jam & Sing-along, 11am, no cover Open Mic, 6:30pm, W, no cover

Badlands

Fridays on the Floor, 10pm, call for cover

Spectacular Saturdays, 7pm, call for cover

Industry Sundays, 8pm, call for cover

Karaoke Night, 9pm, T, call for cover; Trapacana, 10pm, W, call for cover

BaR 101

Christian DeWild, 8:30pm, call for cover

Brotherly Duo, call for time and cover

Blue lamp

Black Summer, 8pm, call for cover

FEVER St. Jude Disco Benefit, 9pm, $10

Weedeater, Zeke and Sierra, 7pm, $20-$25

The Kennedy Veil, 7:30pm, T, $12; Witch Mountain, 8pm, W, $10-$12

10271 FAIRWAY DRIVE, ROSEVIllE, (916) 412-8739 2003 k ST., (916) 448-8790 101 MAIN ST., ROSEVIllE, (916) 774-0505 1400 AlHAMbRA blVD., (916) 455-3400

The BoaRdwalk

9426 GREENbAck lN., ORANGEVAlE, (916) 358-9116

States and Capitals, 8pm, call for cover

capiTol GaRaGe PHOTO cOURTESY OF EDGAR DANIEl

Show Banga

Midsummer’s Night EDM, 8pm, $10

1500 k ST., (916) 444-3633

Capitol Fridays, 10pm, no cover before 10:30pm

Dinner and a Drag Show, 7:30pm, $5-$25 Capitol Cabaret, 7pm, call for cover

cResT TheaTRe

Spaceballs, 7:30pm, $7.50-$9.50

Margo Hoo Couldn’t Sleep, 1:30pm, $10

1013 k ST., (916) 476-3356

6pm Saturday, $10-$15.

Harlow’s Hip-hop

faces

Faces Karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

Papis Invade Sac, 9pm, $10-$15

faTheR paddY’s iRish puBlic house

Kent and Cavileer, 6pm, call for cover

Bottom Dwellers, 7pm, call for cover

Mike Blanchard and the Californios, 7pm, call for cover

fox & Goose

Irish Jam Session, 8pm, no cover

Kevin & Allyson Seconds, Ian McGlone and Noah Nelson, 9pm, $5

Allison Hallenbeck, Harlequin Rose and Alethea Buchal, 9pm, $5

Golden 1 cenTeR

California Classic, 12pm, $19

2000 k ST., (916) 448-7798 435 MAIN ST., WOODlAND, (530) 668-1044 1001 R ST., (916) 443-8825 500 DAVID J STERN WAlk, (888) 915-4647

Electric Six, 7pm, $15

2708 J ST., (916) 441-4693

hiGhwaTeR

1910 Q ST., (916) 706-2465

holY diVeR kupRos

24hrs, Dice Soho and SkinnyFromThe9, 7pm, $20-$65

1517 21ST ST.

Total Recall, 8:30pm, $5

HOF Saturdays, 9pm, $5

The Trivia Factory, 7pm, M, no cover; Geeks Who Drink, 6pm, T, no cover

Angel Vivaldi and SediT, 6:30pm, $13-$15

Faster Pussycat, Faith & Bullets, Abeyance and Nova Sutro, 7pm, $20-$25

Converge and Amenra, 7pm, M, $22.50$25; Katchafire, 6:30pm, T, $25-$27 Kupros Quiz, 7:30pm, no cover

1217 21ST ST., (916) 440-0401

luna’s cafe & Juice BaR

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

1414 16TH ST., (916) 737-5770

Mae Krell, The Rose Monarch, Ryan Cassata and more, 7pm, call for cover

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com 7/15 5:30Pm $25Adv

mikE FarriS & thE FortunatE FEw

7/5 7:00Pm $15Adv

ElEctric Six

Coming Soon 7/21 CupcaKke 7/24 Shawn mullins 7/26 Antsy mcClain & the Troubs (Early) 7/26 Ron Artis ii & the Truth 7/27 Lil darrion 8/4 Rakim

7/19 6:00Pm $15Adv

7/8 6:00Pm $10Adv

phoEbE briDgErS, lomElDa

Show banga

Show Banga, 6pm, $10-$15

Pine Box Boys, Graveside Quartet and Gentleman Jimmy, call for time, $10

2565 FRANklIN blVD., (916) 455-1331

7:30pm Tuesday, $69-$293.50.

Crest Theatre R&B

Open Mic Night, 7:30pm, M, no cover; All Vinyl Wednesdays, W, 8pm, no cover

Let’s Get Quizzical, 7pm, T, no cover Slurricane Festivs, 10pm, $15-$20

hideawaY BaR & GRill

Michael McDonald

Every Damn Monday, 8pm, M, no cover; Noche Latina, 9pm, T, no cover

Groove Thang Acoustic Trio, 9pm, call for cover

5681 lONETREE blVD., ROcklIN, (916) 626-3600

haRlow’s

8/10 dustbowl Revival 8/11 dJ Quik 8/12 Wild Child 8/15 nicolay & the Hot at nights

2708 J Street www.momosacramento.com 7/5 7pm free tix online/$3 at the door

Discover ThursDays: hans! anD The hoT Mess, PolyfunkTion

live MuSic

7/8 6:30pm $10

july 7 Brotherly duo

coMeDy Burger fT. ngaio BealuM 7/9 6:00pm $10

haTe Drugs, slooMe, carPool Tunnel 7/11 5:30pm $8 BourBon & Blues:

Proxy Moon

8/17 grateful Shred 8/18 2nd Annual Battle of the Brass Bands 8/19 SALES

Drop DEaD rED, trophii, SpacEwalkEr 36

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8/24 Jocelyn & Chris Arndt 7/20 9:00Pm $18Adv

taintED lovE

THE BEST of THE 80S LivE!

8/25 & 8/26 Anderson East 8/28 Bad Bad Hats

Open Mic, 8pm, T, no cover; Ross Hammond, 7:30 pm, W, no cover Creative Music and Jazz, 7:30pm, M, $10; Open-Mic Comedy, 7:30pm, T, no cover

8/7 Paul Cauthen

8/16 Casey Abrams

7/13 10:00Pm $8Adv

Michael McDonald, 7:30pm, T, $69$293.50

Willow, 7pm, $7.50-$9.50

Harry Styles, 8pm, M, $26-$110

halfTime BaR & GRill

PHOTO cOURTESY OF TIMOTHY WHITE

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 7/9-7/11

7/12 7pm free tix online/$3 at the door

july 6 christian dewild

july 13 toast & Jam july 14 western spies & the kosmonaut july 19 GÜero (cd release 7:30pm) july 20 Blame the Bishop

33 Beers On Draft

Discover ThursDay: aaron Taylor, lanDline

Monday Pint night 5-8 PM, trivia @ 6:30 PM taco tuesday $1.25 tacos noon – close Wednesday oPen Mic – sign-uPs @ 7:30 PM

sacramento’s favorite djs every fri at 10pm

101 Main Street, roSeville 916-774-0505 · lunch/dinner 7 days a week

For booking inquiries, email Robert@momosacramento.com

fri & sat 9:30pm - close 21+

/bar101roseville

suBMit your calenDar listings for free at newsreview.coM/sacraMento/calenDar THursDay 7/5

friDay 7/6

momo sacramento

Hans! & the HOT MESS and PolyFunktion, 7pm, no cover-$3

old IronsIdes

Decipher and John Rodriguez, 7:30pm, $5

Three Day Runner, the Devil Switch, Jason Achilles and more, 8pm, $7

on tHe Y

Open-Mic Comedy/Karaoke, 8pm, no cover

Sideshow, Asterhouse and Standard Issue, 9pm, $10

2708 J sT., (916) 441-4693

1901 10TH sT., (916) 442-3504 670 fulTOn ave., (916) 487-3731

Palms PlaYHouse

saTurDay 7/7

sunDay 7/8

MOnDay-WeDnesDay 7/9-7/11

Rewind 80s and 90s Party, 10pm, no cover-$10

Comedy Burger with Ngaio Bealum, 6:30pm, $10

Hate Drugs, Sloome and Carpool Tunnel, 6pm, M, $10; Proxy Moon, 5:30pm, W, $8 Heath Williamson, 5:30pm, M, no cover; Karaok “I”, 9pm, T, no cover

Lipstick Dance Party, 9pm, $5

Tuesday Night Karaoke, 9pm, T, no cover

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For more cannabis news, deals, & updates visit capitalcannabisguide.com

No love for ‘Permit Patty’ See aSk 420

41

in a state that produces roughly 13 million pounds of marijuana each year, how significant is the loss of an estimated 180,000 pounds because of regulatory requirements?

For dispensary owners already struggling with lower-than-expected sales and a long list of regulations, the loss marks a big hit to their bottom line. Last week, they were trying to figure out just what to do with untested weed before July 1, when a state mandate required that all weed sold in California be tested for pesticides, mold and other toxins.

The state required that all untested cannabis on dispensary shelves be sent to the landfill, prompting complaints from the industry and cannabis activists who last week asked for an extension.

“Destroying millions of dollars of cannabis on the whim of regulators who 38

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Another suggestion has been to allow dispensaries to send the weed for testing. The state has balked because the regulations allow for the transport of cannabis from testing facilities to dispensaries, but not the other way around, Traverso said.

Faced with the prospect of having to throw out weed, dispensaries have been trying to liquidate supply through fire sales. In Sacramento, Golden Health and Wellness and Alternative Medical Center cut prices by 75 percent for everything in stock. Lines were long, with people waiting over an hour, but customers took it in stride with the big deals awaiting them.

There will be no weed bonfire when dispensaries hand their untested At a monthly meeting held for product over to the landfills, as they’re required to do under state cannabis stakeholders, Devlin warned regulations. Pot activists say the resulting millions of dollars in shop owners not to sell untested weed losses are untenable. And the Joker? “Everything burns!” to customers or the black market.

“This is something the state is going to look at and audit,” he said.

Traverso confirmed that BCC officials would soon conduct a statewide compliance check at dispensaries, including a review of cannabis for testing requirements. dispose of 180,000 pounds of cannabis While the requirement invites images of a big weed bonfire, the regulations don’t appear to give that

by Brad Branan option. Dispensaries must turn over the weed to a licensed trash hauler, who can put it in a landfill, a composting facility, a “chip-and-grind” plant or a only released the latest regulations a few to find out how much excess cannabis sealed digestion facility. weeks ago is untenable,” said longtime they had and then extrapolated the Dispensary owners will activist Debby Goldsberry, a co-owner of figure across the city and face another big challenge the Magnolia Oakland dispensary. “It’s the state. His estimate after this one—having times like this that civil disobedience for the city: 4-5,000 to test all of their starts to make sense.” pounds of cannabis [Four to five products. About 30 But Alex Traverso, a spokesman at will go to the thousand] pounds of testing facilities are the Bureau of Cannabis Control, said the landfill, marking licensed statewide, state made the testing requirements clear cannabis will go to the the loss of $4 and it’s not clear last year. “The writing has been on the to $5 million landfill, marking the loss how many of those wall,” he said. “We let them know what worth of weed, at of $4 to $5 million worth are actually up and was expected.” wholesale prices. running. Regulators The testing requirement actually of weed, at wholesale Activists and aren’t sure there’s started Jan. 1. But dispensary owners dispensary owners prices. enough to meet the were given a six-month grace period to have proposed demand, especially sell untested weed bought before the start alternatives, such as since most of them of the year. Shops stocked up on untested giving the weed to loware clustered in Southern cannabis in an effort to cut costs. income, medical marijuana California and the Bay Area. Ω City of Sacramento pot czar Joe patients. But dispensary owners Devlin tried to get a grasp on the would likely still have to pay taxes on economic impact of the regulation. He the weed, as they do for any donation to called some Sacramento dispensaries “compassionate-care” programs.

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07.05.18 | SN&R | 39

You’ll eat more than 35,000 cookies in your lifetime (probably).

40 | SN&R | 07.05.18

By Ngaio Bealum

as k 4 2 0 @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

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Dangit. I was gonna talk about Canada and how they have decided to become the second country in the world to legalize marijuana (Uruguay was the first), and how Canada grows great weed. (I’m in Vancouver right now, smoking on a Lemon Thai variant that tastes like a summer’s day, and one of the kushiest and stinkiest NYC Chem Dawg variants I have had in a while.) I also maybe wanted to mention my new show on Netflix (Cooking on High, check it out) but noooooo, I have to talk about racism and ignorance and lack of situational awareness in the cannabis community. Sigh.

Last week, Alison Ettel, CEO of TreatWell Health, which is a company that specializes in making very popular cannabis tinctures for pets (and humans), created a very rough day for herself. Ms. Ettel allegedly (I say allegedly because Ms. Ettel claims that she was only pretending to call the cops. But even if she was pretending, it doesn’t help her case.)

Anyway, Ettel called the cops on an 8-year-old black girl because she was selling bottles of water on Ettel’s block without a permit. The girl’s mother posted a video of Ettel on the Internet, and the shit has hit the fan.

People have called for boycotts of TreatWell, many dispensaries have taken the company’s products off the shelves and their social media pages

have been inundated with threats and invective.

Ettel has since resigned as the CEO of TreatWell, but it may be too late for the company to recover.

Some people are saying that what is happening to Ettel is too much and that people shouldn’t be so mean to her, but I feel like she just learned some valuable lessons: 1. Don’t bully little black kids.

Ettel is claiming that she is receiving death threats. My contention is that she started making death threats first.

Calling the cops on a black child could be construed as a death threat. Ask Tamir Rice.

2. If you are in the cannabis industry, calling the cops on someone for not having the proper permits is hypocrisy writ large. I’m pretty sure you can’t get a permit to sell weed tinctures to dogs.

Game should recognize game.

3. Everyone has a camera.

It is virtually impossible to be a racist ass in public and get away with it these days. Think it through before you act up.

There’s a lot more I could say about racism in the cannabis industry and how a lot of new folks seem to forget that cannabis legalization started as a social justice movement, but I only have 500 words.

I am glad that many members of the cannabis industry have decided to do the right thing even though it may cost them money in the short-term. Let’s all continue to take the high road. Ω

SAturDAy

Hey I heard there was some sort of thing that happened in SF that made people in the cannabis industry all upset or something.

What happened?

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Don’t give it weight Criticism isn’t always about you, even if it’s directed at you. Sometimes a deeply wounded person lashes out at us as if we are the person who hurt them in the past. This is especially true of people who struggle with the way they were parented as children. If you’ve ever had criticisms lobbed at you like, “You’re just like my father!” or, “You’re just like my mother!” don’t respond. It’s not about you—it’s about one or more of the following issues.

Unhealed wounds from unresolved trauma. It’s fairly common for people to have one parent or caregiver who did not provide enough, or consistent, emotional or physical care. The absence of healthy intimacy in childhood can cause trust issues to blossom in adults. So can any experience of loss related to a traumatic event, particularly in childhood, like the loss of a parent through death or divorce. But that’s not an excuse. It’s an obligation to pursue intensive self-healing through psychotherapy and other proven methods.

Avoid time travelers. A person who accuses you of being like one of their parents is disconnected from the present moment. He or she is living in the past.

In other words, that individual is no longer, say, a 40-year-old woman, but has shrunk to the emotional age of her brokenness without realizing it. Don’t play the role she is auditioning you to play.

Own your authority. It follows that someone who is stuck emotionally as a child or a teenager will interact with you as if you are an adult trying to control behavior or attitudes. If you’re being blamed or shamed by this person, don’t respond. Remember, he or she is showing you who they are behind the mask most people see. Stay silent.

Be compassionate. This individual has failed to own his or her own authority and is suffering the result. Embody your own authority. Take care of yourself by withdrawing from the chaos as soon as possible.

In truth we trust. You might be tempted to minimize the very real interpersonal drama sparked by the accusation of: “You’re like my mom (or dad).” You might be swayed to justify this individual’s trust issues: His mother cheated on his father and that messed with his head. Or: Her last four boyfriends cheated on her, so of course she doesn’t trust me. Look at the problem another way. Trauma and loss is awful.

And yes, it can cause a person to hesitate before trusting others. But honesty is the vitamin that builds the trust muscle. Until this person is honest enough to admit you are you and not his parent, no change is possible. And only when they stop recreating trauma and loss will they heal.

When someone levels a crazy accusation at you, don’t give it weight. Notice their suffering.

Say a prayer for that person.

Acknowledge to yourself the damage created when someone has not processed pain, and projects that mess on to others. Then reflect on your own behavior. Tidy your emotional life. Process your personal history so you don’t project it on to others. Ω

Until this person is honest enough to admit you are you and not his parent, no change is possible.

MeDitation of the Week “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate,” wrote psychotherapist Carl Jung. Are your mind, body and spirit in the same space throughout the day?

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FRee will aStRology

by Kate Gonzales

by Rob bRezsny

FOR ThE WEEK OF JULy 5, 2018 ARIES (March 21-April 19): Twentieth-century

French novelist Marcel Proust described nineteenth-century novelist Gustave Flaubert as a trottoir roulant, or “rolling sidewalk:” plodding, toneless, droning. Meanwhile, critic Roger Shattuck compared Proust’s writing to an “electric generator” from which flows a “powerful current always ready to shock not only our morality but our very sense of humanity.”

In the coming weeks, I encourage you to find a middle ground between Flaubert and Proust.

See if you can be moderately exciting, gently provocative, and amiably enchanting. My analysis of the cosmic rhythms suggests that such an approach is likely to produce the best long-term results.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You remind me of

Jack, the nine-year-old Taurus kid next door, who took up skateboarding on the huge trampoline his two moms put in their backyard. Like him, you seem eager to travel in two different modes at the same time. (And I’m glad to see you’re being safe; you’re not doing the equivalent of, say, having sex in a car or breakdancing on an escalator.) When Jack first began, he had difficulty in coordinating the bouncing with the rolling. But after a while he got good at it. I expect that you, too, will master your complex task.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): From the day you

were born, you have been cultivating a knack for mixing and blending. Along the way, you have accomplished mergers that would have been impossible for a lot of other people.

Some of your experiments in amalgamation are legendary. If my astrological assessments are accurate, the year 2019 will bring forth some of your all-time most marvelous combinations and unifications. I expect you are even now setting the stage for those future fusions; you are building the foundations that will make them natural and inevitable. What can you do in the coming weeks to further that preparation?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An open letter to

Cancerians from Rob Brezsny’s mother, Felice: I want you to know that I played a big role in helping my Cancerian son become the empathetic, creative, thoughtful, crazy character he is today. I nurtured his idiosyncrasies. I made him feel secure and well-loved. My care freed him to develop his unusual ideas and life. So as you read Rob’s horoscopes, remember that there’s part of me inside him. And that part of me is nurturing you just as I once nurtured him. I and he are giving you love for the quirky, distinctive person you actually are, not some fantasy version of you. I and he are helping you feel more secure and well-appreciated. Now I encourage you to cash in on all that support. As Rob has told me, it’s time for you Cancerians to reach new heights in your drive to express your unique self.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The ghost orchid is a rare

white wildflower that disappeared from the British countryside around 1986. The nation’s botanists declared it officially extinct in 2005. But four years later, a tenacious amateur located a specimen growing in the West Midlands area. The species wasn’t gone forever, after all. I foresee a comparable revival for you in the coming weeks, Leo. An interesting influence or sweet thing that you imagined to be permanently defunct may return to your life. Be alert!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The ancient Greek

poet Sappho described “a sweet-apple turning red high on the tip of the topmost branch.” The apple pickers left it there, she suggested, but not because they missed seeing it. It was just too high. “They couldn’t reach it,” wrote Sappho.

Let’s use this scenario as a handy metaphor for your current situation, Virgo. I am assigning you the task of doing whatever is necessary to fetch that glorious, seemingly unobtainable sweet-apple. It may not be easy. You’ll probably need to summon extra ingenuity to reach it, as well as some as-yet unguessed form of help. (The Sappho translation is by Julia Dubnoff.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Is there any prize

more precious than knowing your calling? Can any other satisfaction compare with the joy of understanding why you’re here on Earth?

In my view, it’s the supreme blessing: to have

discovered the tasks that can ceaselessly educate and impassion you; to do the work or play that enables you to offer your best gifts; to be intimately engaged with an activity that consistently asks you to overcome your limitations and grow into a more complete version of yourself. For some people, their calling is a job: marine biologist, kindergarten teacher, advocate for the homeless. For others, it’s a hobby, like long-distance-running, bird-watching, or mountain-climbing. St. Therese of Lisieux said, “My calling is love!” Poet Marina Tsvetaeva said her calling was “To listen to my soul.” Do you know yours, Libra? Now is an excellent time to either discover yours or home in further on its precise nature.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Have you

entertained any high-quality fantasies about faraway treasures lately? Have you delivered inquiring communiqués to any promising beauties who may ultimately offer you treats? Have you made long-distance inquiries about speculative possibilities that could be inclined to travel in your direction from their frontier sanctuaries?

Would you consider making some subtle change in yourself so that you’re no longer forcing the call of the wild to wait and wait and wait?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If a down-

to-earth spiritual teacher advised you to go on a five-day meditation retreat in a sacred sanctuary, would you instead spend five days carousing with meth addicts in a cheap hotel?

If a close friend confessed a secret she had concealed from everyone for years, would you unleash a nervous laugh and change the subject?

If you read a horoscope that told you now is a favorable time to cultivate massive amounts of reverence, devotion, respect, gratitude, innocence, and awe, would you quickly blank it out of your mind and check your Instagram and Twitter accounts on your phone?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A typical working couple devotes an average of four minutes per day to focused conversation with each other. And it’s common for a child and parent to engage in meaningful communication for just 20 minutes per week. I bring these sad facts to your attention, Capricorn, because I want to make sure you don’t embody them in the coming weeks. If you hope to attract the best of life’s blessings, you will need to give extra time and energy to the fine art of communing with those you care about.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Allergies, irritants,

stings, hypersensitivities: sometimes you can make these annoyances work in your behalf. For example, my allergy to freshly-cut grass meant that when I was a teenager, I never had to waste my Saturday afternoons mowing the lawn in front of my family’s suburban home. And the weird itching that plagued me whenever I got into the vicinity of my first sister’s fiancé: If I had paid attention to it, I wouldn’t have lent him the $350 that he never repaid. So my advice, my itchy friend, is to be thankful for the twitch and the prickle and the pinch. In the coming days, they may offer you tips and clues that could prove valuable.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you somehow

growing younger? Your stride seems bouncier and your voice sounds more buoyant. Your thoughts seem fresher and your eyes brighter. I won’t be surprised if you buy yourself new toys or jump in mud puddles. What’s going on? Here’s my guess: you’re no longer willing to sleepwalk your way through the most boring things about being an adult. You may also be ready to wean yourself from certain responsibilities unless you can render them pleasurable at least some of the time. I hope so. It’s time to bring more fun and games into your life.

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 realastrology.com.

Political science and paranoia Kathryn Olmsted has studied plenty of conspiracy theories, but she doesn’t aim to solve them. A professor in the Department of History at UC Davis, Olmsted explores popular conspiracy theories in a social context in the course Politics and

Paranoia: Conspiracy theories in 20th century America. Olmsted’s 2009 book, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11, examines how the expansion of the federal government gave rise to public distrust, looking at the JFK assassination, the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9/11 through this lens. Check out her lecture, Just Because You’re Paranoid Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Out to Get You on YouTube.

What got you interested in conspiracy theories?

I wrote a book about congressional investigations of the CIA and the FBI right after Watergate. The main investigation was called the Church Committee, after Sen. Frank Church, who headed it. When I was researching that book, I was really intrigued by how many people wrote Sen. Church because, as he discovered that the CIA and FBI had engaged in real conspiracies, many Americans came to believe that the government was conspiring against them personally. I was just struck by the thousands of letters that he received from people who said, “The FBI has followed me: the CIA has tried to do mind-control experiments on me.” I got interested in the dynamic relationship between real government conspiracies and conspiracy theories about the government. As the government discloses real conspiracies from the past, this sort of feeds the paranoia of a lot of American citizens.

Why do you think people turn to conspiracy theories to explain war?

It’s usually people who oppose that particular war. You see this over and over again, even in World War II which most Americans remember as “the good war,” there were people who were opposed to it at the time. Mostly on the far right, [people] thought that the U.S. should be fighting communists rather than Nazis. So they promoted the theory that Franklin Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor in advance and deliberately withheld that information in order to trick the American people into

PHOTO BY KATE GONZALES

entering WWII. So you can see conspiracy theories by opponents of wars in just about every war, starting with World War I.

in certain conspiracy theories. It’s like a window into the culture and the fears of the time.

Is it common for the same conspiracy theory to feed distrust of government from the left and right?

Can you explain how your book Real Enemies links conspiracy theories to the rise of the security state?

It’s pretty common in the last 30 years. It’s a relatively new phenomenon starting in about the 1980s. You start seeing more and more of what are called “fusion” conspiracy theories, where people on the right and the left share the same conspiracy theories about the government, even though they wouldn’t agree on just about anything else.

You really start seeing it after the IranContra scandal, when of course there were a lot of people on the left who saw that real government conspiracy and believed that the Reagan administration was guilty of a lot of other of crimes. It’s also true on the right, where they think that Iran-Contra is proof of a deep state and use it to fuel their own anti-government conspiracy theories.

My argument in the book is that in World War I, the U.S. government for the first time criminalized dissent—it was against the law to speak out against the war effort—and also started massive surveillance of the population to see if they were breaking this law, or if they were some way consorting with the enemy. Once the government starts getting more power—more secret power, more surveillance power—that is when more and more Americans start suspecting their government of conspiring against them.

Because it has the power to do so and in some cases it is actually conspiring against them.

What do students expect when they enter your class, and what do they get out of it?

There are real reasons to suspect the U.S. government of lying and covering up and doing some horrible things over the years.

However, if then you start to believe every anti-government theory that you read on the Internet, then that leads to a profound cynicism. Skepticism is healthy, but cynicism can be corrosive. So you have to be skeptical of the government, but if you then reach the point where you say you can never trust anything anyone in the government ever does, then that makes it impossible for us to solve problems as a society. Ω

Well I tell them the first day that we’re not going to prove conspiracy theories. We’re not going to investigate or find out who really killed Robert Kennedy. Lots and lots of people have done that. They’ve tried to and they haven’t been able to do that. In 10 weeks in an undergraduate program—that’s not gonna happen. So I say that the class is about understanding why Americans at various points in their history believed

What would you like more people to know about conspiracy theories?

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