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ON OFF NEW Home: Sacramento’s rental market, Daytrips: Old-fashioned fun in Nevada City Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly
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contents
august 15, 2019 | Vol. 31, Issue 18
Amber DeLaRosa’s moody, dark-pop single, “Get to Me,” garnered more than 40,000 streams on Spotify. She’s scheduled to perform at this year’s City of Trees music festival in September.
editor’s note letters essay streetalk GreenliGht 15 minutes news feature arts + culture
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23 staGe dish place calendar capital cannabis Guide ask joey
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cover desiGn by maria ratinova
Jenny Plummer, Lloyd Rongley, Lolu Sholotan, Carlton Singleton, Viv Tiqui N&R Publications Editor Debbie Arrington Associate Publications Editor Derek McDow
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 Foon Rhee News Editor Raheem F. Hosseini Managing Editor Mozes Zarate Staff Reporter Scott Thomas Anderson Copy Editor Steph Rodriguez Calendar Editor Maxfield Morris Contributing Editor Rachel Leibrock Editorial Assistant Rachel Mayfield Contributors Ngaio Bealum, Amy Bee, Rob Brezsny, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Joey Garcia, Kate Gonzales, Howard Hardee, Ashley Hayes-Stone, Jim Lane, Chris Macias, Ken Magri, James Raia, Patti Roberts, Dylan Svoboda, Bev Sykes, Graham Womack Creative Services Manager Elisabeth Bayard-Arthur Art Directors Sarah Hansel, Maria Ratinova Publications Designer Katelynn Mitrano Publications and Advertising Designer Nikki Exerjian Ad Designer Naisi Thomas, Cathy Arnold
Advertising Manager Michael Gelbman Sales & Production Coordinator Skyler Morris Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Kelsi White
Advertising Consultants Michael Nero, Rodrigo Ramirez, Vincent Marchese
Director of First Impressions/Sweetdeals Coordinator Trish Marche Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Assistant Lob Dunnica Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Beatriz Aguirre, Rosemarie Beseler, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Mike Cleary, Tom Downing, Marty Fetterley, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Michael Jackson, Calvin Maxwell, Greg Meyers, John Parks,
N&R Publications Staff Writer/Photographer Anne Stokes
N&R Publications Staff Writer Thea Rood N&R Publications Editorial Coordinator Nisa Smith Marketing & Publications Lead Consultant Elizabeth Morabito
Marketing & Publications Consultants Steve Caruso, Joseph Engle, Sherri Heller, Rod Malloy, Celeste Worden, Greta Beekhuis
President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Director of People & Culture David Stogner Nuts & Bolts Ninja Norma Huerta Director of Dollars & Sense Debbie Mantoan Account Jedi Jessica Kislanka Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Hansen Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins
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For a city to be strong and vibrant, it needs smart and dedicated leaders—not just in elected offices and corporate boardrooms, but in the arts, education, faith, law, media, nonprofits, philanthropy and other segments of civic life. And it’s much healthier to have a broad group of people making big decisions on a community’s future. But these leaders don’t just magically appear. They have to be found and nurtured. Sacramento is blessed to have two thriving programs that do just that—the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program and the American Leadership Forum. Nehemiah fellows are typically younger, and there’s more focus on developing new leaders and on ethnic diversity. The American Leadership Forum recruits fellows who are already leading organizations or soon will be, mostly in their late 40s and early 50s. As Scot Siden, Nehemiah’s program director says, his program is the master’s degree in leadership while the forum is the Ph.D. Nehemiah fellows are nominated, invited to apply and vetted. The top candidates compete during a full day of group exercises and individual interviews in front of 30 judges. This Selection Day for the next class was Aug. 2, and the new fellows will be announced in mid-September. The program lasts 10 months, with one all-day and one evening session a month and a couple of overnight retreats, plus reading on leadership and a class project to benefit the community. Before they graduate, fellows must join a nonprofit board or government commission, or take a leadership position if they already serve on a board. After 10 classes so far, there are 154 graduates, the most recent in June. Most of the alumni are
fo o nr @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
not well known yet, but can make a big splash later. One example: Amanda Blackwood, who was in the 2015-16 class, became the first female CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber in May 2018. She’s now among the Class X of the fellows with the Mountain Nehemiah Emerging Valley Chapter of American Leaders Program graduated in June. Leadership Forum, who tend to be better-known and move in more powerful circles. Bonnie Ferreira, the chapter’s CEO, said several dozen former fellows are involved in driving the renaissance of downtown Sacramento. While the forum has diversity in jobs and geography, it is seeking more ethnic diversity, Ferreira said. It starts inviting new fellows in the fall after a six-month process that starts with nominations by previous fellows. The fellows meet 18 days during the yearlong program, including a retreat to the Sierra Buttes—a “deep dive” into the perspectives and life experiences of their classmates. The current class went last week. It includes Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District Executive Director Alberto Ayala, Placerville City Manager Cleve Morris and Yolo County Assessor Jesse Salinas. Among the 400 or so alumni of the previous 22 classes are Congressman Ami Bera, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, state Sen. Richard Pan and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Past fellows from other walks of life include B Street Theatre co-founder Buck Busfield, Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault, developer Mark Friedman, charter school founder Margaret Fortune, News & Review President and CEO Jeff vonKaenel and Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn. Besides developing leadership skills, both these programs bring together people who might not otherwise get to know each other. They create active alumni networks for social and business opportunities and strengthen the region’s social fabric. So if you’re interested in taking a bigger role in Sacramento’s civic life, getting in one of these programs could be your ticket. Ω
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Can a reimagined Sacramento Zoo ls save the anima —and itself?
Zoos are archaic
Re: “Recovering the wild” by Scott Thomas Anderson (Feature, Aug. 1): rson as Ande om Th t By Scot The whole idea page 14 of a “zoo” is a 19th century concept. The idea that our dominant species can collect and display wildlife for our own entertainment and amusement is outdated. The entire world exits for our observation from sea to shining sea. The idea that we can capture it for profit is obscene. The concept of a “zoo,” much like the “circus,” must end. The idea that we can rehabilitate wildlife to their former habitat is also obscene. It smacks of omnipotence and hubris beyond measure. No, you will not succeed. Kudos for trying, but it’s all in vain. Mother Nature wins every time. Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly
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Randall Guyton Gr as s V a l l e y / v i a e m a i l
Gun rights limited Re: “To Republicans: Whose side are you on?” by Jerry McNerney (Essay, Aug. 8): It astounds me that people say that guns are not the problem. I do not believe that the founding fathers believed that the right to bear arms is unlimited. Freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment, but is limited. The Supreme Court has held that it is illegal to yell “Fire!” In a crowded room. The right to bear arms can be limited also. Why should we permit the use of military weapons that can kill 21 people and injure dozens in less than a minute? Where do we draw the line? Bazookas? Nuclear weapons? Some would rather protect the right of gun manufacturers to make profits rather than protect the lives of our children. Shame!
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Trump’s toxic rhetoric Re: “Enough is enough” by John Garamendi (Essay, Aug. 8): Hatred, bigotry and ignorance are tales as old as time, but there is an underbelly that rose out of the garbage heap recently because of President Trump. During his campaign when he promoted building a wall at the Mexican border and called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers, he tapped into that frame of mind that needs a leader to justify their fear, hatred, anger and ignorance. First and foremost, we are all humans. If you think there is something lesser-than based on a person’s class, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, then you are not living within the realms of facts and reality. We are all one.
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A call to action on ethics Sacramento’s commission needs public support This is a call to action to ensure that we have an effective and independent Sacramento Ethics Paula Lee is first vice president of the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County. Commission. It was the civic participation of community organizations, neighborhood associations, good government groups and concerned individuals that helped bring an independent ethics commisThe commission must have an independent sion to the city of Sacramento. budget source that doesn’t depend on City But now its independence and effectiveness is Council approval. The commission’s administraat stake. tor must be independent as well, and to avoid any It has taken public engagement to establish potential conflict of interest, report only to the successful ethics commissions in other cities in commission. California. We want our ethics commission to As an investigative and enforcement body, have a meaningful role in creating a culture of the commission needs subpoena power to compel ethics and trust in our city. Otherwise, why have people to testify and to hand over documents an ethics commission in the first place? related to a complaint. The panel has suggested The commission was established by the City how subpoena power could be granted. Council in March 2017. Its authority extends As volunteers who have other jobs, to city elected officials, candidates for ethics commissioners need the elected office, independent expenflexibility to use a hearing “We diture committees, members of officer if needed. want our city boards and commissions, And ethics education, ethics commission to the city manager, the city training and innovative clerk, the city attorney, the policy development have a meaningful role city treasurer, the city audishould be under the in creating a culture of tor, the independent budget commission. The city ethics and trust in our city. analyst and the director of code needs to expressly public safety accountability. say this. Otherwise, why have an The commission reviews You are invited to ethics commission in the and considers complaints meet our dedicated ethics first place?” against these elected and commission. At a meeting appointed city officials and at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, Aug. seeks to ensure these officials are 16, they will discuss their role conforming their conduct to the city’s in our community and how to file a code and policies. The panel also oversees complaint, and will listen to comments and ethics education and training to avoid inadvertent questions. Mayor Darrell Steinberg will introduce violations. the commissioners. In February, the commission submitted its first For more information about how you can annual report and provided recommendations that help move these recommendations forward or to are key to its independence and effectiveness as we receive a copy of the Sacramento Ethics Code, all envisioned. However, the commission is still contact Advocacy@lwvsacramento.org. Ω waiting for the city attorney’s office to respond. Without vocal public support for the ethics The Sacramento Ethics Commission will hold a public meeting at 5:45 p.m., commission and its recommendations, its Friday, Aug. 16 at the offices of Organize Sacramento, 1714 Broadway. effectiveness and independence will be seriously compromised.
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increase. The Democrats should learn from I do not like Donald Trump as a person or the mistakes of the Republicans, who made as a president. I think that he, like other themselves look foolish and petty when presidential candidates, should release his impeaching President Bill Clinton. tax returns. Instead, those of us who want to reduce But I oppose the state of California income inequality, who want to save the requiring candidates for president and planet, who want affordable health care, governor to submit copies of their tax who want criminal justice to be just, who returns from the last five years to the want to reduce wasteful military spending California secretary of state at least three and who want to have a foreign policy that months ahead of the state’s primary. This is a clearly a partisan, anti-Trump move. I also leads to a safer world, we need to reflect on why Trump has the support of nearly two oppose limiting candidates to those without out of five Americans. orange hair. Many of those same Americans who This kind of partisan maneuver is voted for Trump were willing to vote for a frivolous and a waste of time. If voters black president in 2008 and in 2012. Why? really want to elect a corrupt, self-serving Having lived in a small town in Ohio individual who refuses to provide that voted overwhelmingly for basic information to us, then the Obama as well as for Trump, voters have a constitutional I believe that those voters right to do just that. Our Going high means could support progressive constitution gives us candidates. But a failed many rights, including forgetting about impeachment attempt the right to make these impeaching our will not get their kinds of poor choices. law-breaking, corrupt, support. With a superInstead of having majority in the state self-serving impeachment hearings, Legislature, Democrats president. why not have congresnow have the ability to sional investigations into do stupid things that appeal why hedge fund operators pay to their political base, such the much lower capital gains tax as restricting who can run for instead of paying the higher tax rate that president. But they should not follow the wage earners pay? Or how cutbacks at the lead of Texas Republicans, who approved IRS have allowed rich people and corporahandgun registrations, but not student IDs, tions to routinely get away with tax fraud? as identification to vote. Or further investigation of the drug pricing In her 2016 Democratic convention practices of the pharmaceutical companies? speech, Michelle Obama said, “When they Or how large agribusiness companies are go low, we [Democrats] go high.” It is a unfairly slashing small farmers’ incomes? goal worth pursuing. Part of Trump’s appeal is that many Going high means forgetting about Americans believe that the system is impeaching our law-breaking, corrupt, selfrigged against them. And they are right. serving president. Sure, a case can be made What progressive Democrats need to do is for impeachment. But there is a correct way demonstrate that the Democrats represent to remove Donald Trump from office, and the 99% of Americans. □ that is to defeat him in the November 2020 election. Impeachment—which would never get a two-thirds vote necessary for conviction in the Republican Senate—is a waste Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority of time. And it adds to partisan polarization, owner of the News & Review. which we should be trying to reduce, not
15 minutes
by Brad Bynum
b ra d b @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts speaks to the California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco in June. PHOTO BY BEN CHRISTOPHER FOR CALMATTERS
‘I’ve got a plan for that’ After two rounds of debates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has risen to the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates. She’s spending quite a bit of time in California, which moved up its primary from June to March 3 to have a louder voice, and in Nevada, whose caucuses on Feb. 22 are the third nominating contests on the calendar. Warren’s mantra is that she has a plan for everything, and she does—on health care, criminal justice, climate change and more. Last weekend, she put out another plan on gun control and gun violence after the mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso. She’s really busy running for president, so Brad Bynum, editor of Reno News & Review, actually had closer to only 8 minutes with Warren on Aug. 2 during a campaign visit to Nevada. Here are some excerpts of their conversation.
It’s a housing crisis. Is that a problem the federal government should help with? And if so, how? Half a century ago, there were two ways that housing was produced for middle-class, working-class, working-poor, poor-poor people—and that was private development and the federal government. The private developers that built the two-bedroom, one-bath house that I grew up in—the garage converted to house my three brothers—they’re not building those anymore. ... The second that’s happened is that the federal government has largely withdrawn from building affordable housing. I will build 3.2 million new housing units across this country—it’s housing for middleclass families, for working families, for the working poor, for the homeless, for seniors who want to age in place, for people with disabilities. We need more housing—a lot more housing.
And the federal government can make that happen.
You unveiled a huge universal child care program. How’s it going to be funded? The universal child care is funded by a 2-cent tax on the largest fortunes in this country. So on fortunes above $50 million. ... That will generate enough revenue to pay for child care for every baby in this country age zero to 5, preschool for every 3-year-old and 4-year-old, raise the wages of every child care worker and preschool worker in this country, and cover the costs of college, add $50 billion to historically black colleges and universities, and cancel student loan debt for 95% of the kids who have it. ... And here’s the thing: It could do all those things I described and there would still be a couple of hundred billion left over.
Leading up to the last Democratic debate, a lot of the buzz and promotion was Warren versus Bernie Sanders. So what is a key major policy difference between you and Sen. Sanders? I’m not here to try to define somebody else’s policy. I can tell you what I’m fighting for. The best part of these debates is when we get a chance to do that. We have an America that works great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top, and it’s not working for much of anyone else. Our government in Washington has been captured by money. And it’s far more than just political contributions. It’s lobbyists, bought-and-paid-for experts, think tanks. Washington is flooded with money, and every decision that gets made there is influenced by that money. And day by day, decision by decision, the government does just a little bit more in favor of the wealthy and the well-connected and against everyone else. I believe we can turn that around. I believe we can make this government work, not just for those at the top, but make it work for everyone. ... Ω
An unabridged version of this interview is available at newsreview.com/reno
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But with legislation to decriminalize prostitution reaching state houses on the East Coast, there is growing scholarly skepticism about whether prostitution diversion courts are really as “woke” as their supporters claim. “There are no standards for what this looks like,” said Kate D’Amo, a partner at Reframe Health and Justice, a strategic consulting firm that pursues harmreduction solutions to social injustices. In a 79-page working paper put out last fall, the Global Health Justice Partnership in concert with the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center broadly criticized these programs for a lack of accountability and a surplus of inconsistency. Sacramento’s RESET court comes up 19 times in the paper, both as an example of—and an exception to—the central paradox of arm-twisting sex workers to accept the system’s help. A July 19 visit to the downtown courtroom where RESET convenes once a month, as well as interviews and an examination of available data, underscored two things about the local approach: 1. Court officers and service providers genuinely want to help the participants. 2. Accomplishing that is another story.
Hitting RESET on prostitution Special Sacramento court wants to help sex workers, but is it making a dent? by Raheem F. hosseini
Standing before the judge in a nearly empty courtroom, the pregnant woman’s leg shook and tears streaked her face. Five months earlier, on a February night in North Highlands, sheriff’s deputies arrested the 20-year-old for loitering with intent to commit prostitution on Watt Avenue, one of Sacramento County’s busiest stretches for bazaar-style sexual commerce and exploitation. Now, the woman, who just turned 21, was struggling through her second chance and barely keeping it together. The woman is one of hundreds of accused sex workers in Sacramento each year taken to jail and offered a deal: 10
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Complete a court-administered diversion program and all charges will be dropped. Or fail and reap the consequences of the criminal justice system. This is the carrot-or-stick bargain of RESET court, which originated when a cop-founded nonprofit challenged the local prosecutor’s office to find a better way to confront prostitution, said Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell, who has presided over RESET since its first hearing in December 2015. These types of diversion courts aren’t new. In Sacramento County, collaborative courts exist for all sorts of vulnerable
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populations accused of minor offenses, including DUI offenders, military veterans and those who experience homelessness, mental health or drug dependency issues. The courts are a tacit acknowledgment by judges and prosecutors that hammering every misdemeanant with a fresh conviction and jail time or fines won’t help that person—or the broader community. Diversion courts specifically focused on prostitution have also proliferated around the country, with more than 30 confirmed in operation as of 2016, according to the Global Health Justice Partnership, a project of the Yale Law School and its School of Public Health.
The women who are arrested for minor prostitution offenses or related crimes must first plead guilty before RESET will offer them the chance to reverse their convictions. That requirement rankles skeptics who contend that these programs still treat sex workers like criminals, even while telling the public they’re all victims. Both the reality and rhetoric of these programs are oversimplified, the GHJP paper argued. To reverse their convictions, RESET enrollees must submit to HIV testing; attend health and wellness classes, group and individual counseling and traumabased therapy; and make at least three monthly court appearances, where Judge Rockwell offers cookies and soft words of encouragement or, if needed, the gentlest of admonishments. Rockwell said she jumped at the chance to preside over the court when it was being developed, and was the one to coin its acronym, which stands for Reducing Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. “The whole goal of RESET is to make you safe,” she told the women last month. “To get you out of the life.”
Last refugees aLLowed see News
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More tiMe for abuse survivors see News
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teNaNt turNiNg poiNt?
The court is open to the public, but that doesn’t mean all are welcome. Before convening, Rockwell dispatched her bailiff to record on a clipboard the names of any men seated in the gallery. The pimps usually take the hint and leave, Rockwell told SN&R. Sometimes family members come to reunite or reconcile. Those instances are rare, but heartbreaking. A tray of cookies and plate of oranges crowded the podium where the defendants stood, one by one, to hear their progress. Few took the treats, but they serve a broader purpose, Rockwell explained— invoking hospitality for the “guests” in the judge’s “home.” “I get that you didn’t choose to be here,” she told them. There were 22 women on the docket last month, the fewest Rockwell could remember, and down from the 47 cases she had in June. That may be because there has been a concerted effort in recent years to refocus criminal enforcement efforts on those who pay for sex rather than those who sell it. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement agencies responded two years ago with Operation: Hot Spots, a crackdown on johns that takes places over two days each August. But not all agencies are on board with the new philosophy. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has conducted at least three large sweeps of female sex workers this year, according to booking logs reviewed by SN&R. Most of the women at last month’s RESET hearing had been arrested by the Sheriff’s Department. Rockwell summons the easy cases first, starting with two graduates. For completing the program, the women get expunged records “in the name of justice,” handwritten notes from the judge and Starbucks gift cards, which Rockwell described as “a little token and a subtle reminder that you got folks out there who care about you and want you to succeed.” The cases got more complicated as the hearing proceeded. The next woman needed an interpreter. The one after that was young and pregnant, and joked that if she missed her next court date, the judge would know why. “Delivering a baby’s a good cause not to be in court,” Rockwell agreed. At least three women at last month’s hearing were expecting. Most participants
are women of color; many are housing “As a service provider, you should insecure. One pregnant enrollee, a 21-yearnever become dependent on clients who old arrested last summer for loitering with are court-mandated to be there,” D’Amo intent on Stockton Boulevard, was told said. “I hope these courts are a flash in she’s doing well in her classes but needs the pan.” to make her court dates. This is the second CASH didn’t respond to emails seekbench warrant the judge has recalled for the ing clarification about its success rate. woman’s arrest. But two RESET clients told SN&R While attorneys conferred with they are grateful the program existed. the judge off the record, the court “It got me out of jail,” said a 35-yearclerk mouthed a question to the young old woman who was making her first defendant. appearance following a March 6 “Boy or girl?” the clerk arrest during a sheriff’s prosasked. titution sting, and who was “Girl,” the defendant previously convicted of “I hope these whispered back. minor drug and littering The two women offenses. courts are a flash in exchanged a knowing For a woman navithe pan.” smile. gating her first local prostitution bust at Kate D’Amo the idea for reset the age of 52, RESET partner, Reframe Health and came from Community offered a support Justice Against Sexual Harm, or network the previous CASH, a local nonprofit two months. founded by Sacramento “I like it,” she said outside police Lt. Cynthia Stinson that the courthouse after the hearing. “I serves victims of sexual exploitation. wish it was longer.” CASH and the nonprofit, Another In a brief interview, Rockwell said the Choice Another Chance, receive state and quickest someone could speed through county funding to provide the services RESET was three months, but that was that constitute the bulk of RESET. The rare. Some participants face multiple effectiveness of these services was cases, which can extend their time in the slightly exaggerated in a $5,000 fundprogram. Others need drug treatment ing request that the county Board of before they can even begin to participate, Supervisors recently approved. the judge said. And still others will grind A February 26 staff report to along for 12 to 18 months before they supervisors claimed the RESET court graduate. successfully “diverted over 130 clients Technically these participants have from Sacramento Superior Court criminal failed, the judge said, but she keeps them dockets and provided them with an ability enrolled rather than the alternative— to lead productive lives so they are no flunking them into jail and expelling them longer dependent on the sex trade to back to the streets. survive. To date the program has a 4% “I’m not here to retraumatize them,” recidivism rate.” she told SN&R. Those numbers don’t appear to be Rockwell showed that with the final entirely accurate, as they leave out more defendant on July 19, the pregnant young than 200 women who failed or have yet to woman trembling before the bench. complete the program. The woman had missed her previous All totaled, 363 women have appeared court appearance and risked a bench on the RESET court’s calendar through warrant being issued for her arrest. March, court figures obtained by SN&R Rockwell, seeing the defendant fall apart show. Even factoring in the extra month, in front of her, emphasized that she had conservatively less than 40% have stayed the warrant after learning that the completed RESET’s three-to-six-month woman missed court to visit a sick reladiversion program. tive in the Bay Area. But, the judge added D’Amo, who started researching diver- as softly as she could, “What we really sion courts in New York when she was need you to do is not disappear on us.” still with the Sex Workers Project, warned The woman tried to say, “Thank you.” that service providers could lose their The words died on her lips. Ω way if they become financially reliant on arrest-fed diversion courts.
After nearly three years of housing advocates imploring Sacramento leaders to pass rent control and other tenant protections, a grand bargain of sorts was announced Aug. 8 and was set to go before the City Council on Tuesday. Some advocates call the proposed ordinance a significant step in relieving the local housing crisis. Others believe it doesn’t go nearly far enough to prevent widespread displacement and rising homeless numbers. What was also unclear as of press time is whether the bargain will prevent a battle at the ballot box for more extensive rent control in 2020. Called the tenant protection and relief act, the proposal before the council is being described as a merging of an ordinance drafted by council members Steven Hansen, Eric Guerra and Rick Jennings, and an earlier compromise effort that Mayor Darrell Steinberg tried to negotiate between tenant advocates and landlord groups. If passed, the measure would limit annual rent hikes to 10% under any circumstances. In 2017, the city’s median rent increased 8.2%. For renters who have more than 12 months of tenancy, it would generally bar no-cause evictions. Finally, the measure would include a rental registry to better track eviction issues, as well as whether or not the tenant protections prevent displacement. Because of limits under state law, the proposed ordinance would only apply to rental units built before feb. 1, 1995, and would not cover single-family homes. but not all tenant advocacy groups are celebrating. The Sacramento Tenants Union expressed concern that the proposed rent cap is too high, that city officials are too influenced by the rental lobby to fairly mediate tenant issues, and that there are loopholes landlords can exploit. “There’s also the fact that this was negotiated behind closed doors and that the city is trying to circumvent the democratic process,” said Sacramento Tenants Union member Kitty Bolte. “Over 44,000 people signed a petition for the charter amendment so there would be real rent control and protections, and they deserve to be heard.” (Scott Thomas Anderson)
cLeaNer cars, Lower prices A new program in Sacramento called clean cars 4 all could provide low-income residents with $9,500 toward the purchase of lowemission vehicles in exchange for their old gas-guzzling cars. But more could be needed for the program to thrive in Sacramento. “We are nowhere close to the infrastructure that we need,” Councilman Eric Guerra said Aug. 8, while waiting to highlight the program at a Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District event in South Sacramento. The statewide program follows volkswagen’s 2015 admission that it installed emission defeat devices on almost 600,000 vehicles. VW agreed to put $1.2 billion toward repairing the damage, with most going toward “zero-emission vehicle projects,” according to the California Air Resources Board website. The city of Sacramento received $44 million from the settlement. The new program will help single mother Victoria Robertson ditch her 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier for a used Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul or hybrid Hyundai. She noted, though, that her Mack Road affordable housing complex has no charging station. “It’d be awesome if, in my apartments and probably other low-income restricted [housing], that they could put charging stations in here,” Robertson said. Programs such as Clean Cars 4 All could also help the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s work to reduce the region’s carbon footprint, said board member Gregg Fishman. (Graham Womack)
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Hamidy doesn’t get to do this nearly as much anymore. It’s not just SIV admissions that have plummeted, of course. Asylum denials rose for the sixth straight year last year to 65%, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. That doesn’t account for the tens of thousands who haven’t even been allowed to request asylum because of travel bans on their countries or the deliberate bottle-necking at the U.S.-Mexico border. To Hamidy, it’s as if there are more case workers than people to help “because of the ban,” he said. “Although we do have a lot of people in the pipeline, but they’re all waiting.” In America, on the other side of safety, the helpers wait, too. DinMohammed, second from right and wearing his Special Immigrant Visa around his neck, arrived with his wife and five children in Sacramento International Airport on May 21 after a three-year process. Photo by Karlos rene ayala
Last refugees in They escaped the home they knew for a country they don’t—a country that is ever more reluctant to recognize their sacrifice by Raheem F. hosseini
DinMohammed clasped his brother, gathered his family and did what anyone would do after spending 24 hours blurring through time zones, zombie-walking through security checkpoints and seahopping from Afghanistan to Dubai to California: stare blankly at the baggage claim carousel, willing it to move. It had been a long day and an even longer decade for the Afghan husband and father, who spent nine years working for U.S. military forces in Kabul and the past three years waiting for the American government to repay him with safe passage out of his war-wearied country. Passage finally happened on May 21, when DinMohammed, his wife and their five children landed at Sacramento International Airport following a dizzying series of red-eyes and the relay efforts of numerous bureaucrats, aid workers and local volunteers, whose mission is being chiseled by an inhospitable president. 12
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Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government has all but abandoned a promise to America’s most vulnerable allies—Afghan and Iraqi nationals who risked their lives aiding U.S. forces. As recently as 2017, before the president’s crackdown on legal immigration and asylum requests, more than 19,000 Afghan and Iraqi interpreters, translators and U.S. government workers and their dependents were granted what are called special immigrant visas, or SIVs. But SIV admissions plunged by more than 9,000 last year and are continuing to drop, according to State Department data. As of Aug. 12, more than 10 months into the federal fiscal year, 6,281 SIV holders have arrived in the United States and been provided reception and placement assistance. In Sacramento, one of the top destinations for SIV holders, the effect has been noticed. Hamidullah Hamidy, a refugee resettlement caseworker at local nonprofit
rah e e mh @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
Opening Doors, says he’s doing these airport runs a lot less these days. “Last year at this time, we had 150 individuals in one month,” he said. “In the month of April, we only had 37 arrivals. … It’s nothing.” DinMohammed and his family are among the fewer and farther between. The baggage carousel’s rubber tread jerked to life. Eventually, seven beige suitcases wrapped in clear plastic tumbled out, one for each family member. Think of packing up all you own. Think of what you’d leave behind. If DinMohammed and his family were understandably jet-lagged, Hamidy and the volunteers seemed caffeinated by the culmination of their efforts. They spent the day before this midnight run assembling bunk beds in the family’s two-bedroom apartment in Arden Arcade. “It is our job,” Hamidy said, grinning. We are enjoying.”
A week after the airport pickup, the family sat in their new apartment in their new neighborhood in their new country. The youngest, an 8-year-old girl, popped her head out of her room but mostly stayed hidden from view. Seven pairs of shoes lined up by the door. Trays of nuts and dried fruit and tiny cups of bright yellow tea had been set out for guests. A month ago, DinMohammed said, the family was in Kabul. He worked 12-to-15-hour days, seven days a week, driving retired military brass from the airport to a base where they oversaw the training of Afghan soldiers. His wife ran the household, his kids walked to school; it was a spartan life and increasingly anxious. Because he and a brother who had already been granted an SIV worked with the U.S. military, DinMohammed was on the wrong side of the Taliban. (Security concerns are why SN&R is not using the family’s surname.) “Overall, all Afghanistan is insecurity,” DinMohammed said through Hamidy, who translated. “Insecurities, suicidal attack, explosion everywhere, and you never know what’s gonna happen like in a few seconds.” The family is hoping for something better here, but uncertainty looms. Opening Doors only has the budget to front two months of rent, and then it’ll be up to DinMohammed and his family to come up with the $1,300 that this small, first-floor flat demands. They’ve escaped international instability, only to land in Sacramento’s housing affordability crisis. But DinMohammed and his family weren’t complaining. There were more pressing matters facing them. The family was staring at four birthdays in the next four months. Ω
Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CALMAtters
Time to exhale Bill would give more time for domestic violence cases by AdriA WAtson
State Sen. Susan Rubio thanks public safety officials at a National Night Out event in Rosemead on Aug. 6.
CALm at t er s
In 2016, when Susan Rubio was on the Baldwin Park City Council, she accused her thenhusband, Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, of domestic violence. He had been beating her, she told a Los Angeles County court, since late 2013, just months into their marriage, but she had covered it up—telling hospital staff she had hurt herself working out, for instance— because both were elected officials and because she feared he’d retaliate. Three years later, Rubio and Hernandez are divorced, he no longer holds office and she’s Sen. Susan Rubio, a freshman Democrat with a bill—co-sponsored in the Assembly by her sister—to lengthen the statute of limitations on domestic abuse. Senate Bill 273 would give authorities eight years instead of three to prosecute abuses for which new evidence emerges, plus provide officer training for domestic violence cases. Her aim, she said, is “to make sure that women have more time to deal with their personal struggles and really have the courage to come forward and bring their abusers to justice.” The extended statute of limitations would apply to cases in which the perpetrator confesses or there are videos, photos, or written or electronic communication that emerge and can be used as sufficient evidence. Though defense attorneys and civil liberties groups have expressed reservations, SB 273 sailed through the Senate 36-0 and is pending in the Assembly. Elaine Whitefeather, who directs A Community For Peace, a Sacramento-based nonprofit aimed at curbing domestic violence, said the measure, if it passes, will give abuse survivors such as herself “a minute to exhale.” A longtime advocate, Whitefeather said having a public figure share her personal experience is, in itself, a game-changer. Rubio’s story didn’t get told easily. She said it wasn’t until Hernandez menaced her outside a
courtroom during divorce proceedings that she decided, at her lawyer’s insistence, to seek the restraining order, even though she knew it would become a matter of public record. Her allegations of ongoing “pushing, shoving, hitting and choking” with hands, broomsticks and belts by Hernandez, spelled out in her April 2016 request, generated lurid statewide headlines. Hernandez, who had been similarly accused by an earlier girlfriend, called the allegations “100% false,” chalking them up to contentious divorce proceedings, and ignored a public call by two leaders of the Legislative Women’s Caucus for him to take a leave of absence pending the judge’s decision. At the time, many fellow lawmakers, including some female Democrats, took his side. When a Superior Court judge later found Rubio’s claims to be credible and ordered Hernandez to stay away from her for three years, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon stripped him of his committee assignments. Hernandez, who was terming out and preparing to run for Congress, went on a medical leave until his term in the Legislature ended, and dropped out of his congressional race. He told reporters that Rubio was “evil” and “a trained actress” who had deceived the judge and “crippled my reputation.” He did not respond to CALmatters’ requests for comment. Opponents of the bill, including the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and the California Public Defenders Association, say extending the statute of limitations could threaten defendants’ rights and weaken an incentive for prosecutors and police to address reports of domestic violence swiftly. They also argue that resources would be better spent on rehabilitation and public education. Ω
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by scott thomas anderson
scotta@newsrevIew.com
power play InsIde PG&e’s new domInIon over lIfe In the blackout state
ON OFF
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IllustratIon by MarIa ratInova
t
he city of Winters is a cluster of old Italianate facades and worn Western storefronts tucked between Putham Creek and a dry, sweeping expanse of the Vaca Mountains. Over the years, the cattlemen and farming families who live here have weathered drought, disease and at least one devastating earthquake. It takes a hardy mindset to keep the hamlet thriving. It survives mainly on the whims of the beef industry and the health of its endless tracts of almonds and walnuts. Most residents are self-reliant. So when homesteads beyond the city’s outskirts were hit with a complete blackout June 7, Yolo County’s Office of Emergency Services wasn’t flooded with worried calls.
That’s partly because Winters residents don’t fluster easily, but it’s also because county officials prepared for this moment for nearly a year. The outage was only the second time ever that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. activated its Public Safety Power Shutoff program. The controversial initiative is aimed at stopping catastrophic wildfires before they start by flagging a combination of dry conditions, high winds and low humidity—and then de-energizing entire sections of the power grid in those areas. PG&E equipment has been blamed for sparking hundreds of wildfires in California, including last November’s Camp Fire in Butte County—the deadliest and most destructive in the state’s history—that killed 86 people, burned 150,000 acres and all but wiped out the town of Paradise. The estimated $30 billion in claims from those fires forced the utility giant to file for bankruptcy protection in January. PG&E first rolled out the safety program in October 2018 by shutting off power to 120,000 customers in 12 counties. The utility soon heard from irate customers, bewildered officials and frustrated emergency responders. The unexpected power-down cost local economies tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages and revenues. Phone lines, cell towers and the internet went dark for days in some rural neighborhoods. By PG&E’s own admission, hundreds, if not thousands, of medical “baseline” customers—people who depend on oxygen tanks, respirators and nebulizers—were left vulnerable. The question of how many isolated seniors and disabled citizens couldn’t call family members or 911 led to a hearing at the California Public Utilities Commission. But on June 7, Yolo County officials were determined to have a better result. “There was a lot of difference from last year,” said Dana Carey, manager of Yolo’s Office of Emergency Response. This time, Carey’s team had information on where all of PG&E’s medical baseline customers in Yolo lived. For months they’d been combining that data with their own information on at-risk residents, creating a digital mapping system that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters could use in real time. When Yolo authorities learned PG&E would cut the power near Winters, they sent alerts through voice calls, text messages, phone apps and a special
Photo courtesy of cal fire
Firefighters plan their response to the 2017 Ponderosa Fire in Butte County.
communication system for the hearing impaired. First responders were also ready to conduct welfare checks on anyone there was a concern about. Not all Northern California counties are working as hard as Yolo to deal with future PG&E power shut-offs. But experts say they should be. Even though PG&E provides power to much of the state’s $2.7 trillion economy, the company is fighting for its very survival. If the investor-owned, for-profit utility manages to emerge from bankruptcy, it will still face a chorus of calls for it to be split up or taken over by the state. Further muddling the picture, clean energy advocates are worried that only a company of PG&E’s size and scope can push California to reaching its ambitious climate change goals, in part to stave off global warming that’s already exacerbating the state’s wildfire season. The power cutoff program is one of PG&E’s main strategies to stay in business. But how will it manage its new task of constantly making decisions about when and where people can have electricity—and sometimes, life and death?
Throwing The big swiTch After PG&E triggered its first safety shutoff in the fall of 2018, a line of stunned residents flooded the El Dorado County supervisors’ chambers to describe nearmiss scenarios in which infirm, isolated seniors might have experienced medical crises with no way to call for help. But PG&E managers appeared at the same meeting to describe a different close call that happened during the shut-off: High winds flung a tree into a power line in a rural corner of Amador County. If the system hadn’t been de-energized, a blaze could have been sparked, sweeping through the towns of Pioneer, Pine Grove and Volcano, where more than 5,000 live around dry, dense forest. PG&E manager Aaron Johnson called that a “data point” to prove the new program works. Similar evidence emerged during the June cut-off. PG&E’s team of meteorologists initiated power shut-offs in three different regions: The farms and ranches outside of Winters, a much larger swath of terrain across Butte and Yuba counties and areas of El Dorado, Nevada and Placer counties. While only 1,500 customers living near Winters were
affected, some 26,900 customers lost power in the other regions. According to a report PG&E filed with the state utilities commission, prior to bringing the grid back online, its inspection teams found five spots where fires could have started, including three in Butte County, a place already brought to its knees by the Camp Fire. There, the company’s inspectors discovered a wind-split tree that had fallen into a PG&E structure cable and service drop in Oroville, as well as two different power lines that had been hit by flying branches in Chico. “In each case PG&E repaired or replaced the damaged equipment prior to re-energizing,” the company told the state. “In addition to these damaged assets, PG&E personnel discovered three instances of documented hazards, all vegetation-related, such as branches found lying across conductors, which were cleared.” Ironically, on Nov. 6, 2018, PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Division had issued a media alert stating that dangerous fire
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PG&E crews worked in Paradise on Nov. 9, the day after the Camp Fire began.
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conditions were being predicted by its threat matrix for Butte County. If they continued, the company said then, it would likely initiate the power shut-off. Though its officials were still monitoring high winds and low humidity around the town of Paradise, they never cut off the power. In May, state fire investigators announced that one of the two ignition points for the Camp Fire was a PG&E power line. The contrast between decisions PG&E’s management team made in Butte County in 2018 and 2019 shows just how much control they potentially have over life, property and a community’s livelihood. That’s a level of responsibility to which PG&E is trying to adjust. Thirty-six hours before the June safety shut-off, PG&E warned sheriff’s offices, fire stations and county emergency departments that it was about to happen. Unlike 2018, the utility says any counties that signed a nondisclosure agreement now have access to its list of a medical baseline customers who depend on power-run medical equipment. Yolo and Butte counties had that information in June. Placer and Yuba counties did not, because their attorneys and elected officials were still reviewing
the details of the nondisclosure agreement. El Dorado County declined to answer if it had signed the NDA. PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith told SN&R that regardless of which counties are using the medical baseline list, PG&E has its own protocol to warn those customers and make sure they have a safe place to go that still has power. “Medical baseline customers are our highest priority when we’re calling for one of these events,” Smith said. “If we’re not reaching them by phone, then we’ll actually dispatch a team to go out and make contact.” But Smith also noted that PG&E’s medical baseline list is part of a voluntary program where customers with health issues can sign up for savings on their bills. That means there could be a lot of people who are medically vulnerable who aren’t currently known to PG&E or county emergency response officials. “What the medical baseline list is not is a panacea of knowing every customer that has a medical issue,” Smith acknowledged. “It is the best tool we have, but it doesn’t tell us everything. Anyone with a medical issue who relies on power needs to get a hold of us.”
The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based organization that’s one of PG&E’s loudest critics, has expressed skepticism of the safety shut-off program. It told the San Francisco Chronicle in May that the corporation’s messaging around the initiative indicates it could be used too often—and thus put too many vulnerable people at risk. Smith says that PG&E isn’t taking the power cutoffs lightly, but admitted
“I think the working people of California are fed up with the continued death and destruction caused by the utilities, by PG&E.” Steve Zeltzer, United Public Workers for Action, speaking to California Public Utilities Commission
it can be “a double-edge sword” with unintended consequences. For county officials such as Carey, who have worked to not only lessen the impacts of the shut-offs, but also to provide residents real-time digital maps of spreading fires and open escape routes, PG&E’s predicament is part of the hotter, drier California confronting all emergency agencies. “We were already doing a lot of work before the blackouts started,”
Carey said. “The fact is, we’ve burned five out of five years in our county.”
Price and Power of monoPoly It has not been a quiet year at the California Public Utilities Commission. Since the Camp Fire, enraged protestors have shown up at meetings to demand PG&E be dismantled as a for-profit corporation. These critics have been quick to remind commissioners that in 2017, a San Francisco jury found PG&E guilty of six felonies linked to the San Bruno gas pipe explosion, which killed eight people and convinced a judge to put the utility on federal, courtmonitored probation. “I think the working people of California are fed up with the continued death and destruction caused by the utilities, by PG&E,” Steve Zeltzer of United Public Workers for Action told commissioners in November. “The utility executives should be in jail for what they’ve done. They’ve lied to the people of California … And the utility should be a public utility. Take the profits out of utilities. The public should control it, not these profiteers who don’t give a damn about what they’ve done.” To some extent, that message was heard. A month later, the commission started the formal process of reviewing whether PG&E should be broken up into regional subsidiaries or restructured as a state-owned company. While that review continues, the city of San Francisco is separately exploring whether it can take over control of PG&E’s power distribution within its limits. PG&E has publicly warned that any forced restructuring would likely result in higher utility bills for the average Californian. Frank Gevurtz, a professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento who specializes in antitrust litigation, says the company is probably correct in that assumption. Gervurtz also notes that while PG&E is a for-profit entity under its state corporate structure, it also falls into what California law defines as “a natural monopoly.” He explains that,
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throughout U.S. history, natural monopolies have been allowed when it’s not economically or practically efficient to have different or overlapping service infrastructure. For example, major telephone companies were once natural monopolies. Ralph Cavanagh, Some railroad companies energy program co-director, Natural Resources Defense Council still are. “In PG&E’s case, it’s not feasible for multiple companies to have And PG&E’s status as a monopoly duplicate power and gas has created another major concern within lines,” Gevurtz told SN&R. For that reason, California’s environmental movement, the professor is skeptical that ratepayers would benefit from a state takeover or major one that might ultimately help maintain its status quo. PG&E currently has restructuring of PG&E since the transmiscontracts to buy roughly $42 billion sion grids would remain unchanged. worth of clean energy from wind and “You won’t accomplish anything solar providers over the next 20 years. It to break the company up into pieces,” Gevurtz said. “You won’t have different has also made an estimated $1.7 billion in additional investments in other clean electric lines in the same place. It energy initiatives. Finally, PG&E is the doesn’t create competition. If you’re main player in the plan to take the Diablo a natural monopoly, you’re a natural Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis monopoly.”
“PG&E has turned to a radical approach on wildfire safety now, and I think we have to let them try it and give them a chance to see if it can be done.”
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Number of counties affected:
Number of households affected:
Obispo offline by 2025 and replace it with zero-carbon energy sources. In other words, PG&E is not only capable of taking major steps to combat climate change, it has already been willing to do so. If the utility is broken up, environmental advocates worry that would be a significant setback. “The utility companies continue to be essential partners in the clean energy programs that California has pioneered for the country and the world, and PG&E has been the largest partner in that effort,” said Ralph Cavanagh, energy program co-director with the Natural
Resources Defense Council. “If you’re someone who is worried about the direction of clean energy, it’s certainly not obvious that breaking PG&E up would help. “There are certain advantages to scale….” he added. “If you look at California’s record in driving down the cost of clean energy, companies like PG&E were a big part of that.” The deadline for PG&E to emerge from bankruptcy is June 2020. It’s expected to present its plan for doing that next month. Cavanagh said that if PG&E can successfully do so, it would constitute the clearest path for the company to begin compensating wildfire victims, qualify for the state’s new fire emergency fund and keep its own herculean environmental commitments on track. This potential outcome could determine its future, along with PG&E’s new initiatives such as the safety shut-off program, its satellite fire detection and alerting system, its expanded weather stations and vegetation clearing efforts. “PG&E has turned to a radical approach on wildfire safety now, and I think we have to let them try it and give them a chance to see if it can be done,” Cavanagh said. “And I think we need to remember that whether you’re a wildfire victim or a clean energy advocate, as long as PG&E is in bankruptcy, nobody’s hopes and dreams can be realized.” Ω
Number of public officials preemptively notified:
Number of local governments/public safety preemptively notified:
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by Rachel leibRock r achel l @ n ew s r ev i ew . com
SeWing discourse a new public art engagement project aims to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis
PhotoS courteSy of Jennifer KiM Sohn
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hat do 25.9 million people look like? That’s the question Jennifer Kim Sohn set out to answer as she grappled with the enormity of the world’s refugee crisis. It was 2016, and the Sacramento artist had seen news footage of Syrian and African refugees, but the images on her television felt remote—distant in both geographical and emotional terms. Instead of settling into apathy, however, Sohn took to her art, sketching images of refugee families she found on the internet. She also studied the scope of the problem. That’s when she landed on the 25.9 million statistic—the estimated number of refugees around the globe, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. “It was such a huge number, 25.9 million people; I couldn’t wrap my head around it,” says Sohn, a multimedia artist whose previous works have explored topics such as climate change and homelessness. Her research eventually launched 25 Million Stitches, a community art installation in progress that, depending on whom you ask, is either politically charged or steadfastly nonpartisan. What is clear is the project’s form: thousands of embroidered panels, each representing 100 refugees. On Aug. 17 at Verge Center for the Arts, others can contribute via the 25 Million Stitches Sewing Circle, where participants can craft panels or take one home to sew. The final result will be displayed at Verge in a 2020 exhibit that will coincide with World Refugee Day on June 20.
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Initially, Sohn asked a handful of textile artists to collaborate. Then, she decided to expand her vision. “It dawned on me it should be a community project; it would provide an opportunity for connecting [to others],” Sohn says. That connection, she adds, helps others feel they’re getting involved, even in a small way, which in turn fosters reflection and compassion. Sohn has rallied approximately 500 collaborators to date but estimates she’ll need 2,500 total. The project, which she originally designed as panels that measure 15 inches high by 65 inches wide, now also includes pieces measuring 15 inches by 32 inches. In all, it makes for a time-consuming, sometimes daunting endeavor. To complete a panel takes two or more weeks to complete, but that’s also intentional, she says. “I like that people are using their hands; it’s a huge donation of time,” Sohn says. The panels are tactile, personal, handsewn representations of the refugee crisis, many adorned with elaborate embroidery. Despite its form, however, Sohn considers the installation “data-driven art.”
“ iR eWaacnht tthoe compaSSionate paRt of people WhetheR they’Re on one Side of the aRgument oR the otheR.” Jennifer Kim Sohn, creator, 25 Million Stitches “It represents this statistic,” she says. “Hopefully that gets people to step back say, ‘This is a much bigger problem.’” That “data-driven” perspective intersects with another key element of 25 Million Stitches: the way many viewers may see sewing as traditionally “feminine.” While Sohn says that she understands that tendency, it’s a misnomer. “I don’t think of it as a feminine craft at all,” she says. In other countries and cultures, she adds, sewing and other crafts aren’t based on gender. They’re necessary, everyday tasks. Still, she said, others viewing the project through the lens of folksy craftsmanship serves a purpose, too. “Stitching, embroidery and crochet—they all get people to lower their guards when the subject matter is such a difficult one to deal with,” Sohn says. This project draws inevitable parallels to the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which commemorated the lives of those who died of AIDS-related complications. Launched in 1987 and displayed globally over the years, the sheer breadth of the AIDS Memorial Quilt is a testament to the visual power that exists at the intersection of art and activism.
indie ballet
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“I would be thrilled for this project to be as successful as the AIDS quilt,” Sohn says. Although refugees are a hotbutton topic, particularly those from Central America being detained or turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border, Sohn says 25 Million Stitches is meant to be nonpartisan, intended to bridge opposing viewpoints. “I feel like rather than taking any sides, I want to just have people talk about it,” she says. “I want this project to be taken up by people on both sides of the aisle and just create dialogue.” The panels, she says, are simply meant to inspire empathy and a broadening of perspective. “I want to reach the compassionate part of people whether they’re on one side of the argument or the other,” she says. By that reasoning, however, the project is inherently political, says Liv Moe, Verge Center’s executive director. “I can see where Jennifer is coming from, but at the same time, we’re reaching a pivotal
beware of dark retro-pop See MuSiC
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time in society. If we don’t acknowledge the culprits, then there is no reason to correct them,” Moe says. When President Trump refers to a Hispanic “invasion” at campaign rallies and on Twitter, his critics say it’s not difficult to connect his comments to the antiimmigrant manifesto left behind by the alleged shooter in the recent mass shooting in El Paso. But refugees flee to the U.S. from around the world, including from what Trump derided as “shithole countries” in Africa and the Middle East. Between last October and Aug. 2, nearly 25,000 refugees arrived in the U.S. from Latin America, East Asia and Europe. Africa had the largest numbers, with 59.6%, according to the national Refugee Processing Center. Sacramento is a hub for refugees. According to Sacramento World Refugee Day, more than 5,000 refugees arrived here in 2018. Refugees, by their very nature are political, Moe says, and the panels can have an impact on how we view them.
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“Raising awareness about these issues and shedding light on them is a part of how you fix them,” Moe says. Both she and Sohn say that, ideally, 25 Million Stitches will encourage a deeper reflection and consideration of the world at large. “It creates an easy entry for people—the thousands of hours it will represent of people meditating on this subject,” Moe says. Sohn says the panels represent a way to find humanity in a traumatic situation. “I want people to see the refugee as a human being in need of support, someone who can’t provide their children with water or find a place to sleep,” she says. “That’s a good place to deal with this issue.” □
check out the 25 million Stitches Sewing circle, 2-5 p.m. Saturday, aug. 17 at Verge center for the arts, 625 S St. participation is free, but donations are accepted and will benefit the International rescue committee; vergeart.com.
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halal-friendly falafel houSe See diSh
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Pure preservation Local crowds have flocked to bands offering a little taste of New Orleans fire, but the true defenders of the Crescent City’s flame recently performed in Folsom, showing just how scorching their blare of brass dynamism can be—and just how connected it is to the sonic history of the Caribbean. While different lineups of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have wowed audiences since the 1960s, its current ensemble is unique: The players are not only stoking the primordial coals of America’s original art form, they’re also blowing new heat into the tradition through original songs and duets with performers as diverse as Nathaniel Rateliff and Tom Waits. And, as evidenced from a new album and documentary film, their evolution isn’t slowing. Musically, PHJB is known for combining the highest feats of technical achievement with the rawest kind of emotional improvising. Yet the septet can also kick up the energy by mustering that “big four” force of New Orleans brass power—something that audiences at the Harris Center for the Arts got a taste of on Aug. 5 and 6. “Big four” references the hot, half-skipping beat that allows for so much freedom within Big Easy musical expression. PHJB hit Folsom fans hard in their opening numbers, shifting from swinging magnetic flourishes to roaring and explosive flights. As always, trombonist Ronell Johnson wielded his instrument along the edge of the stage like some sliding fusion of a witching rod and a golden long-rifle. The first half of the show also included saxophonist Clint Maedgen bringing an agile snarl to his vocals on “Tootie Ma is a Big Fine Thing,” and trumpeter Branden Lewis putting some creole care into Pete Seeger’s “If I had a Hammer.” The second half of the evening showcased how PHJB can merge traditional jazz with pure Latin lighter fluid, a new stage in the band’s identity. Blue Fox Entertainment recently released a documentary on PHJB called A Tuba to Cuba, which follows the band’s first adventure into the streets of Santiago. Two weeks ago, Sub Pop Records issued an album of the songs that resulted from that trip under the same title. Both the album The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. and film capture a transformative moment, says bassist and bandleader Ben Jaffe, whose father was a founding member of PHJB. “New Orleans, Cuba and Haiti have this long history together because not only were we trading goods, we were also influencing each other’s culture,” Jaffe told SN&R. “So, there was this sister-city kind of connection—this triangle that happened for hundreds of years … The trip had a lasting impact on us. There’s more confidence in our rhythm now. There’s more emphasis on putting the rhythm up front in the music.” A Tuba to Cuba is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Whether fans see the film or buy the album, Jaffe thinks both offer a rare glimpse to a joyous moment of human connection.
photo by Scott thomaS anderSon
This Saturday’s 25 Million Stitches Sewing Circle will let participants sew their own panels. The final project will make its public debut in 2020 to commemorate World Refugee Day (June 20).
the kidS are baCk hoMe
—Scott thomaS anderSon sc o tta @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
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Capital Dance Project’s Behind the Barre: Made in Sacramento returns to the Crest Theatre this weekend for its fifth annual collaborative art and dance production. The performance will feature 10 world premiere works incorporating multidisciplined artists, a pop-up makers fest in the lobby and local brews. The show aims to pay homage to its hometown. “We strive to make Behind the Barre a very Sacramento production, highlighting our art scene,” said Alexandra Cunningham, a Capital Dance Project founding member and Sacramento Ballet company artist. The dance company’s mission is to uplift the spirit of the community by conveying joy, strength and beauty using a variety of artistic media. It was founded in 2015 when the dancers at Sacramento Ballet were without employment for a month due to a budget shortfall, according to Cunningham. It’s common, of course, for dancers to have off seasons just like other performers and athletes. So in the wake of the temporary unemployment, several Ballet dancers decided to create an independent collective. It was an immediate hit: on opening night of their debut performance, almost every seat in the theater was filled. “We were just hoping at least our parents and friends would come see it,” said Cunningham with a laugh. “We never imagined that we could make it to year five.”
Behind the Barre is about innovation and collaboration, its founders say. It’s a platform for dancers to create with artists working in all mediums, as well as a way to make dance more accessible. Alexander Biber, another founding member of Capital Dance Project and a Sacramento Ballet artist, is choreographing a piece with seven dancers this year, in addition to performing in several other works. Biber’s piece is a joyful compilation of three Celtic jigs, with music played live by the local band Stepping Stone. Christopher Nachtrab, a founding member and former Sacramento Ballet company artist, says the project’s artistic evolution over the years inspires him. “I am constantly impressed by the ingenuity, the creativity and the perseverance of everyone involved,” he said. Nachtrab choreographed a piece this year in collaboration with graphic designer Karina Johnson, another former Sacramento Ballet dancer and founding Capital Dance Project member. For the performance, Johnson and her husband, Iver, crafted custom ramps. Nachtrab’s choreography focuses on the fear individuals may feel with life’s inevitable changes, and the challenge of embracing new possibilities. The piece was influenced by the iconic choreographer Martha Graham. “[She] once said, ‘A dancer dies twice … once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful,’” Nachtrab said. “Although this quote rings true, I was inspired to try and negate this concept, and challenge that as artists we should try to live without regret or remorse of the past but rather with conviction and hope for what is to come.” Nachtrab said he is hopeful for the future of Capital Dance Project as it continues to grow and expand. “By working together we, as artists, can create something more beautiful than ever imagined and hopefully inspire the next generation to achieve their dreams,” he said. Ω
catch Behind the Barre: Made in sacramento 7:30 p.m., friday and saturday, aug. 16 and 17 at the crest theatre, 1013 K st.; $15-$30; capitaldanceproject.org.
Photo courtesy of Manny crisostoMo
3419 El Camino Ave • Sacramento 916.339.6978 • www.dubplatekitchen.com
Into pop’s dark prism Amber DeLaRosa’s solo music takes a complex, moody turn by Jennah Booth
Photo courtesy of amber delarosa
“I was feeling really starved for connection and actual intimacy,” she said. “I went to my piano, and I just sort of like sobbed out this verse: ‘How close can you get to me without putting your hands on my body?’” The skeleton of “Get to Me,” and fragments of a coming album, lived solely on DeLaRosa’s piano for months. The music only came to fruition when she reached out to her now producer and boyfriend, Michael Franzino, who helped develop the song further. alas, poor disco. After the final rounds of production, recording and mastering with producers Paul When 6-year-old Amber DeLaRosa belted out Parks and Dryw Owens, the single found its final Bette Midler’s “The Rose” at a karaoke party, place in the dark pop genre. her mother knew she was destined for something Branching away from Flourish’s angsty, special. “I just had this feeling that she was more than acoustic sounds, DeLaRosa says her dive into pop music is uncharted territory for her. I’d ever imagined,” Tammy Borja said. “Amber “I started looking at pop as a challenge, was humming before she could talk.” whereas maybe in my past, I would have As DeLaRosa grew, so did her artistry. discredited pop music as not being artistic After a lifetime of creating music and enough,” she said. four years spent in the indie band Flourish, Although it’s a new creative direction, she DeLaRosa, now 25, made her solo debut to describes it as a bold but necessary step. nearly 9,000 people when she opened for “This whole thing has been such a Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers at leap of faith for me,” she said. “I’ve Concerts in the Park in early June. been painfully debating for years Shortly after, she released her over my piano, and it’s sort of “I started first single, “Get to Me,” and the like I have to just throw myself moody, dark pop song has since looking at pop as a to the wolves to find out.” racked up more than 14,000 challenge.” But Borja, who has watched views on YouTube, 42,000 her daughter’s journey, says she views on Facebook and more Amber DeLaRosa has faith in DeLaRosa. than 40,000 Spotify streams. singer “I am so excited for the It has all led to even wider horizons that have opened up for exposure: DeLaRosa will perform her,” Borja said. at ALT 94.7’s City of Trees festival No matter what genre, DeLaRosa says on Sept. 21. her drive has always come from the same place, The inspiration for “Get to Me” arrived and always will. Now, she’s putting everything she during an aimless time in the singer’s life. “I has into it. was at this huge fork in the road in my life,” “It’s embarrassing to tell people what your she said. “I’d had writer’s block … and was dreams are. And it should be, because your dreams struggling with really deep fears.” should be scary enough, or lofty enough,” she said. In her search for direction, DeLaRosa “I want to share my music with everybody. That attended a women’s circle that focused on feels like my dying need.” □ sexuality and intimacy. During the session, the group posed a question that resonated with her: How often does your partner touch you, caress you and give you affection without it leading to learn more about amber delarosa at amberdelarosa.com. sex?
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now playing
Reviews
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City of Trees
Bad blood by Patti RobeRts
Photo courtesy of yarcenia Garcia
Sunny Side Theatre Company makes an ambitious—too ambitious, it turns out—debut with City of Trees. Playwright Johanna C. Pugh’s goal is to offer help and encouragement to those with mental health issues and to make the topic one that’s as open to discussion as issues of physical health, but there are just too many troubled souls for one play. Fri 7pm, Sat 7pm, Sun
5pm; Through 8/18; $12-$14;
William J. Geery Theatre, 2130 L St., facebook.com/ sunnysidetheatre. J.C.
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The Last Match
Playwright Anna Ziegler combines coordinated timing and precise rhythm to bring theater and sports together in her one-act, 90-minute drama about a rising star facing off with a tennis legend at the U.S. Open semi-finals. Wed 2pm
Mamma Mia!
A spirited young woman invites three of her mother’s past lovers to her wedding in Greece in an attempt to discover which one is her father. This musical is bursting with fun, flair and all the best ABBA songs.
Fri 7:30pm, Sat 7:30pm, Sun
& 6:30pm, Thu 8pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm & 9pm, Sun 2pm, Tue 6:30pm; Through 9/1; $28-$47; B Street Theatre
2pm; Through 8/18; $20; The Acting Company, 815 B St. in Yuba City; (530) 751-1100; actingcompany.org. TMO
at the Sofia, 2700 Capitol Ave., (916) 443-5300, bstreettheatre.org. P.R.
short reviews by Jim carnes, Patti roberts and tessa Marguerite outland.
Photo courtesy of charr crail PhotoGraPhy
Unresolved conflict is one of the primary causes of “hanger” (hungry anger).
Thinner Than Water
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thu 8pm, fri 8pm, sat 8pm; through 8/30; $12-$18; Big idea theatre, 1616 Del Paso Blvd.; (916) 960-3036; bigideatheatre.org.
A father’s impending death brings together a simmering stew of sibling resentments in Melissa Ross’ Thinner Than Water, now playing at Big Idea Theatre. Three half-siblings are forced to figure out their relationships with their dad, with each other and with other characters swirling about in their lives. Right from the start, it’s clear that Dad wasn’t the best father around: Eldest daughter Renee refers to him as “a shitty human being” while youngest daughter Cassie describes him as “a cockroach on a toilet.” The familial relationship each sibling has with each other is rather tenuous, with their only common connection being their ne’er-do-well dad. The emphasis in the first half of the play is on the dysfunctionality of the siblings, as well as their self-defined relationship roles—bitter bossy big sister Renee (Laura Kaya), middle maturity-stunted son Gary (Chris Scarberry) and forever flaky little sister Cassie (Kaley Saari). The second half fleshes out the struggles of Dad’s current wife Gwen (BJ Nash) and her relationship with Renee. The talented cast works well together, incorporating their characters’ different personalities and approaches to life. Kaya and Nash convincingly embody their characters with help from a playwright who digs deeper in the portrayals and relationships of these two wounded souls. All in all, Thinner Than Water is an interesting exploration of the bonds of blood, and whether they’re worth keeping if they weigh you down like a ton of bricks. Ω 24
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3 Here we go again Can’t get enough of a certain musical about love, family and marriage, set to a certain Swedish pop band’s greatest hits? Yuba City’s The Acting Company isn’t the only place you can see Mamma Mia! this summer—Fair Oaks Theatre Festival also offers its own version under the stars, and it’s a pretty fun island getaway. In the days leading up to her wedding, Sophie (Katie Halls) flips through her mother Donna’s (Brianne Hidden) old diary to deduce who her real father is. She sends three invitations to three suspects with the hope that her true father will show up and walk her down the aisle. It’s a pretty heartwarming tale, if you’re willing to overlook the egregious violation of privacy of the entire premise. Overall the cast is solid, with standouts such as Leah Fraizer and Zoe Samborski providing comic relief as Donna’s friends and former singing mates. When it came time for Sam Carmichael (Joe Hart) to sing in the second act however, things got a little rough. It’s puzzling that someone who consistently struggled to hit the notes was cast to carry two of the bigger numbers, “S.O.S.” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” Despite hiccups, the highs are pretty high. Hidden absolutely nails “The Winner Takes It All,” driving home its emotional impact, and the ensemble elevates every number they’re in with dynamic choreography, especially “Under Attack,” Sophie’s prenuptial zombie nightmare. —Rachel Mayfield
Mamma Mia!: fri 8pm, sat 8pm, sun 8pm; through 9/8; $6-$18; fair oaks theatre festival, 7991 california ave.; (916) 966-3683; fairoakstheatrefestival.com.
stage pick We all need a drink or two when we realize we may have failed as parents.
Unrest in the nest Contrary to popular belief, a boomerang kid is not a curved, flat piece of wood that you spend most of your life raising to grow up and become a successful, boomerang adult. A boomerang kid actually refers to a young, human adult who, after a period of independent living, moves back in with their human parents. Who knew? Alone Together is a play all about having boomerang kids (the human kind) and one couple’s struggle to get their children to leave the nest a second time. And just to clarify, no actual boomerangs will be present onstage. Fri, 8/16, 8pm; Sat, 8/17, 8pm; Through 9/7; $12-$20; Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre, 1127 N Main St. in Jackson; (209) 295-4499; mstw.org.
—Rachel Mayfield
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Sacramento
Sacramento Coalition Spearheads Effort to Reclassify or Reduce Cannabis Convictions By E D g a r S a n C h E Z
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herie Drawn’s life derailed after she got pulled over by Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies in 2006. According to Drawn, officers searched her car and found “maybe ½ an ounce” of medically prescribed cannabis. She was arrested for felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell— a charge she disputes. That was her one and only arrest to date. Drawn has no proof but she suspects she was arrested because her then-boyfriend, an African American man, was with her—he was carrying $600-plus in cash and had an active arrest warrant out on him. Regardless if her conviction was guilt-by-association, racial profiling or simply possession-related, she was swept up into the criminal justice system and she paid for it in unforeseen ways. “Because of this charge, I lost my job as a nurse in a convalescent home,” Drawn, who lives in Antelope, said recently. “I lost my nursing license. I also lost my car, which was impounded. I didn’t have the money to get it back.” This spring, however, through Prop 64—the voter-approved initiative that expunges or reclassifies certain marijuana-related felony convictions—the Public Defender’s Office partnered up with Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert to dismiss or reduce more than 5,300 marijuanarelated felony convictions.
Other partners included Code for America, a nonprofit whose technology expedited the clearances and Youth Forward, a nonprofit supported by The California Endowment. Code for America engineers connected their computers to state Department of Justice data to determine which Sacramento criminal cases were eligible for reclassification. “Our technology can read 500,000 lines of conviction data” in a flash, said Alia ToranBurrell a senior program manager at Code for America.
“[ProP 64 iS] EmPowEriNg PEoPlE to HavE CoNtrol ovEr tHEir livES.” Tiffanie Leon-Synnott Supervising Public Defender, Public Defenders of Sacramento County
After learning of Schubert’s clearances, Drawn asked the Public Defender’s Office, “What about me?” In July of this year, Drawn’s case was reduced to a misdemeanor. Drawn, who now cleans buildings for a living, expects to have a brighter future.
Sherie Drawn (left) had a pot-related felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor through Prop 64. tiffanie leon-Synnott (right), a Sacramento County Supervising Public Defender helped her. Photo by Edgar Sanchez
She praised the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office for filing her petition for relief, which was granted by a Sacramento Superior Court judge. Getting a felony expunged or redesignated can be life-changing, said Tiffanie LeonSynnott, a supervising public defender who helped Drawn for free. Prop 64 is “empowering people to have control over their lives,” Leon-Synnott said. “It’s opening opportunities to vote, to get housing, to get professional lives.”
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.
For more info, visit: sacda.org and scroll to Marijuana Conviction relief. www.SacBHC.org 08.15.19
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ILLuSTRaTION BY MaRIa RaTINOva
An elevated classic hoCk poCkEt, tigER
The Combo Platter features tender chicken and gyros atop colorful basmati rice, drizzled with tzatziki next to smooth and creamy hummus, soft pita and a small salad for good measure.
Halal things considered
by Kimberly brown
Falafel Corner 1004 J St.; (916) 917-5556 Good for: Cheap eats Notable dishes: Combo Platter, Bacon Cheddar Burger
$$$
Mediterranean, downtown
Housed in the old Dad’s Sandwiches spot at 10th and J streets, Falafel Corner, open since late spring, seems not so into dress-up as its eldest sister in Natomas, or even some of its other four siblings throughout the Sacramento area. But the old-school, no-frills vibe gives it a confident air, reminiscent of longtime downtown Sacramento staples—Bud’s Buffet and the like—saving focus for the food. The digital flatscreen menu is its only real giveaway of modernity. The back-to-basics attitude carries through to the menu, a relatively simple list of offerings to be expected from a quick-service Mediterranean restaurant, and pared down from its other locations. Platters and wraps dominate, with burgers and fries following as a close second. Appetizers, at $4.99 each, include the eponymous falafel; vegetarian rice and spice-filled dolmas (stuffed grape leaves); and the bizarrely third-wheel quesadilla ($3.49), which can include chicken or gyro meat in addition to its mozzarella innards. A relatively unassuming mix of lettuce, tomato and cucumber, fraternizing with brazen raw onion, kalamata olives, banana peppers and feta—otherwise known as Greek salad ($5.99)—is available as a standalone item, with a slightly edited version (sans olives and cheese) found on platters and inside wraps. The Combo Platter ($12.49) is the easiest way to sample the menu’s many elements: Chunks of chicken and gyros 26
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sit atop colorful rice, drizzled generously with tzatziki, along with salad, hummus and pita. The platter’s contents are substantial (bring your Tupperware from home!), easily serving two or more. Both the chicken and gyro were moist and tender, and the long, thin basmati rice beneath was a textural delight and a worthy conveyance for ensuring tzatziki with each bite. The tzatziki at Falafel Corner is unique, and feels more akin to an herbed cream sauce than a lighter, cucumber-forward yogurt sauce—delicious, but quite dense. The hummus was thick, smooth and easily disappeared, though I missed the nutty, slightly bitter quality from tahini that was undetectable. Soft clouds of pita, doughy in some places and toasted crispy in others, made the vanishing act that much simpler. The bread and its imperfections were a welcome retreat from store-bought. I can still recall the cozy, fresh-baked feeling of powdery, granular surface. And what of the company namesake? A perfectly made falafel should be crisp on the outside, soft on the inside— crumbly, but not too much, and pack the right amount of flavor to stand alone, with nary a sauce as reprieve. Falafel Corner’s: A tad too salty, but all boxes were checked. The Bacon Cheddar Burger ($7.99) is not to be overlooked as a less traditional menu item. An all-beef patty, melted cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, tomato and Thousand Island dressing all work together so seamlessly it becomes difficult for one to identify individual players. Rest assured, it’s mouthwatering. But the real MVP: Beef bacon. At once salty, sweet, smoky and tangy, this single topping does wonders for an already solid burger, elevating it to an unforgettable status and serving 100 barbecue realness at every level. It’s a brilliant halal solution to a burger menu mainstay. Ten out of 10, would beef bacon—and Falafel Corner—again. Ω
The Hot Pocket is a household staple, filling kitchen freezers and children’s stomachs for decades. Tiger must have fond memories of the hand-held microwavable delicacy, as the Hock Pocket ($7) takes those familiar elements and elevates them. Diced smoked ham and melted gouda is wrapped tightly in a crispy puff pastry. But instead of artificial flavorings, the Hock Pocket is crunchy and oozes pungent, gooey cheese that nicely compliments the smoky ham. It’s a grown-up spin on a childhood classic and it works as an easy replacement to its highly-saturated counterpart. 722 K Street, tiger700block.com
—JEREmy WinsloW
Piping hot teapot EnlightEnmEnt, tEmplE CoffEE RoastERs Temple Coffee’s “Enlightenment” won’t just change your life, it will change your soul. This steamy tea beverage is perfect for a breezy morning or lazy afternoon. The fragrant jasmine tea is steeped in a singleserve teapot with soy milk and a hint of honey resulting in a silky smooth treat. The Enlightenment ($5.80) is aptly named, as it draws out a sense of contemplation and peace. After five minutes of steeping, this milky tea reaches the perfect drinking temperature with an ideal balance of floral and sweet flavors. It’s delicious and soothing at any time of day or season. Various locations, templecoffee.com.
—tEssa maRguERitE outland
PlANeT V
Yo Mama’s so vegan … The Neighborhood Pizzeria, owned by the same folks as Federalist, opened in East Sac in April. Neighborhood does Sicilian-style (square) slices premade and fired as they’re ordered. Usually, restaurants with no room for customization are a no-go for vegans, but Neighborhood Pizzeria is an exception. Its lone vegan slice is called “Yo Mama’s So Vegan.” In its early weeks, Yo Mama seemed like a prank: A huge hunk of bread with a thin layer of marinara and chunks of potato. In its current incarnation, it’s loaded with veggies, then topped with arugula and cashew crème—a welcome change. Slices are large and priced right at $5 each. Even better: For $9, get a big-enough-fortwo basket of vegan nacho tots. Tater tots with vegan nacho cheese and cashew crème, plus green onions, black olives and jalapeños. These are even better than Yo Mama and memorable enough to come back for more. 5401 H Street, theneighborhoodpizzeria.com.
—lindsay oxfoRd
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Photo by Ashley hAyes-stone
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Fountain of brews by Ashley hAyes-stone
It was one chilly morning in 2016 and Daniel Moffatt could see his breath as he dropped cascade hops into a stainless steel brew tank. He’d been brewing since 4 a.m and after what felt like forever, he and his business partner Mark Bojescu grabbed a pint glass to finally taste the first beer to be served at their new venture, Fountainhead Brewing Company. Months later—and many brewing experiments later—they finally opened their doors to the public. “We had no idea what to expect, but it was a great feeling,” Bojescu said. “It was definitely a high-five moment.” Tucked away on 24th Street near Sacramento City College, the brewery is small but boasts an open patio, where umbrella-covered tables and games such as a giant Connect Four make for an inviting space. Moffatt and Bojescu recently celebrated their thirdyear anniversary in April; it wasn’t easy getting there. Back in 2013, Moffatt and Bojescu both worked at a home improvement store. One day after work, the two decided to blow off steam at a nearby brewhouse. A few adult beverages later, Bojescu confided in Moffatt that he wanted to open his own restaurant. Moffatt jokingly said he could make the beer because he’s a homebrewer. “After we sobered up, we kept on talking about it so we knew were serious,” Bojescu said. “All good ideas [happen] over a beer, right?” The two entrepreneurs set out to learn more. The restaurant side fell through—too expensive with licensing hurdles they didn’t want to deal with—but they continued with the brewery idea, rallying investors to chip in.
One of the first things they did was visit other local other breweries to see how they ran their business. “We did a lot of quote-unquote market research—going to breweries and drinking beer,” Moffatt said. They also needed a location; in 2014 Bojescu asked his dad, who owned an old mechanic shop on 24th Street. Bojescu’s father agreed to rent them the space and the friends spent the summer transforming the grease-covered structure into a craft beer hotspot. One of the biggest challenges was coming up with a name. Moffatt tapped into his love of books to brainstorm titles. The pair finally settled on paying homage to Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. In the years since they opened, many other breweries have also popped up. They say what sets them apart now is that they don’t just provide customers with trendy beers, but offer a pleasingly aesthetic environment. “Our customers love coming here because we are always behind the bar interacting with them,” Bojescu said. Reflecting on how far the two have come, Moffatt views Fountainhead as a labor of love. “[At] our anniversary party it was amazing to see all the people come out and they celebrate with you,” Moffatt said. “It makes it worth it and your passion shows and what you do, and that, people will appreciate.” Ω Visit Fountainhead brewing Company to taste what’s on tap, 4621 24th st., (916) 228-4610; fountainheadbrewingco.com.
on t
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Daniel Moffatt (left) and his friend/ co-owner of Fountainhead Brewing Company, Mark Bojescu, celebrated three years in business in April.
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Sticks and stones Use mulch, not rocks, around lawn trees by Debbie Arrington
seems hotter. Because it is: The black rock often gets 20 degrees warmer than the surrounding air if exposed to full sun. The effect can be particularly brutal in southand west-facing gardens. Shade could lessen that heat effect. But as part of low-water landscapes, trees often are removed. Landscapers recommend rock or stone because, like a lawn, a leaf blower can be used to remove leaves and debris without disturbing the ground cover. Wood chips, not rocks, make Instead, Sanchez recommends letting the best mulch for trees. the leaves stay pretty much where they fall. That’s what nature does. As for the mulch itself, take another Rocks in a garden can be attractive. They can cue from nature: Use chipped wood, the form paths or add accents. go-to mulch for the Tree Foundation. It’s heavy But rock mulch around trees? Not so cool. enough to stay in place, conserving moisture “This is not Phoenix,” said Pamela Frickmann and cooling roots, while also adding nutrients to Sanchez, education program manager for the the soil. SacTree recommends a layer at least 6 Sacramento Tree Foundation. “Rocks are not inches deep spread like a giant doughnut around mulch; rocks are rocks.” the tree, leaving space in the middle next to the With conversions of lawns to water-wise trunk to help prevent crown rot. Sacramento landscapes, Sacramento is getting pretty rocky. That residents can get free wood chips from SMUD, a concerns Sanchez and other experts who are dediSacTree partner. cated to keeping Sacramento the “City of Trees.” Or get cheap wood chips from landscapers or Trying to reduce water use, homeowners often tree cutters. replace lawn with cobbles or lava rock, which “I always ask what kind of trees they’ve need no irrigation. That isolates former “lawn been chipping,” Sanchez said. “You don’t want trees,” surrounding them with barren rock where anything with a lot of seeds; they’ll sprout. there once was well-watered turf. Experts suggest Personally, I avoid liquidamber.” a thick layer of mulch around almost any tree to And rocks. conserve moisture and protect roots. Buzz on over: The open house and plant sale to With rocks, it can appear the trees are mulched support the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC while cutting down on weeds, fulfilling two funcDavis is now set for Sept. 28, a week later than tions with each stone. But like concrete or other previously announced. paving, rocks reflect and absorb heat, significantly warming the soil while also reflecting heat onto evenT deTailS nearby plants. Leaves become sunburned; twigs get toasted. Roots slowly bake. Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven 10th “Rock definitely increases the [soil] temperaanniversary celebration and fundraiser ture,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t insulate the soil or takes place 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, keep it cool. It doesn’t do much at all.” Sept. 28, Bee Biology Road in Uc Davis. Free admission and parking; Details: Instead of saving water, adding a layer of rocks beegarden.ucdavis.edu. around plants actually increase water use. Hotter soil means stressed—and thirstier—shrubs and trees. “You have to use more water to keep your debbie arrington, an award-winning garden writer and lifelong plants alive,” Sanchez said. gardener, is co-creator of the sacramento digs Gardening blog Covering a landscape with black rock is like and website. paving the yard with black asphalt; everything Photo courtesy of sacramento tree foundation
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The rental market remains strong nationwide.
Sacramento rental market strong Rents going up, but still a bargain Sacramento’s rental market
continues to be strong – good news for both property owners and prospective renters. “The rental market right now is very good,” said Greg Paquin of The Gregory Group, a real estate research and data company in Folsom. “It’s been strong for a number of years with a high occupancy rate. The demand for (rentals) is high in all areas. It’s a national trend that’s certainly local, too.” Paquin, who started his company 20 years ago, has seen a Sacramento building boon in new rentals. “They’re building a lot of units everywhere,” he said. “In Folsom, two or three projects are going up. In downtown and midtown (Sacramento), 4,700 units are coming online, many of them this year or next.” According to Zumper’s national rent report for August, Sacramento rents went up this summer. Reflecting high demand, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment
in Sacramento was $1,300, up 3.2% from July and 8.3% from the same time last year. A two-bedroom apartment now averages $1,500, up 2% from last month and 6.4 % from 2018. Both those are very close to national averages ($1,233 and $1,477 for one- and two-bedroom apartments, respectively), which – compared to many parts of California – makes Sacramento a bargain. Highest in the nation, San Francisco’s average rents for August were $3,600 for a onebedroom unit and $4,790 for two bedrooms; those actually were slightly down from the month before. Among the many new apartments being built in Sacramento, Paquin noted two distinct trends: Micro-units and resort living. “We’re seeing a lot of smaller units, particularly downtown and midtown” he said. “These are micro-units, 250 to 400 square feet. They’re really small, but also much more affordable. The common areas have all the amenities: Sitting areas, fireplace, pool. They’re near restaurants and bars and places to go. So, you’re not in your unit all the time; you have some place else to relax with friends.” Other projects attract renters with amenities worthy of a major hotel. “It’s a resort kind of apartment, attracting all different types of renters,” Paquin explained. “The units have lots of nicer features, but the common areas are very upscale: Cigar room, movie room, meeting rooms, barbecue pits, two or three pools. It’s like a vacation at home.” By DeBBie Arrington
This column is produced by N&R Publications, a division of News & Review separate from SN&R Editorial. For more information, visit www.nrpubs.com
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daytRipS
Fresh bay shrimp salad at New Moon Cafe in Nevada City. Photo by AlleN PierleoNi
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Nevada City walk is worth the drive heard: “Explore and discover.” In that spirit, this monthly column will take off on accessible day-trips to towns small and large, with serendipity as its guide. Let’s start with Nevada City, a 120-mile round trip from Sacramento. The town is all about tin roof buildings, brick walls and balconies, weather-washed wood and antique lamp posts. Our recent walkabout centered in the 16-acre downtown area, a National Historic Monument (download the walking-tour map of historic sites at www.nevadacitychamber. com). Its rows of side-by-side 19th-century buildings are filled with a trove of antiques, fashion, eats and drinks. Including coffee at City Council (233 Broad St.), an airy space dramatized by sand-blasted brick walls and 19th-century iron doors. Join the laptop crowd at the gleaming refectory tables. The motto at Toad Hall Book Shop (108 N. Pine St.) could be, “What’s old is
new again.” Among the classics are “Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse Cookbook” and the “Burgess Bird Book for Children.” You won’t do better. We’d never heard of an “organic bed” until we cruised Mama Madrone’s (307 Broad St.). The beeswax candles and botanical lotions fit the store’s vibe, but the artistdesigned hemp shirts were show-stoppers. The New Moon Café (203 York St.) is the local must-try, certified after our lunch on the shaded deck. One daily special was a fresh bay shrimp salad heaped on housebaked rosemary focaccia. “We’re casual, but we know what we’re doing and we care about the food,” chef Peter Selaya says. All true. The best thing about walking in to Mountain Pastimes (320 Spring St.) toy store is being overwhelmed by the 1,800piece inventory. The second-best thing is the “orchestrian,” a colossal, hand-built “jukebox” filled with 45 musical instruments that play 2,000 tunes. What a concept - real music from real instruments. To end the day, consider this: Is chocolate better than beer? To find out, we went from the Nevada City Chocolate Shoppe (236 Broad St.) to award-winning Ol’ Republic Brewery (124 Argail Way). At the Chocolate Shoppe, hand-made truffles and a dozen flavors of fudge are a good start, with a side of chocolate-dipped cheesecake. The Ol’ Republic Taproom was pouring 11 brews the day we visited. So, is beer better than chocolate? Please let us know.
By Allen Pierleoni
This column is produced by N&R Publications, a division of News & Review separate from SN&R Editorial. For more information, visit www.nrpubs.com
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for the week of august 15
by maxfield morris
POst eveNts ONliNe FOR FRee at newsreview.com/sacramento
MUSiC THURSDaY, 8/15 FOR the CR8tives suMMeR CONCeRt: Here’s a summer concert for creative folks. There are plenty of musicians, artists and more people performing and sharing their work with you. 7pm, $15-$20. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.
the BellWetheR sYNDiCate: A conglomeration
thu
Middle eastern Culture and Food Festival La Sierra Community Center, 11am, no Cover Want a taste of the Middle East—literally? There’s only one way to get it this weekend. Well, there’s probably a Festivals lot of different ways, but the Sacramento Middle Eastern Culture and Food Festival doesn’t have a cover charge, so it’s a good bet. Head on over to Carmichael and partake of all kinds of food vendors, including The Kebab
tiCKet WiNDOW Bilal Philadelphia-born jazz phenom
Bilal Oliver has been pursuing the musical outlet for years now, and his diverse musical style will soon grace Sacramento. 9/13, 9pm, $20-$25, on sale now. Harlow’s, ticketfly.com.
ROBERT EaRl KEEn Described on his website as “one of our generation’s most prolific songwriters,” Keen is a singersongwriter with a lot of years experience playing music. 10/6, 7:30pm, $35-$45, on sale 8/16 at 1pm. Crest Sacramento, ticketfly. com.
THE WailERS The band that formerly
performed with Bob Marley is coming to town to lay down some reggae songs just before Halloween. 10/29, 8pm, $25, on sale now. Ace of Spades, ticketmaster.com.
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SéRgiO MEnDES & BEBEl gilBERTO
on sale now. Mondavi Center, tickets. mondaviarts.org.
JOHn CRaigiE The patently amusing
humor and music of John Craigie will be present in Sacramento soon. Catch the Americana artist along with Shook Twins. 11/15, 8pm, $21$26, on sale now. Harlow’s, ticketfly.com.
Celebrate the sounds of bossa nova with the founder of Brasil 66, Sérgio Mendes, and samba singer Bebel Gilberto.
11/13, 7pm, $12.50-$60,
Kitchen with Minihahas, the local hippy punk band. Sweetgum will also perform. 9:30pm, $5. Sophia’s Thai Kitchen, 129 E St., Suite E in Davis.
FRiDaY, 8/16 311 aND DiRtY heaDs: Prank your friend by buying them a ticket to this show with 311 and Dirty Heads, featuring sounds of alternative rock, hip-hop and reggae. Joke’s on you, though—your friend is a big fan of both of those bands. Foiled by Dirty Heads once again! 5:45pm, $56-$80. Papa Murphy’s Park, 1600 Exposition Blvd.
Take us off some sweet jumps, Jon.
Derek King at this show of his. He’s a Bay Area R&B artist and he’s on his More Vibes tour. More context provided at show. 5pm, $15-$50. Momo Sacramento, 2708 J St.
the Dive BaR BOMBeRs: A trio of musicians are coming to R Street: They’re the Dive Bar Bombers, and they play blues, rock, power pop and soul. But wait, there’s Tim Crump! Crump is a ukulele coverist, similarly versatile in sound. 9pm, $5. Fox & Goose, 1001 R St.
JOCelYN & ChRis aRNDt: Human musicians Jocelyn and Chris Arndt are also human siblings—plus, they play music. Jocelyn is the vocalist and keyboardist while Chris is the guitarist. They delve into the blues. 6:30pm, $18-$20. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.
“Click it or ticket” doesn’t mean you get free tickets.
Relive the magic of the instantly classic movie Napoleon Dynamite while in the company of stars from that very movie. You’ll talk with Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez and John Gries, all in the same place. 11/10, 2pm, $14.50-$100, on sale now. Mondavi Center, tickets.mondaviarts.org.
MiNihahas: Fun times await at Sophia’s Thai
DeReK KiNG: Teach yourself something about
Guys, Go Falafel and more, and plenty of exhibitors of local groups. There’s a kids’ corner with fun family activities, lots of traditional performances and more. Nader Zaki will be singing, DJ Qamar Soboh will be spinning and Aljuthoor of the Arab Shatat will be performing some Palestinian Dabke. 5325 Engle Road in Carmichael, sacmideastfestival.com.
naPOlEOn DYnaMiTE livE!
PHOTO COURTESY OF Eiliv-SOnaS aCEROn
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Celebrate the culture— and food—of the Middle East.
of bands and genres come together with the Bellwether Syndicate. There’s Autumn, a darkwave band from Minneapolis; Caroline Blind, a gothic rock band from New Jersey originally; and DJs Chat Noir and Dire. 8pm, $10-$13. Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Blvd.
TOO SHORT The
5-foot-7-inch rapper from the West Coast will be stopping through town and performing just after Christmas and before New Year’s Eve.
12/28, 8pm, $29.50-$35, on sale now. Ace of Spades, concerts.livenation.com.
RaDiO ORaNGevale: To Old Ironsides, quickly! There’s a threesome of bands playing, namely Radio Orangevale, Anime Aliens and Garble. We’re talking guitars, we’re talking rock, some punk, some surf sounds and more. 8pm, $7. Old Ironsides, 1901 10th St.
ReO sPeeDWaGON: Hunt for a taste of nostalgia in Lincoln with this show from 1970s and 1980s rockers REO Speedwagon. They made such iconic hits as “Take it on the Run,” “Keep on Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” That’s not all, though—there’s also glam band Warrant playing, as well. 7pm, $39.95-$169.95. Thunder Valley Casino, 1200 Athens Ave. in Lincoln.
saveD BY the 90’s: Fish for some ’90s covers from Saved by the 90’s. The band that revisits the decades after the 1980s is bringing the radio hits of the age to the stage. 7pm, $18. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.
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 Morris at snrcalendar@newsreview.com.
SaTURDaY, 8/17 MaRie aND the OsMONDs: And you thought music couldn’t make you feel this way— think again, and spend another evening with the country singer and some of the rest of the Osmonds. 7:30pm, $42.95$79.95. Thunder Valley Casino, 1200 Athens Ave. in Lincoln.
aRDeN PaRK MusiC iN the PaRK: Next up is music from Brad Wilson, guitarist and singer-songwriter. The show is brought to you by the Arden Park Homeowners Association, in case you were wondering. 7:30pm, no cover. Arden Park, 1000 La Sierra Drive.
the FaDeD shOW: Teach us what the name of The Faded Show means once you attend. It’s got performances from musical artists Teo, Testa Grossa, Nadia Vaeh, Nate Curry, Abstract Ninjaa, Madrid, EG and Alec Good. 7pm, $15-$20. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.
hiBOu: The headliner? Indie popsters Hibou, from Seattle. The non-headliners? Indie popsters Fashionista Boyfriend, from Sacramento. The people in the audience? Indie popster-fans, potentially you. 7pm, $10-$12. Momo Sacramento, 2708 J St.
hOt auGust NiGht iN saCRa: Fish enjoy living in water like you enjoy hanging out with Morenas for Justice & Raza Vinyl Collective at this event. There’s lots of vinyl being spun, lots of food to eat, raffles to raffle in and more. Plus, the event benefits scholarships to undocumented high school and college students. 7:30pm, $15 suggested donation. Sol Collective, 2574 21st St.
lYNYRD sKYNYRD: To all of the fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd out there, here’s your chance to catch them play on their farewell tour. It’s called Last of the Street Survivors tour, and it may be the last chance to catch them in a town near you. 6pm, $29.50-$99.50. Toyota Amphitheatre, 2677 Forty Mile Road in Wheatland.
SUnDaY, 8/18 the BlasteRs: Hunt for rock ’n’ roll this weekend and you’ll have a good chance of bagging some of the wailing sounds of the genre at this show. You’ve got the Blasters, Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys, plus music from Jesse Dayton—Jesse Dayton, a filmmaker, musician, multitalented performer with very, very persistent PR representatives. 7:30pm, $25-$30. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.
luCiFeR: Humans are invited to this heavy and hard rock night with Lucifer, Haunt and Older Sun. 8pm, $12-$15. Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Blvd.
stONe MeCCa: And you thought Armadillo Music would never do an after-hours event—well, you were wrong. Stone Mecca, the psychedelic blues-rock instrumentalist, is performing and the store is open for perusal business. 7:30pm, $5. Armadillo Music, 207 F St. in Davis.
TUESDaY, 8/20 aaRON Neville DuO: Birds of a feather flock together, which is why Aaron and Art
Saturday, 8/17
Jug Band Festival Sutter Creek Inn, 11am, no Cover
How many jug band festivals have you been to this year? If you’re like most people, the answer is Festivals “too few.” Make up for it by spending a whole day listening to the bands that feature improvised instruments, swampy sounds and plenty of banjos. This is the 17th year of the international festival, and it brings nine different bands to town to play. There will be Rivertown Skifflers, Carmichael Philharmonic Jug Band, Zarcon Trio, Deep Basement Shakers and more. 75 Main Street in Sutter Creek, facebook.com/CJBA2/events.
Neville are performing in this duo—because they’re brothers. Catch the R&B and soul show in town at Crest Theatre. 7:30pm, $38$78. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.
GODsPeeD YOU! BlaCK eMPeROR: Then and now it’s a good idea to mix it up: Try these Quebecers with experimental use of band punctuation, as they come to town with their experimental use of music. They’re post-rock and drony, they’re Canadian and more. 7pm, $27. Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.
JUliaN MaRleY aND tHe UPRisiNG BaND: Get your tickets to see the son of Bob Marley and the son of Lucy Pounder’s band, the Uprising Band. 9pm, $25-$30. Harlow’s, 2708 J St.
ROD Wave: Out of all the rappers from St. Petersburg, Fla., Rod Wave is the one coming to Sacramento to perform. 7pm, $20. Holy Diver, 1517 21st St.
bleeding honky tonk by the time it’s over, not literally. 4pm, $25-$50. Thomas Allen Vineyards & Winery, 5573 W. Woodbridge Road in Lodi.
JUGBaND Festival: Dangerous levels of jugbands are being detected in the vicinity of Sutter Creek—catch the event highlight on page 33. 11am, no cover. Sutter Creek Inn, Main St. in Sutter Creek.
WiDe OPeN Walls stReet PaRtY & CONCeRt 2019: To celebrate the end of Wide Open Walls, there’s another street party this year—and it includes a concert. There’s headlining act Sage the Gemini performing, along with a whole slew of other DJs. Have some drinks, some food, catch some live murals, talk to artists and much more. 6pm, $20. Capitol Mall.
SuNday, 8/18 BlaCK HaiR BRUNCH: Spend some of your
FEStIVaLS tHurSday, 8/15 tHiRD tHURsDaY at 24tH & K: Of course there’s another installment of Third Thursday—the only Thursday night market on the 2300 block of K Street that features locally made art, creativity and more. Catch some sweet activities, photo booths, beverages, music and plenty of excitement. 6pm, no cover. 24th & K St.
FrIday, 8/16 FaMilY NiGHt at tHe FaRM: The farm is open for business, but this time it’s at night. Partake in some foods, some beverages, some things to see and more. Bring your own picnic setup and have a good old time on the farm. 6:30pm, no cover-$5. Soil Born Farms, 2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova.
Saturday, 8/17 2019 saCRaMeNtO MiDDle easteRN CUltURe aND FOOD Festival: Way to Anyone’s Heart No. 37: Take them to a food festival. Make your or someone else’s life richer by attending this festival of Middle Eastern culture—and food. There are plenty of tasty options, lots of music and culture, along with entertainment for the whole family. 11am, no cover. La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Engle Road in Carmichael.
weekend celebrating black hair. This brunch is centered around the culture behind the hair and its many styles, celebrating its cultural pride. 11am, $45. California State Capitol, west steps, 1315 10th St.
saCaNiMe PReseNts aNiMe ROseville: Time to celebrate all things anime with a new venue in a new city. SacAnime is bringing its festivities to the Placer County Fairgrounds. There’s all kinds of things to do, and voice actors Trina Nishimura and Cherami Leigh will be showing up. Get some autographs, catch some artists and much more. 10am, $10. Placer County Fairgrounds, 800 All American City Blvd. in Roseville.
WHiteNOise JaZZ Festival: Next up is the WhiteNoise Jazz Festival, the launch party of Funk University. There’s all kind of featured artwork, spoken word performances and more, featuring Harley White Jr. Quartet and the Mahogany Poets. 2pm, $25. Celebration Arts, 4469 D St.
FOOd & drINK tuESday, 8/20 NeW GlORY CRaFt BReWeRY DiNNeR: To eat is human, so come eat with Iron Horse Tavern. The food is paired with New Glorybrewed beers, so come get the multiplecourse tasting dinner that you so clearly
HONKY tONK HaRvest: It’s about time to get a hefty dose of honky tonk, and this festival is just the opportunity. With live country music, lots of drinks and eats, you’ll be
CaleNDaR listiNGs CONtiNUeD ON PaGe 34
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CALendAr ListinGs Continued From PAGe 33 deserve. 7pm, $50. Iron Horse Tavern, 1800 15th St.
wednesday, 8/21 sAC ACtiVist sCHooL HeALtHy CooKinG on A budGet: Fish don’t know how to cook vegan pizza, but you will after this class on vegetable flatbread pizza taught by the Fosters. You’ll learn how to make ’za, and you’ll get some samples. 6pm, $5-$10 donation. Sol Collective, 2574 21st St.
Film saTurday, 8/17 woodstoCK 3 dAys oF PeACe & musiC rAted r: That famous music and art festival, Woodstock, returns to the screen. Catch the 1969 landmark festival detailed in this oneof-a-kind documentary featuring concert footage, drug use, collapse of fences and arrival of National Guard helicopters. 7pm, $8. Auburn State Theatre, 985 Lincoln Way, Suite 104 in Auburn.
wednesday, 8/21 CHoCoLAte miLK tHe doCumentAry: Can you spare a little time to watch this documentary about breastfeeding during National Breastfeeding Month? It’s about the racial divide of breastfeeding. 11am, no cover. Sacramento County Department of Health Services, 7001 East Parkway.
comedy Crest tHeAtre: Cleopatra Metio La Pata. Hunt for a little humor and you may find this show on tour, telling the story of Cleopatra repelling the Persians and Romans. through 8/18. $50-$90. 1013 K St.
PunCH Line: Vicki Barbolak. People—Vicki Barbolak was on America’s Got Talent and has talent. She does jokes about trailer parks and how her father was in the NFL a long time ago. through 8/17. $20. Makeup &
Mimosas Madonna Tribute Show!. Let’s all go to the brunchiest drag show tributing Madonna this week—the gals from Makeup & Mimosas give their take on the queen of pop. Sunday 8/18, 11am. $16. 2100 Arden Way, Suite 225.
stAb! Comedy tHeAter: Letter Talk Live. Just in time for the weekend, Alyssa Cowan is writing and reading letters she’s writing to local establishments. Will she write one to you? Only time and Cowan will tell. See a letterwriting podcast in person. saturday 8/17, 7pm. $5-$6.50. 1710 Broadway.
sACrAmento Comedy sPot: THE FRIDAY SHOW SKETCH COMEDY-2019 BEST OF SHOW. Hope you caught the profile of The Friday Show director in the last edition of SN&R—if you didn’t, it doesn’t really matter—catch the sketch show’s two-year anniversary this Friday, with some of the best sketches from the history of the show. Friday 8/16, 9pm. $12. 1050 20th St., Suite 130.
tommy t’s Comedy CLub: Shaundon Da One “31 Flavors Birthday Celebration.” It is time for Sacramentan Shadayvia Shaundon to throw caution and humor to the audience, who will catch at least one. sunday 8/18, 6pm. $10. 12401 Folsom Blvd. in Rancho Cordova.
on sTaGe biG ideA tHeAtre: Thinner Than Water. Doesn’t the idea of a family getting along seem antiquated? Well, it is, and this show rejoices in that comedy. There’s lots of bickering amongst siblings as their father deals with illness. through 9/7. $12$22. 1616 Del Paso Blvd.
broAdwAy At musiC CirCus: In The Heights. Teach a person to write musicals, they might just write some. Lin-Manuel Miranda did—a few times. Catch his story of the New York neighborhood Washington Heights in the Music Circus. through 8/20. $45-$93. 1419 H St.
Crest tHeAtre: Behind the Barre Made in Sacramento!. Other live dance performances might not feature 10 resident choreographers, local musicians and artisans crafting countless works of art. Capital Dance Project’s fifth year hosting Behind the
Thursday, 8/15
Vegan Asian Cuisine Cooking Class Burly Beverages, 6:30pm, $95
Maybe you’ve cooked food before, but have you ever taken CLAsses a cooking class? Here’s your chance to immerse yourself in a bountiful vegan meal that hops all over Southeast Asia. Join chef Stacy for a four-course meal that includes Burmese tea leaf salad, Singaporean rainbow spring rolls, Vietnamese portobello steaks and some Thai iced tea and sticky rice. Get your hands tasty with this hands-on cooking excursion. 2014 Del Paso Boulevard, thecookerysacramento.com.
isTocK PhoTo/naTa_vKusidey
Saturday, 8/17
Bird walk AmericAn river rAnch, 8Am, $10
Think you’ve seen a lot of birds? Think again. Take your bird watching to the next level by joining this stroll along in Rancho Cordova. Cliff Hawley leads the walk, and it’s not entirely limited SportS & outdoorS to birds. If there are other creatures or notable plants, you’ll learn about them, too. It’s an easy foray into the hobby of glancing at winged animals, and remember—you’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to catch some birds. 2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova, soilborn.org.
Barre does do those things. Friday 8/16 and Saturday 8/17, 7:30pm, $30. 1013 K St.
CroCKEr Art MuSEuM: Capital Storytelling at the Crocker. Finned folks may scuba over to the Crocker to catch this evening of storytelling. thursday 8/15, 6:30pm. $8-$16. 216 O St.
dAVIS ArtS CENtEr: Poetry Series. Creatures of the poetic realm are invited to witness readers of poetic verse at this series, this time you can expect to hear from Linda Scheller. Sunday 8/18, 2pm. donations appreciated. 1919 F St. in Davis.
SIErrA 2 CENtEr: The Yeomen of the Guard. To fans of Gilbert and Sullivan, this opera will be swiftly recognized. The story of guards in the Tower of London is produced by the Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento. through 8/25. $15-$25. 2791 24th St.
art ALpHA FIrEd ArtS: 3rd Annual SPG Art By Fire Membership Invitational Exhibition. Hunt for some hot, hot artwork at the third year of Alpha Fired Arts’ exhibition of member artwork. There’s metalwork, ceramics and glass. through 9/7. No cover. 4675 Aldona Lane.
JoHN NAtSouLAS GALLErY: Glenn Takai Memorial Exhibition. People are the focus of Glenn Takai’s ceramic work. Catch a glimpse into the life of Takai, who was an alumnus of UC Davis and Sac State. through 9/21. No cover. 521 1st St in Davis.
KENNEdY GALLErY: Neomod & Cubism Modern Conversations. Or check this out—it’s art like you haven’t seen much of before. The new modern, cubism, hey, it’s all here. through 9/8. No cover. 1931 L St.
VErGE CENtEr For tHE ArtS: 25 Million Stitches Sewing Circle. We are all invited to join Jennifer Kim Sohn to participate in the first 25 Million Stitches Sewing Circle. Contribute some stitches, and donations go to the project’s continued engagement of the public in the refugee crisis. Check out
the story on page 20. Saturday 8/17, 2pm. No cover. 625 S St.
PHOtO COurtESy OF JEFFrEy EiSEn
your consideration. 8am, $10. Soil Born Farms, 2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova.
FItNESS rANGErS pop up BootCAMp MArSHALL pArK: Be a bootcamp all-star—show up and get your sweat on with all kinds of free exercises from the Fitness Rangers. 9am, no cover. Marshall Park, 915 27th St.
WEdnESday, 8/21 SACrAMENto SALES JoB FAIr: Out of work? Looking for more? Catch this job fair if you’re trying to work is sales, retail or management. 9:30am, no cover. Embassy Suites, 100 Capitol Mall.
taKE aCtiOn MOnday, 8/19 dAN KoVALIK: Of the U.S. involvement in Venezuela and Latin America, Dan Kovalik will be talking. Catch the author-activist as he speaks about the injustice of U.S. actions. 6:15pm, no cover. Southside CoHousing Common House, 440 T St.
WEdnESday, 8/21 CAMp out For SuNBurSt proJECtS FuNdrAISEr: This drag show fundraiser features lots of food, fun and fresh drinks, and it benefits Sunburst Projects’ services to children and families living with HIV/ AIDS. 5:30pm, $25. Faces, 2000 K St.
CLaSSES tHurSday, 8/15 CooKING CLASS VEGAN ASIAN CuISINE: Catch the event highlight for this cooking class on page 34. Yum. 6:30pm, $95. Burly Beverages Gift Shop & Tasting Room, 2014 Del Paso Blvd.
CrEAtIVItY+pLAY: Molly Hallweaver and Mark Otero are the guests of creative honor this evening. They’ll be sharing their own personal definitions of what play means to them. 5:30pm, no cover. Warehouse Artist Lofts (12th Street Entrance), 1108 R St.
SPOrtS & OutdOOrS Saturday, 8/17 BIrd WALK: May you be ever lucky in seeing birds and more on this bird walk at the American River Ranch, featured above for
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THURSDAY 8/15
FRIDAY 8/16
BAdlAnds
Poprockz 90s Night, 9pm, no cover
Fierce Fridays, 7pm, call for cover
Spectacular Saturdays, 6pm, call for cover
BAr 101
Devin Wright, 6:30pm, no cover
Lightrays, 9:30pm, no cover
Matt Griswold, 9:30pm, no cover
2003 k ST., (916) 448-8790 101 MAIN ST., ROSEvIllE, (916) 774-0505
Blue lAmp
1400 AlHAMbRA blvD., (916) 455-3400
6:30pm Friday, $18-$20 Harlow’s Rock
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 8/19-21
Stone Mecca, 7:30pm, $5
The Bellwether Syndicate, Autumn, Caroline Blind and more, 8pm, $10-$13
B.P.M. & Sunday Funday Remixed, 4pm, call for cover
Open-Mic, 7:30pm, W, no cover; Trivia, 6:30pm, M, no cover
Sitting & Waiting, Patsy’s Dekline, Captain Cutiepie and more, 8pm, $10
Lucifer, Haunt and Older Sun, 8pm, $10
Nova Sutro, Judhead, Malcolm Bliss and more, 8pm, $10
Preacher, Without Hope, Until the Unknown and more, 7pm, $10
Alesana, Capture, Avoid and more, 6:30pm, $10
Hawthorne Heights, Emery, Oh, Sleeper and more, 7pm, M, $25
cApiTol GArAGe
Capitol Fridays, 10pm, no cover before 10:30pm
Dinner and a Drag Show, 7:30pm, $5$25; Karaoke, 9:30pm, call for cover
Boot Scootin Sundays, 8pm, $5
Geeks Who Drink, 8:30pm, W, no cover
cresT TheATre
1013 k ST., (916) 476-3356
Behind the Barre: Made in Sacramento!, 7:30pm, $25-$30
Behind the Barre: Made in Sacramento!, 7:30pm, $25-$30
Cleopatra Metio La Pata, 7pm, $50-$90
Aaron Neville Duo, 7:30pm, T, $38-$78
FAces
Absolut Fridays, 9pm, call for cover
Sequin Saturdays, 9:30pm, call for cover
Funday Frolic, 3pm, no cover
Every Damn Monday, 8pm, M, no cover; Noche Latina, 9pm, T, no cover
The Dive Bar Bombers and Tim Crump, 9pm, $5
The Triple 7’s and Adam Block, 9pm, $5
1500 k ST., (916) 444-3633
2000 k ST., (916) 448-7798
Fox & Goose
1001 R ST., (916) 443-8825
Steve McLane, 8pm, no cover
GoldField TrAdinG posT hAlFTime BAr & Grill
5681 lONETREE blvD., ROcklIN, (916) 626-3600
Open-Mic Night, 7:30pm, M, no cover Jordan T, 7:30pm, $13
1630 J ST., (916) 476-5076
Thirsty Thursdays, 6pm, call for cover
hArlow’s
2708 J ST., (916) 441-4693
Seltzer & Larisa Bryski, 6pm, call for cover
DV8, 8pm, call for cover
Jocelyn & Chris Arndt, 6:30pm, $18-$20
The Nickel Slots, 50 Watt Heavy and more, 5:30pm, $12-$15
Let’s Get Quizzical, 7pm, T, no cover; Cornhole, 6pm, W, $10 The Blasters, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Julian Marley & the Uprising and Ras Boys and Jesse Dayton, 7:30pm, $25-$30 Rebel, 9pm, T, $25-$20
hideAwAY BAr & Grill
Shitshow Karaoke, 8pm, M, no cover; Record Roundup, 8pm, T, no cover
2565 FRANklIN blvD., (916) 455-1331
hiGhwATer
1910 Q ST., (916) 706-2465
holY diVer PHOTO cOURTESY OF kEvIN MAYA
1517 21ST ST.
For The Cr8tives Concert, 7pm, $15-$20
Rod Wave
kupros
7pm Tuesday, $20 Holy Diver Hip-hop
1217 21ST ST., (916) 440-0401
Live music with Jay Shaner, 7pm, no cover
lunA’s cAFe & Juice BAr
Poetry Unplugged, 8pm, $2
1414 16TH ST., (916) 441-3931
momo sAcrAmenTo 2708 J ST., (916) 441-4693
Cuffin, 9pm, $5
Night Swim with Joseph One, 10pm, call for cover
Zack the Villain and T-zar The Tyrant, 7pm, $10
The Faded Show, 7pm, $15-$20
Trivia Factory, 7pm, M, call for cover; Geeks Who Drink, 7pm, T, call for cover Touché Amoré, 7pm, $20
Rod Wave, 7pm, T, $20
Triviology 101, 7:30pm, no cover
Live music with Michael Ray, 5pm, T, no cover
Sac Unified Poetry Slam, 8pm, no cover
Fontaine Classic, 8pm, $7
Billy Buckman & the Elderly Brothers CD Release, 3pm, $10
Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm, M, $10; Jazz Jam w/ Byron Colburn, 8pm, W, $5
DJ JB, 10pm, $5
Hibou and Fashionista Boyfriend, 7pm, $10-$12
LAW, OneLegChuck and Gypsy Temple, 7pm, $10-$12
Nicole Dollanganger and Infinity Crush, 7pm, M, $15-$18
GET MORE EYES
Neighborhood Bar, But Better.
ON YOUR SHOW OR EVENT voted sacramento’s
SN&R’S ONLINE CALENDAR
best dance club 2017/2018
WeDnesDays
college night dance party $3-$5 drink specials 18 & over
thursDays
salsa or west coast swing lessons and dance
FriDays
free country dance lessons at 7pm • $3 Jack 8-9
saturDays
free dance lessons at 7pm $3 tullamore dew 8-9
Two-Story Patio Craft Beer • Full Bar Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner
1217 21st Street 916.440.0401 kuproscrafthouse.com
sunDays trivia at 7:30, dance lessons at 9 18 & over (prizes)
Karaoke nightly Wed- sunday 9pm
$10 ribeye thursdays 6pm $10 prime rib dinner fridays 6pm $10 filet mignon dinner saturdays 6pm Until they rUn oUt…
1320 Del paso blvD in olD north sac
2 steps from downtown | 916.402.2407 stoneyinn.com for nightly drink specials & events
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Trapicana, 10pm, W, no cover
The BoArdwAlk
9426 GREENbAck lN., ORANGEvAlE, (916) 358-9116
Jocelyn & Chris Arndt
SUNDAY 8/18
Addalemon, 7pm, no cover
207 F ST., DAvIS, (530) 758-8058
PHOTO cOURTESY OF kIkI vASSIlAkIS
SATURDAY 8/17
ArmAdillo music
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live MuSic 8/15
devin wright (6:30pm)
8/16
the lightrays
8/17
matt griswold
cal
en
da
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a c b nt!
it eve
subm
8/22 steve stizzo trio (6:30pm) 8/23
todd morgan
8/24
toast & Jam
8/30
hayley lynn
101 Main Street, roSeville 916-774-0505 · lunch/dinner 7 days a week fri & sat 9:30pm - close 21+
/bar101roseville
Log onto www.newsreview.com and visit the calendar section to add your next event, show, fundraiser or exhibit. You’ll have access to nearly 200,000 viewers! It’s just that easy.
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suBmit Your calEndar listinGs for frEE at nEwsrEviEw.com/sacramEnto/calEndar Old IrOnsIdes
1901 10TH sT., (916) 442-3504
THursdAy 8/15
fridAy 8/16
sATurdAy 8/17
Music Night Open Acoustic Jam, 8pm, no cover
Garble, Anime Aliens and Radio Orangevale, 8:30pm, $7
Lipstick! Presents: We Are Your Friends Dance Club, 9pm, $5
On THe Y
suNdAy 8/18
MONdAy-WedNesdAy 8/19-21 Live Music with Heath Williamson, 5:30pm, M, no cover
Banger, Your Mom, Dead Fucking Serious and ASS, 7pm, $10
670 fulTON Ave., (916) 487-3731
Palms PlaYHOuse
Kathy Kallick Band, 8pm, $12-$22
Niki J. Crawford, 8pm, $12-$20
PlacervIlle PublIc HOuse
Lorren Gonzalez, 8pm, call for cover
Jokers and Thieves, 8pm, call for cover
Gumbo Stew, 10pm, call for cover
Megan T. Smith & the Pez Heads, 10pm, call for cover
Terry Hanck, 3pm, call for cover
Karaoke, 8:30pm, T, call for cover; 98 Rock Local Licks, 9pm, W, call for cover
Pop 40 Dance with DJ Larry, 9pm, $5
DJ Larry’s Sunday Night Dance Party, 9pm, no cover
Schaus, Byron Lynch and Pregnant, 8pm, M, call for cover
Julie & the Jukes, 9pm, no cover
Current Personae, 9pm, no cover
Alex Jenkins, 9pm, no cover
DJ Essence, 10pm, no cover before 11pm
Kid Vicious, 10pm, no cover before 10:30pm
Hot Country Fridays, 7:30pm, $5-$10
Stoney’s Saturdays with Free Line Dance Lessons, 7pm, $5
Mystic Roots and Ras Rebel, 6pm, $8-$11
Lydia Pense & Cold Blood, 6pm, $17-$20
13 MAiN sT., WiNTers, (530) 795-1825 414 MAiN sT., PlAcerville, (530) 303-3792
POwerHOuse Pub
614 suTTer sT., fOlsOM, (916) 355-8586
Moonshine Crazy, 9:30pm, call for cover
THe Press club
Death Valley High, Bitter Lake and Death Party at the Beach, 8pm, call for cover
sHadY ladY
Harley White Jr. Orchestra, 9pm, no cover
2030 P sT., (916) 444-7914 1409 r sT., (916) 231-9121
sOcIal nIgHTclub
1000 K sT., (916) 947-0434
sTOneY’s rOckIn rOdeO
1320 del PAsO Blvd., (916) 927-6023
West Coast Swing Dancing, 7pm, no cover
swabbIes On THe rIver
5871 GArdeN HiGHWAy, (916) 920-8088
THe TOrcH club
Collectivity, 9pm, $8
Sam Pace & the Gilded Grit, 9pm, $8
Mind X - Sean’s 50th Celebration, 9pm, $8
wIldwOOd kITcHen & bar
Ryan Hernandez, 7pm, call for cover
Dan Rau, 7pm, call for cover
Pavilions Patio Party with Wonderbread 5, 6pm, $20
904 15TH sT., (916) 443-2797 904 15TH sT., (916) 922-2858
YOlO brewIng cO.
1520 TerMiNAl sT., (916) 379-7585
PHOTO cOurTesy Of csT recOrds
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sunday Funday, 9pm, no cover 21+
College Night Wednesdays, 9pm, W, $5-$10
You Front the Band, 8pm, call for cover
Shots Fired Feat: DJ Williams of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, 8pm, T, $12
Free Yoga at Yolo, 11am, no cover
Ttodd Trivia, 7pm, T, no cover
8pm Tuesday, $27 Ace of Spades Experimental
all ages, all the time ace Of sPades
Saved by the 90’s, 8pm, $18
1417 r sT., (916) 930-0220
cafe cOlOnIal
3520 sTOcKTON Blvd.
The Choice, Scowl, Power Beer and Cold Trap, 8pm, $10
THe cOlOnY
1400 e sT., (916) 551-1400
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 8pm, $27
Sactown Speedfest 2019 w/ Siege, Haggus and more, 4pm, $13-$15
Dogbreth, Slumped, Oh Lonesome Ana and more, 7:30pm, M, call for cover
Convictions, the Measure, Shorelines and more, 7pm, $10
3512 sTOcKTON Blvd.
sHIne
Max Weinberg’s Jukebox, 8pm, $25-$115
Shine Free Jazz Jam, 8pm, no cover
Miggy & Friends, 8pm, $8
PHOTO cOurTesy Of PHillyisT
Hawthorne Heights with Emery and more 7pm Monday, $25 Boardwalk Emo
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For more cannabis news, deals & updates visit capitalcannabisguide.com
weed and the workplace See aSk 420
43
Shoshone Falls Park is a waterfall on the Snake River in Southern Idaho. Its cascade is 212 feet high, which is 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls. Photo by Ken Magri
our own private idaho Smoking cannabis can be a challenge while vacationing in The Gem State with its long history of anti-cannabis laws by Ken Magri
“this must be some kind of a sin,” I thought, while mixing cannabis flower into an expensive jar of live resin. I worked the glob of gooey bud onto the table and showered it with kief. Now, it could be hand-shaped into tiny balls. Why the careful preparation? A friend and I were about to drive to Idaho, one of the West’s strictest states for cannabis laws. Because we planned to smuggle in our own stash, keeping the amounts small and our activities discreet would be important. Possession of more than 3 ounces and as much as a pound carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Idaho NORML’s website. If less than 3 ounces, the penalty is up to one year and a $1,000 fine. Selling cannabis paraphernalia can get you nine years, and
simply being caught stoned, even without possessing anything, can bring six months. I sprinkled on more kief and put the tiny balls into a fresh jar. This mixture, along with a small pipe and two vape pens, would need to last for a week. Idaho’s anti-cannabis history goes back to 1927, when the state acted to stop Mexican workers in the beef industry from smoking what the mayor of Boise then called “grifo,” a Spanish adjective meaning “drunk” or “high.” As the rest of the country comes around to the idea of legalization, Idaho has stubbornly held onto its pot laws. In 2015, the Idaho legislature tried to legalize CBD, but then-Gov. Bruce Otter vetoed the bill. A new bill, HB 140, intended to partially decriminalize possession of a half-ounce or less of THC, died
in committee this year. Since 2012, three petition drives to put cannabis legalization on the Idaho ballot have failed. Another petition drive by the newly formed nonprofit Idaho Cannabis Commission was just approved in July to try to qualify a legalization initiative on the 2020 election ballot. During our drive to Idaho, my friend and I were smart to keep our cannabis tucked away. But the barren landscape of northern Nevada can be so redundant that I finally relented and dug out a vape pen during our lunch stop in Elko. Two quick drags and a Reuben sandwich helped make the final turn north into Idaho more pleasant. Situated at the east edge of Twin Falls, Shoshone Falls Park sure is beautiful at sunset. Like a miniature Niagara Falls,
poSitive phone identification See goatkidd
43
water from the Snake River cascades for 212 feet over a rounded cliff of rock formations. Throughout the trip, we chose discreet places to stop and toke. Walking along a deer trail, we lost the other park visitors, lit up the pipe and enjoyed our own private Idaho. While staying in hotels, we resorted to the time-tested method of smoking pot in the bathroom. Steaming it up with hot water from the shower dissipated the smoke. But we also brought an empty toilet-paper roll and scented dryer sheets. Exhaling cannabis hits through a cardboard tube stuffed with dryer sheets made the pot smoke smell like fresh laundry. In Shoshone, we got our first clue that locals aren’t much different than ourselves. Inside the Manhattan Café, the waiter leaned in and said, “I really like your stickers.” He was commenting on the numerous cannabis ads covering my iPad case. In the twin cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley, signs of cannabis acceptance were numerous. Known for their ski resorts, restaurants and affluent tourists, these side-by-side towns operate on a different economic system than the state’s agricultural-based cities. We saw cannabis-themed stockings and fridge magnets in local souvenir shops. Visitors could purchase stickers with “Sun Valley Idaho” printed over a pot leaf. Even more cannabis stickers from visiting tourists dotted the backs of street signs in Ketchum, yards away from Ernest Hemingway’s legendary drinking spot, the Casino bar. “If you look at it economically, cannabis is all around us,” said Steven, a local resident who works in the international travel industry and declined to give his last name. He said that five of the six states bordering Idaho have some form of legalized cannabis. “Why aren’t we taking in that revenue, too?” he asked. So, how does a visitor score cannabis in Idaho? “It’s not a problem here,” Steven said. “Don’t you have a jet?” He joked, referring to the flock of private jets at nearby Hailey “our own private idaho” continued on page 41
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Vape pens out at the Nevada/ Idaho border. Nevada is one of five states bordering Idaho that have adopted some form of legalization, whether medicinal or recreational.
Need Relief? Visit Us At A theRApeUtic A lt e R N A t i V e c r e c r e at i o n a l & m e d i
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The 90-minute drive from Boise to Ontario is 29 miles closer than Huntington, Oregon, a town of 440 people that voted Airport, where the rich and well-connected to authorize two dispensaries in 2015, can fly in anything they want, without fear of then imposed a 3% sales tax. Since then, TSA inspections. Huntington has skimmed enough revenue Steven added that marijuana can be from Idaho customers to pay down its purchased on the black market in Idaho, but general obligation bonds and plan for city “you have to know someone,” he said. improvements. That means tourists and many Idaho resiNow Ontario hopes to have the same dents must acquire cannabis from outside the success. Community Development state and drive it over the border. Director Dan Cummings We heard that Idahoans returnestimates his city will raise ing from California like “If $600,000 to $1 million to stop at the Nabodoka you look at a year in tax revenues, Dispensary in Lovelock, according to the Idaho it economically, Nevada. Located at the State Journal. back corner of town on cannabis is all around us. While driving back the Paiute Reservation, Why aren’t we taking in home, we crossed this Native-Americanback into Nevada, and that revenue too?” owned store is the turned onto a dirt road last chance to buy Steven south of Jackpot. Away recreational cannabis Idaho resident, travel from the highway, this when traveling east on industry worker desolate landscape of sage Interstate 80. and volcanic rock was the Adrian, the budtender at perfect place to smoke a bowl. Nabadoka, said that Nevada cannabis “Hey, check out this rusted root beer products must remain in sealed packages can with a pull-tab opening,” said my while being transported and must be friend. As we searched the ground for more consumed in-state. 20th century relics, a few drops of rain Back in Idaho, the front page of Boise’s suggested that we get back to the truck and daily newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, head home to Sacramento. reported that the first of 14 new cannabis For those who take cannabis legalizadispensaries had opened in Ontario, Oregon, tion for granted, Idaho’s recalcitrant a city of 11,000 people. Ontario doesn’t attitude against pot serves as a gut check. need that many dispensaries. But it is Our constant worrying and looking located right across the border, and plans over our shoulders was a reminder of a to welcome customers from Boise, Nampa not-too-distant lifestyle we once endured and Caldwell, Idaho cities with a combined in California, that of being decent, lawpopulation of almost 450,000. abiding citizens, except for our use of “Ontario is going to be a very cannabis. competitive market,” Weedology Idaho’s high desert plains and jagged dispensary manager, Eric Lantz, said mountains certainly have their appeal, and in the Statesman article. In its first we were happy to spend money exploring three hours of business, Lantz reported it. But for the sake of our paranoia, next that Weedology served more than 200 time we’ll drive to Colorado. Ω customers. “our own private idaho” continued from page 39
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James let out a huge sigh of relief—finally, he had all his ducks in a row. Now to get them to link wings and do a little synchronized leg kick ‌
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By Ngaio Bealum
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Your brain on dank Cannabis has been used to treat fibromyalgia (a chronic disease that causes widespread muscle pain, tenderness and fatigue) for years. Folks aren’t really sure what causes fibromyalgia, although scientists say that it is similar to a sort of arthritis that affects the muscles instead of the bones. Weed is great for managing arthritis symptoms, and cannabis is also effective for fibromyalgia. The culprit is Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency, according to a 2016 study in the Cannabis and Canniboid Research journal. The human body makes its own cannabinoids to help with things such as pain and inflammation. But sometimes the human body doesn’t produce enough, and that’s where the cannabis steps in. But be careful. According to the study, your endocannibinoid system works as a body regulator, and doctors should only use cannabis to “nudge” the disorder: “Small doses of a weak partial agonist (e.g., THC) should be considered, which would not induce tolerance and may jump-start the ECS. Even [if] THC alone is poorly tolerated or appreciated by patients, standardized whole cannabis extracts that contain additional synergistic and buffering components, such as CBD and cannabis terpenoids, are certainly preferable.” This is a fancy way of saying that THC is cool, but folks looking for relief should try the whole plant. I am not a doctor, so I am not making recommendations, but the good folks at Leafly.com have been soliciting feedback from cannabis
users about weed and fibromyalgia for years. According to their data, high-CBD strains such as Harlequin and Cannatonic are commonly used to relieve pain caused by fibromyalgia. As for the “fibro fog” part: Good luck. Not trying to be flippant, but like I said, I am not a doctor. Cannabis can’t fix everything, and weed really isn’t the best drug if you need to be clear-headed and nonforgetful. Talk to your health care practitioner, and maybe see if you can find some forums online. I hope you feel better.
Do they still test for weed in California?
Yep. But, sometimes they will let you slide. Cali is an “at-will” employment state, meaning that employers can fire you whenever, for whatever. But weed is legal now, and many employers don’t want to fire a productive employee just because they failed a drug test. THC stays in the human body for a long time, even after the high has gone away, so it’s kinda hard to tell if someone is actually stoned at work, unless they are not doing their job well, or maybe eating all the snacks in the employee lounge. My advice is to find a job where you won’t be tested, or become such a good and productive employee that you can’t be fired. Have a good day at work! Ω
Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert. Email him questions at ask420@newsreview.com.
@Ngaio420
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The weasel escaped by the skin of its teeth.
eXPAnd your business reACh EE MENT S FR CHICO’ ENTERTAIN & NEWS KLY 8 WEE 42, ISSUE VOLUME AY, THURSD 18, 2018 R M OCTOBE IEW.CO EWSREV WWW.N
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Free will astrology
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when friends disappoint
ARIES (March 21-April 19): How did sound
by JOey GARCIA
@AskJoeyGarcia
I spent hours creating invitations side of this. I was always his favorite for friends to join me for a recent when I was a child. what is the problem? musical performance. I followed up with You may be uncomfortable expressing personalized email confirmations. I kept vulnerability and emotions such as sadness. a lively Facebook group going, too. out So your mind rested within the safety of of 35 rsVPs, only one friend showed up. I rules that governed funeral attire in the can’t describe the terrible despair I feel. 20th century. By criticizing what your Do I not have any true friends? they all stepfather’s girlfriend wore, you attempted knew how important this performance to position yourself above her. Perhaps was to me. why didn’t they come through you felt jealous of their affection for each for me? other? It would be worthwhile to spend time Your deep disappointment is unpacking your behavior to discover why understandable. But please don’t make you lashed out so harshly. this situation about you. People are more I recommend that you embrace a wider fickle than ever when it comes to cultural perspective, too. In some following through on their word. countries, women do wear Few grasp that an RSVP bright-colored dresses to is a commitment. So be What this funerals. Your stepfather’s grateful for the one girlfriend may be followwoman wore person who did show ing a tradition outside up as promised. to a funeral is of your own. Can your Consider having a not important. Her heart widen to celebrate brief phone call with differences? presence in support of each friend who missed Begin by centering your show. Describe your stepfather’s your attention below how it felt to share your attendance is. the surface of things. musical gifts and the What this woman wore audience’s response to your to a funeral is not important. performance. Explain how much Her presence in support of your it meant to you to see that they were stepfather’s attendance is what you should interested in attending. Ask if something be grateful for. Stop irritating them by came up that stopped them from joining leaving messages trying to prove that you you. Let them know, in a loving way, that were right. Apologize for being unkind and you missed seeing them that day. Take care hurtful, and then move forward into a better not to make anyone feel guilty. version of yourself. Ω It’s become more common for people to live according to their emotional whims. Some friends may not have attended simply MeDItAtIon oF the week because they weren’t feeling it. Living primarily according to our emotions makes “Time is a dressmaker for mercurial behavior and lots of disapspecializing in alterations,” pointment. Accepting this reality will help said romance fiction writer you strengthen your resilience—and show Faith Baldwin. Is it time up for others. My stepfather stopped talking to me after I criticized his girlfriend’s attire at a funeral. she was wearing a pink satin dress. I said she was dressed for a high school dance. she burst into tears. My stepfather told me to “F--k off.” I left him a voice mail explaining how disturbing it was to see his girlfriend dressed to party at a somber affair. he did not return my call and blocked my number. I don’t understand why he can’t see my 46
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by ROb bRezsny
for a nip and tuck of your judgmental attitudes?
Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review. Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question—all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential. Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 1360; or email askjoey@newsreview.com.
technicians create the signature roar of the fictional monster Godzilla? They slathered pine-tar resin on a leather glove and stroked it against the strings of a double bass. How about the famous howl of the fictional character Tarzan? Sonic artists blended a hyena’s screech played backwards, a dog’s growl, a soprano singer’s fluttered intonation slowed down and an actor’s yell. Karen O, lead singer of the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, periodically unleashes very long screams that may make the hair stand up on the back of her listeners’ necks. In accordance with astrological omens, I’d love to see you experiment with creating your own personal Yowl or Laugh or Whisper of Power in the coming weeks—a unique sound that would boost your wild confidence and help give you full access to your primal lust for life. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ex-president of Liberia. In accordance with astrological imperatives, I propose that we make that your watchword for the foreseeable future. From what I can tell, you’re due to upgrade your long-term goals. You have the courage and vision necessary to dare yourself toward an even more fulfilling destiny than you’ve been willing or ready to imagine up until now. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): How did our ancestors ever figure out that the calendula flower can be used as healing medicine for irritated and inflamed skin? It must have been a very long process of trial and error. (Or did the plant somehow “communicate” to indigenous herbalists, informing them of its use?) In any case, this curative herb is only one of hundreds of plants that people somehow came to find had healing properties. “Miraculous” is not too strong a word to describe such discoveries. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you now have the patience and perspicacity to engage in a comparable process: to find useful resources through experiment and close observation—with a hardy assist from your intuition. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Today the city of Timbuktu in Mali is poor and in the throes of desertification. But from the 14th to 17th centuries, it was one of the great cultural centers of the world. Its libraries filled up with thousands of influential books, which remained intact until fairly recently. In 2012, al-Qaeda jihadis conceived a plan to destroy the vast trove of learning and scholarship. One man foiled them. Abba al-Hadi, an illiterate guard who had worked at one of the libraries, smuggled out many of the books in empty rice sacks. By the time the jihadis started burning, most of the treasure had been relocated. I don’t think the problem in your sphere is anywhere near as dire as this. But I do hope you will be proactive about saving and preserving valuable resources before they’re at risk of being diluted, compromised or neglected. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Moray eels have two sets of jaws. The front set does their chewing. The second set, normally located behind the first, can be launched forward to snag prey they want to eat. In invoking this aggressive strategy to serve as a metaphor for you in the coming weeks, I want to suggest that you be very dynamic and enterprising as you go after what you want and need. Don’t be rude and invasive, of course, but consider the possibility of being audacious and zealous. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s relatively rare, but now and then people receive money or gifts from donors they don’t know. Relatives they’ve never met may bequeath them diamond tiaras or alpaca farms or bundles of cash. I don’t think that’s exactly what will occur for you in the coming weeks, but I do suspect that you’ll garner blessings or help from unexpected sources. To help ensure the best possible versions of these acts of grace, I suggest that you be as generous as possible in the kindness and attention you offer. Remember this
verse from the Bible: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra-born Ronald McNair was an African American who grew up in South Carolina in the 1950s. Bigotry cramped his freedom, but he rebelled. When he was nine years old, he refused to leave a segregated library, which prompted authorities to summon the police. Years later, McNair earned a doctorate in physics from MIT and became renowned for his research on laser physics. Eventually, NASA chose him to be an astronaut from a pool of 10,000 candidates. That library in South Carolina? It’s now named after him. I suspect that you, too, will soon receive some vindication—a reward or blessing or consecration that will reconfigure your past. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio author Zadie Smith wrote, “In the end, your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth and your solution—it is not my solution.” I think it will be perfectly fine if sometime soon you speak those words to a person you care about. In delivering such a message, you won’t be angry or dismissive. Rather, you will be establishing good boundaries between you and your ally; you will be acknowledging the fact that the two of you are different people with different approaches to life. And I bet that will ultimately make you closer. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Nothing fruitful ever comes when plants are forced to flower in the wrong season,” wrote author and activist Bette Bao Lord. That’s not entirely true. For example, skilled and meticulous gardeners can compel tulip and hyacinth bulbs to flower before they would naturally do so. But as a metaphor, Lord’s insight is largely accurate. And I think you’ll be wise to keep it in mind during the coming weeks. So my advice is: Don’t try to make people and processes ripen before they are ready. But here’s a caveat: You might have modest success working to render them a bit more ready. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, vague, unlimited, unknown.” Poet A. R. Ammons formulated that shiny burst of wisdom, and now I’m passing it on to you. As I think you know, you tend to have more skill at, and a greater inclination toward, the small, concrete, limited and certain. That’s why, in my opinion, it’s rejuvenating for you to periodically exult in and explore what’s large, vague, unlimited, unknown. Now is one of those times. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Look into my eyes. Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.” Poet Sylvia Plath wrote that, and now, in accordance with astrological omens, I’m authorizing you to say something similar to anyone who is interested in you, but would benefit from gazing more deeply into your soul and entering into a more profound relationship with your mysteries. In other words, you have cosmic permission to be more forthcoming in showing people your beauty and value. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In his Anti-Memoirs, author André Malraux quotes a tough-minded priest who served in the French Resistance during World War II. He spent his adult life hearing his parishioners’ confessions. “The fundamental fact is that there’s no such thing as a grown-up person,” the priest declared. Even if that’s mostly true, my sense is that it is less true about you right now than it has ever been. In the past months, you have been doing good work to become more of a fully realized version of yourself. I expect that the deepening and maturation process is reaching a culmination. Don’t underestimate your success! Celebrate it!
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