City Weekly October 9, 2025

CITY WEEKLY FREE

Get into the spooky spirit with tales of corpse removal, “Paranormal Rangers” on the Navajo Nation and a roundup of local haunted attractions.

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What’s in a Name

I’m the last survivor of Joseph Paul Franklin, a racist serial killer who murdered 22 people in 12 states trying to start a race war.

He shot Larry Flynt and paralyzed him for including an interracial couple in his magazine. He also shot civil rights activist Vernon Jordan.

I was with Ted Fields and David Martin in 1980 when they were murdered in a crosswalk at 900 South (now Harvey Milk Boulevard) and 500 East. I was covered in shrapnel from the bullets that exited

their wounds as I tried to drag their bodies across the street.

I’ll always carry the physical and mental scars of that night, which ended with the deaths of two dear friends and forever changed Ted and Dave’s families and loved ones. Prior to Franklin’s execution, Ted and Dave’s families and I offered forgiveness to the killer.

Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, said he plans to sponsor legislation changing the name of the street where they were murdered— to Charlie Kirk Boulevard.

Out of respect to the memory of Ted Fields and David Martin, I ask that Utahns denounce violence, racism, ignorance and hate by objecting to the name change of Harvey Milk Boulevard.

Please recognize that naming it after a bigot dishonors the memories of Ted Fields and David Martin on the street where they were killed.

Ted and Dave were kind, funny, brilliant and the type of delightful young people you were happy to see when they came around. They were like big brothers to the kids in the neighborhood.

Ted’s father was a retired pastor in the military. He accompanied Salt Lake City police to give notification to families who lost loved ones to crime. He is still alive.

Members of the Martin and Fields family still live here in Salt Lake. Please consider their feelings as they drive on the street in question.

There’s a reason most people are shocked and have never heard about what happened near Liberty Park in 1980.

There are no markers on the streets for them. The story is rarely shared because it’s so awful.

Maybe our state leaders are ashamed of what happened to Ted and Dave.

And rather than honor the victims, it appears they will erase their story and replace it with a story of a divisive, racist bigot.

But if we’re looking to rename streets, consider renaming 700 East to Fields Martin Boulevard.

The killer’s reign of terror stopped in Utah, and Franklin was prevented from hurting anybody else. Utah should be proud of that fact.

Please don’t rename Harvey Milk Blvd after a bigot whose words incite the type of ignorance and violence that led to Ted and Dave’s horrific, repugnant deaths. Please respect their memory rather than desecrate it.

TERRY MITCHELL

Salt Lake City

“Cast Your Vote,” Oct. 2 Cover Story

Nice to see local journalism digging into what actually matters for Salt Lake City voters. Housing and state overreach are huge issues here.

Reminds me of Nathan Ramirez’s point that local elections shape our daily lives way more than federal drama.

@AkgunduzGu47528

Via X/Twitter

Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@ cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

THE WATER COOLER

Where do you land in the divisive national debate over the pumpkin spice latte?

Eric Granato

I can take it or leave it.

Wes Long

I may not partake in such doings, but I will defend with my life others’ right to do it.

Scott Renshaw

I view it the same way I view every coffee-based beverage: Um, no thank you, next, please, moving on.

Kayla Dreher

Lots of money is made off of it. Let’s give it to the local shops.

Bryan Bale

I don’t have a horse in that race. If it has coffee in it, I don’t like it.

Terri Anderson

Pumpkin Spice latte is okay by me!

Benjamin Wood

I love pumpkin and I’m not ashamed. I want pumpkin in even more things, all year round. I had a pumpkin latte today!

Krista Maggard

I’m a sucker for all the fall drinks whether it’s pumpkin, maple or apple. I only care that you bought it from a local coffee shop!

PRIVATE EYE

BY JOHN SALTAS

Look Out Below

Somewhere about 40,000 feet below me is the great icy expanse of Greenland. I’ve never been to Greenland, so I can’t say for sure. But as I look at the Delta Airlines monitor—returning to the USA after a month in Greece—it looks every bit the definition of an icy mass.

I will be past it soon. It’s not as big as it appears on the most common map (called the Mercator projection) due to a bit of map-making necessity in making round objects appear flat. No matter.

While away, I met people from every corner of the globe—the real globe, not the flattened, distorted one. Alas, however, I met nobody from Greenland, where the entire citizenry couldn’t fill LaVell Edwards Stadium.

I’m now glancing at the Delta screen and wondering why our president desires Greenland, and Canada, too.

I met many Canadians on this trip. And not a single one of those poutine-loving, Red Maple leaf, hockey-pucksmacking Canucks, whether from Halifax, Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver, supported the notion that Canada—or Greenland—take the honor of becoming the 51st state of America. It’s a seriously safe bet that Canada will not become our 51st state, nor the 89th, nor the 302nd. It’s more like never.

The last time I watched TV was on September 6, the day I left for Greece. For this past month, all my news has come via social media feeds, news aggregator sites, emails and tableside conversations. What I’ve learned is that America, for all its Greatness, is not so well loved, respected or trusted these days.

I’ve long understood that our country had changed since Donald Trump became the face of American politics. I just

didn’t realize how much, nor how much it could change again in just 30 days.

When I left, Charlie Kirk was alive, there were fewer cases of measles in America and boats alleged to be transporting narcotics were not being sunk by the U.S. Navy in international waters. Residents of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles were statistically safer than the residents of Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi—and remain so—and yet National Guard troops are heading their way, and Portland is said to be burning to the ground.

I think I can see Portland from here. There is no smoke there, folks.

Among our travelers was an Oregonian. She assured me that Portland is ok and that our government is lying about the situation there and hoping to trigger an event. That plays. Thus, a month after leaving, it appears that a Portland resident is more likely to be shot by a federally assigned “guard” than it is likely that a terrorist will be shot by a U.S. soldier in the Middle East. That also plays.

I heard over and again from Europeans, especially, that America is not what it was once cracked up to be. That’s distressing, because in all my visits spanning more than 20 years I have never heard such disdain and mockery of my home country.

In a month, I met just three people who thought positively of Trump. That was it. Everyone else, to a person, was adamantly against him and his policies.

“You will not find a German who supports him,” said the young women eating fried feta. “Is he crazy? Does he know a thing about Europe?” asked the Polish tour guide. “We will not spend money in the USA,” said the Canadians. “Elect a Clown, Expect a Circus,” read the Irishman’s tee shirt.

To counter, I saw one American wearing a MAGA hat. People chuckled as he walked by, he not looking in the least bit happy nor comfortable. Not proud, not Great— just scowling, basically. Type casting, I guess.

It’s not as if average Europeans don’t have the same domestic issues as average Americans. They do. They pay

more for gas, for instance, and many live on pensions. They have refugees knocking at their shores and a growing number of immigrants who do manual labor.

But they retain certain qualities that we’ve forsaken: empathy; memory; decency; morality. All of which was aptly summarized on a social media tweet that I crossed paths with today: “Congratulations, Trump supporters. You’ve thoroughly and completely owned the Libs—and all it cost you is a functioning government, a working democracy, human rights, national peace, economic stability, affordable groceries, affordable healthcare, qualified leaders and global standing.”

That’s a pretty good summary of what I heard repeatedly during this year’s City Weekly Trip to Greece.

I learned while I was away that ANTIFA—which opposes extreme right-wing ideology and fascism—is being labeled as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration even though it, like MAGA, is amorphous and has no real leader nor mailing address.

Occupying Greenland would put the USA just a skip from the OG ANTIFA nations of Europe, where millions of their fellows died in the two great wars of the 20th century. If ANTIFA is the enemy of this administration, thus is also much of Europe. And the Europeans I met feel exactly that.

I spent 11 days on Crete where, in 1941, the men, women and children fought back against Nazi military troops with rocks, garden tools and rusty weapons—and there remains ANTIFA messaging everywhere. More than 6,000 of them died in the Battle of Crete—not the army, but normal citizens—and 20,000 more would perish over the next several years.

That was their price for freedom and escape from authoritarian, fascist rule. They were ANTIFA before ANTIFA was cool. Next, we may see how much tolerance our own citizens have as modes of civility defuse. Thinking about it is nearly enough to make me eat this terrible Delta airlines pizza. CW

Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele BY GAVIN SHEEHAN

MISS: Too Cool for School

This is an age of competitive IQs and boasts at the highest level about a “very, very large brain.” You may want to ignore what looks like stupidity because you are a very stable genius—if you say so. Enter Utah’s Speaker of the House, Hooper Republican Mike Schultz, who, having never attended college, believes he knows what’s needed to make higher education higher—or at least higher-paying. Schultz is having none of that diversity, equity and inclusion bullshit, which he brands as “political indoctrination,” and he called out the teachers union for brazenly wanting to meet the “diverse needs of Utah’s children.” On to higher ed, Schultz would like Utah State University to get rid of its nursing program because Weber State has one. And let’s not forget the University of Utah, which really shouldn’t expand its nursing program, either. Never mind that there’s a nursing shortage in the state. Who needs them now that we’re Making America Healthy Again?

MISS: Party Favors

Well here’s something Utah’s Republicans and Democrats can agree on—get those Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) off the voter rolls. The Legislature has seen bill after bill pop up to make it difficult, if not impossible, for Democrats to raid the GOP before an election. There are differing ideas about why this happens, although the simplest is that most Democrats have no chance of winning in this supermajority state, and voters like to have a voice in politics. Republicans don’t like it, because party-switching tends to moderate their base. Still, it hasn’t worked here when party-switchers wanted Evan McMullin or Becky Edwards to win office. Now the Dems are calling for their lost sheep to come home and display the brand. It could help fundraising. Will it get a Democrat into office? The numbers don’t really indicate a rout.

HIT: Bone Dry

At least there is a general acknowledgement that Utah is pretty damned dry. We won’t get into the climate change drama, but we can see legislators already working as carnival rainmakers in a drought-ridden state. Recognition is, of course, most important. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that 100% of the state is abnormally dry and nearly 76% is in severe drought, the Deseret News reports. And it was the 13th-driest year on record since 1874. That doesn’t bode well for the Great Salt Lake, into which even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been pouring money, if not prayers, hoping for a solution. Now we have Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, offering a bill to manage the causeway berm between the lake’s north and south arms. Whether it helps or hurts is still unknown. Government officials are also talking about getting aggressive to cut Colorado River water use. And down south, they’re looking at punitive pricing for water use. The governor has vowed to raise the Great Salt Lake by the Olympics, so Utahns will see if something other than voluntary actions are on the table. CW

Frequent Flying

The Salt Lake City International Airport—a massive, $5.1 billion project that’s about a year from completion—will boast nearly 100 gates across two concourses and make Utah a powerhouse connection point in North America. However, it also has the distinction of being one of the most inconvenient settings for passenger comfort and information, trying to force you to buy food all day long.

Being a frequent traveler based in SLC, I pass through the airport multiple times each month. I’m so used to the routine that I can now time my arrival to spend less than five minutes waiting before my section boards. I have done this—nay, trained for this—like a speed skater shaving milliseconds off their time for one purpose: There’s no good reason to hang out in the SLC Airport.

There are several complaints I could make: the uninspired, equal-signshaped layout; the lack of an interior transit system, forcing you to get your steps in; and the frequent repetition of Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s “Welcome to Utah” speech, which I could recite like a nursery rhyme at this point.

But that’s kids’ stuff. The real diabolical complaint is that you’re encouraged or, on occasion, forced to buy food. The airport has zero workstations—those occasional desks you see in other airports—where you can sit and eat while using your laptop or charging a device. Here it’s all chairs, uncomfortably out-of-date, with no workstations in either terminal.

The only place you can comfortably do this is at a restaurant or the main food court, where you need to buy food to use the tables or someone comes by and “strongly urges” you to either buy something or move along. This is done on purpose so that even if all you do is get a coffee, you’ve at least bought the right to sit down at a table.

But it gets worse. Any TV monitors that do not display gate information are programmed to run ads 24/7—ads for the airport restaurants. These used to air the news or the weather, so you could stay informed before you jet off somewhere. Now they run constant promos showing people eating a steak from a place five gates away.

But here’s the rub: If you’re arriving in SLC, you’re not watching these as you exit. And if you’re departing from SLC, you’re not suddenly going to want to run down to Roosters or RedRock for a lengthy meal. Who are these ads for? The people who are stuck in the airport for hours on end, and who are pushed to literally fork up cash rather than being offered some form of information, entertainment or public workspace.

Officials can brag about the airport all they want. But those who use it frequently know the truth. It’s the most expensive shopping mall food court Utah has ever built. We should be demanding that they start adding workstations at multiple gates and change the damn TV channel to anything else.

Don’t want CNN or The Weather Channel? Fine! Put on the Game Show Network so I can guess if The Price Is Right in 1975 before I fly to Seattle for the twelfth time this year. CW

Lit AF

Get to know local authors and their work at Utah Humanities Book Festival.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

Every fall, Utah Humanities presents its Book Festival, a celebration of authors and their work—with a focus on Utah-based creators—through readings, signings, seminars and more. While events in some parts of the state have already kicked off, you can still check out plenty of them in Salt Lake County, Northern Utah and Utah County— and all of them are free to the public. Here’s just a handful of the highlights; additional information and a full calendar can be found at utahhumanities.org/programs/centerfor-the-book/book-festival.

Utah Book Awards Ceremony: If you’re interested in learning about the very best writing by Utah-based authors, the public is invited to share in the presentation of awards (previously announced) in a range of categories including non-fiction, poetry, speculative fiction (congratulations to City Weekly’s own Bryan Young), young adult, illustrated publications and more. The event takes place at the Salt Lake City Main Library (210 E. 400 South) on Friday, Oct. 10 at 4:00 p.m.

Wasatch Festival of Books @ Library Square: Get a taste of the full range of writing talent in Utah at this inaugural event, which brings together dozens of authors across two days at the Salt Lake City Main Library (210 E. 400 South) on Oct. 11 (start-

A&E LITERATURE

ing at 10:15 a.m.) and Oct. 12 (11:30 a.m.) At press time, the list of participating writers includes BabyLit board-book writer Jennifer Adams; former Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal; illustrator/creator Katie Mansfield (Tragic Girls); photographer Chris Carlson; journalist/author James Workman (Sea Change); and historical romance novelist Sarah Eden. Sessions include panel discussions and author talks on a wide range of topics, workshops on illustration, book sales and other interactive activities. You can also enjoy a keynote conversation featuring author Ellen Hopkins moderated by Salt Lake Tribune’s Robert Gehrke.

Utah Reader’s Fest @ Viridian Center: Writers and lovers of writing can get together once again at this day-long event co-sponsored by the Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan at the Viridian Center (8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan) on Saturday, Oct. 11, 9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. More than 50 authors are scheduled to participate in panel discussions like “Books We Read that Influenced Us to Become Writers,” live readings, signings and selling their work, with featured guest appearance by Utah-based middle-grade writers Chad Morris and Shelly Brown (as seen on The Hallmark Channel). It also serves as a community book drive to support the Jordan Education Network, so bring your own gently-used and much-loved books to share.

Reese’s Book Club New York Times Bestseller Thriller Night @ Union Station, Ogden: Academy Award-winning actor Reese Witherspoon became a major influencer in the literary world with the launch of Reese’s Book Club in 2017. A group of local authors gathers to discuss the importance and legacy of that showcase for authors on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Ogden’s Union Station (2501 Wall Ave., Ogden), with a focus on thrillers. Join authors and Reese’s Book

Club pick awardees Ally Condie (The Unwedding), Laura Ling Brown (Society of Lies) and Andrea Bartz (We Were Never Here) for a discussion of their work and the significance of getting the Reese stamp of approval.

Weber County Library Pleasant Valley Branch Evening with Writers: Local authors—including Michael Sowder (Sacred Letters) and New York Times bestselling romance writer Lyla Sage (the Rebel Blue Ranch series)—gather for an evening of conversation and reading from their work at the Pleasant Valley Branch (5568 Adams Ave, Ogden) on Friday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m.

Jesmyn Ward @ Salt Lake City Public Library: Jesmyn Ward ranks among the most celebrated and honored of American writers, already a two-time winner of the National Book Award for Fiction—in 2011 for Salvage the Bones, inspired by her family’s experience of Hurricane Katrina, and in 2017 for Sing, Unburied, Sing—making her the only

woman and the only African-American to be so honored. Ward presents the David P. Gardner Graduate Lecture in the Humanities at the Salt Lake City Main Library (210 E. 400 South) on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. Horror Day @ Utah Cultural Celebration Center: Just in time for Halloween, the Book Festival offers a brand-new event just for those who like their reading material scary, creepy and even a little bit icky. On Saturday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., the Utah Cultural Celebration Center (1355 W. 3100 South, West Valley City) hosts a showcase of horror literature featuring panel presentations by authors on topics including “Why I Love Horror,” “Workplace Horror” and “What’s Risky About Horror.” Keynote presentations will feature horror author Philip Fracassi and New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones (The Only Good Indians), plus plenty of authors selling and signing their work. CW

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT PICKS,

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

OCTOBER 9-15, 2025

Allies Gala featuring Tig Notaro

An Emmy-, Grammy-, WGA-, and SAG Award-nominated comedian, actor, writer, director and podcaster, Tig Notaro knows no limits in terms of identity or inspiration. After all, when Rolling Stone hails you as one of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time, even in the midst of formidable competition, there’s little doubt that a certain stature is assured. Her comedy specials — HBO’s Boyish Girl Interrupted, the Netflix presentation Happy To Be Here and the widely acclaimed Prime Video performance Tig Notaro: Hello Again—spotlight her creativity and deadpan delivery. Her albums, Live and Boyish Girl Interrupted, have also earned kudos, as did her memoir, I’m Just A Person, and an ongoing role on Star Trek: Discovery as Chief Engineer Jeff Reno. Happily, she overcame a bout with breast cancer, and finds continued success through renewal and resilience. That drive and determination is also manifest courtesy of the Allies Gala, Utah’s premiere celebration of LGBTQ solidarity. The event raises money for Equality Utah’s ongoing efforts and initiatives in terms of securing equality and opportunity for all. This year’s theme, “Rising Tides,” reflects the need to sail against the current while navigating a sea of change and disruption. In that regard, the audience is invited to dress accordingly—as strange sea creatures, seductive sirens, swashbuckling sailors or anything else that befits the theme, all while Tig captains the cruise. Tig Notaro headlines the “Rising Tides” Allies Gala, as presented by Equality Utah at Delta Hall in the Eccles Theater on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 pm. Tickets cost $82 - $219 at saltlakecountyarts.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT PICKS,

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

OCTOBER 9-15, 2025

Utah Opera: The Shining

Anyone who’s read Stephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining understands how the story can probe alcoholism and the psychological disintegration of a family with simmering menace; anyone who’s seen Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation knows the story also lends itself to big performance moments. So it’s not surprising that the material was adapted into an 2016 opera by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell—both Pulitzer Prize winners in Music—returning to the book’s original ending. Yet they understand the pop-culture footprint of the film, as Denver Post critic Ray Mark Renaldi noted in his review: “Moravec gets that most people know this story from the [film], so he speaks the language of movie music—the shrill violin, the pulsing tempos of rising emotions, the bent note meant to warn audiences that things aren’t what they seem.”

That does indeed feel like the ideal fit for the story of the Torrance family, which relocates for the winter to the remote Overlook Hotel so writer Jack Torrance can work on his novel while serving as caretaker. But it soon becomes clear that Jack, his wife Wendy and son Danny are not alone at the Overlook, as Danny’s latent psychic abilities connect him to the hotel’s grim history of murder and madness.

Utah Opera’s local premiere of Campbell and Moravec’s The Shining gets a Halloween season showcase at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) Oct. 11 – 19, for five performances only. Tickets are $19 - $117; visit utahopera.org for specific performance dates and times, and saltlakecountyarts.org to purchase tickets. (Scott Renshaw)

theESSENTIALS ENTERTAINMENT

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

OCTOBER 9-15, 2025

Rebecca Lafferty: The Lafferty Girl @ Salt Lake City Library

When a lurid, high-profile crime case enters the popular-culture consciousness, it’s sometimes easy to forget the other human beings involved in it. That’s certainly true of the celebrated “Lafferty murders”—chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s bestseller Under the Banner of Heaven and the subsequent miniseries based on it—involving Dan and Ron Lafferty, members of an LDS splinter group called School of the Prophets who claimed they had received a revelation to murder their sister-in-law, Brenda, and Brenda’s infant daughter, Erica, in July 1984. The combination of religion and murder made the case sensational, yet those affected by it directly included Dan Lafferty’s daughter, Rebecca—who now gets the chance to share her own story in a new memoir.

The Lafferty Girl: Surviving Trauma, Abuse, and My Father’s Crime chronicles Rebecca’s life growing up with her volatile and ultimately infamous father, as well as learning about the crime that would define the family name. From correspondence with her father from prison to the perspectives of other members of her family to her own experience, Rebecca pieces together a unique point of view on this case, and discusses the journey she had to undertake to find peace and healing.

Rebecca Lafferty shares from The Lafferty Girl at the Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South) on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but RSVP is required. Signed copies of the book are available for pre-order, and will also be available at the event. Visit kingsenglish.com to RSVP, purchase books or for additional event information. (SR)

Abitter chill is in the air. The night grows longer and darker by the day. Dried, fallen leaves crunch underfoot and rustle about in the breeze. And around every corner, the intoxicating smell of pumpkin spice tempts the weary traveler to abandon their aims and indulge in autumnal delights.

By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes. And while Halloween may not officially arrive until the end of the month, there’s simply too much fun to be had in a single day. Party early, party often and party hard—especially when costumes and candy are involved.

To help set the mood—and to offer inspiration for a month of grisly, gruesome revelry—City Weekly presents this annual issue dedicated to the things that go bump in the night. In the pages that follow, Carolyn Campbell and Catherine H. Christman share the stories of a former death worker and the tips and tricks they learned on a job that ranged from preparing the deceased for burial to the collection and transportation of scattered body parts from crime scenes. Then, Zach Abend checks in with the “Paranormal Rangers,” a pair of podcasters (one with a new book out) who spent years investigating the inexplicable on the Navajo Nation. And finally, Scott Renshaw runs down the haunted houses and special Halloween events waiting to delight, disgust and disturb Utahns of all ages.

But that’s not all. Throughout this issue, and others during October, City Weekly is highlighting the local businesses, restaurants and bars that are pulling out all the stops for a spooky season in and around Salt Lake. Check the advertisements for special offers from our community partners and make sure to keep an eye on our weekly coverage of dining, music and events to plan a full schedule of eerie thrills.

So turn the page … if you dare.

—Benjamin Wood

Continued on page 16

Funeral homes, morticians and even the state’s crime labs rely on “body technicians” to transport corpses.

DEATH WORK

CORPSES, BODY PARTS AND THE OCCASIONAL GHOST—JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE JOB FOR A UTAH BODY TECHNICIAN.

BY CAROLYN CAMPBELL AND CATHERINE H. CHRISTMAN comments@cityweekly.net

Lifting a body takes more than just strength, Lilith Anderson explained. There are techniques that a person learns when their job involves transporting the dead. “You would roll them onto their sides, pick them up as well as you could, and slide them onto a gurney,” said Anderson, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym out of respect for the deceased. “If someone died naturally, and their body was mostly intact, we would cover the body with a white sheet and then a decorative quilt before sliding it into the van.” Anderson learned some lessons the hard way. She recalled her first day on the job, when she forgot to hold her breath while lifting a body and ended up fainting in front of the grieving family.

“I dropped like a sack of rocks,” she said. “They brought a fan in to try to wake me up.”

The then 24-year-old was a state employee working as a “body technician” as part of a pickup crew. She ultimately spent more than three years in clinical studies and internships as she pursued a degree in mortuary science, learning about everything from the cleanup and relocation of crime scene materials to embalming and funeral directing.

Through it all, the now 32-year-old recalls being advised not to show any emotion on the job.

“You couldn’t cry or be human,” she said. “We were told to keep it peaceful and not all dramatic—even with the finality about it.”

Yet Anderson was also no stranger to retrieving corpses after murders, collisions and suicides. She vividly recalled one young man who ended his life by racing his motorcycle into a brick wall at 99 miles an hour.

“With the force,” Anderson said, “the body split completely in half.”

In that case, she said arrangements were made so that the body could be placed in a body bag, which was atypical. Then she and her partner spent six hours in the August heat scouring a field for body parts.

“It was right off the highway and up against a building,” she recalled. “We were supposed to pick up anything bigger than a quarter. We had super long sleeves and gloves up to our shoulders.”

Cutting the Tension

Controlling her emotions while on the job didn’t mean Anderson could always keep her feelings in check after she left work for the day. At night, after a day of transporting, Anderson said she often broke down sobbing.

“When I got home by myself, I would get in a bubble bath and just cry,” she said. “The only thing that helped with that was therapy.”

It was during one such bath when Anderson says she realized that the whole human experience could often play out in front of her eyes in a single day. But some of those lessons could involve the nitty-gritty, too.

When she first started transporting bodies, Anderson didn’t know that they would release gases or make sounds. She recalls the retrieval of one body, a murder victim who had been shot in the head.

“I wasn’t 100% sure he was dead; he released a noise that sounded like a zombie. I literally had to pull over,” Anderson remarked. “I was just waiting for him to sit up underneath the shroud.”

Anderson still believes that caring for the dead is as important as caring for the living. While transporting the deceased, she said she always used the carpool lane—because there were now two passengers in the car.

When police did pull her over, Anderson would tell the officers, “I have a deceased person in the back of the car.” She said they always waved her on through.

Anderson said that her professor at mortuary school instructed his students to find humor in death.

“It’s the only way you can function in this career,” she remembers him telling the class.

Work-Life Balance

While Anderson said it’s hard to find humor in anyone dying, the prospect of laughter brings back a particular memory.

“Bodies tend to release noises from their mouth,” she said. “My mentor and I were embalming when a body released a noise that sounded very sexual. We started giggling and made little sex jokes—you don’t expect to laugh about it.”

Still, Anderson said she could never imagine finding any humor in a child’s death—in fact, facing the bodies of children who died was the most challenging part of the job. She said she felt the kids’ spiritual presences, as if they didn’t know who to gravitate toward.

“It felt like the spirit of the deceased child would almost follow me home,” she said. “They attached themselves to me because they were looking to calm me for a bit. Sometimes I would start getting goosebumps and feeling like something was next to me. It felt like I was watching over them and taking care of them, and they were communicating their feelings to me.”

During her funeral preparation work, Anderson said she would take particular care when dressing children and doing their hair and makeup, and said she felt a tremendous amount of love and care during those moments.

“While the death was very touching and heartwrenching, I loved feeling the presence of their spirits,” she remarked.

Nor were those special connections limited exclusively to her work with the bodies of children.

Along with the youngsters she helped prepare, Anderson recalled establishing a special bond with an older woman who reminded her of her own grandmother, who had survived the Holocaust and moved to the United States, only to eventually die from falling in her kitchen.

Both her grandmother and the deceased woman were piano teachers, Anderson said, and they were the spitting image of each other.

She said the experience was like saying goodbye to her own grandmother.

“You must have lived an amazing life to have survived this,” she recalled thinking. “I hope your spirit moves on and you are happy.”

Anderson said that occasionally, someone would ask for a cutting of their loved one’s skin—to preserve a tattoo, for example. And her mentor told her of a man who asked to have his wife’s breast implants back.

Looking ahead to her own future death, Anderson said she might want to lose weight to make it easier on her own embalmer and funeral personnel.

While she eventually decided to leave the funeral business because of the toll of working with deceased children, she remains content with her work. “I cared for hundreds of people in the final chapter,” she said. CW

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

IN THEIR PODCAST AND A NEW BOOK, THE “PARANORMAL RANGERS” REVISIT THEIR EERIE INVESTIGATIONS ON THE NAVAJO NATION.

BY ZACH ABEND comments@cityweekly.net

In the late 1990s, newly minted Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford, Jr. was assigned a case that defied easy explanation.

An elderly Diné (Navajo) couple living on the south side of the Navajo Nation had reported a disturbance. When Milford arrived, he was shown to a nearby corral that contained 26 sheep carcasses.

“There was a nauseating odor in the air,” Milford recalled. “Like a petroleum-based smell.”

The sheep had all been slit open from neck to groin in a precise, almost ruler-straight line. There were no tracks or blood anywhere in the corral and the owners’ sheepdogs refused to go near the scene. The case was officially marked as “unknown.”

“That was the first time that there was any hint I would be investigating something that was otherworldly and didn’t fit in a neat little box,” Milford said.

In the years since that case, Milford ended up investigating so many unusual cases on the Navajo Nation that he published a book about his experiences in October of 2024, called The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained

In it, Milford recounts how, beginning in 2000, his chief had assigned him and a fellow Ranger, Lt. Jonathan Dover, to the Special Projects Unit (SPU). As part of their duties, they were given jurisdiction over all cases on the 27,000-squaremile Navajo Nation that had a supernatural component to them, ranging from UFO sightings to Bigfoot encounters to poltergeist activity.

Dover and Milford were ideal candidates for SPU. Dover grew up in Los Angeles, while Milford was raised in Oklahoma, but both spent their summers on the Reservation. This dual cultural immersion meant they were knowledgeable about Diné traditions but also informed by Western culture. Keeping an open mind was a skill that would stand them in good stead.

“It’s not feasible to put a Bigfoot in a pair of handcuffs if he steals someone’s sheep,” Milford said wryly.

Embracing the Unknown

Coexisting with what Western culture would classify as an unidentified flying object (UFO)—or, as they’re more commonly known today, unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)—is not unusual for some Diné.

Milford said that many Americans are waiting for the U.S. government to disclose what they know about extraterrestrial visitation to Earth. The government has taken small steps toward acknowledging the reality of unexplained phenomena—like the footage presented in a congressional hearing of a Hellfire missile bouncing off of … something … near the coast of Yemen—but for the Diné, it’s common knowledge. There is a long history within Native cultures throughout the United States involving stories of alien visitation.

“All the way back to prehistoric times,” Dover said. “Those are our holy people.”

Similarly, the so-called Bigfoot—or Sasquatch—is an accepted part of Diné lore.

“He’s out here,” Dover said. “We leave him alone. He leaves us alone.”

Jim Myers, a Bigfoot researcher who runs the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, Colorado, echoed this.

“They have been here thousands of years,” Myers said. “I believe they are paranormal and interdimensional.”

Under the Skin

Skinwalkers—or shapeshifters who can turn into animal-like creatures—are another phenomenon that some Diné accept as part of their reality.

There are places on the Reservation that Diné won’t drive at night because of skinwalker activity, and many won’t even speak of them for fear of inviting them into their lives.

In order to become a skinwalker, “you have to sacrifice someone who you love dearly,” Dover said.

In 2016, while speaking at paranormal conferences about their experiences with skinwalkers, Dover noticed a trend of “military-type” individuals attending their talks and taking notes. They would often leave before the end of the lectures, he said.

Later in his career, Milford was asked to investigate a government office building on the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona. The building was reputed to be haunted, and Milford said he saw things he can’t explain.

“One of the really overt phenomena

Former Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford, Jr., chronicles his experiences on a podcast and in a new book.

that was happening were coins which would appear out of thin air,” he said.

The coins would come flying across the room. He said a total of 66 coins appeared over two days. The phenomenon followed him after the investigation ended.

“The coins began happening in my house,” Milford recounted. Today, more than 15 years later, Milford said he still sees coins fall out of thin air.

“I went to a doctor’s appointment the other day, and I opened up the car door and a coin falls on the ground in the parking lot,” Milford said.

Today, because the Navajo Police are so short staffed, paranormal cases generally won’t be considered “priority calls,” according to Supervisor Dale E. West of the Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations Division (CID) for Shiprock.

Milford and Dover are retired now, but continue to consult on supernatural cases and host a podcast called “Paranormal Rangers.”

“One thing I’ve noticed is that when you hear about a lot of these investigators, they’re out there trying to prove to themselves that this stuff exists,” Milford said. “With Jon and I—we’ve known all of this stuff exists. We may not always understand it, but it does happen.” CW

Celebrating

HALLOWEEN ENTERTAINMENT

BY SCOTT RENSHAW SCOTTR@CITYWEEKLY.NET

Utah has something for everyone during the Halloween season—from terrifying experiences in the heart of Salt Lake City, to family-friendly autumnal strolls in the foothills of the Wasatch Front, and everything in between. The list below offers a sampling of the venues and special events on offer this fall. Choose your preferred scare level and remember to layer up as the nights get darker, colder and spookier.

HAUNTED HOUSE ATTRACTIONS

Asylum 49 (140 E. 200 South, Tooele, asylum49.com)

Utah’s first “full-contact” haunted experience is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, offering a range of encounters from “no contact” to “grip of the unknown,” plus optional add-on quests. The historic venue also includes the Museum of Horrors, featuring serial killer memorabilia, medical artifacts and more. Open Tuesday – Thursday 7 p.m. – 10 p.m., Friday – Saturday 7 p.m. – midnight, with ticket packages beginning at $30.

Castle of Chaos (7980 S. State, Midvale, castleofchaos.com)

Venture underground and choose your terror level (from “hands off” Level 1 to “you might be kidnapped away from your group” Level 5) for this classic haunted attraction winding its way through a labyrinth of hallways. General admission starts at $36, with VIP pricing available. Hours of operation vary by day of the week, and included extended hours during Halloween week, closed most Wednesdays (except October 29).

Fear Factory (666 W. 800 South, Salt Lake City, fearfactoryslc.com)

Despite a fire over the summer that caused some minor damage, Fear Factory returns on schedule to provide all of its regular thrills in six buildings, over six levels, including underground passages. Take Trax to the Gateway and you can catch the Zombie Bus to and from the attraction. Open Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday 7 p.m. – 10 p.m., Friday – Saturday 7 p.m. – midnight, with tickets beginning at $41 general admission, and touch or no-touch options.

Field of Fear (3462 W. 2900 South, West Haven, fieldoffearutah.com)

Actors, animatronics, lights and sound effects combine for a scary but contact-free experience through 160,000 square feet of the Happy Pumpkin Corn Maze. Toned-down experiences are available upon request. General admission tickets are just $20, and operating hours are dusk – 11 p.m. Friday – Saturday, with additional Thursday options for daylight and actor-free experiences.

Haunted Forest (6000 W. 6400 North, American Fork, hauntedforestutah.com)

Celebrating 35 years of operation this season, the state’s largest haunted attraction— covering more than 30 acres—features multiple experiences in the outdoor venue, including the brand-new “Blind Terror” ropeguided-and-blindfolded experience. Wait for your timed entrance in The Graveyard, with photo-ops, snacks and more. Open Monday – Thursday 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., Friday –Saturday 7:30 p.m. – midnight, with general admission tickets beginning at $35; group discounts are available.

Haunted Hollow (1550 S. 1900 West, West Haven, hauntedhollowutah.com)

An entirely-outdoor experience through 13 acres of forest, swamp and more—so dress appropriately—with plenty of ghosts and ghouls lurking at every bend in the path. Open Wednesday – Thursday 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., Friday – Saturday 7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m., general admission tickets begin at $29 plus fees, with fast pass and all-night pass options available.

Lagoon Frightmares (375 Lagoon Dr., Farmington, lagoonpark.com)

The beloved Utah amusement park gets its traditional Halloween fun on, with nine haunted attractions representing a range of scare levels, from the kid-friendly options of Spooktacular Snaps and Treat Street, to the more frightening Nightmare Midway and Séance featuring intense physical effects and audience involvement. The Pumpkin Patch also offers games, cookie-decorating and more family-friendly activities. Frightmares events begin approximately 5 p.m. / 5:30 p.m. nightly and run to park close (9 p.m. Monday – Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday – Saturday), but some are included in single-day passports that also offer access to Lagoon’s amuzement park rides. Visit the website for specific attractions requiring additional cost.

Nightmare

on 13th (320 W. 1300 South, Salt Lake City, nightmareon13th.com)

This SLC landmark offers two different attractions—the Nightmare Haunted House, and the Institute of Terror—featuring a brand-new Horror Cinema finale. The family-friendly Day Haunt on select Saturdays also offers an option for younger kids, or anyone who likes their scares on the lighter side. Open Monday – Thursday 7 p.m. – 10 p.m., Saturday – Sunday 7 p.m. – midnight, extended 11 p.m. close Oct. 30 and Nov. 1. General admission tickets are $27.95 - $34.95 depending on date; Day Haunt tickets are $22.95.

Night Stalkers Haunted Trail (8802 S. 4000 West, West Jordan, nightstalkershaunt.com)

The legend of Feeding Day—humans being sacrificed to terrifying beings—comes alive at this outdoor attraction (closed during inclement weather) bringing you Creatures of the Corn, Phobia, 3D Slumber and Horror Show. Also, check out the Fright Lights glowing wonderland of illuminated, music-enhanced wonders. Open Monday – Thursday 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Friday – Saturday 7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.; tickets start at $30, and include access to the Crazy Corn Maze.

Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus

(632 E. 1500 South, American Fork, stranglingbros.com)

The show opens inside a massive circus tent with live music, games, crowd interaction and more, before guests then head into the main event for super scares. For the fainter of heart, “No Freak Tuesday” on Oct. 14 ($18) allows a chance to tour the attraction without all of the scares. Open Tuesday – Thursday and Monday, Oct. 27 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., Friday – Saturday 7:30 p.m. – midnight. Tickets begin at $30, with fast pass and VIP options.

SEASONAL VENUE EVENTS

Gardner Village “WitchFest” (1100 W. 7800 South, West Jordan, gardnervillage.com)

The streets of historic Gardner Village get a holiday-themed decoration filled with witch-y displays, with scavenger hunts, magic show dinner theater, photo ops and more. Open Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.); most events are free to the public, but certain events have additional admission charges; see website for details.

Hogle Zoo “BooLights” (2600 Sunnyside Ave., Salt Lake City, hoglezoo.org)

A fall spin on the zoo’s popular Christmastime “ZooLights” festivities, this after-hours experience includes decorative lights, entertainment and exclusive treats from the Beastro restaurant; costumes are welcome for all, within specific guidelines. Operating hours are 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. on select evenings through Oct. 30, with tickets $13.95 - $16.95 (members) and $16.95 - $19.95 (non-members).

Ogden Nature Center “Creatures of the Night” (966 W. 12th St., ogdennaturecenter.org)

This haunted-house alternative features presentations on seasonally-appropriate critters like owls and snakes, campfire stories, naturethemed games and crafts, trail walk and available food trucks. Open 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. Oct. 17 – 18 only, admission $6 - $10.

Station Park Villains Soiree (140 N. Union Ave., Farmington, shopatstationpark.com)

For one night only on Thursday, Oct. 23, meet some of your favorite villainous characters as part of an event that also includes live entertain-

ment from the Hexing Sisters, and an interactive Hocus Pocus Academy for all ages, plus photo booth, crafts and more. The event runs 4 p.m. – 7 p.m., and is free to the public.

Thanksgiving Point “Spooktober” / Cornbelly’s Maze (3003 Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, thanksgivingpoint.org)

Thanksgiving Point’s various venues will be decorated for the season, with special activities like “Dinos After Dark” at the Museum of Ancient Life and the Scarecrow Festival at Ashton Gardens. Enjoy one of three Cornbelly’s locations, as Utah’s original corn maze celebrates its 30th birthday. Visit the website for venue operating hours and ticket prices; maze tickets $19.99 - $24.99.

This Is the Place Heritage Park “Little Haunts” (2601 Sunnyside Ave., thisistheplace.org)

This family-friendly daylight experience offers some not-so-scary fun, including a costume parade for young participants, ghost stories, creepy-crawly Creature Encounters and treats launched from the Candy Cannon. Open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 10 – 25, with regular general admission ($16.95 - $22.95). CW

DINE

Holy Smoke

Confess your meatiest of sins at The Holy Grill & Bar in Pleasant Grove.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

Not too long ago, while I was checking out Budda’s Bakery in Pleasant Grove, I noticed a little barbecue place called The Holy Grill and Bar tucked away in a strip mall on the other side of the parking lot. I chuckled at the name, and mentally bookmarked the location to check out next time I was in the area. That opportunity came sooner rather than later—and I’m really glad it did. Outside of having a great name, the restaurant’s exterior doesn’t truly reflect the rustic, barbecue goodness inside. Once you enter, it’s like being whisked away to your favorite wood-paneled West Yellowstone restaurant.

The Holy Grill is perhaps best known for its barbecue and catering services; Pleasant Grove social planners have really been holding out on us Salt Lake County denizens. All the barbecue favorites are present at The Holy Grill, and those dining in will want to check out the restaurant’s smoked meats baskets ($17.99 for a one meat basket, $18.99 for two and $19.99 for three). These plates give you access to the greatest hits of The Holy Grill’s award-winning barbecue.

If I’m going this route, I personally like to get smoked turkey, sausage and beef brisket—it adds a buck to the total, but it’s well worth it. I’ve had plenty of smoked turkey breast in my day, and more often

than not it turns out dry and flavorless. I’m pleased to say that’s not the case with The Holy Grill. This place knows how to treat their turkey before it gets smoked, making for slices of tender, juicy goodness. Smoked sausage is always a given for me as it’s great even when it’s not great, but there’s some solid sausage technique on display here. It’s got a nice snap and plenty of peppery, garlicky flavor.

The reason brisket is always going to be worth that extra buck is because it’s damn near perfect—sinfully tender, smoked to perfection and packing just the right amount of fat. This gorgeous protein is also available on a few of the restaurant’s sandwiches, such as the classic brisket sandwich ($13.49) or the brisket melt ($14.49). The best of the bunch, however, is the French dip brisket sandwich ($14.99), which blends the unctuous pleasure of thickly sliced brisket dipped into some piping hot au jus It’s definitely one of the best French dips I’ve had in a long time; it’s amazing how much a fat stack of lovingly smoked brisket can improve on a classic.

If you’re going to check this place out, it makes sense if getting barbecue is your first priority. That said, The Holy Grill’s selection of half-pound burgers is not a bad way to stock up on your protein. The classic American burger ($10.79) is a good bet for burger purists, but if you’re after something a bit more adventurous, I’d recommend the Tropical Burger ($13.49) or the West Burger ($14.49).

Any time a restaurant serves a burger with more meat as the condiment of choice, I’m going to be sold on it. The Tropical Burger does so with plenty of smoked pulled pork, along with a slice of grilled pineapple and some fried cheese to boot. Not only is this a great excuse to get some of the restaurant’s excellent pulled

pork, but the grilled pineapple and fried cheese are particularly indulgent. The burger patty itself does tend to get overshadowed just a bit with all this supplemental glory. It was a little overdone for my taste, and I think next time I’d see if they could cook it medium rare.

A pastrami burger is quintessentially Utahn, and the West Burger does a great job of paying homage to this local classic. The Holy Grill smokes its pastrami along with its other barbecue, so you get a decent hit of that smoky, peppery flavor right from the get-go. The burger also has bacon and fried cheese for your enjoyment, and they’re definitely welcome flavors on this big, bulky burger. Again, I’d ask for the patty to be not as well done, but both burgers adequately capture The Holy Grill’s comfy, unapologetic vibes.

There are a few other menu standouts for those who would like to use a fork for their meal. The Holy Macaroni ($8.49 for a small, $12.49 for a large), nachos ($11.99) and loaded potato ($9.99) each come with some tasty barbecue in tow, and make for a great shareable option for large groups.

As The Holy Grill is also a bar, all of these smoky, sumptuous meals can be paired with local beer and housemade cocktails.

The heart of Pleasant Grove may not be where one would expect such a sinful gathering place for fans of giant portions of red meat and pitchers of cold beer. I think I can speak for all of us who worship at the foot of smokers, grills and taps that we’re glad The Holy Grill is preaching the good word. CW THE

2 Row Brewing

73 West 7200 South, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: “Octoberfest” Lager

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: Pink Boots - Pink Pony Pilz

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

NEW Releases: Kölsch, Dusseldorfer “Alt” Bier

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

GridCityBeerWorks.com

NEW: Cyotee Elvis Kolsh

Heber Valley Brewing

501 N. Main Street, Heber City, UT hebervalleybrewing.com

On Tap: Dark Helmet-Schwarzbier (Black Lager)

On Tap: Bavarian (Munich Helles); Dark Helmet (Schwarzbier); Marzen (German Style Amber Larger)

Helper Beer

159 N Main Street, Helper, UT  helperbeer.com

Hopkins Brewing Co.

1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Basic Witch on Nitro

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Tap: Pumpkin Spice Latte; Nitro Pumpkin Spice Latte

2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer

On Tap: Pie Hole - Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Ale

Corner Brew Pub Sugar House 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch

On Tap:  Top of Main Coalition Hellfire Chili Pepper Ale

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap:  Centennial Steamer, California Common Lager

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Imperial Pumpkin Porter

Etta Place Cidery

700 W Main St, Torrey www.ettaplacecider.com

On Tap: Imperial Cider, Fig-Tamarind Session Mead

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works

333 W. 2100 South, SLC

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: 302 Czech Pilsner

Proper Brewing/Proper Burger 857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Blizzard Wizard Hazy Pale Ale

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Grand Bavaria

Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Helles Munich Style Lager

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Look Up! Amber Ale on Nitro

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap:  “Big Drop” West Coast Pilsner

Mountain West Cider

425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Blueberry Pie Hard Cider

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com

On Tap: 11 rotating taps as well as high point cans and guest beers

Park City Brewing 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: No to Dakota - Hazy IPA 5%

Policy Kings Brewery

79 W. 900 South, Salt Lake City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

On Tap: Kings Proper Kolsch

Silver Reef

4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George SGBev.com

Squatters Corner Pub – Valley Fair

3555 Constitution Blvd, West Valley City squatterscornerpub.com

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Acapulco Gold Mexican Lager

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co.

147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/squatters

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Lil’ R&R Raspberry Rye Ale

Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: “Virgil the Guide” (Italian Pilsner); “Smiles und Sunshine” (German Leichtes Weizen)

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville,

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: Game, Blouses Hazy IPA and Oktoberfest FestBier

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Cosmic Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com

On Draft: Lupulin Dew Wet Hop Pale Ale w/Mosaic hops

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: OPEN ROAD SERIES #3Barrel Aged Grand Cru

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Melonhead 5.6% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider.com

On Tap: Spicy Thai Coconut

Shades Brewing 1388 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City ShadesBrewing.beer

New Batch: Raspberry Pistachio Sour Ale

Shades On State

366 S. State Street, Salt Lake City Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Six Wheat Under Hefeweizen

and high point cans available.

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Oktoberfest Marzen; Trustfall porter; Witches Brew Thieves Guild Cidery 117 W. 900 South, SLC thievesguildcidery.com

BEER NERD

Hopdingers

Two remarkable IPAs made for new and old palates.

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Offset - DAMP 25.02: This “fresh hop” West Coast IPA was made with over 20 pounds per barrel of wet Simcoe, Citra and Pink hops from Gooding Farms and Jackson Hop Farms. Freshly-kilned Dolcita, Pink and Citra went into Offset’s pressurized Hopback, as well as copious amounts Cryo Fresh Simcoe and Simcoe T90 going into the dry-hop. Now you’re starting to get an idea about what we have going on here.

This beauty looks the part—it’s clear, but this light amber body looks like it’s teeming with hop flavor. It’s a tantalizing sensory experience, beginning with a very zesty aroma that captivates. It presents itself with a perfumed elegance, a sophisticated scent that leans towards the preferences of an adult palate, subtly interwoven with a delicate hint of vanilla. Then, with a “Boom!,” you realize that you’re back to sniffing a beer, with its big aromatic presence.

The flavor profile is a “hop salad” of tangerine and fresh herbs, offering a bright and invigorating zest that dances on the tongue. This medley is beautifully complemented by the inclusion of short berries and strawberries, adding a juicy, slightly sweet and wonderfully complex fruitiness to the mix. These berry notes are not overly sweet, but rather contribute a refined depth that enhances the overall experience. The way this beer draws you in is almost obscene, a testament to its compelling allure. Each sip reveals new layers of flavor and aroma, making it incredibly moreish and engaging.

Verdict: This 7.0 percent beer isn’t what I’d call a “quencher,” but more of an “easy damn swigger.” It invites an appreciation of its craftsmanship and unique character. The fresh hops truly shine through, providing a vibrant and

dynamic profile that distinguishes it from more conventional IPAs.

Uinta - Pro Line Series (Bittersweet Motel): The “White IPA” is a relatively modern beer style that emerged in the early 2010s, primarily in the United States. It’s essentially a hybrid style, a deliberate fusion of two distinct and popular beer traditions: the American IPA and the Belgian Witbier (or White Beer).

Not filtered, but clear for sure, this White IPA does look true to form. Made with Simcoe, Citra and Lotus hops, this beer, with its classic herbal and citrusy aroma, is nothing short of a time machine, transporting you straight back to the 2010s. It’s a nostalgic journey to the era of original White IPAs, perfectly capturing the essence of those beloved brews.

From the first sip, it’s evident that this is a revival of a classic, a testament to a well-remembered style. The taste delivers exactly what the aroma promises, boasting a beautifully soft, wheated base that provides a gentle and smooth foundation for the vibrant hop profile. Layered generously over this foundation are prominent notes of orange peel, offering a bright and zesty citrus burst that is both refreshing and familiar. Complementing this citrus zest is a subtle hint of white grape and clove, adding a touch of sophisticated fruitiness that elevates the complexity. The beer achieves a remarkable balance with a well-integrated piney bitterness. This isn’t an aggressive bitterness, but rather a clean, resinous counterpoint that prevents the implied hops fruitiness and the wheat from becoming too confectionlike. At 7.8 percent ABV, it manages to pack a flavorful punch without being overly boozy, giving it a good kick. The lingering bitterness on the finish is particularly satisfying, a reminder of the beer’s excellent hybridization.

Verdict: Hell yeah: This is a bad-ass homage to a fantastic era of IPAs.

When you get into seasonal beers, the name of the game is speed. Speed gets you to the source before they disappear. Bittersweet Motel is a larger-batch seasonal from Uinta, but DAMP 25.02 is very small due to its limited ingredients. Run, don’t walk, to get yours. As always, cheers! CW

the BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Octobirdfest at Tracy Aviary

Fans of Eat Drink SLC will know that dining and drinking in the company of our feathered friends at Tracy Aviary (tracyaviary.org) is a great way to spend an evening. To commemorate Oktoberfest, the downtown aviary will be hosting a riff of its own, called Oktobirdfest. Beer and cocktails will be flowing and Bavarian eats from some of our finest local food trucks will be sizzling as you make your way through the gorgeous aviary grounds. Admission includes entrance to the aviary, one drink ticket and an Oktobirdfest commemorative mug as a souvenir. Oktobirdfest will be happening on Oct. 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Utah Honey Harvest Festival

For 12 years running, Grantsville’s Clark Historic Farm (clarkhistoricfarm.org) has hosted a local honey harvest festival, and the time to celebrate our local beekeepers is once more upon us. This two-day event will feature more than 80 local vendors, live entertainment, art shows, petting zoos and antique tractors, along with plenty of opportunity to sample local honey. Attendees will get the opportunity to vote for their favorite local honey in the event’s Deseret Honey Contest while being serenaded by some of the best fiddle players in the state. The Utah Honey Harvest Festival will take place on Oct. 10 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Noodle and Dumpling Opens

Millcreek recently welcomed a restaurant called Noodle and Dumpling (noodledumpling.com), and I am all sorts of intrigued. Any place that wears its dumpling menu proudly on its sleeve gets my interest piqued, and this place looks like it’s known for soup dumplings, steamed pork buns and a wide variety of noodle soups. In addition to the restaurant’s menu of noodles and dumplings, it looks like it’s serving some traditional American Chinese favorites like orange chicken and beef with broccoli, many of which look to be made with tofu instead of meat. I have long been a sucker for both noodles and dumplings, so a new restaurant touting both might be trouble for me.

Quote of the Week: “Do not shy away from eating alone. Even going to a restaurant alone is ideal.” – Mitta Xinindlu

Missile of October

People deal with a possible nuclear strike in A House of Dynamite, plus John Candy: I Like Me and Soul on Fire.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

A House of Dynamite BBB

There are many ways to approach the unsettling subject of a possible nuclear attack on the United States; this one finds its anchor in what it would be like to be feeling the weight of that potential tragedy first. Director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim ( Jackie) unfold the narrative in three chapters, each one focusing on different people dealing with how to respond to a single missile seemingly targeting Chicago: the President of the United States (Idris Elba); the commanding officer at a missile facility in Alaska (Anthony Ramos); a military liaison in the White House Situation Room (Rebecca Ferguson); the Secretary of Defense (Jared Harris); etc. It’s almost entirely a procedural thriller—think Apollo 13, or last year’s September 5—and there’s definitely a sense of diminishing returns on the tension as the story circles back to the same time frame from different perspectives. But there’s a thoughtfulness to the way the filmmakers take a disastermovie trope—the separated family that needs to reunite—and turns it into a poignant reminder that the people making these life-and-death decisions are still people. As we watch those people struggle to do the right thing with the information they have available, it’s unsettlingly fascinating to wonder whether the fact that decision-makers are humans with individuals that they personally love makes us all less safe, or more safe. Available Oct. 10 in theaters; Oct. 24 via Netflix. (R)

John Candy: I Like Me BB1/2

Early in director Colin Hanks’ profile of actor/comedian John Candy, interview subject Bill Murray worries that the movie won’t be interesting enough, because Candy was such a good guy that there aren’t any terrible stories to tell about him— and damned if he isn’t kind of right. The narrative is mostly linear, following Candy from his 1950s Toronto childhood—including the death of his father on Candy’s 5th birthday—through his almost-

accidental audition for The Second City improv troupe and his subsequent rise to fame via SCTV and feature films. But “mostly” does some heavy lifting there, as Hanks both begins and ends with footage and eulogies from Candy’s 1994 funeral service, exemplifying the sentimental approach on display along with the footage underscored by plaintive music to within an inch of its life. It’s not that there aren’t occasional insights, whether suggesting a timeline where Candy becomes a football player had it not been for a high-school knee injury, or indicating that his big appetites and anxiety attacks were all connected to unprocessed grief over his father’s death. But any such material gets mostly overwhelmed by the reflections from his friends, family and artistic collaborators about what a kind, generous soul Candy was, perhaps even to the detriment of his own creative career. Wonderful human beings like Candy seemed to be make the world a better place; they just don’t always make the best documentary subjects. Available Oct. 10 via Prime Video. (NR)

Soul on Fire B1/2

It has long been a problem with “faith-based cinema” that entries in the genre are far more concerned with the “faith” part than with the “cinema” part; this one feels so fundamentally slapdash that it’s nearly impossible to focus on whatever inspirational message it might be offering. Director Sean McNamara’s (Soul Surfer) fact-based story follows John O’Leary (Joel Courtney), a St. Louisborn man who suffers near-fatal burns in a house fire as a child, but survives to make a life as a motivational speaker. Some of the technical problems are evident at the outset, as the cinematography is so flat and ugly that it would struggle to rise to the level of “1980s made-for-TV movie.” Then there’s a screenplay full of leaden dialogue, and a collection of generally amateurish performances from which even William H. Macy—playing legendary St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck—can’t emerge unscathed, blunting the impact of what should be harrowing scenes of young John’s rehabilitation. And it ultimately just gets so clunky and weird in its messaging that it starts to feel like Buck is being treated like a Christ figure that John denies three times. Inevitably, a few heart-tugging moments are going to creep through, particularly celebrating health-care professionals of all kinds, but at some point, the people who make movies like this need to consider how many hearts and minds they’ll actually touch if no one wants to sit through what they’re serving up. Available Oct. 10 in theaters. (PG) CW

Analog-ging On

Spice Productions’ So You Wanna Be Famous? emphasizes setting aside technology for real-world experience.

BY MARK DAGO comments@cityweekly.net

Technology trends are a shiny new toy, and many are entranced by the chance to play with them. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, super apps, the Metaverse, social media, etc., all provide opportunities for people to experiment. However, in our current climate it is difficult to go about the day-to-day without some interaction, deliberate or not, with the tech we are using—and, more so, the way these innovations are using us.

So You Wanna Be Famous? is a dance spectacle from Spice Productions and creator/ director Saffron Bellenger. Through the artistry of dance, the program explores how technological advancement shapes our humanity and affects our lived reality. It’s an examination of what often fuels today’s content creation, not so much artistic expression or storytelling, but a desire for visibility, validation, clout, likes and status. This shift has undeniably shaped how dancers (and creators) present and share their work, for better or worse.

“The show was born out of my own disillusionment with the pervasiveness of technology in my daily life. My own complicated relationship with it, and my realization that finding spaces of separation and attempting to escape digital influences has become a challenge of its own,” Bellenger said. “It feels like there’s no reprieve anymore—every space I enter and every activity I do seems to require some kind of digital engagement. It demands your attention 24/7, and that constant

connection is overwhelming, overstimulating, numbing and, at times, isolating.

“I reached a point where I was tired of scrolling endlessly for someone else’s content, tired of consuming more art online than I was creating in real life. I needed my engagement with technology to feel purposeful rather than a monotonous, addictive, routine that was beyond my control. I believe artists have a responsibility to bring larger conversations out of academic or ‘tech bro’ spaces and into the public sphere, where everyone can engage.”

So You Wanna Be Famous? is an excellent “way in” to heels choreography for those who don’t have the greatest grip on dance performance. Even without knowing a ton about the art of dance, it’s still easy to enjoy the sheer physicality of the dancers and their wholehearted belief in performance, even without totally understanding what it’s about. The “heels” form is dynamic, featuring elements of hip-hop, vogue, Latin dance, burlesque and much more.

“Heels dance is incredibly multifaceted—it’s not just about the tease, sensuality, seduction or performance; it’s a medium that allows for deep emotional expression, vulnerability, authenticity and storytelling,” Bellenger said. “The high heel is a powerful symbol attached with femininity, and femininity has a trove of artistic tools and stories to tell. That kind of layered tonality makes it a perfect vehicle to explore something as abstract and emotionally complex as the digital frontier. It brings into question: Who gets to define femininity in these digital spaces? Who gets to program the algorithm to decide what womanhood looks like or how it should be consumed and categorized? Heels dance allows us to confront that. … It becomes a tool to explore the social consequences of hyper-visibility, of objectification, of internalized misogyny—especially in how women are captured, circulated and consumed online.”

Bellenger continues: “A.I. has, in many ways, become a mirror to our internet cul-

MUSIC

ture, regurgitating the sexualized, flattened versions of women we’ve put into it. But heels dance reminds us there’s more— it captures the fullness of female experience: joy, rage, tenderness, complexity— the ever-changing woman engaging in a complete human experience in a fleeting present moment.”

The creative arts are among the most valuable aspects of what it means to be human. Creativity should be protected—not just as a skill, but as a vital human endeavor. Real creativity isn’t about reaching some ultimate perfect potential; it’s about imagination, curiosity and the ongoing process of doing things through exploration and expression. While machine-generated works can be intriguing, they tend to offer novelty, not meaning. People come to performances like this not just to be entertained, but to witness that spark from one mind to another on what it feels like to be alive.

“So You Wanna Be Famous? reaffirmed how important it is to create art that is socially and emotionally resonant—and

to create it in real life, with and for real people,” Bellenger explained. “In a world where so much is made for online viewership and digital consumption, I’ve realized how deeply fulfilling it is to make something tangible, something live, something shared. Even if it’s imperfect, even if it happens once and is never recorded, creating art in community—with people and for people—still matters. I hope to see a revitalization of live, in-person performances—work that exists only once, in a single moment, that brings people together in physical space rather than the digital. That’s something the internet can never truly replicate, and a skill I fear we’re collectively losing. … Create work that breathes, that moves, that’s shared in the community. That’s where the magic is.”

Step away from the little blue light for a bit and catch So You Wanna Be Famous? at the Rose Performing Arts Center’s Wagner Black Box Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Friday, Oct. 10 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for this 18+ show can be found at saltlakecountyarts.org. CW

BEST BAR IN UTAH!

GREAT FOOD

MUSIC PICK S

Carbon Leaf @ The State Room 10/9

The Richmond, Va.-based band Carbon Leaf is an eclectic bunch, known for their exhilarating mix of rock, Celtic, folk and indie elements. Indeed, pundits sometimes feel frustrated because they can’t confine the band’s sound to any particular parameters. Regardless, they’ve still managed to maintain populist appeal over a career that now spans well over 30 years and 15 albums. The group first formed while its members were attending Randolph-Macon College in the late ’80s and early ’90s, culling such diverse influences as AC/DC, the Grateful Dead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, the Beach Boys and R.E.M, all of which inspired their varied approach. “Our new album, Time is the Playground, deals with the cycles of life,” Barry Privett, Carbon Leaf’s founder, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist said. “The songs address the impact of moving through time, seeing change, that humans need to connect with others, and to reflect on our past while we continue moving forward. Time is at once both cyclical and linear. We have our cyclical seasons and annual traditions that we loop around to, just like a clock on the wall.” In that regard, the group can claim a timely relationship with these environs. “We’ve been returning to Salt Lake City for 15 years now, and to The State Room specifically almost every year since 2011,” Privett added. Thus, consider their upcoming engagement another welcome return. Carbon Leaf performs a 21+ show with guest Riddy Arman at The State Room on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $34 at vividseats.com. (Lee Zimmerman)

WEEKLY

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS

MUSIC PICK S

Sego @ Velour 10/10

Although Sego no longer calls Utah their home, they still stop by to party when they hit the road, including their upcoming show at Velour, a venue that’s played host to tons of local bands cutting their teeth in the scene. Members of Sego themselves used to attend shows at this beloved venue, studying and deciding what elements they’d like to bring to the stage. They describe their sound as “art punk by non-punk non-artists.” It perhaps doesn’t make a ton of sense on its own, but once you listen to their music, it’ll start to click. Sego’s discography goes all the way back to 2014, and they’ve had some great releases over the past decade, including their 2019 album Sego Sucks, a couple of singles during lockdown times and, more recently, singles titled “Drum Machine” with Cop Kid and “Bayede” with Afrikan Roots. Teaming up with fellow local band Cop Kid makes for a perfect pairing—they both have unique and alluring indie sounds that make for an incredible listen. Sego is coming through with Social Cinema and local singer/songwriter Rob Spice, who is celebrating the release of his latest EP, happy. Come hang out with this eclectic collection of artists on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $17.44 at 24tix.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

MUSIC PICK S

Elbow @ The Union Event Center 10/10

Though not as well known stateside as they are in their native Britain, Elbow remains a decidedly accomplished bunch. Originally formed in 1990, the group have averaged an album every three years, all of which have reached the top 15 of the British charts, with any number of successful singles and EPs filling the gaps in-between. Their most recent offering, Audio Vertigo, was released last year to coincide with their first American tour since 2020. In a press release announcing the new effort, lead singer Guy Garvey described the record as “finishing something for the band in lots of ways. We are having more fun in the studio than ever before … The words are all stories from my past, sometimes joyful, often dark, but all of it exciting and mostly true. It feels like we’re having another go on the Waltzers after hours.” Notably too, their efforts have garnered them all kinds of kudos over the course of their storied history. In 2008, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid, as well as the prestigious Ivor Novello Award For Best Song courtesy of their track titled “One Day Like This.” They were also given the honor of writing the BBC theme for the 2012 London Olympics, in addition to having the aforementioned single receiving prominent placement in the closing ceremony. That’s a lotta Elbow grease for sure! Elbow perform with guests The Alpines at The Union Event Center on Friday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $25-$58 at ticketmaster.com.

(Lee Zimmerman)

RIOT @ Project Pierpont 10/11

The DJ duo RIOT, Tom Davidson and Daniel Magid, have a talent for fusing two extremes of electronic music—thunderous bass with sharp, progressive melodies. RIOT’s “Machine Tour” will showcase their second album, featuring songs like “High Alter,” with vocal melodies and low-end bass; “Deadshot” which innovatively blends both heavy dubstep elements and sporadic techno breaks; and

“March of the Machine,” which can best be described as brutally beautiful. Check out their collaboration with heavy-hitting DJ and producer Kayzo for the song “Wake Up,” or “You Don’t Even Know Me” with the renowned DJ and producer Slander. With millions of streams on Spotify, RIOT continues to lead the way in the dubstep genre. Davidson and Magid say of their newest album The Machine on the Hear it Here First blog: “It was born out of rebellion and the strong belief that no matter how massive the machine is, we won’t back down.” They add, “To us, the machine represents everything we’re up against as artists and as people. It’s the expectations, the pressure, the cold system that tells us how we should sound, look, or move in order to succeed.” It sounds like Davidson and Magid want to make music their own way, as they should! Come dance at Project Pierpoint on Saturday, Oct. 11. Doors open at 9 p.m. for this 21+ show. General admission advance tickets are $21 at eventliveus.com, and day-of-show tickets are $26. (Arica Roberts)

Judas Priest / Alice Cooper @ Utah First Credit Union Amp 10/12

Heroes of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Judas Priest roared out of Birmingham, England in 1969. Fronted by powerful vocalist Rob Halford, the band has long been a fan- and critic-favorite. Starting with the band’s third album, 1977’s Sin After Sin, every single Judas Priest album for the next 13 years—a ten-album run—went gold (500,000 units sold) in the U.S. Two of those went platinum (1,000,000 sold), and one, 1984’s Defenders of the Faith, went double platinum. Each of those releases fared nicely on the album charts in other countries as well. Known to the world as Alice Cooper, Detroit-born singer Vincent Furnier established himself as the king of shock rock; his high-energy rock benefits from the visual spectacle of his wild live show, complete with mock-beheading and other lurid (yet highly entertaining) theatrics. Cooper is a five-time Grammy Award nominee, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Judas Priest and Alice Cooper have teamed up for a double-bill concert tour; the two acts come to the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $49 and up and are available from ticketmaster.com. (Bill Kopp)

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

No relationship is like any other. The way we bond with another has a distinctive identity that embodies the idiosyncratic chemistry between us. So in my view, it’s wrong to compare any partnership to a supposedly ideal template. Fortunately, you Aries are in a phase when you can summon extra wisdom about this and other relaxing truths concerning togetherness. I recommend you devote your full creativity and ingenuity to helping your key bonds ripen and deepen.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Poet Rainer Maria Rilke advised, “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.” These days, dear Taurus, that’s your power move: to stay in conversation with mystery without forcing premature answers. Not everything needs to be fixed or finalized. Your gift is to be a custodian of unfolding processes: to cherish and nourish what’s ripening. Trust that your questions are already generating the early blooms of a thorough healing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

I am a great admirer of Bart Simpson, a fictional fourthgrade student on the animated TV show The Simpsons. He is a constant source of unruly affirmations that we could all benefit from incorporating into our own behavior when life gets comically weird. Since I think you’re in such a phase now, Gemini, I am offering a batch of Bart-style gems. For best results, use them to free yourself from the drone of the daily routine and scramble your habitual ways of understanding the world. Now here’s Bart: 1. “I will not invent a new religion based on bubble gum;” 2. “I will not sell bottled ‘invisible water;’” 3. “I will not try to hypnotize my friends, and I will not tell co-workers they are holograms;” 4. “I will not claim to be a licensed pyrotechnician;” 5. “I will not use the Pythagorean theorem to summon demons;” 6. “I will not declare war on Thursdays.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

During its entire life, the desert plant Welwitschia mirabilis grows just two leaves. They never wither or fall off but continually grow, twist, split and tatter for hundreds of years. They thrive even as their ends are worn or shredded by wind and sand. I love how wild and vigorous they look, and I love how their wildness is the result of their unfailing persistence and resilience. Let’s make Welwitschia mirabilis your inspirational symbol in the coming weeks, Cancerian. May it motivate you to nurture the quiet, enduring power in your depths that enables you to express yourself with maximum uniqueness and authenticity.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Have you been to Morocco? I love that so many houses there are built around spacious courtyards with intricate tilework and lush gardens. Sooner or later, of course, the gorgeous mosaic-like floors need renovations. The artisans who do the work honor the previous artistry. “In rebuilding,” one told me, “our goal is to create new magnificence that remembers the old splendor.” I hope you pursue an approach like that in the coming weeks, Leo. The mending and healing you undertake should nourish the soulfulness you have cultivated, even as you polish and refine.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Virgo novelist Agatha Christie often planned her elaborate plots while cleaning her house or washing dishes. She said such repetitive, physical tasks unlocked her creativity, allowing ideas to emerge without force. I suggest you draw inspiration from her method in the coming weeks. Seek your own form of productive distraction. Instead of wrestling with a problem in a heroic death match, lose yourself in simple, grounding actions that free your mind to wander. I am pretty sure that your most brilliant and lasting solutions will emerge when you’re not trying hard to come up with brilliant and lasting solutions.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Libra architect Christopher Alexander developed a sixth sense about why some spaces feel comfortable while others are alienating. What was the source of his genius? He avoided abstract principles and studied how people actually used spaces. His best architecture soulfully coordinated the relationships between indoor and outdoor areas, private and public zones, and individual needs and community functions. The “quality without a name” was the term he used to identify the profound aliveness, wholeness, and harmony of spaces where people love to be. In the coming weeks, Libra, I hope you access your own natural gift for curating relationships and cultivating balance. Your solutions should serve multiple needs. Elegant approaches will arise as you focus on connections rather than isolated parts.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Some medieval mystics claimed that angels spoke in paradoxes because the truth was too rich for simple logic. These days, I believe you Scorpios are extra fluent in paradox. You are raw yet powerful, aching and grateful, confounded but utterly clear. You are both dying and being reborn. My advice: Don’t try to resolve the contradictions. Immerse yourself in them, bask in them, and allow them to teach you all they have to teach. This may entail you sitting with your sadness as you laugh and letting your desire and doubt interweave. The contradictions you face with open-heartedness will gift you with sublime potency and authority.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

The ancient city of Petra, built in sandstone cliffs in what’s now Jordan, was mostly hidden from the outside world for centuries. In 1812, Sagittarian Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered it by disguising himself as a pilgrim. He trained extensively in the Arabic language, Islamic culture and local customs so he could travel incognito. You Sagittarians can benefit from a similar strategy in the coming weeks. Life will conspire to bring you wonders if you thoroughly educate yourself about the people and situations you would like to influence. I invite you to hike your empathy up to a higher octave, cultivate respect for what’s unfamiliar, and make yourself extra available for exotic and inspiring treasures.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

During the 1800s, countless inventors chased the impossible dream of perpetual-motion machines: contraptions that would run endlessly without any fuel source. Every attempt failed; such devices bucked the fundamental laws of physics. But here’s good news, Capricorn: You are close to cracking the code on a metaphorical version of perpetual motion. You are cultivating habits and rhythms that could keep you steady and vital for a long time to come. I predict the energy you’re generating will be self-sustaining.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood. They taste with their skin, solve puzzles and squeeze their bodies through coin-sized holes. No wonder they are referred to as the aliens of Earth, just as Aquarians are the aliens of the zodiac. According to my analysis, now is a perfect time for you to embrace your inner octopus. I authorize you to let your strangeness lead the way. You have the right and duty to activate your multidimensional mind. Yes, you may be misunderstood by some. But your suppleness, radical empathy and nonlinear genius will be exactly what’s needed. Be the one who sees escape routes and paths to freedom that no one else perceives. Make the impossible look natural.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Dear Pisces, it’s like you’re in one of those dreams when you’re exploring the attic or basement of your home and discover secret rooms you didn’t realize existed. This is good! It means you are finding uncharted frontiers in what you assumed was familiar territory. It suggests you are ready to see truths you weren’t ready for before. Congrats! Keep wandering and wondering, and you will discover what you didn’t even know you needed to know.

Product Support Lead (South Jordan, UT). Work as lead in propelling support imprvmnts in healthcare s/ ware applics. Act as product subject matter expert for customer support team. Work w/ techn’l support team & Product team to identify functionality & improve operational support of product. Transition product releases to Customer Support Team, delivering training & creating knowl articles for troubleshooting service requests. Conduct Problem Investigations to prevent recurrence. Perform troubleshooting, analysis, research & resolution using advanced query & prgmg skills. Communicate the overall status & health of the applic. Identify areas of imprvmt in monitoring, applic stability, & speed of determining root cause. Test & validate system performance. Improve product supportability to reduce the support burden of products. Min Reqmts: Master’s Deg in Comp Sci, Engg, I.T. or rltd field. 1 yr of exp in a computer s/ware prof’l position, to incl: exp providing techn’l support on s/ware applics; Root Cause Analysis (RCA); Process Modeling tools: MS Visio, Miro; Data Analysis: Tableau, Eazy BI; Languages: SQL, HTML, XML; Service Mgmt tools: Sales Force, Jira. Telecommuting permitted. Mail resumes to: Barbara Chapman, PointClickCare Technologies USA Corp., 10377 S. Jordan Gateway, South Jordan, UT 84095

urban LIVING

Happy Haunting!

October is a spooky month in Utah. There are haunted houses and corn mazes around every windy corner. As fall settles in, our thoughts turn to Halloween.

If you want the seasonal and maddening experience of getting lost in a corn maze, there are several to check out, including Cornbelly’s in Lehi (with a puzzle created to look like country music star Lainey Wilson), Washington’s Staheli Family Farm, Syracuse’s Black Island Farms, Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove and Lapoint Corn Maze in Lapoint.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. “Le Freak” disco group

5. “No ___!” (“I’ve had enough,” in Spanish)

8. New Testament king/villain

13. Kind of exhaust

14. Japanese sashes

16. South American masa dish that’s doughy when undercooked 17. “Mad Men” award

18. Taverna liqueur that tastes like anise

19. Utensil with small holes

20. Words chosen to be ignored, maybe 23. Manufacturer of bar code scanners and ATMs

24. Large blob

25. Negative decisions

28. Reminder of a debt

30. Monarch in Spain, but not the U.S.

31. Scummy pair?

34. Latin Grammy-nominated Mexican musician ___ Paz

These seasonal sites not only offer corn mazes, many have petting zoos. Staheli Family Farm also has duck races, a corn slide, face-hole and giant chair photo ops and a cow train depot. Wellsville’s American West Heritage Center has a corn maze as well as Little Bear Bottoms’ Haunted River Trail and spooky barn ride.

If corn ain’t your thing, there are several haunted attractions, like Fear Factory or Nightmare on 13th in Salt Lake City, the Castle of Chaos in Midvale and the Haunted Forest in American Fork. There’s also the Hour of Darkness Haunted Trail in Farmington. Extra creepage can be had at Asylum 49 in Tooele, billed as “Utah’s Scariest Haunted Hospital.”

The great thing about these offerings is that each year they mix up the interior scares so there’s always a new surprise and/or theme around each corner.

I have to say, I was a skeptic when I bought tickets years ago to Nightmare on 13th. But I was happily terrified by the experience and was amazed it took about 45 minutes to get through the entire adventure. Many of these places hire professional folks from Disney attractions to design the scares every year.

My favorite for a longer fall experience is Frightmares at Lagoon, with nine haunted attractions, Halloweenthemed entertainment and food offerings throughout the park—and of course all the rides are open.

Lagoon was also just awarded a liquor license as they look to open a private club and bar next year, so the spirits will be extra spirited when next October rolls around.

And yes, Lagoon sells beer at its Bavarian-themed Biergarten, which is located south of the Roller Coaster. The Biergarten offers a variety of local craft beers on tap, as well as domestic and imported favorites, and serves traditional Bavarian foods and American classics.

The amusement park also allows guests to bring their own alcohol, though it is restricted to certain areas and cannot be consumed in the Biergarten itself or in the Lagoon A Beach water park area. ■

37. Mango ___ bowl

38. Like those who don’t get called back

42. 2006-07 NBA MVP Nowitzki

43. Cross

44. Mo. for National Moldy Cheese Day

45. Vainglorious one

48. “___ with caution”

49. Agcy. created by Bush

50. “Toxic” singer Britney

53. Acquired

55. “Thanks for being thoughtful”

60. “Love Boat” guest who once said “Many people think I am an idiot. I think I am a genius”

61. He’ll feed you a line

62. “___ of Confusion” (Genesis hit)

64. “Charade” director Stanley

65. Tabloid nickname of the “Y’all Ain’t Ready” rapper once married to 50-Across

66. Birth state of seven presidents

67. Mudville’s “mighty” failure at the plate

68. Radio bands with more music than talk

69. Totally insane, like some choices or opinions

DOWN

1. Agency founded to help fight malaria, for short

2. Streaming service with “This Fool” and “Tell Me Lies”

3. Comedian and “Love Island” narrator Stirling

4. Bozo, e.g.

5. Clear choice for car enthusiasts?

6. Lie alongside

7. Word with bite or king

8. Barely at all

9. “Wicked” star Cynthia

10. Instructions in a box in the kitchen

11. Libya and Kuwait’s oil org.

12. Truth alternative

15. Island home of Thomas the Tank Engine

21. Allowing no returns, in tennis

22. Pumpkin ___ (fall beverage)

25. Fresh hairstyle

26. Corrupt, sycophantic courtier in “Hamlet”

27. Makeup of questionable attendance records, maybe

29. Aduba who played Shirley Chisholm in “Mrs. America”

32. Low-lying wetland

33. Building plots

35. Expensive printer fluid

36. Sometimes it’s a bust

37. “Damned dirty” creature of film

39. “Adam Ruins Everything” network ___TV

40. Argues (with)

41. “___ Destruction” (1991 film)

45. More than a misdemeanor

47.

51.

52. Extinguish, with “out”

54. Windbreaker material

55. “Jailbreak” and “Highway to Hell” band

56. “Stop doing that!”

57. Judge

58. The only U.S. location that will ever have a royal palace

59. Minute, hand, or rod, e.g.

63. El jefe’s

Last week’s answers

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

NEWS of the WEIRD

Animal Antics

A black swan nicknamed “Mr. Terminator” was removed from his adopted home in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, on Sept. 30, the Independent reported. The swan—also known as Reggie—turned up in the famous berg roughly nine months ago, said swan warden Cyril Bennis. At first, local residents and visitors loved seeing the creature among the native mute swans, which are white. “He became more popular than William Shakespeare himself,” Bennis said. But circumstances soured in time. “The darkest side of our Mr. Terminator happened when he tried to muscle in on a pair of our residents with a young cygnet ... He kicked out the male and the cygnet. He tried to take over its territory with the other female.” When the swan started trying to drown his fellow fowl, “It needed to move on.” Bennis is still recovering from injuries to his chest sustained during the removal process, but he said the “river is quiet and the mute swans are just relaxing.” Mr. Terminator is at his new home in Devon.

Least Competent Criminals

■ Keajion L. Jennings of Fairview Heights, Illinois, told the Fairview Heights police officer whose car he had just rear-ended that he did it because he was “bored” and “I hate cops.” The Belleville News-Democrat reported that on Sept. 24, as officer Travis Montgomery stopped a different car for an expired license plate sticker, Jennings drove his 2018 Camaro into the back of Montgomery’s squad car. Jennings “admitted he had consumed alcohol and weed gummies,” a department statement said. He was charged with criminal damage to government-supported property, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated assault. Montgomery and the occupants of the other car were unhurt.

■ Six people were arrested in Los Angeles, KTLA-TV reported on Sept. 30, after they attempted to raise a banner on the iconic Hollywood sign. The Los Angeles Police Department said the group “trespassed all the way up to the Hollywood sign” with a banner advertising the cryptocurrency business Pump.fun. Jake Hillhouse, one of the six, said the group wanted to be “one of the only” to successfully alter the sign; to that end, they filmed every step along the way, from creation of the banner to raising it with ropes as a police helicopter circled overhead. Their post on X went viral, so ... promotion achieved!

Compelling Explanations

■ Around 11 a.m. on Sept. 30, Joint Base McGuireDix-Lakehurst near Trenton, New Jersey, went into lockdown, the Associated Press reported. The warning stemmed from a text about a shooter on the base sent by Malika Brittingham, a civilian who works for the Naval Air Warfare Center. She told the person she texted that she had heard five or six shots and was sheltering in a closet with co-workers. The text recipient called 911, prompting the lockdown. But as it turned out, there was no shooter. Prosecutors say Brittingham confessed to committing the hoax because she had been “ostracized by her co-workers and hoped their shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to ‘trauma bond.’” She faces charges of knowingly conveying false information about an active shooter who didn’t exist.

■ In Palm Coast, Florida, Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies pulled over 57-year-old Michael Stanek of Welaka on Sept. 23 for speeding—or in his case, superspeeding, Fox News reported. Stanek was reportedly traveling at 107 miles per hour. When an officer asked Stanek why he was going so fast, bodycam video captured his excuse: “I have an appointment with my barber.” Chances are Stanek didn’t make it; the officer was recording saying he would spend the night in jail after “weaving in and out of traffic” as well as “putting other people’s lives in danger.”

People With Issues

Yaz Chapman, 34, of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, was diagnosed at age 4 with pica, a disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought of as food. As a child, she tried talcum powder, chalk and cigarette rolling papers. According to LADbible, the mom of four currently eats about 10 sheets of paper each day. “I look forward to the postman,” Chapman said. “Certain papers taste different and they have different textures. I’ll rip a corner off just to test it.” She said she drinks plenty of water to help with constipation. “When someone likes chocolate and they’re craving something sweet, they eat it and they feel those happy chemicals being released in their brain. It’s like that,” Chapman said about living with pica.

The Passing Parade

In Russia, doctors at the Kirov Regional Clinical Hospital were astounded when a 65-year-old man presented with a tumor the size of his head growing from the back of his neck, the New York Post reported. The surgeons were able to remove the tumor on Sept. 22 and identified it as a benign lipoma—a fatty lump that grows between the skin and muscle. The patient told doctors he’d been living with the lump for 16 years and had tried treating it with simple ointments, without success. Igor Popyrin, head of surgery at the hospital, said many patients “postpone a visit to a specialist, hoping that the formation will disappear on its own. The only effective treatment is surgical removal.”

News

You Can Use

Looking for a get-rich-quick scheme? Start saving those fingernail clippings. In traditional Chinese medicine, Oddity Central reported on Sept. 26, clippings are incorporated into medicinal products to treat abdominal distension and tonsillitis. Companies that make the treatments purchase the clippings and wash them thoroughly before grinding them into powder, and the prices paid for them are relatively high (compared to, say, the value of throwing them in the trash). One woman sold clippings for $21 per kilogram (she’d been saving them since childhood).

Bright Idea

Holiday Inn Express guests in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Japan are trying out a new concept in the wakeup call category, the New York Post reported on Oct. 1. The Breakfast Alarm Clock will wake up sleepy customers with the smells of their favorite breakfast items. People can choose aromas including coffee, bacon, blueberry muffin, mango or pear. The device works like a diffuser, releasing the scent at the desired time. Holiday Inn commissioned research that showed 58% of travelers in the Asia Pacific region said a pleasant smell would make them feel better as they woke up. “We know the power of scent: That first whiff of coffee or fresh croissant can work wonders,” said vice president Dean Jones.

Saw That Coming

On Sept. 22, as Lubbock (Texas) mounted police officers Bryson Lewis and William Trotter assisted with a routine patrol, they stopped a man who was walking in the road, rather than on the sidewalk, KCBD-TV reported. The officers thought 42-year-old Joseph Ramirez was acting suspiciously, and when they asked to check his pockets, he said no. Then Trotter joked that he had a “narcoticssmelling horse”—and Ramirez took off running. “He took it seriously, and the race was on,” Trotter said. But the police horses caught up with him quickly, and Ramirez was charged with evading arrest and tampering with physical evidence with the intent to impair. “Chasing bad guys is part of the fun in it for us,” Lewis said. “So when you get to chase down a bad guy and not even get tired, it’s a good day.”