Volume 4, Issue 2 // January 19 - February 2, 2017 Climbing Up, Thoughts Or Going on the New Political Era Downhill? DRINK Sports Screen New Brewery: Pg On Ice: A Hockey Pg Interview with Pg Common Block Opens 23 League of Brewers 26 director Alex Cox! 27 2 / WWW.ROGUEVALLEYMESSENGER.COM Grow. Process. Enjoy. Celebrate! Ring in the New Year with The Hemp & Cannabis Fair! January 21-22, 2017 Tools & Horticulture 100+ Accessories Supplies booths! Hemp Medicinal & 2 lecture products recreational stages! jackson county fairgrounds win tix $15 weekend 1 Peninger Rd, central point follow us sat 10-5, sun 11-5 @thcfair $10 military www.thcfair.com Thanks to our sponsors: JANUARY 19 – FEBRUARY 2, 2017 / THE ROGUE VALLEY MESSENGER / 3 The Rogue Valley Messenger CONTENTS PO Box 8069 | Medford, OR 97501 541-708-5688 page page roguevalleymessenger.com SOUND SPORTS [email protected] Karl Denson has played with Entering its second season, THE BUSINESS END OF THINGS Lenny Kravitz, Blackalicious, 21 the Brewery Hockey League 26 and is the saxophonist for gives a whole new meaning SALES MANAGER Katie Ball The Rolling Stones. But to “on ice.” “I think hockey SALES REPS Tuula Rebhahn, Jody Guion rather than rest on his very WEB MASTER Tammy Wilder and beer is a good combo,” thick bed of laurels, Denson SOCIAL MEDIA WIZ Alex Sophia says General Manager of OUR FINANANCIAL WIZARD Sara Louton, Advanced Books spends his off-time fronting Walkabout Brewing Company DISTRIBUTION Alex Sophia, Olivia Doty his own band, Karl Denson’s Cameron Litton. OUR WORDSMITHS Tiny Universe, which will perform at the Historic PUBLISHER & EDITOR Phil Busse Ashland Armory. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sara Jane Wiltermood MUSIC EDITOR Josh Gross PRODUCTION MANAGER Katie Ball CALENDAR EDITOR Jordon Lindsey FOOD page SCREEN pagepage ROAMING REPORTERS Hannah Jones Chef Mario Chavez Our writer Charles Fischman ART CRITIC Jordan Marie Martinez has been cooking in caught up with independent OUTDOOR EXPERTS 22 27 Jeanine Moy, Mike Dickenson Southern Oregon kitchens director Alex Cox, whose x COLUMNISTS Rob Brezsny, Shannon Wheeler, for over twenty years, and 80s punk-inspired films like Deborah Gordon, Dan Smith for each of those years, FREELANCERS Repo Man and Sid & Nancy Tyrell Trimble, Tuula Rebhahn, striving towards one thing: to Erin Zelinka, Melissa Haskin, Julie Gillis and Charles achieved cult status. Now Fischman have his own restaurant. living in Colestin Valley on GET IN TOUCH Now open: Onyx. And Southern Oregon’s fringe, Cox our food reviewer Melissa EMAIL [email protected] is completing his latest work, Haskin reports back that the MUSIC [email protected] Tombstone Rashomon, a multi- food “undeniably shines.” perspective, re-imagining of EVENTS [email protected] the notorious, über-shootout of ADVERTISE [email protected] 1881 Arizona. SALES DEADLINE: 5 pm Thurs EDITORIAL DEADLINE: 5 pm Thurs Don’t Shoot the Messenger 4 Sound 20 CALENDAR DEADLINE: 12 pm Thurs CLASSIFIED DEADLINE: 4 pm Thurs Letters 5 Food & Drink 22 Deadlines may shift for special/holiday issues. News 7 Culture 25 Sports & Outdoors 26 ABOUT THE COVER: Public Profile 8 Feature 9 Screen 27 MT. ASHLAND Our Picks 13 Wellness 28 PHOTO TAKEN BY: JORDON BOYD Live Music and Nightlife 14 Free Will Astrology 29 @jtotheboyd Weed Garden 30 Events 16 Rec Room 31 Your Local Solar Company. True South Solar is Southern Oregon’s largest and most experienced solar panel installer. When you couple renewable energy tax credits and cash incentives with our region’s exceptional solar resource, going solar is easy. Call us today for your free site assessment 800.947.1187 truesouthsolar.net 4 / WWW.ROGUEVALLEYMESSENGER.COM SOU CREATIVE ARTS FACULTY EXHIBITION Complementing the Southern Oregon University DON’T SHOOT Center for Humanities Campus Theme THE MESSENGER ART SHAPES OF CURIOSITY On View January 27 – March 11, 2017 • Open Mon – Sat, 10 AM – 4 PM of Silver FEATURING David Bithell • Cody Bustamante • Garrick Imatani Lining Miles Inada • Kyle Peets • Max Reinhardt Do we deserve the president we get? And, Margaret Sjogren • Robin Strangfeld • Summer Ventis as Alexis de Tocqueville once quipped, do we Curated by Kelly Worman resemble our leaders? A troubling thought considering that Donald Trump has the tempera- OPENING RECEPTION ment and syntax of a second-grade bully. Or, will January 26, 2017, 5 – 7 PM opposition and adversity hone and clarify what is important and worthwhile in our lives and country? We are on the brink of a new chapter in American his- MUSEUM For information on Tuesday Tours, tory, and how that plays out at the White House and the First Fridays, and FREE Family Days, U.S. Capitol will certainly be covered by CNN and FOX visit us online at sma.sou.edu News, and the national newspapers. But the front lines for this new era will be in numerous cities and towns around America—from watching how steel mill towns in Pennsylvania survive, or don’t, new economic #ShapesOfCuriosity pressures; to considering whether sanctuary cities push back against new im- migration policies and attitudes; and, closer to home, how regions like southern @SCHNEIDERMoA Oregon change and are affected. In this issue, it is easy to see how these new tensions are already shaping up new ideas and policies here. In our News section, we have a report (page 7) from a test voyage of an electric bus by Josephine Community Transit. It is certainly one small puzzle piece in the desperate fight to curb global warming. And, our Feature (page 9) asks various residents about how they are anticipat- 1250 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 ing the new president. 541-552-6245 email: [email protected] • web: sma.sou.edu In this issue, we also recognize the role that community plays. As the Trump Image: Max Reinhardt, Nightmarks, 2016, digital print, 30” x 40”, detail SCHNEIDER administration had hammered on the ways in which people are different, it is important to consider the connections that form social networks and com- munities—and, our writer Jordan Marie Martinez checks in with the Brewery Hockey League, which includes four local breweries; BricktownE Brewing Company, Caldera, Walkabout Brewing Company, and Opposition Brewing Co. Although potentially competitors in business—and on the ice—it is important to recognize that they have chosen to find not the differences that separate them, but another way to come together. Yes, corny; but important to remem- ber. There are three wonderful reviews in our Food section. Our beer reviewer Charles Fischman drops in on the newly opened Common Block Brewing Company in downtown Medford (page 23). What I like most about this article is that he points out the irony that a building that once sold automobiles—the very means that “drove” people away from town centers and into the suburbs— now houses a pub, a place that pulls people together. Our food reviewer Melissa Haskin, who has been an amazing addition to our staff, also files a pair of reviews on two restaurants, the newly opened Onyx for her main review (page 22) and also Rogue Eats for her “Cheap Eats” column (page 23). While the restaurants are very different on the pocket book, they both represent something incredibly central to what makes America “great”; that is, the ability to pursue an individual dream. Both restaurants were opened by men who have worked throughout the region in various restaurants, but now have opened their own—and both are thriving. In this issue, we also check in with film director Alex Cox (page 27), who lives in the area. Cox is a true artist, and has created clever, funny and challeng- ing films; perhaps some of his best-known (at least by me) are a pair of early 80s punk-based motion pictures, Sid & Nancy, and Repo Man. Reading over the in- terview that our writer Fischman conducted with Cox, it was hard to not recall the 80s; a brusk political era, but one that saw a remarkable artistic pushback for social issues from gay rights to environmental awareness, and a decade filled with films standing up to bullies (Stand By Me, Revenge of the Nerds, Breakfast Club). Yes, adversity makes for great art, and already our country’s artists are making their voices heard, from the cast of Hamilton lecturing Vice-President Mike Pence to Meryl Streep going toe-to-toe with the president. We are bracing for a new political era, but we are also hopeful because we see already see why America is great—because it has individuals and communities are creative, caring and kind as southern Oregon. JANUARY 19 – FEBRUARY 2, 2017 / THE ROGUE VALLEY MESSENGER / 5 LETTERS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? Send your thoughts to: [email protected] Letters must be received by noon Friday before next print date for inclusion in the following week’s paper. Please limit letters to 250 words. Speak Up Submission does not guarantee publication. RE.: JACKSONVILLE DEVELOPMENT permanently alter the landscape of Jacksonville and of course cannabis regulations are ultimately com- Preservation of a National Historic Landmark vers- become our legacy. pletely changing the face of agricultural land. Prices es development has come to the forefront in Jackson- If you are of the belief that local history belongs of farm land since 2012 have skyrocketed and many ville as building contractors, real estate brokers and to all of us, and deserves priority over profit and de- many family farms have been sold to accommodate city government move forward with plans to increase velopment, then I ask you to attend the Public Hear- these industries. We need to lift the ban on rural resi- the city density and ultimately, open urban expansion. ing on Code Amendments, January 18 at 6 pm at the dential farming and protect or agricultural lands.