Dungeons & Dragons was invented in this Wisconsin town. Why no statue?

• April 27, 2023

Christopher Borrelli | Chicago Tribune

When Ed Schwinn thinks about the history of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin — and as president of the board of directors for the Geneva Lake Museum, he thinks about it quite a bit — he thinks of a summer retreat, a tourist town that has fewer than 10,000 year-round residents. He thinks of his own family living there year-round for 34 years. He thinks of his grandfather, who helped steer the Schwinn Bicycle Company into becoming a household name, buying a second home on the lakefront in the 1920s. He notes that a lot of summer families have long since become permanent residents, though “when I grew up on Lake Geneva, people with homes on the lakefront shut off the water on Labor Day, slipped a key under the mat and went home until May.”

He thinks of all those wealthy, famous names associated with the history of the town — the Schwinns, the Wrigleys, the Maytags, the Wards — then admits, “No matter how many well-known families have been coming here a century or more, I’m not sure any of us have done as much for the city of Lake Geneva as Gary Gygax.”

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, you’d be hard-pressed to learn more in Lake Geneva.

True, there is a combination store and small museum there centered on Gygax’s inventions. And yes, one of Gygax’s homes is now something like holy ground for true believers. But there are no historic markers or formal signs of civic pride, and the closest thing Lake Geneva has to formal recognition of Gary Gygax is a maroon brick alongside the lake itself, set into a promenade and inscribed with the following:

“In memory of E. Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons.”

“Call me biased because he’s my dad,” said Luke Gygax, one of Gygax’s six children, “but I don’t know another figure from Lake Geneva who had as much impact beyond Lake Geneva as my dad. You should drive into Lake Geneva and there should be a sign, at the least, saying: ‘Lake Geneva, Home of Dungeons & Dragons.’ Someone in local government should be arguing for this. Hopefully, the 50th anniversary will help.”

Chuckle, but he’s not wrong.

Next year will mark a half-century since Gygax and co-developer Dave Arneson debuted a radical new form of tabletop gaming, one that did away with a traditional board and relied on storytelling, a set of dice and a player’s imagination. In subsequent decades, the game’s popularity gave the fantasy genre new life, influencing video game designers, artists, authors, costume makers and generations of Hollywood producers. In March, a new Chris Pine-led “Dungeons & Dragons” movie became the highest-grossing film in the country, unseating the latest “John Wick” blockbuster. A few weeks later, Gary Con, an up-and-coming convention held annually near Lake Geneva in honor of Gygax, drew 3,000 attendees, including Vince Vaughn, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and “Game of Thrones” co-creator D.B. Weiss — not to speak or sign autographs, but to blend in and play alongside fellow gamers. According to Wizards of the Coast, the Seattle company that now owns Dungeons & Dragons (and is itself owned by Hasbro), more than 50 million people worldwide have played the game. After a lull in popularity, the pandemic gave D&D a renewed burst of energy, and now it’s more popular than ever, with an estimated 14 million active players.

Seems worth a statue at least, right?

“Lake Geneva has an opportunity here,” said Paul Stormberg, a Nebraska auction house owner and president of the Gygax Memorial Fund, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) set up more than a decade ago with Gygax’s widow, Gail, after Gygax died at age 69 in 2008. “But I don’t think the town has embraced yet what this could mean. There are whole towns that shape their economies around the legacy of a single author. D&D is niche. But so is chess. And if chess was invented in your town, you’d probably want to celebrate that.”

This is a story about how we choose to recognize a cultural legacy, particularly when the legacy is not that of a soldier, politician, activist or wizard of more accepted classical arts. Chess Records on South Michigan Avenue, one of the birthplaces of rock n’ roll, gets a small home and adjoining garden. Miles Davis gets a statue in his hometown of Alton, Illinois, north of St. Louis. And John Belushi, in Wheaton, his hometown, gets nothing at all.

Rarely, however, does any of it feel like enough.

Vintage game modules from the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons on display at The Dungeon Hobby Shop and Museum in Lake Geneva, which is located in the old offices of TSR, the company Gary Gygax created to sell the game. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

Nearly a decade ago, I went to Lake Geneva to speak with Gail Gygax, who was trying then to get the Lake Geneva city government interested in a huge, wildly ambitious memorial to her late husband. City administrators felt that she needed the money for the memorial first. And better focus. Like any good D&D player — despite having barely played — I wanted to know what happened next. The answer was epic.

There are tangentially related businesses. The former headquarters of TSR, the company Gary Gygax started to publish D&D, is now a hobby shop and small museum devoted to TSR. The home where Gygax first played D&D is now rentable for D&D matches and parties. This summer, the Geneva Lake Museum will open a permanent exhibit about Gygax’s life. And for years, a local fan has been raising money to build a 30,000-square-foot immersive fantasy-themed entertainment center and restaurant in Lake Geneva named the Griffin & Gargoyle, with an eye on opening in time for 50th-anniversary festivities around D&D.

Yet it’s unclear if there will be any.

“I never really thought about this in the light of day, I suppose,” said Brian Waspi, head of Lake Geneva’s tourism commission, and himself a D&D player. “I grew up on the game. My brother tested it with Gary. I have D&D books on my shelf right here, and I know all about its resurgence, which is amazing. But if you’re from Lake Geneva, I think it’s just something that was always here. It’s felt like more of a local thing around here. It stayed sort of alternative and different for a long time, and only now seems to be in the mainstream.”

Not to mention, since Gygax’s death 15 years ago, there have been more lawsuits involving his estate and creation than even a Dungeon Master could juggle; one, between Luke and Gail, his stepmother, over a contested Gary Gygax will, was set for trial this spring in Lake Geneva. And none of that even touches the decades-long stink attached to D&D after concerned parents and evangelical preachers in the 1980s linked it with Satan worship, resulting in no less than “60 Minutes” devoting a full hour to this perceived epidemic; that scare would be so enduring the most recent season of “Stranger Things” was partly centered on its town attacking a harmless cadre of D&D players called the Hellfire Club.

Figurines for the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, on exhibit at the Geneva Lake Museum. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

Asked why Lake Geneva still seems ambivalent about its famous creation, Ben Riggs, a Milwaukee author who wrote “Slaying the Dragon,” a 2022 history of the game, said: “I think, for one, the Satanic panic still lingers, in a way. In general, ask people around Lake Geneva what they think of the game, and a lot of them act like you’re pointing to a bug under a rock. There’s a sense of shame about it. In many ways, this new movie is a Wisconsin product, but I find that Wisconsin is like, what do you mean? It’s not cheese or beer or sausage. Having said that, I also think that their lack of understanding of D&D makes some sense.”

Dungeons & Dragons offers no winners or losers; it seeks cooperation among players, not competition. It’s known for having rule books so dense they fill bookshelves; it was never the easiest game to comprehend.

“During the Satanic panic, my kids were kids and I remember thinking, ‘Well, they’re not playing that,’” said Charlene Klein, the mayor of Lake Geneva and a native of rural Illinois. “But I also never realized what the game was until five years ago, when I visited Gary Con. They’re not all nerds. They’re professionals. They’re smart. Years ago, when I was president of the board at Horticultural Hall, I remember guys coming in to look around. I asked if I could help them. They said, ‘We just want to breathe the air.’ Gary held his first (gaming) convention in that hall. I thought, ‘Wow, they’re devoted.’ Now I think they’re creative and remarkable.”

Just outside of her office, high on the walls of the administration building, there are murals of Lake Geneva’s past, a narrative of bucolic summers, parasols, sailboats. There are no images of introverted middle-class teens huddled at basement card tables, jiggling 20-sided dice, pretending to be fifth-level warlocks. The town was established by business owners in 1837, and, partly thanks to railroads, became a seasonal destination for Chicago money. Tourism, and summertime, then and now, made its economy.

Patrick Quinn, the now-retired archivist of Northwestern University, grew up in Lake Geneva, raised by his grandparents and an uncle. He attended high school with Gygax. His uncle delivered mail; his grandfather, a plumber, installed toilets for the vacationing rich. “Was there tension? You mean between the working class and the wealthy?” He laughed. “Most people I knew worked for the rich bastards on the lake. And a lot were laid off after the summer. Was there resentment? In a way, it was like a feudal medieval village.”

He remembers Gygax and friends escaping into town swamps to smoke and talk castles and monsters. “Understand, Gary was a total geek in high school — way outside the mainstream of kids I grew up with.”

Gygax, originally, was a Chicagoan. His parents moved after his mother became concerned about raising a son in the Uptown neighborhood. She herself came from a middle-class Lake Geneva family. Gary found friends, though never graduated high school. After a stint in the Marines, he returned to Lake Geneva, married and commuted by rail to an insurance job in Chicago. Hobby gaming was never far from his mind.

By the late 1960s, he had founded Gen Con in Lake Geneva, a gaming convention that became not only a major influence on later nerd gatherings like San Diego Comic-Con and Chicago’s C2E2, but continues today in Indianapolis, attracting 50,000 attendees a year.

Photographs of Gary Gygax in the Lake Geneva home where he created and first played Dungeon & Dragons in 1974. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

By the early 1970s, his small home in Lake Geneva was a Midwest mecca for a loose fellowship of gaming buddies. “It was a social club of guys, many driving over from Illinois, all of which eventually morphed into TSR,” said Jon Peterson, author of “Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons.” “So D&D was initially a white middle-class thing. That’s changed profoundly, in terms of race and gender. But in a town like Lake Geneva, you do wonder who would connect to a game like this.”

But internationally, TSR, Gygax’s company, became a leading publisher of role-playing tabletop games, with rule books so popular they made their way onto New York Times bestseller lists. Before moving to the West Coast, the company employed 500 people in the area, attracting artists and model makers and writers and toy designers. Its cultural influence would become far more familiar than the mechanics of its complicated gameplay. It became a rallying point in the 1970s and 1980s, organizing like-minded nerds into social networks. It moved tales of swords and sorcery beyond the shadow of J.R.R. Tolkien. It also introduced the idea that a player’s skills could increase with experience — a foundational tenet of contemporary video games. In fact, the concept (and slang use) of “leveling up” was a direct byproduct of the gameplay principle in D&D.

For better and worse.

D&D was so strange and original (and vaguely defined), it scared people.

“The Satan thing began in 1979,” Peterson said, “with a student at Michigan State who disappeared, presumably into tunnels under campus, because he was so into D&D presumably he confused the game with reality.” A few years later a Virginia mother claimed her teenage son’s suicide was a result of role-playing games. It snowballed from there. Gygax was a Jehovah’s Witness who hosted Bible study in his home. But D&D grew popular against a backdrop of ‘70s paranoia, Chicago’s Tylenol Murders and preachers eager to claim fantasy was leading to satanic rituals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, would later disavow any link between suicides and D&D (and the existence of underground networks of Satanists massacring children in wooded areas). But to this day, the Federal Bureau of Prisons maintains a ban on prisoners playing (or owning) D&D, citing everything from it being a security threat to a gateway for gang activity.

A Dungeons & Dragons role-playing aide on exhibit at the Geneva Lake Museum. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

“Still, the thing about people who said D&D was a tool of evil forces was that they actually made a trenchant observation about the game,” Riggs said. “Defenders would say that it’s just a game. And it was never just a game. It occupied attention in this scary, new way. You might even question if it was a game at all! I think it’ll join jazz and comic books as a seminal invention of the American imagination — but what kind of game could actually last for weeks?” Not to mention, TSR art featured demons. Imagine being a nervous parent in 1983 and finding your kids at a table, casting spells to resurrect the dead and call on dark forces.

Ask around Lake Geneva now about the link between the Satanic panic and their famous export and you get a lot of guarded eye rolls, then claims that some of the older residents still believe it’s dangerous, but no, not themselves. You’re more likely to hear about the messy afterlife of Gary Gygax: A few years ago, Gail Gygax was in a $30 million breach-of-contract lawsuit with a movie producer over control of the Gary Gygax name (the lawsuit was eventually dropped). Last fall, Wizards of the Coast, which purchased TSR in the 1990s but let the trademark lapse in 2000, filed an injunction against an owner of the Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva and the latest iteration of TSR.

The only thing that anyone agrees on is that Lake Geneva should do more.

Inside the Lake Geneva home where Gary Gygax created and first played Dungeon & Dragons. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

By the end of this summer, there will be two self-directed Gary Gygax walking tours of Lake Geneva. (He didn’t drive, so most of the stops are within blocks of each other.) One tour is offered by the Dungeon Hobby Shop, which itself is worth a look: Artifacts from TSR fill glass cases, most of the memorabilia donated by former TSR employees who still live nearby. But it’s not exactly a true museum — if you don’t understand much about D&D before stepping inside, you’d probably still feel lost afterward.

The other tour is organized by the Geneva Lake Museum. I went there with Yolanda Frontany, a bank manager from Portage Park who bought Gary Gygax’s former home. We walked through the museum’s half-finished Gygax exhibit, which will eventually feature D&D stained glass windows, a custom D&D gaming table and a brief history of role-playing games. A docent said he’d been there his whole life and he didn’t know much about D&D, only that people now come here from all over the world for a taste of its history.

“Yeah,” Frontany said, “they all show up at my front door.”

The Lake Geneva home where Gary Gygax created and first played Dungeon & Dragons. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

About 18 years ago, while visiting Lake Geneva with her husband, she slowed the car outside a tiny white house on Center Street, not much bigger than a Chicago bungalow. Even after she bought it as a second house (along with the house next door), she still didn’t know the full history: Here Gary Gygax created the original Dungeons & Dragons rules and gameplay and first tested it with friends. There’s no historic marker out front that tells you this, only a rubber dragon mask in a picture window. Frontany recalled her grandmother — “a strict Roman Catholic” — imploring her to stay away from D&D. But now she rents the house next door as an Airbnb and, if you’re a D&D fan, for a little extra, she’ll let you play D&D in the very home where it was all started. She’s hosted D&D-themed bachelor parties here. She showed me pictures on her phone of Vince Vaughn playing there a few weeks ago, holding up a T-shirt that reads: “I Played D&D at Gary’s House.”

“People make pilgrimages here. They take off their shoes at the front door — holy ground! I’m already getting inquiries about the anniversary next year,” she said. “But I don’t have a clue what (the city) has planned.” She can feel a palpable disinterest.

Ed Schwinn of the Geneva Lake Museum said he spent a lot of time with city officials when the museum was still considering a Gygax exhibition, and “I’ve heard the whole gambit, from the enthusiastic, to they don’t get it, to they misunderstand what D&D is.” Mayor Klein noted the town’s history of attracting artists and said “there’s a lot of opinion about where, or if, stuff like this gets recognized.” She said Gary Con is drawing visitors to the town during its less-crowded months. She expects “to make a proclamation of sorts.”

An exhibit under construction at the Geneva Lake Museum about the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, which was created by Lake Geneva resident Gary Gygax. (E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Chicago Tribune)

Beyond that, there are no solid plans to honor Gygax or the anniversary of D&D.

Brian Waspi, the tourism commissioner, whose office gave the Geneva Lake Museum $10,000 for its exhibit, said “the town should and probably will lean into this eventually and own this — absolutely, it will.” But so far, he has “not personally heard of any initiatives.”

Paul Stormberg of the Gygax Memorial Fund is still preparing his.

He calls it the Greater Gygax Initiative and plans to pitch it for 2024. It includes a new memorial design (a gaming table, with a Gygax statue), an annual festival, historic markers and a push to educate the town on Gygax. He’s talked to the mayor and city council and said his “models give a $3 million impact annually,” partly in the form of hotel bookings and restaurant traffic. He’s launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise more for a memorial; the fund’s most recent IRS filings suggest it’s raised about $200,000 in a decade.

Luke Gygax is skeptical of that memorial fund but added: He and the fund’s stewards want the same thing, to remind Lake Geneva that a piece of its local history still resonates around the world. He’s sick of boat tours that point out the home of the Wrigleys but never his father’s lakefront home. “There’s people out there who never water ski. They stayed home in dark rooms and played a game with friends for hours. They weren’t sailing on that lake. Now they have money. Someday I hope the city of Lake Geneva realizes this.”

[email protected]

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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What to know about prescription drugs promising weight loss

• April 27, 2023

By JONEL ALECCIA | AP Health Writer

Obesity is a major and growing problem around the world, but especially in the U.S., where more than 40% of adults and about 20% of children now meet the criteria for what doctors say has become an intractable chronic disease.

Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people.

Obesity is linked to scores of health problems that can lead to disability or even death, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and joint problems.

Researchers have long looked for medications that can help people lose weight, mostly with disappointing and, in some cases, dangerous results. In recent years, however, drugs designed to help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels have had the added effect of paring pounds.

Ozempic, a Novo Nordisk drug approved to treat diabetes in 2017, skyrocketed in use after celebrities and ordinary people on TikTok reported that their doctors prescribed it “off label” for weight loss. Wegovy, a higher dose version of the same medication, called semaglutide, was approved for weight loss for adults in 2021 and for children aged 12 and older late last year.

Now, a new drug made by Eli Lilly and Co., called tirzepatide, is poised to become the most potent obesity drug on the market, promising users losses of more than 30 to 50 pounds over time. Already approved under the brand name Mounjaro to treat type 2 diabetes, tirzepatide is being considered for fast-track approval as a weight-loss drug based on the results of key trials, with the latest announced on Thursday.

The new study found that patients with diabetes — who find it notoriously difficult to lose weight — could shed about 16% of their body weight, or more than 34 pounds using tirzepatide. An earlier study found that people without diabetes lost up to 22% of their body weight, or more than 50 pounds on the highest dose of the drug.

Tirzepatide and other medications spur weight loss by targeting the metabolic conditions that lead to extra pounds. Here’s what to know about these new prescription drugs that promise weight loss.

WHAT ARE THESE NEW WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS?

The drugs that have drawn the most attention have been a class of medications that activate a hormone known as GLP-1. They include Ozempic and Wegovy, which are two versions of the same medication, semaglutide.

Tirzepatide targets GLP-1, but also affects a second hormone, called GIP, which developers say contributes to its increased effectiveness. Mounjaro was approved to treat diabetes in May 2022.

The drugs are delivered through once-weekly injections. Users are advised to follow a healthful, reduced-calorie diet and to exercise regularly while using the drugs.

HOW DO OZEMPIC, WEGOVY AND MOUNJARO WORK?

The drugs work by mimicking the actions of hormones, found primarily in the gut, that kick in after people eat. The hormones help regulate blood sugar by triggering the pancreas to release insulin, another hormone, and slowing the release of sugar from the liver. People who are overweight or have obesity can become insulin-resistant, which means the body doesn’t respond to insulin properly.

The obesity drugs lower blood sugar and slow down digestion, so people feel full longer. They also affect signals in the brain linked to feelings of fullness and satisfaction, tamping down appetite, food-related thoughts and cravings.

Because people feel full longer, they eat less and lose weight.

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE DRUGS?

In a trial, adults who took Wegovy saw a weight loss of nearly 35 pounds, or about 15% of their body weight. Adolescents lost about 16% of their body weight.

The latest study of tirzepatide studied the drug in more than 900 patients with diabetes who were overweight or had obesity over nearly 17 months. It showed weight loss of up to 16% of body weight, more than 34 pounds, when using the highest dose of the drug. Patients who received placebo, or dummy injections, lost about 3% of their body weight, or 7 pounds.

An earlier trial of tirzepatide showed weight loss of between about 15% and about 22% of body weight, or about 35 pounds to about 52 pounds, depending on the dose.

The drugs appear effective for chronic weight management over many months. In addition to weight loss, they also reduce health problems associated with obesity, such as high blood sugar and markers of heart and metabolic disease.

However, it appears that if people taking the drugs stop, they regain the weight they lost — and the health problems that came with it.

WHY NOT JUST DIET AND EXERCISE?

In a typical weight-loss program where participants rely only on diet and exercise, research shows only about a third of people will lose 5% or more of their body weight, said Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Many people find it difficult to lose weight because of the body’s biological reactions to eating less, he said. There are several hormones that respond to reduced calorie intake by ramping up hunger to maintain body mass.

WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF THE DRUGS?

The most common side effects are short-lived gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea and stomach pain. Other possible effects include serious issues such as inflammation of the pancreas, kidney, gallbladder and eye problems. People with a history of certain thyroid cancers or a rare, genetic endocrine disorder should avoid the drugs, because it is not clear if tirzepatide causes thyroid problems, including cancer.

HOW MUCH DO THESE DRUGS COST?

The new anti-obesity medications are expensive. Wegovy costs about $1,300 a month and Mounjaro starts at about $1,000 a month. People with private insurance may be able to receive the drugs with only a small co-payment. However, many insurers don’t pay for the medications or they have restrictions regarding coverage. Medicare doesn’t cover most weight-loss drugs. Medicaid and the military insurer Tricare may cover them in some cases with prior approval.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Brittney Griner gets emotional discussing Russian detainment

• April 27, 2023

By JOHN MARSHALL (AP Sports Writer)

PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner got emotional quickly.

Speaking to reporters for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges, the WNBA star had to take a moment to compose herself after being asked about her resiliency through the ordeal.

“I’m no stranger to hard times,” Griner said Thursday from the lobby of the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. “Just digging deep. You’re going to be faced with adversities in life. This was a pretty big one. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”

Griner’s first news conference drew more than 100 people, including Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, members of the Mercury organization and her wife, Cherelle.

Griner was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

After nearly 10 months of strained negotiations between Washington and Moscow, Griner was exchanged in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8.

Griner kept a low profile following her return to the U.S. while adjusting to life back at home, outside of appearances at the Super Bowl, the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open and an MLK Day event in Phoenix.

Brittney Griner speaks on her resiliency in her first press conference upon her return to the court

“Put your head down and just keep going and moving forward” – @brittneygriner pic.twitter.com/b72ePflcSo

— WNBA (@WNBA) April 27, 2023

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White woman whose accusation led to the lynching of Emmett Till has died at 88, coroner says

• April 27, 2023

By Dianne Gallagher and Sara Smart | CNN

Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman whose accusation led to the 1955 lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in Mississippi — and whose role in Till’s brutal death was reconsidered by a grand jury as recently as last year — has died in Louisiana, the Calcasieu Parish coroner’s office confirmed to CNN.

Donham, 88, died Tuesday in Westlake, according to a fact of death letter from the Calcasieu Parish Coroner.

CNN has reached out to the Till family.

In August 1955, 14-year-old Till was beaten and shot to death after he allegedly whistled at Bryant — now Donham — in Money, Mississippi.

Later, her husband, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, took Till from his bed and ordered him into the back of a pickup truck and beat him before shooting him in the head and tossing his body into the Tallahatchie River. They were both acquitted of murder following a trial in which Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett grabbed and verbally threatened her.

In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Donham on any charges.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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Cooking with Judy: An option for many an occasion

• April 27, 2023

“What can I bring?”

You’re invited for dinner, and those four words come automatically, so when Joyce Simpson of Santa Ana invited me for dinner, she suggested a side dish, and “could you possibly make it vegan?”

No problem! My go-to stuffed butternut squash from “Jewish Traditional Cooking” (Simon and Schuster, $30) by Ruth Joseph and Simon Round, was a big hit (as usual!) and was loved by carnivores and vegans alike.

I have brought this dish to potlucks many times and have astounded the vegetarians and vegans who find the stuffing so meaty they can’t believe I hadn’t hidden some in there.

Maybe you’ve eyed that big, pear-shaped giant of a squash and thought, too much trouble.

You could lose a finger cutting through that tough skin! Here’s what I do: I pierce that baby three or four times with a skewer (so it won’t burst) and microwave it on high for four or five minutes, making it easier to cut, and then proceed with the recipe, shaving off the roasting time a hair.

Precut, cubed butternut squash, available in supermarkets, makes short work of some recipes.

No exact recipe here, but I like to cut the cubes even smaller, throw in some maple syrup and brown sugar, sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg and roast in an oiled pan at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then I turn the cubes with a wide spatula, and continue roasting until sufficiently brown and meltingly sticky and yummy, maybe another 15 minutes. Sometimes I turn off the oven and leave them there a while for extra crispness.

Butternut squash is a great source of fiber, vitamins A, C and E as well as manganese, magnesium and potassium. It is believed that wild squash was eaten in the Americas 10,000 years ago. Native Americans would bury it with the dead to provide nutrition, and the seeds were thought to enhance fertility. The Incas cultivated it in the 15th century.

Charles A. Leggett is credited with creating the butternut squash and coining the name.

In the mid 1940s, Leggett crossed the gooseneck squash, which was difficult to transport because of its long, gangly shape, with the giant-sized Hubbard squash. He was looking for a regularly formed squash that was compact and easier to prepare. He thought the hybrid was “smooth as butter and sweet as a nut,” and the name stuck.

Actually classified as a fruit, butternut squash can be roasted, mashed in baked goods and casseroles or puréed for soups. Combine roasted cubes with black beans for amazing vegetarian tostadas, use it in pies instead of pumpkin, add cubes to a kale salad, top a pizza with it along with spinach and goat cheese or add Greek yogurt and tahini to puréed roasted garlic and squash for a tangy Mediterranean dip.

Fullerton’s Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook.” Her website is cookingjewish.com.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

Adapted from “Jewish Traditional Cooking” by Ruth Joseph and Simon Round. I cook the squash and prepare the stuffing in advance, but mix in pine nuts right before stuffing the squash for that extra crunch.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash (at least 2 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons good quality paprika
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup cooked green lentils (made according to package directions)
1 cup cooked brown rice (made according to package directions)
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup dill, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds, and discard. Make crisscross cuts into flesh; brush top with oil. Season well with salt and pepper, and place in roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes.

2. In large saucepan, gently cook onions in oil until soft, but not colored. Add garlic last 2 minutes of cooking. Stir in paprika. Add wine and cook until almost evaporated. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Fill squash cavities with lentil-rice mixture; bake, covered, another 30 minutes or until squash is very soft.

​ Orange County Register 

4 easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint when traveling

• April 27, 2023

Travel, by nature, takes energy. Moving our bodies around the globe requires fuel, often in the form of carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

Air travel generates 11% of total U.S. transportation emissions, according to a 2021 White House fact sheet. That’s a huge number, but it points to another big carbon toll: 89% of emissions happen on the ground.

Thankfully, being a more sustainable traveler doesn’t require enormous sacrifice — or expense. Reducing the impact of getting around on the ground at your destination is easy and can improve the quality of your trip.

1. Visit transit-friendly destinations

For many destinations, the airport signs that point to “ground transportation” have only a couple of options: rideshares and rental cars. Neither of these is very carbon-friendly, according to a 2022 report from the Congressional Budget Office, which estimates that cars release just under half a pound of carbon dioxide per passenger mile traveled.

On the other hand, rail transit releases less than half as much carbon per passenger mile, making it far less emission intensive.

Choosing to visit destinations with robust public train networks, such as New York City or Tokyo, can significantly improve the eco-friendly options for getting around.

Conversely, visiting destinations that all but require a rental car, such as the island of Maui in Hawaii, can balloon your carbon footprint on top of the emissions from a long flight.

This doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. Scooting around Japan by high-speed rail is a tourist attraction in its own right, as is marveling at the miraculously on-time performance of German rail. Even taking the D train to Brooklyn has its charms.

2. Rent an electric vehicle

Only a few years ago, renting an electric car was something only the rich or very eco-conscious would have considered. Now, the logic has changed as these vehicles go mainstream and charging stations pop up everywhere from grocery stores to hotel parking lots.

Rental car company Hertz made a splash by placing an order for 100,000 Tesla vehicles in 2021. Teslas made up 10% of Hertz’s fleet by the end of 2022, according to regulatory filings.

When we checked on Hertz, you could rent a Tesla Model 3 for $78 per day plus taxes out of Los Angeles — a reasonable rate, especially given the high costs of rental cars these days. Avis, Sixt and Enterprise also have electric vehicles in their fleet in select locations.

Alternative car rental platforms such as Turo offer Teslas and other EVs, making them a good choice in locations where traditional car rental companies have only gasoline-powered options.

Bonus: Renting an EV is a great way to test the pros and cons before purchasing one yourself.

3. Stay put

This option for reducing ground transportation emissions is so simple that it’s easy to overlook. Rather than trying to see every national park in California (there are nine, after all), consider sticking to one and taking it slow.

Not only is this a great way to avoid guzzling gas, it’s also rewarding in its own right. “Slow travel” promotes connecting with local culture and people rather than checking every item off the bucket list. It also means spending less of that precious vacation time in the car.

Beyond the metaphysical and environmental benefits of taking it slow, this approach can also reduce the cost of a trip. Rather than spending money on gas, take a local class or tour, or save it for the next trip.

4. Travel in groups

A single-occupancy car emits almost half a pound of carbon dioxide per passenger mile. That number scales with the number of passengers, meaning the more passengers, the fewer (relative) emissions.

This is good news for environmentally conscious families, who tend to fill cars and vans more than couples and solo travelers. And it’s a good reason to carpool for driving-intensive trips, such as those for weddings.

Again, this is an option to reduce emissions that doesn’t cost anything. In fact, it saves money.

The bottom line

Travel is literally world-expanding, but it comes with built-in environmental costs.

And while it can seem like there’s no alternative to renting a car or hiring an Uber (and sometimes there isn’t), there are ways to reduce the footprint of ground transportation without sacrificing the quality of your trip.

Consider destinations that offer public transportation where renting a car isn’t necessary. If that isn’t an option, you can always rent an EV or fill your rental car with more passengers to reduce the impact. And you can even consider slowing down and embracing “slow travel” as a personal and environmental win-win.

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​ Orange County Register 

BeachLife Festival brings music, food and art together to celebrate beach culture

• April 27, 2023

The BeachLife Festival, a celebration of beach culture, art, food and — of course — music, returns to Redondo Beach with a lineup of more than four dozen bands on four stages, including acts such as The Black Keys, Gwen Stefani, The Black Crowes, the Pixies, Modest Mouse, Poncho Sanchez, Band of Horses, John Fogerty and others.

While the music plays, talented chefs will be cooking multi-course meals served at a pop-up restaurant right on the side of the main stage and people will be able to check out a music-inspired art show where they can buy original pieces created by famous musicians.

The festival returns to Seaside Lagoon May 5-7 and will once again be anchored by music, food and art.

The music

Get ready to take a 40-ounce chug of freedom because the festival is giving people a nostalgic look back at one of the most celebrated local bands.

“We’re amongst some really talented folks on the bill and it’s just going to be so awesome,” said Rome Ramirez, who along with original Sublime bassist Eric Wilson make up Sublime with Rome.

The band, which formed after the death of Sublime leader Bradley Nowell, is taking the stage on day two of the festival, performing Sublime’s 1992 debut album “40oz. to Freedom” in its entirety.

With their set taking place around sunset on the Lowtide Stage, which is located on the sand and faces the ocean, this could be one of the musical and emotional highlights of the festival.

“This being their first record and what put them on the map, I feel like this is a very very important thing. It’s a big commemoration of what Sublime is,” Ramirez said.

The 23-song album is a mix of hip-hop samples, rock, ska, reggae and punk with some lyrics in Spanish and includes songs like “Smoke Two Joints,” “Date Rape,” and “Badfish.” It helped launch the Long Beach band into iconic status and turned them into hometown heroes.

“I just think this is an album that still sounds fresh. It still does. I’ve been listening to the album while rehearsing and just kind of diving back in and as I’m listening back I’m like, ‘This is so fire, it’s so good,’” he said.

For Ramirez, performing the album live is a way to honor the legacy of the band and its founder.

“Eric has told me before that every time he’s up on that stage all he can think of is Bradley. And I know it sounds cheesy but Brad is with us in everything we do. This was his band, you can hear it in the music, see it in the crowd,” he said

But a day before Sublime with Rome goes old school on the sand, a seminal alt-rock band will be showing a more mature side of themselves on night one of the festival — albeit at an earlier time then they’re used to.

“We’re going on at 6:30, the sun is still out, what the (expletive) is that about,” said Joey Santiago, guitarist of the Pixies, joking about their early evening set Friday evening at the Hightide mainstage.

He quickly acknowledged though that this is actually a pretty good time slot at a festival.

“We played Coachella 2004 when the sun was setting and it is a magical moment,” he said, adding that the beachside setting will only add to the magic.

“I am all for the atmosphere here, that is perfect. I’m glad people are on the beach,” he said.

Fronted by Black Francis, the Pixies are counted as one of the most significant bands of the late 1980s alt-rock movement, serving as a major influence for artists such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead and Weezer.

Songs like “Here Comes your Man,” “Where Is My Mind,” and “Debaser” are alt-rock classics and last year the band, which broke up in 1993 before reuniting in 2004, released its eighth studio album, “Doggerel.”

“You’re going to hear some of the new songs for sure and then we’re doing the songs people came to see,” Santiago said.

The new album offers a less punk and a more mature sound compared to some of the band’s earlier work. It still rocks but also adds a bit of folk and pop into the mix.

“The punk days were starting to wear out for us, as they should. I don’t know about you but seeing people my age still doing that doesn’t look right,” Santiago said.

The rest of the acts on the lineup however, look just right for Santiago.

“The acts there, yeah, I’m actually going to stick around and check people out,” he said.

The food

Since the festival’s inception in 2019 food has been a key component and a headlining event as well with star chefs preparing high-end meals right on the side of the mainstage at the DAOU SideStage Experience.

Guests at the 100-seat pop-restaurant are served a $100-$275 prix fixe menu crafted by a different chef each day of the festival.

Detailed menus have yet to be ironed out but cooking on May 5 is Josiah Citrin, the Michelin Star-rated chef and owner of Santa Monica’s acclaimed Mélisse Restaurant. On May 6, Chef Antonia Lofaso, the chef and owner of three acclaimed Los Angeles restaurants — Black Market Liquor Bar, Scopa Italian Roots, and DAMA — will be taking over the kitchen.

To close out the festival on May 7, chefs Lijo George and Max Boonthanakit, owners of the Michelin-starred downtown Los Angeles restaurant Camphor will serve the side stage crowd. Camphor recently served a prix fixe dinner at Coachella.

This year there will also be brunch served May 6-7 by pastry chef Stephanie Boswell and Jacob Ramos, who is the culinary director for the BeachLife Festival.

“I wanted to put the best people on the stage to cook and I think we accomplished that,” Ramos said.

He said each chef will try to match the vibe of the music with their menus.

“When you’re listening to The Black Keys and you got Josiah Citrin, a Michelin-starred chef, we could not get a better chef to perform with a Grammy-winning artist,” he said.

“And it’s L.A., it’s right on the ocean, I don’t think there’s a better way to get an experience like that,” Ramos said.

Adding to the food experience for those who don’t want to shell out extra bills to eat well is a lineup of vendors that include locals like smashburger spot Proudly Serving, and popular food spots like Spicy Pie pizza and Poutine Brothers.

“Even the vendors, all of them have very good food, with very good chefs. You’re not going to find a bad piece of food anywhere inside this festival,” Ramos said.

The art

Artwork from One red hot chili pepper and a whole lot of talented musicians will be on display and for sale at the festival’s Punk Rock & Paintbrushes pop-up gallery, which focuses on art inspired by music.

“It began to highlight the talent of professional musicians but in a different way, through their visual art. Whether that meant painting, photography and in any medium,” said Emily Nielsen, the founder of Punk Rock & Paintbrushes.

About 400 pieces of art will be displayed at the festival site.

The lineup of rock star artists showing off their artwork this year include Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Pennywise vocalist Jim Lindberg, LAW’s Jakob Nowell, The Revivalists’ Andrew Campanelli, Jason Cruz of Strung Out and others.

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Over the years the show has expanded to include professional athletes and family members of famous musicians. So expect to see pieces by skateboarder Steve Caballero and Tiffany Anastasia Lowe, the granddaughter of country music outlaw Johnny Cash.

The artwork covers all sorts of media, from Smith’s abstract paintings to realistic work to photography to Limberg’s paintings, which incorporate his lyrics into the work.

“This fits in perfectly with BeachLife,” Nielsen said.

“Not only does it tie in the art, the music, the beach, the surfing, but I feel with BeachLife a lot of folks that come might not go to an art exhibit, which is totally OK, and this exposes a different side of art to them,” she added.

​ Orange County Register 

Chris Young, Peabo Bryson and more headed to Southern California casinos

• April 27, 2023

Cinco de Mayo will soon be celebrated nationwide, and what better way to mark the occasion than with some entertainment at Southern California casinos. Whether you want to hear some norteño or just grab some food and drinks before catching a soul act featured in Disney films or a country singer who won a reality television show.

Be sure to check the official websites for the latest event information.

Intocable

Intocable is a band from Zapata, Texas, that plays norteño and tejano music. In 2011, the Grammy Award-winning group made history by being the first norteño group to perform at a Dallas Cowboys halftime show. The band started in the 1990s and is best known for hits such as “Y Todo para Qué?,” “Llévame En Tu Viaje” and “Alguien Te Va A Hacer Llorar.” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio. $49-$99. 800-827-2946. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Mohamed Ramadan & DJ Aseel

Mohamed Ramadan is an Egyptian actor, singer and producer. Earlier this year, the artist went viral on Tik Tok after a hashtag with his name reached over 8 million views, spotlighting his Arabic music. Some of the singer’s most notable songs include “Ya Habibi,” “Paris Dubai” and “Ensay.” The Dubai-based Arabic-music artist DJ Aseel, known for incorporating elements of traditional Arabian music into his mixes, will join Ramadan on stage. 8 p.m. May 5 at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, 777 S. Resort Drive, Valley Center. Tickets start at $132. 760-751-3100. harrahssocal.com.

Chris Young

Country singer Chris Young got his first big break when he won the reality television competition show “Nashville Star.” After winning, he released a self-titled album and signed with the country music label RCA Records Nashville. In a recent interview with Sony Music Nashville, Young also credited country singer Reba McEntire as one of the primary influences in his career. His hits include “The Man I Want to Be,” “I’m Comin’ Over” and “Who I Am with You.” 8 p.m. May 5, at Pala Casino Spa & Resort, 11154 Highway 76, Pala. $65-$110; 21-and-older only. 877-946-7252. palacasino.com.

Peabo Bryson

The Grammy-award-winning ballad and soul singer Peabo Bryson has made a name for himself with his collaborations and duets. Most of his duets feature female singers, including Celine Dion, Roberta Flack and Chaka Khan. He has also contributed to Disney soundtracks for “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Bryson’s most notable hits include “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again,” “Can You Stop the Rain,” and “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.” 9 p.m. May 6 at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon. Tickets start at $39. 951-849 3080. morongocasinoresort.com.

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​ Orange County Register