TCB March 7, 2019 — The Dot Man

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point March 7-13, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

WINSTON-SALEM EDITION

Connecting

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the dots

Sam, the Dot Man’s last show PAGE 14

Sacred grounds PAGE 16 Art on the plaza PAGE 8 Sara Romweber RIP PAGE 7

March 7-13, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Joey Medaloni, up the mountain It was at the bar at Mozelle’s, in the middle of the day, and we just stared at each other for a second, looking back through the years to recognize the gleam in each

by Brian Clarey

other’s eye.

“Brian?”

For the first time in at least a decade I found myself face to face with Joey Medaloni, the one-time mayor of Elm Street whose N Club, Heaven and Much set the pace for downtown Greensboro’s nightlife resurgence back at the turn of the century.

I first interviewed Medaloni in 2001 as a nightlife columnist for Triad Style, and would do so perhaps a dozen more times, both formally and informally, while his reign on Elm lasted. He always made sure I got in the room and had a drink in my hand when those things mattered very much to me. He always remembered my wife’s name. One night he took me on a back-circuit tour of his clubs, through alleys and side stairwells and even, I think, across a rooftop so he could show me the VIP beds at Heaven.

Medaloni never actually ran for mayor, but I ran the numbers back then and thought that, with an aggressive get-outthe-vote campaign at his clubs, he might be able to get through a primary. And he did once spend time in the back of a limousine with President George Bush.

Everything, we both agreed, has changed since those halcyon days when the mayor of Greensboro had to go downtown at midnight to see for himself why he should allow the hot dog vendors to operate past 9 p.m.

“I never go down there anymore,” he told me. “It’s like an old girlfriend.”

He said he occasionally ventures down to Winston-Salem’s West End from Lewisville, where he’s built a winery, Medaloni Cellars, that in some ways is a natural extension of his work on Elm Street: tastings and wine dinners, wedding parties, couples cabins for rent, and then on Sunday afternoons a food truck pulls up and just about everyone in Lewisville comes out to drink wine and listen to music.

But there’s no more nightlife for Joey Medaloni. Not when there’s so much to see and do in the light of day.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

By the standards of the past, North Carolina’s current congressional plan is exceptional. It is the first map in American history to ratify the pursuit of maximal partisan advantage and to have its architect boast, on the record, about his desire to harm his political opponents. It is the single most pro-Republican congressional map of the last half-century. And it has set this record even though the state’s political geography mildly favors Democrats.

— League of Women Voters of North Carolin, in Citizen Green, page 12

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com allen@triad-city-beat.com

ART ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber lauren@triad-city-beat.com

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1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Greensboro cover: Illustration by EDITORIAL INTERN Savi Ettinger Robert Paquette. calendar@triad-city-beat.com

robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES gayla@triad-city-beat.com

SALES Johnathan Enoch

johnathan@triad-city-beat.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. ©2018 Beat Media Inc.

Winston-Salem cover: Sam the Dot Man’s self-portrait in sculpture.

March 7-13, 2019

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front

by Savi Ettinger

THURSDAY March 7

FRIDAY March 8

Grand opening @ the Gallery at Grandover (GSO), 6 p.m.

The Grandover Resort and Spa welcomes visitors as they celebrate an opening reception and grand opening of a new art gallery.

The artists and potters with work in the first exhibit mingle with guests, as live music plays. Find the event on Facebook.

Puddles Pity Party @ the Carolina Theatre (GSO), 8 p.m.

This concert covers musical hits of all genres, as played out by Puddles, a melancholic clown. Dubbed the “Sad Clown with a Golden Voice,� Puddles brings a strange humor and pathos to his performances. Find the event on Facebook.

Time Sawyer @ Little Brother Brewing (W-S), 8 p.m.

The Blue Eyed Bettys @ Muddy Creek Cafe & Music Hall (W-S), 8 p.m.

Cookie and beer pairing @ Carolina Ale House (W-S), 4 p.m.

With Girl Scout cookie season in full swing, Carolina Ale House lines up a selection of brews to match. Find the perfect drink to sip while enjoying Caramel deLites, Lemonades or Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Find the event on Facebook.

Clue: The Musical @ the Community Theater of Greensboro, 7:30 p.m.

The Community Theater of Greensboro opens performances of the board gameturned-musical this weekend. The audience can help guess who killed Mr. Boddy in this murder mystery as the characters both sing and deduce. Learn more at ctgso.org.

Opinion

News

CITY LIFE March 7-10, 2019

Culture

This three-part band brings their stringled sound to Muddy Creek. The group animates its Americana sound with fiddle, guitar and banjo, alongside complex group vocals. Find the event on Facebook.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Southern Culture On The Skids @ the Blind Tiger (GSO), 9 p.m.

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Folk-rock duo Time Sawyer performs in the taproom of Little Brother Brewing.

The band uses heartfelt lyrics in upbeat instrumentals for a rootsy rock feel. Find the event on Facebook.

Southern Culture on the Skids performs an eclectic rock set, pulling from all types of rock, including both psychedelic, country and gospel. The Malamondos join in with a garage rock opener. Find the event on Facebook.

March 7-13, 2019

SATURDAY March 9

SUNDAY March 10

Sunday Funday @ Kress Terrace (GSO), 1 p.m.

Up Front

Pirate Day @ To Your Health Bakery (WS), 10 a.m.

Bring out your inner pirate for a theme day at this vegan bakery. The menu revolves around pirates and the high seas, while guests explore treasure hunts and take photos. Find the event on Facebook.

Pride Land @ A&T State University (GSO), 2 p.m.

News Opinion

Explore the rooms of Kress Terrace as you climb up to the rooftop during this free open house. Appetizers and mimosas, along with a cash bar, offer diversions while guests browse vendor booths and enjoy live performances. Find the event on Facebook.

Puzzles

This one-man band keeps it acoustic as he performs at Dram & Draught. As an accomplished songwriter, Derek Chase builds a full sound using violin, guitar and loop pedals.

Find the event on Facebook.

Between the Buried and Me @ the Ramkat (W-S), 6:30 p.m.

Raleigh-born metal band Between the Buried and Me visits the Ramkat. Astronoid and TesseracT add experimental music, thrash, and progressive rock to the setlist.

Find the event on Facebook.

Shot in the Triad

Derek Chase @ Dram & Draught (GSO), 8 p.m.

Cat Video Fest @ a/perture cinema (WS), 5:30 p.m.

A/peture cinema pays homage to a pillar of internet culture: the cat video. The screening — a montage of home films, viral videos and submissions — donates proceeds to Forgotten Felines of Forsyth. Find the event on Facebook.

Culture

Harrison Auditorium hosts a recital of theatrical ballet, based on The Lion King.

The cast, mostly consisting of children, dances through the story using tap, hip-hop, African and contemporary styles. Find the event on Facebook.

The Queen’s Cartoonist @ High Point Theatre, 2 p.m.

The Queen’s Cartoonist fills the High Point Theatre with the musical accompaniments of shows like the Looney Tunes and older Disney Classics, jumping all around decades of wacky swing songs. Learn more at highpointtheatre.com.

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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Eating fewer hamburgers

by Sayaka Matsuoka In early February, newly elected US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and US Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), unveiled their Green New Deal, an ambitious resolution that aims to remake the US economy and address climate change. A key component of the deal is for the country to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Then all hell broke loose.

In the initial outline of the resolution, the lawmakers explained that the goal was to get to net-zero rather than zero emissions because they weren’t sure that they would be able to “fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”

Okay, so that wording could have been finessed. But conservatives — who have seemingly replaced Hillary Clinton with Ocasio-Cortez for the No. 1 spot on their political hit list — immediately began attacking both the deal and the representative, making claims that Democrats were going to “take away your hamburgers” and “get rid of all cows.”

Most of the backlash came during the Conservative Political Action Conference, which took place from Feb. 27 through March 2.

There, Sebastian Gorka, who previously served as deputy assistant to Trump in 2017, made ludicrous comments that equated the Green New Deal with Stalinism.

“They want to take your pickup truck! They want to rebuild your home! They want to take away your hamburgers! This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved!” he exclaimed.

A closer look at the actual proposal finds that none of these things is true. Of course.

Instead, the resolution calls for a 10-year national mobilization with actual goals: guaranteeing jobs with family-sustaining wages, providing citizens with high-quality health care, affordable housing, repairing infrastructure, building energy-efficient power grids, overhauling transportation systems to eliminate pollution and meeting 100 percent of the power demand through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources.

In a recent interview for an article for the New Yorker, which was provocatively titled, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is coming for your hamburgers!,” Ocasio-Cortez pointed out

the absurdity of the reactions.

“Apparently, I am a cow dictator,” she said. “What’s humorous to me is that we’re finally proposing a clear, ambitious, but necessary and grounded policy on the scale of the problem. And so it’s hard for the Republicans to refute the actual policy on its substance. They resort to mythologizing it on a ludicrous level.”

And if you look at the facts, it’s true that cows and, well, their farts contribute to a significant amount of greenhouse gasses and climate change.

According to the EPA, livestock FILE More oxygen, fewer burgers. farming alone is responsible for about PHOTO 10 percent of greenhouse gases. Most of the output is in the form of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent by volume than carbon dioxide. The agency estimates that 26 percent of methane emissions comes from “enteric fermentation” or basically, livestock’s digestive processes, and that another 10 percent comes from manure management.

So yes, the overall effect of agriculture is low compared to larger outputs like transportation, electricity production and burning fossil fuels. But when Americans are eating three hamburgers on average per week, according to PBS, cutting down to maybe one a week to help save the planet doesn’t seem like such an outrageous or unrealistic goal.

But that would also require admitting climate change is real.

Up Front

Sara Romweber set the beat for Let’s Active and Snatches of Pink, but her best role was as her brother Dexter’s metronome.

COURTESY PREHENSILE EYE

News

particular place to a different time.

Five years later, again at the Garage, I remember Sara expressing her enthusiasm that I was writing a review of a concert, while lamenting that many music writers only reviewed records for their blogs but weren’t interested in hearing live music.A music writer is supposed to maintain a professional distance from the subject. But Sara Romweber made me feel like a part of it all. Isn’t that what rock and roll is all about?

Opinion

Death is a certainty for all of us, but this one came as a cruel surprise.

Sara Romweber, who died on Monday at the age of 55 reportedly of a brain tumor, is indelibly woven into the DNA of North Carolina music, as a fabulous drummer and a wonderful human being.

My sadness is leavened somewhat by the joy of recalling a couple brief encounters with her; I suspect that’s true for many of us.

I first met Sara at the Garage, Winston-Salem’s late and beloved listening room, in 2009. She had recently joined her younger, more famous brother in the Dex Romweber duo, helping to bring him back to form. We sat in the venue’s only booth after soundcheck during a quiet interlude before the fans streamed in. Dex displayed his customary reticence. Sara, on the other hand, was warm, engaging and enthusiastic. She shared impressions and reminiscences like an old friend.

Next to Dex’s inscrutable brilliance — he’s a crooner and guitar player par excellence whose raw rockabilly sound provided a framework for no less an eminence than Jack White — Sara could be mistaken for the cheerful helper, her drumming assisting her brother to reach his full potential. That would be a misapprehension.

Physically slight, she was musically bodacious with a big, rumbling sound and impeccable timing. She played an integral role at several inflection points of the North Carolina music story. Her wild yet unfussy drumming helped define Let’s Active, the Winston-Salem power-pop group that set a template in the early 1980s for indie rock.

By the middle of the decade, she had moved on to Snatches of Pink, a Chapel Hill band that injected Stones-inspired chaos into the burgeoning American underground.

During that 2009 interview, Sara mentioned that she remembered driving from Carrboro to Winston-Salem as a teenager and taking the Peters Creek Parkway exit to get to Mitch Easter’s house to rehearse. That was her reference point to one of the three hugely influential bands she played in — just a casual reminiscence that related a

March 7-13, 2019

Sara Romweber

by Jordan Green

Culture

1/2 off Tequila & $2 Tacos.

WEDNESDAY

Shot in the Triad

TUESDAY

50 cent wings.

Run Club at 6pm & Trivia at 8pm.

Poké Night

Puzzles

THURSDAY SUNDAY

Boozy Brunch www.burgerbatch.com

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Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

March 7-13, 2019

NEWS

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Public Arts Commission ups funding for Merschel Plaza sculpture

by Jordan Green The city of Winston-Salem has $225,000 set aside for a piece of public art conceived as a centerpiece in a new park to honor Wanda Merschel, a former member of city council.

A proposed sculpture for Merschel Plaza needs to provide a focal point for Winston-Salem’s rapidly materializing central square and attain a scale appropriate to the high-rise buildings that surround the park, according to a request for qualifications for the project.

Members of the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Public Art Commission worked out some budgetary details and an outreach plan for the project on Tuesday. They agreed to shift $75,000 from a line item for shade structures to enhance the budget for the sculpture, or “centerpiece artwork” as its referenced in the request for qualifications. And they came up with a dream list of artists who they want to encourage to submit proposals.

“Can we get what we want for $200,000?” asked Commissioner Ralph Womble, a retired executive from Hanes Companies. “Not what we can get — can we get what we want?”

The commissioners eventually settled on a figure of $225,000, bumped up from $150,000. The answer was, yes, but within some limitations.

“I think you can get something very beautiful,” said Commissioner Endia Beal, the director of the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University. Beal recently served on a selection panel for public art at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which had a $1.7 million budget for a single piece. She qualified her statement by noting that with $225,000, if the artist requires a $40,000 fee, “That’s eating away at the budget to do something substantial.”

Kimberly Barb, a landscape architect with Stimmel Associates — the project manager for the new park on the south side of West Fourth Street at the terminus of Trade Street — noted for context that the budget for “Where We Met,” Janet Echelman’s iconic net sculpture installed at LeBauer Park in Greensboro in 2016, was $1 million.

Barb said the city of Winston-Salem allocated $3 million for Merschel Park from 2014 bond funds, with 10 percent — or $300,000 — allotted for art. Barb urged commissioners to reserve some of the funds in case of cost overruns.

“I just always aim high,” she said.

“With all the current projects going on, I’ll just be completely honest: Everything’s coming in 25 to 30 percent above what even estimates are by professionals. Just the current climate is really intense. I know this is art, but just the way the nature of things with tariffs, with material costs….”

The request for qualifications calls for a “standalone sculpture” that is 25-30 feet in height. Otherwise, the parameters are pretty much open to the winning artist’s vision.

“Even though it’s rendered as a bronze sculpture, it could be an erector set,” said Commissioner Harry Knabb, the executive director of Art for Art’s Sake.

An artist’s rendering of Merschel Plaza.

The new park is named after Wanda Merschel, a former banker who served approach for the project. Finn acknowlon city council from 1997 to 2013. edged that the wish list puts a “thumb Merschel is widely credited with buildon the scale,” but his fellow commissioning a consensus to revitalize downtown ers concurred that it makes sense to be Winston-Salem, including Restaurant proactive.

Row on West Fourth Street. The request The list includes, among others, Abifor qualifications also notes that Mergail DeVille, a New York-based sculptor schel has always been an advocate for whose work reflects on racist violence women, quoting her as saying, “I have and gentrification; and Judith Shea, an been fortunate to learn from women artist whose sculptures riff on manneof all walks of life who taught me that quins and other disembodied figures. calmness, patience and serenity will Beal suggested Simone Leigh, a Gugalways yield a better outcome.” genheim Hugo Boss Prize winner whose Commissioners said sculpture, video and on Monday that Merinstallation focuses on schel has expressed African themes. a preference for the “She is the truth,” contract to go to a loThe new park is named Beal said. cal woman.

The deadline for after Wanda Merschel, proposals is set for But Chairman David Finn, an art May 10. a former banker who professor at Wake The Public Arts served on city council Commission also Forest University, said limiting applicants to discussed a potenfrom 1997 to 2013.

Winston-Salem isn’t tial installation of necessarily realistic the Winston-Salem considering the spePortrait Project at cialized skills required Merschel Park. Led by for the project. artists Kisha Bari and Jasmin Chang, the “There are three people in the state project will assemble an intersectional who can do this,” he said. group of portraits representing residents In at least partial deference to from all walks of life, with installations Merschel’s wishes, Finn drew up an in all eight wards and one in downtown. all-female list of prospective artists to Kelly Bennett, a planner assigned to the

COURTESY IMAGE

Public Art Commission, said a possible location for the downtown installation is the southeast corner of Merschel Plaza, across the street from the future Kaleideum. The Forsyth County Commission voted on Feb. 28 to increase public funding for the children’s science museum to $30.5 million. The facility will replace the Kaleideum Downtown on South Liberty Street and Kaleideum North on West Hanes Mill Road.

Bennett displayed a rendering of artfully arranged cubes bearing vibrant portraiture for the downtown installation of the project. But he said another committee will have final say over whether the installation goes up at Merschel Plaza.

Public Art Commission members also raised concerns about whether the installation would be safe in that location.

“This scares me, guys,” Knabb said.

“I can see kids doing handstands and denting it.”

Barb admitted that her sons apply their rock-climbing abilities to the “art towers” in ARTivity on the Green, the park Knabb’s group created on Liberty Street, by utilizing the rivets as footholds.

The commission tasked Bennett with researching what potential liability issues the installation might present for the city.

March 7-13, 2019 Up Front

NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING FOR THE PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS ALONG GALLIMORE DAIRY ROAD FROM N.C. 68 (EASTCHESTER DRIVE) TO SOUTH OF AIRPARK ROAD IN GUILFORD COUNTY

TIP PROJECT NO. U-4015A

News

The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting regarding the proposed improvements along Gallimore Dairy Road (S.R. 1556) from N.C. 68 (Eastchester Drive) to just south of Airpark Road in Guilford County.

The meeting will be held Thursday, March 21 from 5-7 p.m. at The Church on 68 located at 300 N.C. 68 S. in Greensboro. The public may attend at any time during the meeting hours. Please note there will be no formal presentation.

Culture

As information becomes available, it may be viewed at the NCDOT public meeting webpage: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/.

Opinion

At the meeting there will be maps of the proposed plans as well as project team members who will be available to answer your questions and receive feedback. All comments will be taken into consideration as the project progresses. The opportunity to submit written comments will be provided at the meeting or may be done by phone, email or mail no later than April 4.

For additional information please contact NCDOT Division 7 Project Engineer Brian Ketner, P.E., at (336) 487-0075 or bkketner@ncdot.gov, or consultant Project Manager John Williams at (919) 653-7358 or jwilliams@rkk.com.

Aquellas personas no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

Puzzles

Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Shot in the Triad

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting.

Anyone requiring special services should contact Lauren Putnam at lnputnam1@ncdot.gov or (919) 707-6072 as early as possible, so that arrangements can be made.

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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City residents ask questions, push back on Michelle Kennedy

by Sayaka Matsuoka East Greensboro residents put at-large Councilwoman Michelle Kennedy in the hot seat over the city’s handling of the police homicide of Marcus Deon Smith and other issues pertaining to racial equity on Monday evening.

A handful of Greensboro residents gathered at the Interactive Resource Center for a community conversation with Kennedy which marked the first in a series of events that will be hosted by the councilwoman in each of the city’s five districts.

The first gathering focused on District 2, which covers northeast Greensboro, from Church Street to East Market and Huffine Mill Road. The district is represented by Councilwoman Goldie Wells, who attended the latter half of the meeting.

Kennedy spoke with about eight different residents, who sat facing each other at tables situated in the middle of the room. Over the course of the two hours, most of the conversation centered on racial justice and how the city can promote equity in the city.

Carla Banks, communications and marketing director for the city, brought up two questions Kennedy’s office received prior to the meeting from those who could not attend. Both pertained to the Smith case and whether or not any action would be taken against Chief Wayne Scott and what the details of a 3 a.m. phone call that Kennedy received on the night Smith died were.

“That ultimately rests with the city manager,” said Kennedy in response to whether or not Scott would be fired. “He has the ability to hire and fire. That’s the truth.”

With regards to the late-night phone call, Kennedy said she was contacted by Scott because he was trying to identify Smith the evening he died after being hogtied by police. She said the phone call only lasted about two minutes.

Kennedy works as the executive director of the Interactive Resource Center and explained that she knew Smith well because of his time at the center. She admitted that his death was difficult.

“It’s painful and it’s hard,” she said.

“It’s a tough loss.”

Later in the evening, community member Sarah Sills asked Kennedy if she thought an independent investigation could be initiated by the city council for Smith’s case. An internal investigation by the Greensboro Police Department found no violation of directives

and returned the officers to regular duty in November 2018.

“Any of us could make a recommendation,” Kennedy said.

“Whether it carries any weight depends on who agrees with it. I’m in a place of finding out what’s possible and what is the next best step and I don’t think I know what that is right now.”

Ryan Tardiff, a member of the Homeless Union of Greensboro, asked Kennedy whether there was a mental-health team being put into place to deal with future cases like the one with Smith.

“I don’t believe you can police your way through mental illness,” Kennedy said.

Instead, she said SAYAKA MATSUOKA The first community meeting took place in District 2 at the Interactive Resource she prefers working Center, where Kennedy serves as executive director. with trained clinicians.

Right now, she said how to boost the district’s economy. network that works to achieve racial the city refers people to social workers “Downtown development is bolsterequity across the country. She noted that from various community organizations ing; it’s at an all-time high,” said Jones after Asheville joined the alliance, the like the IRC, who can send employees to who grew up in Greensboro. “There’s city saw a significant increase in people respond to persons having mental health the parking deck and the Tanger Center from minority communities becoming crises, but that they’re typically only but certain portions of the community firefighters. available between the hours of 8 and 5 are like, ‘Where’s our development?’ I “Change isn’t something that happens when the organization or nonprofit is remember when downtown was desolate. unless it’s intentional,” said Kennedy. open. Kennedy said that the city is curWhen is enough, enough?”

However, for many of the questions rently working on a project that would Kennedy agreed with Jones’s frustrathat pertained to topics like urban put in place a 24-hour system that could tion and pointed to the recent closing of gardening, recycling, and even violence, deploy mental-health workers at any the Renaissance Co-op Market.

Kennedy said there weren’t concrete time of the day.

“We want to make sure that something plans in place but that she would try to “The critical hours are after 5 p.m.,” goes up in that space,” she said. talk to her fellow councilmembers about Kennedy said.

Kennedy also noted the construcenacting change. She said that these Under the current model, city police tion of the urban loop and the recent monthly meetings were a chance for her also have the option of calling on social #100Homes campaign which aims to to hear directly from community memworkers employed by the county to come help convert renters into homebuyers bers about issues that they cared about. after hours in emergency situations. and rebuild east Greensboro after the “People are more honest when they’re However, this approach takes too much tornado that took place in April 2018. on their home turf,” she said during the time, said Kennedy.

While mentioning some of the initiameeting. “It’s great that we have offices “There are a lot of steps in between tives that help the district, Kennedy but that’s not where the change takes and the turnaround time can be a lot also acknowledged some of the city’s place.” longer,” she said. shortcomings.

At the end of the two hours, commuKennedy also noted that the new “Greensboro is a minority-majority nity members had varying responses. system would allow the city to directly city,” Kennedy said. “But the way we Jones said he felt optimistic about the dispatch mental-health workers instead distribute incentive is white-centric.” dialogue and it made him understand of calling on police first.

To combat this, she said the city Kennedy’s actions more as a member of Omarius Jones and others asked Kenrecently joined the Government Allicity council. He said more intimate connedy about economic incentives and ance on Race and Equity, a national versations like these are different than

Up Front

NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING FOR PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO N.C. 68 FROM FOGLEMAN ROAD (S.R. 2129) TO N.C. 150 / OAK RIDGE ROAD (S.R. 2137) GUILFORD COUNTY

March 7-13, 2019

STIP PROJECT NO. R-5725 The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting regarding the proposed project to improve N.C. 68 from Fogleman Road (S.R. 2129) to N.C. 150 / Oak Ridge Road (S.R. 2137) in Oak Ridge.

The purpose of the project is to increase safety and traffic flow along this section of N.C. 68, which includes intersection improvements at Linville Road (S.R. 2022), Marketplace Drive and N.C. 150 / Oak Ridge Road (S.R. 2137).

The project will also address connectivity for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Opinion

The meeting will take place Tuesday, March 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Oak Ridge Town Hall located at 8315 Linville Road in Oak Ridge. The public may drop in at any time during the meeting hours. Please note that no formal presentation will be made.

News

just showing up and speaking at city hall.

“I think it went great,” Jones said. “Open dialogue is great. I like to know a full scope and what led them to that decision.”

Kennedy herself said that she thought the first meeting went great.

“I felt like people asked legitimate questions and we’re compiling an answers list,” she said.

Still, others like Gene Blackmon, who brought his son and raised concerns about violence in the city, remained skeptical.

“That’s what our section of District 2 deals with,” said Blackmon, who has lived in the district his whole life. “If we’re not talking about equity, we’re not talking about anything and there’s no reason for us to be at the table.”

He argued that if the same kind of violence that burdens east Greensboro was happening in areas like Irving Park or Lake Jeanette, city council would move faster.

“I know the city could work it out if they wanted to,” he said.

When asked if he would return for subsequent meetings, Blackmon said that was up to Kennedy.

“There’s a lot of things that sound good, but I like to see action to see whether this was productive or not,” Blackmon said. “If there are some proper representation going forward, I will continue. Like her advocating for some of the things we asked for.”

NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and listen to comments regarding the project. The opportunity to submit comments will also be provided at the meeting or via phone, email, or mail by March 20.

Comments received will be taken into consideration as the project develops.

Test pH balance, allergies, hormones Balance diet, lifestyle and emotions Create a personalized health and nutrition plan

Project information and materials can be viewed as they become available online at https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings.

For additional information, contact Brian Ketner, P.E., NCDOT Division 7 Project Engineer, at bkketner@ncdot.gov or 336-487-0075.

Aquellas personas no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

Puzzles

3723 West Market Street, Unit–B, Greensboro, NC 27403 jillclarey3@gmail.com www.thenaturalpathwithjillclarey.com

Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Shot in the Triad

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting.

Anyone requiring special services should contact Samantha Borges, Environmental Analysis Unit at smborges@ncdot.gov or 919-707-6115 as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CITIZEN GREEN

OPINION

The Supreme Court’s democracy test

In 1946, three voters in Illinois took a complaint to the Supreme Court: that the state had failed to redraw its congressional district lines since 1901, resulting in rural districts that lorded political power over their overpopulated urban counterparts. Writing for the majority, Justice Felix Frankfurter averred in Colegrove v.

Green that “courts ought not to enter this political thicket.”

Sixteen years later, in 1962, the high court overturned Colegrove with a finding that established the court’s authority to referee

by Jordan Green redistricting and established the “one person, one vote” standard for apportionment.Ever since, the court has been steadily inching towards intervention in partisan gerrymandering.

In 2004, the court ruled 5-4 against Democratic voters from Pennsylvania claiming their rights had been trampled as a result of partisan gerrymandering by the Republican legislature. But Justice Anthony Kennedy, who cast the deciding vote in Vieth v. Jubelirer, only reluctantly joined the majority because he couldn’t identify a suitable tool to measure partisan gerrymandering to determine whether it was excessive.

Proponents of fair districting have been searching for a workable standard ever since.

Last year, the Supremes came tantalizingly close in considering Whitford v. Gill, in which Democratic voters in Wisconsin claimed they were harmed by redistricting maps drawn to advantage Republicans. The high court ruled that the plaintiffs needed to prove individual harm specific to their own districts and remanded the case back to the district court.The Supremes will have another crack at the question on March 26 when they hear arguments over North Carolina’s partisan gerrymandering scheme, in Rucho v. Common Cause, in which the Republican legislative majority in North Carolina is appealing a lower court ruling that deemed the 2016 congressional map to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

“To be sure, the General Assembly was quite candid about its partisan objectives, but it had just been faulted by a federal court for lacking a clear record of political, rather than raSCREENSHOT The dividing line between the 6th and 13th congressional districts cial motivation,” lawyers for the Republican majority wrote in their brief last month. “Those cuts blue voting power in half. reassurances were correct, and the time has come for this court to make clear that the Constitution does not provide courts with the tools or the responsibility to say how much NC A&T University campus. By contrast, a far smaller number of Republican votes are partisan motivation is too much.” wasted in the three districts where Democrat constituencies are packed.

Rep. David Lewis, the Republican lawmaker who led the redistricting effort for the state The efficiency gap, then, is the difference between wasted Democrat votes and wasted House, said at the time: “I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to Republican votes. An expert witness for the League will testify that North Carolina holds 10 Republicans and three Democrats because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map an efficiency gap of 27 percent favoring Republicans, meaning that in a hypothetically tied with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.” election, Republicans would win 77 percent of the state’s congressional seats. Predictably, The voters challenging partisan gerrymandering in North even in 2018 — a wave Democrat election — Republican canCarolina also recognize the potentially far-reaching consequencdidates prevailed in 10 out of 13 congressional races — with an es of the high court’s ruling in this case. asterisk on the 9th Congressional District, where the state Board “By the standards of the past, North Carolina’s current conof Elections ordered a new election after finding coordinated gressional plan is exceptional,” lawyers for the League of Women election fraud.

Voters of North Carolina wrote in a brief filed on Monday. “It is It’s not just Republicans imposIt’s not just Republicans imposing victor’s justice over Demothe first map in American history to ratify the pursuit of maximal crats. In states like Maryland the sword is in the other hand. If ing victor’s justice over Demopartisan advantage and to have its architect boast, on the record, the Supremes give a green light to North Carolina’s extreme about his desire to harm his political opponents. It is the single crats. In states like Maryland, the gerrymandering, Democrats will join Republicans in the grift — most pro-Republican congressional map of the last half-century. to the detriment of all voters. sword is in the other hand.

And it has set this record even though the state’s political geog“Both parties are poised to wield unified control of many state raphy mildly favors Democrats. If this court holds that partisangovernments after the 2020 election,” the plaintiffs warn. “If gerrymandering claims are nonjusticiable, however, the 2016 plan given a judicial green light, both parties will exploit their authorwill be the wave of the future. In the 2020 cycle and beyond, ity to gerrymander even more aggressively, using even more both parties will emulate — or exceed — its abuses, openly potent techniques than they have to date. Like North Carolina’s entrenching themselves in power using the full array of modern mapmakers, they will ruthlessly crack and pack the opposing party’s voters. They will also mapmaking technologies.”Quite simply, the League and other plaintiffs are proposing the program computer algorithms to maximize their partisan advantage and make adjustments same tool as their Wisconsin counterparts — a measure known as the “efficiency gap” — to throughout the decade to any districts that seem to be slipping from their grasp. Through determine whether partisan gerrymandering has gone too far.The Republicans entrenched such machinations, ‘those who govern,’ who ‘should be the last people to help decide who their legislative advantage in North Carolina by “cracking” Democrat voting blocs in should govern,’ will try to extinguish ‘the political responsiveness at the heart of the demoGreensboro and Fayetteville, and “packing” them in Charlotte and Raleigh. The sizable cratic process.”

Democrat vote in Greensboro is entirely wasted by being split between the Republicanth th leaning 6 and 13 districts, whose shared boundary runs right through the middle of the

EDITORIAL

by Clay Jones

Up Front News

claytoonz.com

Opinion Culture

Next week, Greensboro City Council the corporate-incentive game, there will will decide — after hearing from the be a clawback provision in place similar public — whether to award a New York to the one that was triggered by Dell, apparel company a $426,000 incentive another publicly traded company, and to place some executive offices in Andy insisted upon in the deal with Herbalife, Zimmerman’s building at the corner which trades under HLF on the New of South Elm Street and Gate City York Stock Exchange.

Boulevard.

So it all looks pretty good except…

Centric Brands is a publicly traded jeez. Centric Brands turned $47.8 million company — CTRC on the NASDAQ in gross profits the first nine months of — that is in the middle of its best year 2018 alone. Seems like they’re putting ever. CTRC stock price the squeeze on little old jumped from .89 per Greensboro for what share on June 27, 2018 amounts to a relatively Centric Brands to $5.45 after closing on small amount of money. turned $47.8 a big chunk of brands A lot of people from an international have worked to make million in gross manufacturer. downtown Greensboro profits in the first These are nice brands, a great place. Zimmerthe kind they carry in man’s reportedly put $5 three months of fancy boutiques. Hudson million into the historic jeans run from $185-$285 2018 alone. building. It’s fabulous, for men and women. and the square footage SWIMS is a Norwegian will rent for a fraction of company that turned a galoshes facwhat Centric pays for its actual NYC tory into a fashion statement. And the headquarters in the Empire State Buildlimited-edition Crystal Ice Sport Shirt ing. Its executives here will live a higher retails for $398 on the Robert Graham quality of life here on $50,000 than they website. would in NYC on $100,000.

And these are executive jobs, 200 of That’s the whole value proposition of them, averaging about $50,000 a year what we’ve built, not just in Greensboro — which is good math in the corporatebut also in Winston-Salem and High incentives game. Because the cities Point. It seems like it should be enough. of the Triad have become so adept at protecting themselves from the risks of

Claytoonz

March 7-13, 2019

Greensboro, incentivized

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CULTURE Sam, ‘The Dot Man,’ remembered at SECCA

by Lauren Barber

T

he Dot Man” kept his studio doors open, and his prices low. Passersby could peruse a “petting zoo” of artwork in his front yard. He would eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. He talked a mile a minute.

Sam “the Dot Man” McMillan was born in Robeson County in 1926 and grew up the youngest of 10 children in a family of sharecroppers. He moved to Winston-Salem in 1977. He chauffeured and made furniture before working for DeWitt Chatham Hanes. Then, in his late sixties, he picked up a paintbrush and hardly let it rest.

In the wake of his passing last August, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem is showing Remembering Sam, a modest memorial exhibition of the prolific, self-taught artist’s work from public and private collections, through March 10.

“The community response was amazing,” says Wendy Earle, curator of contemporary art at SECCA. “We had over 175 people attend the reception, and many came decked out; we saw all sorts of Sam’s work being worn: overalls, jackets, hats, shoes, purses and many, many ties that he had painted. We had to keep the exhibition small because of the size of the gallery, but Sam was so prolific that we could have filled all 10,000 square feet of our gallery spaces.”

McMillan was an “outsider artist”: self-taught, free from the mainstream art world, often living at the margins of society. Outsider artists’ works are typically two-dimensional and unconcerned with realism. The “Dot Man” moniker stems from Sam’s characteristic use of brightly-colored, frenetic polka dots.

“Some people put dots on things — Sam put dots on things to bring them alive,” says Bob Moyer, a longtime friend and collector of McMillan’s work. “They just don’t sit there or look nice. They have a life of their own.”

Moyer owns more than 40 of Sam’s pieces: just two of the paintings among objects like his kitchen table, bureaus and the desk featured in the exhibition. After meeting in 1992, Moyer sat in Sam’s studio often, exchanging conversation and observing Sam’s instinctive process as others popped in and out. “The Dot Man” would work on one piece, set it aside, pick up another, return to the first, pick up a third — until he felt they were finished.

“It’s intuition,” Moyer says. “The

Bob Moyer commissioned and worked at this brightly-colored desk during his tenure at UNCSA.

LAUREN BARBER

guy is using what he knows, what he sees. There’s not a piece that’s not connected, because it’s all connected to Sam’s mind… and this is why I love outsider art: There is no thought; they see things, they paint. The thing they see may be a vision. Howard Finster saw visions, religious stuff. A lot of religious outsider artists.”

Sam painted with bicycle enamel out of a studio on Northwest Boulevard across from the Hanes Dye and Finishing plant.

“Once you’d walk into it, you’d be amazed,” one of McMillan’s sons, Kenny, says.

“Everything was painted: the ceiling, the walls and then all the artwork hanging on the wall. It really struck you as you walked in the door. It was kind of fascinating. A kid walked into his shop, you could see their facial expression change. It was a warm feeling to see that from this man who started painting at 67 years old and became famous.”

A much beloved member of Winston-Salem’s arts community, Sam taught classes for children in his shop, local elementary schools and at the UNC School of the Arts High School.

“He taught the younger generation how to respect themselves and how to be respectful in the world,” Kenny says.

A child never left the shop without a gift. Sam’s work reveals his idealism, and his dream that young people would cultivate racial unity in the decades to come, among other themes like disdain for consumer culture.

“There’s the one piece with the children [of different races] holding hands. My father’s artwork was trying to give a message to the world, and his life motto was: If we hold hands, we can’t fight,” Larry, another of McMillan’s sons, says. “My dad… cared about everybody. In his older days, being 90-something-years-old with dementia, he

March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News

Sam painted with bicycle enamel out of a studio on Northwest Boulevard across from the Hanes Dye and Finishing plant.

COURTESY PHOTO

Bob Moyer holds a photo of the duo adorned in Sam’s painted clothing at the first annual Outsider Art Festival in 1993.

LAUREN BARBER

Opinion Culture

did get into his cranky ways. But he loved everybody.” other tie looks better because it fits Sam’s mode of working, and so you’ve got a hisPeople who knew him also describe him as generous, as someone who donated to tory of ties in front of you. He looked at all the ties like they were the same tie.” local non-profits and freely offered his works to fundraisIn New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, travelers request the “Sam ers. And he had plenty to give: Moyer says that if he created McMillan Room” in the double shotgun called the Bywater something he liked, he would paint 50 more. Bookends, birdBed & Breakfast, filled with the man’s dotted furniture: side Learn more at secca.org or visit at houses and ties littered his studio before migrating through tables, a rocking chair, a chest of drawers.

750 Marguerite Drive (W-S).

Winston-Salem or across oceans. He once drove to California “He spread his work and so he spread his spirit, of making to paint a man’s pickup truck. people smile,” Moyer says. “It’s hard to look at something “One story I love to tell is about the ties,” Moyer says.

Sam painted and not smile. Sam’s career was a lesson in not “There’s a white tie [hanging in the exhibition]. It was a silk getting in the way and not holding on. Now the world’s full tie meant to be painted on. He hated it because his paint didn’t work well on it. His of Sam’s stuff because he never held onto it.” solution to that problem was go to flea markets and buy and paint on old ties. Every

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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March 7-13, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CULTURE Union Coffee owned by, helps fund conservative church

by Sayaka Matsuoka

S

oft guitar strumming plays in the background as a singer-songwriter’s voice fills the illuminated space at Union Coffee. Stark, white walls decorated with geometric prints give off a minimalist, big-city vibe in the newly opened specialty coffeeshop in downtown Greensboro.

Black, flat-bill caps with the Union Coffee logo and sweatshirts with the words “The Boro” printed on them hang on a rack near the entrance. Fake ivy trails down the back wall and encircles an exposed pipe behind the counter. A black fanny pack with gold accents — $50 — sits next to some backpacks on a shelf waiting to be bought. The place is a bit of a millennial trap; all that’s missing is a bright, Instagram-worthy neon sign.

At first glance, Union Coffee seems like just another NYC-wannabe endeavor. However, a closer look at the shop’s association with a local church reveals some conservative opinions that contrast with its hip aesthetic.

The shop, located off West Friendly Avenue, opened in November 2018 after Spencer Loman and Daniel Davidson discovered the space near Elon Law School downtown. Loman works as the lead pastor of United City Greensboro, a newish Wesleyan church that owns the coffeeshop.

“We wanted to create a sense of presence and community in downtown,” said Loman who co-founded the shop with Davidson. “We talk a lot about ‘third place’ — a place where you gather outside of where you live or work. For some people that might be a gym or park, barbershop, microbrewery, or it’s a coffeeshop.”

Loman said he and Davidson came up with the idea to open a coffeeshop after seeing a news report about how Greensboro ranked No. 99 out of 100 big cities in terms of coffeeshops per capita.

“People were begging for a specialty coffeeshop in the city,” Loman said.

Using third-wave beans by Black and White roasters out of Wake Forest, Union Coffee offers options that are lacking in the city like pour-overs, and a knowledge of the difference between single-origins and blends. The shop also sells tea by Vida Pour Tea and baked goods from Easy Peasy Bakery.

Specialty coffee, like the kind served at Union Coffee, is particularly popular with the millennial demographic, according to data by the National Coffee

Association.

Their 2017 drinking trends report found that those from the ages of 25 to 39 drink more “gourmet” or specialty coffee compared to other age groups.

At Union Coffee, a pour-over, carefully crafted in a glass carafe, costs four bucks while a shot of espresso rings in at two-fifty.

The menu is short and offers only the essentials like Americanos, cappuccinos and lattes and just a few choices for flavor like vanilla or a classic mocha.

“We live in a Starbucks culture,” Loman said. “We wanted to highlight the coffee, not the extra flavors.”

And he’s right. Besides the Table on Elm and Green Joe’s on Battleground, Union Coffee is the only place in town where you can get proper specialty coffee, where the friendly baristas measure the ounces of the beans before they pour and can list off the flavor notes for each roast.

It’s caffeine, down to a science.

According to Loman, all of the profits go back to United City Greensboro or into the shop.

The church is part of the Wesleyan denomination and espouses a fairly conservative worldview.

Listed on the Wesleyan church’s official website are several “position statements” that are anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality and anti-transgender. The statements SAYAKA MATSUOKA Union Coffee opened at the end of 2018 in make claims that homosexuality can be healed and that downtown Greensboro. gender noncomformity is a “violation of the sanctity of human life.” won’t go back.

When asked about United City Greensboro’s views on these “I don’t want to support businesses that can’t be inclusive,” topics, Loman said that the church aligns with the Wesleyan Adams said. “Knowing that it directly funds that message church’s official statements. through a religious establishment is really a bit bothersome.

“We have a traditionalist view of marriage,” Loman said.

The fact that they are affiliated with a church is not a prob“Between one man and one woman.” lem. The fact that they are affiliated with a church that is not Still, Loman repeatedly argued that the coffeeshop has inclusive and the fact that they don’t share that outright is nothing to do with the church. troubling to me and makes me feel like I really don’t wanna go “We want to use the proceeds to love others,” Loman there.” claimed.

Loman noted the shop’s significance with its target milWhen asked if the shop is profitable, Loman just responded lennial population, referencing the coffee shop’s Instagram by saying that “the coffeeshop has been growing.” following, which has more than 2,300 followers.

He said that the goal isn’t to evangelize customers. For him, “We have more followers than any other coffee shop in the Union Coffee is just about bringing specialty coffee to downcity,” Loman boasted. town Greensboro and “fostering a love for the community…

Pictures from the store’s Instagram page showcase smiling, and add to all the wonderful development in downtown….” bearded baristas and shots of the bagged coffee, as well as Inside the coffeeshop, nothing indicates that Union Coffee action shots of employees. is associated or owned by United City Greensboro. No signs at He said the staff doesn’t solicit or invite people to the the register, no scattered church pamphlets. They don’t even church. Union Coffee does however, sometimes host events have Bible verses on the bottoms of their cups (looking at you, associated with United City Greensboro at the shop. Mostly, Chick-Fil-a and In-and-Out). the staff are just focusing on the coffee according to Loman.

Stephanie Adams said she visited the shop for the first Last month the shop hosted their first latte art throwdown, time last year around the holidays. She was meeting up with which is a popular event in the specialty coffee world. a friend and brought her daughter along. She said she visited “We packed out,” Loman said. “It creates synergy and enbecause she was curious about the shop after seeing posts on ergy that we feel like is lacking in downtown as far as coffee is Instagram. concerned.”

“The décor looked more modern and they promote themHe said he plans to introduce cuppings, the industry stanselves in a way that makes you think their coffee was gonna be dard for tasting coffee, to Union as well. really good,” said Adams, who is a millennial and used to work He also mentioned that the coffeeshop gives free coffee to for Greensboro’s Church World Service office. homeless people and raises money to provide clean water in When asked whether or not she knew about the shop’s asAfrica. sociation with United City Greensboro, Adams said she knew “We want to make a difference locally and across the world that there was a tie to a church but not about the details. globally,” Loman said.

After learning about United City’s views, she said she probably

by Savi Ettinger

A

Up Front News Opinion Culture

The second annual CommUnity Sings took place at the Carolina Theater last Sunday, pairing amateurs and professionals, and anyone else who wanted to get involved.

SAVI ETTINGER

Puzzles

from the front row and steps onstage to conduct a trio of remembers the moment students connect with the notes, and songs. The chorus teacher repeats an instruction. then with each other. He compares the two, but approaches “Be prepared to be dramatic,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to be This CommUnity Sings more casually than a classroom. dramatic.”

“I thought,” he says, “‘maybe I should treat this like a karaThe piano riff from Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World” oke night.” flinches, stopping as people jump in too early. McCleary-Small An elderly woman grips her walker and stands, waving resets the song. Again, he leads the her arms above her head to “We assembly, the singers more confiAre the World” by USA for Africa. dent with the correct timing.

A teenage boy in an aisle seat Find out more about the event using “Jeremiah was a bullfrog,” contorts his face into theatrical the hashtag #ThisCommUnitySings.

McCleary-Small sings. “Was a good expressions. friend of mine!”

The time comes for Queen’s six“Yeah, he was!” Someone shouts minute epic, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” from the rear.

A man turns to face the woman As the piano rings out the gospel-rock song, ASL interpretbehind him, and they jam out on imaginary instruments, only ers translate the lyrics. A man with graying hair stands up to the folded-up seat remaining in between them. clap, while a small toddler seated beside him looks up from “Go ahead add your air guitar, your air drums,” McClearythe popcorn box half his size in his lap and starts swaying back Small shouts, “air harmonica, even some air bagpipes!” and forth.

Having taught different age groups, including his class of teenagers, McCleary-Smalls emphasizes the importance an iconic hit has on guests with no public singing experience. He

Shot in the Triad

woman shimmies a feathery green scarf behind both shoulders, jumping into a line of people forming down an aisle at the Carolina Theatre. She dances as the line wraps in front of the stage, where a trumpet player steps down the stairs and joins in. He blares notes from “When the Saints Go Marching In” as they snake through the rows of red seats.

The Gate City Ramblers leads this second line prior to the second annual This CommUnity Sings. The Sunday offers a concert of timeless classics, turning the audience of Greensboro community members into a local choir. The set consists of five songs, led by dancers, professional vocalists and a conductor, even if the singers themselves have no training.

As the UNCG Spartones harmonize to kick things off, Jessica Mashburn waits a few feet offstage. She serves as co-chair for the board of volunteers that organized the event, her face beaming as performers warm up to lead the entire auditorium.

“Really all we’re asking,” Mashburn says, “is for people to bring their voice.”

Mashburn recalls people-watching after the first event, as former strangers connected over the setlist. For her, the day already promises more of those connections, which she hopes remain even after the auditorium empties.

“Music is the great unifier,” she says.

Ogi Overman takes a seat in one of the back rows, scanning as people file in.

Blocks of seats fill not 10 minutes after the doors open. Overman pitched the idea of This CommUnity Sings to both Mashburn and the Carolina Theatre’s staff after seeing a video of a group of Toronto community members singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Overman says. “It was so good.”

With a total of nine cameras and a Facebook livestream, the volunteers prepare to broadcast the experience. As for the songs themselves, the organizers chose the type of hits that get people belting lyrics in the shower and rocking out in the car.

“I think ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is gonna kill,” Overman says. “If we can pull off ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ it will have been a good day.”

When the crowd calms down, Music Director Wesley McCleary-Small rises

March 7-13, 2019

CULTURE The people bring their voices to second CommUnity Sings

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Across

‘In the Neighborhood’— along with the owl and the pussycat.

by Matt Jones

EVENTS

Every Tuesday Julian Sizemore and Guest Every Wednesday Matty Sheets and Guest Every Thursday Open Mic with Zander Friday, March 8th Roseland with Josh Moore

Up Front

Saturday, March 9th Frequency 360 ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords

(editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

News

602 S Elam Ave • Greensboro

Answers from previous publication.

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Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

1 Biblical fratricide victim 5 Ragged peak 9 Passing lines 13 “3 Feet High and Rising” group ___ Soul 14 Pick up 16 Controversial director Riefenstahl 17 Current U.S. Secretary of Transportation 19 Cheap bar 20 Calico pony 21 Vaccination 23 Patch of grass 24 Holiday in Hanoi 25 Suffix for novel 28 In a genial manner 30 1992 song by The Cure that goes through the week 33 Airline from Stockholm 34 Likely ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 35 Fanning of “Maleficent” 36 Magazine for teens since 1965 40 “___ Is Us” 42 Charged-up particle 43 Settings for med. dramas 46 Thought experiment featured in an episode of “The Good Place” 50 Meat dish with a filling 51 Mop & ___ (floor cleaner brand) 52 French possessive meaning “your” 54 Contribute 55 Thailand, formerly 57 “Inconceivable!”

59 “Cool, man” 61 TV host with a “Neighborhood of Make- Believe” (where the starts of the theme answers were found) Answers from last issue 64 Letterman rival, once 65 Meditation teachers 27 Do some keyboarding 66 “Language” of “haxored” and “pwn’d” 29 2008 Verizon acquisition that once had naming 67 Agitated state rights to Jacksonville’s stadium 68 Word before or after break 31 “And ___ don’t know what’s going on!”

69 Airport data, for short 32 “Let ___!” (“Go ahead”) 37 Cuba y Puerto Rico, por ejemplo Down 38 “Star Trek” collective 1 Not so klutzy 39 Compound with a double bond 2 Philosophy 40 Walked on 3 2019 Hyundai model 41 Harry who died on Halloween 4 CafÈ au ___ 44 Amplify a certain message 5 A.L. Central team, on a scoreboard 45 Spoke ill of 6 Tape deck button 46 Hiker’s routes 7 Oohs’ followers 47 Inform 8 S’mores flavor component 48 ___ the Pig (2019) 9 Antiquarian 49 “With or Without You” singer 10 Diamond game, in Santo Domingo 53 Complex orgs.

11 Make use of 56 Prefix with byte or hertz 12 Create a colorful T-shirt 58 Stare at in a gross manner 15 Swedish actress Rapace of the “Millennium” 60 “I ___ You Babe” series 62 Talk smack about 18 Domino’s ad character, once 63 Q-U filler 22 ___ pedis (athlete’s foot) 26 ___ paneer (Indian spinach dish)

SUDOKU

March 7-13, 2019

CROSSWORD

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