TCB May 30, 2019 — Just eat it!

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point May 30 - June 5, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

WINSTON-SALEM EDITION

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Just eat it PAGE 12 ‘5’ Royales PAGE 10 Guilford Hills PAGE 6 INSIDE THIS WEEK: TRIAD CIT Y BITES, THE TRIAD’S FINEST DINING GUIDE

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK May 30 - June 5, 2019

Analog for a day It all just sort of happened.

We had an event in Durham on Sunday, and my sister-in-law has a small corporate apartment

by Brian Clarey just outside the Raleigh Beltway that she only uses on weeknights. One of our kids is technically an adult, and all of them are too lazy to get into any real trouble.

So we found ourselves packing to drive to Raleigh on Saturday morning for a quick overnight, followed by a shot to Durham and then home before dinner on Sunday night.

Before we left. I looked longingly at my home workspace.

“Are we going to leave our computers here?” I asked my wife.

My wife runs her own business, requiring near-constant attention, as well as maintaining all the various household accounts. I myself have been so immersed in work for the last… 15 years?... that it hadn’t occurred to me until that moment to leave my laptop behind.

Since 2004, I have never traveled without my laptop tethering me to the world

Take charge of your mind, body and spirit

QUOTE OF THE WEEK If democracy is worth saving, then it’s worth more than winning the next election. ­—Jordan Green Pg. 8

Test pH balance, allergies, hormones Balance diet, lifestyle and emotions Create a personalized health and nutrition plan BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

(336) 456-4743

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

of work.

We looked at each other scandalously in that moment. And then we came to it at the same time: Yes! We would leave our laptops behind!

And then we scampered out the door before we changed our minds, giggling like we were ditching class to go skinny dipping.

Let me tell you where I am in my life: I spent 24 hours in a corporate apartment in an office park just outside the Beltway, with a courtyard pool, a gym, a coffee machine in the lobby that made more than a dozen kinds of hot and cold drinks, a pool table and absolutely no cell-phone reception, neither voice nor data. No emails.

No Facebook. No texts or calls. No news alerts. I couldn’t even play games on my phone, and every photo would have to be a Latergram.

We had no choice but to disengage — but also to engage… with each other, the hot sun blinking off the dappled surface of the pool and the slow shadows that wound from one side of the courtyard to the other.

We went analog for a day, leaving no digital footprints behind, like it never even happened.

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Winston-Salem: Wise Man STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger Brewing’s Dance in the Sun kolsch savi@triad-city-beat.com comes in a can designed by local EDITORIAL INTERN Cason Ragland artist Laura Lashley. [Photo by ART Savi Ettinger]

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

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SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber lauren@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.

Greensboro: Bobby Hamilton, owner of Sweet Talk Bakery in Greensboro. [Photo by Sayaka Matsuoka]

by Cason Ragland

THURSDAY May 30

Beach music w/ Sleeping Booty @ LeBauer Park (GSO), 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY June 2

SATURDAY June 1

Filmmaking Bootcamp @ Greensboro Library McGirt-Horton (GSO), 2:30 p.m.

National Trails Day celebration @ Piedmont Environmental Center (HP), 10 a.m.

Family First: Storied Prints @ Reynolda House Museum of American Art (W-S), 2 p.m.

Bring your first through sixth grader(s) to this month’s Family First Workshop at the Reynolda House in Winston-Salem. You’ll get the chance to create a balsa-wood print that can be reprinted many times over.

Tickets are available through the Reynolda website.

Culture

Deep River Friends annual Hot Dog Roast @ 5300 W Wendover Ave. (HP), 6 p.m.

The 10-Minute Play Festival @ Hanesbrands Theatre (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

Winston-Salem Writers and the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem will put on their short play festival this weekend at Hanesbrands Theatre. Each of the seven original plays are from local playwrights, directors, actors and stagehands. Discover more about the festival and purchase tickets through the Little Theatre of WinstonSalem’s website.

Opinion

FRIDAY May 31

Reorganizing the National Union of the Homeless @ Beloved Community Center (GSO), 4 p.m.

Attorney and community organizer Tony Prince, of the California Homeless Union Statewide Organizing Council, will give a presentation on the history of the Homeless Union and its contemporary campaign efforts. If you’d like to know more, check out the event’s Facebook page to find out what you can do about poverty in your community.

News

Boyz II Men w/ the Piedmont Wind Symphony @ the Stevens Center (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

The iconic group Boyz II Men will be in Winston-Salem tonight with the Piedmont Wind Symphony. If you ever thought that ’90s R&B could pair well with woodwinds, then you’re in luck. Find more details through the event’s Facebook page.

When you try to avoid conflict, sometimes things just get worse and worse. If you’ve ever felt this way, you can surely empathize with King Lear’s dilemma in one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedies. Follow the tale of Lear and his family this weekend if you’re up for some Early Modern media.

You can purchase tickets via Eventbrite.

Spirits of Summer presented by Texas Pete @ Fourth Street, Downtown Winston-Salem (W-S), 12 p.m.

This one-day music festival celebrates all things local. Taste beer samples from NC breweries and wineries and dance to live music. There’s an afterparty at Foothills Brewery starting at 6 p.m. Take a look at the event’s page on Brown Paper Tickets for more info.

Up Front

The Children’s Home Society will host their 16th annual beach music event in LeBauer park this evening. Performances will begin at 6 p.m. and children under 12 get in for free. If you’d like to know more or want to purchase tickets, check out the Children’s Home Society’s website.

King Lear @ Goodly Frame Theatre (GSO), 7:00 p.m.

May 30 - June 5, 2019

CITY LIFE May 30 - June 5, 2019

Shot in the Triad

Honor this year’s National Trails Day by joining the Piedmont Environmental Center on a walk through the woods. You can watch out for birds of prey, smell the wildflowers and learn a little something from the environmental education exhibits while you’re out there. Call 336.883.8531 for more info.

Puzzles

Susan & the Deep River Band will perform this weekend for the Deep River Friend’s annual Hot Dog Roast. While you’re there, you can enjoy roasted marshmallows, play cornhole and cool off with a sno-cone. The event’s Facebook page has more information.

Stephan Van Vuuren, an award-winning filmmaker, will teach two workshops on the art of creating a film this weekend. The first of these lessons will focus on sound design while the following one will cover more general tips and techniques to creating a great short film. Everyone from filmmaking newbies to veteran directors are invited to this event. Find out more via Facebook.

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May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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4 questions for Michael Cooley, aka Hollow Creeper

by Cason Ragland Michael Cooley, known professionally as Hollow Creeper, manages the music collective known as Steady Hyperactive out of WinstonSalem, his hometown. The group, besides Cooley, is composed of Paragon Don (Donovan Beatty), Samurai Yola (Tony Davis), OG Spliff (Clifford Owens), Afrogoat (Darius Glenn), Devy Quills (Devin Singleton), Phazegod (Tevin Bouthit) and Flower in Bloom (Joy McNeil).

Cooley began producing beats when he was 11, but now focuses on music business and management. The group will have a live performance at the Blind Tiger in Greensboro tonight, May 30.

The Chair People

by Brian Clarey

What is Steady Hyperactive and what inspired it?

Steady Hype is a collective of artists and COURTESY Michael Cooley, aka a platform for the city where they can make PHOTO Hollow Creeper. music, videos, have fun… and have an artistsowned platform where we can be ourselves in our own space. That’s where the idea of it came from, being able to have a place where artists create and release music without being restricted by the same ideas that a more corporate business might have. We make our own decisions; we come to a common consensus on who’s going to promote what and when so that we don’t step on each other’s toes. I, as the manager and founder, don’t force anyone to do anything — I come in with some business reasoning but I’m not some dictator.

How did y’all meet each other?

Me and Paragon Don, the oldest member of Steady besides myself, have been friends since high school. He started rapping in 2013 but when I was making a project called Valid Maverick, he started on that project and began to take rapping more seriously. I met OG Spliff after I moved to my first apartment in 2016. I found him on Soundcloud, I liked it and towards the end of the song I heard him say “336.”...

After that I sent him a message, telling him that I make beats. We linked up in person and talked about Steady, about how we’re trying build up the community and come together as artists. Samurai Yola was kind of the same way, I messaged him after I heard [his music] on Soundcloud and we went to a show together. I knew Phazegod in middle school and years later we reconnected through Facebook. I met Devy Quills and Afrogoat through Yola, actually, and it all turned into a big circle.

How does Steady Hype act as a platform for artists?

When it first started, the original idea came when I was in my room, making my first mixtape back in 2013… and I created Steady Hype as a label. As time went on, I realized I had an important role behind the scenes of the music, especially in the Triad. Instead of just being a label, [Steady Hype] needs to be a platform for people who aren’t signed or affiliated with us…. We always try to have non-members of Steady Hype perform with us when we have shows. We want to put on more than just a small group because there’s so much talent in this area.

What’s in store for the future of Steady Hyperactive?

We are working on another big show for December, hopefully. We’re gonna be making a lot more music videos, at least a couple a month. We want to stay much more regular with the content and keep up the momentum. I’ll be working closely with Flower in Bloom, the newest artist [of Steady], in June to help her with an upcoming EP.

Find tracks at steadyhyper.com

What are we going to do about the Chair People?

FILE PHOTO

On Thursday last week, the day before opening night of Gears & Guitars at Bailey Park, I accosted festival organizer Ray Boden as he made his paces on the grounds.

“What are you going to do about the Chair People?” I asked.

He laughed. A couple weeks earlier he had a hand in the Vagabond Saints production of The Wall, just around the corner in the Incendiary Brewing courtyard. That night, just as the music began, a couple dozen Chair People — those people who bring their own chairs to outdoor concerts and festivals — scrambled their lawn furniture to the front of the stage, turning the most prime real estate at the concert into basically a movie theater.

One woman even had her elbows on the stage.

“We’re not doing that here,” Boden said now. “They can set their chairs up almost anywhere in the park, but no chairs at all in the first 100 feet or so. We’ve got a sign up.”

Got to — if a clear line of demarcation is not drawn, the Chair People will obliterate a dance area, create a bulwark against anyone who wants to wander close to the action for a bit, claim for their own the space always reserved for the band of the moment’s biggest fans.

Now, I don’t begrudge anyone wanting to take a seat during an outdoor performance, especially in the kind of heat that usually accompanies such things. But a concert is not a campground, and it’s getting like the Oklahoma Land Rush out there, but with blankets, canopies and chairs.

So let’s all agree: The front of the stage is for dancers, air-guitarists, screaming fans and anyone else who wants to rotate through the throng. Chairs and blankets go on the fringes. If you want to get a better view, bring some binoculars.

But I should add: The price of a ticket does not guarantee each holder a clear, unfettered view of the stage for the entire performance. Sometimes, in order to see the band better, you’ve got to get up and move around.

Winston-Salem property owners will see tax hike from voter-approved bond

by Jordan Green Under the proposed 2019-20 budget, Winston-Salem property owners would see a 4-cent tax increase as a result of voters’ approval of a $122 million bond package last year.

Up Front News Opinion

A $122 million bond issue, approved by voters by a wide margin in 2018, will result in a citywide property-tax increase of 4 cents, amounting to about $60 per $150,000 of tax value.

Puzzles

for greenway development.

The proposed budget provides $2.9 million for economic incentives. It allocates $1 million to Caterpillar; $757,740 for the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, including $344,000 to renovate Bailey Power Plant and $217,500 for Building 90 South; $278,800 to Herbalife; $183,850 to Brookstown Development Partners, which is developing the area around BB&T Ballpark; $151,130 to Inmar; and $100,000 for Merschel Plaza.

The budget also includes $1.8 million for unspecified recreation-maintenance projects.

But the biggest capital projects in the proposed budget fall under the crucial but unglamorous areas of water distribution, wastewater collection and water treatment, including $20 million to modernize the RW Neilson Water Treatment Plant and $15 million for a wastewater collection system improvement program.

Out of $69.5 million earmarked for spending on what the city calls “Healthy Environment Capital Projects,” $35 million comes from revenue bonds, with the remainder coming out of reserves.

Shot in the Triad

million to replace Fire Station No. 3 on think we are short and we might even go North Liberty Street and $3.5 million for get some citizens, some businesses that a public-safety training complex. Voters do it, and they do it very well, because also approved a $11.7 million bond for we can do better than this.” neighborhood revitalization, and $14.5 The 2018 bond includes $43.7 milmillion for economic development. lion for streets and sidewalks, including While the city ramps up the 2018 $13.6 million for street resurfacing, $3.8 bond program, spending from previous million for Business 40 enhancements, bonds continues, $2.3 million for although the a multi-use path, proposed capitaland a total of The finance committee of fund budget $5.1 million to Winston-Salem City Council for 2019-2020 convert Liberty, reflects a 34.5 Main, First and holds the next budget workpercent decrease, Second streets to shop on Thursday at 5 p.m. in from $125.1 two-way. A $31 million to $82 million parks Committee Room 239 at City million. and recreation Hall, located at 101 N. Main St. The capitalbond includes projects fund for $5.3 million for transportation in Winston Lake the proposed 2019-20 budget includes Park improvements, $3.7 million for a number of big-ticket items, including Salem Lake Park improvements and $3 million for Meadowlark Drive and $3.1. million to develop Quarry Park. $2 million for the Novak Bridge replaceA $21.1 million public-safety facilities ment, along with $4.3 million for general bond is broken out with $9 million for bridge maintenance and repair, $1.1 mila new radio communications system, lion for street resurfacing and $29,700 $5 million for a new fire station, $3.6

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

BY ROBERT PAQUETTE

Culture

The proposed 2019-20 budget under consideration by Winston-Salem City Council increases the municipal tax rate by 4 cents, which translates to an extra $60 for a home valued at $150,000.

The tax hike is directly tied to a $122 million bond package improved by voters last year.

“In order to pay for debt payments on the 2018 voter approved bonds, the current tax rate of 59.74 will be increased by 4 cents to the new proposed tax rate of 63.74 cents per $100 of assessed value,” City Manager Lee Garrity wrote in his budget message summary, released on May 23.

The proposed $496.4 million budget increases spending on debt service from $41.9 million in 2018-19 to $46.0 million in 2019-20. The city’s debt-service fund is expected to drop from $22.7 million to $3 million by 2025 and then recover to $25 million by 2030.

The proposed budget increases operations spending from $363.0 million to $368.4 million, funding a 2-percent pay bump for sworn police employees and certified fire employees effective Jan. 1, 2020, and a minimum-wage increase from $12.50 per hour to $13 effective July 1, 2019. Garrity said the “major drivers” in the increase in operations spending “are related to ongoing publicsafety investments and the city’s commitment to employee compensation.”

Some council members expressed annoyance that, in their view, staff hasn’t adequately communicated the particulars of the budget to the public.

Councilwoman DD Adams, who represents the North Ward, predicted that “there’s going to be a little more engagement than we normally get on these budgets.

“Property taxes are going up because of the bonds, not what we do, and people need to understand that,” Adams continued. “But I think, council, we have an opportunity here that if we do our jobs — and again it goes back to [the fact] that we need to do better at what we’re doing with the communication, marketing and branding piece. Personally speaking, I don’t have anything against the people in that department, but I just

May 30 - June 5, 2019

NEWS

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May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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Guilford Hills residents and developers debate the fate of R-5

by Sayaka Matsuoka A long thin strip of orange plastic connects a row of wooden stakes in the ground, marking off the property line between Jennifer Leung’s house and a triangular piece of land next to the Guilford Hills neighborhood.

Dozens of white plastic signs that read “Save R-5 #guilfordhillsstrong” mark the yards all the way down Markland Avenue where Leung lives.

This 0.11-acre plot of land next to Leung’s house separates her neighborhood from the Battleground corridor and is at the center of a controversy between several Guilford Hills homeowners and ALB Enterprises, the new owners of the triangle.

“I grew up in [this] neighborhood,” said Leung who lives at 2310 Markland Drive. “My parents have a house on North Elam which they bought when they first migrated here.”

Leung’s parents, Amelia and Robert Leung, are the former owners of Hong Kong House, a Chinese restaurant that operated on Tate Street for decades.

Now, Leung, who purchased her home in 2004, is fighting ALB Enterprise Holdings LLC over a request by ALB to rezone the triangular plot of land from a residential area to a commercial one.

The rezoning request was approved during the April 15 meeting by the zoning commission 5-2 and will go before city council for a vote on June 18.

ALB — which is owned by Sajmir Balla, the owner of Mythos Grill on Battleground Avenue — also owns 2301 Battleground Ave., the property next to the triangle which was formerly occupied by a bank and is situated next to Biscuitville.

The current plan for the newly acquired properties is to build a small 9,000-square feet shopping center with a restaurant and small specialty shops.

A letter from ALB shared with Guilford Hills neighbors on March 20 also notes that the owners intend to construct a sidewalk along the street frontage of Markland. A zoning staff report from May 21 confirms this fact and states that a “5’ sidewalk with a 3’ grass strip is required along one side” of the property.

Laura Piedad, who has lived in Guilford Hills for 12 years, is in favor of ALB rezoning the whole area. During the April 15 zoning meeting, she said that one of the perks of living in the neighborhood is its proximity to restaurants and she hopes that ALB helps make it easier to access local businesses.

A .11-acre plot on Battleground Avenue has been approved for a rezoning request from residential to commercial, which will go before city council for a final vote on June 18.

“The current condition on Markland Drive prohibits safe walking down Markland Drive to cross Battleground to get to the walking paths that’s behind Target,” Piedad said. “It’s dangerous when neighbors park on that street; there’s no accessibility both ways. The new owners of this property have offered to clean up an area that has not been cleaned since I’ve lived there in 12 years. We fully support what they’re trying to do to help our neighborhood.”

Coming from a restaurant-owning family, Leung said she’s not opposed to new businesses or restaurants. For her, the main issue is the fact that the triangle’s property line juts up right next to her paved driveway where the new owners are planning on installing a “minimum 8-foot opaque fence.”

This, Leung said, would make it difficult for her to open her car door and would restrict visibility for the area directly next to her home. She said her home was broken into in February and that she wants to be able to see what’s going on behind a fence if one is installed.

She said she has even offered to buy a piece of the triangle from the owners to maintain some of the trees next to her property but hasn’t heard back from them.

“I know they can put up a fence,” Leung said. “It’s their property. I just didn’t want it inches away from my driveway.”

The proposed conditions in the letter from ALB did not state the fact that the triangle would have to be rezoned for commercial use.

Since finding out about the proposed fence in the rezoning request, Leung, has worked tirelessly to gain support for her cause. She’s created two online petitions that have garnered close to 1,000 signatures and has personally delivered more than 100 yard signs.

“I think there was a mentality that I wasn’t gonna do anything and that I was just gonna lie down,” she said. “But no one should be treating someone like this.”

During the April 15 zoning commission meeting, Carol Carter, ALB’s representative at the time, stated multiple times that ALB did not have to rezone the small plot of land if they didn’t want to.

“We did not have to come to zoning,” Carter said during the meeting. “We could have changed our plans and kept that triangle vacant…. Ninety percent will remain vacant, but we had some parking spaces in there. Had we taken those parking spaces out, we could have gone forward with the proposal without rezoning.”

Carter went on to argue that the reason behind the rezoning is to preserve the Guilford Hills neighborhood.

“We wanted to be good neighbors and implement a conditional zoning application that would rule out some of

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

the noxious zoning applications,” Carter said.

She also said that the new owners would help maintain landscaping along Markland Drive and remove dying trees.

When Commissioner Hugh Holston asked if the parking spaces that would be built in the triangle were required, Carter responded that they weren’t, and that realistically, only one and a half spaces would be built in that rezoned area. The rest would be used for a 25foot natural buffer. Holston and Donald Blackstock were the only “no” votes at the April 15 meeting.

Some of the other conditions in ALB’s proposal for the larger property where the bank used to be include a maximum building height of 20 feet, one freestanding sign on Battleground Avenue, vehicular access limited only to Battleground Avenue and a maximum height for light poles of 30 feet.

Still, Leung and other neighbors are wary of the encroaching business.

Several of them say they want it in writing that there will be no ingress or egress onto Markland Drive after the development of the shopping center. For them, the word “access” isn’t enough.

“Why do they want this triangle?” asked Bonnie Wallace, who lives at 2303 Markland Drive, across from Leung.

“That’s the only thing I can think of.”

Wallace and her husband have lived in the neighborhood for almost four decades and are also concerned about

May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

the possibility of the new owners cutting down the trees across from her home.

“I like the visual of having green space outside my house and not seeing a shopping center,” Wallace said.

Noise and the possibility of a restaurant staying open late is another one of her concerns, said Wallace.

However, according to the proposed conditions by ALB, some of the types of uses that would not be allowed on the property include drive-thru facilities, daycare centers, bars, nightclubs, brewpubs, pawnshops or convenience stores.

“As owners of a popular local restaurant, the property owners want to find a way to work with their neighbors to redevelop this commercial property so that it continues to fit well in this area,” said Marc Isaacson, the new attorney representing ALB, in an email. “Based on my preliminary review, I am fairly optimistic that we can address and resolve those concerns.”

Isaacson said that he plans to meet with Leung’s attorney, Alan Ferguson, this week to hopefully come to an agreement.

“My concern [is] that she get a fair shake and a fair hearing when the property gets changed from residential to commercial,” said Ferguson.

“I thought she was a reasonable person,” Ferguson continued. “Her objections to rezoning were reasonable and defensible. I don’t instinctually like to see little people being run over by big people. I am very sensitive to residential places being rezoned, especially for the people who have invested their hard-earned money to live there.”

A few city council members including Sharon Hightower and Yvonne Johnson have said they are sympathetic to the neighborhood’s cause.

“When you look at the commercial property and where the boundaries expand to, it’s literally almost in her yard,” said Hightower. “Looking at it, if they can’t come to a compromise, and I hope they do, I would have to vote against it.”

Johnson was a little more reserved in her response but ultimately said that she has a tendency to “vote with the neighborhood” on issues like this.

“We’re trying to get them to work something out,” she said.

Leung said that Mayor Nancy Vaughan visited her home and met with her.

“I am hopeful that since the applicant has retained new representation the parties will be able to reach a mutually acceptable solution,” said Vaughan in an email. “I believe the applicant understands the neighborhood concerns and can achieve their goal of a new restaurant and shops while maintaining a reasonable buffer.”

As for Leung, she said she will continue to raise awareness for her neighborhood by distributing yard signs, getting more petition signatures and selling Tshirts.

“It’s not just a fence issue,” she said. “It’s the neighborhood I was born and raised in. It’s the neighborhood I currently live in. I’m just trying to fight to preserve it…

All I can do is try.”

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May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CITIZEN GREEN

OPINION

Impeach Trump, win or lose

Where exactly is the red line probe was motivated all along by desire to inflict maximum that, were Donald Trump to political damage rather than a commitment to preserve cross it, Congress would initiate the institutions of democracy. If democracy is worth saving, impeachment proceedings? then it’s worth more than winning the next election.

No one knows because DemoIf the House does not act on compelling evidence that cratic lawmakers never specified. the president has undermined the integrity of the office, Instead, they somehow believed — then the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling and or counted on their constituents to Trump’s various misdeeds will appear no different than the

by Jordan Green believe — that the Mueller Report Republicans’ endless investigations into Benghazi. It will would clearly signal the answer, with either a green or red be a show designed to feed new tidbits of information into light. breathless reporting on MSNBC and CNN, and sober reAnd we still don’t know. ports by the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on May 23 that conAs Democratic lawmakers squander their opportunity to tinuing House investigations “may take us to a place that’s take action, the Trump politics-entertainment complex is unavoidable, in terms of impeachment. But we’re not at revving up its own show, with the parallel investigation into that place.” Where is that place? Only the speaker knows the origins of the Mueller Report, which will feed grist into for sure, and it almost certainly has more to do with politia separate media ecosystem organized around Fox News, cal expediency than any particular conduct that might be the Daily Caller and the conservative social-media universe uncovered. to rev up the base for 2020.

If attempting to undermine a legitimate investigation The political calculations that Democratic and Republiinto whether a candidate for president collaborated with can lawmakers are making are not healthy for democracy, a foreign government to interfere in an election doesn’t or for that matter their own long-term survival. If you have constitute high crimes and misdemeanors, then what does? any doubts about the permanence of the reigning political Just to restate some of the particulars: This president fired class, just look at the recent European Parliament elecFBI Director James Comey because he tions, where the center-left and center-right refused to drop an investigation involving parties lost ground to the far right and the These calculaformer national security advisor Michael Green Party. The traditional constituencies Flynn, and then the president tried to presin the United States enthralled by MSNBC tions from Demosure White House counsel Don McGahn and Fox News will not hold the center for cratic and Repub- long. to lie about his efforts to have the special counsel removed. If the findings in the To the right of Fox News and the GOP, lican lawmakers Mueller Report don’t give the Democratic there are reactionary constituencies electrimajority in the House enough to work are not healthy for fied by Trump’s accusations of “treason,” with, what about the probe by Attorney and frustrated that the system is not democracy.

General Robert Barr at the president’s dispensing these supposed domestic enrelentless prodding into the origins of the emies. They hunger for a more forceful and 2016 investigation into Russian meddling in authoritarian government, under Trump’s the election? Barr’s eagerness to do the president’s bidding leadership or perhaps under the firm hand of someone clearly signals that the Justice Department and federal law younger and more competent. enforcement apparatus has been repurposed from upholdTo the left of MSNBC and the Democratic Party, ing the rule of law to punishing political enemies. many progressive constituents have seen that the rule of Democracy is a fragile set of shared principles and hablaw never protected the rights of people of color in the its, and it will not survive long if those entrusted to lead fail United States and that the instruments of policy have to do their duty. been so thoroughly corrupted by wealthy and corporate Before closing the special counsel’s office on Wednesinterests that they rarely work to lift up working and poor day, Robert Mueller made it abundantly clear who holds people. In the absence of a Democratic Party that stands responsibility to hold President Trump accountable if any for something and acts decisively, they will look to other wrongdoing has occurred. Citing a Justice Department political modes — perhaps grassroots democracy, or socialopinion, Mueller said, “The Constitution requires a process ist authoritarianism, or anarchy, who knows — to achieve other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a goals like ending police violence and mass incarceration, sitting president of wrongdoing.” protecting black neighborhoods from gentrification, curbWin or lose: the House Democrats should lay out a case ing climate change, healthcare for all and security against for impeachment, take a vote, let the chips fall where they extremist violence. may and then move on. By calculating that they would lose It’s not as though by refraining from impeachment, the House vote — or the Senate would decline to uphold Democratic lawmakers are guaranteeing that Trump won’t impeachment, or voters might punish them in the next win re-election. What do they have to lose by standing on election — Democratic lawmakers are confirming their principle? critics’ worst suspicions: that their interest in the Russia

Basic math: The correlation between bonds and taxes

by Clay Jones

Up Front News

claytoonz.com

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All of a sudden it’s news that a major There is nothing new or remarkable package of municipal bonds — voted on about this. Nor is the inevitable result of by the Winston-Salem electorate only six a bond issue, which is a raise in taxes.. months ago — is actually going to cost Because bonds are for things taxes can’t the taxpayers some money. cover.

It’s been in the news, and the subject of And yet, every time bonds get passed some contention at a city council meeting by voters — and they almost always get last week. passed by voters; each of the 2018 bonds But come on, people. This is about as passed by double-digit margins — the basic as math gets. bump in taxes, no matter how trivial, gets Let’s start at the beginning: American politicized and sensationalized, obscuring cities generally have excellent credit ratthe deal that got struck at the ballot box. ings. This is because, unlike corporations Predictably, local taxholes decry the or individuals, municipalities and other increase in their burden — which is $60 government bodies have the a year for homes worth authority to raise revenue by $150,000 — and the media levying taxes, which means likes to make it into a story, When you that they can borrow lots like it’s some sort of bait and vote for a of money because they can switch. Elected officials like to always pay it back. Like the remind the voters that they bond, you Lannisters. greenlighted this themselves, vote for a tax. though by voting to put them This borrowing power comes in handy for big on the ballot, councilmembers projects that tax revenues did give these bonds their won’t cover, infrastructure stuff that cost tacit endorsement. tens, sometimes hundreds, of millions of Bond referenda almost always pass dollars. That’s what the Winston-Salem because people want the stuff: parks and bonds were about: $122 million in five bike lanes and smooth roads and new bonds for 36 projects, most of which are firehouses and such. Elected officials love upgrades or improvements. them because it gives them some money Municipalities are so rock solid that to spread around, and tangible results that they can put their debt on the market can be used as re-election material. as bonds, which usually get funded by And most people don’t begrudge the investors because of the low element of $60 — or $50 or $250 or whatever — risk. In return, investors get a piece of the bump in their taxes. monthly debt service — known on the So what’s the big deal? street as the “vig.”

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May 30 - June 5, 2019

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by Lauren Barber

Opinion

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May 30 - June 5, 2019

CULTURE The ‘5’ Royales get their due in east Winston-Salem

Tiffany Jones, granddaughter of “5” Royales founder Lowman Pauling and daughter of Darryl Pauling, speaks at the unveiling ceremony.

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nder a high-limbed magnolia at the tip of the corner lot where East 12th Street and Rich Avenue meet in East Winston, condensation drips from small water bottles and folks fan themselves with programs between gentle breezes.

In brown folding chairs and along the perimeter, an audience has gathered for the public unveiling of a city historical marker at the white-brick home of Lowman Pauling, songwriter, guitarist and founder of the “5” Royales, an all-male R&B quintet also including Obadiah Carter, James Moore, Eugene Tanner and John Tanner, all of whom passed away years ago.

The group, which originally formed as a gospel group Royal Sons Quintet in 1951, never achieved mainstream success despite releasing chart-toppers in the 1950s that laid the foundation for the evolution of rhythm and blues in the US, like “Help Me Somebody” and “Dedicated to the One I Love,” which became a huge hit for both the Shirelles and the Mamas and the Papas years later.

They moved R&B away from a more polished sound with raw, emotive vocals they took on the road touring the Chitlin’ Circuit with Bobby “Blue” Bland,

Etta James and James Brown. Their harmonies and Lowman’s groundbreaking guitar techniques inspired the likes of Sam Cook, Erica Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and the Temptations.

They accomplished all this from their rehearsal studio in the basement of the 1135 Rich Ave., just across the street from Atkins High School —now Winston-Salem Prep High School — the de facto black high school in the city’s segregated eastside neighborhoods of Reynoldstown and Slater Park.

“It’s almost like whoever lived in that house was destined to become somebody in the spotlight,” local music historian Jonathan Kirby says after the unveiling. “This neighborhood was the nucleus of black Winston. They were hometown celebrities. You can still imagine kids lining up against the windows of Atkins High seeing that beat-up station wagon pulling into town after playing in New York or down South.”

East Ward council representative Annette Scippio grew up just blocks away on Temple Street.

“Sometimes you could hear songs being rehearsed,” she reminisces, “and sometimes the [older] boys would get together outside, four or five of them, and they too would be crooning. We didn’t always know we were in the midst of people doing special things for all of us. This is a special day, but it’s a sad day because it’s long overdue.”

Visitors can listen to the “5” Royales the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the groundbreaking quintet in 2015. The groups’ hometown took a little longer to catch up, though former state Rep. Larry Womble, best known as a tireless advocate for citizens forcibly sterilized by the state Eugenics Board, did lead a successful campaign to have a street named after the “5” Royales more than a decade ago

LAUREN BARBER

while serving on the city’s board of alderman.

“This is a very auspicious day for the city of Winston-Salem,” he says. “We’re famous for tobacco but we’re also famous for the Pauling family. It was rough, yes; nobody was rich with money, but we were rich in culture and rich in caring.”

Darryl Pauling, Lowman’s son and the current resident of 1135 Rich Ave., remembers those days, the casual drop ins by Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Sam Cook, the time James Brown called the house and his 8-year-old self had no idea what the man said.

“My dad started putting reverb on the guitar before the guy from the Beatles got credit for doing it,” Pauling says during the ceremony. “Eugene Tanner had a habit of sliding across the stage on his knees before Jackie Wilson did it. They were innovators. They brought gospel to R&B.” Lowman passed away before Darryl graduated high school, but Darryl’s daughter Tiffany Jones remembers the bright smile on her grandmother Ellise’s face whenever Royales’ music filled the home. A soul and jazz singer herself, she recalls honing her craft in the very basement her grandfather’s group honed theirs, without fully realizing the space had been “seasoned” with history.

“The way in which they ignored the rules is the WinstonSalem spirit,” Kirby says. “It was really hard to have a mom and dad who grew up in the church and start an R&B group.

I think today we underappreciate the rebellion in that. What the Royales did was embolden local acts and gave people in the community a prototype and a relatable success story to see a path to being recognized as artists. To be a black musician here in the ’50s must’ve been a very discouraging sort of exercise, to not be allowed to perform certain places. The ‘5’

May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front

Cover art for Dedicated To You

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Relatives of the Royales unveil the marker located at 1135 Rich Avenue in Winston-Salem.

family members tug at the plaque’s transitory sheath, revealing a newly-honored legacy, and for an hour or so, the “5” Royales fill the streets with the Winston-Salem sound again, while the adults exchange hugs and stories, and great-grandchildren dash freely under the cover of the magnolia’s shelter.

As Jones put it: “1135 Rich Avenue is in the history books now — no one can take that from us.”

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Royales were trailblazers that certainly empowered the next generation to do what they did.”

Kirby draws a direct line from the Royales to the subsequent generation of black Winston-Salem outfits like Corgi & the Monarchs, the Eliminators and Odyssey Five, all of which still go relatively unsung despite releasing records on major labels.

Speakers transmit “Dedicated (To the One I Love)” as

LAUREN BARBER

The “5” Royales

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May 30 - June 5, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CULTURE ‘Just eat it’: Sweet Talk Bakery says it with cake

by Sayaka Matsuoka

B

obby Hamilton keeps a sign on the front counter of his cake shop for skeptical first-time customers.

He points to it when they ask him if his cake is any good.

“Just eat it.”

“We just use a basic recipe and we just put a lot of quality of ingredients into [it],” Hamilton says. “We don’t do custom cakes…. Our ingredients are too high quality.”

Hamilton has been the owner of Sweet Talk Bakery on High Point Road in Greensboro since January. He says he decided to buy the bakery after the previous owners, who had run it since 2016, decided to move back to Pennsylvania.

He now runs the shop with his baking partner, Donovan Simmons.

Hamilton says they kept the essence of the shop but tweaked some of the recipes and added new flavors such as white velvet and Oreo. In total, the shop lists 21 different flavors.

The spacious 3,000-square-foot bakery shares space in a shopping center with Simauchi Peruvian Restaurant as well as the original Jerusalem Market.

Pastel colored chairs and accents warm up the interior, which boasts a small stage for spoken word and live music towards the front shop, as well as a charming Martha Stewart-esque private room in the back, ready for bridal showers and birthday parties.

“I fell in love when I looked in the window,” Hamilton recalls of his first time at the bakery. “We decided to keep the names of the cakes but changed up how we did things. More homegrown, homestyle.”

Hamilton, who grew up in Greensboro, worked as an HVAC salesman for 13 years before going into the cake business. He also raised two daughters on his own and says he learned from a young age how to take care of himself.

“My mom raised me always sayin’, ‘Don’t no woman want no man that can’t cook, clean and take care of themselves,’” he says.

As the eldest of eight siblings, Hamilton says he grew up in the kitchen watching his mom and grandmother cook. That’s where his love of making and sharing food came from.

“Growing up in an African-American household, we would go to Grandma’s house after church,” he says. “You brought extra Ziplock bags to take food home. Mac and cheese, stuffing, cab-

Sweet Talk boasts 21 different flavors of cakes including from left to right: lemon, Oreo, pound cake and classic chocolake.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

bage, vegetables, turkey, Cornish hen. You just always knew keeps the cookies crunchy.” that going there, you were going to eat well.”

In addition to the Oreo, Sweet Talk also has white velvet — a He says he got tired of the monotony of his job and knew he flagship flavor — red velvet, hummingbird, German chocolate wanted to do something with food. and strawberry to name a few. They also make pound cakes “As I say, do something you love,” he says. and sell ice cream.

Hamilton says he met Simmons at church about eight years Lanore Johnson, a regular, texts Hamilton her order before ago and was introduced to his cakes. He says he ate the cakes she comes in. She makes the trip almost weekly and this week almost every week, until one week when Simmons was out of dropped off strawberries she picked herself for the crew to use town, he was forced to bake one himself. in her strawberry cake.

“It just came back to me; it’s like that bicycle,” he says.

“You can tell it’s homemade,” she says as she waits for “There’s nothing to it; I just got back Hamilton to pack her slices. “The on and did it. This is something I knew texture, the flavor.”

I could do, because I could be creative As for the fact that the shop is Sweet Talk is located at 5002 about it.” black-owned, she says she wants to High Point Road in Greensboro.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, support shops with owners that look Visit their Facebook or call (336) mothers and daughters and women like her. on their way home from the grocery “Why not pay a little extra for 897-7660 for more info. store pop in to pick up a slice or two. something I want?” she asks. “I try to Sandra Spencer, a first-time support my own.” customer, comes in to buy a slice That’s where some of the skeptiof the coconut cake and chats with cism from customers comes in, says Hamilton about her son before departing. Not more than Hamilton.

20 minutes later, she walks back through the doors to buy When they see two black men running a bakery, some of the another slice. patrons come with their own stereotypes.

“It was so delicious,” says Spencer, who admits she ate the “They’ll ask me, ‘So you can actually cook?’” entire piece in her car. “Just like my grandmother’s. So, I had to And he says he proves their preconceived notions wrong come back to get the Oreo.” every time.

The black and white cake delivers the nostalgic chocolate-y “People can taste work,” he says. “You can’t have it any flavor but comes with an added crunch courtesy of Hamilton other way. This is how you’re supposed to do it. It’s just how and Simmons’s personal touch. we were raised; I can’t explain it.”

“We put the cookies right into the cake,” Hamilton says. “It

May 30 - June 5, 2019

CULTURE Laura Lashley and Wise Men

by Savi Ettinger

A

Up Front News

Triad artist Laura Lashley makes a canvas of the Wise Man Dance in the Sun kolsch 16-ounce can.

Opinion

SAVI ETTINGER

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Streaks of yellow and teal erupt than the seasonal palette she worked across a violet and blue background with in the winter. from the somewhat spiked center of “The colors that I like in February,” flowers, the petals behaving like rays Lashley said, “are not the same colors I of the sun. They twist and glide across like in May.” a large canvas that hangs in the center The flavor of the brew fits Lashley’s of the wall. Each petal continues to art, as the design embodies the brew. stretch, changing color in an abstract The kölsch follows a style from Cologne, garden. Lashley recalled finishing the Germany, and carries both the properpiece while sick, naming the work ties of an ale and a lager, as a cross “Pollen Fever.” Like with much of her between the two flavors and brewing art, Lashley tried to let her ideas move processes. through her unfetThe beer tastes tered, attempting at once fruity and not to restrict or earthy, with touchWise Man Brewing Company change them. es of apple and “This is kinda grape balancing is located at 826 Angelo like stream-ofout the bitterness Bros Ave, in Winston-Salem. consciousness writand highlighting For more information, visit ing,” Lashley said, the flavor of grain. wisemanbrewing.com. “but in drawing.”

The subtle natural The color palette flavors make it of the can and easy to drink. Its “Pollen Fever” find pale straw color their way into more of Lashley’s work, matches up with the hues in Lashley’s becoming Lashley’s symbol for hot sumMay palette, both the beer and the art mer days. The coloring for the packaging seeming light and summery. took on a more collaborative process, as “This one is a really crisp and refreshLashley and Wise Man worked with Big ing beer,” Rossow said.

Bridge Design in Asheville. For Lashley, “It’s so refreshing,” Lashley agreed, who submitted the design in February, sipping from her glass. the colors fit the month of release more

Culture

s the names of all Wise Man brews do, Dance in the Sun came from a quote.

“Let us dance in the sun,” the words from Susan Polis Schutz read, “wearing wildflowers in our hair.”

On a busy Friday night at Wise Man Brewing Company in Winston-Salem, a piece of Laura Lashley’s chromatic artwork found a home not on a canvas, but wrapped around the side of a can. The downtown spot saw four-packs of the brew — and Lashley’s design — bought and carried out as the brewery releases the canned version of their Dance in the Sun kölsch.

Lashley, a Winston-Salem artist known for murals, mandalas and inventive pattern work, collaborated with Wise Man staff to bring the design to life. Upon hearing the namesake of their latest canned beer from taproom manager Dan Rossow, Lashley began envisioning ideas.

For the brewery, the name Dance in the Sun feels more literal. Rossow mentioned how the solar panels on their roof earned Wise Man a place in Brews from the Sun, a national competition for America’s favorite solar-powered microbrewery. He pointed to a screen by the bar displaying a graph keeping measure of the electricity generated by the panels. By Rossow’s estimate, they currently account for around half of the brewery’s power.

“We’re always trying to tell a lot of stories,” Rossow said, “but that’s one not a lot of people know.”

On the can, a scarlet mermaid snakes upward, purple flowers looking like buttons down her underbelly. Petals and unconventional rabbit ears atop her head reach over towards another female figure opposite her. The avian figure soars, her wings sporting jewel tones: purple, teal and gold. Between them, a third woman stands front and center, with striped legs and a ruffled collar of petals. All three wear the same face built from delicate, purposeful lines.

“I wanted to do more realistic people dancing in the sun,” Lashley said, “but all of the sketches I did were bird girls or fish girls.”

More of Lashley’s paintings hang on wooden beams that skyrocket up the left wall of the taproom. Plant matter act as the subjects for vibrant mandalas and animals don human faces as Lashley dips into the whimsy of summer.

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May 30 - June 5, 2019

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1 Beyond zealous 6 Household appliance, for short 9 ___ Life (Tupac tattoo) 13 Deft 15 In the past 16 She played Talisa on “Game of Thrones” 17 Sketch a habanero?

19 Runaway win 20 Midweek time for floods?

22 N.L. East team 23 Kyoto cash 24 Like some change 25 Aquatic barrier 27 His record for patents was surpassed by a Japanese inventor in 2003 31 Masi of “Heroes” ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 32 Obsolete PC operating system 34 Language spoken in “Avatar” 35 Tajikistan, once (abbr.)

36 Intersection where pet feet meet?

40 See 33-Down 43 British subcompact 44 Triatomic form of oxygen 48 Suffix for prop or meth 49 Gary Numan lyric after “It’s the only way to live” 52 Beat easily 53 Model plane material 55 Had some hummus 57 Skin care brand Answers from last issue 58 Tweety’s guide to business planning?

63 “Beloved” novelist Morrison 26 Dandy sort 64 Cuts through a small fish?

28 Only country name in the NATO phonetic 66 Satirical HBO interviewer, once alphabet 67 Bar brew, briefly 29 Wayne Shorter’s instrument 68 Like some coffee 30 Egg, for openers 69 Coffee alternatives 33 Only named character in “Green Eggs and 70 “30 Rock” star Tina [40-Across]” 71 “Enchanting”-sounding book in the 37 “All I Do Is ___” Septimus Heap series 38 Ref. book set 39 “The Genius” of the Wu-Tang Clan Down 40 Ecological abode 1 Cool, 30 years ago 41 1921 Literature Nobelist France 2 Magazine publishing info 42 Somehow, first lady after Michelle 3 Rumbled 45 “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer 4 Louisiana Territory state 46 “On to the ___” (2009 Jay-Z song) 5 The green Teletubby 47 Dreyer’s ice cream partner 6 Smoke an e-cig 50 Tattered threads 7 Like some whiskey 51 Cherry leftovers 8 Succotash ingredient 54 Tosses down 9 Sculpture piece 56 Casts forth 10 Jinxes 59 “Clueless” catchphrase 11 Reveals the celebrity dressed as the Poodle, 60 Neck region Deer or Hippo, e.g.

61 Out of the office 12 Time off between classes?

62 “My Fair Lady” professor, to Eliza 14 Little giggle 65 Chicago-based cable superstation 18 Defeated without mercy, in leetspeak 69 Castle McDazzle 21 Cause of aberrant weather 22 Sleeve tattoo spot

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May 30 - June 5, 2019

CROSSWORD ‘That’s Awful’—well, shucks.

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