TCB March 2, 2023 — In All Honesty

CITY LIFE

FRIDAY MARCH 3

Nunsense @ Centennial Station Arts Center (HP) 7:30 p.m.

High Point Community Theatre presents the musical comedy Nunsense. Watch as five nuns scramble to host a fundraiser after their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, serves and accidentally poisons 52 sisters. Purchase tickets at highpointtheatre.com/events

An Evening of Music by Women Composers @ Salem Elberson Fine Arts Center (W-S) 7:30 p.m.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Salem College School of Music presents a selection of songs by women composers including Barbara Strozzi, Cecile Chaminade, Amy Beach and more. The concert is free and open to the public. Find more information on the Facebook event page

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

SATURDAY MARCH 4

Summer Hiring Event @ High Point

City Lake Park (HP) 9 a.m.

High Point Parks & Recreation is seeking lifeguards, camp counselors and others for its summer job opportunities. Apply when you arrive or complete your application ahead of time at highpointnc.gov/jobs

MARCH 3-5

Sip & Shop @ the Speakeasy Tavern (GSO) 1 p.m.

Browse handmade products from local businesses before grabbing lunch and drinks from the Tavern. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

SUNDAY MARCH 5

Hair of the Dog Brunch Bar @ Doggos

Dog Park & Pub (GSO) 10 a.m.

Grand Opening @ L’Avenue Boutique (W-S) 10 a.m.

L’Avenue Boutique, a European-inspired women’s clothing store, celebrates its grand opening with free Bobby Boy Bakeshop chocolate croissants, free goodies, mystery gift cards and more. Find more information on the Facebook event page

Music from the Homelands

LARA ST. JOHN VIOLIN

VINAY PARAMESWARAN CONDUCTOR

Star violinist Lara St. John returns to perform Dvořák’s nimble violin concerto, while conductor Vinay Parameswaran leads music of Sibelius and Lutosławski’s electrifying Concerto for Orchestra.

MAR 4& 5

Tickets: wssymphony.org

Doggos invites you and your furry friends to enjoy their monthly bloodhound and mimosa topping bar until 3 p.m. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I hate when people say women aren’t funny, but at the same time I have benefited from stupid people who think women aren’t funny, because I am funny.” -Nikki Glaser

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The last few weeks, prominent members of the Greensboro community have been embroiled in sensational antics orchestrated by a small group of ringleaders. And I’m here to argue that it’s a distraction.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

I understand that I’m young and relatively new to the journalism industry. I didn’t go to J-school and I didn’t study journalism in college. But in the last five years of working week to week, interviewing sources, crafting stories and putting out a paper, there are a few things I’ve learned about what journalism is and is not.

At its best, journalism is a tool to hold the powerful accountable. Journalism is not a tool to be used frivolously without sufficient evidence.

Secondly, journalism should be for the people. It should always reflect the community’s highest needs. Journalism is not an avenue for a select few who are driven by their egos to go after their own personal hit list.

Here, let me define community: To me, community is the amalgamation of the people in our cities, the ones that work our streets, our cafes, our stores, who vote, who protest, who

show up and make change and fight despite the odds against them. They are the ones journalism should be uplifting, protecting, working alongside. The community is not a handful of old, well-off white people, specifically white men, who want to take up space to fling their shit at each other whilst the rest of us are forced to watch.

The community is comprised of the people who are forced out of their homes unjustly, the ones losing their rights to their bodily autonomy, the ones who are being forced back into the closet, the ones fighting to be paid a living wage, the ones who continue to be marginalized.

Let me be clear: Holding the powerful accountable, of course, includes being critical of our city leaders if and when they abuse their power. But an over-exaggerated, overanalyzed, over-focused attention on a single person led by a few people who have a collective axe to grind only serves their privileged group. Many of us don’t even have an axe to wield.

So my question is, who asked for this? The community?

Because I would venture to guess, not so much.

To suggest story ideas or send tips to TCB, email sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

Comedian Nikki Glaser performs at the Tanger Center in Greensboro on Sunday as part of her GOOD Girl Tour.

The community is not a handful of old, well-off white people.

Winston-Salem looks to implement police-free response option while Greensboro’s co-response model enters third year

by Gale Melcher

In Winston-Salem, a new Behavioral Evaluation and Response Team has been established as an alternative to law enforcement involvement in mental-health related calls. By April, the city plans to send crisis counselors to assist with 911 calls that have to do with mental health and substance use. Emergency dispatchers will receive specialized training to determine what kind of response is required when they receive calls related to these issues.

The initiative is a 1-year pilot program financed through $700,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding. The decision to implement the pilot came after the city conducted research through RTI International to analyze 911-call data and the organization recommended the alternative response model.

Kristin Ryan was hired by the city in January to direct the program. During a Feb. 13 public safety committee meeting, Ryan explained that the BEAR Team will include herself and six other crisis counselors, to be placed at different fire stations throughout Winston-Salem.

“The BEAR Team will provide compassionate mental-health intervention services,” said Ryan during her presentation, noting that collaboration with all community providers is an essential part of the follow-up care the team will deliver.

Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney mentioned during the meeting that community and mental-health advocates had really encouraged the city to “look at an alternative model to police for mental health 911 calls.”

The push for municipalities to look for alternatives to traditional policing has made national headlines in the last few years, particularly in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.

Greensboro’s police department implemented a program called the Behavioral Health Response Team in 2019 that is a co-response model that sends licensed counselors on calls with police officers. According to the RTI International report, Durham and Raleigh all use a co-response model.

In an interview with TCB on Feb. 23 at a community forum, Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson said that sometimes if the officer determines that there are no safety issues, they’ll stay in the police car while the crisis counselor helps the person.

Professor of law and director of the William & Mary Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Reform Kami Chavis spoke about the need for alternative responses to mental health crises. Chavis previously taught at Wake Forest University and directed the university’s Criminal Justice Program.

“Every year a significant number of police-involved deaths or injuries occur,” Chavis said, adding that people are often forced into calling police for help in mental-health situations because “there’s no one else to call, there are no other resources that they can turn to.”

But by having these crisis managers intervene rather than law enforcement, some of these violent instances can be alleviated, Chavis said.

“They can’t really help us,” she said about officers. “Really all they can do is arrest someone or respond in an authoritarian way.”

Additionally, police officers do often not have specialized training to appropriately interact with people who are experiencing a mental health crisis, Chavis said.

“We need to begin having appropriate remedies and responses for the issues at hand,” she said.

Thompson explained that because a mental health emergency wouldn’t usually be considered a fire or an EMS call, the police are often the ones sent to respond.

“Now BHRT gives us an added resource,” said Thompson.

BHRT can be deployed for people in situations like Marcus Smith’s, who died at the hands of eight GPD officers in September 2018. Smith was facing a mental-health crisis at the time of his death and can be heard on body-camera footage asking police officers for help, begging them to “call the ambulance” and take him to the hospital. Instead officers hogtied Smith,

This piece is part of our CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business, made possible by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund. It is available to republish for free by any news outlet who cares to use it. To learn how, visit

who became unresponsive and stopped breathing within minutes. Smith was pronounced dead in the emergency department.

Thompson said there have been “hundreds of incidents” like Smith’s in the past couple of years that “had a better outcome” thanks to BHRT.

TCB reported that in 2021, the BHRT program responded to 3,274 calls. In 2022, they responded to 2,357.

Thompson also noted that he thinks they have “some room for improvement.”

“We’re all kind of learning from each other too, because this is fairly new for the state of North Carolina,” he said.

In eastern North Carolina, Greenville’s Mobile Crisis Unit has partnered with the police department and sheriff’s office. The Integrated Family Services Mobile Crisis Unit has been available to residents since 2008, but the Reflector reported in 2021 that two co-responders had been specifically assigned to the city’s police department, working with officers to address mental health crisis situations over the phone or by responding to calls.

The move away from armed officers handling every call that comes through the 911 dispatch has caught on in the last few years because of both the racial reckoning of 2020, but also because departments across the country are short-staffed.

During the Feb. 23 community meeting, Thompson said that while GPD has authorized 691 sworn officers in the police department, they’re 115 officers short.

“That’s a significant amount for us, probably our largest deficit that we’ve seen in staffing,” Thompson noted, adding that “as dire as that sounds… other agencies surrounding us are suffering worse than we are.”

Jan. 19, Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney said that the department was

Eliminating corporate income tax gives businesses a free ride

It has been the goal of the North Carolina General Assembly since 2013 to reduce corporate income taxes in our state. That’s the year the new Republican majority passed legislation dropping our state’s 6.9 percent corporate income tax down to 6 percent, with triggers in place for further reductions that would eventually bring it down to 5 percent.

In 2019, Gov. Cooper vetoed a budget that dropped corporate income tax rates down to 2.5 percent; that veto was overridden by the NCGA. The 2021 budget called for even more reductions beginning in 2025 — the lowest rate in the nation among states that levy corporate income tax — with a 5-year plan to bring that rate to… nothing! Zero percent! No dollars at all from profits made by corporations registered in NC by 2030. [Thanks to the NC Budget & Tax Center for their useful timeline.]

The people don’t like it: 69 percent of North Carolinians disapprove of the elimination of corporate income taxes. And the businesses didn’t ask for it — Boom Supersonic, Toyota and other huge corporations that recently came to NC seemed to be fine with the current rate. A pair of bills making their way through the House and Senate suggest freezing the rate at 2.5 percent and repealing the phaseout, but there’s little chance it would ever come out of committee.

We have a problem with it on principle.

The fact is that corporations are creatures of the state — you can’t do business in NC without registering with the secretary of state and the department of revenue. In return, the state allows C-corporations LLCs

and S corps a degree of protection between the company’s owners and business liabilities like lawsuits or bankruptcy. It’s actually the whole point of a corporation.

Should this privileged status come at no cost?

Consider, too, that corporations take a huge toll on resources: There are at least as many trucks on our highways as there are passenger cars. Manufacturing creates waste that cities must figure out how to dispose of. Even newspapers use public space for distribution and public services to recycle old issues. Corporations could not exist without the state, nor could they function without the infrastructure it provides.

All that for free?

And then there’s the problem of math. Our state is expensive to run — our budget is $28.25 billion dollars this year. Who’s going to pay for that? We are.

Just as the legislature has been reducing corporate income tax, they have been cutting personal income tax rates to place less of the burden on our wealthiest residents. Just as nefarious, the GA has been underfunding things that don’t apply to the wealthiest North Carolinians, like public schools and clean water to create a sleight-of-hand “surplus” which is the main selling point of the zero tax rate.

So what happens when no one pays taxes? That $28.25 billion will get covered by large increases in sales tax, property tax, fuel tax and any other taxes or fees they can eke out of regular consumers and homeowners. The people would be paying for the corporations, which is a little bit like splitting a restaurant bill with someone who got the lobster while you got the salad.

69 percent of North Carolinians disapprove of the elimination of corporate income taxes.

by Brian Clarey

Nikki Glaser’s The Good Girl Tour comes to the Steven Tanger for the Performing Arts on Sunday, March 5. Tickets are still available through tangercenter.com.

Comedian Nikki Glaser works all the time. Her 2022 stand-up special Good Clean Filth is still running on HBO, as is “F-Boy Island,” the dating show she hosted. She’s got her own podcast, is in high demand on roasts and talk shows, and she recently appeared as Snowstorm on “The Masked Singer.” Her relentless touring schedule brings her through the Triad next month.

Q A

Does the industry still treat women in comedy as like a separate thing, like a ladies’ auxiliary or some sort of sub-group?

I think so. I’ve always looked at it as a hindrance and a benefit to my career. I think that because there are so few of us, it’s always good to be something that’s more rare. I relate it to female cops and female Uber drivers and construction workers. And there’s more women doing it all the time, because girls are being empowered to be funny.

I hate when people say women aren’t funny, but at the same time I have benefited from stupid people who think women aren’t funny, because I am funny. I never looked at myself as a woman comic, but I was never one to run from that label. Male comics and I relate to each other the same way male comics relate to one another. But there is also a sisterhood of comics that men cannot get in on.

Your material is pretty raw, but a lot of comedy is raw. What’s different about your stuff?

I always used to be okay with being labeled ‘blue” — that’s where the woman thing comes into play. I am personified as a raunchy comedian because it’s rare for a woman to talk the way I do. I think of it as honesty — the things that we’re all thinking but not saying. I dabble in honesty, not filth. I don’t like to offend people, hurt people’s feelings, make people grossed out. It’s more about what I’m interested in talking about, the way I want to do comedy. I always said I’ll stop talking about sex when it doesn’t interest me anymore. And I have to say, this tour, I’m not talking about sex as much.

What is the difference between you in life and your stage persona?

I would say zero. I mean, it’s a heightened version because of the adrenaline of being on stage, the nature of being in a performance: You dial it up a bit. But I could be having the same conversation off stage as on; it’s the same energy. I don’t have to channel some kind of character; I don’t have to walk out on stage and pretend my life is roses. I don’t have to perform. The best comedy is authentic and real. That’s the biggest skill in comedy: To go onstage and be yourself.

You don’t drink. Do you want to talk a little about that?

I was just at a point where I was drinking every night. You get paid in booze a lot. These very late nights in my twenties was a huge part of [my decision]. Then I started to see the hangovers. I quit because I had just gotten a pilot and it was my first big shot and you can’t make a show sleeping until 4 pm every day. I saw all the comics that got the most work done weren’t drinking; the most successful ones didn’t drink. It wasn’t a fix-all for me, but I think it was the greatest decision I ever made for me.

Q A

Q A Q A Q A

How famous are you? What’s the best part of your level of fame?

I am uncomfortable using that word. So many people never heard of me, never will hear of me. Then other people know everything about me.

I would say I am at the perfect level of fame because I am at the level where famous people know who I am. You always want the approval of your peers, so when people you admire know who you are, that’s a good level of fame. Like Martin Short knows who I am. Jerry Seinfeld is a fan, though I have never met him. Like Stephen Stills. That’s my level of fame.

I don’t get recognized; I can walk around. I wipe down my equipment at the gym even when I don’t want to because someone might know who I am.

Any time someone recognizes me it’s a goddamn treat. I get the perks of being wellknown when I want them.

I could get a little more famous; moving up a couple notches would give me more opportunities and fun things to do in my career. But I don’t need to be more famous. I love famous people but man, I have opinions about them! The more famous you get the more people hate you. I don’t mind if you hate me and you do know who I am, but I can’t stand when strangers hate me.

Q A

You are big-time now, but what was your last shitty gig like?

It wasn’t that long ago! I am still under the mindset that I don’t deserve any of this, like I tricked someone. I mean, I have one coming up. I’m playing a country club that I got talked into. I get booked on corporate events. I do favors for people, do a show or something for less than I would have asked for in 2010.

I don’t think of myself as big time. I think my agents and managers have to remind me sometimes.

Q&A with Nikki Glaser on being just famous enough, giving up drinking and being honest

Comedian Nikki Glaser performs at the Tanger Center in Greensboro on Sunday.

[COURTESY PHOTO]

Q A

You have not played a lot of gigs in the South. Any expectations with a Southern audience?

I mean, there’s a part of me that think they’re gonna be a little more sensitive, but at the same time, the South can get down and dirty. I’m not scared. I don’t think I’m as popular in the South as in other places. Who knows why? I might offend a few Southern belles, but I think everyone appreciates honesty. And if they come to my show and hear stuff they don’t like, they should have done their research.

Q A

Who is the funniest person you know?

I would say my best friend from high school, Kerstin, and then Rachel Feinstein and then David Spade. I have thought about this a lot. Those are the three funniest people I know that are just naturally funny, and it’s frustrating that one of them is a pilates instructor in Kansas City.

Q A

Can you close with a joke?

A cop pulls over a car with two priests in it, and the cop says, “We’re looking for two pedophiles.” The priests look at each other for a second and then one of them says, “Okay, we’ll do it.”

Learn more at nikkiglaser.com

WIC GIVES YOU:

• Healthy foods

• Nutrition education

• Breastfeeding support

• Resources for families

YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN WIC

IF YOU:

• Are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a child under age 5

• Live in North Carolina

CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE:

Website: www.guilfordcountync.gov/wic

1100 E. Wendover Ave Greensboro, NC 27405 336-641-3214

501 E. Green Drive High Point, NC 27260 336-641-7571

• Receive Medicaid, SNAP, Work First, or have a family income less than WIC income guidelines This

Scan code to learn more about WIC

Winston-Salem

rapper Jody Lo of Dope Plugs Music Group promotes upcoming mixtape, Tru Story 2

by Michaela Ratliff

Like many rappers, Jeaudi Gray loves weed so much, he dedicated a song to it.

“Do you love me Mary Jane?/Mary, will you marry me?/‘Cause she stayed by my side when I didn’t have nobody there for me,” he raps on his single “Mary Jane,” released in 2017.

Gray, who goes by the stage name Jody Lo, is a Winston-Salem rapper and founder of the Dope Plugs Music Group record label. On March 17, his mixtape Tru Story 2 will be released through the label. Gray founded the label in 2017 in an undercover effort to promote himself as an artist.

“I noticed most artists have a company behind them doing marketing work, so I figured I’d start my own company,” he says. “But I wanted to promote myself in an indirect way without people knowing it was me.”

That’s because Gray says he believes the public tends to find artists more credible if there’s a marketing company promoting their work rather than the artist themselves. To gain listeners and fans, he’d create Spotify playlists and compilation mixtapes, carefully placing his own singles in the mix. Now, he’s gained enough of a following to overtly establish himself as the man behind the label.

“I don’t even try to hide it anymore now,” he says.

For now, Gray is the only artist who’s part of the label, but he actively scouts social media and reaches out to artists to attempt to sign talent.

Gray’s rap journey began at 8 years old when he wrote his first song. He knew he wanted to be a rapper after seeing the success of Lil’ Bow Wow, who released his first album at 13.

“If he’s a kid, and he can rap, I can, too,” Gray he told himself.

Gray also idolized rapper Ludacris, whose boisterous lyrics over beats ac-

cented with trumpets and animated music videos solidified him as one of the top Southern rappers of the early 2000s. Gray remembers having Ludacris albums on repeat, hoping to one day be as famous as him.

“It was Chicken-n-Beer or it might’ve been The Red Light [District], one of those two, for sure,” he says.

Gray draws inspiration from other Southern rappers like Boosie [BadAzz], Yo Gotti and Gucci Mane to describe the mentality of being an independent hustler — an artist not signed to a contract with a record label, yet one who wants the same props as those that are. Gray says he appreciates the way these artists executed their own marketing strategies and gained traction without the publicity and money a label can provide. In 2005, Gucci Mane saw success with the independent release of his album Trap House, a goal Gray aims to achieve, too.

On Tru Story 2, Gray addresses topics like love, fatherhood and entrepreneurship. In his song “Girl Dad,” Gray pays homage to his three daughters.

“Ain’t nothing more important/That’s because y’all mean the world to me/My life revolves around y’all and that’s how I want my world to be,” he raps over a beat emphasized with notes played on the electric guitar.

While the subject matter of Gray’s singles concentrates on his own life, Tru Story 2 covers such a range of topics that Gray hopes listeners will still be able to relate to his music.

“I just want them to enjoy it,” he says.

Jody Lo’s mixtape, Tru Story 2, will be released on March 17. Follow Jody Lo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Listen to Jody Lo’s music on multiple platforms including YouTube, SoundCloud, Apple Music and Genius. Learn more about The Dope Plugs Music Group on Facebook.

Jody Lo is a WinstonSalem rapper and founder of Dope Plugs Music Group.

COURTESY PHOTOS

I wanted to promote myself in an indirect way without people knowing it was me.

“ “

24-Hour Pure Barre-a-Thon benefitting Family Service of the Piedmont

Have you heard of Pure Barre before? It is a workout method / fitness studio(s) in Greensboro headed up by two local female entrepreneurs, Jennifer Stone Carelli and Christina Cromwell Buchanan. The pair own two studios in Greensboro — Pure Barre Greensboro and Pure Barre New Garden — and have been in business since 2013. Jennifer and Christina love growing their business while also giving back to the community and they have turned one of their dreams into reality this year.

Pure Barre Greensboro is teaming up with Family Service of the Piedmont to host a 24-hour benefit March 16-17th at Pure Barre Greensboro’s studio on Westover Terrace in Greensboro.

Perfectly timed for your pre-St. Patrick’s Day festivities, the event will be in Greensboro, on March 16-17, 2023. Pure Barre will host a workout class on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours. Classes will run from 8:00am on March 16th through 8:00am March 17th. All classes will be free with donation encouraged, with all proceeds donated directly to Family Service of the Piedmont. Grab some friends, sign up for class, come see what Pure Barre is all about while giving back to an amazing cause!

Family Service of the Piedmont serves more than 19,000 local children and adults each year, addressing issues of domestic violence, child abuse, mental health and financial stability. The mission is to empower individuals and families to restore hope, achieve stability and thrive through quality support services, advocacy and education. Most recently, Family Service of the Piedmont hosted their annual Big Hair Ball, one of their biggest events of the year.

Pure Barre is a full-body workout that transforms you physically and mentally. The musically-driven group classes focus on low-impact, high-intensity movements that strengthen and tone your body in 50 minutes or less. The staff and members of Pure Barre Greensboro are dedicated to serving the community and are excited to partner with the individuals of Family Service of the Piedmont to have a direct impact on individuals in their community!

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

Chestnut Street, Greensboro

The beloved and despised Bradford pear tree is in full bloom.

CROSSWORD SUDOKU

by Matt Jones

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

Across

1. Cherished ones

6. Suspicious

11. Biopsy processor

14. Plumed bird

15. Suffix similar to “-ish”

16. “And now, without further ___”

17. MY THEORY, PART 1

20. “We’re on!”

21. Jazz Masters org.

22. Check deposit spots, for short

23. Video doorbell brand

25. “And ___ Davis as Alice” (end of “The Brady Bunch” opening credits)

27. MY THEORY, PART 2

34. “Cloud Shepherd” sculptor Jean

35. Senator Klobuchar

36. Reggae proponent

37. 151 in Roman numerals

38. MY THEORY, PART 3

41. Pugilistic wordsmith

42. “47 ___” (2013 Keanu Reeves film)

44. Dark-hued juice brand

45. “Kenan & ___”

46. MY THEORY, PART 4

51. Express mail carrier?

52. Heavy book

53. Dull pain

56. Round figure?

58. “I can’t hear you!” sound

62. PART 5 (FOLLOW-UP TO THE THEORY)

65. Org. that lets you e-file

66. Like some mouthwash

67. First name in late-night TV

68. Relieved sigh

69. Got in the game

70. Cause of slick roads Down

1. Half of an early TV couple

2. 2023 achievement for Viola Davis

3. “A Farewell to ___”

4. Gain anew, as trust

5. Cigar, in slang

6. “30 Rock” creator Tina

7. “This one ___ me”

8. Mouse sound

9. Earthlings

10. Confirming vote

11. ___ person standing

12. Driver around Hollywood

13. Word after Backstreet, Pet Shop, or

Beastie

18. French-Italian cheese that’s milder than its similarly named relative

19. Part of Fred Flintstone’s catchphrase

24. Like pheasant or venison

26. “Traffic” agent?

27. Mother-of-pearl

28. Russian count who lent his name to a veal dish

29. State your views

30. Kind of node or gland

31. Japanese city home to Panasonic

32. Former Phillies great Chase

33. Call at a coin toss

38. “Hold ___ your hats”

39. Frost or Dove

40. “You got my approval”

43. How checks are signed

47. Strand, as a winter storm

48. Despot

49. Spam, for example

50. “Sunny” 1990s Honda

53. Setting of Shanghai and Chennai

54. “Iron Chef America” chef Cat

55. Meat-and-potatoes concoction

57. Computer data unit

59. Real estate measurement

60. Debussy’s “Clair de ___”

61. “Second prize is ___ of steak knives” (“Glengarry Glen Ross” quote)

63. 1950s singer Sumac

64. Former Pink Floyd guitarist Barrett

“Sports Roundtable”-- it rings true.

© 2023 Matt Jones

© 2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)