Guilford County hosted its third annual Mental Health Rocks! Resource Festival and Block Party on the afternoon of Friday, May 17 outside of the Guilford County Behavioral Health Center, located at 931 Third St. in Greensboro.
4 This year, the RIVERRUN festival celebrated its 26th with its largest lineup ever, consisting of 197 screenings — 71 features and 126 shorts — representing 51 countries, from April 18-27.
6 “ WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
THIS COULD BE” marks a powerful, thought-provoking, and memorable return for this award-winning novelist, Lee Zacharias
7 For years now, our GOP-controlled state legislature has done everything in its power to diminish and dismantle the political and demographic equity reflected in our populace. Their efforts have been so blatantly partisan that every time they draw up NEW CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT LINES, the courts have had to intervene.
Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITORIAL Editor CHANEL DAVIS chanel@yesweekly.com
BATCHELOR PRODUCTION
Senior Designer ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com
8 Were it not for the high-voltage star wattage of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, THE FALL GUY would have crashed and burned, and collapsed under the weight of its own silliness.
12 “Stop fighting essential protections for your own DRINKING WATER source and for downstream communities,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, at the Greensboro City Council May 7 meeting.
14 POSSUM JENKINS has been officially playing together for 20 years and they’ll celebrate with a free show featuring Big Daddy Love (plus the ensemble “Possum Big Band”) at Incendiary Brewing’s CoalPit stage in downtown Winston-Salem.
Designer SHANE HART artdirector@yesweekly.com
Marketing ANGELA COX angela@yesweekly.com TRAVIS WAGEMAN travis@yesweekly.com
FRIDAY /// MAY 24
FOURTH STREET & MARSHALL STREET
STREETS OF FIRE · 7 to 9 p.m.
High-Speed Bicycle Sprints
FREE LIVE MUSIC
High School Reunion · 5:30 p.m.
Sarah Shook and The Disarmers
7:30 p.m.
Lucero · 9 p.m.
SATURDAY /// MAY 25
BAILEY PARK
PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR CYCLING
69-Mile Fondo · 8 a.m.
42-Mile Fondo · 8:30 a.m.
Greenway Ride · 10 a.m.
WINSTON-SALEM CYCLING CLASSIC AT BAILEY PARK
Amateur Criterium Racing
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Professional Criterium Racing 5:30 to 8:15 p.m.
FREE LIVE MUSIC
Whiskey Bent · Noon
Beggars Banquet · 1 p.m.
Camel City Yacht Club 3 p.m.
Doug Davis and Radio Silence · 8 p.m.
The Fray · 9 p.m.
Last year, the RiverRun International Film Festival marked a major milestone when it celebrated its 25th anniversary. This year, the festival celebrated its 26th with its largest lineup ever, consisting of 197 screenings — 71 features and 126 shorts — representing 51 countries, from April 18-27. The result was yet another upswing in attendance, according to executive director Rob Davis.
“Attendance this year was 12,190, which is up from 11,562 last year,” he said. “We are delighted it continues to move in a positive direction in the post-pandemic years which saw attendance at 4,143 in 2021 and 9,498 in 2022.” (The festival had to be canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
A further note of encouragement was struck by the number of sellouts at this year’s festival. “We had two sold-out screenings of Thelma, one sold-out screening of Mr. Blake at Your Service!, one sold-out screening of Willie and Me, one sold-out screening of Never Too Late for Love, one sold-out screening of Out There: A National Parks Story, and essentially a sold-out screening of The Fog [at Marketplace Cinemas] as we had to move it to a larger theater as it sold out in its original 140-seat house,” he said.
In addition, “we had terrific crowds for a number of films with local ties including The Ghost Trap directed by Greensboro native James Khanlarian, Through the Lines about the NC Fusion soccer team, and You & I directed by Summer Shelton. We set a box-o ce record for our Greensboro screenings at RED Cinemas and will likely expand those next year,” said Davis.
As for the virtual screening component, “even with a reduced lineup as fewer filmmakers are choosing to participate virtually, our virtual component still accounted for 5.1% of ticket sales,” he added.
Earlier this month, the festival announced its award winners for the 2024 event. In the category of Narrative Features, Banel & Adama, directed by
Ramata-Toulaye Sy, was named Best Narrative Feature; the Peter Brunette Award for Best Director went to Robert Kolodny for The Featherweight; and a Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble went to Excursion, directed by Una Gunjak. In this category of Documentary Features, director Edward Lovelace’s Name me Lawand won Best Documentary Feature, Taimi Arvidson won Best Director — Documentary Feature for From This Small Place, and a Special Jury Award went to Without Arrows, co-directed by Elizabeth Day and Jonathan Olshefski. Director Andrew Garcia’s Tomb of the Sea copped the award for Best Narrative Short, Roderick Lawrence won a Special Jury Award for Best Performance in Speak Up Brotha!, and Special Jury Mention went to The Steak, directed by Kiarash Dadgar Mohebi. Director Andy Sarjahani’s Wild Hogs and Sa ron won Best Documentary Short, a Special Jury Award for Emerging Voice in Film went to Primero, Sueno, directed by Andrés Lira, and a Special Jury Award for Innovative Storytelling to We Exist in Memory, directed by Darian Woehr. The Miracle, directed by Nenke Deutz, won Best Animated Short, while A Crab in the Pool, co-directed by Jean Sébastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte, received an Honorable Mention for Best Animated Short. The award for Best Student Animated Short was won by Rachel Mow of Savannah College of Art and Design for The Sun is Bad, and director Xiaoxuan Han’s Don’t Forget to Take
Medicines received a Special Jury Award for Best Experimental Film.
The Kirkpatrick Audience Choice Award went to Beth Lane’s feature documentary UnBroken, and the winners from the 13th annual RiverRun Pitch Fest, in which college students pitch potential documentary film projects to a panel of judges in hopes of winning a cash prize were Jack Balick and William Teets from Wake Forest University for Ayzoh, with second-place going to Zoe Bell from Tulane University for Unpacking Pride: A Guide for the Solo Queer Traveler.
“I thought this was certainly the best festival since the pandemic,” said Dale Pollock, who essentially engineered the festival’s eastward move from Asheville and Brevard to Winston-Salem in 2023 and is a member emeritus of RiverRun’s board of directors. “It was a return to what RiverRun used to be like. The crowds were bigger, I saw some really good movies, and I thought this was a return to what all film festivals are trying to get back to, having faced so much adversity in the years since the pandemic.”
“This festival exceeded my hopes on many fronts before it actually even began,” Davis said. “We had almost 2,000 films to consider this year, and we ended up with a record-setting festival featuring 197 films representing 51 countries! We also had a record number of filmmakers attending and among the 130 were filmmakers from France, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria. I think this year featured the most robust lineup of
films I have ever had the pleasure of being associated with, and I’ve been doing this for a few decades at this point.”
As always, Davis extends his thanks to the RiverRun sta , its volunteers, and the support of the community at large. “We were thrilled with the community support this year! While it’s always nice to see our old friends, it’s also great to make new ones and we had a number of both veterans and first-timers at this year’s event. We had audience members from Charlotte, Raleigh, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee that we know of.”
As far as the filmmakers are concerned, RiverRun 2024 was a rousing — and gratifying — success. Julian Semilian, a long-time faculty member at the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, has attended many RiverRun events over the years, but this year marked his first time as a participating filmmaker, as his feature debut Fish Have No Psychiatrists: A Day with Andrei Codrescu made its world premiere.
“It was a really terrific experience,” he said. “I appreciated very much the work of the people who run the festival because being around for those 10 days made me aware of the tremendous amount of work and dedication it takes to put together something so magnificent. My wife Laura and I really appreciated how well organized our screening was and the fact that no one stormed out after the screening for the Q&A and participated!”
But seriously, folks. “We also appreciated the parties and all the people we met from all over the country and from overseas,” he said.
The Ghost Trap, an adaptation of the acclaimed novel by K. Stephens, marked the feature debut for screenwriter/director James Khanlarian, who was born and raised in Greensboro. The film drew solid crowds at its two screenings, one in Greensboro and one in Winston-Salem.
“RiverRun was everything we could have hoped for,” Khanlarian said. “After being in Los Angeles for so long, it was really wonderful to come back and premiere our film in my hometown. The sta and volunteers made us feel welcome and everyone was so friendly. Mary Dossinger (program director) and Rob deserve specific praise, because it must have been crazy to organize, and they still always had smiles on their faces.
TUES. June 18
10 a.m.–3 p.m.
The audiences were thoughtful and engaging. They asked good questions and were nice to talk to after the show.”
With tongue firmly in cheek, Khanlarian did express one “complaint”: “We were really hoping for a few thousand more people in the audience, but I guess the theaters only held 200!”
As for the 27th annual RiverRun International Film Festival, nothing is etched in stone, except the dates: April 10-19, 2025. !
See MARK BURGER ’s reviews of current movies. © 2024, Mark Burger.
For more information, call 336-724-1502 or visit the o cial RiverRun website: https://riverrunfilm. com/.
Register for free today! bit.ly/4aYrTAL Lunch will be provided. Check-in at 9:30 a.m.
Koury Convention Center
Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons 3121 West Gate City Boulevard Greensboro, NC 27407
Special Guest: Kody Kinsley Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
A healthy, fulfilled life means feeling good inside and OUT. Building an inclusive, accepting world lays the path for full happiness and health for LGBTQ+ people. Join Trillium as we work towards that world and strengthen health for all. Topics include Youth, Mental Health and HIV/AIDS. Celebrate and boost LGBTQ+ health at the Take PRIDE in Your Health Summit event!
For more information visit TrilliumHealthResources.org
SUBMITTED BY
CAITLIN HAMILTON MARKETINGIf one thing defines Alex’s youth, it’s being unloved. At fifteen, she has complete freedom, but only because neither parent, one an artist who never wanted to be a mother and the other an alcoholic bestselling novelist, care enough about her to keep tabs.
As the 1960s unfold and lacking any guidance or support, Alex begins a relationship with Kendrick, a 27-year-old photography professor at the local university, then leaves him for Ted, a charismatic and handsome Civil Rights activist whom she eventually marries. When their collective joins the anti-war movement and becomes the Weatherman, Ted and Alex break ties and move to New York, trailed by the FBI. But their fresh star collapses in 1970, after a fatal Weatherman bombing. Ted disappears.
Alex doesn’t know if her husband is in hiding or dead, but she carves out a quiet life on her own, moving back home, reconnecting as friends with Kendrick, and becoming a professor of photography. Then eleven years later, suddenly, Ted resurfaces.
In her masterful prose, Zacharias charts one woman’s search to shape her own identity and genuine family life out of the ruins of her childhood, marital abandonment, and the tumultuous politics and hopes of the 1960s and 1970s, at the same time it explores the tension between art’s commitment to the freedom of individual vision and the politician’s dedication to society as a whole. “What a Wonderful World This Could Be” marks a powerful, thought-provoking, and memorable return for this award-winning novelist. !
Lee Zacharias is the author of four novels, a collection of essays, and a collection of short stories. She has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council, has twice won the North Carolina Sir Walter Raleigh Award for a book of fiction, and has received many other prizes, including two silver medals from the Independent Publisher Book Awards and the Phillip H. McMath Book Award. Her previous novel “Across the Great Lake” was named a 2019 Notable Michigan Book, and her essays, which have appeared in numerous journals, have been cited and reprinted in “The Best American Essays.” She co-edited an anthology of short fiction titled “Runaway” and has taught at Princeton University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she is Emerita Professor of English. A native of the Midwest, she lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. Learn more about Zacharias leezacharias.com
Keep cool this summer by learning how to take better photos of your pets, crafting a colorful peppermill, making radiant pendants and earrings, or building a raku kiln in upcoming classes at Sawtooth!
Tap into your creative side and register today for summer classes and workshops at Sawtooth, a landmark community art school located in the heart of downtown.
Sawtooth’s two-hour Taste of Art workshops are perfect for a unique date night, a staycation activity, or a fun family outing. Scheduled on Friday evenings and only lasting a few hours, you can try something new and walk away with one-of-a-kind, handcrafted artwork. Make glass marbles, a wooden cutting board, copper leaf earrings, a ceramic birdhouse, and more.
Thanks to new studios at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness (114 W. 30th Street), Sawtooth has expanded its popular ceramics and mixed-media o erings. Generations Center programming is open to all adults, regardless of age or zip code, with registration and class listings on sawtooth.org
Along with a full schedule of classes this summer, Sawtooth will host a free light painting portrait community event and darkroom printing day on Saturday, July 13 and 27, respectively. Check their website for complete details.
Join Sawtooth in celebrating summer reading and creative adventures as they
partner with the Forsyth County Public Library for seasonal activities. Sawtooth’s gallery will come alive with the interactive exhibition, “Here Come The Puppets,” featuring a hands-on puppetmaking station and storytelling hours. Additionally, the school will o er more intensive puppet-making workshops for people of all ages, culminating in a celebratory Puppet Parade on Saturday, July 20th, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Parents, kids, and furry friends are invited to march with their puppets from the library down to Sawtooth for a FREE printmaking event.
Parents, some spots are still available in Camp Sawtooth classes if you’re looking for a fun, creative, and enriching summer program for your child or teen! Ages 6-8, 9-11, and 12-16 can enroll in morning and afternoon classes throughout four- and five-day sessions. This year, extended care is also available. Since its founding in 1945, Sawtooth School for Visual Art has served generations of artists, from skilled professionals to novices of all ages. Studios include art + wellness, ceramics, drawing, digital arts, glass, lapidary, metals, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. Their instructors, worldrenowned and dedicated to their craft, create a nurturing atmosphere that combines technical experience with the freedom to experiment and grow. Registration for all programming is now available on Sawtooth’s website, at sawtooth.org, or by calling 336-7237395. !
Having played organized baseball in my youth, I developed what turned out to be an unrealistic sense of fair play, which I thought applied to every facet of life. In baseball, both teams begin the game with a score of 0 to 0, and thus have an equal chance of winning. The distances to the fence and between bases are the same for both sides, and the foul pole tells you what’s fair and what’s not. And, of course, the team with the most runs at the end of the game wins the contest. In other words, the rules and boundaries don’t favor one team over another. But imagine what would happen if one team had a five-run head start before the game even begins. It would be unfair and chaotic, and that is exactly what has happened to politics in America, and especially here in North Carolina.
For much of this century, North Carolina has been regarded as a “purple” state mainly because the number of registered voters are pretty much equally divided between Republican, Democrat, and Una liated. We are also regarded as a “swing” state when it comes to Presidential elections because our diverse electorate could swing the national election either way. As a result, and, given that we picked up an extra House district after the 2020 census, there is a reasonable expectation that our Congressional delegation would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Yet, for years now, our GOP-controlled state legislature has done everything in its power to diminish and dismantle the political and demographic equity reflected in our populace. Their e orts have been so blatantly partisan that every time they draw up new Congressional district lines, the courts have had to intervene. That happened several years ago when the court established a panel of “special masters” to re-draw district boundaries in a fair and equitable manner. The three special masters came up with a map that resulted in our state having seven Republicans and seven Democrats to represent us in Congress. But soon after the 2022 election,
our state lawmakers re-drew the map in such a way as to potentially give Republicans an 11 to 3 edge in this fall’s elections. And, thanks to Trump-appointed judges at every level, that gerrymandered map could be in e ect for decades to come, unless a group called “NC for Fair Elections” (NCFE) can prevail with their legal challenge which was filed on May 10.
NCFE and its 11 plainti s who reside in gerrymandered districts, are suing the State Board of Elections, Senate Pro Tem president Phil Berger, and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore for drawing up district boundaries that violate their voting rights. Leading NCFE’s legal team is former State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, who also served as one of the Special Masters prior to the 2022 midterm elections.
The state has filed a motion to dismiss which will be heard by a three-judge panel on June 13. I recently spoke with my friend Bob Orr about the lawsuit.
Jim: First of all, why was NC for Fair Elections created?
Orr: The group and the lawsuit grew out of my interest in resolving the basic question of whether North Carolina citizens have a Constitutional right to fair elections. Fair elections in this context means that government does not interfere or try to preordain the results of the electoral process by stacking the deck.
Jim: So, what is the basic argument in your brief, and is it Constitutionally sound?
Orr: The argument is pretty simple. Our State Constitution has a provision (article 1, Sec. 36) that says in essence that even though specific rights of the people are set out in the Constitution (enumerated rights), the people still retain other rights (unenumerated rights) that protect them from government action. Secondly, we
contend that the most basic right retained but unenumerated, is the right to fair elections. After all, democracy is built on the election of o cials. If government can stack the deck and preordain the outcome of these elections, then that’s not fair. Third, the General Assembly’s use of sophisticated political data and computers allowed them in selected districts (NC 6, NC 13, NC 14, SD 7, and HD 105) to rearrange voters so as to virtually guarantee who wins.
Jim: If you should prevail, how soon could we see new maps created?
Orr: Regardless of the decision at the trial level, the case would in all likelihood go up on appeal, thus the ultimate resolution would not come until 2025. If we prevail, the districts would need to be redrawn and finalized prior to the 2025 election.
Jim: If you do not prevail, what is it going to take for us to get fair maps?
Orr: If we lose this case, I see no way that there will be any significant change in the process in my lifetime.
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law nearly 60 years ago, and it was supposed to protect against all forms of voter suppression. The problem is that proponents of that Act didn’t foresee how future state legislators would circumvent federal law by simply redrawing voting districts. Right now, a majority of North Carolina’s General Assembly members are deliberately suppressing the votes of Democrats in general and Blacks in particular. These partisan politicians are trying to win the game before it even starts because they’re afraid of a fair fight. Thank goodness for men like Bob Orr who are fighting to level the playing field and preserve one of our most sacred rights.
To read the entire NCFE brief, visit www. ncforfairelections.com. !
JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15) and streaming on WFMY+.
Were it not for the high-voltage star wattage of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, The Fall Guy would have crashed and burned, and collapsed under the weight of its own silliness. As it stands, they manage to keep it watchable, if only just.
Produced and directed by David Leitch, himself a former stuntman, the film is ostensibly a big-screen version of the ABC-TV series, which starred Lee Majors and ran from 1981-’86. Here, Gosling (also doubling as a producer) steps into Majors’ shoes as Colt Seavers, the best stuntman in the business, whose career is derailed and his confidence shattered after a high fall gone wrong.
Colt is hurriedly rushed into a comeback by hotshot producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), who needs him to save her latest project, a mega-buck sciencefiction epic called Metalstorm, which would be a lot funnier if it didn’t so closely resemble any number of actual megabuck sci-fi epics.
When he’s not attempting to rekindle his romance with Jody (Emily Blunt), a camera operator making her directorial debut, he’s engaged in a search to locate the film’s leading man, swaggering superstar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Unlike the TV series, Colt doesn’t moonlight as a bounty hunter/skip tracer, so why he would be required to investigate Ryder’s disappearance is something of a mystery.
The screenplay, by executive producer Drew Pearce, might kindly be described as “unruly.” It o ers, as you might expect, plenty of death-defying stunts and derring-do, much of it considerably augmented by CGI. There’s plenty of spectacle, but not much that is surprising or suspenseful. Every dire situation that Colt must extricate himself from is a foregone conclusion. This is the sort of movie where no one reacts to a night-time boat chase
through Sydney Harbor, replete with explosions. Not even a police siren is heard. Cartoonish is one thing, but this stretches credibility mightily. Not that the filmmakers seem to care.
The digs at moviemaking are broad and obvious, hardly on par with Richard Rush’s The Stuntman (1980) — which is in a class (and a category) by itself — or even Hooper (1978), the Burt Reynolds vehicle directed by another former stuntman, Hal Needham. This is most evident in Waddingham’s irritatingly no-holdsbarred performance as Gail, and TaylorJohnson isn’t far behind. Teresa Palmer and Stephanie Hsu show up briefly, but their characters add nothing to the plot and succeed only in bringing the narrative to a screeching halt. Winston Duke, however, is appealing as Colt’s best buddy Dan, the film-within-a-film’s stunt coordinator.
The real heroes here are Gosling and Blunt, who display an engaging chemistry throughout. Both are coming o Academy Award nominations, he for Barbie and she for Oppenheimer. The camera loves them both, and they love the camera right back. When all is collapsing around them — literally and figuratively — they stand tall and proud, their considerable charisma holding everything together, keeping The Fall Guy from falling flat on its face. !
1 Choco-co ee flavor
6 Low bow of respect 12 Global rivalry concerning weaponry
Customary
21 Last pope of the 1700s
Bishops’ jurisdictions 23 Iconic logo of McDonald’s [Utah] 25 Proceeds forward
78 Mac computer platform released in 2014 [California] 81 Actor Neeson
–
“Ooh” or “tra”
(2020 Millie Bobby Brown film) 34 Biblical metaphor for Jerusalem [Utah]
“Swell!”
Hush-hush U.S. org. 43 Original thing 45 Regal name of Norway 47 Erwin of old Hollywood
49 Dozes
53 Full-size SUV introduced in 2000 [California]
58 It’s between tau and phi
60 Curbside cry
Rachel
Oeters didn’t know what she would be getting into when she said she’d go to a resource fair with her friend Casey Shea on a Friday afternoon, but she’s glad she said yes.
“I don’t really get out much. A lot of it is because I have pretty severe depression and this is my best friend and she was like ‘What are you doing tomorrow? You got to come out if you’re able to,’” explained Oeters about how she ended up at the Guilford County Mental Health Rocks! Resource Festival and Block Party. “Of all the times for me to leave the house, this would be a good one. Just to see what’s here.”
Guilford County hosted its third annual Mental Health Rocks! Resource Festival and Block Party on the afternoon of Friday, May 17 outside of the Guilford County Behavioral Health Center, located at 931 Third St. in Greensboro. The event, with almost 50 vendors, was designed to support mental health, increase awareness in the community about local resources that support mental well-being, and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance misuse.
“With this family-friendly festival, our goal is to create a safe space for residents and health providers to come together, collaborate, and encourage others to speak openly about mental health, not only this month but all year long,” said Debra Mack, Guilford County Behavioral Health Director. “It’s an opportunity for the community to see what kind of services that Guilford County has to o er. To see what’s out there and it’s also an opportunity for vendors to network with each other, put some names with some faces. Bringing that awareness to mental health and the fact that it’s okay to not be okay. We are saying that you have these people out here in your community who care about you and who are providing these services to help you along in your journey. We are helping people remove barriers to help people receive services.”
Resources that Shea has been in need of for some time now. She has been looking for support groups to help deal with her diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder and Psychosis.
“I thought it would be fun to come to see what’s out here. I was looking to see if they had any groups here for DID or Psychosis cause I haven’t found any,” she said, glancing over the tables. “It is still great because I get to know about other services.”
Miranda Johnson was a vendor at the event representing the Mental Health Associates of the Triad. She said that it was
important for the organization to attend the event because of the topic and to get the word out about destigmatizing the need for mental health.
More than one in five adults in the U.S. live with a mental illness and over one in five adolescents, aged 13 to 18, either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness, according to national reports. Despite the availability of treatment, a significant number of people avoid seeking help due to the stigma associated with mental illness and substance abuse.
“It’s Mental Health Awareness month and being that we are focused on mental health, the networking piece is important. We really want to help the community and make sure that they get those services,” Johnson said. “For example, on May 29, we will have a lunch and learn about destigmatizing mental health. That is something that is really imperative to make sure our community and marginalized communities of various groups realize the need for mental health services.”
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners proclaimed May as Mental Health Awareness Month during its May 16 board meeting, pledging to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health and substance misuse.
“Guilford County and the Board of Commissioners are dedicated to breaking the stigma around mental health and substance use disorder and misuse
throughout Mental Health Awareness Month and throughout the entire year,” said District 2 Commissioner Alan Perdue who currently serves as the Chair of the Behavioral Health Oversight Committee, in a media release. “I encourage everyone to learn about the county’s local mental health resources. Through programs like the Behavioral Health Center, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and community partnerships such as GCSTOP [Guilford County Solution to the Opioid Problem], we can continue to normalize access to care and save lives.”
The county will also relaunch its Mental Health Resources webpage which will include information on mental and behavioral health resources o ered by the county and other agencies. The county will also distribute an updated mental health resources pocket guide.
The City of Greensboro’s O ce of Community Safety Behavioral Health Response Team was also in attendance at Friday’s Resource Festival and is gearing up to answer questions from the community about what it does.
The Paint the Town Green awareness event will be observed on May 29. Residents are asked to wear green in recognition of May being Mental Health Awareness Month. Those interested can also schedule a BHRT member to come to their place of business, residence, or anywhere within Greensboro city limits on May 29 to share the team’s purpose, goals, and processes. Interested parties
can text 336-430-4121 by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 23, to schedule a visit.
BHRT consists of Greensboro Police Department o cers, licensed clinicians, and crisis counselors. The group diverts certain people away from the criminal justice system and toward treatment, whenever appropriate and available. To learn more about BHRT, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov/BHRT and OCS at www.greensboro-nc.gov/OCS.
Mack agrees with Johnson about the importance of spreading awareness.
“This is the county’s opportunity to bring that awareness. The center is really supposed to be that lighthouse. You come here so that we can help you get to where you need to be. It was built on the concept of no wrong door. There’s no wrong door here, the goal is for you to walk in and get through the right door,” she said.
The center she speaks of is the Guilford County Behavioral Health Center. It pro-
vides urgent care, facility-based care, and outpatient services to children as young as four and adults. In 2023, the Behavioral Health Center served more than 1,100 youth; the Behavioral Health Urgent Care had more than 10,300 visits, and the adult Behavioral Health Outpatient Clinic encountered more than 9,800 visits. Those in need can contact the Behavioral Health Center at 336-890-2700, with no appointment needed.
“The main thing is to destigmatize mental health and to let others know that it is okay to ask for help and seek out services,” Mack said. “A lot of these services people never even knew were in our community. This boils down to awareness, collaboration, and providing an opportunity to serve the community.” ! CHANEL DAVIS is the current editor of YES! Weekly and graduated from N.C. A&T S.U. in 2011 with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She’s
“Stop fighting essential protections for your own drinking water source and for downstream communities,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, at the Greensboro City Council May 7 meeting.
“When your city fights protections against 1,4-dioxane, it not only hurts people downstream, it hurts your own residents.”
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services classified that chemical, which many industries use as a solvent, as a probable carcinogen. Despite this, North Carolina lawmakers have done little to reduce its levels in drinking water, and Greensboro, Reidsville, and Asheboro are resisting state oversight.
In 2022, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission (EMC) adopted a water quality standard of 0.35 parts per billion (ppb) for 1,4-dioxane in North Carolina’s lakes, streams, and rivers. But those three Triad cities, along with the corporations Shamrock Environmental, Dystar and Unifi, asked the state’s Rules
Review Commission (RRC), appointed by N.C. House & Senate leaders Tim Moore and Phil Berger, to take a second look at the proposed standard. The RRC then nullified the numeric standard.
When the EMC challenged the RRC’s nullification of its required water quality standard, Asheboro filed a contested case with the O ce of Administrative Hearings, which questioned the toxicity of 1,4-dioxane. Greensboro and Reidsville, both of which have been penalized by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality for 1,4-dioxane discharges, then joined Asheboro’s challenge.
“As you might remember,” said Zhuang,
“Greensboro had a Special Order by Consent to address its 1,4-dioxane,” referring to a 2021 agreement between the city and the EMC to reduce the levels of the chemical from the T. Z. Osborne wastewater treatment plant into South Bu alo Creek. The source of the contamination is Shamrock Environmental, an industrial customer that discharges its wastewater into the Osborne plant. According to Zhuang, “Greensboro reduced its pollution by 97% simply by addressing the pollution coming from its industries,” and by doing so, “has shown it can address pollution simply by using its existing authority to make industrial
polluters pay for their pollution.”
But, said Zhuang, her organization sent her to speak to Council because the Special Order by Consent has ended.
“For a week now, and for the foreseeable future, there are no 1,4-dioxane limits in place. That’s scary because recently, your city has gone back on its word. Instead of protecting people, you have been protecting polluters. By fighting restrictions in state administrative court, it’s fighting North Carolina’s ability to limit 1,4-dioxane in wastewater permits throughout the state.”
Zhuang also accused the city of relying on the testimony of Michael Dourson, whom she called “a pawn of the chemical industry who has been focused on weakening health standards at the expense of our families and communities.”
Dourson, currently Director of Science at the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, was the controversial toxicologist chosen by Donald Trump to head the EPA in 2017. Dourson published works claiming scientific evidence supports a literal interpretation of the Old Testament, and in 2014 and 2017, authored papers arguing that 350 ppb is a safe 1,4-dioxane exposure level. This level is 1,000 times greater than the .35 ppb that the EPA calls an increased cancer risk. Dourson’s 1,4-dioxane research was funded by PPG Industries, a manufacturer of paints and coatings, which has contaminated public water supplies near its facilities. After a New York Times editorial called Dourson a “scientist for hire” and said his nomination was “dangerous to public health,” he withdrew his candidacy.
After citing Dourson’s challenged
research, Zhuang concluded by asking Council to “direct Greensboro to withdraw from its lawsuit and to allow the state to protect our communities from this toxic chemical.”
District 5’s Tammi Thurm said, “it’s not that we are opposed to regulations,” but that this regulation was worded in a way that made it “very di cult if not virtually impossible” to enforce. “We are not fighting the regulation of that chemical; we continue to do everything we’ve been doing in the past with the manufacturers that create it as a byproduct.”
Thurm then called on Greensboro Water Resources Director Mike Borchers to tell Council “What you taught me about the situation.”
Borchers said that 1,4-dioxane “doesn’t just come from industry, it is in the environment,” but that Greensboro is “committed to working with the state ultimately on an equitable resolution and treatment.”
But, he said, “cost is an element as it relates to it.” Borchers then cited a study by engineering consulting firm Arcadis Greensboro, which estimated the cost of removing 1,4-dioxane from Greensboro’s wastewater treatment plant as “from a hundred million dollars up to a billion dollars.”
Mayor Nancy Vaughan then called on Deputy City Attorney Tony Baker, who said:
“Our corporate neighbors who are discharging [wastewater] have a permit with the city even though our SOC has expired, that permit still stands, and we are still testing their discharge to make sure they’re not sending us 1,4-dioxane, so we will still have the ability to regulate those folks, so that is not going away even though the SOC is going away.” Baker also said “the petition is just our way of asking valid questions about the process.”
In a response sent Wednesday, Zhuang argued that the report cited by Borchers “hides the ball” by estimating the cost of installing new technology at the wastewater treatment plant rather than placing the burden of treatment on customer industries such as Shamrock Environmental that discharge their wastewater into the Bu alo Creek treatment plant.
According to Zhuang, in 2023, the city only spent around $70,000 for 1,4-dioxane testing costs to address 1,4-dioxane from its industries and reduced its 1,4-dioxane by 97 percent by requiring those industries to control their pollution.
“It’s not only fair for the industries releasing 1,4-dioxane to be the ones pay-
ing to treat it. It’s also much more coste ective because the industries handle a lot less wastewater than Greensboro’s wastewater treatment plant. Greensboro could always apply for a variance under the Clean Water Act if it would be prohibitively burdensome to meet a 1,4-dioxane water quality standard. The city should not do what it is doing here, which is fighting DEQ’s authority to limit 1,4-dioxane (and other toxic chemicals) throughout the entire state, and endangering drinking water sources for all of our communities.”
As for Baker’s statement that the city is only “asking valid questions about the process,” Zhuang wrote that “Greensboro can ask questions about the process without bringing a legal challenge that could entirely dismantle the state of North Carolina’s authority to regulate toxic chemicals in our drinking water sources.”
In response to Baker’s statement that “the permit still stands,” she wrote: “Any industrial permits are only as good as they are enforced. Greensboro’s recent actions to fight the regulation of 1,4-dioxane demonstrate that the city has shifted course in its approach to 1,4-dioxane and is no longer prioritizing the protection of our families
and communities. In addition to having 1,4-dioxane limits, the SOC also required Greensboro to report 1,4-dioxane spikes within 24 hours. Without this and other protections in place, people who have been harmed by Greensboro’s pollution in the past are right to be concerned. We urge Greensboro to do the right thing and to withdraw from its lawsuit.”
On Thursday, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality publicly posted the permits for Greensboro’s industries. These included the companies Chemol, Ecolab, Lanxess/Hallstar, Shamrock, and Vertellus, all of which have high levels of 1,4-dioxane.
“I reviewed these permits, and none of them have a clear limit for 1,4-Dioxane,” wrote Zhuang in an email. “Although city attorney Baker is correct that Greensboro has authority to regulate pollution coming from these industries because Greensboro has not included 1,4-dioxane limits in the permits, the public cannot be certain that the city will act when an industry releases this toxic chemical.” !
IAN MCDOWELL is an award-winning author and journalist whose book I Ain’t Resisting: the City of Greensboro and the Killing of Marcus Smith was published in September of 2023 by Scuppernong Editions.
Possum Jenkins has been o cially playing together for 20 years and they’ll celebrate with a free show featuring Big Daddy Love (plus the ensemble “Possum Big Band”) at Incendiary Brewing’s CoalPit stage in downtown Winston-Salem.
“Born in Boone, raised in Winston,” as the Possum story goes, the “Carolinacana” roots band traces their roots back to early 00s collegiate days in high country–fun fact: their band name is rooted in reference to the fictional group Love Below from Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” video (the bassist’s name, specifically).
“We originally formed while we were students at Appalachian State,” explained guitarist and drummer Dave Brewer. “Twenty years and one harmonica player later, we’re still walking into bars together to make noise. Crossing this particular threshold or milestone, the temptation to wax rhapsodic about the band’s socalled achievements is predictably strong.”
“But seriously, who are we kidding? We haven’t put out a record in over a decade, and barely gig. If we never played another note together, we’d still be brothers. But we still can, and we still do.”
Ever “perpetually rumored to be working on new material,” Possum Jenkins has o cially put out four records over the years — with shows these days that fall across calendars like the occasional mountaintop snow showers that first bound their fate, way back in February 2004.
“Our first gig was supposed to happen at Canyons, but it dumped snow. We canceled, called John Rush, and instead played our first-ever show at Murphy’s in Boone. Our harmonica-playing pal sat in a few times the next year, and...yeah, we’re still here. Same dudes, possibly stuck with each other for life. Wouldn’t trade each other for the world.”
Canyons and Murphy’s are both gone. But Possum Jenkins lives on: Dave Willis, Jared Church, and Nathan Turner; with Brent Buckner o cially joining the fold a few years later.
“Same as it ever was,” Brewer a rmed of the lineup, dropping a primo Talking Heads reference — hardly a shock from a guy often hailed as “the Hardest Working Musician in the High Country,” what for his literal cadre of bands, radio show, and umbrella of duties with Carolina Ramble Productions. “When people say that to me, I tell them I’m really just ‘The Reigning King of Over Commitment’,” he said. “But that doesn’t sound nearly as sexy. Ultimately, I’ve been extremely lucky to be involved in a number of fun projects with a bunch of different folks over the years — as have all the Possum guys. You could say the band has an open relationship. I don’t think we’d have made it two decades together without other musical outlets for our various interests and opportunities.”
Eyeballing their 20 years together, “su ce it to say
PHOTO BY DOUG WILLIAMS
we didn’t have any grand designs on being life partners,” Brewer mused. “We were all close to graduating and some of the guys were already on the verge of leaving Boone. We figured we’d cobble together a couple of sets of covers, play a few bar gigs, drink a few beers, and then call it. But then we started writing original tunes, played a few shows o the mountain, made a record, and bought a van.”
It’s the storybook regional band situation — a territory that comes with stories on their own. “We once opened for country music legend Billy Joe Shaver at the Town Pump in Black Mountain, N.C. We drank quite a few PBRs, got Billy Joe to sign our stu after the show, and had to translate for Jared,” Brewer recalled, with an abrupt change of gear: “For the record, absolutely nothing happened in Knoxville, Tenn.”
Whatever “didn’t” happen in Knoxville is in the rearview, with the 20th anniversary show up ahead. “It took us a long time to get here!” Brewer exclaimed, with gratitude for 20 years of friendships shared amongst billmates and crowdfolk. Appalachian rockers in Big Daddy Love will open the show — though Brewer expects some sort of super jam to erupt before it’s all said and done.
“We’re also super pumped to have our very good pals Molly McGinn, Wendy Hickman, and David McCracken [from Donna The Bu alo] joining us to round out the Possum Big Band,” he continued, extending shoutouts to the extended Possum family: “Doug Williams at EMR Recorders, Garage and Ramkat sound guy extraordinaire Brian Doub, and our late great sound guy, Cannon Taylor Staton.”
From shoutouts to upholding tradition, Possum Jenkins has picked and grinned and established a few of their own along the way. Folk of a certain persuasion in the Triad have come to enjoy many a “post-Thanksgiving bash” over the years — a party made even more o cial with Wiseman Brewing’s 2023 release of the German-style lager dubbed “Possum Drinkins.” “A most delicious concoction brewed in our honor,” the band said, with shoutouts extended to the Wiseman folks. Reflecting on 20 years and at least one o cial beer, “we have and continue to maintain an air of
invincibility backed with delusions of grandeur, and Miller High Life,” Brewer said, turning to their approach to the encroaching years. “You know what they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
With that, Possum Jenkins keeps truckin’ as the champagne of N.C. alt-country — or perhaps, rather, the sparkling wine of “Carolinacana,” (the title of their fourth album and catch-all for their blends of the Americana soundscape.)
Serious about the craft without taking themselves too seriously, Brewer glazed over any evolutionary sense of the band. “Have we?” he retorted when asked about their development. Looking back, “in 2004, we were feeling strangely nostalgic for a lot of country music from the ‘90s, among other things. During our early shows, you’d hear Steve Earle, Clarence Carter, Lucero, Wilco, Whiskeytown, and Waylon, Willie, and Merle.”
“Shockingly little has changed, for better or worse,” he continued. “We’re better at sound checking now. Jared is still as problematic as he ever was, but it just wouldn’t be the same without him.“
The same, however, can’t be said for their stomping grounds. Boone in the early ‘00s feels like a di erent planet. “Most all the places we came up in are gone, including our much beloved Murphy’s,” Brewer explained. “But music venues are about as permanent as a sandcastle. The ones that last are few and far between. Anybody that wants to make a run at being a true blue venue has all my respect and admiration. It’s a tough gig with a lot of heartaches.”
But it’s not all for naught. Boone’s Appalachian Theatre of the High Country has undergone a renaissance since reopening in 2019 — o ering a home for several of Brewer’s Carolina Ramble Productions events (they’re teaming up with Mountain Home Music on June 27 to present the Summer Folk Summit, featuring Alexa Rose, Dori Freeman, and Viv & Riley).
Getting back to the band, “our actual ramblin’ around has been greatly limited in recent years due mostly to the obligations of family life,” Brewer admitted. “But just as soon as we can get all these Possum children raised up in another dozen years, I’m hoping I can talk the guys into quitting their day jobs so we can finally pursue our dreams.”
And even after 20 years — and a few hundred shows — fresh experiences continue unfurling in Possum Land. “This will be our first time at the Coal Pit, so we’re pumped to try something fun and new,” Brewer said. “Especially if Mother Nature will help us out a little.”
Hopefully, she’ll be friendly with the forecast for the old group of friends. Like the band posted on Facebook: “Old friends are gold, friends,” after all.
“We’re not going anywhere,” they added, “in the words of Van Morrison: ‘It’s too late to stop now!’”
Possum Jenkins celebrates 20 years strong at Incideniary Brewing’s CoalPit stage in downtown WinstonSalem on June 1. !
Week of May 27, 2024
[ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Your sense of adventure is energized by a challenge you’ve been hoping for. A loved one has some reservations, but can be persuaded to support your move.
[TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your recently unsettling period has passed. Move ahead with those plans you put on hold. An o er needs careful study before you decide to accept or reject it.
[GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A career move could be in the works, but you might want to question facts that recently came to light. A Libra emerges as a likely romantic prospect.
[CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Tense moments in relationships ease up by week’s end. In the meantime, be careful not to react in a way that will aggravate the situation.
[LEO (July 23 to August 22) Children or other kin present problems that you need to deal with. Your strong protective nature reaches out to reassure them that all will soon be well.
[VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) You’ve earned the right to enjoy some fun time with friends and family. Someone from your past remembers you with fondness. Expect a call.
[LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might feel the urge to change your surroundings. If you’re not up to a major move, you could get the same effect by redecorating your home.
[SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Changes in your workplace could test your decision-making ability. Rely on your self-confidence to help you make the right choice at the right time.
[SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Resist the urge to rush to judgment about friends who might appear to have let you down. You need to hear their sides of the story before you act.
[CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The times favor a change for the better in your private life. However, you still might have some sticky wickets to deal with on the job. Stay alert.
[AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A friendship could suddenly move from platonic to passionate. The decision for any change in this situation is ultimately yours to make. Consider it thoroughly.
[PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You still might be reacting to a stunning revelation from a friend, but it’s time to move on. Travel o ers a chance to bring someone new into your life.
[BORN THIS WEEK: You’re a loyal friend. You enjoy singing and love the arts, especially when you find yourself collecting beautiful things.
© 2024 by King Features Syndicate
[1. ANATOMY: What does the human vestibular sense do?
[2. MOVIES: The phrase “As you wish” is key to which 1987 movie?
[3. GEOGRAPHY: What is the largest island in the Caribbean?
[4. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What are Chinese astronauts called sometimes in the West?
[5. TELEVISION: Which sitcom features a character named Phoebe Bu ay?
[6. MEASUREMENTS: What is the square footage of an acre?
[7. SCIENCE: What are the four states of matter?
[8. HISTORY: Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote?
[9. LITERATURE: Which 19th-century novel contains the line, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship”?
[10. MONEY: In the old British monetary system, how many pennies were equal to a pound?
10. 240.
9. “Little Women.”
7. Solid, liquid, gas and plasma 8. 19th.
43,560 square feet.
© 2024 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
