Triad City Beat, Sept. 30, 2015 — Addicted, jail, dead

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point triad-city-beat.com Sept. 30 – Oct. 6, 2015

Addicted jail. dead. to pain pills and pregnant, Jen McCormack landed in

21 days later she was

PAGE 15

Panther party PAGE 28

Out with the Wos PAGE 12

Sake jockeys PAGE 23

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Some kind of monster

by Brian Clarey

26 UP FRONT 3 Editor’s Notebook 4 City Life 6 Commentariat 6 The List 7 Barometer 7 Unsolicited Endorsement

NEWS 8 Campaign finance favors incumbents 10 HPJ: Sumela, after the crash

12 Citizen Green: Immigrant IDs 13 It Just Might Work: Tiny bars

COVER 15 Addicted... jail... dead.

CULTURE 22 Food: Lunch in the park(ing) lot 23 Barstool: Sake is underrated 24 Music: Dom Flemons’ Americana 26 Art: Black Marie

OPINION

GOOD SPORT

12 Editorial: Out with the Wos

28 Panthers keep pounding

GAMES 31 Jonesin’ Crossword

SHOT IN THE TRIAD 32 West Fifth Street, Winston-Salem

ALL SHE WROTE 35 Blame it on the rain

QUOTE OF THE WEEK She was breaking the law and I understand that, but she was more than just some addict. She was a wonderful human being with lots of people who loved her. She had been dealing with so many health issues and had been in so much pain for so long and I believe that’s what led her down this path. She deserved a second chance in rehab to get clean and that was robbed from her, and she lost her and her child’s life because of it. I want to know what you’re doing to ensure this won’t happen to another in your jail.

— Sarah Sellers 1451 S. Elm-Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27406 • Office: 336-256-9320 BUSINESS PUBLISHER Allen Broach

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING INTERN Nicole Zelniker

EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Brian Clarey

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SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Eric Ginsburg eric@triad-city-beat.com

NEST EDITOR Alex Klein

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EDITORIAL INTERNS Daniel Wirtheim intern@triad-city-beat.com

ART ART DIRECTOR Jorge Maturino SALES DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING & SALES Dick Gray dick@triad-city-beat.com

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NEST Advertise in NEST, our monthly real estate insert, the final week of every month! nest@triad-city-beat.com

Cover image: Jen McCormack in 2013 (courtesy photo)

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The convergence of a monthly dance party, an annual youth-voter drive and an international music festival sounded like a swell idea, but the ShoHaDaFroMoFest proved to be a tough room for the nametag set.

Inclement weather forced the Show of Hands/Dance From Above /Mosaic Festival event indoors and upstairs, to the Crown atop the Carolina Theatre in downtown Greensboro, and while the space was perhaps more intimate, it was difficult for the candidates who showed to get up close and personal with the prospective voters, as is the usual custom at Show of Hands.

Early in the night, District 3 incumbent Justin Outling posted up on the Greene Street sidewalk outside the building, all the better to push the message. His challengers in D3, Michael Picarelli and Kurt Collins, soon followed suit.

District 4’s Nancy Hoffmann spent her time by the doors, grabbing potential constituents like a candidate who had a race on the line instead of one running unopposed — which, by the way, she is.

Up in the Crown, the international flavor of the Mosaic Festival took the form of a food court featuring Ethiopian and Bhutanese cuisine, and a performance by Nigerien hip-hopper Ismo One, who killed it even though I believe he was rapping in French.

Pro tip: People from Nigeria are Nigerians. Nigeriens are from Niger.

Later, Dance from Above would lend a couple DJ sets to complete the trifecta.

It’s the sort of melding of pop culture and politics that I’ve been a fan of since I picked up that first issue of JFK Jr.’s George magazine, which the internet says came out in 1995 though it seems impossible that 20 years have passed.

A scene like this allows the candidates to relax a little, whether they intend to or not. Perhaps the informal atmosphere was what enabled District 1 candidate Dianne Bellamy-Small, who lost the seat by a dozen votes to Sharon Hightower in 2013, to tell me, while we were hanging out on the stairwell, what happened to her when she was dating a white man in 1970 while studying at community college in Brevard.

She was 19, but the man was 21, so he took umbrage when a college official gave them some trouble one night when he dropped her off at her dorm.

“He said, ‘I’m a man! You can’t tell me what to do,’” Bellamy-Small said. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, now. They’ll kick me out of here like it was nothing.’”

Out on the sidewalk, kilted bagpipers did a warm-up wail before performing at the annual Greensboro firefighters awards, held downstairs on this same night, adding yet another facet to this Frankenstein monster.

triad-city-beat.com

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

CONTENTS

3

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015

WEDNESDAY

CITY LIFE September 30 – October 6

Dan River Girls @ Roots Revival State (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

The Dan River Girls are a young trio who perform worship-style Americana. These charming women might have big careers ahead of them. Visit rootsrevivalws.com for more information.

Wit opening night @ Hanesbrand Theatre (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

This 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning play follows an English professor as she traverses the medical system to fight her ovarian cancer. Wake Forest Baptist Medial Center is the presenter. Visit rhodesartscenter.org for more information.

by Daniel Wirtheim

THURSDAY

Herbs Inside and Out @ Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center (GSO), 6 p.m.

Learn how to grow your own herbs indoors or outdoors. You can try some herbal treats and check out a plentiful herb garden. Find the event at greensboro-nc.org for more information.

First tree-lighting ceremony @ Government Plaza (GSO), at dusk The Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women is dubbing October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Throughout October, they will be lighting a tree each night. Find more information at greensboro-nc.gov

FRIDAY Oktoberfest Party @ Hoots Roller Bar (W-S), 4 p.m.

Hoots celebrates its two-year anniversary with a new brew. They’ll have special beers from last year, like the Krankies Coffee stout, as well as the Oktoberfest brew. Find Hoots Roller Bar on Facebook for updates.

First Friday @ Downtown (GSO), 6 p.m.

If you like energy, culture and learning about new things and people in your community then first Friday is always the best Friday. Hope for good weather and visit downtowngreensboro. net for more information.

Fall Festival @ Center City Park (GSO), 6 p.m.

There’s going to be lots of vendors, food trucks and games at the Center City Park. To celebrate the season that comes right after summer, the park is going all out.

Visit centercitypark.org for more information.

First Friday Gallery Hop @ Downtown Art District (W-S), 7 p.m.

Check out all the new gallery openings during DADA’s First Friday Gallery Hop. Expect all the usual good times and visit dadaws.org for more information.

SATURDAY 4

Rainbow Run 5K @ Washington Park (W-S), 9 a.m.

An award goes to the best male and female attire at this 5K run hosted by Pride Winston-Salem. You can register at active.com or in person at the event.

Come Celebrate Mountain Music

Ferrets, Parrots, Pooches and Purrs @ St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church (H-P), 9:30 a.m.

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. To celebrate his life St. Christopher’s is throwing a celebration of all things animal. Visit st-christopher.org for more information.

SATURDAY CONCERTS, THROUGH OCTOBER 10

triad-city-beat.com

The Artist’s Garden opening @ Reynolda House (W-S), 9:30 a.m.

Take a look at gardening in the United States during the turn of the 20th Century. Reynolda House’s new exhibit depicts American gardeners being influenced by Europeans, urban gardens, artists’ gardens and gardens in the winter. Visit reynoldahouse.org for more information.

The Steel Wheels

HIV Testing @ Washington Terrace Park (H-P), noon Triad Health Project estimates that about 6,500 people in North Carolina are living with HIV and don’t know it. That’s why they’re offering free and confidential HIV/STD screenings to the public. Visit one4zero.com for more information.

History Rocks! @ High Point Museum (H-P), noon To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the High Point Fire Department, High Point Museum throws a family-fun event. Three bands, food trucks and activities for children are some of the things the museum has planned. Visit highpointmuseum.org for more information.

Art on Tap @ Westerwood Tavern (GSO), 4 p.m.

The Center for Visual Arts hosts its 2nd Annual fundraising event. A “maker’s space” churns out jewelry, street art and pottery to be raffled off. The event is family friendly and will have food and beer for purchase. Visit greensboroart.org for more information.

Saturday, October 3rd @ 4 pm $15

American Roots The Steel Wheels Buck Stops Here

SUNDAY Community Conversations @ Corner of Bragg and Arlington streets (GSO), 11 a.m.

LGBTQ-centered ’zine I Don’t Do Boxes hosts a series of conversations based on the “lunchroom phenomenon.” They’ll converse on what it means to be a contemporary artist of color in the community. Conversations will be recorded, transcribed and archived. Find I Don’t Do Boxes on Facebook for more information.

The Lee Boys

Saturday, October 10th @ 4 pm $10

American Traditions The Lee Boys Dark Water Rising Presented by BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org or (866) 308-2773 x 245 Art in the Arboretum @ Greensboro Arboretum (GSO), noon The Greensboro Arboretum hosts a juried art show with jewelry, pottery, mixed media, photography, wood and clothing. The Downtown Greensboro Animal Hospital leads dogs in paw printing. For more information visit greensboro-nc.gov.

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5

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 All She Wrote

Shot in the Triad

Games

Good Sport

Culture

Cover Story

Opinion

News

Up Front

Paging Dr. Ken

6

I had the good fortune to spend some time on the set of “Community” in 2011-12 [“Page & Dr. Ken”; Sept. 30, 2015; by Brian Clarey]. When I met Dr. Jeong I remember telling him I was from Winston-Salem and had gone to college at UNCG. He was so gracious to talk about the Triad, take photos and share memories of growing up here. I’m so glad that his career continues to flourish!

Jennifer, via triad-city-beat.com

Not a weave

Very beautiful, but they are handsewn, not woven [A&T hosts collection of Calder-designed tapestries”; Sept. 30, 2015; by Daniel Wirtheim]. The definition of tapestry has grown to include just about any kind of pictorial fabric, but traditional tapestry is defined by dictionary.com as “a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc.” Tapestry weavers define tapestry as hand-woven with a discontinuous weft. Aubusson tapestries are hand-woven on a low warp loom. The embroidered but misidentified Bayeux Tapestry has contributed to the popular definition of tapestry being expanded to include other methods of art cloth. You can call these Guatemalan art cloths tapestries, but they are not woven. Last year, 17 Days hosted a fiber exhibit of crocheted pieces and called them tapestries. I went to the exhibit, and technically, they were not tapestries either. Sincerely, your friendly fiber

art educator and local tapestry weaver.

Laurie, via triad-city-beat.com

7 storylines from the Greensboro City Council election

Fairly Odd Fellows

1. Toss-up in District 1

If there’s still a functional lodge in that building you can apply to join the lodge [“It Just Might Work: Resurrect the Odd Fellows Lodge”; Sept. 30, 2015; by Eric Ginsburg]. Once you’re a member you can have access to all of the features of the lodge, whatever they may be. It isn’t necessary to start a funding campaign to buy the building; if there’s a lodge that still meets there all you have to do is join and become a member. Long before there was crowdfunding or any other means of internet-based collective action there was fraternalism: the means by which people could pool resources for common benefit.

The Odd Fellows was (and still is) one way of doing that. I would encourage you to check with the Grand Lodge of North Carolina and find out if that lodge is still active.

If they are, join the lodge and get involved.

You can get the contact info for the Grand Lodge of North Carolina at ioof.org.

Toby H., via triad-city-beat.com We are out there… and around the world!

Odd Fellow, via triad-city-beat.com I attended a wedding there. With a little updating, it could be GSO’s coolest downtown event venue. Sure hope it doesn’t get hit with the wrecking ball.

John Whisnant, via triad-city-beat.com

Keep the beat. triad-city-beat.com

by Brian Clarey

On Election Day 2013 — the day I got fired from another local newspaper, incidentally — incumbent District 1 Representative Dianne Bellamy-Small lost to Sharon Hightower by a mere 12 votes. After a failed run for Guilford County Commission, Bellamy-Small is back, this time with the support of former Mayor Robbie Perkins, whose sometime political ally Skip Alston has a well known distaste for the former councilwoman. This race is a true toss-up.

2. Newbies in D3

Justin Outling replaced District 3 representative Zack Matheny when he left to run Downtown Greensboro Inc. That gives Outling a slight incumbent edge in the primary against Michael Picarelli, former head of the Guilford County GOP, and Kurt Collins, a political outsider and former downtown resident who was for the noise ordinance. If he wins, Outling will become the first African-American rep elected in a district not specifically cut for a black representation.

3. Gadflies for mayor

Sal Leone, a Thomasville cop, is taking a shot at Mayor Nancy Vaughan’s incumbency. Devin King, who between he and his wife work four jobs and still qualify for food stamps, wants to represent the city’s working poor. Neither has ever held elected office, though Leone has run for unsuccessfully for council before, as well as the state House and Senate.

4. The unopposed

Councilman Tony Wilkins’ challenger in District 5, Maureen Washington — whom no one in local politics has ever met — unceremoniously moved out of the district in the middle of campaign season, making her ineligible for the seat. And Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann, who has been running unopposed in District 4 from the beginning, is campaigning like she’s in a crowded primary.

5. Uncertainty in District 2

In 2013, Jamal Fox was the beneficiary of a misstep by incumbent Jim Kee, who used back channels to try to quash his challenger’s candidacy. This year he faces a newcomer, Thessa Pickett, who comes out of the Black Lives Matter movement and sided with Skip Alston on the failed bid to restructure council.

6. At-large sleepers

Generally the at-large race is like a battle royal, sometimes with a dozen candidates squaring off for the three seats. This year just three challengers, each with no previous experience, have arisen to take on incumbents Marikay Abuzuaiter, Mike Barber and Yvonne Johnson. Something dramatic and unforeseen would have to happen to change the current lineup.

7. Low turnout

With just two primaries in the D3 and mayoral races, two candidates running unopposed and a host of unknowns, this Greensboro municipal election could have the lowest turnout of any so far this century — but low turnout is the breeding ground for upsets and other Election Day surprises.

triad-city-beat.com

Do you support the privatization of Medicaid in NC?

80 70 60 50

Eric Ginsburg: What Jordan said.

Readers: The people — the ones who saw and decided to participate in our unscientific poll — have spoken. A whopping 90 percent oppose the move, while a pithy 6 percent support it and the remaining 4 percent are unsure. Only one person explained in the comments (though a few provided feedback on Twitter and Facebook): Shirley wrote, “Leave it alone, it’s been fine all these years. Don’t touch it. The Republicans want to privatize it for their rules. LEAVE IT ALONE.”

30 20 10

Culture

90% Oppose

4% Unsure

Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

focus on a different case for a future season. They’re looking for candidates, and the racketeering indictment and wrongful conviction of Greensboro’s Jorge Cornell should be a prime candidate.

All the elements of a fascinating story are there: a problematic — and now disbanded — police department gang squad, a federal informant and self-interested defendants-turned-state-witnesses with conflicting stories, a lack of physical evidence, a muddled decision by the jury, an outpouring of community support from clergy and college professors contradicting the state’s portrait of a criminal mastermind…. At the very least, Chaudry, Miller and Simpson should consider it.

Because if anyone can get to the bottom of what went so horribly wrong in Cornell’s case, I have to believe, after clinging closely to “Undisclosed,” that this podcast is it.

Games

Volkov Law Group associate attorney Susan Simpson, the “Undisclosed” podcast has a decidedly different feel than “Serial.” It’s anchor-oriented, more discussion-based and it’s easy to tell the producers have less of a background in audio production and journalism. But the keen eyes of the three attorneys continuously uncover gripping, heartbreaking and enraging new facts with each episode.

Listeners may not hang on every word the same way they were glued to “Serial” as if it were their only source of oxygen, but “Undisclosed” is ultimately far more compelling. To say that the hosts’ ability to clearly explain legal jargon, parse out possible scenarios and draw parallels to other cases is compelling would be an understatement.

You simply must — after listening to “Serial” if you haven’t already for necessary context — download “Undisclosed.”

This season of the podcast is still underway, but the hosts have announced their intentions to continue and

Good Sport

6% Support

‘Undisclosed,’ the podcast

by Eric Ginsburg You’ve heard of “Serial,” and maybe even listened to the hit podcast. And that’s great, because it’s incredibly engaging storytelling on an important topic that also helped normalize a medium. But if your interest in the case of Adnan Syed, the focus of the NPR-produced podcast, ended there, you’re cheating yourself.

The depth of investigative work by “Serial” is impressive, but after listening to a follow-up podcast called “Undisclosed,” you’ll be reeling. That’s because there are so many things about Syed’s case and how Baltimore detectives constructed it that remained unexamined by “Serial” that this newer series feels almost like a different story altogether.

Hosted by Syed’s family friend Rabia Chaudry — who is also an attorney and national security fellow at the New America Foundation — along with University of South Carolina School of Law Associate Dean Colin Miller and

Cover Story

New question: Who do you like in Greensboro’s District 3 primary?

40

Opinion

Jordan Green: No. North Carolina has a Medicaid system that was admirable, albeit underfunded. No less a personage than Republican US Sen. Richard Burr has applauded the program as an example of North Carolina being “a leader in patient-centered healthcare.” And Burr touted the program as promoting primary

90

News

Brian Clarey: No. No no no. This is the endgame in a concerted effort to destroy the functions of government that are actually necessary and put them at the peril of the profit motive. Contrary to right-wing dogma, government is very different from business and should not be run like one. Its principal role is to do for citizens what they can’t do for themselves — Medicaid is a time-honored expression of that function. Private business, on the other hand, exists solely to make a profit — all the easier when your company is given access to the big pot of money dedicated to helping poor people stay alive.

care to prevent patients from winding up in the emergency room, improving outcomes and reducing costs — the very things Republican lawmakers say they’re trying to achieve through privatization.

That the Republicans passed the privatization bill over the objections of state Rep. Nelson Dollar, their foremost expert on Medicaid, says a lot. There are a lot of House Republicans who should know better, and one has to wonder if they were trying to curry favor with their leadership by supporting this.

Up Front

The North Carolina General Assembly has moved to privatize Medicaid in the state, which we covered in these pages last week. So we asked our readers, and editors, if they support the move.

7

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Good Sport Games Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

8

NEWS

Wide gap in campaign finance favors incumbents in council race

by Eric Ginsburg

Finance reports from primary election candidates tell who’s receiving support — and from where — before the Greensboro City Council primary on Oct. 6.

Vaughan received considerable financial support from homemakers, including Joanne Schlaginhaufen ($900), Anne Hummel ($800), Leig Seager ($625) and Kellie Melinda ($500). Together Nancy Vaughan didn’t collect or they gave more than Vaughan’s second spend a dime on her re-election cambiggest contributor this cycle, Joseph M. paign this month, and why should she?

Bryan, who added $1,500 to the mayThe Greensboro mayor already had or’s efforts. Jim Melvin, a former mayor almost $25,000 cash on hand by Sept. and president of the Bryan Foundation 2, and her two opponents don’t plan to gave $850, as did retired Cone Health raise more than a grand. executive Dennis Barry. The only other For challenger Sal Leone, a Thomgift above $800 came from community asville police officer, it’s a point of volunteer Melanie Soles ($975). pride. In a recent candidate forum, he Other notable donors to Vaughan’s bragged about his decision not to accept campaign include developers such as donations, arguing that there would be Milton Kern ($500) and George Carr nobody pulling his strings. Follow the III ($300), of Beacon Management money, he claimed, and you’ll see who Group. Gordon Craig, Ronald Mack, controls other candidates. and Stephen Showfety — respectively Donors kicked in a considerable the CFO, executive vice president and amount of money to the two incumpresident of Koury Corp., — each bents in this year’s primary races — wrote checks for $350, as did Triad LoMayor Nancy Vaughan cal First director Luck and, in District 3, Justin Davidson.

Outling. Together, Out- Early voting runs Here are a few more: ling’s two opponents Downtown Greensboro from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. had raised less than Inc. COO Cyndy Haythrough Friday and 10 worth ($150), lawyer $3,000 as of Monday, not much compared to and school board chair a.m. to 1 p.m. on SatOutling’s $10,210 total Alan Duncan ($100), urday. Polls are open former mayor Carolyn in individual contributions so far. from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 Allen ($200), former The gap is more Greensboro Housing p.m. on Election Day startling in the mayor’s Coalition director Beth (Oct. 6). race, where Leone and McKee-Huger ($450) fellow challenger Devin and Susan Schwartz, King signed statements the executive director indicating they don’t plan to raise more of the Cemala Foundation ($250). than $1,000 each this election cycle, As noted above, Vaughan’s challengallowing them to avoid filing detailed ers Leone and King do not have to file paperwork. campaign finance reports if they remain Vaughan disagreed with Leone’s charbelow the $1,000 threshold. acterization, saying she has pushed for Justin Outling, who was appointed to more transparent economic disclosures fill the remainder of Zack Matheny’s for council, while adding that people council term in District 3 but who hasn’t can make their own conclusions about been elected yet, received significant fiher broad cross-section of contributors. nancial backing from a wide number of She received the biggest gift from her people. But there’s one thing that unites husband. Don Vaughan, a lawyer and many of his donors — 20 of them work former Democratic state senator, kicked for the same employer. in $2,861, including $325 in-kind in Outling is a lawyer at Brooks Pierce, the form of beer, wine and setup for a and his campaign finance reports show fundraiser. that the people who work there would

Donors backed Justin Outling for District 3 at a much higher rate than his competitors. The same is true for Mayor Nancy Vaughan.

like to see him win. In total, his colleagues have given $4,525, according to his latest report filed on Monday, out of $10,210 total raised from individuals. His biggest contribution topped out at $500, a level at which six people gave: Brooks Group President Jefferson Brooks, Jeff Oleynik and Reid Phillips at Brooks Pierce, UNCG Vice Chancellor Janis Zink (Outling’s alma mater), developer Marty Kotis and McKee-Huger.

His family members around the state, lawyers Jennifer and Peter Brevorka in Houston and Buffalo respectively and local foundation heads Jim Melvin and Susan Schwartz (listed above for gifts to Vaughan’s campaign) also back Outling’s candidacy.

Michael Picarelli, a member of the state Human Relations Commission and former head of the Guilford County GOP, trails Outling financially by a wide margin, though he’s brought in almost double what contender Kurt Collins has raised. Picarelli has $1,942 from individuals, according to his latest report. The biggest chunks came from Don Lyons, the president of Laurent Lyons Lighting in Boca Raton, Fla., and retired CEO and local Edward LeBlanc, each who contributed $500.

Picarelli has emphasized that the race is nonpartisan, but a significant portion of his support seems to come from a

FILE PHOTO

Republican base. LeBlanc, who ran a division of smoke and carbon monoxide alarm manufacturer Kidde PLC in Mebane, donated $2,500 to Romney’s 2012 presidential bid. Party activist and former candidate Teresa Yon, a proponent of the downtown noise ordinance, is Picarelli’s treasurer. She gave $208 in inkind contributions and Lindsay Burkart, a Republican activist and community volunteer, donated $134.

Kurt Collins’ raised even less — $1,200 from individuals and $1,565 total, according to his finance report filed Monday. His two biggest donors kicked in $200 each: self-employed photographer and prominent tea partier Jeff Hyde and James Forster, the owner of Jae-Mar Brass & Lamp Co. near the Worx restaurant in downtown Greensboro. Only three other contributors are listed by name in Collins’ reports — Janet Wallace, Pamela Hanzaker and Tina Forsberg — each who gave $100 in August.

If fundraising abilities are any indication of support, the odds are overwhelming chance that Outling will make it through the primary on Oct. 6. To catch up financially, Picarelli or Collins will either need to fine-tune their sales pitches or pony up themselves, something Outling has already done for his campaign to the tune of $5,827.

triad-city-beat.com

The Artist’s

Garden

Up Front

american impressionism and the garden movement 1887–1920

News Opinion

Read the beat, talk the beat, walk the beat.

Shirts for sale at... triad-city-beat.com

Cover Story Culture Good Sport

Advance ticket package available online through October 2.

Games

“…the best examples of the genre.”

– Philadelphia Magazine

Shot in the Triad

october 3, 2015–january 3, 2016

The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement 1887–1920 was organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with leading support from the Mr. & Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc and the Richard C. von Hess Foundation. The Major Exhibition Sponsors are Bill and Laura Buck, and Christie’s. Additional support from Bowman Properties, Ltd., the Burpee Foundation, Edward and Wendy Harvey, Mr. and Mrs. Washburn S. Oberwager, Pennsylvania Trust, Alan P. Slack, Martin Stogniew, in memory of Judy Stogniew, a lover of art and gardening, the Victory Foundation, Ken Woodcock, and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. Reynolda House is grateful for the generous support of the following sponsors for bringing this exhibition to North Carolina, including Major Sponsors Wake Forest University and Patty & Malcolm Brown.

Detail: Richard Emil (or Edward) Miller (1875–1943), The Pool, c. 1910, Oil on canvas, 32 x 39 7/16 in. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1988.13. Photo: © Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago

RH_ArtistGardenTCBad.indd 1

9/17/15 11:35 AM

All She Wrote

reynoldahouse.org | #RHArtistsGarden

9

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Good Sport Games Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

10

HIGH POINT JOURNAL

Restaurant’s closure highlights frustrations with permitting process

by Jordan Green

The city’s permitting process has been in the spotlight with the temporary closure of Sumela restaurant after a motorist smashed into it in July, but repair work is finally underway.

More than two months after a motorist drove into the building that houses Sumela Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant in High Point, repair work is finally underway.

Based on estimates by the property owner and business owner it could be another six weeks before the restaurant reopens.

“It’s been a long haul,” said Paul Siceloff, who owns the building with his brothers. “On July 13, this maniac wrecks the building and two units are condemned: 805 N. Main, which is Sumela, along with 803-B. That tenant there is an interior designer. It held up her opening up shop; she had started to lease the space. It’s really critical to the restaurant. He’s kind of got to start from scratch.”

Located in the heart of the medical district anchored by High Point Regional Hospital — an area sandwiched between the central business district and Uptowne — Sumela is a popular lunch spot and something of a culinary institution in the city. The months-long interruption of service at the restaurant has thrown into relief the city’s permitting process, which has been pilloried by some for unnecessary delays and bureaucratic hoops.

“We had to go through all the hurdles of getting city approval to rebuild,” Siceloff said. “We were told we had to get an architectural design, which we did.”

Siceloff said he and his brothers had hired Burton Builders to repaint the building and remodel the patio at Sumela about two years ago. They were happy with the work, so after the building was damaged in July, they hired the contractor outright rather than put the project out to bid.

“They have overseen the architects’ drawings, the city permits,” Siceloff said. “The city came back to us and said, ‘You’ve got to get electrical drawings and plumbing drawings.’ The city

got the electrical drawings and the plumbing drawings.”

Mehmet Cakal, who owns Sumela, also expressed frustration.

“To me, it seems like it wasn’t urgent for them to jump in and speed the process,” he said. “It’s kind of laid back, work on their schedule, and not considering the business we’re losing everyday.”

Lee Burnette, the planning director for the city said staff took 15 business days, or three weeks, to issue the permits after receiving required submittals from the contractor. Based on the damage to the building, the repair work required review JORDAN GREEN A contractor is making repairs to the building that houses Sumela restaurant and an for fire, electrical and adjacent building, after a motorist smashed into it in July. plumbing, he said, doesn’t have a good benchmark against plan to the health department, replacing adding that the only which to objectively measure the speed damaged equipment, clean up and get review that wasn’t required was meand efficiency of the process. re-inspectedfrom the health departchanical, considering that the HVAC “It’s been tedious,” he said. “We had ment,” he said. “I’m looking at maybe system wasn’t damaged. somebody say, ‘You know what? You three weeks. Siceloff said the delays have Because staff is transitioning from pashould have been able to get that permit hurt Sumela the most. per to an electronic review system and in four hours.’ Well, okay, great. I was “We’re hurt because we’re losing rent they’re ramping up for furniture market only told that three days ago. [It was] for three and a half months, but nothin October, Burnette said the time spent somebody who supposedly should know. ing compared to what Sumela is going on permitting for Sumela is reasonable.

It kind of iced the cake of our frustrathrough,” he said. “I hope that they “That’s not a very long time considertion.” can reopen soon and that our interior ing,” he said. “It went through everyPlanning Director Lee Burnette could designer can open. I hope we don’t lose thing but mechanical review.” not be reached for this story. her.”

Burnette added that 10 to 12 days is The contractor obtained their Cakal said he wonders if he will be standard for planning departments in building permit on Sept. 17, allowing able to retain out-of-town customers 10 to 12 days. He said that as staff gets them to start repairing the wall and fix who see the restaurant is closed, and accustomed to the new electronic review utilities. Siceloff said the contractor has stop coming back. But most locals system, the process should go faster. told him that the exterior repairs should understand the situation, and many “In High Point, when 30 to 60 days be complete in two to three weeks. have told them that they are waiting for before market comes the big crunch for Once repairs by the property owner Sumela to reopen. construction because of the showrooms are complete, Cakal will still need to “It’s affected everybody,” he said. that have to be retrofitted,” Burnette retrofit the interior and obtain neces“We have [eight] employees, and other said. “They become a priority because sary permits from the Guilford County businesses benefit from our business. there is a definitive deadline for market.

Department of Public Health before the It’s affected everybody mentally and We try to accommodate everyone.” restaurant can reopen. financially.”

Siceloff said this is the first time he’s “I will take the steps, submitting the dealt with the permitting process, so he

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EDITORIAL

Out with the Wos Dr. Aldona Wos has always had great timing.

She began prodigious fundraising for President George W. Bush out of her stately Greensboro home just as he was about to win re-election in 2004, the year she was named ambassador to Estonia. She left in 2006, well before W’s policies brought the country to the brink of economic collapse and he used our tax dollars to bail out the banks and the automotive industry.

Her GOP bona fides were well in place — and economic recovery underway — by the time she was named head of the NC Department of Health & Human Services in 2012 by Gov. Pat McCrory, a controversial post from the beginning as she had no experience in government beyond buying and selling the candidates. Right off the bat she appointed a woman as director of child development & early education who had publicly denigrated the importance of pre-K education. Food stamps did not reach their intended recipients for the first eight months of 2013.

Data breaches, high-profile resignations and outrageous salaries also marred her first year of service, for which she infamously turned down the annual six-figure salary and opted to be paid the symbolic sum of $1 a year.

She resigned in early August, in a made-for-TV moment in which the governor called her “the best secretary of health & human services this state has ever had,” while Wos handed him a tissue to wipe away his tears.

We now know this moment happened just about a week after the subpoenas came down.

The US Attorney’s office believes that Wos’ DHHS may have been a criminal operation, demanding records that seem to zero in on hiring practices and compensation.

Among those caught in the sting are full-time and contract employees who seem to be paid in excess of their qualifications.

One of them, Joe Hauck — a longtime employee of Wos’ husband, Louis DeJoy, and current board member of the Greensboro Partnership — was paid more than $225,000 for just seven months of work. Pay for physicians at DHHS, which Hauck is not, tops out at just under $270,000 a year.

Salaries above $80,000 per year for two 24-year-old staffers also drew the interest of the US Attorney’s office.

The grand jury convened on Aug. 18, though no indictments have been handed down yet.

And even as her administration goes down in flames, her timing remains impeccable.

Her replacement at DHHS, Rick Brajer, said on Monday that Wos’ resignation was in no way connected to the subpoenas that rained down a week before she did left.

Before coming to the department, Brajer resigned in January from his post as CEO of ProNerve, a company that specializes in healthcare logistics that, a month after his departure, began bankruptcy proceedings before being bought out.

Timing, it seems, is the only job requirement in this DHHS.

CITIZEN GREEN

Lawmakers clash with law enforcement on IDs

by Jordan Green

We generally don’t expect government to solve problems in this day and age, but at least in the case of our state government in Raleigh we can count on our elected representatives to create

some new ones.

Such is the case with the euphemistically titled Protect North Carolina Workers Act, whose primary sponsors include state Rep. Debra Conrad (R-Forsyth). Among other provisions, the bill would prohibit local government or law enforcement agencies from accepting IDs created by any organization other than the state and bars cities and counties from passing any ordinance preventing law enforcement from gathering information on residents’ citizenship or immigration status.

The bill has been approved by the Senate and was placed on the House calendar for a concurrence vote on Tuesday.

The conservative loathing of “sanctuary cities” feeds a lot of the energy driving the bill. When I talked to Conrad about it on Monday, she cited the widely reported murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by a man who had been deported to Mexico five times, and a man with a Spanish surname who was arrested closer to home for driving drunk in the wrong direction on US Highway 52.

“We’re not talking about the mainstream illegal population,” Conrad told me. “We need to definitely safeguard the rest of the community, and that would be the rest of the Hispanic community.”

Meanwhile, the provision prohibiting law enforcement from accepting provisional IDs cuts against the fragile trust that some local police officials say they have worked hard to build so they can effectively solve crimes in immigrant communities.

Greensboro police Chief Wayne Scott and Burlington police Capt. Jeff Wood were among those who spoke out against the bill during a press conference called by FaithAction in Greensboro on Monday. Since the program started three years ago, Executive Director David Fraccaro said, IDs have been issued to 3,000 people in Greensboro and in neighboring Alamance County.

“Over the last several years we’ve been working hard to build relations with that community, and we feel like the FaithAction ID has helped,” Capt. Wood said. “If they limit the kind of IDs we can accept, we’re going to have a whole lot more

people arrested and thrown in jail tying up our law-enforcement resources.”

The police contend that when they encounter someone without ID who is unable to otherwise prove their identity, they have no choice but to make an arrest, even if it’s for a simple traffic violation or suspicion of committing a crime. Under ordinary circumstances, the subject would be given a ticket and sent on her way. Wood added that the IDs have also been helpful to homeless people, who often lack official identification documents and rarely drive.

Greensboro police Capt. Mike Richey, who heads the criminal investigation division, said the IDs played a valuable role in solving crimes.

“Half of the homicides were domestic violence,” he said. “We have had people tell us we wouldn’t have come forward if we didn’t have the FaithAction ID. We’ve made arrests in a human trafficking case and a child sexual exploitation case — which most everyone would agree is the most heinous type of crime — and those cases came to fruition because of people cooperated with us.”

Conrad waved aside the law enforcement officials’ concerns.

“I’ve been hearing that for a decade,” she said.

“I heard that from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. We’re supposed to be a nation of laws.”

As to the matter of tying up law enforcement and court resources by throwing people in jail who have committed no other crime than lacking a valid state-issued driver’s license, Conrad remained unmoved.

“I consider crossing the border a crime, in my opinion,” she said. “It’s federal law. It’s a crime.”

Conrad has long been a crusader against illegal immigration. As a former county commissioner, she told me she went to Washington in 2007 to testify before a Congressional subcommittee.

“That was when the volume — you could see them around,” she said. “The percentage ballooned from single digits in the schools. We had 700 in the jails. You could see the financial strain that it was causing.”

She was frustrated that Forsyth County Sheriff Bill Schatzman refused to follow the lead of Mecklenburg in implementing 287(g), a program that deputizes local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents. And she didn’t like that CHANGE, a Winston-Salem organization, was issuing IDs like those created by FaithAction.

“We can’t have these rogue groups, whether it’s a city or county in North Carolina or an advocacy group like CHANGE coming up with IDs,”

nities and make them more just, inclusive and safe.

It’s a shame that state lawmakers are willing to stamp out a local initiative with a real track record of success so they can pursue a narrow ideological agenda of supposedly cracking down on illegal immigration.

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Conrad said.

Unlike the state and federal government, cities are actually coming up with innovative solutions to problems. That’s why many of us choose to live here; we want to experience democracy at the ground level where we can actually shape our commu-

Tiny bars

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more exciting than anything we’ve seen before in Triad nightlife.

Tiny bars should champion individuality. Each one should be entirely distinct from one another to give it that “we’re innovative” kind of feel.

It’s difficult to do that with the size of most neighborhood bars. The kind of decorations those dives get away with would look horrible in a tiny bar; bar owners would have to think hard about using space.

There might be one based around a single music group, or one based on a famous historical figure, or even just riffing off of the history of the building.

And a tiny bar would already be packed with seven people inside, which makes it seem lively. And that’s part of the fun.

Once tiny bars reached critical mass, they would be competing with one another for the best theme and we would find ourselves in a pub renaissance. It’s an exciting prospect and really not too abstract. Look at the Silver Moon Saloon or the Black Lodge in Winston-Salem. These tiny bars always have a crowd. There’s demand for this kind of stuff — tiny houses have a huge following and why shouldn’t tiny bars be next?

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I get too comfortable at my neighborhood dive.

I mean it’s nice, there’s seating for

by Daniel Wirtheim everyone and a jukebox, but what I find lacking is a real view of the city, a sense of adventure. Tight and maybe interconnected strips of tiny bars might be the right injection of downtown excitement and innovate business our cities need.

If prospective bar owners chose to lease tiny storefronts across the downtown area, rather than holding down a larger location with higher overhead costs, bargoers wouldn’t need a designated driver to cross the city and they would come to expect something exciting with each night out.

There could be some type of membership system or partnership between the small bars. A member might be able to keep a tab open in one bar and be able to use it across the city — maybe a book that gets a stamp at each tiny bar. Marketing these things would be easy because it’s different and

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Addicted jail. dead. to pain pills and pregnant, Jen McCormack landed in

21 days later she was

by Jordan Green

High spirited, loud and full of caustic wit, Jen McCormack commanded the room at a party.

She was the person most likely to be dancing or singing along with Of Montreal at one of LaToya Winslow’s frequent gatherings on South Mendenhall Street near the campus of UNCG in Greensboro.

Jen was the ringleader, the one who made introductions in a circle of open-minded, artistically inclined friends that remains intact to this day, even as its members have graduated and spread afield to Raleigh, Fayetteville and San Francisco. An agnostic who majored in religious and classical studies at UNCG, she was considered among her friends to be the smartest, and the most likely to live an illustrious life.

But at some point, Jen began to go off track. There was an unsuccessful marriage that contrasted painfully with the contented pairings of some of her friends. Jen kept her ex-husband’s last name because she couldn’t afford the legal costs of changing it back. And while she found a new circle of loyal friends among coworkers at the Apple Store in Charlotte, Jen was plagued with health problems, including knees that required surgery. She started abusing prescription pain pills, a habit that began with a legitimate

effort at pain management. Through all her ordeals, she still managed to earn a master’s degree in digital libraries from the University of South Carolina.

Jen had found a boyfriend, a guy her friends considered to be kind and supportive, but he left her after he discovered that she lied to him about her opiate habit. In early 2014, she became pregnant through a liaison with different man. Unable to continue at the Apple Store because of her health problems, she moved back to Winston-Salem to live with her mother in the summer of 2014. With her mother’s support, Jen made the decision to keep her baby.

By then, Jen had largely cut off her friends in the old Mendenhall crew. Over the course of several weeks in the late summer Jen resorted calling in fraudulent prescriptions for hydrocodone by impersonating nurses and physician assistants in Winston-Salem and High Point.

She was arrested by a Winston-Salem police officer at the Walgreens across from Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem on Aug. 20.

The police report indicates that Jen attempted to hang herself in the bathroom at the pharmacy. As a result, she was taken to Forsyth Medical Center for a mental health

evaluation. She also received treatment for her addiction — Suboxone, a relatively new opiate-substitute drug on the US market — during her eight-day stay. Medication-assisted treatment, whether with Suboxone or Methadone, is considering the standard of care for pregnant women struggling with opiate dependence.

The day she was released from Forsyth Medical Center, a Winston-Salem police detective charged Jen with 10 counts of drug fraud and a magistrate signed off on a $25,000 bond — an amount far beyond her family’s means that ensured she wouldn’t make bail.

In 21 days Jen would be dead.

FFF

Here’s where I make a personal admission.

I knew Jen well enough to call her a friend. But looking back, I didn’t come through as a friend when she most needed one. And to be honest, we were never especially close.

I came into the Mendenhall circle in early 2008, shortly after meeting my future wife, which was also around the same time Jen was moving to Charlotte. We saw each other at parties and weddings, but I don’t particularly

15

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Cover Story

remember any personal conversations that would have allowed us to really get to know one another.

Over the past seven years, my wife and I have grown increasingly close with LaToya, and Sarah, along with her husband Adam. We named LaToya the godmother of our daughter, who was born in 2013. All that is to say that, not knowing Jen very well, her death registered with me primarily as sadness for LaToya and Sarah, along with my wife.

Jen’s arrest “made the news,” to use an unsentimental phrase common among those who don’t necessarily appreciate media attention.

The hideous booking photograph and story ripped straight from the police press release in the Winston-Salem Journal rattled me, although I too have recycled plenty of press releases about low-level offenders, often adding a dose of mockery and belittlement. Now I know how it feels to be on the other side.

When my wife told me that Jen had died, I felt shock and sadness, but I was preoccupied with family and professional matters. And if I thought Jen’s death was newsworthy at all, I’m sure I concluded that my personal connection to her ruled me out as the reporter for the assignment. I wanted to move on as quickly as possible.

It took writing about addiction four months lat- Jen McCormack was known for “a head-back-cackle-take-up-the-whole room kind of laugh.”

COURTESY PHOTO er for me to realize that I had a personal connection to a story as harrowing, sad and unjust as any Jen once told Sarah. realm of possibility if we or someone we love ends up I had covered as a reporter. After all, here was a woman After high school, Sarah continued to live with her there? with an unborn child who had suffered an apparent heart parents in Kernersville while studying the science of gemattack in jail, and later died as a result of it. Considering stones; Jen moved to Greensboro to attend UNCG. my personal entanglements, I felt that I needed permisSarah Sellers and Jen McCormack met each other in Randi Pace, a UNCG student pursuing a degree in deaf sion from Jen’s closest friends to write the story. They high school, but became friends, oddly enough, when education, became fast friends with Jen based on their agreed that it was important they worked together at a pharshared love of indie rock and movies. They soon became to hold the jail accountable, macy in Kernersville. Sarah was inseparable and moved together into a little apartment on but wanted to make sure it was 20, Jen a little older.

South Mendenhall Street near campus. Jen introduced alright with Janice McCormack, “I worked in the front and Randi to Sarah soon afterwards.

Jen’s mother. Janice eventually she worked in the back,” Sellers The three young women went to a Death Cab for gave her blessing. recalled. “We bonded over Cutie concert at Disco Rodeo in Raleigh.

Was Jen’s death avoidable?

Aimee Mann. I convinced the “Jen and I were both like, ‘You need to move in with us,’” What might have been done to manager to let me play my Randi recalled. “’We can go to New York Pizza.’ We lived protect her? Where exactly did music. She said, ‘Hey, you’re in a crappy little condo on Mendenhall. Sarah moved into the system fail her? Have we as a into Aimee Mann?’ I said, ‘I love our living room. It was completely illegal, something you society abandoned the most vulAimee Mann!’ She said, ‘Have do in your early twenties.” nerable of our citizens and failed you seen Magnolia?’ And then The way she became friends with LaToya, who also to allocate adequate resources she said, ‘We have to hang out lived on the street, was classic Jen — proactive, enthusiasto ensure their protection? after work.’” tic and a little oddball.

These are questions that need The high school-aged Jen “She saw me on MySpace, and she thought I was cool,” to be asked on behalf of any working behind the counter at LaToya recalled. Jen asked a mutual friend to arrange a friend — or, for that matter, any the pharmacy probably never meeting at College Hill Sundries. stranger. imagined that one day her “We played pool, drank and had a good time,” LaToya — Janice McCormack If we don’t care what hap31-year-old self would wind up said. “She introduced me to everybody she knew. pened to Jen, maybe that passing fraudulent scrips for “I don’t think it would have happened any other way,” means we don’t care that much drugs. Jen and Sarah would talk she added. “Who cold calls you on the internet?” about our own health and safety. Do we want a healthcare about the customers who came in to fill prescriptions who Jen took another step and introduced LaToya and system in our jail that truly protects people, or should we were obviously addicted to painkillers.

Sarah. just hope for the best and accept that the worst is in the “I can’t believe people would let their lives become this,” “She wanted all of her friends to be friends with each

FFF

“It comes down to: I trusted them because they had a badge. I should have known better. I should know they’re just doing that to get their arrest, to get their stats.

Does that make them bad?

No. They’re just doing their job. But they’re not working in our best interest.”

16

other,” Sarah said. “She was a facilitator of fun.”

Jen owned an unforgettable laugh.

“It was a head-back-cackle-take-up-the-whole room kind of laugh,” Randi said. “It was great. She’s so smart and she’s a genuine person. She’s really sweet.”

Through Jen’s cultivation of friendships, the Mendenhall parties gained a reputation as intellectual salons.

“She ordered Harry Potter books in ancient Greek so she could continue to read them,” Sarah recalled. “She would say, ‘You know the Bible is all wrong. If you read it in ancient Greek it makes a lot more sense.’”

Jen was an avid concertgoer — a fan of bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Arcade Fire and Yo La Tengo.

Once, Sarah dropped her laptop and broke it, despairing that it was a total loss.

Not to worry, Jen told her.

“She completely rebuilt my computer,” Sarah recalled.

“She put a new hard drive in and new RAM. It went from 80 Gigs to 250 Gigs. She installed Microsoft Word, and illegally downloaded some programs. She said, ‘I’ll put some of my music on there, too.’ I feel like I have a piece of her.”

Jen wasn’t the type to lord her intelligence over others.

Her tattoo, inscribed across her right breast, said it all: “Sol lucet omnibus” — Latin for “The sun shines on everyone.”

“For how intelligent she was, she could relate to anyone,” Sarah said. “If you were going through anything funky, she would want to celebrate that and make you

COURTESY PHOTO

brightness.”

Jen had longstanding problems with both knees, and eventually had to undergo surgery. Janice didn’t understand how an addiction could have spiraled out of pain management from the surgery. But a counselor told her that every person is different, and that for Jen the first prescription pill might have been the trigger.

“It seems like once I found out, that’s when she went downhill,” Janice said. “She kept telling me how embarrassed she was. I said, ‘Good God, don’t be embarrassed.

We’re going to get help.’”

FFF

We never got pain pills. The pain pill my dad got, he got from the VA in the mail.”

Jen’s gambit started catching up with her on Aug. 6, when she was arrested by High Point police officer RA Juren for impersonating a physician assistant while attempting to obtain hydrocodone from a Walgreens pharmacy. Two weeks later, her suicide attempt at the Walgreens on Cloverdale Avenue in Winston-Salem resulted in a commitment to Forsyth Medical Center for mental health treatment and medication-assisted addiction treatment.

In the meantime, the Winston-Salem police had been tracking Jen’s offenses, and Detective CN Kiser had amassed a string of warrants for 10 instances each of drug fraud and identity theft at the Cloverdale Avenue pharmacy from mid-July through mid-August. Janice said the staff at Forsyth Medical Center had been trying to make arrangements for Jen to get into a long-term drug treatment program, but detectives came to the McCormacks’ house on Signet Drive to serve the warrants.

“The trouble is — rehab is wonderful — she committed a crime,” Janice said. “That precludes her going to rehab in the eyes of the police department. To them, it was more important to arrest her than her going to rehab since rehab wasn’t court ordered. They told us that if she goes to court and a judge orders rehab, then we have a better chance of getting her into rehab.”

Janice, who works as a dispatcher for a local university police department, said she understands the position of law enforcement, but that doesn’t mean their interests are aligned.

“It comes down to: I trusted them because they had a badge,” she said. “I should have known better. I should know they’re just doing that to get their arrest, to get their stats. Does that make them bad? No. They’re just doing their job. But they’re not working in our best interest.”

Kiser told me he didn’t charge Jen with trafficking because the drug she was illegally obtaining — hydrocodone with acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) — doesn’t have a high street value. The acetaminophen typically makes the user sick if they take it in high quantities.

While addicts will take hydrocodone acetaminophen in large quantities, it’s not sought after in street sales.

The detectives advised Janice to not bail Jen out, arguing that she would go behind her back and continue to abuse hydrocodone.

Not that Janice could have afforded to pay: Bond was set at $25,000.

The worksheet for Jen’s case checked off the boxes for Class G and H felonies, which typically carry bond amounts ranging from $1,200 to $22,000 and sentences

triad-city-beat.com

Jen (center), posing with friends Sarah Sellers (left) and Randi Pace.

feel that it was nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Janice McCormack, Jen’s mother, said her daughter was close with her grandparents, especially her grandfather, who was diagnosed with leukemia in about 2010. He later developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, which paralyzed him from the neck down. Jen would come up from Charlotte to see her grandparents in Kernersville as often as she could.

“Every time we’d get new medication — Dad literally had 20 pills at a time — Jennifer organized them,” Janice said. “She would put the labels on them, figure out what was good or bad. She was there to entertain them and figure out what had to be done.

“It was just the way she was,” Janice continued. “She always wanted to try to be helpful. She loved to cook things for them — something different to bring a little

“She deserved a second chance in rehab to get clean and that was robbed from her, and she lost her and her child’s life because of it. I want to know what you’re doing to ensure this won’t happen to another in your jail.”

Janice McCormack learned about her daughter’s addiction while Jen was still living in — Sarah Sellers Charlotte. After her boyfriend broke up with her, in the spring of 2014, Jen moved back to Winston-Salem to stay with Janice.

“She would go into these all-night pharmacies,” Janice said. “She was a pharm tech through high school. She sounded more like a doctor than most doctors. She would put ’em in my name, in my mom’s name and dad’s name.

17

Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Cover Story

sisted treatment for opiate dependency, but they wouldn’t take her Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug.

Whether Jen was allowed to take her Suboxone in jail remains unclear. Officials with the jail and Correct Care Solutions, the company that contracts with the county to provide healthcare to inmates, declined to address questions about Jen’s care. But continuing on medication-assisted therapy would have been critical to a healthy pregnancy, not to mention Jen herself.

A National Institutes of Health consensus panel COURTESY PHOTO Jen McCormack (left) and Randi Pace, dancing at a party recommended methahosted by LaToya Winslow (back, right). done maintenance as the standard of care for pregupon conviction of no more than 44 months. Obtaining a nant women addicted to opiates in 1998, according to a controlled substance by fraud — Jen’s crime — falls under protocol published by the US Department of Health and Class I, the lowest-level felony offense on the books in Human Services.

And a committee opinion reaffirmed by North Carolina. A $25,000 bond is consistent with Class the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists D, E and F felonies, which cover crimes ranging from warns: “Abrupt discontinuation of opioids in an opioid-dearmed robbery and voluntary manslaughter to taking pendent pregnant woman can result in preterm labor, fetal indecent liberties with children and habitual impaired distress or fetal demise.” driving. The magistrate evidently considered Jen to be Jen’s pregnancy had progressed five months, and along a flight risk because notes on a court document indicatwith the health challenges of a serious opiate addiction, ed, “Necessary to reasonably secure appearance of the Janice said her daughter was defendant as required.” also experiencing intense Whatever anyone else morning sickness at the time thinks about the bond, Ofof her incarceration. ficer Kiser said he considers When she was booked the amount low, given that in Forsyth County jail on each of the offenses carried Aug. 28, Jen said she was a charge of identity theft, experiencing withdrawal, as which he characterized as “a indicated on an inmate intake pretty serious felony.”

— Sheriff Bill Schatzman form.

The responses on the The last time Janice talked document show that jail staff to her daughter was when should have been well aware Jen called her from jail the that Jen was also addicted to opiates, was pregnant and evening of her arrest. had recently attempted suicide.

“She called and told me: ‘Mom, don’t pay my bail As early as Sept. 4, the seventh day of her incarcerabecause I’m getting a lawyer to get it lowered,’” Janice tion, incident reports obtained from the Forsyth County recalled. “I told her I loved her, she told me she loved me, Sheriff’s Office indicate that Jen was experiencing urinary and that’s the last time we talked to each other.” incontinence — a symptom that would continue to be documented hours before she was found unresponsive on Jen came out of Forsyth Medical Center with a clean Sept.13. bill of health on Aug. 28, the day she was arrested and Pfc. V. McBride recorded observing Jen on the floor sent to jail. from the remote camera monitoring system in her cell in “If she showed any indication that she was in distress or the jail’s female medical housing unit at 6 a.m. on Sept. 4. the baby was in distress, they would have never let her out As with the other incident reports, Jen was identified by of the hospital,” Janice said. her married name.

Janice said she turned over Jen’s Suboxone to the jail “I observed a large puddle of water on the floor and the staff so her daughter could continue her medication-ascell was not sanitary,” McBride wrote. “I immediately went

“Let’s talk about this tragic incident. What have we learned to possibly prevent this from happening again?”

FFF

18

to Fe-002 and asked inmate McCormack Schuler what happened and she stated she had fallen. I moved the bed that appeared to have her trapped against the wall.”

Dr. Hendrée Jones, a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill, told me that urinary incontinence and failing are not typically symptoms of opiate withdrawal.

“That makes me think there’s some kind of underlying condition that the opiate addiction unmasked,” she said.

In hindsight, the symptoms are troubling, at the very least, Dr. Robert Newman, a former assistant commissioner for addiction services for the New York City Health Department, told me.

“The falling and incontinence, it can’t just be coincidence that after 10 days they were followed by her death,” Newman said.

After freeing Jen from the bed, McBride contacted Charge Nurse Carol Suratt. The incident report records that Suratt checked Jen’s vitals and advised “that there was no sign of injury at this time.” When Suratt asked if Jen had eaten, McBride reported that she “had refused her tray.”

The report concludes by reporting that “Nurse Suratt advised inmate McCormack Schuler to eat her meals and slow down on drinking water.”

A second incident report the next day filed by Officer A. Walker adds to the impression that Jen’s symptoms presented something graver than opiate withdrawal. The report indicates that Jen told Officer Walker she was feeling dizzy, and the officer caught her arm as she began falling and helped lower her to the floor. The report goes on to record that Charge Nurse Cornatzer examined Jen, and “advised that everything was okay.”

On the eve of the acute health crisis that would put Jen in a coma, jail staff noted what one incident report termed her “strange behavior.”

“Inmate McCormick Schuler [sic] had used the bathroom on herself multiple times that morning, had refused medication, and also would not eat,” Officer K. Bruner reported.

Janice said she would later speak to a detention officer who had talked to Jen on the previous morning.

“He asked her: ‘Are you going to eat today?’” Janice recounted. “She said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to try to eat.’”

At 12:40 p.m., Officer Bruner reported, a mental health counselor asked to speak with Jen. At 1:18 p.m., the report indicates, Jen was placed on active suicide watch.

At 2 a.m. the following day, Pfc. McBride reported going to Jen’s cell to offer her water, as directed by medical staff.

“Inmate McCormack Schuler reeked of urine and had been urinating on herself,” McBride reported. “Inmate McCormack Schuler has been refusing to walk or use the toilet on her own. Medical has stated that inmate McCormack Schuler is capable and there is no medical reason at this time that she cannot walk on her own.”

Janice’s understanding of her daughter’s condition, based on later conversations with detention officers, is at odds with this characterization.

“One guy told me she was scooting on the floor to get

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to the bathroom so she didn’t have to ask for help,” Janice added.

After detention officers advised Jen “that these conditions were not safe for her or her unborn child,” according to the report, they helped her into a sitting position, at which point she reportedly “rolled her eyes and went limp.” A nurse responded by breaking an ammonia capsule under Jen’s nose.

As jail staff placed Jen in a wheelchair and attempted to move her to a new cell, the report indicates she “refused to respond to directives and just stared at officers.” Again, a nurse used an ammonia capsule to revive her.

After Jen was laid out on the mat in her new cell, McBride reported that the nurses performed a health check.

“All vitals were reported normal and no injuries were reported,” McBride wrote. “Inmate McCormack Schuler was then offered a drink of water. She was assisted to a sitting position by Nurse Clarke and Cpl. Peterson. Her intake was noted on the hunger strike form.”

Later, when Janice arrived at Baptist Hospital, she said the first thing the doctor asked her was how long Jen had been on hunger strike.

“She was not on hunger strike,” Janice replied.

Less than eight hours after staff moved Jen and offered her a drink of water, Pfc. P. Perry-Ionescu would discover her unresponsive in her cell during an observation round.

FFF

Correct Care Solutions declined to comment on the care that Jen McCormack received through spokesperson Karla West “due to potential or current litigation.”

Randi (left) and Jen with actor Zach Galifianakis.

The company, which describes itself as “a progressive and customer-oriented leader within the correctional health care field,” holds an uneven record for inmate care. While it’s difficult to make a definitive conclusion from a limited number of cases, a handful of reported inmate deaths present a troubling picture of Correct Care Solutions’ quality of care.

The company settled with the estate of Farah Saleh Farah, a 24-year-old mentally ill man who died of dehydration in a jail in Alexandria, Va. in January 2008, for $1 million. Among the causes of action enumerated in the family’s lawsuit against Correct Care Solutions was wrongful death, and cruel and unusual punishment.

“During the last days of Farah’s life, any competent and reasonably diligent healthcare provider, including the individual defendants herein, had to have recognized from his woefully debilitated condition that this patient was in dire straits and needed immediately to be seen by a doctor, hydrated, tested for Three friends passionate electrolytes, and otherwise properly cared for on an emergency about exceptional food and basis,” the lawsuit charged. entertainment.

In another case, the New York State Commission of Correction found that nursing staff from Correct Care Solutions Check us out on Facebook “mismanaged” complaints of chest pain by a 36-year-old inmate or give us a call to find out named Rashad McNulty, who died in Westchester County more about us.

Jail in January 2013. The commission found that that a physician employed by Correct Care Solutions “made a hazardous presumptive diagnosis of abdominal distress on McNulty, a patient presenting with accepted symptoms of acute coronary Mary Lacklen syndrome, without the benefit of actually examining McNulty or Allen Broach performing requisite diagnostic tests.” The report went on to say: Bob Weston “Had McNulty been given appropriate emergency medical care (336)210–5094 and sent to a hospital in a timely manner his death may have catering@capers.biz been prevented.”

Earlier this year, CBS 4 in Denver reported that Jennifer 5000 Heathridge Terrace Lobato, a woman withdrawing from heroin, died on the floor of Greensboro, NC 27410-8419 the Jefferson County Jail, where Correct Care Solutions held

COURTESY PHOTO

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Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Cover Story

the contract for inmate health services, 10 hours after pleading for medical assistance.

“Yes, she might be alive today if there was intervention,” Sheriff Schrader told CBS 4 in March.

The Forsyth County Commission voted unanimously to extend Correct Care Solutions’ contract — in place since September 2012 — at a cost of $4 million on Aug. 10.

Neighboring Guilford County began contracting with Correct Care Solutions for inmate health services in July 2014, following a dispute with the previous contractor over what services should be covered in the agreement. Maj. Chuck Williamson, who has responsibility for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office’s court services bureau, said staff checked out Correct Care Solutions’ “corporate reputation” and consulted with other companies that engage the company’s services before recommending the contract.

Williamson said they didn’t discover anything that discouraged them from going forward with the contract.

“You have to have a good health services administration who’s on site akin to a hospital administrator,” Williamson said. “You’re still dealing with a large population. There are some sick people that come in; they don’t take care of themselves. Hospitals, even providing the best care, have people pass away.”

At least one person has died in Guilford County Jail since Correct Care Solutions took over the contract. The Jen McCormack, in April 2011.

Guilford County Sheriff’s Office disclosed that 38-yearold Willie David Vandiver died on Aug. 31, 2015. Prior to Correct Care Solutions’ tenure, media reports indicate that at least five people died in the Greensboro jail from she wrote in mental health department memo. “We rec2007 to 2014. ommend that you follow up with a mental health provider Correct Care Solutions is currently a defendant, along following your release.” with Forsyth County SherDiane Emmert Nixon, the iff Bill Schatzman and other inmate’s wife, visited him on July employees, in a lawsuit alleging 29, the 19th day of his incarceraconstitutional violations by the tion, and “thought that he looked estate of Dino Vann Nixon, who like he had Parkinson’s disease died in the jail in August 2013 because his whole body was after being arrested on a charge trembling and his speech was of trafficking heroin. slurred,” according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, “He could not even hold a cup Nixon had prescriptions for hyto drink out of it without spilling drocodone — the same chemical it on himself. He told her he felt Jen was dependent on — Xanax, awful and complained about not Effexor and Ambien when he getting sleep. His hygiene was was arrested, and that he was even worse than before, and he not allowed to bring his medilooked like he had not shaved cations with him to jail. Nixon’s for several days. He looked very family charges that medical pale.” staff at the jail ignored his pleas The lawsuit, which alleges for medication to ease his pain, violations of the inmate’s conand neglected him as his health stitutional rights to be free from — Dr. Robert Newman declined precipitously. cruel or unusual punishment, A licensed clinical social to adequate medical care and worker allegedly offered Nixon to due process before being “sleeping problem worksheets” deprived of life, concludes, in response to his request for additional medication.

“Defendants acted like Mr. Nixon was faking his symp“Anxiety, panic, racing thoughts and difficulty sleeping toms. Defendants were dead wrong. Mr. Nixon died. This are normal reactions to incarceration that can be regulatshowed defendants’ deliberate indifference to Mr. Nixon’s ed through the practice of healthy coping skills over time,”

“In terms of the reporting of this, the reading public should be outraged that a mother lost her child in jail while under presumably constant supervision, and the sheriff refuses to comment. That’s mind-boggling.

You can’t prevent it happening again if you don’t know what happened.”

20

COURTESY PHOTO

serious medical problems that led directly to his death.”

The county declined to comment on the lawsuit.

FFF

Six days after Jen McCormack died, her friend Sarah Sellers composed an email to Sheriff Bill Schatzman.

“My dear friend Jennifer McCormack suffered a massive heart attack while in your detention center, and I do not think she and her unborn child were receiving proper care,” Sarah wrote. “Her doctors said she had extremely low electrolytes and that could have caused her heart attack. She was arrested and ripped away from a treatment center she had waited to get into where she was receiving good care only to be placed in your jail and die several days later. I want to know how and why this happened.

“She was breaking the law and I understand that, but she was more than just some addict,” the email continued.

“She was a wonderful human being with lots of people who loved her. She had been dealing with so many health issues and had been in so much pain for so long and I believe that’s what led her down this path. She deserved a second chance in rehab to get clean and that was robbed from her, and she lost her and her child’s life because of it. I want to know what you’re doing to ensure this won’t happen to another in your jail.”

The sheriff never responded to Jen, but he forwarded her email to Chief Deputy Brad Stanley, Major Robert Slater, who oversees the jail, and Assistant County Attorney Lonnie Albright. The sheriff added a pithy but telling message of his own: “FYI. Let’s talk about this tragic incident. What have we learned to possibly prevent this

triad-city-beat.com

from happening again?” be clamoring for the reports, he A Google calendar document provided by the county said. reveals that Albright confirmed plans to attend a Sept. 29, “It’s inexplicable not simply be2014 meeting headed “Jennifer McCormack discussion” cause the family has been trying with Stanley and Slater. to get them,” Newman said. “One I confronted Schatzman about the email recently during would imagine the prison officials a lunchtime talk given by state Rep. Donny Lambeth at a would be the most anxious to Golden Corral restaurant in Winston-Salem on Sept. 21. I know what the cause of her death had been attempting to contact Schatzman and Stanley is. The prison authorities who for six weeks without success, so I took the opportunity to are responsible for her care and address him while he was waiting to speak to Lambeth. safety should be the first to want I asked: What did they learn from their meeting? to know. How could one rule out “The purpose of that email was, ‘Something happened the possibility that she was hit that was unacceptable to us, and let’s share what we know over the head?” with each other,’” Schatzman said. “But we can’t share that Albright emphasized the fact with you. That’s not for public consumption.” that Jen was not an inmate at Schatzman added that he couldn’t comment specifically the time of her death in an email about the circumstances of Jen’s jail stay because of an exchange for this story. That legal “anticipated lawsuit.” Janice told me that she contacted a lawyer, who eventually stopped returning her calls at some point, so that she could get answers about what happened to her daughter.

As legal counsel to the sheriff, Albright said he advised Schatzman to not discuss “the McCorkle-Schuler [sic] matter.”

“In terms of the reporting of this, the reading public should be outraged that a mother lost her child in jail while under presumably constant supervision, and the sheriff refuses to comment,” Dr. Newman said. “That’s mind-boggling. You can’t prevent it happening again if you don’t know what happened.

“Is there evidence of wrongdoing?” Newman continued. “If the attorneys of the prison say, ‘We have told our client to not comment,’ that certainly tells me as a layman that there may be a claim of culpability — negligence or wrongdoing of some kind.”

Olivia James, a spokesperson for the state Health & Human Services Department, said an — Dr. Robert Newman autopsy report was not conducted by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner for Jen. The office did provide a toxicology report to Triad City Beat on Tuesday. It indicated “no analyses requested” despite the fact that 3 milliliters of blood and 1 milliliter of maneuver, allowing Jen’s family vitreous humor were taken posthumously. access to her hospital room, also James said in an email that “the decedent was monitored served the sheriff’s interest in COURTESY PHOTO The court unsecured Jen’s bond so the Forsyth County in the hospital for several days, giving any drugs from outdistancing his agency from the Sheriff’s Office could release her from custody, and her family side of the hospital time to metabolize, meaning the only tragedy. could be with her during her last days at Baptist Hospital. drugs that would have appeared in the report would have Assistant District Attorney been the ones given the decedent at the hospital.”

Brian Taylor wrote in a Sept. 17, “It really sounds like a concerted effort,” he said, “to bury Newman said he finds the lack of documentation in the 2014 court document that Jen was on life support. the whole damn thing with a dead patient.” aftermath of Jen’s death to be “bizarre.”

“She will not survive and will be taken off life support this “[The report] says no analyses were requested and week,” Taylor wrote. “Because she is in custody, her family specimen on hold,” he said in an email. “Absolutely nuts: is only allowed access to her for one hour per day.

A young person dies after many days in jail, no apparent “Based on the foregoing,” he continued, “the state asks cause evident, and yet no autopsy is done and even the the court to unsecure the bonds in the above matters so blood and other specimen are not tested for various drugs. her family can be with her during her last days.”

Beyond comprehension!”

Newman said the refusal of the sheriff’s office to comThe Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, above all, should ment comes across as “incredible arrogance.”

“The fact that one year later those lab results are not available is simply inexplicable. It’s inexplicable not simply because the family has been trying to get them.

One would imagine the prison officials would be the most anxious to know what the cause of her death is.”

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Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Good Sport Games Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

22

CULTURE Lunch in the park(ing lot)

by Eric Ginsburg

ou’d miss it if you were driving by, especially headed north on Reynolda Road towards Wake Forest University, but it would be almost as easy not to see it if you knew what you were looking for.

A cluster of trucks forms in front of the Coffee Park and Idlewild Clearance Center during lunch as vendors set up next to the Krankies Airstream selling crepes, hot dogs and juices. Tucked along the side of the parking lot almost behind the clearance center and blocked on the other side by more stores, the Screaming Radish food truck is barely visible unless you’re already standing in the lot.

Kevin Reddick — the one who’s known locally as a former chef at Noble’s and Artisan, rather than the former UNC and Carolina Panthers’ football player — is squatting behind the truck, taking a break to smoke and check his phone. It’s after noon on a Wednesday but the wide parking lot remains quiet. As a small queue forms at the truck’s window, Reddick reenters the mobile kitchen to help his man inside.

Food trucks enjoy enough popularity here that the Burke Street Food Truck Festival is an exercise in patience, and they’re featured guests at events downtown like Salute Wine Festival and Phuzz Phest.

It’s enough to keep drawing new people into the dream, like La Vie en Rose, a crepe truck here today that launched just last month. But the concept hasn’t ERIC GINSBURG received full mainstream acceptance in the city, with The vegetarian entrée from Screaming Radish food truck in Winston-Salem is the most colorful meal I can remember eating. ordinances pushing food trucks to the periphery in Winston-Salem, like this semi-suburban stretch of eggplant, pea shoots and assorted local vegetables their menu — hell, most restaurants around here don’t road.

– to take a picture of it on his phone, posting it to Inseither. Others would’ve considered the grilled cheese The Coffee Park isn’t the busiest locale for these tagram and tagging the Coffee Park.

Pink, orange and enough of a concession to vegetarians, or would forgo mobile vendors, but for lunch-breakers nearby or with red tomatoes, peppers and onion jump out against the the addition of greens to a chicken entrée. That just easy car access, it proves ideal. Plentiful parking, a greens; it’s easily the most colorful meal I can rememisn’t Reddick’s style. small huddle of trucks and short wait times make the ber eating.

And that’s why I feel a little bit bashful saying that destination easy. Better yet, the site compensates for The menu at Screaming Radish rotates, as you’d exthe chicken sandwich proved to be my favorite today — food trucks’ biggest shortcoming with a handful of pect from a kitchen sourcing locally. Today it includes a local bacon, shaved asiago cheese, pickled watermelon chairs and a few tables. chicken entrée similar to the vegetarian meal but with radish (Google a picture of one cut in half), a gentle By 1 p.m., those chairs have started to fill up, and a butternut squash, poblano peppers and avocado.

There stone-ground mustard aioli and pea shoots. There’s few people chase after napkins torn away by early fall are just two other items listed — a bacon and asiago something about that chicken and the way it’s presentgusts. Couples and coworkers relax together over this chicken sandwich with house chips ed that puts any other chicken sandwich to shame. casual lunch, which save for the and a triple-stack grilled cheese When I leave the Coffee Park headed down Reyntrucks couldn’t be further from the with fresh greens — and at the olda to continue delivering copies of this paper, that Find the Screaming Radish experience of a food-truck fest. bottom somebody has written chicken and a chocolate and caramelized banana crepe Chefs are known more for (W-S) on Facebook or at “#LOCAL” in large, capital letters. from Reddick’s temporary neighbor are what I’m left moving from a mobile format to a screamingradish.com.

The sample menu on the truck’s thinking about. brick-and-mortar restaurant, like website isn’t dissimilar, with an Peyton Smith who transitioned alternate grilled cheese, marinated from a mobile wood-fired pizza Pick of the Week veggie entrée with cucumber spaghetti salad and a oven at Forno Moto to Mission Pizza Napoletana on Herbs Inside and Out @ Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center chicken entrée with roasted potatoes and a pea-shoot Trade Street last year. After developing a reputation (GSO), 6 p.m. salad.

But it includes a burger with goat cheese and in some of Winston-Salem’s more chic restaurants, pickled radish, a chorizo sausage with roasted peppers Reddick did the opposite, but he maintains elements of Learn how to grow your own herbs indoors or outdoors. and pickled shallots and chilaquiles with slow-cooked fine dining, especially when it comes to presentation.

You can try some herbal treats and check out a plentiful chicken, chorizo, queso and fresh basil.

He pauses before handing me the Farmer’s Market herb garden. Find the event at Greensboro-nc.org for more Few food trucks incorporate so many vegetables into Vegetarian Entrée — a beautiful and bright salad with information.

Y

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Sake is underrated

by Eric Ginsburg

Up Front News Opinion

ERIC GINSBURG

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Shot in the Triad

I first tried Ozeki Sake Dry at a Japanese fusion restaurant in High Point appropriately named Sake, where nice Ozeki and Gekkeikan sakes grace the menu, as well as a house hot-sake. The Ozeki Sake Dry is brewed in California — domestic sakes avoid import fees that push up prices on the Japanese product.

It’s smooth, 70 percent polished and, according to the company, pairs well with fried chicken and seafood. And it’s the cheapest of the options on Sake’s menu, though it’s also the smallest bottle, while Gekkeikan’s Black and Gold 750-milliliter bottle goes for $38.

Once comfortable with the basics of sake, the beverage is easier to navigate, though I’ll still need a cheat sheet to remember that junmai ginjo-shu uses more polished rice than junmai-shu, or that ginjo-shu is the same level as junmai ginjo-shu but with some added alcohol. But before long, I hope to be trying some of Gekkeikan’s recommended cocktails on its site — like the Cucumber Cooler with its Haiku sake, simple syrup, lemon juice, muddled cucumber and club soda over ice — and to be that guy correcting people talking about “rice wine.”

Culture

That’s like rice wine, right? from a bygone era — a way to mask the It seems like everybody knows about cheap stuff the way really cold beer can sake, but almost nobody actually unhide how bad some macrobrews are, alderstands it. If sake comes up — which though warm sake isn’t necessarily bad. it generally doesn’t — the first thing Those small ceramic cups are called somebody does is compare it to wine. ochoko, and can help hold warmth, but The name conjures mental images of a some people prefer certain sakes in tall, shared bottle with shot glass-like other serving vessels. Sake is generally cups and that one time you drank it.

15-17 percent alcohol. Like wine, beer or For my editor, it’s the Dragon’s Den in liquor, higher price tags don’t always New Orleans. For my mom, it’s taking a mean the sake is better, but maybe you sake bomb decades ago, with the thimshould skip the cheapest variants. There ble-esque cup resting on chopsticks are different kinds of sake based on atop a glass of beer and pounding on how polished the rice is, whether more the table until the sake fell in. For me, alcohol is added later in the process and until recently, it was a whether it’s filtered. breakup-oriented conIt’d be easy to be versation with an ex at sucked into web of inOct. 1 is celebrated as Sushi Republic. ternet tabs researching World Sake Day. Find Sake is that drink various aspects of sake, a bottle at a grocery many of us forget but the best educastore or restaurant to about, one relegated to tion comes through memories or occasional trying it. Start at home, partake, or visit Sake treat-yo-self flare while where experimentation restaurant at 2207 N. out to dinner. But in is cheaper. Grocery Centennial St. (HP). ignoring it, we do ourstores like Deep Roots selves a disservice. in Greensboro carry a Here are the basics few options — a bottle to keep in mind. of Ozeki’s relatively sweet Premium Sake isn’t wine — its production Junmai goes for about $10, or try the process is actually more similar to beer, small 180-milliliter bottle of Ozeki’s but its qualities may be most like wine. light-bodied Sake Dry for $4.40 and It doesn’t age well, and generally isn’t SakeMoto’s small bottle of Junmai Sake served warm. The hot stuff is a holdover for $8.

Cover Story

Ozeki Sake Dry is one of 10 sakes on the menu at Sake, a Japanese restaurant in High Point.

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Sept. 30 — Oct. 15, 2015 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Good Sport Games Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

24

CULTURE Beyond old-time: Dom Flemons stakes out broad claim on Americana

by Jordan Green

s a 33-year-old black man playing the banjo, he almost throws it in your face how uncool he is.

The wide-brimmed hat, the round spectacles, the scruffy beard, the flannel shirt, the suspenders, even the way he leans into the old-time radio microphone at the end of a song and says, “Thank you very much everybody,” with a slight, nervous laugh, they all peg him to an earlier time, not quite a century past.

Midway through his first set at the Crown in Greensboro on Sunday, Flemons — a founding member of the esteemed Piedmont black string-band ensemble the Carolina Chocolate Drops — told a story about busking on the subway when he lived in New York City from 2009 to 2013. When audiences in the subway don’t dig your music, he said, “they give you a real hard stare.”

And they were giving him a “real hard stare” as he played “In the Jailhouse.”

“Considering the times, I changed some of the lyrics,” Flemons said. “Then some things started happening in our country that made me change them back.”

The song was in heavy rotation among the white hillbilly bands of the late ’40s that were playing a prototype of early rock and roll, and had been popularized

by Jimmie Rodgers, a country artist known as the “blue yodeler.” But there’s little doubt among music historians that the song originated with black jug bands in Louisville and Memphis.

The broad smile, an affectation of an entertainer eager to please his audience, might at first seem out of time. But how different is it from the mask of courtesy that might well make the difference between life and death for a black man encountering a cop during a late-night traffic stop in 21st Century America. Casting aside the slapstick moralism of Rodgers’ adaptation, Flemons sang the lyrics of an earlier version by the Memphis Jug Band, which concerns a number of ill-fated characters like Sam Jones who finds himself regretting his decision to vote twice in an election “instead of staying at home, leaving the white folks’ business alone,” and Henry Crew, who “sold that no good brew, sold it to the police on the beat” in exchange for marked bills. Flemons wailed on the banjo, jamming out a syncopated rhythm that was percussion and horn section all rolled into one, and then grabbed the entrails of the melody and dispatched a stinging solo.

In an era when everyone in pop, electronic, hip hop and rock seem to be “drinking from the same stream,” as Flemons put it, going backwards is one way to cast off the burden of influence. Not that anyone is completely free. But Flemons’ influence is the songster Papa Charlie Jackson — who you’ve probably never heard of — as opposed to the iconic bluesman Robert Johnson, so he can adapt the material to his own needs without anyone being the wiser.

Flemons’ musical interests are voracious. Before helping to cement the legacy of Piedmont black string-

A

Dom Flemons, “the American songster,” performed with his trio, including Brian Farrow (left) and Tarek Mohamed, at the Crown in Greensboro on Sunday.

band music, he made a scholarly discipline of learning about jug-band music, blues, jazz, old country and early rock and roll. And his choice of homely acoustic instruments — banjo, guitar, harmonica, bones and fife — disguises the fact that he’s a killer musician.

Although he considers himself a traditionalist, in the sense that he recognizes that there’s a right way and a wrong way to play music, he’s gotten free in a way that few of his contemporaries with effects-laden guitars and turntables have.

He can play whatever he wants, in other words.

Notably, when Flemons introduced his trio — bassist Brian Farrow and drummer Tarek Mohamed — he started with a self-penned country number called “Have I Stayed Away Too Long?”

He explained that his father fell in love with country music growing up in Flagstaff, Ariz.

“There was only radio station in town,” he said, “so they played a different style of music every hour.”

Flemons’ plaintive vocals could have easily been sung by Roy Acuff — who he covered during the set — and his boom-chucka rhythm on acoustic guitar galloped as Farrow plucked the root notes and Mohamed tapped out a restrained beat on a snare drum.

“The country’s obsessed with the idea of a white guy who can sound black,” Flemons noted before the concert, “but they’re never obsessed with the type of black musician who can sound white.”

JORDAN GREEN

He played an original called “Too Long I’ve Been Gone” that’s written in the mold of ’60s singer-songwriter folk pop like Simon & Garfunkel, because why not? He channeled Fats Domino’s “Going to the River” on acoustic guitar replete with a falsetto vocal-turn because the Winston-Salem bluesman Cootie Stark favored it. He provided virtuoso demonstrations of the bones and quills, and dredged up nearly forgotten gems by Ma Rainey, the Beale Street Sheiks and Henry Thomas.

Flemons paid tribute to a beloved dish he sampled in East Nashville in a rendition of his song “Hot Chicken,” a high-octane blues that mixed his dexterous fingerpicking with the elemental combustion of his capable rhythm section. With Farrow taking a solo on bass, then Mohamed on drums, and finally Flemons exploding with a mercurial rockabilly solo on the guitar, he proved a point.

It’s all black music, and it’s all American music.

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Enjoy an afternoon of beautiful jewelry & fabulous art by local artist AMY GORDON.

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26

CULTURE New exhibit provides platform for racial discussion

by Daniel Wirtheim

portrait of Marie Antoinette watches over “My whole life my dad would the exhibit space — that is, Marie Antoinot allow me to take part [in black nette if she were a black woman in the culture],” said Rountree. “I think it antebellum South and devoted to her master. was baked in his head that it’s bad She wears a Confederate army coat like “her to be black.” boyfriend’s varsity jacket,” according to the artist, Some of Rountree’s experiences Inga Kimberly Brown. “She’s in love with her master,” were “no braids, no afro, no rap, no Brown said. She describes it as a sort of Stockholm funk, no slang, no BET — which is syndrome between slave and master, something good — no culture, no identity.” that’s often ignored by society in regards to slave Rountree thinks that talking descendants. about his relationship with his “Marie: Daughter of the Revolution” poses the father will help him better undertype of edgy perspectives on race that the new exstand black culture. hibit at Greensboro College and presented by GreenAdjacent to the glass illustration hill art gallery, called Art + Dialogue: Responding to are two separate lineups of vehicles Racial Tension in America is meant to invoke. A series drawn in graphite, the vehicles of panel discussions will be held in the university galof Klan and American Nazi Party lery as well as the Greenhill. The exhibit comes after members and a Communist Workpersuasion from the college’s association with the ers Party rally present during the United Methodist Church, which encouraged them 1979 Greensboro Massacre. to host events promoting more inclusion. The exhibit The artist, Tyler Starr, searched opened on Sept. 24, to a crowd of about 40.

FBI documents to find the specifics “I think it’s a story that is continuous — sometimes of the vehicles and what weapons I get tired of it,” Brown said about race. “But then were carried inside. He found all of again, no I don’t because it’s my story.” the specifications and created the Brown was infatuated with musician Lil’ Kim when model as well as a reference guide she made the styled as an Auto painting. Lil’ Kim Trader magazine, A + D: Responding to Racial Tension is a sapphire, she which are offered in America is on exhibit at the Cowan for free at the said, a woman Humanities Building at Greensboro who uses her exhibit. Starr sexuality in a coy, sees the vehicles College through Oct. 11, along with intelligent way — as characters and artist talks and panel discussions something that he’s recognized Visit artanddiaologuegso.wordpress. even some slaves trends within had done, aceach group. For com for more info. cording to Brown. instance, the The wall behind Klan/Nazi vehiMarie is lined with advertisements for slave auctions, cles are all American made: Ford, but because slaves were forbidden to read, Marie has Buick and Pontiac. The Communist no idea of the dangers that surround her.

Workers Party featured a Honda, a “Marie” was a popular portrait, but on opening Fiat and a couple of Toyotas.

COURTESY IMAGE In ‘Marie: Daughter of the Revolution,’ the subject wears a night most people choose to pass on the hands“These vehicles became sort of Confederate Army coat like ‘her boyfriend’s varsity jacket.’ in-pocket museum-going experience for the more the characters,” Starr said. participatory pieces.

Most people at the opening night There’s a tree painted on a sheet of glass set on a were willing to talk about race. James Langer, who beautiful oak base. The trunk bears the silhouette serves as director of galleries at Greensboro College, Pick of the Week of the artists, Krystal and Kerith Hart, an interrasaid that was why an exhibit on race might work best Community Conversations @ corner of Bragg and Arlington cial couple based in Greensboro. Beneath them is on a college campus. streets.

(GSO), Sunday 11 a.m. a drooping US flag and a collage of marchers and a “The way it was presented and the way the call to The LGBTQ-centered ’zine I Don’t Do Boxes is using the cityscape; images of racial fighting that frame their the artist was written, it was clear we could come up “lunchroom phenomenon” as a jumping point for talking silhouettes as a beacon of interracial love caught in a with some really emotive work here,” Langer said. about being a person of color in the artistic community. world of turmoil.

“There could be some hot-button responses. But it’s Later, they’ll have a discussion on the Black Lives Matter Visitors are urged to leave notes with negative an art gallery on a college campus and I think that Movement. Part of their project is to record, transcribed and racial experiences beneath the structure to symboliattracts a more thoughtful clientele. Everyone generthen archive the conversations. Find I Don’t Do Boxes on cally walk away from them. The longest list was from ally comes with an open mind.”

Facebook for more information.

Stephen Rountree, a black local hip-hop artist.

A

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GOOD SPORT Panthers keep pounding ord of advice: If you get the chance to go to a Carolina Panthers game at BB&T BallPark in Charlotte, take it.

No questions asked — get your ass in the car, scoot down I-85 and do it.

by Anthony Harrison Even if it’s raining. Especially if it’s raining.

And definitely if it’s raining and they’re playing the New Orleans Saints.

I’ve been to two games in these conditions, and both rank among the most fun I’ve had at a sporting event.

The first was back in 2013. I was with two of my cousins, Ted and Madison, and another cousin’s husband, Daniel. It was three days before Christmas. A few weeks before, the Saints had skinned the Panthers 31-13 in New Orleans, ending an eight-game Carolina win streak.

The Panthers were out for blood after that insult, and they delivered an early Christmas present for the Carolinas.

In the midst of a tempest, the Cardiac Cats recalled halcyon days of a decade prior and won a nail-biter on a 65-yard drive in the final minute of the game, capped

by Cam Newton’s clutch 14-yard pass to German-born wide receiver Domenik Hixon.

No matter how hard the rain poured, the Carolina faithful had kept pounding on their bright blue folding seats. The downpour quenched the fans and drove them to cheer harder.

And when Killa Cam connected with Hixon in those final seconds of the game and clinched the Panthers’ first playoff berth in five years, you’d think the stadium could’ve imploded.

Fast-forward nearly two years later, and the situation was similar.

Some people were missing. Ted and Daniel couldn’t make it for this game. Hixon, Steve Smith, DeAngelo Williams and other Panthers had either retired or been dubiously released.

But it was still dreary — not a monsoon, but damp.

And Carolina fans showed up to keep pounding.

Blue, black and white jerseys featuring new favorites flooded into the North Gate of the imposing black stadium: Newton and linebacker Luke Kuechly were especially popular. But many fan jerseys also represented former legends, like Smith, Williams, linebacker Julius Peppers, kicker John Kasay, even quarterback Jake Delhomme.

Granted, Saints fans were a little more creative, decked out in shimmering gold from head to toe.

One Saints devotee ahead of me and Madison in line couldn’t help but talk smack.

“Y’all Carolina fans don’ represent like Saints do,” he boasted from beneath a golden Afro wig. “Y’all bring yo’ jerseys and tees. We bring our bodies!”

But Carolina keeps pounding, especially at home.

W

These cats actually like to get wet.

One fan was pointed out in particular: Braylon Beam, a 6-year-old fighting brain cancer, got to lead the drum-pounding ritual before the start of the game.

After hitting the big tom three times, the little boy ripped open his plain white T — just like his hero, Cam Newton — to show off the Superman shirt beneath.

With the Saints receiving the kickoff in the first quarter, the Panthers defense got to pounding.

Madison, who’s played football since he was in fourth grade, possesses a good eye for talent. He tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a Carolina linebacker, No. 56.

“That’s AJ Klein,” Madison said. “I like him. Watch out for him this game.”

Klein performed admirably with 10 total tackles, six on his own.

Madison then noticed something more important: “Wait… that ain’t Drew Brees.”

New Orleans’ backup quarterback, Luke McCown, was on the field.

“Yeah, man,” I confirmed. “Brees is out this game with a sprained… something; can’t remember just what.”

Madison beamed. “Well, the game’s ours then!”

But, as the late Yogi Berra would’ve said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

McCown stepped up, perhaps unexpectedly, completing 31-of-38 for 310 yards.

But he also had journeyman running back Mark Ingram on his side, rushing 50 yards and picking up five receptions for another 49.

Despite consistent New Orleans triumphs, the Carolina fans kept pounding.

So did their defense.

While Klein did well, linebacker Thomas Davis matched him in numbers and provided the better show.

ANTHONY HARRISON

After one bone-shattering tackle, where the Saints’ ball-holder stopped as if he’d hit a concrete wall, I leaned over to Madison saying, “That’s how you hit.”

“Davis has got the power to stop you up top,” he said. “He’ll freakin’ kill you.”

Of course, you can’t win a game if you don’t score.

Cam Newton kept proving that he counts as a franchise quarterback, despite looking like a fat, sad baby with that comical amount of padding. He didn’t match McCown’s stellar completion percentage, going 20-for31, but he threw for 315 yards and rushed for 33, including what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

It wasn’t certain until the final minutes of the game, though.

Another dreary day. Another Saints contest. Another long drive. Another big play in the end zone.

But this one wasn’t a score: Instead, Carolina cornerback Josh Norman caught the only pick of the game with 1:17 left in the game.

Another round of high-fives and pounding stadium seats.

And another time the Panthers started the season 3-0.

Last time they did that, they went to the Super Bowl.

All they need to do it again is to keep pounding.

Pick of the Week Indoor volleyball > beach volleyball Western Carolina University Catamounts @ UNCG Spartans (GSO), Saturday Since it’s apparently going to be raining forever, the sports pick of the week will be inside. Aren’t I gracious? The Spartans (10-7) have been on something of a downturn, losing five straight after starting the season strong. Maybe they can turn their fortunes around at home. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Fleming Gymnasium.

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‘Bill and/or Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ fellow travelers

by Matt Jones Across

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Answers from previous publication.

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1 “Scientific American Frontiers” host Alan 2 Mr. Coward 3 Shaker contents 4 “C’mon in!”

5 Folk song that mentions “with a banjo on my knee” 6 Murray’s “Ghostbusters” costar 7 “The Princess and the Frog” princess 8 “An Affair to Remember” costar 9 “The Subject Was Roses” director Grosbard

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Down

10 Not important 11 In a separate place 12 Keep the issues coming 14 Angkor ___ (Cambodian landmark) 20 Stephanopoulos and Brokaw 21 ___ out an existence 25 Subculture known for wearing black 26 Subject of a Magritte painting (or is it?)

27 “Bloom County 2015” character 29 Stephen of “The Crying Game” 31 Dance 34 Be flexible, in a way 36 Does some face recognition?

37 Love, deified 38 Q followers 40 Piece of lettuce 42 Lance of the bench 45 1978 Cronyn/Tandy play, with “The” 48 “Press Your Luck” network 51 Edible root 52 Taste whose name means “savoriness” in Japanese 53 “First Blood” mercenary 55 “Uh-oh!”

57 “Slumdog Millionaire” actor Dev 59 Part of DINK 60 Big bang beginner 61 Fuzzy red monster 62 Recites 64 Venture capital?

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50 Baton Rouge campus, briefly 51 Artificial grass 54 In ___ (harmonized) 56 “What can Brown do for you?” sloganeer 58 “Kill Bill” actress Thurman 59 Castle entrances reserved only for horsemen? (Ted/Bill) 63 Flower’s friend 65 “Blazing Saddles” actress Madeline 66 “A Shot at Love” reality star ___ Tequila 67 Add to your site, as a YouTube video 68 Emanate 69 2015 award for Viola Davis 70 Hilarious people 71 Board + pieces 72 A majority of August births

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1 Pot money 5 Granola bit 8 “Harold & ___ Go to White Castle” 13 Transaction of interest 14 “___ oughta...”

15 “Fur ___” (Beethoven piece) 16 Credit card figure 17 “___ silly question... “ 18 Arrest 19 Person using a certain wrench? (Ted/ Ted) 22 Celebratory poem 23 “Before” to poets of old 24 Linger in the tub 25 Ballooned 26 +, on a battery 28 “King Kong” actress Fay 30 “Baudolino” author Umberto 32 Beer menu option 33 Dispatches 35 All-out 39 With 41-Across, what happens when a train worker puts in overtime? (Bill/Bill) 41 See 39-Across 43 First name in perfumery 44 Anxious feeling 46 Movie studio locale 47 “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” director Lee 49 “Believe ___ Not”

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Opening Reception Friday, October 16th 6–9pm

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Known for her beautiful and mesmerizing mylar mobiles, Hollis Gabriel recently began her journey into painting on canvas as a way of easing her grief after the recent death of her son Connor. Filled with vivid and vibrant colors, texture and motion, these new works represent the tears shed and the continuation of life. THE COLORS OF HEALING have allowed Hollis to begin her journey towards peace.

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Mon.–Fri. 9:30am–5:30pm & Sat. 10am–4pm

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M

favorite things.

the rain.

Mother: Because you can be a slob and act lazy.

Me: These are a few of my

Haters of blow-dryers rejoice. This

Small talk takes a walk

If you despise making niceties, stopping to catch up or otherwise spewing trite pleasantries, then welcome to a rain-in. The best excuse in the world for not being nice to people is getting out of the rain. Just don’t be a sucker and get pulled under an awning or into a coffee shop or another chatty sort of establishment with a shut-in who is dying to use up all of those words they’ve been hoarding during the storm. You may never go out again.

Hoodies without Borders

Love wearing a hoodie but afraid of getting shot by a cop? Then this is your time. Perhaps one of the rare windows of opportunity for completely hiding your head unless you are a devout Muslim woman, rainy season is particularly amenable to the lover of the popped

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Hate close talkers? Then this is your kind of weather. No worries about Halitosis Hal breathing down your nostrils or Salivating Sally expectorating all over you in a downpour. The umbrella ensures that they will keep their distance, and remember, the bigger the brolly, the bigger the distance.

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So your house smells like dog pee and moldy Gore-Tex, so what? You probably won’t be getting too many visitors anyway and if you do you can always blame your disgusting home on the rain.

Umbrella etiquette

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While your pups may be sensitive to the exacerbated noise levels that rain brings to their alert ear canals, they also revel in the extra indoor attention given to them when it’s pouring. Mine also get burritos because, hey, it’s a lot easier to go through the drive thru at Taco Bell than park and walk to PetSmart.

Craving a hot toddy, a midday IPA or a glass of vino to wash away the afternoon? No worries. It’s perfectly acceptable to day-drink during a torrent. Just be sure to day-drink responsibly. Uber drivers are easier to come by than taxis during the rain.

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Dog days

Day drinking

Just about every major love scene in every romantic comedy is either precluded by a rain scene or actually takes place in the rain. If you don’t believe me, check your Nicholas Sparks.

Personally, I have particularly fond memories of Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson getting doused in The Year of Living Dangerously, but that’s just a matter of taste. The bottom line is that getting wet strips us down to the basics, it baptizes us to be born again and sometimes it takes a little death for that to happen. Hey, they don’t call ’em sheets for nothin.’

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Wallowing in your Wellies may look pretentious when it’s 98 in the shade, but come a good rainstorm you can rock your rubbers in everything from a business suit to Daisy Dukes without batting a waterproof mascara’d eyelash — or looking like a Kate Moss wannabe.

The “Ladies of London” may splash through the streets in stilettos, but in the dirty South we know that red mud does not make the heel grow fonder.

Like depressing music? Then this is your time to shine! Crank up that Cat Power! Rehash that Radiohead! Blast that Bon Iver! Nuke that Neko Case!

Totally eclipse your heart with some Sun Kil Moon or Joy Division! Whatever you play, don’t forget the classics to slit your wrists by and The Song Remains the Same.

Rain is sexy

C r i mi n a l • Tra ffi c • DW I

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Hunter boots

Rainy days and Mondays

hoodie.

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Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I love nothing more than a long, rainy sabbatical in the South. There’s just something sultry about droopy trees, streets as slick as glazed doughnuts, porch-sitting and all of the excuses for reclusiveness being given a hall pass during a particularly elongated downfall. Blame it on my dark side, but rain brings out the me in me. You may not think it’s my best side, but, hey, nobody would know Kurt Cobain’s name if the Pacific Northwest were on the equator.

is just about the only time of the year, other than seaside or post swim practice, that you can get away with running around town looking like a wet rat.

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e: God, I love

Blame it on the rain

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