TCB Feb. 1, 2018 — Water Dance

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point February, 1 - 7, 2018 triad-city-beat.com

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WATER DANCE Flow with the Yadkin at SECCA PAGE 13

Deck dispute PAGE 8

Europa blues PAGE 2

Syrian food PAGE 11

February, 1 - 7, 2018

EVENTS

SPREADING JOY ONE PINT AT A TIME

Thursday, Feb 1st @ 8pm

Open Mic

Friday, Feb 9th @ 8pm

Juju Guru

Saturday, Feb 14th @ 7:30pm

Mike Ferr, Andie L & Different Animals Friday, Feb 16th @ 8pm

Becca Rae Greene

Saturday, Feb 23rd @ 8pm

Evan Button

Monday Geeks Who Drink Pub Quiz 7:30 Tuesday REPRESENT Music Series hosted

by Molly McGinn + Free AppeTuesday Bites Wednesday Live music with J Timber and Joel Henry with special guests 8:30

Thursday Live music from The Finns 8:30 Friday, Saturday & Sunday BEER! joymongers.com | 336-763-5255 576 N. Eugene St. | Greensboro

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

From Café Europa, a revolution I gave up my regular barstool at Café Europa years ago, but sometimes I circle back to reclaim it on weekday afternoons before the

by Brian Clarey after-work crowd files in. That’s where I catch Jakub Pucilowski at the bar running his hands through his hair, a copy of the 18-page RFP before him.

The document outlines new terms for the business which has been here since the late 1990s, when legendary bar owner John Rudy stepped up to fill the space that had trouble keeping a tenant: higher rent, new landlords, a payment structure that looks almost like a kickback scheme and whole sections that seem as open to interpretation as the Talmud. It’s gonna take him days to fill this thing out, he estimates, but that’s his plan.

“What else can I do?” he asks, of no one in particular.

There at the bar, Jeff Barbour has an answer.

“I’ll tell you what you do,” he says. Barbour picked up the Europa banner early, igniting the firestorm on social media last

week and keeping the fire burning.

“You don’t let up!” Barbour says. “Once you’ve got these [fellows] on their heels, you push even harder.”

Jake’s not so sure about that, not so sure about the RFP, not so sure about anything since the city gave him notice earlier this month that his entire business, where he worked for 10 years before buying it in 2014, is on the chopping block.

He’s not even sure we should all be sitting at the bar like this, which I feel duty-bound remind them is, technically, a collusion of sorts. Other than that, I got nothing.

I’m not feeling so good about the fate of my last regular bar in Greensboro. It looks to me like the die is cast, and I tell my friends so right then and there.

Barbour’s clenched for a fight, though, with plans in the works to assemble a figurative flaming bag of dog crap, needing only the proper doorstep on which to leave it. He’s calling it the project “Europadope.”

But neither one of us are equipped to help Jake compile his RFP, which is the immediate task at hand. The rest of it, it seems, is out of his control.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Part of the beauty of the project is I’m putting the dancers in areas and asking them to interpret and respond to the environment around them whether it’s beautiful or has trash or pollution. I wasn’t directing them or posing them, and I had no concept in mind other than scouting out locations. Every time they showed up it was in the spirit of adventure.

— Photographer Christine Rucker, in Culture, page 13

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

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

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 ART Cover photo by Christine Rucker: ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette Dancers pose on the Shoals of robert@triad-city-beat.com Yadkin River in PIlot Mountain SALES State Park.

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price gayla@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

SALES EXECUTIVE Andrew Lazare

STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber

CONTRIBUTORS

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Carolyn de Berry, Spencer KM Brown, Matt Jones

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

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February, 1 - 7, 2018

CITY LIFE February, 1 – 7

by Lauren Barber

THURSDAY

Art party @ Wherehouse Art Hotel (W-S), 6 p.m.

The Wailin’ Jennys @ Carolina Theatre (GSO), 8 p.m.

Up Front

Salary negotiation skills workshop @ Women’s Resource Center of Greensboro, 3:30 p.m.

News

Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody and Heather Masse bring their roots and folk-pop at to the Triad for an evening of unique acoustics. Learn more at carolinatheatre.com.

Opinion

FRIDAY

Housing Hangout @ UNCG (GSO), noon

This interactive workshop presented by the American Association of University Women will offer guidance on articulating personal value, conducting research to estimate target salaries and developing strategies to secure a promotion, raise or better benefits. Find the event on Facebook.

Culture

Green drinks @ Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Co. (W-S), 6 p.m.

New works from Jonathan Dockery, Nickolas Schmidt and Liz Simmons decorate the walls of the Wherehouse.

Check out a dance and soundscape collaborative performance and psych-folk act Evan Baker & Co while browsing artwork from modern portraiture to abstract expressionism and contemporary street art. Find the event on Facebook.

Tohoku opening reception @ SECCA (W-S), 6 p.m.

The UNCG Center for Housing and Community Studies hosts its first informal “housing hangout” focused on regional planning in Room 2711 of the Moore Humanities and Research Administration building. Join with community housing advocates, city officials, university researchers, students and members of the public in discussing community development issues. Find the event on Facebook.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

College dances @ Greensboro Cultural Center, 6 p.m.

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Share drinks and conversation with other environmentallyminded Winston-Salem residents. A share of beer sales will benefit one of the hosting nonprofits: Forsyth Community Food Consortium, Gateway Environmental Initiative, Piedmont Environmental Alliance, Sierra Club and Yadkin Riverkeeper host. Learn more at peanc.org.

Tohoku: Through the Eyes of Japanese Photographers features photographs of contemporary Tohoku, a region of Japan ravaged by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant failure in March 2011, juxtaposed with photographs taken in the mid-20th Century. Photographers of all ages who have worked and lived in Tohoku took the photos, which highlight the natural environment, the people of Tohoku and a renewal of cultural and spiritual practices instead of documenting devastation. Learn more at secca.org.

UNCG Master of Fine Arts program alumni Kelly Ozust and Emily Morgan dance in a duet by Charlotte-based choreographer Sarah Council in the Stephen D. Hyers Studio Theater. The show also features Ozust and Morgan’s original work performed by students and alumni from Winthrop University where both choreographers teach.

Learn more at greensborofringefestival.org.

Saturday morning cereal breakfast @ Geeksboro (GSO), 10 a.m.

triad-city-beat.com

SATURDAY

Among others, Babe Lincoln, Dewey Decimator and Rainbow Fight show off their upper body strength on behalf of the Kellin Foundation.

DJ84 spins beats and wrestling begins at 8 p.m. Learn more at greensboroarmwrestling.org.

(Mis)conception @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 4 p.m.

SUNDAY

News

La Cenerentola @ UNC School of the Arts (W-S), 2 p.m.

Up Front

Greensboro’s Ever Achieving Retired Teachers Club welcomes the community to a free opening event for “Teachers on the Frontline of School Desegregation,” which honors the work and lived experiences of AfricanAmerican educators in the decades following school desegregation. View a screening of Making Bricks from Straw, an oral history documentary highlighting these educators’ stories, and hear from some of them in-person. Find the event on Facebook.

Geeksboro makes an institution of a childhood ritual, complete with bottomless bowls of cereal to complement the iconic ’toons. The new lineup includes “ScoobyDoo,” “Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers,” “Sailor Moon,” “Justice League” and “Adventure Time.” Learn more at geeksboro.com.

Opinion

Tell Them We Are Rising @ Aperture (W-S), 10:30 a.m.

Spend the afternoon at the opera with this comic twist on Charles Perrault’s archetypical Cinderella story. Learn more at uncsa.edu.

“Teachers on the Frontline of School Desegregation” @ Greensboro History Museum, 11 a.m.

Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet relays the true stories of three women who have dealt with infertility and miscarriages. This production aims to raise awareness and correct misconceptions about conception. A panel discussion about infertility and miscarriage with the women as well as healthcare professionals follows the ballet performance. Learn more at royalexpressions.org.

TO REQUEST INCLUSION ON THE CITY LIFE PAGE, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR EVENT INFO TO: LAUREN@TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

Puzzles

Arm wrestling benefit @ Gibb’s Hundred Brewing (GSO), 7 p.m.

All ages are welcome to behold the lovely ladies of the Greensboro Arm Wrestling League, or GRAWL, as they open their third season of feminist philanthropy.

Ian Finley’s Native is based on the true story of the collaboration between Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Green and Richard Wright, who co-wrote the 1941 Chicago-based Broadway drama Native Son, grounded in Wright’s novel by the same title. Find the event on Facebook.

Shot in the Triad

RiverRun International Film Festival’s Indie Lens Pop-Up series features Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, which explores the rich history and pivotal role of HBCUs over a century-and-a-half of American culture. The film speaks to the power of higher education to further civil rights and equality, including the role HBCUs played in ending segregation. Find the firstcome first-served event on Facebook.

Culture

Native @ Centennial Station Arts Center (HP), 2 p.m.

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Seven moments that made the Grammys worth watching

by Lauren Barber 1. SZA bringing her mother and grandmother The beloved R&B artist sampled audio interviews she conducted with her maternal line on her 2017 album Ctrl; bringing them as guests of honor was incredibly sweet. Though the most-nominated woman of the night went home empty-handed, at least her loved ones got to see her deliver a beautiful rendition of “Broken Clocks.”

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

February, 1 - 7, 2018

The Clash

by Jordan Green

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Where is the Clash when we need them?

COURTESY PHOTO

Joe Strummer, the de facto leader of the Clash, declared, “I think people ought to know that we’re antifascist, we’re anti-violence, we’re anti-racist and we’re pro-creative.

And we’re against ignorance.”

The music of the Clash, which burst across the world like an illuminating flash of lightning from 1976 to 1982 (the aptly titled 1985 album Cut the Crap doesn’t count), has never sounded more vital and current than today.

An English band that copped the loud and fast sound of American groups like the MC5, the Stooges and the New York Dolls, the Clash cut their hair and sonically leveled the bloated rock-and-roll conventions of gratuitous guitar solos and outsized egos when they emerged on the scene.

In a way, it makes sense that the Clash would be relevant again. On the eve of Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher’s election as prime minister, English society felt like it was at a dead end. The avowedly fascist National Front was ascendant and making its presence felt in the streets.

The Sex Pistols, who set the punk template and came first, sang, “There’s no future, no future, no future for you.” The Clash, meanwhile, conceived and modeled a youthful rebellion that promoted values of community, class solidarity and Third World revolution (they even named their 1980 triple album Sandinista!). The semi-fictitious documentary film Rude Boy includes a scene with Strummer arguing socialism to the band’s roadie, a wayward guy flirting with the far-right politics of the National Front. In fact, Strummer’s older brother, who committed suicide, had been a member.

We need the Clash’s music now more than ever as an antidote to the soul-crushing nationalism, extreme wealth inequality and reckless international brinksmanship that rules the world.

From the blistering class rage that fuels the first two albums to the kaleidoscope fusion of ska, rockabilly, funk and disco that radiates from the brilliant London Calling and Sandinista! albums and the anguished pop poetry of Combat Rock, the Clash left an unparalleled body of music. A 1982 concert recorded in Kingston, Jamaica that’s available on YouTube captures the exhilaration and sonic fearlessness of the Clash’s music at their peak. A 10-minute sequence through the kinetic funk of “The Magnificent Seven,” the feverish reggae of “Armagideon Time” and off-kilter intensity of the band’s cover of New Orleans R&B pianist James Booker’s “Junco Partner” is Exhibit A for the Clash’s MO. The fact that all three songs are delivered with raw, punk energy makes them all the more astonishing.

The Clash made a lifestyle out of their egalitarian politics, inviting fans backstage after every show, playing five-night runs at smaller venues to avoid stadiums and high ticket prices, and selling their double and triple albums for the price of one. They practically lived together, writing music and recording in a sustained burst of creativity and mayhem.

In hindsight, it’s no wonder that they were broke and hated each other by the end. And when the band collapsed, it’s understandable that the individual members struggled on their own to make music one-tenth as vital as the Clash.

2. Blue Ivy Carter silently shutting down parents Beyoncé and Jay-Z The adorable and precocious 6-year-old motioned to her parents to bring it down a notch as COURTESY they politely clapped to Camila Cabello’s speech. SZA with mom PHOTO and grandma.

COURTESY PHOTO Fans on Twitter joked that the power couple’s eldest hadn’t forgotten the injustice of her mother’s Album of the Year loss for Lemonade, but what is known is that Blue Ivy is just about the only person in the world who can tell Bey what to do. Gif of the night.

3. Kesha’s moment Kesha’s heart-wrenching performance of “Praying,” brought nearly everyone in the audience (and my living room) to tears. She is still locked into a five-album contract with Sony Music producer Dr. Luke, who she says sexually abused her for years, including drugging and raping her, so her presence on that stage wasn’t about hitting the high notes. Singing the song she wrote about forgiving her rapist with backup from a slew of female singers and the Resistance Revival Chorus was a triumph for survivors in and out of the music industry.

4. Rihanna’s gwara gwara moves I’m putting aside the fact that DJ Khaled was a mess and Bryson Tiller was forgettable, instead spending my energy enshrining the memory of Rihanna performing the South African gwara gwara dance with her tongue out and savoring the reminder to not take myself too seriously.

5. Childish Gambino’s sensual Marvin Gaye vibes Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, became the only sincere man in a white suit I’ve ever seen during his riveting performance of “Terrified” from Awaken, My Love!, and wailed beautifully beside notable young singer JD McCrary.

6. Kendrick Lamar’s opening performance The Compton rapper gave a brilliant performance of several songs from his newest album, DAMN, amid a sea of male dancers in army fatigues. Dynamic choreography, artistic use of fire and Lamar’s emotional authenticity made up for unnecessary appearances from U2’s Bono and the Edge (their first of approximately 2,000 such appearances throughout the evening), and Dave Chappelle, although some of the comedian’s words hit a little harder in print than they did live: “…the only thing more frightening than watching a black man being honest in America is being an honest black man in America.”

7. Logic, Alessia Cara & DJ Khalid bringing awareness to suicide prevention The trio performed their song “1-800-273-8255,” named after the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, alongside attempt survivors and relatives of those lost. Substantially addressing mental health brought another poignant moment to an awards ceremony so often shaped by distressingly safe choices.

NEWS

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County announces a goal of $2.5 million for its 2018 annual fundraising campaign while looking to Grand Rapids, Mich. for inspiration to reinvent the City of Arts and Innovation.

Up Front News Opinion

Kevin Buist, exhibitions director for ArtPrize, explains the festival’s annual cycle.

Puzzles

falls apart.’”

Buist’s presentation — simultaneously relaxed and high-energy with good visuals, much like a TED talk — at Hanesbrands Theatre so dazzled the audience that the announcement of the two annual campaign co-chairs, Cheryl Lindsay and Bill Benton, seemed almost like an afterthought. The arts council set a fundraising goal for 2018 of $2.5 million — down from the $2.81 million target the previous year.

Acknowledging the challenge, Benton joker in an interview that he agreed to co-chair the campaign out of “abject stupidity.”

“I’ve been a supporter of the arts council for a long time, and I didn’t have the heart to turn Jim down,” said Benton, who is the CEO of Salem Senior Housing.

Benton’s co-chair, Hanesbrands Human Resources Director Cheryl Lindsay, issued a tantalizing challenge: Anyone who makes a pledge or contribution to the community fund before midnight on Wednesday will be eligible for a raffle to win an all-expenses paid trip to ArtPrize in September.

Shot in the Triad

values into that object and into that image. And to like something is to see your own values reflected in it. And so, when we have the arguments about what art is good and why, we get to the core of what makes us human, and we get to something more fundamental than politics, and it becomes like this safe space to have really difficult conversations.”

Buist said a public vote is “not the best way to find the best art,” but that’s not the point.

“The idea of the public vote more than anything is to communicate to the audience that they matter to the process,” he said. “They matter to art.

Normally, the marketing challenge for a museum is to say, ‘Hey we have art; it matters. Our mission is to protect it forever. How can we convince people that art matters so they will come in to see?’

We’ve reversed that, and instead what we do is we have no building, we have no collection, the museum is everywhere; it’s the whole city. Our message to the audience is not, ‘Hey, art matters and you should care about it.’ Our message to the audience is, ‘You matter to this whole process, and without you, it all

JORDAN GREEN

Culture

Considering that the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County fell short of its fundraising goal by $400,000 last year and had to make cuts to most of its constituent organizations, it might be intuitive to look to Grand Rapids for inspiration.

The arts council in Grand Rapids, a city in southwest Michigan that is slightly smaller than Winston-Salem, announced in the depths of the Great Recession that it was disbanding. While its official arts organization was folding, the underground arts scene continued to thrive, and the renowned ArtPrize festival was building momentum.

ArtPrize was founded in 2009 by Rick DeVos, who is the son of US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and the festival receives funding from DeVos family foundations and Amway, the source of the family’s wealth. Betsy DeVos has attracted controversy as education secretary because of her longstanding support for charter schools, which critics view as undermining public education. Betsy DeVos’ brother, Erik Prince, founded the international security firm Blackwater USA, since renamed Academi.

The 19-day ArtPrize festival showcases art in museums, bars, laundromats, auto shops and vacant storefronts, and awards a $200,000 prize by public vote and another $200,000 prize by jury.

With 500,000 visitors, ArtPrize has won distinction as the biggest art event in the world two out of the three past years, with the exception of one year when it came in second place to an event organized by the artist Christo.

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County, which is seeking new models for financial sustainability and community engagement, brought Kevin Buist, exhibitions director for ArtPrize, to Winston-Salem on Monday.

Buist gave the keynote speech as part of the arts council’s inaugural Creative Conversations Network Series speaker in tandem with the launch of its 2018 annual fundraising campaign.

“A lot of it is the concern about the community going through different levels of change,” arts council President

and CEO Jim Sparrow said. “Grand Rapids went through a lot of change 10 years ago. We want to reinvent ourselves.

What they did in Grand Rapids was really disruptive in a good way.”

Sparrow also said the arts council is “exploring a greater role for festivals as part of our Winston-Salem arts strategy.”

ArtPrize draws a lot of its energy from the clash between professional juried assessment of art and popular acclaim.

Buist said the two $200,000 prizes are drawn from the same pool of art, but each contest is designed with a sense of purity: The juried contest is strictly juried, while the popular contest is strictly determined by popular vote.

“The reason we designed it that way is that we want there to be a positive sense of friction and tension between these two approaches,” Buist said. “And if you are familiar with ArtPrize at all or the history of ArtPrize, you’ll know that what the jury picks and what the public pick couldn’t be more different.

The jurors are people — they’re like art experts, right? They’re like critics and curators and people really at the top of the field. They’re totally tuned in to art history as well as the current moment and the current conversation in contemporary art. The public, on the other hand, they’re just wandering around, and whatever’s catching their eye and thrilling them, they’re voting for. And the public, just by nature because it’s 40,000 people or whatever voting, they can’t be intentional. They can’t be editorial. It’s just an accumulation of whatever people happen to like.”

Buist said ArtPrize instigates intense debates over art in Grand Rapids, and organizers model the practice by hosting a panel discussion on the city’s local NBC affiliate.

“These are incredibly politically charged times, right?” Buist said. “Like, we’re having a hard time, in Michigan I know, and I think here as well — it’s really hard to reach across the aisle. It’s hard to find common ground. It’s hard to find productive and civic spaces to have difficult conversations. But art can do that. Art is sort of this third thing.

Like, art doesn’t really matter, but that’s why it’s the perfect thing to argue about.

“Art is like a way of encoding values, right?” he continued. “To make something means that you’re encoding your

triad-city-beat.com

Winston-Salem arts council looks to Betsy DeVos’ backyard

by Jordan Green

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February, 1 - 7, 2018 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

8

Hotel partners and council members deny corruption allegation

by Jordan Green The partners in a downtown Greensboro hotel project, along with one of their wives who is running for Congress, deny improperly influencing city council through promised campaign contributions.

Jeff Furr, a lawyer with the Atlantabased firm King & Spalding and investor in Cone Denim Entertainment Center, laid out his partners’ legal strategy if the city went ahead with an easement condemnation to begin construction of a parking deck attached to a planned Westin hotel.

“Condemnation is a power that the city can exercise, but only in specific circumstances,” said Furr, addressing Greensboro City Council members during a marathon meeting on Dec. 19.

“The city can exercise its power to take the private property of an individual or group, to put it to a public use. What the city cannot do is exercise that power to put that property to what is primarily a private use. If we have to file a lawsuit to enjoin this project, the nature of that lawsuit will be our claim that, in fact, if you look behind the screen you will that this condemnation will primarily benefit the private developers and that any benefit to the city will be only incidental to that.”

Council member Nancy Hoffmann offered a withering commentary on the concerns raised by the owners of the Cone Denim music venue, namely that construction of the parking deck will impede touring acts access to their backdoor and put them out of business.

“I’m also really amazed at people who would invest in a business and put themselves in a very precarious situation of not controlling parking and entrance and exit to their business,” Hoffmann said. “What were you thinking? Did you think that this very valuable piece of property in downtown Greensboro was going to be like this forever?”

Then, mentioning by name two of the four partners — George House and Greg Dillon — Hoffmann urged her colleagues to approve the condemnation and move forward.

“Mr. House and Mr. Dillon and their group cannot afford any further delay,” Hoffmann said.

True to Furr’s promise, the lawsuit filed on Jan. 9 seeking to halt the condemnation argues not only that the city’s decision to spend up to $30 million building a parking deck to support the Westin Hotel is bad public policy,

Greensboro City Council approved a plan to spend up to $30 million to build a parking garage on Davie Street that will support a planned Westin hotel.

but that it’s specifically designed “for predominantly private benefit to private persons and entities, yet only an incidental benefit and use (if at all) for the city and its citizens.”

The lawsuit makes electrifying albeit unsubstantiated claims that the hotel project partners and their spouses, including a Congressional candidate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, improperly influenced city council members, including promising campaign contributions in exchange for support for the project.

The allegations cover the second and third iterations of the project, beginning with a Wyndham hotel proposed by the same partners in 2013 and 2014. The legal entity set up to build the hotel is Elm Street Hotel LLC, whose members include George House and Randall Kaplan of Greensboro; Daniel Robinson of Durham; and Greg Dillon of Frederick, Md. “Based on the promise of political donations and other things of value to be given by [Elm Street Hotel LLC], or its members or its members’ spouses, the city agreed to provide approximately $2 million in incentives to build the Wyndham hotel at the Elm Street Center

(without a parking deck), subject to ESH creating a certain number of jobs over a five-year period,” the lawsuit says. “The ESH Wyndham Plan never came to fruition.”

Later, after the partners scrapped the original proposal and worked out an arrangement to partner with the Westin hotel brand, the lawsuit alleges that “ESH members, House and Kaplan, and others, including Kaplan’s wife, Kathy Manning, an influential and wealthy business person with national political aspirations, began communicating with council members,” including Hoffmann and Zack Matheny, then a council member and now president of Downtown Greensboro Inc. The lawsuit goes on to say that the partners and their spouses, described as “scheme participants,” “improperly influenced city officials to support the Westin Plan.”

Manning’s campaign responded through a prepared statement to Triad City Beat.

“The wild, fact-free, false allegations concerning Kathy are motivated by politics and the plaintiffs’ desire to get cash,” said Tori Taylor, Manning’s campaign manager. “These folks have already been

JORDAN GREEN

offered compromises and compensation but just want more. We encourage the plaintiffs to stick to the truth and seek a remedy that works for the public good instead of playing politics just to get a payday for themselves.”

Monty Hagler, president and CEO of RLF Communications, issued a statement on behalf of the hotel partners.

“The partners of Elm Street Hotel LLC have never engaged in any wrongdoing in our dealings with the city of Greensboro,” the statement said. “The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have made outrageous and unsupported claims to bring unjustified attention to their dispute with the city. These defamatory statements have no basis and the plaintiffs have been reckless with their inclusion. This includes the allegation against Kathy Manning, who has never been involved in the hotel project and has never spoken to any city official on behalf of the hotel group. We continue our efforts to bring our hotel to downtown and support the continuing economic resurgence of downtown.”

Hoffmann told TCB that she “absolutely and unequivocally” denies that she agreed to support the hotel project based on the promise of campaign contribu-

News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

336-355-7180

Up Front

ing deck project fulfills a public charging that the proposed hotels purpose. are premised on an “if you build it As noted by Barber and others, they will come” mentality that isn’t the city hasn’t conducted a parking financially sound. study for downtown since 2008, and “If we can’t fill our hotel with the that study did not identify a need current business level that are being for more parking spaces in the area seen in downtown Greensboro, of the proposed hotel. how will these new hotels survive?”

A timeline on a city web page Weathersbee asked. “Without comwith information about the parkmitted events and business coming ing deck project states that Lincoln to downtown Greensboro you are Financial committed in 2015 “to essentially voting to eliminate jobs bring up to 600 new employees from the downtown Greensboro downtown.” A spokesperson for area. We estimate that by building Lincoln Financial declined to conthese hotels without the contracted firm the number, telling TCB that business, increasing the occupancy “because we make hiring decisions in downtown Greensboro will have based on the evolving needs of the the economic impact to our busibusiness, we cannot speculate on ness that will result in an impact of future hiring plans.”

30 employee layoffs — close to 25 The city offered three public benpercent of my staff — due to lower efits to building the February One occupancy levels.”

Parking Deck and another deck Weathersbee ended with a comassociated with a separate hotel mitment that the Downtown Marriplanned by developer Roy Carott will invest $6 million to renovate roll in a presentation in December. its property in 2018, but before she One is promoting job growth and could say more Mayor Vaughan economic development, another is cut her off, as her allotted speaking increasing the tax base and a third time had expired. is supporting dense and compact urban development.

Megan Weathersbee, general manager of the Downtown Marriott, questioned the viability of the two proposed hotels in comments to city Playing Jan. 2 - 11 council on Dec. Geeksboro’s Saturday Morning Cartooon Cereal Breakfast is back with a new line19, challenging up that includes Scooby-Doo, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Sailor Moon, Justice League, the assumption and Adventure Time!

Cartoons run at 10 a.m. and 12 pm. on Saturdays! Free admission! that the projects Bowls of cereal are $2.50 each or $5 for a BOTTOMLESS BOWL OF CEREAL! will lead to new employment and visitor spending.

“We are the only full-service hotel in downtown Greensboro,” Weathersbee said.

“We run an annual occupancy of 59.3 percent — well below the US --OTHER EVENTS & SCREENINGS-downtown hotel Board Game Night 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2nd. More than 100 Games FREE TO PLAY average of 65.5 Midnight Radio Karaoke Admission is FREE with a drink purchase! percent.” WeathThe event starts at around 11:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3rd. ersbee said the Totally Rad Trivia 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6th Downtown Mar$3 Buy-In! Up to Six Player Teams! riott’s occupancy Dragonball FighterZ Tournament League dropped slightly 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11th $5 Venue Fee! $5 Entry Fee! from 2016 to Beer! Wine! Amazing Coffee!

2017, questioning 2134 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro the effect of adding inventory and geeksboro.com •

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tions.

“I have never had a conversation with Kathy Manning,” Hoffmann said. “I have never had a conversation with Randall Kaplan or George House or any other partners outside of a closed executive session.”

Mayor Nancy Vaughan said she’s not worried about what might come out in discovery if the lawsuit goes to trial.

“I am an open book with this or any other transaction with this or the previous hotel,” she said.

“I don’t want to comment further since we’re in court at this point.”

Matheny said that for the time being at least, he will refrain from commenting on the allegations.

The plaintiffs, who include Furr, Rocco Scarfone and Amiel Rossabi, found an unlikely ally in former city council member Mike Barber, who unsuccessfully negotiated on behalf of the city to try to find a compromise with the Cone Denim Entertainment Center owners, but lost his seat to Michelle Kennedy in the November election.

Barber said in an affidavit filed on Jan. 19 that he and other council members were aware of “the current business challenges” of the Elm Street Center, a venue near the proposed hotel site, “and the debt associated with and being carried by the existing business.” Kaplan is listed as the managing member of the LLC that owns the property.

Barber also said in the affidavit that council members “were consistently eager to support a large project in this location as we were aware of the benefits to the tax base.”

Barber, who could not be reached for comment of this story, went to say in the affidavit: “Based on the financial projections and related documents that I received while on the city council, the financial outlay committed by the city, the historical parking revenues for the city, the lack of binding contractual commitments for parking spaces in the Dixie Deck and the cost of the captioned lawsuit, it is my belief that it will require many years to recoup the cost of this project, if at all.”

The Dixie Deck, also known as the February One Parking Deck, is the city-financed deck to support the planned Westin hotel.

Barber’s statement undermines the city’s position that the park-

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February, 1 - 7, 2018 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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OPINION

EDITORIAL

Dan Besse, and flipping the NC House

When longtime Winston-Salem City Council member Dan Besse announced his intention to run for the state House in District 75, he became part of a movement in North Carolina and other states to overturn Republican majorities and restore some balance to state legislatures around the country.

District 75 is currently held by Republican Donny Lambeth, who ran unopposed in 2016, beat Democratic challenger David Gordon by 25 points, and ran unopposed again in 2012 when he basically inherited his seat from Republican Bill McGee, who himself ran unopposed in 2010, 2006 and 2004.

This lack of competition would indicate that this is a safe district for Lambeth, McGee and any other Republican who washes down the pike. But Besse has served on council with some distinction, has experience and name recognition and, most important, a slate: Besse knows who he is and what he stands for.

He’s good in front of a crowd, too.

Still, for Besse to win this seat would be catastrophic for the NC GOP, because this is one of its least vulnerable NC House districts For Dan Besse to win according to this seat would be catathe grassroots political website strophic for the NC GOP, Indivisible Flip because this is one of NC, which puts it its least vulnerable NC at -7 for DemoHouse districts. crats.

Indivisible ranked Guilford County’s District 61, currently occupied by Republican John Faircloth, as +52 Democrat — Roy Cooper took it by 52 points in 2016… sort of. Cooper won by that margin in what would be the new district, as drawn

by Special Master Nathaniel Persily, appointed by a federal court to redraw the illegal districts foisted upon us by state Republicans in 2011.

But it looks like those old, illegitimate districts will hold through the 2018 election. NC House Republicans argued this point all the way to the Supreme Court, and though that body has yet to impart judgment on these House districts, earlier this month SCOTUS issued a stay on the redrawing of our illegal US Congressional Districts through the election, noting there wasn’t enough time before filing for the races begins. There’s no reason to believe the court will act any differently when it comes to our state House districts.

In which case, Dan Besse may be our only hope.

CITIZEN GREEN

Don’t question Goldie Wells’ decision-making

The new Greensboro Municipal Federal Credit Union branch at Renaissance Shops sits snugly between the Family Dollar and a vacant storefront that looks newly renovated and ready to lease.

With fieldstone trim, clean and ample sidewalks and tastefully

by Jordan Green varied awnings in the shopping center, the credit union branch presents customers with a somewhat jarring experience. Once they step through the front doors they’ll find themselves in a vestibule, passing under a horseshoe-shaped metal detector, and then they’ll wait for an employee to buzz them into the lobby.

The community in northeast Greensboro has pinned its collective hopes on the shopping center, and the city has made a significant investment to match, from McGirtHorton Branch Library fronting onto Phillips Avenue to underwriting Renaissance Community Co-op. Depending on one’s perspective, the security arrangements at the credit union either represent a wise insurance policy on a fragile community investment, or a self-sabotaging reinforcement of negative perceptions about commercial real estate that serves the needs of African-American residents.

Irving Allen, an organizer with Black Lives Matter, leans toward the latter view.

Noting that the credit union could potentially serve both middle-class residents of King’s Forest and the Claremont Courts public housing community, Allen said the basis of sound economic development should be “treating people fairly.”

He added, “No matter what you’re doing, that should be where you start. I don’t think that’s a very good display of believing in the community and wanting to invest there. It’s almost kind of like they made that a requirement to operate in the community as opposed to earnestly wanting to invest in the community. If that’s the case, we need to have a conversation about whether that’s the investment we want in our community.”

Allen questioned whether the credit union is treating its customers in predominantly black east Greensboro the same as financial consumers from the majority-white west side.

The credit union’s presence in Greensboro doesn’t break down neatly along an east-west axis. The Renaissance Shops branch represents its first foray into east Greensboro, while the two pre-existing branches are in downtown and the south side. Allen told me the downtown branch doesn’t require customers to go through a metal detector.

I confirmed that the second location on Soabar Street is likewise not outfitted with a metal detector.

The demographics of the Renaissance Shops and Soabar Street locations are somewhat different: Although both are in majority black areas, the former is more racially segregated and further down the income scale. Another important distinction is that the new branch at Renaissance Shops will draw from a residential base, while the Soabar Street location caters to city employees who commute into the area. The Soabar Street branch is located across the

Goldie Wells, left, acceptiong the District 2 seat in 2017.

FILE PHOTO

street from the Greensboro Water Resources Operation Center. The Greensboro Transit Administration Operations/Maintenance Center, Greensboro Fire Station 11 and the Greensboro Police Department Patrol District 2 Station are all located within a half-mile radius.

Greensboro Municipal Federal Credit Union didn’t return my calls, so it’s hard to guess exactly what public safety measures they relied on, if any, to determine that a metal detector was a necessary security feature for the Renaissance Shops branch. A spokesperson for Self-Help, the nonprofit that owns the property, told me the shopping center “hasn’t had any safety issues,” adding that “we respect that each tenant has unique needs associated with their business.”

Councilwoman Goldie Wells, who represents District 2 on city council, bristled at the notion anyone would question the decision.

“It was a lot of negotiation to get a bank over here,” she said. “I’m pleased that they came. I’m pleased that they’re using safety measures so that we don’t add to negative statistics.”

During a brief and fraught interview, Wells seemed to regard the question of whether crime statistics back up the need for a metal detector in the credit union branch as willfully naïve, while suggesting the data for the district as a whole — which covers the northeastern quadrant of the city — should be a sufficient gauge.

“We’re not like the other districts,” Wells told me, citing District 2’s disproportionate share of homicides.

Allen indicated he planned to raise the security features at the new credit union branch at a District 2 town hall hosted by Wells at the Union Square campus on Wednesday. The meeting was billed as an opportunity “for District 2 residents to meet their representative and share thoughts about the future for a stronger district and a stronger Greensboro.”

Wells, in turn, said her bandwidth for debate on the matter would be limited.

“This is not for — I want to hear the thoughts for the community — when we’re making great strides forward,” Wells said, “I don’t want to hear a lot of negative for the things that we fight — no, not fight — negotiate for here.”

O

Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

ver the last several years, the Temple Emanuel, a Piedmont Triad welcomed a Jewish house of worsignificant number of refugees, ship in the city. particularly from Syria, some of The venture began whom are finding that preparing foods after the women from their homeland for Americans is catered a lunch for a way to stay close to their roots while Sunday school teachforming stronger bonds with their new ers. Interest piqued, communities. they were asked to In 2012 Aisha Al Masri, her husband cater larger church Muhammad Jabor and their five children functions until other fled Daraq, Syria after the outbreak of churches started the civil war. But Ghada Alahmad’s famcalling, eventually ily came first to Winston-Salem, travelbranching out to a ing from Idlib, Syria to Lebanon where gig at the Winstonthey remained for two and a half years Salem Foundation. before finding refuge in the Triad.

Lipsett and her friend Together they own an informal caterSara Pennell facilitate ing concern out of their kitchens. cooking and catering Aisha’s daughters, 16-year-old Raghad opportunities in the and and 20-year-old Lma help when community. they can, and given how labor-intensive Raw carrot, tomathe food preparation can be, the help to, cucumber, pickled is appreciated. Kubbeh, for instance, radish and fresh mint is finely minced, spiced beef or lamb or parsley leaves are LAUREN BARBER An assortment of traditionally-prepared Syrian foods available for catering. with an outer layer of bulgur. Aisha and common adornments, Ghada use a special grinder to prepare as are beautifully cut kadaif. It’s not for everyone but is undeniably unique. the meat and form the football-shape lemon wedges.

Plenty of familiar options found in Mediterranean restauby hand before cooking.

Syrian and other Levant cuisines are known for low-sodium rants are available, too, like falafel, kebabs and shawarma, Locals who want to become involved dishes with savory spices and fresh herbs, exemplified best in sliced and marinated meat (they tend to use halal chicken) with providing aid to refugee families salad dishes like tabbouleh or fattoush, an herb salad dressed shaved off a roasting skewer and stuffed into Arabic bread usuallygo through World Relief chapters with lemon and sprinkled with special croutons. with hummus, potato, red pepper and parsley. which form “good neighbor” teams, There is no shortage of meat in the diet, though. Grape Prices vary depending on whether the request is a severaloften through churches. leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat cooked and typically course meal or an affordable boxed lunch. They dream of a “We had all committed ourselves served hot make for an interesting meat option, best washed brick-and-mortar restaurant but work in their own homes or to six months of whatever support we down with sweet pureed mango, watermelon and tamarind private kitchens until a commercial option is in range. could offer but we had no idea it would juices. The tamarind fruit grows on trees indigenous to tropi“We like your culture and want to meet more nice Ameribecome friendship,” Diane Lipsett of cal Africa that spread across Eurasia along the spice route as cans,” Alahmad said. “We want [to] cook for you and be Winston-Salem said. “They were so hosfar as Thailand. friends.” pitable, and we realized we knew a lot of For a brief time, Muhammad worked at Salem Baking makpeople who would love this food. Geting Moravian cookies, and loves to bake. ting started in a new country is really, His family’s small ma’moul pastries with really hard and to supplement income shredded orange peel stuffed with pitted with something they love and is part dates are excellent for those who enjoy of their identity is kind of an extension natural sweetness, and they pair well of this wonderful hospitality that they with coffee. Suwar as-sitt, a disk-shaped already show.” pastry steeped Lipsett is in a honey syrup chair of the called atr, has a department center of crushed Email SyrianCuisineWS@gmail. of religion and pistachios. It’s as com or call Diane Lipsett (English) philosophy at sweet as but drier at 336.414.2865 or Mohammad Salem College than most baklava Jabor (Arabic) at 336.247.4507 to and a partrecipes, and made time minister with similar learn more. at Knollwood ingredients. If you Baptist Church want to experiin Winstonment more, try Salem. The church helped settle four the kanafeh; it’s a cheese pastry with a Muslim refuge families in the last two shredded-wheat surface soaked in a sweet years, three of them in tandem with syrup and sprinkled with wire-shaped

triad-city-beat.com

CULTURE Immigrants fleeing Syrian civil war bring culinary hospitality

by Lauren Barber

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February, 1 - 7, 2018 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

12

CULTURE Neko Case casts a spell on the Carolina Theatre

by Spencer KM Brown

I

ntimacy is the last thing you might expect.

To be among the thousandplus audience below gilt, cathedral ceilings and beautiful antique architecture, there is risk of being lost among the sea of faces, among the rows and rows of seats. Maybe it comes from decades of performing, of containing a masterful talent, but whatever it is, no one was lost among the waning melodies sailing about the room. Because when Neko Case sang, she sang for you and you alone — or, at least that’s how it felt.

The Carolina Theatre in Greensboro was suddenly near capacity on Jan. 23 when headliner Neko Case and her band came onstage. The beautiful theater sat silent with a soft murmur of voices awaiting the music; the auditorium walls themselves seemed to be longing for melodies and poetry. Soft lights reflecting off instruments, holding them in a tranquil aureole of quietude, moments before they were to sound. But the sound did not come with a bang, with a grabbing, flashy hook. It came with a whisper, a simple wave and humble greeting, and the serenade began.

While many fans know Neko Case from her collaborations with such acts as the New Pornographers, with whom Case finished touring this past fall for their seventh album, as well as the Dodos and the Sadies, her solo career has garnered numerous accolades of Grammy nominations and Artist of the Year awards; it has taken her across the world on tours and has made her somewhat royalty in the indie scene.

With such myriad of albums and nearly limitless credits bearing her name, there is certainly room for the distant, snide assumption that Case would be snobby or jaded when it comes to her fans, her performances. Yet, this is simply not the nature of Case nor her music.

Falling somewhere in the perfect mix of indie, folk, post-rock and Americana, Case’s voice shares equal parts beauty and power, a hint of rugged soul threaded into her melodies. With a headful of brambled auburn curls tumbling down her back, Case’s microphone angled just high enough to make her lift her head and stretch her neck, as if she were aiming her voice up towards the heavens.

Her eyes seemed to touch everyone in the audience, seemed to peek directly at each individual for a moment, as if to

Neko Case’s voice shares equal parts beauty and power, a hint of ruggen soul threaded into her melodies.

EMILY SHUR

sing a line directly to them. And whether or not this is a conon the music world. scious habit of Case’s, the result is a warm, close air that fills “We’re all a little distracted at the moment,” guitarist and the vast space between performer and listener. In a room as founding member Sam Cooper said standing at the band’s big as the Carolina Theatre, it was amazing to feel so close to merch booth after their set. “We just found out that we’re not only Case as he sang, but to everyone in the room, a union playing Conan next week.” (The band’s network television deof souls with one transcending but was set to air on Wednesday.) purpose.

The crowd was elated, almost Philadelphia-based indie band entranced as the night carried Mt. Joy, the opening act for the on, hanging onto every line Case For tour dates and to listen to music, night and for the month-long sang with rapturous applause. In visit nekocase.com and mtjoyband.com. tour, warmed up crowd with a the aisles, a few fans stood and tight, perfected set. While still danced, disinterested in the eyes just finding their footing in the that might be watching. Conmusic scene, Mt. Joy will be putnected, intimate — it might be ting out its debut record in March. With a sound comparable the last thing you’d expect from such a name as Neko Case. to Vampire Weekend, Head & the Heart and the Lumineers, But beyond her long career, beyond the peaks of celebrity and Mt. Joy was a perfect fit for Case’s set. And yet, while the success, it comes down to the music. The chance to let people mostly undiscovered band found an amazing break in hitting share in what you love seems a romantic notion, but it’s what the road with Case, Mt. Joy has begun to make its own mark sets Neko Case apart.

triad-city-beat.com

CULTURE They danced with the river, and the camera

by Lauren Barber

T

Up Front News

In “Peters Creek,” part of Christine Rucker’s Dance for the River exhibit at SECCA, dancers extend limbs towards the sky like flora.

CHRISTINE RUCKER

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

dancers are captured while springing in triumph while others quality, asked Rucker to devise what became the Dance for the wilt on sullied shorelines.

River project and she tapped Phoebe Zerwick, a former colJust beyond the backyard of Brunson Elementary in Winleague from their days at the Winston-Salem Journal, as a partston-Salem, four UNC School of Arts dancers balance on ner. Zerwick, now a professor of writing and the director of the tagged metal pipes — civilization’s exposed entrails — above journalism program at Wake Forest University, co-produced flipped grocery carts and other oddities in low, motionless the short film that accompanies the photo series and often water in “Peters Creek.” It and other urban streams in the Yadfound herself steadying her friend’s canoe during shoots. Their kin’s watershed serve as massive channels for stormwater that documentation project comes after years of co-collaboration carry pollution and trash, threatening water quality downon Yadkin river-based projects and at a time when researchers stream. Each dancer points a limb toward the sky, stretching are finding many never-before detected contaminants, accordupward like flora, yearning for ing to Yadkin Riverkeepers the kiss of the sun in this despokesperson Sioban Olson. based place, or the river itself The project itself is travelreaching out for rescue. ing downriver over the course Learn more about Christine Rucker at chris“Dancers have this deep of the next year, migrating tinerucker.com, the Yadkin Riverkeeper at listening ability and intuition to Lexington and Salisbury yadkinriverkeeper.org and Dance for the River when it comes to moving in after it’s monthlong sojourn at secca.org. See the film and dance perfordifferent spaces and hearing at SECCA. Rucker follows in the history of that space,” its path, frequently engagmances at the opening reception at SECCA Caitlyn Swett said. “I hope ing high school students in (W-S) on Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. folks connect with that when conversation around environthey see the result of this mental practices through the project.” exhibition.

In “Shoal Dancers” Emiliee Harney and Natalie Kirk, also “I got the best feedback so far from kids whose parents are students, embody exactly that intuition in a wild and rocky farmers and part of the chain of problems,” Rucker said. “They stretch of the river between Yadkin and Surry counties, a home fish in the river and they see it in a totally different light than to a pair of bald eagles according to the project. Harney and I was presenting it and… they’re thinking, Maybe I should farm Kirk are ethereal, cloaked in feminine marigold and merlotdifferently than my parents farm.” colored dresses.

Dance for the River is inherently political, but Rucker and Throughout the series, Rucker and the dancers infuse an her collaborators don’t aim to hit viewers over the head; the element of mysticism and awe into an environmental issue project is about broadening awareness, inviting public curiostypically discussed in the language of courtrooms and laboraity and highlighting intrinsic ties to our ecological habitats. tories, in what could be the very location a scientist extracts Change necessitates a reckoning; for that, we must go to the riverbed samples for contaminant testing. Yadkin Riverkeeper, river, where our divinity and our cruelty alike are on display. a nonprofit dedicated to environmental advocacy, education and research and to measurably improving the Yadkin’s water

Opinion

hey came on Sundays, mostly, to meet the cool riverbeds and traipse across mossy rock formations in the idle morning fog, ballerinas waterlogging the cardboard tips of soon-to-be-discarded pointe shoes. The moderns and contemporaries came, too, to meet with the rapids, the dams and dried-up tributaries all hours of the day.

Upstream, two or three cameras hung from photographer Christine Rucker’s body as she steadied herself in a canoe held in position by some assistants. Her subsequent photo series is the central element of Dance for the River, a collaborative multimedia exhibit opening at SECCA on Feb. 8 that connects viewers with the region’s major water source: the Yadkin River.

Rucker lives on the Yadkin just above the town of East Bend and not far from the Shoals in Pilot Mountain State Park, a stretch of shallow water speckled with islands that had facilitated river crossings for thousands of years. This is where she took dancers Juel D. Lane and Helen Simoneau last year and where she captured “Yadkin Island,” a black-andwhite photograph that illustrates motifs of interdependence, balance and change that characterize the complete project.

Each with one foot planted and grasping the other’s forearm, Lane and Simoneau lean outward, their lifted legs insinuating clockwise motion, at such an angle that the slightest miscalculation or hint of mistrust would spell injury for both. With wet hair, Simoneau gazes candidly, enchantingly into the camera lens, communicating striking power in a vulnerable moment. She and her partner achieve a metaphorical balance between human fear and reverence of (and for) nature.

“Part of the beauty of the project is I’m putting the dancers in areas and asking them to interpret and respond to the environment around them, whether it’s beautiful or has trash or pollution,” Rucker said. “I wasn’t directing them or posing them, and I had no concept in mind other than scouting out locations.

Every time they showed up it was in the spirit of adventure.”

The topography of the Yadkin River varies considerably from the mountainous headwaters to High Rock Lake in the south. It’s the contrast between the thriving and besmirched areas that’s troubling, though, and it’s why some

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February, 1 - 7, 2018

Spring Garden Street, Greensboro

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

The author Susan Harlan at the opening of “Baggage Claims” at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. The exhibit will be up until April 22, 2018.

CAROLYN DE BERRY

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“The Jokers”--and the ones seen with them.

by Matt Jones

56 Jokers, usually (or what the circled letters represent) 58 Not yet burning 59 Gator or Power follower 60 Constellation with a “belt” 61 Catch on clothing 62 “___ Kommissar” (1983 pop hit) 63 Jury members

Answers from previous publication.

Offshore drilling structure Half of a headliner at the Rio in Las Vegas Like cheaper textbooks The rougher interrogator, in procedurals Roman god with two faces Home of the Huskies, for short Boxer Ali Stage whisper, perhaps Cheese that goes with red wine Quality of some cheeses Some bank acct. data Stack of cash “___ you for real?”

Opinion

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 52 53 54 56 57

News

Down 1 Irish comedian ___ ” Briain 2 Hydrochloric ___ 3 In ___ parentis (legal doctrine) 4 Boat with a pair of bears 5 Monopoly board words near “Just visiting” 6 2011’s “Arthur,” e.g.

7 Duane Allman’s brother ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 8 Near-grads, for short 9 Without help 26 Radio band letters 10 “The Princess Bride” character ___ Montoya 27 Microscope piece 11 Word knowledge, briefly 30 Cough syrup amt.

12 Scene of action 31 Shape of a pretzel (but not a pretzel stick) 15 Arctic herd 32 Septa- plus one 17 Actress Hathaway of “The Princess Diaries” 33 Dissipate slowly 22 “I Just Wanna Stop” singer ___ Vannelli 35 Juliet’s surname 23 Wind section member 36 Medical suffixes 24 Surname of two brothers behind a root beer brand 37 Drug bust participant 25 Beyond passable 38 At any point

Up Front

Across 1 ___ Lama (Tibetan leader) 6 Some football linemen, briefly 9 “The Destroyer,” in Hinduism 13 Oak-to-be 14 Slip up 15 McGregor in a hyped 2017 boxing match 16 “Super Freak” singer 18 The Mad Hatter’s guest 19 Commotion 20 Roths, for short? (abbr.)

21 “King Lear” daughter 22 Tree with an extract that purportedly helps memory 25 Sea of ___ (Biblical location) 28 Word before bump or boom 29 It’s a sign 30 Actor Benicio del ___ of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” 31 Daily ___ (political blog since 2002) 34 Worth a “meh” response 39 D&D game runners, for short 40 Quicker than quick 41 Participate in a poll 42 Letters over 0 on older touchtones 43 Stretchy shirt of sorts 46 He was assassinated on the Ides of March 50 ___ to arms 51 Winter ride 52 Diddley and Derek, for two 55 Bete ___ (nemesis)

triad-city-beat.com

CROSSWORD

SODUKO Culture

Superbowl Party Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Answers from previous publication.

1706 Battleground Ave, ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

Greensboro, NC 27408

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