TCB March 21, 2019 — Kudzu Wishes

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point March 21-27, 2019

Kudzu Wishes

triad-city-beat.com

GREENSBORO EDITION

GREENSBORO’S UNDERGROUND BAND RETURNS FOR REUNION SHOW

Village Juice Co. PAGE 14

Licenses revoked?

PAGE 08

PAGE 16

UNCG snub PAGE 06

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March 21-27, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Forever the underdog The Columbia Journalism Review dropped a piece this week by Allison Braden articulating what has become a new

by Brian Clarey strand in the print mediasphere: the alt-altweekly.

The entities she describes are alternative media outlets begun mostly by journalists who had been fired, laid off or otherwise relegated to the great scrapheap of forgotten content creators. She mentions specifically the Pittsburgh Current, the LAnd, Baltimore Beat and Queen City Nerve.

Once again, Triad City Beat becomes a sensational omission.

Once, years ago, Jordan Green and I were counseling a new employee and he said to us, “You know, I am not in this for the glory.”

And we laughed and laughed before I said, “It’s a good thing you’re not in it for the glory, because there is none.”

“None,” I added for emphasis.

But when it comes to employee-led coups in the altweekly newspaper space, Triad City Beat has become something of a prototype. Plus, you’d think the CJR

would want to give a nod to Green, who went to J-school there.

I am used to this. Word on the street was that we were finished before we even got started. Even after five years and two national awards, we are still the only newspaper that is not on the Greensboro Coliseum’s approved advertiser list. I can’t even convince the local Wikipedia editor to green-light a TCB page.

My friends at other altweeklies around the country laugh at the fierce competition I’ve instigated in what they refer to as a “postage stamp” of a market. The guys I went to college with still think I’m making the whole thing up.

I am okay with all this. In fact, I prefer it. What’s more alt than being continually overlooked, and succeeding in spite of the apathy, the ignorance, the straight-up interference running against our mission?

We’re like the Warren Zevon of altweeklies.

And while everyone else is looking the other way, this is where we’ll be, chasing down stories, packaging them up and serving them hot and fresh to our readers, who grow steadily in number every. single. day.

Ignoring us only makes us work harder.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK The multiple threats of violence by neo-Confederates are not new and have been widely reported.

-Jordan Green pg. 12

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

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

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

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber lauren@triad-city-beat.com

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1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Winston-Salem Cover: Avo toast, CONTRIBUTOR Savi Ettinger a grain bowl and matcha nut milk calendar@triad-city-beat.com form Village Juice Co. Photo by ART Sayaka Matsuoka.

ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES

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

SALES Johnathan Enoch

johnathan@triad-city-beat.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

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

Greensboro Cover: Kudzu Wish in 2004. Courtesy image. Design by Robert Paquette.

March 21-27, 2019

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March 21-27, 2019

CITY LIFE March 21-24, 2019

by Savi Ettinger

Up Front

THURSDAY Mar. 21

Hop into History @ Gibb’s Hundred Brewing (GSO), 5 pm.

Gibb’s Hundred takes a step into the past with a night celebrating Women’s History Month. Explore local history surrounding the suffrage movement at UNCG and involving Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown. Find the event on Facebook.

News

Us @ a/perture cinema (W-S), 7 p.m.

Classic Crossover @ the Ramkat (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

The Piedmont Wind Symphony meshes with the Vagabond Saints’ Society for a night at the Ramkat. Their music sits at the unlikely intersection of the rock and classical genres.

Find the event on Facebook.

Gene Loves Jezebel @ Monstercade (WS), 8:30 p.m.

Punk rock goes acoustic for the first day of Monstercade’s anniversary weekend with Gene Loves Jezebel. Alternative Champs, Bandway and Andy Freakin’ Mabe join the night of live music. Learn more on Facebook.

SATURDAY Mar. 23

Opinion

Puppy Patio Social @ Boxcar Bar + Arcade (GSO), 2 p.m.

This early screening offers audiences a chance to catch Jordan Peele’s Us a day before it hits theaters. The horror film finds a family face-to-face with a group of doppelgangers. Find the event on Facebook.

FRIDAY Mar. 22

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

REUSE @ Greensboro Project Space, 5 p.m.

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The Greensboro Project Space and Reconsidered Goods host a viewing of Alex Eaves’ documentary, REUSE. Tours of the U-Haul that Eaves transformed into a tiny house precede the environmental film. Learn more on Facebook.

Into the Woods Jr. @ Christ United Methodist Church (HP), 7 p.m.

This musical mixes up stories from Brothers Grimm, as Cinderella, an evil witch and Little Red Riding Hood cross paths. A baker and his wife face fairy tales as they try to undo a curse that keeps them childless. Find out more on Facebook.

Have a pet-filled day out as Boxcar puts together a puppy pen and a dog-friendly area.

Merit Pit Bull Foundation sets up an adoption shop alongside canine snacks served by Peace Puppy Mobile Dog Treats. Find the event on Facebook.

Into the Femiverse! @ SECCA (W-S), 5 p.m.

The Preview Gallery houses an opening reception for the latest installment of the Southern Idiom series. Emily Clare’s Into the Femiverse! explores women’s relationships through flora and nature scenes. Learn more at secca.org.

March 21-27, 2019

Modular on the Spot @ Center City Park (GSO), 6 p.m.

Up Front

Brahms and Stravinsky @ Stevens Center (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

Director of the Shepherd School and Rhode Island Philharmonic orchastras Larry Rachleff acts as maestro and leads UNCSA’s Symphony Orchestra. The set includes Brahm’s Symphony No. 2 and “The Firebird” by Stravinsky. Find the event on Facebook.

SUNDAY Mar. 24

Opinion

Sounds of Philly and Motown @ High Point Theatre (HP), 7:30 p.m.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Turns 100 @ Scuppernong Books (GSO), 3 p.m.

News

Lay out a blanket or some lawn chairs and enjoy a casual night of synthesizer sounds. Local musicians share their works in an eclectic but laid-back modular concert. Find the event on Facebook.

The Evolved Big Band @ the Carolina Theater (GSO), 3 p.m.

The Piedmont Triad Jazz Orchestra plays through half a century of jazz, from Miles Davis to Ornette Coleman and original pieces by orchestra members. The group performs a second show later in the evening at 7. Find the event on Facebook.

Culture

Frances Mayes @ Bookmarks (WS), 4 p.m.

Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, visits Bookmarks, bringing with her a new title: See You in the Piazza. The book explores Italian food and the culture behind the dishes. Learn more on Facebook.

Puzzles

This concert features Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, as they revisit their musical highlights, along with other performers like Perry Barrino of High Point. Mickey Jay stages an impersonation act, playing the King of Pop. Find out more at highpointtheatre.com.

Shot in the Triad

With Neither Rhyme or Reason Poetry Club hosts a party celebrating Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 100th birthday. Ferlinghetti played a role in the wide-open poetry movement, and the Beat movement. Find out more on Facebook.

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March 21-27, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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UNCG should have made the Final Four tournament

by Brian Clarey

Everybody loves to second-guess the NCAA’s selections for its biggest event: the men’s basketball tournament colloquially known as the Final Four, which kicks off on Thursday.

It’s well known that the brackets are always stacked in favor of Duke and UNC, who often play close to home and in advantageous seedings. But a new pattern of bias is emerging, this time against a North Carolina school that is already an underdog in every sense of the word.

In the world of North Carolina college hoops, the UNCG men’s team doesn’t even crack the Top 10 in terms of notoriety or prestige. But those paying attention know the program’s ambitions over the last 10 years, and its results. UNCG made the NIT tournament last year after winning the SoCon Championship. And they took the SoCon again this year after a 28-win season, going 15-3 in conference play.

Better than Wake Forest. Better than A&T. Better than NC State. Better than Davidson.

Better than App State. Better than Winston-Salem State. Better than NC Central — though the Eagles got into the play-in game in the Final Four tournament, while UNCG must make do with the No. 1 seed in the NIT this year, where they already defeated firstround opponent Campbell 84-69.

Spartan loyals will remember last year, when Syracuse’s Jim Boheim talked smack about holding the ACC tournament Greensboro just before facing UNCG in the NIT: “There’s no value in playing in Greensboro,” he said. “None.”

Maybe he was onto something.

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March 21-27, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture

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March 21-27, 2019

A federal judge in Winston-Salem is considering a question that affects tens of thousands of North Carolinians each year: Does the state’s practice of revoking driver’s licenses for failure to pay traffic fines violate the equal protection and due process rights of poor people?

“In a state where a driver’s license is indispensable to mobility and economic self-sufficiency, this wealth-based license revocation scheme strips impoverished North Carolinians of their capacity to meet their basic needs and those of their families,” argues Johnson v. Jessup, a lawsuit filed against Torre Jessup, the commissioner of the NC Division of Motor Vehicles, or DMV. “As a result, hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians cannot legally use a car to secure and maintain employment, take their children to and from school, attend medical appointments or travel to buy groceries needed for daily life. The license revocation scheme forces the most economically vulnerable further into poverty, in violation of their right to due process and equal protection of the law under the US Constitution.”

Seti Johnson, a 27-year-old Mecklenburg County resident and father of three, is the lead plaintiff in the case.

Johnson has struggled to maintain work, the lawsuit contends, in part because his license had been revoked at least twice before due his inability to pay his traffic tickets, and because time in court attending multiple hearings kept him away from work.

On May 22, 2018, a Cabarrus County district court judge sentenced Johnson to $308 in fine and costs. Because he couldn’t afford to pay it all at once, the judge tacked on a $20 “installment plan setup fee.”

Since the mid-1980s, when the state law revoking driving privileges for nonpayment went into effect, about 264,000 have had their licenses suspended, according to the DMV. But the total number of revocations during that period is more than 426,000, suggesting that many drivers who manage to restore their driving privileges repeatedly find themselves caught in the vise of court

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

In NC, re-examining license revocation for non-payment of fines

by Jordan Green

Up Front

NEWS

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A federal judge in Winston-Salem will decide whether the NC Division of Motor Vehicles violates the Constitutional rights of poor people by taking away drivers licenses when people are unable to pay court costs.

Seti Johnson, lead plaintiff in the case, has had his license revoked due to an inability to pay his traffic tickets, and says that time in court has kept him away from work.

debt.

An affidavit filed on March 12 by a business and technology analyst with the agency indicates that roughly a third of drivers who receive a Notice of Suspension pay their court fines and costs before their licenses are suspended, while another third temporarily lose their licenses but pay within 60 days of receiving notice, and still another third do not pay court fines and costs after losing their licenses. The agency reported that 55,336 drivers paid court fines and costs before their licenses were suspended from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2018.

During the same period, 67,809 drivers paid court fines after their licenses were revoked but within 60 days of receiving notice, while another, 62,788 drivers didn’t pay after losing their licenses.

When the suit was initially filed in May 2018, the complaint contended that Johnson would not be able to pay the fine and court costs.

“Although Mr. Johnson has secured a new job through a temp agency, he will

need to use his initial paychecks to pay unpaid bills, such as an overdue mechanic bill, a phone bill, and approximately $2,000 in back rent,” the suit says. “Mr. Johnson’s children also have immediate needs like diapers, clothes and shoes.”

The district court judge’s order set in motion a July 24, 2018 deadline for Johnson to pay off the fine and court costs or face the loss of his license yet again, but the DMV has agreed to delay enforcement until the federal judge decides whether to grant Johnson and his fellow plaintiffs a preliminary injunction.

The three other plaintiffs include 31-year-old Sharee Smoot, a mother and call-center worker who also lives in Cabarrus County; Marie BonhommeDicks, a Wake County single mother who sells her plasma to make ends meet; and Nichelle Yarborough, a Franklin County mother of four, including a 9-month-old baby with serious medical needs.

Lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based non-

RICK HOVIS

profit, briefly presented the case to US District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder on March 13. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are also working on behalf of the plaintiffs. Lawyers from the NC Department of Justice are representing the DMV. Judge Schroeder, who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush, limited the hearing to about an hour while assuring the parties that most of the information he needed was in their filings.

“We’ll endeavor to reach a conclusion as soon as possible,” he promised.

Discussion between Judge Schroeder and lawyers for the two parties centered on a provision in the state law requiring that defendants be afforded an opportunity for a hearing. But as the lawsuit notes, the DMV notice does not provide “any information about how to obtain a hearing,” much less explain that “there are options to permit persons to keep their licenses if they cannot pay in full”

himself, Mosley wrote that as a federal prisoner scheduled for release after a 7-year sentence, he was homeless and unemployed and would not be able to afford the fees to restore his license. Noting that he planned to enroll in truck-driving school, Mosley wrote that without a driver’s license he would “have to forgo the truck driving training school, and job placement and figure out a different way to get housing, [my] children to school, daycare and the doctor’s office, or [I] will have to illegally drive and risk violating his supervised release and going back to prison.”

Whitney, who was also appointed by President George W. Bush, dismissed the case on March 4, finding that having a driver’s license is not a fundamental right and “the North Carolina statues are ra-

tionally related to the legitimate interest in having court debts paid.”

Neil Dalton, a NC Justice Department lawyer who represented the DMV in federal court on March 13, also emphasized the argument that driving is a privilege.

“Mr. Johnson has reoffended for failure to pay his fees,” Dalton said. “A lot of these people may have decided I can’t afford to have a car; it doesn’t work for me.”

But Schroeder said he’s more interested in the question of whether North Carolina gives adequate notice to drivers that they have the right to a hearing before their licenses are revoked. In deciding the case, he said he’ll ask: “Does the state provide an opportunity to be heard?”

Up Front

or equal protection schemes.”

Judge Schroeder told lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Winston-Salem last week: “I’m skeptical of the Bearden analysis. I’m not the only one.”

Judge Marco A. Hernandez in Oregon ruled against the plaintiffs in December 2018, finding that as desperate as their plights might be, they did not raise constitutional claims, and the proper venue for the issue was the legislative and executive branches of government.

Closer to home and more recently, Chief Judge Frank Whitney in the Western District of North Carolina ruled against Antonio Mosley, a former federal prisoner, who sought relief from a $65 restoration fee and $50 service fee to recover his driver’s license. Representing

March 21-27, 2019

or that “the person’s ability to pay will be a critical issue at the hearing.”

Several similar suits are being heard by other federal judges across the country. Plaintiffs in Oregon attempted to build on something known as the “fundamental fairness” doctrine, based on Supreme Court rulings in the Griffin and Bearden cases related to the treatment of indigent criminal defendants.

In Mendoza v. Garrett, the Oregon Department of Transportation argued “that the Griffin/Bearden cases have a more limited application than plaintiffs suggest, that poverty is not a protected class, and that the statutory scheme has a rational basis,” according to the published opinion. “Based on these arguments, defendants contend that plaintiffs fail to establish substantive due process

News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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March 21-27, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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More magnet schools and tweaked population sizes proposed for GCS

by Sayaka Matsuoka In response to the recently released school facility report that found many of Guilford County schools to be unsuitable for students, members of the Guilford County School Board and Guilford County Commission put together a new plan to resize schools as well as add more magnet options.

A joint committee of members of the Guilford County School Board and Guilford County Commission met on March 14 to discuss the recently released school facility report revealing that many schools and facilities in the school system cannot provide students with adequate learning environments, and that those most negatively affected include students from marginalized communities.

The joint committee issued a recommendation to conduct another study that would check school boundaries — or population caps — as well as new specialized, choice options to remedy the problems. The joint group of close to two dozen members met at McNair Elementary, where Joe Clark — a member of MGT Consulting Group which conducted the study — summarized the report and its findings.

The yearlong study, released in January at a cost close to $900,000, scored all 126 schools in the system based on building condition, technology readiness, site condition and educational suitability — or how well suited the environment is for students to learn. Overall, the schools scored the lowest in building condition and educational assessment while scoring well on the technology readiness.

Clark’s recap however, spent a significant amount of time looking at the projected enrollment for the schools over the next decade.

“Although there isn’t a lot of growth,” Clark said. “And that’s not uncommon for large urban metropolitan districts in the country right now, you’re not losing ground.”

He pointed to a graph that showed that there were 72,118 students enrolled in Guilford County Schools during the 2008-09 school year, with a slight projected increase to 72,456 by the 2027-28 school year.

Based on the projections and the state of many of the county’s schools, MGT recommended a $1.5 billion spending budget to bring the county’s schools up to par.

After Clark finished his recap, Superintendent Sharon Contreras presented a new plan that includes a Phase II demo-

graphic study that will help “to develop a boundary optimization plan,” resizing some schools by increasing or decreasing the numbers of students, as well as adding specialized, choice options schools.

She mentioned that the new study would take a few months to complete but did not mention whether MGT would be rehired for the job.

“We cannot uncouple our buildingfacility strategy from our strategy of improving the academic programs and the outcomes for students,” Contreras said.

“If we just build beautiful schools and not improve the outcomes for students, we’ll just have great buildings.”

She pointed to the media room in McNair Elementary where the meeting was taking place.

“We’re sitting in a really great, beautiful facility,” she said. “But the students struggle. Most of the students here are not reading at proficient levels.”

In order to help some of the worst schools in the district, Contreras and the joint committee recommended possibly closing some of the schools in the worst conditions and reopening them as new schools with either new choice options or school grade configurations.

MGT’s report recommended closing 10 schools, rebuilding 27, renovating 18 and building one elementary school.

Many of the schools that recommended for repurposing — like Bessemer Elementary, Hampton Elementary, Vandalia Elementary and Wiley Elementary — are predominantly black and brown schools. Of those that had a combined score of less than 60, which placed them in the “unsatisfactory” category, 76 percent are attended by predominantly black or brown students.

“How do we make sure that we provide high-quality seats, high-performing schools, in great facilities, for every single child in Guilford County?” Contreras asked.

A document that summarizes the next phase suggested repurposing, renovating or replacing 85-90 existing neighborhood schools as well as creating 30-35 specialized, choice options from the 126 schools already in existence.

Choice options for magnet schools included categories such as performing arts, health professions, advanced manufacturing, CTE, STEM, aviation and renewable energy.

“We had about 6,000 parents come out for our choice fair,” Contreras said.

“That’s a thousand more than last

GCS Superintendent Sharon Contreras addressed the joint committee last Thursday.

year…. Parents really want more choice and they really want their students at or in these CTE programs that will result in better jobs when they graduate.”

The recommendation by the joint committee to create 30-35 new specialized, or magnet programs, comes after the MGT study found that many of the existing magnet sites in the county are over or underutilized.

The study suggested balancing both overutilized, or overpopulated, and underutilized or, underpopulated, schools by either “adjusting its attendance area boundary or by increasing the facility capacity of the current program site.”

Several magnet schools also scored poorly in educational suitability according to the report.

“Low educational suitability scores mean that the school sites do not currently have the appropriate spaces, equipment, storage, and/or learning environment to implement the magnet programs assigned to those schools,” the study said.

MGT approximated the total budget to “remediate current educational suitability deficiencies” in the county’s magnet school sites as more than $16 million.

The study also recommended re-

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

purposing Hampton Elementary and replacing General Greene Elementary, Morehead Elementary and Murphey Traditional Academy, all of which are magnet schools.

In addition to agreeing on a new demographic study, both the board of education and commissioners agreed to pass a joint resolution to support the federal Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which was introduced by House Democrats in January. The act aims to address physical and digital infrastructure needs in schools across the country through a $70 billion grant program and a $30 billion tax-credit bond program targeted to the needs of schools with decades-old infrastructure issues.

The idea of unity seemed to be a running theme as several members of the school board urged cooperation from all of its members to work together to create swift change.

“We have to be accountable as a board going forward,” said school board member Khem Irby who represents District 6. “I hope we can deliver a message to the community that it’s for the safety of your child; we’re putting kids first. That children are at the center of every decision that we’re gonna make.”

March 21-27, 2019 Up Front

News

Opinion

Culture

Shot in the Triad

Puzzles

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March 21-27, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CITIZEN GREEN

Which side are the UNC police on?

OPINION

Among the handful of neo-Confederates who have been stalking the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill since the toppling of Silent Sam, Lance Spivey is a memorable figure. The Randolph County resident and founder of Heirs to the Confederacy typically shows up for protests dressed in an oversized flannel shirt, wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses while equipped with a wooden walking stick whose rhythmic thump announces him from a hundred yards away.

Unlike fellow Heirs founder Nancy Rushton, a South Carolina

by Jordan Green resident who frequently exchanges taunts with antiracist protesters and maintains a running commentary on Facebook Live, Spivey is a man of few public words.

On March 16, Spivey showed up for an Anti-Racist Parachute Party on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, which featured lawn games and a scholarship fundraiser, conspicuously armed with a pistol. NCGS § 14-269.2, headed, “Weapons on campus or other education property,” plainly states that this should not happen: “It shall be a Class I felony for any person to knowing possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol, or other firearm of any kind on educational property or to a curricular or extracurricular activity sponsored by a school.”

Spivey was not arrested for the transgression. Instead, UNC police informed him that firearms were not allowed on campus, and one of the officers even shook hands with one of Spivey’s fellow activists as the small band of neo-Confederates took their leave.

In response to an outpouring of indignation from students on social media, the university issued a statement two days later noting that “members of a ‘Confederate heritage’ group walked onto the UNC-Chapel Hill campus from the town of Chapel Hill via Raleigh Street to Cameron Avenue,” and that UNC police officers “approached them on the sidewalk in front of Memorial Hall.” The statement went on to say that “due to immediate uncerDANIEL Lance Spivey (right), a neo-Confederate activist, brought a pistol to tainty on Saturday about the application of [the weapons on campus law] to the Cameron HOSTERMAN UNC-Chapel Hill on March 16.

Avenue right of way, which is maintained by the town of Chapel Hill, no arrest was made in this case.”

For what it’s worth, neo-Confederates, including Barnett, like to characterize antiracists Considering that Cameron Avenue cuts through the heart of campus and Spivey and his at UNC-Chapel Hill as “domestic terrorists.” I won’t dignify their position by attempting to friends were walking on a wide brick sidewalk in front of a campus building, this seems like explain their warped reasoning in this space. a generous interpretation of the law, to put it mildly.

The multiple threats of violence by neo-Confederates are not new and have been widely The UNC Police’s approach to the neo-Confederates in Chapel Hill on March 16, reported. consistent with law enforcement’s posture towards the far right across the country, seems to In contrast, law enforcement approaches to policing antiracists seem to assume the assume good intentions and make wide allowances for potential misunderstanding. worst intentions, rather than granting that their actions are motivated by a desire to remove But on the eve of the March 16 incident — and chillingly, the same day as the Christmonuments to racial degradation and terror, and to protect their communities from racial church mosque shooting — Spivey published a rambling essay that opened with his violence. UNC police arrested an antiracist protester for throwing a smoke bomb at a frustration about his most recent encounter with antiracists at UNC-Chapel Hill on Feb. group of departing neo-Confederates during a rally last September. The arrest was made 23. Spivey recounts his response to his mother’s question about whether about 30 minutes after the fact based on an identification by a Chapel he’s willing to die for his cause, continuing, “My answer was unhesitatingly Hill police officer, even though, as an officer testified last month, no one stated, ‘Yes, mama, I am,’ and then adding, “I am more so ready to kill for was harmed by the act. As a result of what appeared to be an inexplicable it.”

The UNC Police’s arrest, antiracists yelled at police, who in turn charged into the crowd, reSpivey’s self-avowed “long-winded” missive makes it abundantly clear sulting in seven more arrests. Of the eight, two have had charges dismissed, approach to the that his cause goes beyond defending the honor of Confederate ancestors. one has been found not guilty, and two others are appealing guilty verdicts; The essay takes aim at a host of undesirable others. Addressing “illegal neo-Confederates in one case, a motion alleges the charging officer lied on the witness stand. immigrants who harbor no ill feelings towards America” and so-called Ironically, a melee that began as a result of police arresting an antiracist for seems to assume “radical Muslims,” Spivey trots out false and racist stereotypes with phrases throwing a smoke bomb ended with police deploying a smoke device to like “heinous crimes” and “diseases,” before declaring, “Yet more cases of good intentions. disburse the crowd. high treason that should be met as all such; with a short rope and tall tree.”

By Tuesday, the university was forced to acknowledge the inadequacy Similarly, professors who have, in Spivey’s view, indoctrinated students with of its previous explanation for police allowing Spivey to carry a gun onto socialist and communist views, should be “led straight to the gallows for campus without consequence. high treason.”

“We believe in and support the notation that, ‘anyone with a firearm found in violation Spivey wasn’t the only neo-Confederate who showed up armed at UNC-Chapel Hill on of NC General Statute 14-269.2 will be arrested and issued a warning of trespass for the March 16. Based on photographs of the event, others appear to be carrying knives, and in campus,’” the Office of the Dean of Students said in a prepared statement. “This statute one case, handcuffs. One man wearing a Virginia Task Force III% Dixie Defenders jacket should be upheld equitably in order to promote a safe and secure campus that is free from displayed a triangular merit patch signifying that he was present at the Aug. 12, 2017 Unite violence. As an office whose central mission is to care and support students, the Office the Right rally in Charlottesville. Ryan Barnett, another neo-Confederate activist who of the Dean of Students believes that weapons of any kind, except as permitted by law, showed up last weekend, warned on Facebook after the toppling of Silent Sam: “UNC betshould not be allowed on-campus.” ter handle this storm correctly or there will be dead bodies on the streets up there.”

The coward Thom Tillis

by Clay Jones

Up Front News

claytoonz.com

Opinion Culture

US Sen. Thom Tillis does not have

by Trump, and declares his or her own the courage to represent North Carolina national emergency to advance a policy in the Senate. that couldn’t gain congressional apHe is, at best, audacious — for it takes proval,” he wrote on Feb. 25, which isn’t audacity to pen an op-ed in the Washeven the best reason to oppose Trump’s ington Post and then pull a complete wall, but seems a logical and unassail180 two weeks later, when it came time able argument against allowing governto vote. ment overreach with winks and nods.

But that’s exactly what he did.

The vote came down last week, on At the time, Tillis-watchers thought March 14, when the Senate had an the WaPo editorial was a rare straight opportunity to vote on a House-passed shot from the sometimes mercurial resolution disapproving of Trump’s senator, who won his seat in 2014 by up“national emergency” gambit. setting incumbent Kay Hagan — a camTillis voted against the resolution of paign in which, it should disapproval, saying, “A be noted, Tillis paid lot has changed over the $345,000 to Cambridge last three weeks.”

Analytica, the digital Here’s what changed: It takes audacity data firm bannempfrom Trump got back to pen an op-ed in from Facebook after creating Vietnam and, a “psychological warfare after freaking out about the WaPo then do tool,” according to a the Michael Cohen a complete 180 whistleblower, to help mess, began maniaelect Trump. cally tweeting about two weeks later.

But that’s neither here the Senate vote. State nor there.

GOP operatives began Tillis’ editorial conopenly questioning his cerned Trump’s “national emergency” loyalty, and even floated names — Reps. at the border, necessitating executive Mark Walker and Mark Meadows — of action to build his stupid freakin’ wall. the people they planned to primary him And Tillis wasn’t having it. with.

“Republicans need to realize that And so he caved. Because that’s what this will lead inevitably to regret when cowards do. a Democrat once again controls the White House, cites the precedent set

Claytoonz

March 21-27, 2019

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CULTURE Village Juice Co. promotes healthy eating and light lunches

by Sayaka Matsuoka

W

hile the majority of the city gorged itself on Guinness drafts and corned beef, a select group gathered in Village Juice Co.’s airy space on Stratford Road on Sunday, cleansing themselves of toxins.

Just before 1 p.m., the Winston-Salem based juice shop was filled to the max, with overflow customers forced to sit at the shaded tables outside.

The company began in 2015 after Winston-Salem native Lonnie Atkinson began making and selling her own bottled juices. Since then, Village Juice Co. has grown to four brick-and-mortar locations — one in the Towers shopping center on Stratford Road, one on Fourth Street downtown and two universities locations at Wake Forest and Elon. A fifth location is set to open in Charlotte this summer.

Earlier this month, the shops began offering breakfast options in addition to their cold-pressed juices and smoothies. Items like brioche sandwiches with avocado and gruyere cheese as well as breakfast bowls and burritos boosted their already health-focused menu. It’s the kind of place you go when you are hungover and need to feel whole again.

Or, it’s the kind of place you go if you count your calories or want to live a long and healthy life — you know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Atkinson says she began making juice and changed her diet to fix lifelong digestive issues.

“I started educating myself about how eating real food could change and improve the way you feel, look and enjoy life,” she says over email.

After seeing improvements in her life, she says she was inspired to share her discovery with a wider audience.

“I tried it and immediately felt better, lost a few pounds, had glowing skin, more energy, improved digestion, better sleep and was happier overall,” she says.

Village Juice’s base menu offers variations on the prized avocado toast and customizable salad and grain bowls.

The shop on Stratford Road beckons customers in with its clean white walls and green, hanging plants. Books about matcha decorate the shelves while a line of Edison bulbs hang from a wall above a row of tables.

Mothers with children, families, college kids and lone yogis fill the chairs while others wait by the door while the staff hurriedly processes their orders.

Village Juice Co’s Stratford Road location bustles with activity on Sunday afternoon.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

My fiancé and I decide to try some of the most popular “It’s like a sandwich,” he says. “And it’s a damn good sanditems. He gets the avo vegan toast while I pick a grain bowl; wich.” we split a matcha nut milk.

He quickly devours the slice, avo and all, while I work on my His toast, multigrain of course, comes with a bright green, gigantic bowl. house-made avocado spread, micro greens and fermented I’ve never really been one for salads. I used to eat steak for cabbage, or as the shop likes to call it, “curtido.” He adds a breakfast in high school before I gave up red meat. I never felt perfectly cooked over-medium egg for an upcharge. like I could just eat a bunch of leaves and be full.

My bowl, which I make myself, is composed of a heap of And unfortunately, the grain bowl, which seems to mostly fresh, crunchy kale, a scoop of quinoa, roasted red peppers, be a salad with some grain in it, fails to prove me wrong. charred broccoli, sliced avocado, corn and miso ginger dressWhile the dressing is delicious and each individual ingredient is ing. The medley comes served in a large silver mixing bowl and crunchy fresh, the bowl leaves me wanting. There isn’t enough the ingredients look like they were dressing to make the food flavorful picked this morning. enough that I can forget that I am The matcha nut milk, which is eating what amounts to a bunch of Find locations, hours and menu at bottled and chartreuse in color, is leaves. Healthy ones, but still. villagejuicecompany.com made with almond milk, dates, matIt just further cements the idea cha, vanilla bean, himalyan sea salt that maybe places like Village Juice and filtered water. All 17 ounces costs Co. aren’t really my thing. If I’m going more than four gallons of gas. Silky to spend this much on lunch, I want smooth, the drink is somewhere between a smoothie and a to be full until dinner. But looking around at the overflowing juice and tastes pretty damn good. It’s supposed to be chockshop, it’s clear that many people would disagree. Next to us, ful of antioxidants too. Although really, I just got it because I a group of high school students eat their brunch as they chat love matcha. But at that price, I’m not sure I’d get it again. and glance at their phones.

As we eat our food, my fiancé, who is a pescatarian but a Sirena Lovato is finishing up a dragonfruit smoothie bowl vegan wannabe, claims that the toast is delicious. while her friends, Melody Moossavi and Sarah Moore, take on

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“It feels healthier to come here,” she says. “It’s worth the ten dollars for the smoothie bowl.”

When I ask whether they are considering the stop as full meals or just as snacks, Moossavi admits that she doesn’t get full on the food.

“I don’t count a smoothie bowl as a meal,” she says.

And I’d have to agree.

I made a bowl of pasta as soon as I got home.

Opinion

smoothies and a slice of avo toast.

The three live nearby and patronize the shop when they have cash to spare.

“It’s kind of expensive” Lovato says. “So we come sometimes.”

Atkinson says the prices are such because of the quality of the ingredients.

“Our salads are full of organic veggies, proteins and superfoods that are often local,” she says. “We pride ourselves in the quality of our ingredients.”

The students say they try different things each visit but always come back because of the way the food makes them feel.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

News

Village Juice Co. got its start after owner Lonnie Atkinson began making her own cold-pressed juices.

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March 21-27, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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CULTURE A wish come true: Kudzu Wish reunites for EP release and show

by Sayaka Matsuoka

A

dam Thorn sits down at the table, pointing to Eric Mann’s outfit of the day. They’re wearing almost the exact same clothes, with a slight variation in the color of their pants.

“You gotta wear black pants man!”

Thorn says as he gets up to get coffee.

Mann chuckles and shakes his head, his blond hair a little shorter now than how he wore it 20 years ago. Thorn looks different too. He’s got more of a beard and a clean crew cut. The pair, who used to play together in the Greensborobased band Kudzu Wish, reminisce on the band’s first months together as they sit in Tate Street Coffee on Tuesday morning.

“We would practice in the auditorium on campus and in dorm rooms,” says Mann, who met his fellow bandmates at Guilford College as a freshman.

Now, almost 10 years after their last live performance, the band is getting back together for a reunion show, coupled with the release of a music video and EP of remixed audio from the band’s 2005 recordings.

Kudzu Wish formed in 1998, consisting of Mann, a guitarist; Devender Sellars, guitarist and backup singer; Tim LaFollette on bass; and Geordie Woods on drums. Thorn joined as the band’s frontman two years later; They began like many bands do: a bunch of friends with the simple goal of playing music. Their songs transcended any single genre and included a little bit of indie, a lot of rock, some punk and elements of hardcore. They broke up in 2005 after Woods joined the Peace Corps and the rest of the group also felt it was time to move on.

The last time they played together was in August 2009, after LaFollette was diagnosed with ALS. He passed away from the disease in 2011.

Mann says they decided to do a live show almost a decade later to promote the 2005 EP, whose audio he rediscovered in 2016. The original 2005 raw studio files were found when he opened a box of Kudzu Wish memorabilia that Sellars dropped off at his house before he moved away.

“These are songs that never got a proper release,” Thorn says. “They are the last songs we wrote and recorded, and they were a part of our set that we were playing live at the time. It makes sense to have them documented.”

The band plays the Crown at the Carolina Theatre on Friday and will have the EP for sale there.

Mann says the band has already sold about 100 tickets. Old Heavy Hands and Totally Slow open the show.

When asked if they thought they would ever make music with each other again, both Mann and Thorn said they doubted it.

“It’s unlikely but you never wanna say never,” Thorn says.

He says that everyone, including him, is so busy with their current lives.

“I’m trying to get a little more time for myself in there,” Thorn says. “But there’s really not time. I’m not playing music at all.”

Initially, Mann says he just wanted to have a better version of the recordings for himself. But after learning how much it would cost to make a few EPs versus a few hundred, he and Thorn COURTESY IMAGE figured they might as well make more. In all, Kudzu Wish performing in the 2000s they’re selling 250 physical records and offering digital downloads too.

All living former members of Kudzu Wish will play the show, with Ry Eshelman filling in on bass.

“It wasn’t hard to twist their arms to play a show,” Thorn says about getting the band back together. “We’ve all got lives — well you guys do. Everything naturally flowed into each other.

Tim loved being the center of attention and he loved making recordings and being able to play for people. It seems like a no-brainer. It’s not against any kind of spirit of Tim to play a show.”

And while Thorn and Mann have kept up with each other, some of the other members of the band will be reuniting for the first time in years.

“I haven’t seen Geordie since 2009,” Thorn says.

“Yeah I saw Geordie once maybe six years ago,” says Mann.

Both Mann and Thorn live in Greensboro.

The former guitarist spends his time playing COURTESY IMAGE Kudzu Wish will reunite and play the Crown at Carolina in his band Basement Life and taking care of his Theatre this Friday. two kids, while Thorn works more than 40 hours Guilford a year later than most of Kudzu Wish’s members and a week at First Carolina Deli and Meridian in remembers the impact the band had on him and his friends.

Winston-Salem. Woods works for an international healthcare He even roomed with some of them. nonprofit while Sellars will be coming down from New York, “They were mentors to us,” Holdsworth says. “Good friends where he works for Amazon. as well. Good role models.”

“That stuff in our early twenties still impacts people is Holdsworth designed the cover of the EP, which has a modcrazy,” Mann says. ern cartoony spaceship on it and uses “The fact that we can even play a a primary color scheme. show somewhere outside our par“I feel that it’s an exciting moment ents’ basement,” Thorn adds.

Info and tickets can be found onfor a lot of us who really sort of grew Now, after 10 years, Thorn says line at carolinatheatre.com. up with that music,” he says. “Those both old and new faces will show up songs are really anthemic and speak in the crowd. to the concerts they had at the time.

“There will probably be a large So, a moment like this, for me it’s an group of Guilford college and old opportunity to enjoy that again.” friends,” Mann says.

And that, is exactly what Thorn hopes for on Friday.

Lawrence Holdsworth of the band Tiger Bear Wolf says “I hope that people just enjoy themselves,” he says. “I just he’s already got his ticket to the show. Holdsworth attended honestly hope it’s a good time overall.”

by Savi Ettinger

A

Up Front News Opinion Culture

Laura Simon, one of the con organizers, sits outside Dana Auditorium dressed as a tabletop game character.

“Nerd culture and the artist have never been separated,” Lakes says. “There is no nerd stuff to be involved in without the artist.”

Lakes’ corner of the con reflect his many “geekdoms,” as he calls them. He reaches into a suitcase full of watercolor pieces and ink drawings. He flips through pages to find a stack of offwhite drawings and settles it on top of his table. Each of the 28 highlights different black influences — fictional or historical — for Black History Month.

He stops on Franklin from the Peanuts, pointing out the backlash creator Charles Schulz received over integrating Charlie Brown’s classroom. Another page reveals a detailed portrait of Harriet Tubman, a lifelike image in ink. He flips another sheet to show a realistic depiction of Katherine Johnson, one of the women who inspired Hidden Figures.

“I can express the whole of who I am,” Lakes says. “As an African-American and a nerd, I don’t have to separate it.”

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in the classrooms get stacked off to the side in lieu of miniature galleries and craft-fair booths.

“They do all this work,” she says, “and people take that for granted” For Meesha DJ Walker, the event offers an unconventional studio space — a tarp and easel set up in the back row of a classroom, behind a display table. She paints gray strokes across a square canvas, while a palette with multicolored paint swatches rests in her left hand.

She pieces together an image of a cat in acrylic, hair by hair, while she plays soundtracks from television shows and an anime series from a speaker. With six years of experience doing WTH?!Con, Walker paints and converses the weekend away, vending while relaxed.

“The others are so big, and it’s all about business,” Walker says. “Plus, I can paint cats.”

In his fourth year at the convention, Marshall Lakes aims for his pop-culture inspired work to be “infectious,” .

SAVI ETTINGER

Shot in the Triad

curly-haired young man holds out a foam staff with both hands, bracing himself to block a hit from a friend with a matching fake weapon. The resulting whack tears through the quiet of Guilford College’s weekend campus.

Isaac Cook, creator of most of the spongy armory, laughs while watching on. The combat comes as part of the warm-up for an “Amtgard tournament,” where passersby battle it out with swords and shields of PVC pipe, pool noodles and silver tape.

“You think it’d be weird being on a Quaker campus,” he says.

The weirdness continues during the college’s annual What the Hell?! Con, on the weekend of March 15. The event draws a loyal crowd of people like Cook, coming back for years for a chance to casually geek out. Everything remains student-run by members of the “Yachting Club” — a group that does anything but sail.

For at least a decade, the weekend has offered a nerd-centric reprieve with gaming sessions and a “Geek auction” for merchandise, including an e-sports chair, which donates proceeds to Extra Life — a charity that provides children in extended hospital stays with games.

“It’s free. It’s local,” Laura Simon says.

“It’s not huge so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

Simon, one of the club’s designated “con organizers,” sits outside Dana Auditorium as people try out the weapons.

Talons of resin and clay cover Simon’s hands and feet, and a mohawk of feather juts out of orange hair, recreating a character from a tabletop game that her predecessor led.

The turnover rate for leaders complicates the event’s exact history, according to Simon. Stories from past years float around the activity-filled rooms of Duke Memorial Hall.

While sitting around a tabletop game, a guest remembers their friend who met their wife when the weekend’s geek auction offered volunteer dance partners instead of merch, for a party later in the night. Another visitor counts the year as her eighth, returning again despite having never attended the college.

“We have a few things that stay the same,” Simon says, “but the people running it give it a different energy.”

For this year, Simon shifts the focus to the artists and content creators. Desks

March 21-27, 2019

CULTURE New leaders keep quirky legacy alive at Guilford’s WTHell?! Con.

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1 “Who’s there?” reply 6 Sitcom set in suburban Houston 10 Org. overseeing summer and winter competitions 13 NASCAR participant 14 “___ Through the Gift Shop” 15 “It’s ___ sham!”

16 Maker of the 2600 17 Late arrival 19 “1984” actor with 7 Oscar nominations and no wins 21 President between Roosevelt and Wilson 23 “Carte” or “mode” preceder 24 “Watchmen” actor Jackie ___ Haley 25 Go to hell ___ handbasket 26 Jost cohost 27 Practice figures, for short?

29 Committed response 30 Chocolate source ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 32 Most negligible 34 Composer/lyricist of “Godspell” with 6 Tony nominations and no wins (not counting an honorary Tony) 40 Lacking enthusiasm 41 Lift with force 42 Brandenburg Concertos monogram 45 Freestyle, perhaps 46 “Ballers” network 48 “All Songs Considered” network 49 Compensate 51 Mediterranean or Baltic, e.g.

52 Othello foe 53 “Back at One” R&B singer with 16 Grammy nominations and no wins Answers from last issue 57 Involving both sides of the body 58 “Camelot” collaborator 26 Intelligible 61 Idyllic setting 27 12th of 12 62 Ride share amount, maybe 28 Crowd noise 63 Distraught 31 On point 64 Cranberry color 32 Timothy Leary’s hallucinogen 65 Go along with 33 ___ kwon do 66 Allots, with “out” 35 Org. that’s supposed to be green 36 Little drink Down 37 Did some diagnostic work, maybe 1 George Gershwin’s brother 38 “Modern Family” rating 2 Inked art, for short 39 One of many in a googol 3 1983 Pacino pic 42 Talk incessantly 4 Raise reason 43 Giant step 5 “Tim and ___ Awesome Show, Great Job!” 44 Prepared, as water for pasta 6 Consignment shop transaction 46 “The End of the Innocence” singer Don 7 Especially 47 “The Crow” actress ___ Ling 8 Part of the Woodstock logo 50 Bread from a tandoor 9 Run up ___ (drink at the bar) 51 Take to the rink 10 “Allow me ...”

52 “Fingers crossed” 11 Soccer stadium chant 54 “Desus & ___” (2019 late-night Showtime TV show) 12 “Bette Davis Eyes” singer Kim 55 Seafood dip ingredient 15 “Slumdog Millionaire” locale 56 Dour 18 Milton Bradley game featuring facial features 59 Tiny 20 “Yeah right!”

60 Romulans, e.g.

21 Muscular contractions 22 Art sch. class

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