TCB April 26, 2018 — The Primary Election Guide by Triad City Beat

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point April 26-May 2, 2018 triad-city-beat.com

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Voter No on video PAGE 17

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Roy’s parking spot PAGE 7

INSIDE THIS WEEK: TRIAD CIT Y BITES, THE TRIAD’S FINEST DINING GUIDE

April 26 - May 2, 2018

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Big Al in the city Big Al packed a couple bottles of water and an evening jacket for the trip, which amounted to about 25 miles west at the worst by Brian Clarey part of the day. Big Al was born and raised in Greensboro; he’s worldly and well traveled, active in the business and civic community. His wife went to NC State, he owns a business in Burlington and a cabin in Boone, so he knows his way around North Carolina. And he even got season tickets to Wake Forest Basketball this year, so he’s been making the journey on Business 40 for months. But when it comes to Winston-Salem, Big Al has got a blind spot. So I set out to show him as much as I could on a banging Friday night in the Camel City. We parked in a lot for $2 across the street from the Hanesbrands Theatre for a RiverRun sponsor party, made a quick lap around the room and then poured out into the streets. I explained the connection

between the Reynolds Building, which he had never really considered before, and the Empire State Building, upon which he’s gazed many times. I outlined my grid/ strip comparison of Winston-Salem and Greensboro’s downtowns, and I broadstroked the transformation of the Innovation Quarter and Krankies by the time we pulled into Hoots Roller Bar, which made a fine anthropological segue. The tour pulled back to downtown Winston-Salem and along Trade Street, where we paused on a bar crawl to admire the red spires of the ArtPark and eat latenight barbecue — something you can’t get, Big Al noted, in downtown Greensboro. We even ran into Joe Blevins at the Silver Moon Saloon, making it as quintessential a #WSNC experience as one can get in one night. We wrapped with a drive-by at the new (to Big Al) Wise Man Brewery, and then posted up at the Ramkat, the newest focal point for the city’s culture. We listened to Jeff Beck on the short, late drive home, allowing us to absorb all we’d seen and done in the previous 10 hours. And we barely touched the waters.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The call for patience is in no way inconsistent with the call for information. To say, ‘Don’t rush to judgment before we know all the facts,’ sort of implies that we need to know all the facts. — Amanda Martin, in the editorial, page 16

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

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

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Cover art by Robert Paquette ART ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com

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

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Spencer KM Brown, Matt Jones, Kat Bodrie

April 26 - May 2, 2018

CITY LIFE April 26 – May 2 by Lauren Barber

Book trivia @ Bookmarks Bookstore (W-S), 7 p.m.

RiverRun Gala @ the Millennium Center (W-S), 9 p.m.

Voter GuideUp

Front

THURSDAY

Sip on beer or wine and dazzle a room of bibliophiles with obscure knowledge. Prizes are on the table. Find the event on Facebook.

Culture

Opinion

Double Treble @ High Point Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

Community concert @ LeBauer Park (GSO), 5 p.m. Vanessa Ferguson, the Hamiltones NC, Abigail Dowd, JujuGuru, J. Timber with Joel Henry Band and the Poetry Café perform a free concert aiding those affected by the tornado in East Greensboro. Bring a chair or blanket, an appetite and (if you can) a donation. Find the event on Facebook.

FRIDAY

I Am Not Your Negro @ YWCA High Point, 6 p.m.

Meet filmmakers and rub elbows with industry guests during this celebration of the film festival’s second weekend. A cash bar complements appetizers and desserts from local restaurants. Learn more at riverrunfilm.com.

SATURDAY

Plaza grand opening @ High Point Public Library, 8:30 a.m. Concert organist Roderick Demmings Jr. and pianist Karl Van Richards duet. Learn more at highpointtheatre.com/ events.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Rap round robin @ Delurk Gallery (W-S), 8 p.m.

Brad Lilley, community coordinator of the High Point NAACP and founder of the High Point Peacemakers, moderates a community discussion after a free screening of the documentary based on James Baldwin’s unpublished manuscripts. Find the event on Facebook.

Seven MCs/acts battle on three stages with the audience in the center. Down some Hoots beer while perusing popup shops from Travail Collection and G/D/P and enjoying Grant Livesay’s opening improvisational jazz set. Find the event on Facebook.

The public library celebrates its plaza opening alongside the High Point Farmer’s Market with three food trucks, music for all ages, cooking demonstrations, a beer garden, a petting zoo and, get this, aerial acrobats. Find the event and detailed schedule on Facebook.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

SUNDAY

Hops & Shop: Spring Fest @ Foothills Brewing Tasting Room (W-S), noon More than 100 local and regional vendors sell handmade, antique, vintage and repurposed goods. Expect food trucks, live music and kids’ activities. Find the event on Facebook. Food truck festival @ Green and Market streets (GSO), 3 p.m.

Voter GuideUp

World Penguin Day Celebration @ Greensboro Science Center, 10 a.m.

International Tabletop Day @ Geeksboro (GSO), 1 p.m.

Front

Brewtastic! Fermentation is the Name of the Game @ High Point Museum, 10 a.m. The Rockingham Community College Center for Brewing Sciences lends expertise to a conversation about how humans take advantage of microbes to make foods like sauerkraut, cheese, kimchee, wine, beer and yogurt in collaboration with the North Carolina Science Festival. Find the event on Facebook.

Knives of Spain, Battery Powered Hooker Boots and Yung Lungz @ Monstercade (W-S), 9 p.m.

The Lane Edwards Band, Greg Musgrove and the Raleigh Rockers perform while attendees navigate the hectic watering hole that is a food festival. Find some North Carolina beer and wine while kids take fire truck rides, get faces painted, create spin art and play “bubble sports,” sports play while inside those giant plastic bubbles. All food trucks participate in a “pay it forward” campaign to aid people affected by the recent tornado. Learn more at greensborofoodtruckfestivals.com.

Culture

Alfred Clemonts @ Center City Park (GSO), 7 p.m.

Opinion

The Gate City’s geek haven hosts four local board-game designers who present demonstrations of their latest drafts. This is the opportunity to play yet-unpublished board games with the creators. Gravy Baby food truck will be parked outside until 4 p.m. Find the event on Facebook.

Shot in the Triad

Knives of Spain is North Carolina-based composer Gwen Young, who describes herself as a 21st-Century trobairitz, a nod to medieval-era woman troubadours. She singlehandedly plays everything from classical guitar and Crumar analog synths to flutes and field recordings. Battery Powered Hooker Boots gets tech-y with circuit bent gear and video game consoles, and experimental noise project Yung Lungz rounds out the evening. Find the event on Facebook.

Puzzles

In another NC Science Festival event, community members are invited to celebrate humanity’s favorite flightless bird. Examine real penguin feathers, learn about penguin eggs and fun facts about the science center’s colony. Visitors will also learn about threats facing endangered African penguins and the steps we can take to protect them. Find the event on Facebook.

Contemporary gospel singer Alfred Clemonts lends his soulful vocals and smooth groove to this evening’s continuation of free live jazz Sundays, lawn games included. Find the event on Facebook.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

Regulating poverty by Lauren Barber

Culture

Opinion

Voter GuideUp

Front

Outside Greensboro’s City Hall before Tuesday night’s city council meeting, people currently experiencing homelessness along with anti-poverty advocates protested the city’s panhandling and loitering ordinances passed a few years ago. The ordinance in question required people to obtain a privilege license in order to legally ask for money in public, which requires a driver’s license, no previous license violations and criminal background check. Tuesday, council members voted to repeal the city’s laws requiring panhandlers to be licensed. They also voted to replace the ordinance with laws regulating all forms of solicitation, whether it’s panhandling or aggressive fundraising tactics by charitable organizations. The broad law concerning all types of solicitation, the second of the city’s recommendations, passed 6-3 with Johnson, Kennedy and Wells voting against. Lost in the shuffle is the reason for the ordinance change in the first place: Similar ordinances are consistently thrown out when considered in federal courts. In other words: You Can’t Do That. But in its quest to help middle-class folks ignore the poverty in Greensboro while they shop and eat downtown, council will enact a more general ordinance, outlawing not just panhandling but all forms of solicitation: begging, charitable or political soliciting, peddling, commercial soliciting, itinerant merchanting, street performing and, ironically, mobile food trucks. Bad news for the Girls Scouts and the B-boys. But hey, anything to keep someone from asking for a handout.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

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John Hammer discovers the internet by Brian Clarey

April 26 - May 2, 2018

Triad Media Wars

Front Voter GuideUp

Rhino Times Publisher Roy Carroll, right, speaks with George House, developer of the other downtown hotel, December 2018.

FILE PHOTO

Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

In a wholly uncharacteristic move, Rhino Times Editor John Hammer broke some news online on Tuesday. It’s the first time, I think, that Hammer’s gotten ahead of his print schedule like that to harness the power of the World Wide Web. He even pushed it out on social media. And normally I would commend my friend’s pivot to using digital tools as a means to satisfy his paper’s mission. Only his paper’s mission these days is to carry water for his publisher, developer Roy Carroll, who was the primary source for Hammer’s 1,500-word newsflash. In it, he describes a phone call between his boss and Mayor Nancy Vaughan, in which she informed Carroll that the city would not be funding his proposed parking deck — not the one behind Cone Denim Entertainment Center, the other one, by the ballpark. It’s a pretty big hit for Carroll Companies, which had leveraged the parking lot into another deal, Project Slugger (who names these things?), in the area by the ballpark where his massive hotel/office/residential complex nears completion. It all hinged on the city’s $30 million reimbursement for his deck, planned for Bellemeade Street — not to be confused with the actual Bellemeade Parking Deck, which is the one with the murals on it. “We stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of the city’s departure from good-faith negotiations over the deck that the city authorized us to design,” Hammer’s boss told him. “Our company has extensive man-hours invested and we have given notice to tenants we have on our parking lot due to the city’s pressing us to move forward on this project.” It’s a strange development, to be sure — the story’s other source, Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Zack Matheny, seemed to be caught flatfooted. But Mayor Vaughan gave some context on Wednesday morning. “The Rhino story is not entirely accurate,” she said. “We’ve been working on details [of this project] for a year now. We were unable to come to terms on this particular project at this time.” As for sticking points in the deal, she said, “Oh, there were tons of them.” “But we will be happy to work with [Carroll] on his hotel and office project when he’s ready.” So kudos to Hammer for successfully navigating the digital landscape this one time. I wonder how long it took him to remember his Facebook password. Unfortunately, by using his brand to spread a one-sided, heavily editorialized piece about his boss, he turned himself into a digital tool in the process.

April 26 - May 2, 2018 Up Front

Triad City Beat 2018 primary election guide by Jordan Green The May 8 primary is a classic intramural, with competition heating up between Democrats eager to take on Republican incumbents in Congress in an act of revenge against Donald Trump and his supporters. The anticipated “blue wave” election has also energized the Democratic primary for Forsyth County sheriff, with jostling to take on Republican incumbent Bill Schatzman. In state legislative races, redrawn district lines and heartburn over the state sales tax is driving inter-party competition. Further down the ballot, the top position in the district attorney’s office is open for the first time in 12 years in Guilford County, while the two urban school board seats are open in Forsyth County.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

Voter Guide

5th Congressional District

Republican primary (vote for 1) Virginia Foxx (i): Foxx was considered a hardline conservative when she was first elected to Congress in 2004. With the GOP’s continual rightward drift, Foxx has moved into the party’s leadership, holding the position of secretary of the House Republican Conference from 2013 to 2016. Foxx still holds clout as chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and will be difficult to dislodge with $3.0 million in cash on hand. The Foxx campaign is so flush that her committee has been able to afford to shift a total of $325,000 during this campaign cycle to the National Republican Congressional Committee to support other GOP candidates. Dillon Gentry: Neither of Foxx’s Republican challengers raised enough for any campaignfinance reports to show up on the Federal Election Commission site. First up, Dillon Gentry, a 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Avery County who works in telecom sales. He says the political culture in Washington is compromised by “toxic partisanship and identity politics.” While expressing some libertarian tendencies, Gentry argues that the country’s regulatory framework needs to be shifted to support the middle class: “I feel fine saying on the record that trickledown was a failed experiment. We need to turn to a middle-class-out system.” Cortland J. Meader Jr.: A 53-yearold cardiovascular invasive specialist with from Davie County who teaches at Forsyth Tech, Cortland J. Meader

Jr. is on his third career after starting a retail store chain and then designing and building homes as a general contractor. Meader says he has a healthcare plan, which sets him apart from any other Republican in Congress, including Foxx. Like Gentry, Meader says he would apply common sense instead of voting the GOP party line. “My immigration plan differs from most of Republicans,” he says, “because I don’t believe in building that wall.” Democratic primary (vote for 1) DD Adams: Many Democrats, including Josh Brannon and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board member Elisabeth Motsinger, have gone down in flames trying to take on Foxx. DD Adams, who is serving her third term on Winston-Salem City Council, has raised $131,969 for the endeavor. Adams’s progressive platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, legalizing marijuana, adopting a Scandinavian-style rehabilitation approach to curb mass incarceration, creating a path to citizenship for eligible DACA recipients, single-payer healthcare and gun-control measures like reinstating the assault-rifle ban. Jenny Marshall: An Indiana transplant and social studies teacher, Jenny Marshall is, like her primary opponent, a Winston-Salem resident. Both have been running vigorous campaigns since early 2017, and Marshall has raised $120,094. It’s hard to tell which candidate is more progressive. Marshall’s platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, taking “marijuana off the federal government’s list of outlawed drugs,” banning for-profit prisons, allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status,

Early voting is already underway, with eight locations across Guilford County and balloting taking place at the Forsyth County Government Center in downtown Winston-Salem. On April 30, the Forsyth County Board of Elections opens additional early-voting locations in Kernersville, Rural Hall, Lewisville and the Southside Branch Library in Winston-Salem. In both counties, early voting runs through May 5, a Saturday. On May 8, the official election day, voters can exercise their franchise at polling places in their local precincts. For specific times and voting locations, visit the two county boards of elections at myguilford.com/elections/ and forsyth.cc/elections/.

single-payer healthcare and gun-control measures like banning bump-stocks and high-capacity magazines.

6th Congressional District

if there is, the government will open up the armories so we get firearms.”

13th Congressional District

Democratic primary (vote for 1)

Ryan Watts: A 28-year-old business consultant from Burlington, Ryan Watts is one of two Democrats vying for the chance to take on Republican incumbent Mark Walker — whose April 20 fundraiser in Irving Park received an assist from Vice President Mike Pence. As in the neighboring 13th Congressional District, the two major political parties are diametrically opposed on gun control. While Walker signed a 10-point conservative pledge to “protect our Second Amendment freedoms,” Watts says he supports universal background checks and closing the gun-show loophole, as well as making it illegal for citizens to own so-called “weapons of war.” Watts, who has raised $103,204, says he wants to bring back “a spirit of collaboration in Washington,” while promoting an agenda that’s fiscally responsible and socially inclusive.

Adam Coker: Considered the most competitive Republican-held seat in North Carolina, the 13th Congressional District is viewed as a big prize in the Democrats’ effort to retake the US House. Ted Budd, owner of the ProShots shooting range, carried the district by 12.2 points in 2016. Adam Coker, a long-haul truck driver, placed third in the Democratic primary that year. He’s been campaigning for the seat practically since the last election. Coker is known for showing up, from the vigil after Charlottesville to the recent tornado relief effort in Greensboro. A populist inspired by Bernie Sanders, Coker’s progressive platform includes overturning Citizens United, gender pay equity, Medicare for all, investing in renewable energy, and ending the war on drugs and mass incarceration. On the issue of guns, Coker favors strengthening background checks, banning bump stocks and regulating high-capacity assault rifles. As the son of a murder victim, Coker argues he’s the one who can defeat Budd.

Gerald Wong: A truck driver inspired by Bernie Sanders, Gerald Wong favors singlepayer healthcare. Wong’s work schedule has made it difficult to make it to some campaign events. He says he’s spending his retirement “motorcycle fund” to pay for his campaign, and hasn’t raised enough money to date to require filing reports with the Federal Election Commission. Like Watts, Wong accuses the GOP of stoking fear about Democrats taking away people’s guns. “The military’s not gonna come and overthrow us,” he says. “There’s no zombie apocalypse. I’m sure

Kathy Manning: Despite Coker’s legwork, he’s not the establishment’s choice to take on Budd. Soon after declaring her candidacy in December 2017, Greensboro philanthropist Kathy Manning raised $561,891, and quickly earned the backing of the Democratic National Congressional Committee through its “Red to Blue” program. Manning has raised $1.2 million in all, and her campaign war chest is almost

Republican primary (vote for 1)

Kate Flippen: A master of public health candidate at UNCG, Kate Flippen says she was motivated to run by the desire to expand Medicaid in North Carolina. One of her priorities is protecting women’s right to choose, and she wants North Carolina to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Like Quick, Flippen wants to increase funding for public education. And like Quick, Flippen emphasizes the importance of Democrats and Republicans working through their differences to serve the common needs of North Carolina’s people.

State House District 59

Democratic primary (vote for 1) Avery Michelle Crump: District Attorney Doug Henderson’s retirement this year opens the seat for the first time in 12 years. With no Republicans filing, the winner of the Democratic primary is all but guaranteed to take office. Avery Crump worked as an assistant district attorney in Guilford County before her election as a district court judge in 2008. Crump said she wants the staff in the district attorney’s office to undergo implicit bias training, and said during a candidate forum on Sunday that she witnessed disparate treatment of district court defendants based on race. “I’ve seen some stuff from some of the district court ADAs that I don’t agree with,” Crump said. “And when I don’t agree with something, believe it or not, I’m bold enough to say, ‘I’m not gonna accept this plea.’ Or, ‘Why is this person being offered that when I know you just offered someone else something different?’”

Republican primary (vote for 1) Bill Schatzman (i): A former FBI agent, Bill Schatzman has served as Forsyth County sheriff since 2002, when he defeated incumbent Ron Barker in the Republican primary. During his 16 years in office, Schatzman has largely avoided scandal, although the county was forced to pay out $96,000 to a former deputy who was fired less than a year after returning from military service in Iraq in 2013, and a string of medical-related deaths has generated widespread concern. “This is a full-service, accredited law enforcement agency,” Schatzman says. “There’s no difference between this agency and the NYPD or LAPD. We recruit the same quality of people. We test them the same way mentally, and physically and intellectually.” Ernie Leyba: Leyba worked for the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1990s and then for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office through 2002 — the year Barker was defeated — before going to work for the Durham Police Department. “My main motivation is to go back into law enforcement,” said Leyba, who now works as a driver for Harris Teeter supermarkets. “I miss it a lot. It’s a pure adrenaline rush.” Leyba cites his experience in street patrol, crash investigation, gang enforcement, highway interdiction, narcotics enforcement, and even going undercover as a narc in a high school, as useful in bringing a frontline focus to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

Puzzles

Jon Hardister (i): Hardister was first elected to the state House in 2012 after the Republicans redrew district lines to allow their party to pick up one seat in Guilford County. Now serving as majority whip, Hardister took some heat from progressive constituents over HB 2. Along with bills to protect children from identity theft and relax regulations on churches providing shelter to homeless people, Hardister says he’s most proud of his role in the General Assembly’s 2013 tax overhaul and the 2017 “Brunch Bill,” which allows local municipalities and counties to opt in to alcohol sales at restaurants on Sundays beginning at 10 a.m.

Guilford County District Attorney

Forsyth County Sheriff

Shot in the Triad

Republican primary (vote for 1)

Mark McDaniel: A former state senator who served in the 1990s, Mark McDaniel is running on one issue: The 2013 Republican tax overhaul. While the bill reduced personal income and corporate rates and eliminated the estate taxes, it offset revenue losses by introducing sales tax for services like auto maintenance, plumbing and airconditioning repair — what McDaniel calls a “misery tax.” Hardister counters that the tax overhaul lowered working families’ overall tax burden, allowing them to keep money in their pockets for emergencies.

Culture

Dan Barrett: A lawyer by profession, Dan Barrett of Advance serves on the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting, which has been discussing options for redraw-

Amos Quick (i): A pastor, former executive director of the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club and former Guilford County School Board member, Amos Quick won election to the District 58 seat after defeating the late Ralph Johnson in the 2016 Democratic primary. Quick, who was appointed Democratic freshman vice-chair, filed 117 bills in his first term based on a philosophy that he articulates as “show the people the laws you would pass as the majority.” He says he’s proud of his role in the “Raise the Age” law passed last year to end prosecuting juveniles as adults.

Opinion

Peter Antinozzi: An assistant professor of biochemistry at Wake Forest University, Peter Antinozzi carried 10.3 percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary with Krawiec in 2016. He likes to say that in 2016 there were two challengers opposing one incumbent, and this year there is one challenger opposing two incumbents. Antinozzi argues that the General Assembly hasn’t adequately addressed education, healthcare and jobs due to distractions from “bathrooms” — a reference to the General Assembly’s March 2016 vote to prohibit transgender people from using the bathroom that accords with their gender identity — “and legal battles on election districts.”

Democratic primary (vote for 1)

Stephanie Reese: Reese, who has worked in the district attorney’s office for 17 years, said she follows former District Attorney Jim Kimel’s philosophy: “Rehabilitate where we can, and prosecute where we must.” She says implicit bias training might help lessexperienced prosecutors, but the district attorney’s office really needs to analyze its case files to determine whether people of color and white defendants are being treated equitably. She wants to institute a veterans court, like Forsyth County has, to “address the underlying cause of what gets people in a position where they are just cycling through the system.”

Voter Guide

Joyce Krawiec (i): Under courtordered redistricting, the suburban Forsyth County Senate District 31 swapped out Yadkin in favor of Davie County, forcing incumbent Joyce Krawiec into a Republican primary with fellow lawmaker Dan Barrett. A former organizer with the tea party-affiliated FreedomWorks, Krawiec has represented District 31 since 2014. Her social conservative bona fides are unquestionable: Krawiec, who describes herself as “unwavering in the war against abortion,” spoke at a rally in February 2017 calling on Congress to defund Planned Parenthood. The Kernersville lawmaker gets high marks from pro-gun groups, including an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.

State House District 58

Karen C. Albright: Albright says when she filed she thought she was running in neighboring District 58, and didn’t expect to run against two fellow Republicans. That’s understandable: The courts redrew the lines shortly before filing. Albright says she tried to withdraw, but then decided to mount a campaign after all. Instead of going to Raleigh to pursue her own personal agenda, she says she would consult with constituent groups like the police, and then vote according to their wishes.

Up Front

State Senate District 31

ing judicial district lines in North Carolina, even after the General Assembly has gotten slapped down by the courts for unconstitutional racial and partisan gerrymandering. A former Davie County commissioner, Barrett was appointed to represent Senate District 34 in 2017.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

twice as big as Budd’s. She touts her experience as a community leader and business person as an asset in bringing people together and promoting economic development. The candidate doesn’t shrink from addressing gun control. “We need to do what we can to make sure we don’t have guns in the hands of felons, terrorists, spousal abusers and people who would harm children,” Manning told TCB. “To do that, we need to address high-capacity magazines, ban bump stocks, and introduce universal background checks.”

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

Voter Guide

Up Front

April 26 - May 2, 2018

Democratic primary (vote for 1)

Clif Kilby: Kilby retired from the sheriff’s office in 2011 as a supervisor with 30 years of service. Kilby ran as a Republican in 2014, finishing the primary with 8.2 percent of the vote. His switch to the Democratic Party has more to do with election odds-making than ideology, and he has stated on his campaign website: “My beliefs would be the same as beliefs if I was registered in another party.” Kilby wants to expand the school resource program to assign a deputy in each of the elementary schools in the office’s patrol jurisdiction. He says he will hold the company responsible for healthcare in the jail accountable. Bobby Kimbrough Jr.: A retired special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bobby Kimbrough Jr. made a dramatic introduction in early March with an article in Forsyth Woman indicating that his wife had been addicted to opioids at the time of her death in 2005. He promises to tackle the opioid crisis by beefing up the narcotics unit and forging partnerships with federal agencies. Kimbrough’s position on one important enforcement area — internet sweepstakes parlors — is unclear, and he hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment from TCB. His position on the issue is significant because to date $10,000 out of $11,000 in his reported campaign contributions come from individuals linked to the industry, which made a concerted push to lobby state lawmakers for deregulation in 2012. Tim Wooten: Like Kilby and Leyba, Tim Wooten is a former employee of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Wooten received the Rufus Dalton Award for Valor from the Winston-Salem Foundation in 2009 after keeping his patrol car in the path of a drunk driver to protect a road crew on Interstate 40. The next year he was fired without explanation. Now a private investigator, Wooten first joined the sheriff’s office in 1985. He claims to have established the office’s crime-scene unit — a fact disputed by Schatzman and Kilby. In the interim, he’s served as chief of police for the town of Cooleemee, and returned to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office for a second stint. Wooten wants to reinstate the crimescene unit, expand the school-resource program and put more resources into narcotics enforcement.

Guilford County Sheriff Republican primary (vote for 1) BJ Barnes (i): Barnes was elected sheriff in the Republican wave election of 1994 that made Newt Gingrich the speaker of the House. Barnes has handily defeated challengers in Democratic-leaning Guilford County, while using his clout to boost fellow Republicans, including former Gov. Pat McCrory and Donald Trump. Despite sometimes tough rhetoric on immigration, Barnes is now publicly battling US Immigrations Customs Enforcement by refusing to honor detainers. With immigration off the table, the biggest issue in the election is Barnes’ decision to let his agency’s accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies lapse. “The only thing CALEA does is it gives you a scapegoat when things go wrong,” Barnes says. Steve Parr: A former Guilford County Sheriff’s deputy, Steve Parr pledges to add 24 deputies to patrol. Barnes scoffs at the idea that Parr could get funding from the county to pay for it or effectively reassign personnel to cover the positions. Parr readily acknowledges that as a young state trooper he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault during a traffic stop. “At the time I thought I was using just about the right amount of force necessary to affect the arrest,” he says. “Looking back, I’m sure I could have done things differently.” Democratic primary (vote for 1) Therron “TJ” Phipps: A retired Greensboro police captain, Therron “TJ” Phipps is at the forefront of a trio of Democratic candidates calling on the sheriff’s office to rejoin CALEA. “It goes towards all aspects, including crime prevention and implementing non-discrimination practices,” said Phipps, who served as an assessor for CALEA and commander of Watch Operations during his time with the police department. “It enhances professionalism.” Phipps is currently suing the police department and former Chief Ken Miller for discrimination. Danny Rogers: A former Guilford County sheriff’s deputy and former High Point police officer, Danny Rogers carried 43.9 percent of the vote as Barnes’ Democratic opponent

in the 2014 election. Rogers expresses a sense of empathy towards those who are consumers of law enforcement services and those who are on the other side of the badge. He also wants to bring back DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education. “I grew up in the 27260 [ZIP] code,” he said at a candidate forum on Sunday. “That’s one of the codes over there they said that young men of color was at risk, that we would not come out of that community.” James Zimmerman Sr.: A retired Guilford County sheriff’s deputy, James Zimmerman Sr. wants to reaccredit the agency through CALEA, as do Phipps and Rogers. This isn’t Zimmerman’s first rodeo: The genial candidate finished last in the 2014 and 2006 Democratic primaries. Zimmerman says he wants to instill a more personable ethos in the deputies if he’s elected sheriff. “I want to make the deputies more friendly — what they should be,” the candidate said. “The sheriff works for the people in the county. You’ve got to get out in the community and find out what the people’s needs are.”

Forsyth County Commission, at large Republican primary (vote for 1) Jimmie Boyd: Jimmie Boyd calls himself a constitutionalist, a political identity synonymous with the far-right patriot militia movement and Second Amendment advocacy. In fact, Boyd helped organize the Patriot Network Summit, a national gathering of patriot activists at Jomeokee Campground near Pilot Mountain this past weekend. It’s hard to know exactly how Boyd’s far-right politics would play out in local government, but he says most commissioners don’t appreciate the hardships experienced by ordinary working families and he wants to “bring power back to the people.” In fairness, Boyd has cultivated a dialogue with Black Lives Matter activist Andre Gregory, but the candidate’s far-right activism also tends to the extreme: He acknowledged in an interview that he and a group of associates provided security for a so-called “anti-sharia” rally in Raleigh last year that drew the white supremacist group Identity Evropa. And in a March 28 Facebook Live broadcast, Boyd retailed a discredited hoax that Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg is a “crisis actor.” In the same broadcast,

Boyd warned that progressive guncontrol advocates are provoking a “civil war.” “Progressives don’t realize there’s only about 770,000 oathed-in police officers [and] federal agents,” Boyd said. “How many millions of Second Amendment Americans are there? They’re in a battle they can’t win.” Buddy Collins: The winner of the Republican at-large primary will take on Democrat Ted Kaplan in November. The at-large seat has toggled between the two parties. Kaplan unseated Republican Dave Plyler in 2006, and then lost to the late Bill Whiteheart in 2010. Then Kaplan took the seat back in 2014. While Boyd finished last in a bid for the county commission in 2012, lawyer Buddy Collins has a track record of winning elections in the county, having served on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Commission for 15 years. In 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Collins to serve on the state Board of Education, a seat he’s relinquishing in his bid for county commission.

Forsyth County Commission, District A Democratic primary (vote for up to 2) Everette Witherspoon (i): Everette Witherspoon has held one of the two District A seats representing most of WinstonSalem on the Forsyth County Commission since edging out the late Beaufort Bailey by 113 votes in the 2010 Democratic primary. Witherspoon says his proudest accomplishment over his two terms is establishing a Nurse-Family Partnership in Forsyth County to support “low-income, firsttime parents whose babies face risks such as low birth weight and premature birth,” along with increasing the ratio of nurses to students in Winston-Salem/ Forsyth Schools. Witherspoon argues he’s the candidate who was closest to the late Earline Parmon, who was a political powerhouse in Winston-Salem. “Me and Earline was Batman and Robin,” he says. Fleming El-Amin (i): A community leader, former chair of the county Democratic Party, former member of the local board of elections, Fleming El-Amin was appointed to fill the unexpired term of longtime commissioner Walter Marshall, who died

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board, District 2 Republican primary (vote for up to 4) Lida Calvert Hayes (i): Although two Democrats — Marilynn Baker and Rebecca Nussbaum — have filed in suburban District 2, the district heavily favors Republican candidates. With five candidates vying for four seats in the Republican primary, it’s essentially a game of pulling the chair

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Barbara Hanes Burke: An assistant principal at Carver High School, Barbara Hanes Burke brought the fire during a candidate forum at the Central Library on April 9. “We have eight elementary schools in this system… that are flat-lining,” Burke said. “Out of 1,114 elementary schools in the state of North Carolina, Ashley Elementary is at the very bottom. They are 1,114…. One of our core values in this system is equity. Another one is student-centered. If we are going to put these words on paper we have got to put some actions in place to show that is what we mean.”

Malishai (Shai) Woodbury: A Winston-Salem native who works as an equity trainer for neighboring Guilford County Schools, Shai Woodbury is incumbent Victor Johnson Jr.’s second pick to fill the two vacant seats. Woodbury says school leaders need to obtain community buy-in to undertake school desegregation, proposing a community task force. “And let us think holistically together as human beings to progress beyond School Choice,” she said, “and to bring our community together so that our school district is a success for all of our students.”

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Alan Perdue (i): After retiring as Guilford County’s emergency services director, Alan Perdue won election to represent the new District 2, a strange, serpent-like animal that runs along the southern length of the county, up through High Point and Jamestown, out to the airport and then into conservative neighborhoods of Greensboro.

Skip Alston (i): For many, the name Skip Alston conjures a whiff of controversy stemming from his role in founding the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, maneuvering on the Renaissance Community Cooperative and other real estate deals. Not enough room to explore any of those episodes here, but voters should know that Alston is the longest serving commissioner in Guilford County history, and holds the distinction of being the first African American to chair the board. Alston retired from the commission after 20 years in 2012, and then was appointed by the Democratic Party to fill Ray Trapp’s unexpired term in 2016. Alston says he is focused on improving wages through incentives in the private sector and raises in county government, expanding opportunities for African Americans to contract with the county, and promoting a bond to build new schools.

Alex Bailand Bohannon: Incumbents Victor Johnson Jr. and Deanna Taylor are retiring, opening the two seats in District 1. As with District A on the county commission, there are no Republicans in the race, so the top two vote-getters in the Democratic primary effectively win the seats. Alex Bohannon, a 23-year-old graduate of Elon University, is one of Johnson’s two picks. All five candidates want to end Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools’ School Choice student assignment plan, which effectively re-segregated the system in the mid-1990s. While sharing his opponents’ critique of the structural components that keep largely poor African-American and Latinx students concentrated in failing schools, Bohannon also says educational leaders need to change the “narrative” that stigmatizes those schools.

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Chenita Barber Johnson: Johnson is on the same page with her opponents about the need to mothball the School Choice Plan, but she has a concrete proposal that might win over suburban, white parents by improving cost efficiency. Johnson says the district should consolidate students into fewer schools to achieve racial and socioeconomic proportions that more closely reflect the county. “That will integrate the students naturally,” she said. “They won’t have to do busing or anything of that nature, which tends to put a lot of people off.”

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Eunice Campbell: A longtime parent volunteer, Eunice Campbell comes across as a little more polished than Burke but doesn’t concede any fight on the school assignment plan. “Quite frankly, that’s something that can’t be justified, and shouldn’t have been implemented to begin with,” she said. “It’s part of the systemic racism culture that is a part of our school culture — our district culture. Our schools are segregated, and that’s plain and simple. It has affected our students; it’s one of the reasons for our achievement gap.”

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Tonya McDaniel: A protégé of the late Earline Parmon, Tonya McDaniel is making her first run for elected office. An officer of the Winston-Salem NAACP, McDaniel demonstrates a marked concern about racial equity in criminal justice matters. She was spotted in court on Monday for a hearing about a request for the release of police-body camera video in the fatal shooting of African-American man by a Winston-Salem police officer. She said she is concerned about the quality of healthcare in the county jail. “Going to jail shouldn’t be a death sentence,” she says.

Ashley Tillery: A nonprofit executive, Ashley Tillery would likely give High Point a stronger voice on the county commission as a resident of the city. Tillery’s campaign manager is Brandon Lenoir, a political science professor at High Point University who successfully shepherded the campaigns of four candidates for High Point City Council last year, including Mayor Jay Wagner. Tillery says the Family Justice Center remains “stuck in the planning stage” and she would “be a strong voice for moving this project forward.” In a recent Facebook post, Lenoir sought to capitalize on discontent with the county commission’s refusal to support the High Point stadium project, urging the voters to go with his candidate.

Fahiym Hanna: A small-business owner who opened Sensuous Scents on Bessemer Avenue, Fahiym Hanna came up with the Correct Priority Society economic model wherein people work about 20 hours a week on projects that meet public aims like tutoring children or replacing old water lines, and in turn their needs for food, water and shelter are met. That’s basically his sole issue, and in discussion about other issues he brings the conversation back to CPS as a radical overhaul for the local economy. “There wasn’t a lot of interest from the current county commission,” Hanna told TCB. “There certainly is now.”

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Tony Lewis Burton III: As CEO of Northwest Child Development Centers, which operates the Mudpies daycare centers, Tony Lewis Burton III is a nonprofit leader with a penchant for quoting motivational speakers. From his office at the Downtown East location, Burton is strategically situated to witness the burgeoning development of the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter and to think about how it might help or hurt the predominantly African-American neighborhoods to the east. But the primary legacy of Mudpies Downtown East, which has been heavily subsidized by the city of Winston-Salem, is that the financial difficulties will likely result in the operation being turned over to the Sunshine House daycare chain.

The district was drawn in 2011 as part of a General Assembly scheme to give Republicans control of the county’s governing body. Perdue, who lives south of Greensboro, says he was proud to support the expansion of the Family Justice Center into High Point, and also prides himself on “reducing the property tax rate while increasing funding of essential services like education, public safety and economic development.”

April 26 - May 2, 2018

suddenly in 2017. District A residents will have the opportunity to vote for up to two candidates, who are all but guaranteed to holds the seats since no Republicans filed to run. El-Amin said his proudest accomplishment to date is persuading his fellow commissioners to rename the county social services building after Marshall.

April 26 - May 2, 2018 Up Front Voter Guide Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

out from whoever comes in last. A painting contractor from Winston-Salem, Lida Calvert Hayes was appointed by the school board to fill the unexpired term of Jeannie Metcalf in 2015. Hayes has parlayed her contracting experience to a position on the board as chair of the building and grounds committee, and expresses pride in the successful passage of a $350 million school bond in 2016. Dana Caudill Jones (i): A business owner and former member of the Kernersville Board of Aldermen, Dana Caudill Jones was first elected in 2014 to the school board, where she serves as chair. Like her colleague Hayes, Jones counts the 2016 school bond as an achievement, and also says she’s proud of working with Superintendent Beverly Emory to support low-performing schools. She says her current goal is to bring the local teacher supplement in Forsyth County to the top in the state. David B. Singletary (i): Like Jones and Clark, David Singletary was first elected to the school board in 2014, replacing a wave of Republicans who opted for retirement that year. Along with Democrat Elisabeth Motsinger, who will be on the ballot seeking reelection to her at-large seat in November, Singletary, who lives in Germanton, was one of two members who voted against closing Hanes-Lowrance Middle School, arguing that the fears about contaminants under the school were overblown. His skepticism aligns him with many urban school advocates who worried that Hanes-Lowrance’s closing will contribute to a pattern of hollowingout school attendance in Winston-Salem. Lori Goins Clark (i): Running for her first term in 2014, Lori Goins Clark of Lewisville vowed to maintain the School Choice assignment plan, recalling that her involvement in school politics dated back to her opposition to forced bussing as an eighth grader in 1983. “My parents did not want me to be bused across town to a different school,” she said. “They were debating whether not they would make West Forsyth a four-year high school. And so I appealed to the school board as an eighth grader, soon to be ninth grader: ‘Please don’t bus me. Make West a fouryear high school so that I can stay in my neighborhood and go to a neighborhood school — so that I have a choice.”

Leah Crowley: A longtime parent volunteer from Winston-Salem, Leah Crowley was the only Republican candidate running in District 2 who showed up for an April 9 candidate forum hosted by urban school advocates. Incidentally, she’s also the only challenger in the Republican primary. Crowley expressed support for the School Choice plan. “When you as a parent can be involved in your child’s school because it’s right down the street or a short drive away,” Crowley said, “you’re more likely to be engaged in that school, invest in that school and be a part of your child’s education.”

Guilford County School Board, at large Democratic primary (vote for 1) Alan W. Duncan (i): Few, if any, local elected officials have served continuously for as long as Alan Duncan and no one has held a longer tenure as chair of governing board. A lawyer who lives in Greensboro, Duncan was first elected to the Guilford County School Board in 2000. The fact that his colleagues have selected him as chair continuously since 2002 is a testament to Duncan’s pacific manner and consensusbuilding style in a Democrat-dominated county balanced by strong conservative voices from suburban and rural areas. Tijuana B. Hayes: A retired teacher, Tijuana Hayes of Greensboro previously served as president of the Guilford County Association of Educators. Last year, Hayes made a bid for Greensboro City Council in a crowded at-large field, placing 12 out of 15. Hayes couldn’t be reached for this voter guide and doesn’t have any campaign materials on the web, but in a previous interview she noted with pride that she’s a life member of the Greensboro NAACP. “These seats don’t belong to anyone,” she said. “As long as we’re law-abiding and honest, we have just as much right to run as anyone else.” Keith McInnis Sr.: High Point resident Keith McInnis Sr. has worked as an assistant principal in Lexington and Charlotte. He wants to rotate school board meetings throughout the county, including High Point, Jamestown and Browns Summit,

to give parents better access. Teachers and other school employees need a raise, even if it means coming up with the funds through a local supplement, McInnis said. “There’s no reason why a bus driver or a teacher that works full-time for Guilford County Schools should need a part-time job,” he said. “That one job should be enough to take care of their families.”

Guilford County School Board, District 4 Republican primary (vote for 1) Linda Welborn (i): Linda Welborn, who has served on the board since 2012, is one Republican who hasn’t been swept up in the mania over charter schools. “They continue to constrict public education, the movement of money, just about every aspect,” she told NC Policy Watch last year. “They’re not giving us more flexibility. They’re doing the boa constrictor on us.” Since the Parkland massacre, Welborn has played an active role in the debate over school safety. While supporting police assignments in schools, Welborn adds, “In most of these situations, there were reports [of troubling behavior] and there wasn’t enough done to interact with the individuals to possibly de-escalate the situation. We need to do a better job when someone seems to be a threat of getting that individual help.” Will Marsh: A financial advisor from McLeansville, Will Marsh describes himself as “big on school choice and North Carolina charter schools,” while acknowledging that funding for charter schools is determined by the General Assembly, and a seat on the school board largely provides a bully pulpit for advocacy. He also concedes that Guilford County Schools already has a lot of programs to accommodate children with different learning styles. “I don’t take a hard, aggressive stance on, ‘We want to do this or we want to do that,’” he says. “It’s more about listening. I think a lot of people don’t feel heard and listened to on issues.”

Democratic primary (vote for 1) Desirée Best: Democrats are challenging every single Republican up for re-election to school board this year, although in District 2 Democratic challenger Greg Drumwright and Republican incumbent Anita Sharpe won’t be on the ballot until November. Desirée Best of Browns Summit retired as a teacher in Guilford County Schools in 2013, but continues to volunteer as a tutor. “I believe there needs to be a voice that comes from a teacher’s perspective — that creates a bridge between teachers and the board,” she says. Adrienne Nicole Spinner: A parent advocate, Adrienne Spinner filed literally at the last minute after another candidate backed out. She founded an activist group called Women for a CAUSE (Christ-like Activism for Unconditional Social Equality), which has tackled racial equity in education and environmental issues. Spinner opposes charter schools and is concerned about the quality of drinking water in schools. Earlier this week, Spinner visited Reedy Fork Elementary, which is absorbing students from Hampton Elementary who were displaced by the recent tornado, to welcome students and lend moral support to teachers.

Guilford County School Board, District 6 Democratic primary (vote for 1) Chris Hocker: Two Greensboro Democrats are looking for an opportunity to unseat Republican Wes Cashwell, who won election to the school board in the newly drawn District 6 in 2016. Chris Hocker operates a travel and culture website. He has two children in Guilford County Schools who receive special education services, and formed a nonprofit, Autism Unbound. Hocker says he wants to use his experience advocating for students with special needs to help all students, families and teachers in Guilford County Schools. Khem Denise Irby: Khem Denise Irby relocated from New York City to Greensboro, bringing her advocacy as a parent with her. Irby was the Democratic

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Laverne Carter: For the first time since her inaugural run in 2002, Deena Hayes is facing opposition. Laverne Carter has long monitored Guilford County Schools, and has previously served as education chair for both the Greensboro NAACP and the Pulpit Forum. She leads a community task force called Community Call Action Student Success Education with Greensboro City Councilwoman Goldie Wells and parent advocate Lissa Lowe-Harris. Carter has advocated for children with exceptional needs, and wants to decrease the number of students who are suspended and pushed into the school-toprison pipeline.

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Deena Hayes (i): Deena Hayes describes herself as “an organizer that is serving in office, not a politician,” and says she would rather be behind the scenes, but she since her election to the board in 2002, she has ascended to the position of vice-chair. As a professional antiracism trainer, Hayes has made closing racial gaps in academic achievement and discipline an unrelenting focus. In the aftermath of Parkland, Hayes says she’s wary that the narrative around school safety will switch to school discipline, with inordinate attention focused on black and brown students. If the school system fails to reckon with white privilege, she warns, additional law enforcement and mental health resources won’t do any good.

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Guilford County School Board, District 8

April 26 - May 2, 2018

opponents, Levette would be wary of assigning more police in schools to address safety concerns, and instead wants to review facilities to ensure that all schools have properly locking doors and buzzer systems to regulate entry. Levette also says he wants to change the dynamic on the board so that Superintendent Sharon Contreras can do her job without being micro-managed.

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nominee in 2016, when she garnered 45.3 percent of the vote, compared to 54.7 percent by Republican Wes Cashwell. Irby is deeply skeptical of charter schools based on her children’s experience in New York City, and is also concerned about the school-to-prison pipeline. As a member of Parents Across America, Irby says, “Parents are the most important part of educating their children. It’s important to have a parent voice on the school board.”

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I’ve been covering North Hall of Fame, and then made it back to Greensboro in time Carolina elections since 2005, but to spend the evening with my new sweetheart. my baptism in campaign coverage The Clinton event stands out for its corniness. She had really begins with the epic primary two high-profile local heavies to vouch for her: racing election of 2008. legend Junior Johnson and then-Gov. Mike Easley. You Forget that the campaign escan’t beat this plug from Easley for effervescent political sentially began with now-disgraced showbiz: “The Bush administration, they’ve had the caution North Carolina native son John flag out for way too long on our economy. And we got by Jordan Green Edwards’ December 2006 speech someone here today who doesn’t know but one speed, and in Chapel Hill announcing a presidential campaign based that’s pedal to the metal. She’s been around the track on on fighting poverty and addressing climate change. It’s hard more than one occasion, and she might have gotten loose for people to appreciate that even in January 2008, Hillary from time to time, but she’s never spun out of control.” Clinton was considered to be the Democratic Party’s ineviSoon, the nation would plunge into recession, Clinton table nominee; she had the foreign-policy experience and would be supplicating for a job as secretary of state in the the toughness to vote in favor of authorizing a war, even if Obama administration and Easley would be under investiit turned out to be widely unpopular. gation by the FBI for potential campaignThe idea that a black man with a funny, finance violations. (In 2010, Easley entered African-sounding name and a background an Alford plea to a single campaign-finance ‘... She might have as a community organizer could win the violation, not admitting guilt but acknowlgotten loose from edging there was enough evidence to nomination seemed to many both wildly romantic and irresponsible. But then he carconvict him.) time to time, but ried South Carolina by 29 points and began I will forever associate the particular lush she’s never spun to pile up win after win. Suddenly African greenery of North Carolina spring with the Americans in North Carolina who worried hopeful yet volatile energy in the runup to out of control.’ that a black man couldn’t win the presithe state’s even-year primary, always on the – Gov. Mike Easley dency — or would be assassinated — began first Tuesday of May. The image of fervent to flock to the campaign. Young people and Jim Neal supporters greeting voters while progressive, urban whites also swung over standing at the edge of a parking lot lined to the Obama coalition as the impossible became doable. with tall pines at the Vandalia Presbyterian Church polling Most of us in the media, with the notable exception of place is etched in my memory. At the same precinct later Brian Clarey, thought the nomination would be wrapped that primary election day, with 30 minutes to go before up by the time North Carolina’s late primary came around the polls closed, the voting area inside was a sea of mostly on May 6. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made black faces, so full one could barely move. It would be a fitcampaign stops in the Triad. The Democratic primary ting omen for Obama’s 15-point triumph over Clinton when also offered a matchup between the cautious moderate North Carolina’s ballots were fully counted. Kay Hagan and the progressive, openly gay Jim Neal for I’ve gone a little crazy with this election business over the US Senate and a brutal contest between Bev Perdue and years. In 2011, in a creepy precursor to Cambridge AnaRichard Moore for governor. lytica, I drew up a list of my Facebook friends, broken down It was also an epic spring for me personally. I started by Greensboro city council district, analyzed their voting running in March, striking out for ever longer distances history based on publicly available data and then messaged around the west and north sides of Greensboro, until I got them with customized lists of candidates on their ballots the notion that I could finish a half-marathon. I remember and reminders to vote. Ultimately, I’ve learned not to place handicapping the election by taking an inventory of cammy hope in political saviors; time after time I’m reminded paign signs in the manicured lawns along Hobbs Road and that it’s how people organize their communities that makes feeling a twinge of regret that my training was preventing the difference in their resiliency, not who they send to me from attending a judicial candidates forum. Washington. Yet I’ve never completely lost at least a kernel That spring I also started spending time with the sweet of faith that an informed citizenry can choose good elected lady who is now my wife and the mother of our 4-year-old representatives — even if the game is largely rigged and daughter. On the Saturday before the primary, I got up at they don’t always make the best decisions — and remain a 6:30 p.m. to run a half-marathon in Greensboro, drove out free, self-governing people. to Mooresville to see Clinton speak at the NC Auto Racing

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On the surface, Superior Court Judge But in between there’s nuance. Stuart Albright’s decision to prevent the For one, Albright blocked release of public from seeing police body-camera the video in this single instance — “I emvideo of the fatal shooting of Edward phasize: at this time,” he told the court. McCrae, 60, by the Winston-Salem Which is good, because this footage Police Department, seems outrageous. eventually needs to be made public. Because here in the United States in Among the short litany of reasons 2018, if a police officer shoots and kills Albright gave for blocking the footyet another black person, we want to age’s release, the most persuasive was a know everything that happened before, personal request from McCrae’s family: during and after. that they look at We demand no the tapes before less. anyone else does. Edward McCrae is dead, That’s why the Reasonable. shot by a taxpayer-owned Compelling. ComWinston-Salem Journal went to passionate. bullet. And nothing will court to get the And, we remind be settled until we know footage, a request Albright, tempoAlbright denied rary. exactly what happened. on Monday: the Because people’s right to Edward McCrae know. is dead, shot by a And Albright, who was once the taxpayer-owned bullet. And nothing will Guilford County district attorney, could be settled until we know exactly what easily be seen as having an inclination to happened. rule in favor of law enforcement. Amanda Martin, attorney for the At the bedrock, of course, is state Journal, gets the last word: “The call for legislation requiring a court order to patience is in no way inconsistent with view police body-camera footage at the call for information,” Amanda Martin all — footage, we remind you, captured she said in a rebuttal. “To say, ‘Don’t by government employees operating on rush to judgment before we know all the our behalf, on publicly owned equipfacts,’ sort of implies we need to know all ment and that, the majority of the time, the facts.” exonerates the police of wrongdoing.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

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CULTURE What’s next for the captain of Greensboro’s cocktail culture by Eric Ginsburg

efore Mark Weddle takes a tall shot of Jäger, he rises from his barstool and walks nonchalantly to a metal cabinet at the back of the bar, rolling open a drawer and grabbing two Koozies. He walks back over to me, the top couple buttons on his short-sleeved plaid shirt open, and we slide the Koozies over our Miller Lite cans. Our shot glasses clink, touch the bar top and then empty. Now we can talk. If you live in Greensboro and know anything about bars or bartending, you know Mark Weddle. Probably from his days slinging drinks off a secret cocktail menu he covertly created at Green Valley Grill, or maybe from his glory days at the bygone Josephine’s. If you’re an oldhead, you might remember Weddle from his flair years at the Rhino Club, his self-described “shock and awe” era at Darryl’s or another deep cut like Houlihan’s, Ham’s or Sky nightclub. If you’re newer to the game, you just know Weddle as the affable guy with a curled mustache who — until recently — was inventing some of the Triad’s most creative and delicious cocktails at Traveled Farmer. The restaurant — formerly known as Marshall Free House and owned by developer Marty Kotis — closed suddenly at the end of 2017. We’re not here for an autopsy, though. Instead, Weddle and I are taking down our shot and a beer at his go-to dive to talk about his future. We’re at the Taproom, a dive among several in the stretch along Lawndale Avenue not far from the former Traveled Farmer or the Lawndale Shopping Center. There’s liquor, of course, but not cocktails exactly — if anything it’s more like a less trafficked Fisher’s or one of Weddle’s gigs from his early days. But the man known for upping cocktail culture in Greensboro would rather be here than just about everywhere, tapping the bartender’s hand to encourage her to keep pouring on his Jäger shot and nursing the light version of the champagne of beers. “I love when people know me from the bar and then they see me here,” Weddle laughs. He likes throwing people off, which makes sense with his experimental approach to making drinks. Weddle was sorry to see Traveled Farmer close — “I put a lot into Traveled Farmer, and I had fun, man,” he says. “I wish we could’ve kept that going. The

After the Traveled Farmer closed, Mark Weddle found himself a bartender without a bar to tend.

ERIC GINSBURG

gloves were off there.” But now, good luck getting him to go rience behind the bar are starting to coalesce into a venture of back to the old days, working somewhere until 3 a.m. his own. “I’m tired of mopping other people’s floors,” he says. Weddle is in the middle of recounting his non-linear timeNow, Weddle has “every iron in the fire.” He’s doing popline to me when our Taproom bartender pulls out a bottle of up bartending shifts at places like 1618 Midtown, hoping Old Weller Antique wheat bourbon. Ever the host and friendly to expand his one-night stands to professor, Weddle nabs us a sample every cocktail bar in the city before and explains that when you smell year’s end. He’s now the operations liquor, you should open your mouth Learn more about Mark Weddle manager at Sutler’s Spirit distillery in to better take in the aroma. DemonWinston-Salem, and he’s partnered strating, he says, “This really smells and his new adventure at cockwith a local crew to put out short like banana pudding.” And it does. tailculturenc.com or reach him at instructional videos teaching people Weddle’s career trajectory zigs as mark@cocktailculturenc.com. how to make some killer drinks at much as it zags. He’s been making home. drinks here since he turned 21, back at Probably most importantly, Weddle Darryl’s, and loves it in part because is stepping out on his own. He hands it’s “a platform to be as silly and me a black, semi-slick business card with curved edges. He’s nerdy as I want.” calling it Cocktail Culture, and the mission is to “demystify “I always consider myself the host of this great party,” he mixology.” His business will have several components to it, says. including trainings, classes, selling shrubs or other handmade The party hasn’t always been great to him, exactly, but cocktail ingredients and maybe even a physical space that acts other times it’s surprised him. Weddle was riding high in 2013, as a sometimes-bar. Weddle is just getting going — his website coming in second place in Absolut’s national Bloody Mary will be live shortly, if it isn’t already — but his decades of expecompetition. But two years later, Josephine’s closed and he

WE NEED

With his new concept, Cocktail Culture, Weddle synthesizes all he’s learned like a perfectly measured drink.

Culture

being the best. It’s about being meaningful and having an impact.” But Weddle, in my semi-expert opinion, is the best in the city, at least right now. He knows he’s good, but he’s too humble and kind to boast. “If I was gone tomorrow,” he says, taking a long pause before continuing, “I would want people to say, ‘That guy could make a great drink.’” And with that, he orders us another round of Jäger shots. It’s the middle of the afternoon, so I wave off a second Miller Lite to accompany it. Weddle taps the bartender’s pointer finger across the bar, signaling a stronger pour again, and turns toward me with a wry smile. “Oh,” he says, “I thought we were going to Westerwood [Tavern] after this.”

Opinion Shot in the Triad

needed to have his hip replaced. The restaurant’s owners, Sarah Keith and Chris Blackburn, came through in a big way, organizing a fundraiser for his medical bills at the Blind Tiger and raising $10,000 for his medical expenses. The unsolicited, generous gesture reaffirmed his belief in people, Weddle says, and really helped him move forward. That same year, Weddle’s mom passed away. “I wish I could tell her about this,” he says, slowly tapping his Cocktail Culture business card on the bar top with a heavy finger. She used to tell him that “sometimes you have to nudge fate.” This chapter, and so many aspects of his story up until now, are him doing just that. “All I really wanna do is inspire other people,” Weddle says. “It’s not about

ERIC GINSBURG

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April 26 - May 2, 2018

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April 26 - May 2, 2018 Up Front Voter Guide Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

CULTURE Spoken words pour forth from the subterranean DeLurk by Spencer KM Brown

he stuffy library room or crowded coffee shop was replaced by an art gallery. No books being promoted, no websites being pitched like your usual literary reading — only poetry, given freely. Larry Barron, most widely known as LB the Poet, stood to his full, massive height over the lone microphone at Delurk gallery. Scattered in a half circle behind him were the musicians who made up the improv collective Glenn Sound System: Drums, alto saxophone, guitar, keyboard, congas and hand percussion provided a smooth, eclectic backdrop to the night’s poets. April 19 marked an evening of the Series of 7, a collaboration of poetry and music at Delurk the downtown WinstonSalem gallery. “I’ll be sharing some poetry with everyone,” Barron said to the crowd. “But that’s only a small part. I want to get all of you up here next. Anyone who has anything to share. We all got a poem in us somewhere.” The idea of the collaboration is blending spoken word with music, giving another layer to the art of performance poetry, a form that dates back at least to collaborations between the Beat poets and jazz players in the 1950s. Barron is an established figure in the Triad spoken-word scene, having performed on dozens of stages across the state, given television and print interviews for his poetry and founded organizations. He stood behind the microphone clad in his signature attire. Dozens of handmade necklaces and rings with gemstones and crystals adorned his tattooed skin. As the music began, Barron waited for brief moments, finding the rhythm the band settled into, and his verse began. Smooth lipped and gilt tongued, Barron’s poetry toys with language in a manner best fit for performance. Double entendre and synonymous turns of phrase aided in his exploration of social issues, race, love, family and self-identity. And while his poetry on its own is enough to control the room, even Barron became awed, giving way to his wide, charming smile and pausing to admire the music grooving behind him. The collaboration of music with verse elevated the rhythms already present in the poetry. A natural, lyrical cadence organically pulsed behind each of Barron’s lines. And while each poem

Larry Barron, aka LB the Poet, fronts the Glenn Sound System during a spoken-word performace at Delurk gallery.

AMANDA BROWN

certainly contains a natural rhythm of its own, Barron met the last hug yesterday, because violence breeds violence... / and challenge joyfully, adjusting each line to fit the music, and vice that innocent little boy lost his life to a slug yesterday... / How versa, leading to a reimagined idea of what the poems are. many Chose school... / over drugs yesterday? To be a scholar The show at Delurk was part of the Triad’s poetry commuinstead of a Thug yesterday? I can’t speak for the next... / but, I nity Authoring Action and SLAM Winston, both of which Bargot it out the Mud yesterday...” ron remains actively involved in as teacher and mentor. Lynn “It’s fitting to be spitting my poetry here surrounded by Rhodes and Nathan Ross Freeman founded Authoring Action all of this art,” Barron said to the crowd on Thursday night. to help Triad youth develop a creative voice through writing, “Through art we are able to share what is possible in this life. dance and visual arts. Barron sits among We are able to question our surroundings dozens of fellow Triad authors and artists and seek truth.” To find out more information who teach and mentor youth in the proBarron let the music continue and took on LB the Poet or to get ingram. Barron is also the founder and cua seat in the crowd, allowing anyone in volved in community poetry, rator of the Word of Mouth Wednesdays attendance to take the stage. A few brave Experience, a monthly poetry showcase, volunteers adjusted the microphone visit authoringaction.org. as well as the WORD Society, a collective stand and read from cellphone screens. of performance poets who travel to variFrom the crowd, Barron could be heard ous states to perform. cheering and filling the room with his Despite his work in the Triad literary community, Barron sets awes of praise, evidence of his passion for mentorship and aside plenty of time to focus on writing his poetry. He lets his teaching. words speak for themselves. In his poem “Yesterday,” featured “It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Barron said. “I’m here, the for Forsyth County Public Library’s series, On the Same Poem, band is here to share the room, to share art together. It’s Barron plays with line and form, bringing breath and syllable about being raw and real and human. I don’t know where into his recitation. “Everyday... / I wake up with the hopes of the music will go or what I’ll be spinning next, but that’s the being better than I was... / yesterday, cause... / Lately they’ve beauty of it. So, let’s all share in it together.” been teaching hate, so... /not many people chose to show love yesterday... / Somebody’s Mother... / didn’t get that one

by Lauren Barber

Up Front

hey come in handy when sweat, tears, or rain puddles on the bleacher seats warrant attention. Rocky, the Karate Kid, ’80s punks, ‘90s pop stars, cowboys, mechanics and Rosie the Riveter favored them. They’re seen wrapped around wrists or folded into triangles, obscuring the lower half of a bandit’s face or the forehead and scalp of a radiation patient. They’re styled as neckwear like an ascot, or used to hold back hair while painting or weeding the fields. The breadth of generational and class connotations is overwhelming.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

CULTURE It’s a wrap... or maybe a bracelet: Craft bandannas are here

Voter Guide

Jenni Earle Hopkins dyes her bandannas in Winston-Salem.

LAUREN BARBER

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

endeavor; her engineer father kept graph paper around the You’ll need to dig past pocket change to purchase a Jenni house, and Hopkins still uses the tidy grids for doodling and Earle bandanna, but business is beginning to boom as people toying with new design concepts. are more willing to pay a little more for locally made goods. The process unfurls in Electric Pyramid Studios, comprised Sustainability is cool in a way it wasn’t even a decade ago, but of a group of 10 makers and artists in the Camel City who most Jenni Earle customers won’t use the artful bandannas rent a small brick building from the Patterson Avenue fuand handkerchiefs for wiping away sawdust or motor oil. The neral home next door. The Jenni Earle Studio occupies the old stories are already rolling in: a mother in Texas who sent one barbershop. Hopkins’ business partner Jan Allison adorns her to each of her children following their father’s sudden death purse with the bandannas but remembers the days when she as a reminder of him; the dusty, red-orange “Explore More” sported them on her body. bandanna sent to a friend soon departing for southwest Asia; “I was in high school in the early ’80s and I remember it the local fashionistas. made you different to wear one,” Allison said. “It made you “People are seeking out these kinds of objects that will a badass, it made you stand out and that was what I was all stand the test of time,” Hopkins said. “We don’t want to lose about in that moment.” the craft and handwork that makes things really beautiful and “It’s this iconic thing that we associate with trailblazers and unique, so I have loved seeing this big shift towards the maker rulebreakers, whether it’s the outlaw or motorcycle rider,” whether it’s leather or candles.” Hopkins said. “So, to bring that to daily “The ‘Be Brave’ [pattern] is the life, ‘What part of your badass are you north star of this business and our best holding back?’ Let’s bring that to the seller,” Hopkins said. “’Blaze a Trail’ is Learn more at jenniearle.com. forefront.” number two for me personally because Hopkins, who said she learned courthat’s the message I need most often.” age from her grandfather “Big” Earl, And that’s the point — Hopkins took Earl as her middle name, adding the “e” for a personal wants people to view her handiwork as a symbol of their pertwist, after she reclaimed her maiden name following divorce. sonal power and wear them “any damn way you want.” “When I would ask to do something, he would be like, ‘Yeah, “They’re for anyone,” she said. “They’re made from the run the drill press,’” Hopkins said. “It was never, ‘You’re too viewpoint of women’s empowerment, but anything you’re little or you’re a girl.’ I always felt like I could try anything in drawn to that makes you feel good, you should put in on.” his presence.” “This is not about her art even though it’s an expression of When not tucked into a pocket, Earl used his bandanna to her art just as if it was on a painting that you would put on a wipe sawdust from furniture projects or car engine oil from his wall,” Allison said. “But it’s so much deeper than that. I don’t hands. mean to sound cliché but it is the connections, it’s the inspiraHer designs take influence from her grandmother Chloe’s tion, the courage, the bravery. That’s what this is about.” Southern-sweet phrases like, “Oh hunny, hush,” and “Oh, my stars!”

Culture

Yep, we’re talking about bandannas, and so is Jenni Earle Hopkins of WinstonSalem. “It’s always been the people on the edge that don’t conform who are the people who gravitate to this cultural icon,” Hopkins said. “There’s always a bandanna around in someone’s house. We’re putting intention and a story behind it so it becomes a talisman and holds the power that we subconsciously associate with it.” She began experimenting 18 months ago, but participating in a business accelerator called Creative Startups last summer spurred momentum that led to a runner-up award for Jenni Earle in Garden & Gun’s Made in the South Award’s style category. A group in Greenville, SC cuts and sews the all-cotton fabric squares, which then migrate to Winston-Salem, where Hopkins personally hand-dyes and screen-prints them with original drawings that reflect both her minimalist aesthetic and the “back-to-basics” sensibility of the flourishing maker’s movement. Her canvas aids in that

LAUREN BARBER

Opinion

Jenni Earle’s bandannas draw from the iconic status of the piece, used by everyone from farmers to train robbers, with a nod to her own Southern background. Above: Earle’s repainting of the old barbershop logo.

April 26 - May 2, 2018

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CAROLYN DE BERRY

CROSSWORD “Elements of Surprise”--it’s all on the table. 64 67 70 71 72 73 74 75

From Bhutan or Brunei Element #53 knew what was up? Concert venue Bring together Barinholtz of “The Mindy Project” Satchel Paige’s real first name Magnet ends “On the Road” narrator Paradise

46 Fast-food drink size 47 Civil War side, for short 48 Tributes 52 Standard Windows sans serif typeface 53 He played 007 seven times 54 Computer programmer 56 Arise 58 “... or thereabouts” 60 “The Flintstones” pet 62 “That’s a shame!” 63 Garden material 65 “___ silly question ...” 66 Christmas song 68 Dissenting vote 69 Salt Lake City collegian

Opinion

SODUKO

Answers from previous publication.

Voter Guide

Down 1 Barbecue specialty 2 Olympic dueling weapon 3 Doesn’t remember, as with a task 4 Gary of “Diff’rent Strokes” 5 Minor league rink org. 6 Cruise 7 Answer that won’t get you an F? 8 “The Metamorphosis” character ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) Gregor 9 One of the main players in 29 1980s Disney film “Gauntlet” 31 Smoothie berry 10 School housing 32 Dessert bar option 11 Quest object in a Monty Python movie 34 Rapper Flo ___ 12 “Dragon Ball Z” genre 36 Recedes 13 Part of NPR 37 “For the life ___ ...” 18 Brynner of the original “Westworld” 38 It may require antibiotics to treat 19 List appearing once each in a supervocalic 39 Break in illegally 24 Hit the slopes 43 Author Harper 26 Statute 45 ___ out a profit 28 Bourbon barrel wood

Up Front

Across 1 Field official 4 Ensembles 9 Tarzan creator ___ Rice Burroughs 14 NASDAQ newcomer 15 “Gone With the Wind” surname 16 “___ Doone” (1869 historical novel) 17 Phobic of element #4? 20 Transition 21 ___-majestÈ 22 “Rent” heroine 23 State trees of North Dakota and Massachusetts 25 Feel bad 27 Sign for Daniel Radcliffe and Chris Hemsworth 28 Giant legend Mel 30 Shortened aliases 33 Paddle 35 “Element #33? That’s unlikely!”? 40 “Today” co-anchor Hoda 41 Kennel noise 42 Call 44 The odds that it’s element #102? 49 Genre for the Specials 50 Currency in Colombia 51 Hawaiian instrument, for short 52 “Fear the Walking Dead” network 55 Joule fraction 57 “Lucky Jim” author Kingsley 59 Crucifix symbol 61 ‘80s-’90s cars

April 26 - May 2, 2018

by Matt Jones

Recycle this paper. Culture Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Answers from previous publication.