TCB Aug. 29, 2019 — Eric Gales plays Coltrane

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

ERIC GALES PLAYS COLTRANE PAGE 11

East End politics PAGE 8

Trump’s list PAGE 2

FREE

Selections from the Coltrane Jazz Fest

Triad City Bites!

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Trump’s list

“If the things c’mon. Arthur Schwarz, fingered by the we do here were Times as one of the architects of the plan, having any real has been working as an advisor to Donald effect,” I anTrump Jr. for years. And no one will ever nounced in the convince me that the man who called the newsroom last industry to which I’ve devoted my profesweek, “they’d take sional life the “enemy of the people” has us all out of here not given at least tacit approval of this

by Brian Clarey in handcuffs.” measure.

The young people all laugh nervously It’s hard for me to see what the point when I say stuff like this, even though they of all this is other than to create another know I’m not kidding. blacklist, like the one compiled for Sen. And then, this week, Joe McCarthy during the an internal memo in the Red Scare of the 1950s by New York Times made Ronald Reagan and other public, and later an Hollywood conservatives.

It’s hard for me article, described a camWhat’s next? Publish to see what the paign waged by “a loose a White House enemies point of all this network of conservative list? Attack the First is other than to operatives allied with the Amendment in a way that White House.” It’s intent: renders newspaper pubcreate another to discredit those whom lishing a privilege instead McCarthy-style they perceive to be the of a right? Round up the blacklist. president’s enemies in the White House Press Corps media. and try them as actual They’ll be going enemies of the state? through old tweets and They hope that ediyearbook photos, I suppose, looking for… tors will decide certain journalists are too what? Blackface? Ha, no. radioactive, and shunt them aside. By They’re looking for liberals, of course: making an example of some journalists, political activism; outrageous positions they hope everyone else falls in line, and staked, perhaps, at college newspapers; provide coverage that normalizes Trump’s rude tweets to Republicans; anyone insanity instead of questioning it. who says they’ve read The Communist All I know is this: If I’m not on this list, it Manifesto — whatever they can find to won’t be due to any shortage of embarbesmirch the reputations of those charged rassing episodes in my past. It means I with reporting on the president. haven’t been doing my job effectively.

A White House spokesperson told It’s a great line, the kind that incites nerBreitbart that neither the president nor vous laughter in the young people. Even his staff or even the Republican National though they know I’m serious.

Committee has any knowledge of it. But

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1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Cover: Eric Gales discovers the STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger savi@triad-city-beat.com Coltrane House in High Point.

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flatisback.com Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

Friday, August 30th Megan Jean & the KFB w/ Matty Sheets & emily Stewart Saturday, August 31th Microgroove w/ DJ Harley Lyles & Steve Edmunds Friday, September 6th Dance from Above Saturday, September 7th Roots Reggae feat. Dub Fire

WEEKLY EVENTS Every Tuesday Industry Appretiaton Night $4 well drinks and Karaoke Anything goes with panda

Every Wednesday Open Mic Hosted by DC Carter

Every Sunday Julian Sizemore series This weeks guests: Sam Frazier, Eddie Walker & Ranford Almond

221 Summit Ave. Greensboro, NC

Saturday, September 8th Folk Fest: Zinc Kings w/ Sam Frazier Saturday, September 14th Bob Fleming And The CIC record Release W/ Old Heavy Hands, Gar Clemens and Night Sweats Sunday, September 22nd Fiona Silver w/ J. Timber Friday, September 27th Totally Slow, No One Mind, Scrub Pine Saturday, September 28th Basement Life, Propersleep and Condado Saturday, November 2nd The Devils Notebook, Zodiac Panthers and Night Terrors Saturday, November 9th Irata w/ Caustic Casanova Sunday, November 10th Cimorelli (early show) Across from The Greensboro historical museum

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

CITY LIFE Aug.29-Sept.1, 2019

by Savi Ettinger

THURSDAY Aug. 29

Up Front

Dale Edwards @ Camino’s Bakery (W-S), 5 p.m.

Love Notes from the Skeleton in My Closet @ Greenhill (GSO), 7 p.m.

This performance art piece unveils the fears we each hold. Performers Dylan Reddish and Nicole Lawson portray the struggle between mental illness and healing, as Steven Landis and Erik Schmit play backing music to complete the piece. Find the event on Facebook.

Bake Without Borders @ Gibb’s Hundred Brewing Company (GSO), 5 p.m.

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Laser Led Zeppelin @ Greensboro Science Center (GSO), 7 p.m.

Patricia Colleen Murphy @ Scuppernong Books (GSO), 3 p.m.

Patricia Colleen Murphy holds a discussion at Scuppernong for her second book Bully Love. The collection centers around a period of transition and healing for the poet as she moves from Ohio to Arizona. Learn more on Facebook.

This artist reception puts the spotlight on the little things. Greensboro-based artist Dale Edwards specializes in minimalist renditions of architecture, focusing on the basic shapes and colors that build the world around us. Find the event on Facebook.

Game night @ Moji Coffee House (W-S), 5 p.m.

Get ready for some classic board games and friendly competition with the Moji Coffee House team. Donate a game to the collection for a free drink to sip while you buy a hotel in Monopoly or draw the coveted Sorry card. Find the event on Facebook.

Food truck festival @ BB&T Ballpark (WS), 6 p.m.

Make this season a home run with seven food trucks lined up for the Winston-Salem Dash’s final home game. Grab a cone of shaved ice, or a serving of wings as Fine By Me starts the night with live music. Learn more on Facebook.

Puzzles

FRIDAY Aug. 30

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Wake Forest vs. Utah State @ BB&T Field (W-S), 6:30 p.m.

With the arrival of football season, Wake Forest opens against Utah State. Halftime comes with a historic performance as the Red Sea of Sound from Winston-Salem State University plays alongside Wake Forest’s the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black.

Learn more at godeacs.com.

The OmniSphere lights up in a whirlwind of colors as the Greensboro Science Center plays a laser show tribute to Led Zeppelin.

Watch the colors fly as songs like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Kashmir” echo. Learn more on Facebook.

This event utilizes the power of food and baked goods to build a platform and raise funds for migrant families. Donate by buying baked goods or bidding in a silent auction, or listen to DJ tunes, live Latinx music, or speeches from community members.

Find the event on Facebook.

Marbin @ Muddy Creek Cafe and Music Hall (W-S), 8 p.m.

Marbin travels from Chicago to WinstonSalem for a set of their signature genre combination. The band blends together the instruments of jazz with the styles and influences of progressive rock. Find the event on Facebook.

SUNDAY Sept. 1

Raving for Refugees @ Little Brother’s Brewing (GSO), 8 p.m.

Little Brother stands in solidarity with immigrants during a night of concerts. A dollar from every beer sold goes to Church World Services Greensboro to help immigrants and refugees in the local community. Learn more on Facebook.

Read-in and used book sale @ North Star LGBTQ Center (W-S), 1 p.m.

Angelo’s Fall Artisan Market @ Wise Man Brewing (W-S), 12 p.m.

This autumn market brings more than 40 local vendors to Wise Man Brewing. Shop for handcrafted items, booths full of antiques, and art pieces during this annual bazaar.

Find the event on Facebook.

SATURDAY Aug. 31

Drag Queen Story Time @ Bookmarks (W-S), 10:30 a.m.

Bring your kids for a sit-down storytime full of expression and pride. Malayia Chanel Iman, Ms. Pride Winston-Salem, visits Bookmarks to make a children’s book come to life. Find the event on Facebook.

Come share a new book or an old favorite, and claim a comfy spot for a read-in. No book? No problem. Check out a book from North Star’s library or shop around cheap used books for your next read. Learn more on Facebook.

Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 Up Front News

Opinion

Culture

Shot in the Triad

Puzzles

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 Up Front News Opinion

W

hile High Point is officially North Carolina’s International City, this week it becomes the hottest spot in the Triad for the 9th annual John Coltrane International Jazz & Blues Festival. Best known for furniture and textiles, the Third

by Nikki Miller-Ka City is a place full of cultural and culinary options. Choices range from biscuits to barbecue to crepes to catfish, with something for everyone all over town. Weekend hours are limited and varied for each establishment listed. Check hours and always call if your party needs special accommodations or have parties larger than six. Enjoy this guide to the best restaurants to get a bite to eat in High Point.

Small Batch on Highway 68 specializes in burgers, beers, milkshakes and a surprising slate of entrés and snacks.

2. Coast 5820 Samet Drive This high-end seafood restaurant’s lighting and decor evoke a coastal feel with a menu of wood-fired items like salt-and-pepper catfish, shrimp and grits and pasta with scallops, shrimp and oysters. Don’t miss the garlic skillet biscuit or fried alligator bite delicacies. And there’s a rooftop patio, if you’re into that sort of thing.

3. Sammy G’s Tavern 3800 Tinsley Drive sammygtavern.com Open since 2012, lunch, brunch and dinner are all intimate, sophisticated and friendly with a lively bar and quiet dining experience. Fine cuts of steak, fresh seafood and entrees with a touch of global influences make the menu interesting to explore.

Shot in the Triad

1. Becky’s And Mary’s 731 E. Washington Drive Catch this cash-only establishment’s operating hours before heading to Oak Hollow Festival Park. Fill up on breakfast or lunch with steak and eggs with grits and home fries or stick around for the fried chicken, collard greens or potato salad for lunch. Serving for over 40 years, one of the most highly lauded restaurants in the city.

4. Sweet Old Bill’s 1232 N. Main St. Barbecue, burgers and brews await you at one of the newest BBQ restaurants in the city. Nestled next door to award-winning Brown Truck Brewery, choose your own culinary adventure with house-smoked chicken, brisket and ribs paired with over a dozen sides and sandwiches.

Puzzles

Culture

Nik Snacks 10 spots to eat in Coltrane’s High Point

5. Big Ed’s Chicken Pit 105 W. Peachtree Drive For more than 20 years, this restaurant’s small building has promised big things by the way of barbecue-style chopped chicken, fried chicken and wings. Be comforted by Southern sides such as collard greens, macaroni and cheese, pinto beans and fried okra alongside sweet-tea refills and slabs of homemade layer cakes.

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6. Small Batch 2760 NC 68 smallbatchhp.com Known for burgers, brunch and built-to-order milkshakes, what started out as a nano-brewery is now a bustling restaurant, brewery and bar with an over-the-top seasonal

FILE PHOTO

menu. Stop here for a burger or brunch if you’re craving a modern, stylish atmosphere with a creative yet approachable menu.

7. Biscuit Factory 2103 Kirkwood St. Find the biggest, buttery and cheesiest biscuits in the area here. Be prepared for long lines and tight parking as this is one of the most popular spots to get a spot of breakfast.

While the biscuits require two hands to hold all of the grilled breakfast meats and cheeses, don’t miss the handpattied burgers or other grilled sandwiches.

8. Tipzy’z Tavern and Grill 805 Westchester Drive tipsyztavern.com This neighborhood bar and grill puts a twist on favorite bar classics with stuffed burgers, wings and creative salads and quesadillas. Everything is cooked-to-order and served along a selection of local craft beers, handcrafted cocktails and house-made layer cakes with a side of Southern hospitality.

9. Sumela: Turkish and Mediterranean 805 N. Main St. sumelarestaurant.com Discover an array of Turkish and Mediterranean dishes in the cozy dining room or patio for an outdoor dining experience. Open Monday through Saturday, eat like a member of the royal court with platters of kebabs, sides, salads and sliced meats accompanied by sauces and spreads.

10. Penny Path Café 104 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Follow the path of pennies to the only creperie in town.

The menu encourages customers to pick and choose which fillings they want and is a vegetarian’s dream. They include everything from crepe Suzette to a Plain and Fancy, which is just a crepe filled with granulated sugar, honey and powdered sugar.

Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 Up Front News

Opinion

Culture

Shot in the Triad

Puzzles

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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NEWS

W-S East End struggles under development plan, gentrification

by Jordan Green Redevelopment is already underway in the East End, a historically disenfranchised area adjacent to the Innovation Quarter, but city leaders are locked in a dispute over a proposed partnership with a local community-development corporation.

People who commute into downtown Winston-Salem from the east know that the Fifth Street exit provides a convenient bypass around the traffic congestion at the Business 40-Highway 52 interchange. The route takes commuters across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and into the heart of the East End area before crossing 52 and dropping them into the Innovation Quarter.

Under the East End Master Plan, approved by city council last November, East Fifth Street would be transformed into a “town center” with new commercial investment to complement higherdensity housing. The plan envisions East Fifth Street as a revitalized corridor that extends the economic vibrancy of downtown and the Innovation Quarter eastward into an area historically burdened with redlining, racially concentrated poverty and lack of private investment. But as growth continues in the Innovation Quarter, both proponents and skeptics of the East End Master Plan worry that demand for high-end housing will trigger a landgrab that displaces longtime residents.

The East End Master Plan itself is currently in a state of limbo, subject to a political battle over whether to turn over $3 million in economic-development bond funds to a local community-development corporation for the purpose of purchasing commercial properties for redevelopment.

Meanwhile, signs of regeneration in the newly-named district — bounded

by Highway 52, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Business 40 — are abundant. A local church now controls four blocks of lower-income housing potentially at its disposal for revitalization.

A Kernersville couple is in the process of acquiring a property at a prominent location of MLK Drive that has been the focus of longstanding redevelopment efforts by the city. The Chronicle, a weekly newspaper serving the AfricanAmerican community, now occupies a former bank branch building owned by developer Drew Gerstmyer. Other Suns, a combined retail store, barbershop and

event space that is operated by longtime educator and community leader Hazel Mack, recently added a coffee shop with morning business hours from Thursday through Saturday.

Political street fight While organic growth unfolds in the district, a plan to allocate $3 million in economic development funds to the SG Atkins Community Development Corporation is on hold as a result of objections raised by the East Ward representative on city council. The dispute has pitted Councilwoman Annette Scippio against state Rep. Derwin Montgomery, her predecessor on council.

Scippio told fellow council members during the Aug. 13 meeting of the General Government Committee that other areas of her ward suffering from neglect need the assistance more than the East End, and that constituents have asked her: “Who’s looking out for us?”

“All I’m asking is that $3 million is released for use in all of that East Winston area that has not been targeted or got anything in the last 50 years, and it’s on a first-come-first-serve basis,” Scippio told fellow council members. “It doesn’t preclude it not going into the East End area, but if a developer wants to come and do something in Dreamland Park or Happy Hill, it refreshes all of those neighborhoods.”

Under the proposed agreement, up to $50,000 a year from the bond funds could be spent on maintenance of the properties, and additional city funds could be spent to cover taxes on the property. Once any of the properties are re-sold to a developer, the CDC would receive a 15 percent commission, Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh told council members in May. After Councilman Jeff MacIntosh raised questions about the propriety of the arrangement, Raleigh clarified in an Aug. 12 memo that as opposed to a commission, the agreement would provide “a development fee payable out of the sales proceeds rather than upfront.”

Scippio said she was troubled by the idea of city funds being used to assist the CDC with maintenance and taxes.

“I felt that we should not be doing that — that if we’re going to give money to someone to buy property, they should be willing to take care of the maintenance and the taxes,” Scippio said during an

Four blocks of low-income housing under the control of Metropolitian Missionary Baptist Church is ready for development.

Aug. 12 committee meeting. “If not, we could buy the property, and we wouldn’t have to pay the taxes.”

As a measure of how much he cares about the initiative, Montgomery told his former colleagues that this was the first time he had come to speak on an issue since he retired from council last year.

“The challenge is — there are plenty of people having conversations, but they all keep saying the same issue — which is, you gotta put the parcels together,” he said on Aug. 13. “The thing was to have an organization like SG Atkins do the hard work that most developers don’t want to do, which is assemblage.”

Carol Davis, executive director of the SG Atkins CDC, acknowledged to council members during a committee meeting in May that efforts to acquire commercial properties for redevelopment have run into challenges.

Over the past year, Davis said the CDC has made offers on the vacant Burger King property at the corner of East Fifth Street and MLK Drive, a used-tire shop across the street, the East Winston Shopping Center, the State Employees Credit Union, the OBGYN office and a daycare center, all of which have been turned down.

“Recently, our board members have

JORDAN GREEN

met with a gentleman who has over 30 years of land acquisition experience in very difficult markets,” Davis told council members. “He has submitted his qualification and wants to work with us. I think he could get the job done.

He describes himself, unfortunately, as a ‘shark.’ And it might take that. But yeah, we’ve tried since the plan was endorsed in November 2018 to make some progress ourselves. And we have come to the realization that we need a professional shark.”

Under a separate agreement under consideration by council, the city would allocate $60,000 per year to hire a realestate development project manager.

Regardless of whether the city and SG Atkins CDC consummate the economicdevelopment agreement, one significant redevelopment project appears to be on track regardless . Raleigh told Triad City Beat that the city accepted an offer on the old Smith Dry Cleaners property on the 300 block of MLK Drive from Charmon and Michael Baker, a couple who lives in Kernersville. Raleigh said the Bakers are currently performing due diligence, and he anticipates closing on the sale in the next three weeks.

Raleigh said the Bakers are proposing

News Opinion Culture

needs to consider all of the elements of the master plan. He and others have said there’s $1.7 million in 2018 housing bond funds available for the East End, and Montgomery noted that guidelines recently approved by city council require any housing developer who receives financial assistance from the city to set aside 20 percent of the units for affordable housing, although the specific personal income target is subject to negotiation. He also noted that the master plan estimates that the area could triple in density, so it’s possible to add higher-income housing without displacing current residents.

In addition to funds for commercial redevelopment and housing, Montgomery said there’s about $2 million available for infrastructure on East Fifth Street, including street resurfacing. In terms of commerce, Montgomery said the master plan commits that existing businesses in the East End will receive first right of refusal for newly developed commercial space.

Montgomery noted that the East End occupies a critical transition space between downtown and the rest of the East Ward.

“We knew that neighborhood was close to the Innovation Quarter,” he said. “People who come over would see economic development opportunity and not the totality of the needs of the community. That area of the East Ward is right up against the Innovation Quarter.

If we don’t stand now, we’ll see a higher level of gentrification throughout the East Ward.”

Up Front Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Gentrification — curbed or fueled?

Looming over the dealmaking and policy decisions at play in the East End is a widely-shared concern about gentrification, and worry that redevelopment could lead to the displacement of longtime residents.

Empowering the SG Atkins CDC to guide redevelopment is the city’s best hedge against gentrification, Rep. Montgomery told TCB. “The real benefit of the CDC being in control is to make sure the citizens’ voices are heard,” said Montgomery, who is a co-owner with Councilman James Taylor of The Chronicle and senior pastor at First Calvary Baptist Church in the neighborhood. “Because of the existing zoning, [developers] don’t need to come to council if they can finance their own property redevelopment. If we let the market decide, the neighborhood may not be protected.”

Davis acknowledged in her remarks to council members in May that the CDC’s potential stewardship of the $3 million economic development bond would only indirectly affect housing. (The economic development bonds can only be spent on

commercial properties, although Raleigh Liberty Atlantic, a Charlotte-based said a developer would be allowed to company that “designs, builds, finances, build a mixed-used project that included operates and maintains multi-unit resihousing along with retail or office space.) dential and mixed-use properties across “The housing is difficult because that’s the Southeast,” according to its website. not likely to change hands too much in Jaron Norman, a principal at Liberty terms of the apartment complexes — Atlantic, said the company is in early multi-family complexes that are in this stages of talks with United Metropolitan target areas,” Davis said. and the two parties are still working out Those include Southgate Apartments, a formal agreement. He added, “We a 14-acre complex owned in large part hope to have clear direction by the end

by Greensboro developer George Carr, of the year.” Like Crocker, Norman and the Ivy Arms Apartments owned by declined to comment on any potential the Phi Omega sorority. redevelopment of the properties.

A collection of brick, barracks-style “In terms of the area being gentrified, apartments covering five blocks at the main strategy [to prevent that] is to between Second and make sure that the Fifth streets near the property owners and Highway 52 underpass project developers are ‘We have come to the has drawn increasing people from the comnotice as observers munity,” Davis told realization that we have noted that some TCB. need a professional of the buildings have Councilman James become vacant and Taylor, who represhark.’ — SG Atkins boarded up. Hayes sents the Southeast CDC Executive Director Ward — where the SG Wauford, the broker in charge for WilsonAtkins CDC operates Carol Davis Covington Constructhe Enterprise Center tion’s property manbusiness incubator — agement division, told articulated a similar TCB that the apartments between Third philosophy during a committee meeting and Fifth streets — roughly two-thirds on Aug. 12. of the original holdings — are under a “It means something to me, and it ground lease with First West End LLC. means something to other people in the The company leasing the properties is community where those who have an managed by Joe Crocker, director of African-American presence are there in local impact in Forsyth County at the the communities helping to spark and Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and maintain economic development, as opa member of United Metropolitan Misposed to the concept of gentrification,” sionary Baptist Church, which is next to he said. the apartments. Lyvonne Bovell-Harris, Montgomery said any discussion the project manager for First West End about gentrification in the East End LLC serves on the board of SG Atkins CDC. Wauford said his company has no plans to redevelop the 85 units that they will retain. He said all but six units are occupied. Market-rate rent for the apartments is $450 per month, although some are subsidized.

“First West End LLC that has been formed by United Metropolitan church has taken control of a couple hundred units that they’re not gonna relinquish control over,” Davis told council members in May. Crocker declined to comment on whether his group plans to redevelop the apartments, but went on to explain that they’ve opted to board up some of the units because “we don’t want to put people in there if we’re going to be redeveloping them.”

Raleigh, the assistant city manager, told TCB that the church is in talks with

Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

a mixed-use building with about 33,000 square feet that would have retail on the ground floor and upwards of 28 residential units on the second and third floors.

The property has been the focus of city redevelopment efforts for at least 15 years. In 2005, city council approved a $150,000 loan to help cover the cost of environmental remediation. In 2008, 750 tons of soil were treated and shipped to a landfill in Michigan for disposal, and the following year the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources pronounced the site ready to build.

But the two owners, including Michael Suggs — president of Goler CDC — never developed the property or made a payment on the loan. In 2014, the city took possession of the property through foreclosure.

Then-Assistant City Manager Derwick Paige said the loan had been worthwhile even though the borrowers defaulted.

“Somebody had to step in make the funds available for the cleanup,” he said. “If the project had gone forward, we would have been able to recoup our funds immediately, and we would have been made whole a lot earlier. The city will through providing a development opportunity and job creation be able to recoup its investment. At some point it will be developed. I think the city’s funds were well used.”

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

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OPINION

EDITORIAL

Berger’s payoff that isn’t Last week, amid one of the longest long sessions in

North Carolina this century, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger announced a $900 million budget surplus, along with a plan to redistribute most of the gains among the state’s 5.1 million taxpayers.

“Tax revenues don’t belong to the government,” the Randian hero chuffed during his press conference on Aug. 21.

HB 74 gives every taxpayer $125 — $250 for married couples filing jointly — which is the sort of thing politicians set up when they need to get back on the right side of public opinion.

And while no one in their right mind would blink twice at a free check from Uncle Sucker, it’s probably important to ask aloud why we had close to $1 billion lying around unused, like the glasses of ice they bring Trump with his cans of Diet Coke.

That our schools are underfunded is long established. Just about every public school in the Triad has temporary classrooms older than the students — and some of the teachers, who also are underpaid. There are infrastructure issues across the state, rural counties without high-speed internet access, publictransportation projects It’s important to that need funding, ask aloud why we affordable-housing challenges in every had close to $1 city in the state. Our billion lying voting machines and election software are around unused. out of date. And what about the long lines at the damn DMV? There are still tornado victims in Greensboro, hurricanes gathering at out coast Remember, too, that this windfall won’t benefit our state’s neediest workers, who don’t make enough to pay income tax. The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 32 percent of the state’s taxpayers will not get a refund. These low three-figure checks that do go out likely will not have much of an effect at all on the households where they land, as welcome as they may be. And it’s going to cost more than $5 million just to print and mail the checks.

Remember, too, that the reason this long session has stalled out is because of budget negotiations that hinge on a Medicaid expansion that would add trillions to the state’s gross domestic product by 2022. This makes claims of fiscal responsibility fall flat.

HB 74 passed the House way back in May, and cleared the Senate on Tuesday. It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see it get passed, because politicians love handing out money.

So enjoy your hundred bucks. You’re paying for it either way.

CITIZEN GREEN

Odds and ends: Mercury rising and first-person

An extraordinary story published by the Portland Mercury on Monday details the undercover work of a Navy veteran named “Ben” (not his real name) who infiltrated Patriot Prayer, a pro-Trump group of provocateurs who periodically go to ultra-liberal Portland, Ore.

by Jordan Green to instigate fights. Incredibly, Ben would stream footage of Patriot Prayer members scuffling with antifascists and conducting impromptu strategizing to his friends on his closed Facebook page, even stepping away occasionally to provide explainers and calling to antifascists and area businesses to give them advance warning of Patriot Prayer’s plans.

The Mercury reports that Ben’s footage helped the Portland police secure arrest warrants against Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson and five other members of his group, leading to indictments on felony charges of inciting a riot, stemming from a fight between Patriot Prayer and antifascists at a venue fittingly named Cider Riot on May 1.

Ben’s undercover work and the Mercury story also sheds some light on the MO of right-wing journalist-provocateur Andy Ngo. Ben told the Mercury that “Ngo doesn’t film Patriot Prayer discussing strategies or motives,” but “only turn his camera on when members of antifa enter the scene.”

The story describes Patriot Prayer planning the May Day attack on antifa, with a few men trying to gauge the wind direction to avoid pepper-spraying themselves, another man swinging a wooden dowel like a baseball bat, and another man telling someone on speakerphone, “There’s going to be a huge fight,” and then giving directions to Cider Riot. Ngo can be seen in Ben’s video periodically smiling, but not filming as the Patriot Prayer members discuss their options for launching an attack.

“He overheard everything,” Ben told the Mercury, “and said nothing.”

This is the same Ngo whom US Rep. Mark Walker cited in a July 31 press release and posed with before introducing a resolution “condemning antifa’s violence,” accusing the nebulous mobilization of “regularly attack[ing] journalists,” among other offenses. (The bill is currently awaiting action in the House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee.) Ngo was repeatedly punched and milkshaked, reportedly leading to a brain hemorrhage, by left-wing activists during a June 29 rally in Portland. Beyond the fact that antifa has not killed anyone, in comparison to white nationalist terrorists like the El Paso shooter and Dylann Roof, it seems odd that Walker would choose Ngo

as a poster representative of journalistic freedom. After all, Walker’s Greensboro-area Congressional district is on the other side of the country from Portland. Unless you consider that Ngo has amassed a huge following, thanks in no small part from an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on July 1. In which case, it makes perfect sense. *** I contend it’s usually a terrible idea for a writer to interject themselves into a feature story. It’s generally an approach that’s lazy and self-involved, and fails to actually take the measure of the subject. But in a profile of Neil Young, writer David Samuels’ involvement in the story actually illuminates the brilliant and prickly songwriter and guitarist who set the template for grunge.

The weirdest, funniest and most poignant part of the story comes 11 paragraphs in, when Samuels quotes Young as saying, “I really wish this interview hadn’t happened.”

Samuels responds, “I feel horrible.” He explains to his readers: “I was hoping to soothe the old rock star, who spoke to me through the headphones of my Sony Walkman at the moments I felt most isolated and alone. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel bad. It felt awful. What I wanted was to hear him play music and write more songs.”

He tells Young: “I mean, the worst thing I could have done is to make you feel defeated, and now that’s what I’ve done.”

The source of Young’s despair is also the meditative leitmotif of the article. During the interview, Young worked himself into a state of righteous fury at Silicon Valley’s role in transforming recorded sound. “Silicon Valley’s emphasis on compression and speed, [Young] believes, comes at the expense of the notes as they were actually played and is doing something bad to music, which is supposed to make us feel good,” Samuels writes. “It is doing something bad to our brains.”

If Young’s obsession with the evils of music streaming sounds halfcocked, Samuels makes a compelling case that there’s something fundamental riding on the question. He finds a commonality with Young in that both are fathers of sons who suffer from neurological disorders. In a flash, Samuels surmises what ties together Young’s obsessions and explains why his music is so sublime.

“They are centered in a common understanding of experience and how it shapes us,” he writes. “Human development is led by our senses. Our senses exert a formative and shaping pressure on our brains. So if our experience of the world around us can damage our brains and souls, it makes a kind of intuitive sense that music can also help us feel better. Every musician, and every music fan, believes that.”

Ngo can be seen in Ben’s video periodically smiling, but not filming as the Patriot Prayer members discuss their options for launching an attack.

Eric Gales considers Coltrane Eric Gales plays the Coltrane Jazz Fest on Sunday

Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

The guitar man Eric Gales swoops down Underhill Street in a gunmetal gray Mercedes touring van and glides into the parking lot at the intersection of Underhill and Washington streets in High Point.

Here, there’s an abandoned jump-rope hanging from the low power lines; vines have taken over some of the fine homes that housed the African-American moneyed class during Jim Crow, and. Others remain viable single-family units.

Gales, dressed in black and bling, eases from the van in the hot afternoon and walks down Underhill Street, pausing at No. 118 — hands on his slim hips, head tilted to take it in: two stories wrapped in vinyl siding, a boarded-up upper window, gravel under the sagging portico long treaded into the dirt.

“This is it, huh?” he asks. “This is wild.”

John Coltrane, one of the architects of modern jazz and High Point’s most famous son, lived in the house with his siblings, parents and grandparents until he was 17 years old, when he left for Philadelphia and international stardom, and never came back.

At first blush Gales, who headlines Sunday at the Coltrane Jazz Festival, might seem to have little in common with Coltrane: Gales is a blues-rock guitarist while ’Trane played transcendental sax. Coltrane worked in avant garde jazz circles while Gales drops No. 1 albums and plays arenas and cruise ships. Coltrane was from High Point and Gales lives in Greensboro.

The artist Gales gets compared with most is Jimi Hendrix.

“It’s how I hold the guitar, left-handed,” he says, “and I’m black. Boom. There’s no way to get around his legacy. And I don’t mind it. He’s a good one to be compared to.”

He didn’t even really know all that much about Coltrane before he booked the gig.

“I just knew he was a bad dude,” Gales says.

Gales came to the Coltrane Fest in 2015, in an unannounced sit-in with headliner Snarky Puppy that quickly became the talk of Triad live-music circles.

“How that happened,” he says, “I been friends with Snarky Puppy and they heard I lived in Greensboro. They were like, ‘Yo, bring your guitar.’ And I went out there and did my appearance and everybody was like, ‘Yo, who the fuck is that?’”

“And now here I am doing it again.”

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TODD TURNER

In the ensuing years Gales’ star has risen. He just came off a blues cruise with guitarist Joe Bonamassa, prompting Bonamassa to tell Guitar magazine last week that Gales is “the best guitarist in blues-rock right now.”

Gales’ newest album, The Bookends, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard blues chart in February. And later this year he was awarded Best Blues Rock Artist at the 2019 Blues Foundation awards.

And while Coltrane was revered as a genius in those small jazz circles, most of his fame came after his death at 40 years old, in 1967, of liver cancer.

Like a lot of jazz musicians of the day, Coltrane used alcohol and heroin habitually, vices that contributed to his death even 10 years after he gave them up. Gales understands that all too well.

He’s celebrating three years of sobriety — no booze, no drugs — after a wild youth that included addiction and jail time. No regrets. But he gets it.

“I don’t think the world understands,” he says.

“When you are trusted with this miraculous gift, it comes with a lot of pressure. And we resort to certain vices that, in your mind, it’s helping you cope with all the pressures of what you’ve been given.”

And for Coltrane, as a touring musician in the 1950s and ’60s, he says “just being black caused a lot of pressure. You’re on the road driving at night.

You can’t stay in the same hotels with the white artists. Club managers won’t pay you your money.

You’re dealing in the white world and you just want to perform.

“If he found pleasure in that vice,” Gales continues, “he probably weighed out the pros and the cons, and he took the cons.”

Now Eric Gales has his guitar out, the black one with his name etched on the fretboard, a black TODD TURNER Calvin Klein scarf and a wide-brimmed black hat, and he’s posing in front of Coltrane’s childhood home. He knots the scarf around his neck.

“I could do this move that hides the chain,” he says, then unwraps the scarf and lets it hang, exposing the platinum treble clef that hangs below his chest. “Or I could do this one, boom, which I kind of like.”

As the photographer snaps away, an SUV pulls slowly down Underhill Street and stops in front of No. 118, the passenger window slowly descending. The driver calls out to Gales like they’re old friends.

“I saw you out here and I had to stop,” he says. “You playing Sunday?”

“I’m playing Sunday,” Gales confirms.

“Can I just say one thing?” the man asks.

Of course.

“Thank you,” he says to Eric Gales.

And the guitar man, standing in the shadow of the Coltrane House in this forgotten corner of High Point, pushes his hat to the back of his head, absorbing a visible chill.

“Thank you,” Gales says.

Here on Underhill Street, Eric Gales is home.

—BC

Up Front

The John Coltrane International Jazz & Blues Festival

Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

Selections from

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

Lisa Fischer’s journey, from background to center mic Lisa Fischer performs on Saturday. To learn more about the artist, visit lisafischermusic.

Laurin Talese’s instrument Laurin Talese plays Saturday at the Coltrane Jazz Fest.

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Lisa Fischer has been in the music industry a long time.

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COURTESY PHOTO

“I’m with my voice all the time,” Laurin Talese says. “I can’t put my instrument down.”

Talese knew she loved singing since she was in elementary school; she was always surrounded by singers and always drawn to vocals. After training in a variety of genres, performing backup and in ensembles using R&B and soul music, she found herself firmly within the world of jazz.

“I love that it’s a melting pot,” Talese says. “You can hear all this melting of different genres in one macrogenre and I think that’s beautiful.”

Talese will perform alongside the North Carolina All-Star Band performs under the direction of Mondre Moffett. The singer-songwriter mentions the collaborative process as a distinct aspect she looks forward to sharing with audiences.

“It’s always exciting when I’m able to utilize [my voice] in a different way,” she says.

While the performance itself is a collaboration, Talese finds each time she sings onstage to be collaborative in a way. She maintains the power and emotion of her voice by drawing on the energy and wants of the audience she sings in front of.

After the release of her first album, Gorgeous Chaos, in 2016, Talese found a contrast between writing and presenting her work. While she loves to connect with others, crafting a song takes alone time for the vocalist.

“It’s a very personal, internal process for me when I’m writing,” she says.

Even with the juxtaposition in the practices, Talese notes a link between the two.

For her, they both act as spiritual experiences, jazz acting as a vehicle to further amplify the feeling with its rich history and variety of influences.

“Spirituality, in addition to it being a respect and an admiration and a reverence for a higher power or the universe or whatever everyone has for themselves,” she says, “is also upholding a truth or honesty in yourself. That’s spiritual too, in my opinion.”

—SE

COURTESY PHOTO

The two-time Grammy-award winning vocalist began singing in schools and churches and eventually worked her way up to performing in clubs. After a while, she found herself singing backup for friends and then got her break accompanying Luther Vandross, whom she considers to be one of her greatest teachers.

“He had an eye for detail musically and visually,” Fischer says. “And you just cared about every part of what he was offering his audience, and that really stuck with me.”

After years of singing in the background for other giants in the industry like Chaka Khan and the Rolling Stones, Fischer released her 1991 solo album, So Intense, which included the single, “How Can I Ease the Pain,” for which Fischer won her first Grammy in Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

“It was a difficult transition for me,” Fischer says about going from a background singer to a solo artist. “I was just used to having a path and just focusing on that path.”

In 2013, Fischer was highlighted in the documentary, 20 Feet from Stardom, which reignited her career and put her back on track as a solo artist. The film also earned Fischer her second Grammy, this time for Best Music Film. Since then, she’s been touring with her band, Grand Baton, and will perform at the Coltrane Festival for the first time. And while Fischer has often been categorized as an R&B artist, she says that jazz is a freeing genre for her.

“What I love is melodies and how they blend together and the freedom of that,” she says. “Jazz represents a kind of freedom to me in a creative sense and how people listen to each other and how they react to each other in a millisecond. It’s like being in the same musical space together and sharing information. You don’t even speak about it. You just breathe and it happens.”

—SM

lines on Sunday.

coltranejazzfest.com.

Up Front News COURTESY PHOTO

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Oscar Hernandez, the co-founder and leader of Spanish Harlem Orchestra, grew up taking in the kaleidoscope of sounds that New York City has to offer.

“I’ve been into music since I was a youngster,” Hernandez says. “I started playing instruments when I was 12. Our parents are Latino so most music we listened to was from the top Latin music from the day, but being in New York, you can’t help but being exposed to all types of music.”

Hernandez founded and has been leading Spanish Harlem Orchestra since its founding in 2002. Since then, the 13-piece salsa and Latin jazz band has won three Grammys and has been nominated for five. This year, the group took home the prestigious award in the category of Best Tropical Latin Album for their 2018 release, Anniversary.

Hernandez, who plays the piano, says that SHO’s music is different from other types of jazz because of its roots in Latin rhythms and sensibilities.

“We add a different touch,” he says. “In terms of the harmonies and the positions of the instrumentalists. We perform salsa-style jazz. There’s an organic raw jazz sound to it. We represent a certain style that brings to the forefront the best of what Latin music is.”

Still, he says that SHO is more than capable of performing jazz standards like songs

by John Coltrane, just with a slight twist. Instead of guitars, you’ll find congas. Instead of a traditional drum set, you’ll find bongos, timbales and the occasional cowbell.

“We’re Latinos and we were influenced by our Spanish roots, but we’re also jazz musicians,” Hernandez says. “For me, I want people to see the love and the passion that we have for this music.”

—SM

Opinion

Jazz has surrounded Michelle Coltrane her entire life.

Michelle grew up as the daughter of Alice Coltrane and stepdaughter of John Coltrane, for whom the Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival was named. This year, she performs with the Piedmont Triad Jazz Orchestra, showcasing her own vocal excellence.

She mentions looking forward to the festival with family connections to her.

“It’s the fruits of my parents’ labor,” she says.

“And as the decedent it’s very lovely to see.”

Growing up with the musical influence of both her parents, Michelle understood the spirituality behind music easily. She reminisces about hiding under pianos and feeling the vibrations of the keys being played, her mother singing in Sanskrit and writing devotional songs.

Michelle finds her most COURTESY PHOTO powerful tool to be her voice.

“I love that on a basic simple level we can congregate and lift our voices up,” she says.

Much like Michelle acknowledges her childhood influences, she believes it important to respect the beginnings of jazz, and the genre’s ties to African-American culture.

“You can’t forget the origins of music,” she says.

The year marks her second performance at the festival. After the release of her first album in the ’90s, Coltrane took a long break to focus on family, returning with a second album — Awakening — in 2017, after discovering her own songwriting process.

In a display that sees her talents in singing-songwriting next to her familial jazz background, Michelle Coltrane performs “Moments Notice.” The piece, by John Coltrane, was originally an instrumental., Michelle crafted her own set of lyrics to accompany his music, complete with a scat solo.

Only another Coltrane can mess with the canon like that.

“My brothers allowed me to do it so,” she laughs. “I’ve been approved.”

—SE

Spanish Harlem Orchestra on the Latin sound Spanish Harlem Orchestra performs on Saturday. To learn more about the group, visit

Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

Michelle Coltrane: His daughter’s voice Michelle Coltrane head-

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Aug. 29- Sept. 4, 2019

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Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

1 Initials on a toothpaste tube 4 Where the TV show “Letter kenny” comes from 10 Watch readout, briefly 13 Accelerate 14 “Juno and the Paycock” playwright Sean 15 Clinton and Bush, e.g.

17 Waiting room welcome 20 School credit 21 ___ track 22 Gp. that publishes a scholarly style manual 23 Fortifies the castle, perhaps 26 Taiga feature 28 Put in service 29 Cup edge 30 Margin size, maybe ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 32 Juno’s Greek counterpart 34 Cup edge 36 “Lunar Asparagus” sculptor Max 37 Results of excessive stress 40 Japanese game sorta like chess 42 Key under Z and X 43 Stone who starred in 54-Down 47 Proposition to be proved 49 Portuguese colony in India 51 Archer’s necessity Answers from last issue 52 Nomadic group 16 Squirrel (away) 53 2004 movie with a screenplay by Tina Fey 18 Start of the first Kinsey Millhone title 56 Sch. whose initials actually refer to “Green Mountains” 19 Away from a bow 57 “Brave New World” happiness drug 23 Word that punctuates Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” 59 Substance with a pH value under 7 24 “Stranger Things” actress ___ Bobby Brown 60 Beyond Burgers, for instance, or what the 25 Leave out theme answers contain?

27 Washing machine cycle 65 Sap source 31 “Principia Mathematica” author 66 “Casino ___” 33 In ___ (feeling bad) 67 Reverential feeling 35 Blackberry, back in the day 68 Luxury ___ (Monopoly space) 38 Exit, to P.T. Barnum 69 Firecracker flashes 39 Korbut the gymnast 70 Alkali used in soapmaking 40 “Get bent” 41 Sister, in Seville Down 44 Word before status or bliss 45 In need of cleaning, for some bathrooms 1 Unesco Building muralist 46 Early times, casually 2 Dom who voiced Pizza the Hutt in “Spaceballs” 47 Check for ripeness, as a cantaloupe 3 Iron Man or Thor 48 1997 Hanson chart-topper 4 Marquee partner 50 Playing marbles 5 Get 100% on 54 2010 comedy inspired by “The Scarlet Letter” 6 “I’m gonna pass” 55 Post-op area 7 Adjective on taco truck menus 58 Mine alternative?

8 Danny who plays Frank Reynolds 61 Animator Avery 9 Voice votes 62 Road or roof stuff 10 “___ Miserables” 63 Genre 11 Twain, really 64 Catch the drift 12 Scouse, Texas Southern, or Australian, for English

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