TCB Sept. 19, 2019 — The Silenced

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point Sept. 19-25, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

FREE

The Silenced Government scientists muzzled by the Trump Administration speak out PAGE 8

A new Bartsy?

PAGE 6

Pumpkin chili PAGE 14

Tinariwen PAGE 12

Sept. 19-25, 2019

flatisback.com

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Climate Change Now, a group effort

by Brian Clarey

Saturday, September 21st National recording artist Angie Aparo!! writer of the #1 smash hit “Cry” by faith hill.

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, September 22nd Fiona Silver w/ J. Timber Friday, September 27th Totally Slow, No One Mind and 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)

WEEKLY EVENTS Every Wednesday

Open Mic Hosted by DC Carter

usable water bottles.

They talk about the great plastic mass in the ocean. They’re worried about water quality. They have anxiety about the world to come — whether we will have breathable air, habitable environments, enough food to go around.

I don’t have much to offer them in the way of encouragement. I can’t even tell them that serious adults are making real efforts to curb climate change.

I feel as powerless as they do.

This week we’re giving over our news hole (yes, that’s what it’s called) to a worldwide effort to increase climate-change awareness as the United Nations prepares for its Climate Summit on Sept. 23.

Covering Climate Now encompasses more than 250 media outlets and other institutional and independent parties, with a reach of more than 1 billion people.

The wealth of stories and studies collected for CCN are enough to scare the hell out of anybody. They’re designed

Julian Sizemore series Julian brings out weekly guests

221 Summit Ave. Greensboro, NC Across from The Greensboro historical museum

to draw our attention to the unfolding crisis, report on some of the things that people are doing to combat it and, more importantly, show the strong governmental and institutional resistance to what has become a very obvious problem.

We are not in the habit of running syndicated content, or venturing too far from our wheelhouse of local news.

But our cover piece this week — a list of the environmental scientists that have been drummed out of their government positions during the Trump Administration, is one of the most powerful stories we’ve ever printed on these pages. And this project is one of the most important things of which we’ve ever been a part.

And climate change is a local story too.

Here in North Carolina, we’ve got hog-waste lagoons infiltrating our water supply. We’ve got beachfront erosion and increased hurricane activity that are changing our coastline. And we’ve got a General Assembly that repeatedly turns deaf ears to the warnings that the land is screaming out to us.

I encourage everyone to read more of the CCN stories — they will be all over newspapers, magazines and television this week. And please remember climate change when the 2020 election comes around. It is the most important issue of our time.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK We’ve never seen anything like this complete abandonment of science…

– Betsy Southerland

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

Every Sunday

2

My kids have stopped using plastic straws.

And, at their request, we have stopped buying bottled water for their lunches, switching to re-

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Six government scientists and STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger whistleblowers pushed from savi@triad-city-beat.com their positions by the Trump EDITORIAL INTERN Cason Ragland Administration. [Photo illustration ART

by Máximo Tuja, courtesy of The Guardian] ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES

sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

gayla@triad-city-beat.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

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

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

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

Sept. 19-25, 2019

3

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

TRUTH IS POWER

4

Hard news at no cost to you, and no matter the cost to us.

CITY LIFE Sept. 19-22, 2019

by Savi Ettinger

THURSDAY Sept. 19

Opening Reception @ SECCA, 6 p.m.

The next installment of SECCA’s Southern Idiom series features an exhibit from Winston-Salem artist Jessica Singerman.

Her paintings of landscapes and scenery make up a collection titled I Must Love You Very Much. Find out more at secca.org.

See to Believe Gala @ Greensboro Science Center, 7 p.m.

Celebrate the Greensboro Science Center in this benefit dinner and gala. Mingle inside the exhibits of the museum and educational center, and enjoy food from Pepper Moon Catering. Learn more on Facebook.

Best Of 2018-2019 Screening @ UNCSA (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia @ Elliott University Center (GSO), 6:30 p.m.

Check out a selection of student films from the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, all produced during the 2018-2019 academic year. The free screening in the ACE Main Theatre offers a wide variety of genres.

Find the event on Facebook.

This film follows the efforts of conservation workers, scientists and explorers along the Southern Appalachian region’s rivers and streams. Dr. Sarah Praskievicz leads a discussion about topics surrounding these ecosystems. Find more on the event on Facebook.

Storm Boxcar @ Boxcar Bar + Arcade (GSO), 9 p.m.

FRIDAY Sept. 20

We Love the Nineties @ The Barking Deck (GSO), 7 p.m.

Travel back in time in Greensboro’s hybrid dog-park and pub.

Dress up as a Spice Girl or create an outfit straight out of Clueless for this nineties-themed costume party that includes man’s best friend.

Find the event on Facebook.

Boxcar builds their own Area 51, with an interstellar night of outer-space partying.

Cosmic cocktails and a techno soundtrack from DJ MrlmReady keep the night out-ofthis-world. Find the event on Facebook.

Sept. 19-25, 2019

SATURDAY Sept. 21

Cricket Craft Festival @ South Fork Community Center (W-S), 9 a.m.

SUNDAY Sept, 22

His & Hers @ Muddy Creek Cafe & Music Hall (W-S), 2 p.m.

Up Front

Oktoberfest @ Joymongers Brewing Company (GSO), 12 p.m.

With October just around the corner and the customary first day of Oktoberfest this weekend, Joymongers hosts a mini-festival. Molly McGinn and Drew Foust perform sets while the pub offers up Oktoberfest brews. Find the event on Facebook.

Shop around an outdoor Saturday morning marketplace of handcrafters and vendors. Find potters, soap makers, wood carvers and basket weavers among the variety of creators.

Learn more on Facebook.

2019 International Village Food and Music Festival @ Corpening Plaza (W-S), 12 p.m.

Mural party @ Windsor Recreation Center (GSO), 12 p.m.

This folksy Mocksville-based pair play guitar and mandolin in a display of their musical and personal chemistry. The couple, having been together since age 14, now sing about love and family. Twisted Pines adds some string tunes to the afternoon. Learn more on Facebook.

Culture

Travel around the world in an afternoon by traveling around downtown Winston-Salem. International food, music, performances and vendors all come together in a celebration of their cultures. Find the event on Facebook.

True Crime Trivia @ Footnote (W-S), 3 p.m.

This trivia competition does not wait for Halloween to get spooky. Answer questions about unsolved mysteries, real life horror stories, and all things true crime to win the afternoon. Find the event on Facebook.

Opinion

This block party serves as the grand reveal of a mural funded by District 2’s Participatory Budget. The artwork by Nils Westergard features the Greensboro Four, based on a photograph from the second day of the sit-ins. Learn more at greensboro-nc.gov.

News

Grand Opening @ McKay’s Winston-Salem, 9 a.m.

Explore the newest location of the secondhand media store on Jonestown Road in Winston-Salem, as it kicks off its new schedule. Opening day brings with it free food, chances to win giveaways, and plenty of time to browse.

Find the event on Facebook.

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

5

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

6

A new Bartsy?

by Brian Clarey Like everyone else in the Camel City — beside the haters, that is — Monstercade proprietor Carlos Bocanegra became slightly infatuated with Bartsy. The anonymous tagger has been throwing up hastily drawn images of early-era Bart Simpson on empty walls all over the west side of Winston-Salem. And Bocanegra reserved a space on the side of his building for the artist that had remained blank. Until Tuesday morning.

That’s when neighborhood folks awoke to discover what appears to be a new Bartsy in that coveted space.

It’s different than previous incarnations of the iconic portraits. This one’s actually a Homer, but from that same early “Simpsons” era, leading some to question if it is actually a true Bartsy or perhaps a counterfeit.

The shade of red looks a little off, more pink than that of the original Bartsy palette, and there are discrepancies in shading — the spray lines of the fill-in from this new piece are more visible than in portraits past.

There are similarities in the lines of the lips between this new piece and the others, but differences in the construction of the ears and eyes. And then there’s the lettering.

Only two verified Bartsys have lettering: The “Bart World” on Executive Park Boulevard (Bartsy No. 8 on our interactive map) and the “Eat My Shorts” on Seventh Street (Bartsy No. 3). The new one bears the inscription: “Homey Don’t Play That Naw Mean,” which doesn’t seem to make any sense. Close inspection reveals three different ways of drawing the letter A — a capital in Bartsy 8, a traditional handwritten lowercase a on No. 3 and a third version, the kind with the upper serif, in the new piece.

And so while the body of work increases, the mystery deepens.

The new work appears on the side of Monstercade and deepens the mystery behind Winston-Salem’s Bartsy.

COURTESY IMAGE

Tina Rumbley is a member of Free Mom Hugs Greensboro, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights. Members are known for giving out hugs at parades as well as providing education, temporary financial assistance and emergency housing. Visit freemomhugs.org to learn more or find the Greensboro group on Facebook.

My son came out in 2009 and when he came out, I was involved with a conservative mission group and the group was not supportive of the LGBTQ community. I was still closeted even though I was supportive of my son. No one in that community knew that I was supportive. My husband at the time was not supportive; I had to be quiet.

Ultimately, I chose divorce and left the evangelical Christian community and chose to dig deep into the word, and realized that the community wasn’t right. I chose to support my son and other LGBT people in the area…. I decided I wasn’t going to be quiet anymore.

Why do you think Free Mom Hugs is important?

Because there are so many people who think how I used to think. The fruit of that is an increase in suicide in the LGBT community.

Some of the hardest things I hear come from young, high school-aged kids. Like, ‘Oh wow, I really appreciate that. My mom says I can’t be gay. She wants me to do conversion therapy.’ Or, ‘My mom says that if I’m gay she’s gonna disown me.’ Some older people will tell me, ‘I didn’t get to come out until I was in my forties and fifties. I wish I had a mom like you.’

My job is to show them they’re not alone and that there are people out there who care. If I can be the one to love them, I’ll love them.

Opinion

What was it like when your son first came out to you?

When he first came out, I made it really clear that I loved him but there was a but.

Like, ‘How did this line up with the word [of God],’ but my son is an awesome, patient son. He let me ask so many questions and he loved me still. I think that there came a point that if I was gonna have a relationship with my son, I had to accept him for who he was.

Last year I got to walk a bride down the aisle. One of the other members put a call out on Facebook that said something like, ‘If you need someone to walk you down the aisle, reach out to us,’ and a lot of the LGBT community started reaching out. This couple in the Winston-Salem area reached out — Kelsey and Joanna. Kelsea had no family support, so me and another mom volunteered and she was walked by two moms down the aisle.

News

I joined a Facebook group for moms with LGBT kids and then I started with Free Mom Hugs in 2016. My first Free Mom Hugs experience was with my gay son and one of his best friends. It was a gentle way to ease me as an introvert into stepping out of my comfort zone!

What’s one of your favorite memories working with the organization?

Up Front

How and why did you get involved with Free Mom Hugs?

People need to listen and stop talking and just listen like I did with my son. We sat down with a bottle of wine countless times and if I did talk, it was to ask questions. I listened and I learned. I think he’s the one that pointed me in the right direction. Every time I hug someone, it’s like I’m telling my son that I love him.

Sept. 19-25, 2019

4by Sayaka questions for Tina Rumbley from Free Mom Hugs Greensboro Matsuoka

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

7

News

Up Front

Sept. 19-25, 2019

NEWS

The silenced: Meet the climate whistleblowers muzzled by Trump Six whistleblowers and ex-government scientists describe how the Trump administration made them bury climate science — and why they won’t stay quiet.

by Oliver Milman This story originally appeared in The Guardian. It is republished here as part of Triad City Beat’s partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

From weakening vehicle emissions to blocking warnings about how coastal parks could flood or the impact on the Arctic, the Trump administration is accused of muzzling climate science.

Here, six whistleblowers and former government scientists describe being sidelined by the administration — and why they won’t be quiet.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

Jeff Alson

8

Role: A former senior engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s vehicles lab in Ann Arbor, Mich.

What did the work involve?

I was an engineer at the EPA, working for 40 years in a very technical job.

In 2009, after the election of Barack Obama, the EPA started working on greenhouse-gas standards for vehicles for the first time. It felt like we were making history.

There was a team of around 25 people producing thousands of pages of analysis for the standards. We knew it would be controversial, but it was a very big deal, the first critical steps to address the climate crisis.

What changed under the Trump administration?

Once Trump was elected it became pretty clear that things would change.

The president came out to Michigan in March 2017 and gave a speech where he said he’d look at the standards, that they hurt economic activity and jobs. That was an obvious sign, really.

In August 2018 the administration proposed an 8-year freeze of the greenhouse-gas standards. It was unbelievable, really — for the first time in the history of the EPA, the political leadership decided to change pollution standards that were doing well without allowing the career staff and experts to play any sort of role. We were completely locked out.

There was no scientific or technical rationale to rolling back the standards; the analysis they used was the most biased thing I’ve ever seen. They cooked the books and changed every assumption they could to get the answer they

From the top, left to right: Betsy Southerland, Joel Clement, Jeff Alson, Chris Frey, Maria Caffrey and Jacob Carter.

wanted. It was so bad that some EPA career staff asked their bosses to take the EPA name off it all.

How do you feel about your experience?

It broke my heart. I’d had this wonderful career, playing a small role in making the world a better place. Then we had a political leadership making decisions on ideology, denying science, basically being climate deniers. It felt horrible.

I was 62 years old and there were a few family things going on, but the Trump administration made a difficult decision to retire much easier. I felt I could do more good on the outside, educating the public on what’s going on.

By the time I left, the morale was the lowest I’d seen in 40 years. Our work had become irrelevant.

Response from the EPA Asked by the Guardian on Monday about the concerns outlined by four former EPA scientists, EPA spokesman Michael Abboud said in a statement: “The EPA under President Trump has strived to create an agency that is responsive to

the American people.”

The statement said this included “proposing the Safe (Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient) rule that will save lives and produce savings for American consumers, working on the first major update to the lead and copper rule in nearly three decades.”

It added the agency was also “on track to become the first administration to complete an ozone NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) in the 5-year review cycle envisioned by Congress,” and had deleted 22 sites from the national priorities list of those eligible for Superfund cleanup, the most since the financial year 2005.

Maria Caffrey

Role: Worked on climate change at the National Park Service (NPS) What did the work involve?

I was studying how climate change will affect 118 coastal parks in the US for the National Park Service. I started this work in July 2013, it was my baby.

What changed under the Trump

MAXIMO TUJA

administration?

My study went through peer review and was ready to be released but I was told by the NPS a few days after Donald Trump’s inauguration that they were ‘waiting for messaging’ first. I thought that was no big deal but then nothing happened and I started calling up every few weeks to say, ‘We’ve got to get this out, it’s getting stale.’

The excuses varied but became ever more vague, such as, ‘We are ever so busy,’ or that it would worry people during hurricane season because it mentions storm surge in coastal areas. A superior said they wanted to keep a low profile on climate change for four or maybe eight years while Trump was around, which really upset me because we don’t have four to eight years to do nothing. I felt I was being silenced.

I went on maternity leave around Christmas 2017 and the report still hadn’t been released. I got an email from a colleague saying, ‘Congrats on the baby, by the way you should know they are editing your report.’

Chris Frey

News Opinion

I felt I was being silenced.

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

quickly plummet as the political ranks showed not only ignorance of, but disdain for the wide-ranging agency mission. Here you had tens of thousands of people working hard in public service and being told what they do is not important.

The National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service had it worst because they didn’t have anything to do with oil and gas or mining permitting process, and the lobbyists in charge had no interest in wildlife, conservation or biodiversity.

But every agency suffered, because the mantra of the administration was to drain the swamp — and it quickly became clear that the swamp was not the high-paid lobbyists, but the rank-and-file government professionals who serve the country.

On a Thursday night in June, just a week after I’d been in New York to speak at the United Nations about climatechange adaptation issues, I received an email that said I was being moved to a new position.

It was quickly obvious that this was a retaliatory action, as I was moved away from any climate-change work to the office that collects royalty income from oil, gas and mining companies — an auditing position for which I had zero expertise. The email explained that because I had economists on my policy staff that I must clearly know about numbers, so I’d be good in an auditing office.

I’d heard that they were looking for a job that I would not want, in hopes that I would quit. It’s not unusual for senior executives to be reassigned, it’s part of the job, but reassignment can’t be used to get people to quit — and secretary Zinke testified to Congress a week later that he was using re-assignments, among other methods, to trim the workforce. Sadly, I was only one of dozens of executives who were re-assigned that night, many of us for clearly retaliatory reasons.

I found legal counsel and eventually filed a whistleblower complaint and went public with an Op-Ed in the Washington Post. I wasn’t worried too much about my job at that point, I was worried about the work I’d been doing on behalf of Alaska Natives and it was clear they had no intention of continuing to work to help those frontline communities.

A couple months later I decided that they’d already taken my job, but there was no way I’d let them take my voice, so I resigned and continued to speak publicly about these abuses and the implications for American health and safety.

How do you feel about your ex-

Up Front

go ahead with that. It was a little frustrating for me personally, but it’s more of Role: A professor of environmental a loss to the American public. The EPA engineering at NC State University, Frey has always been thought of as a sciencewas chairman of the EPA’s Clean Air based agency, what we see now is no Scientific Advisory Committee and a basic respect for science. member of the agency’s Science AdviHow do you feel about your exsory Board. He left in 2018 perience?

What did the work involve?

There’s not even lip service to the The Clean Air Science Advisory Comscience. Science can’t be controlled like mittee (CASAC) is required to inform ideological spin, so the administration is the EPA administrator over air-quality afraid of that. They don’t want scienstandards, if they are sufficient to protect tists and their evidence-based opinions public health or not [under the Clean — they’d rather have cronies trot out Air Act]. The EPA’s Science Advisory the same tired talking points on fringe Board is a much larger committee that scientific views. takes on all sorts of things — clean water rules, vehicle greenhouse-gas standards, Joel Clement rules about transparency and so on.”

Role: An expert on the impact of What changed under the Trump climate change on the Arctic at the Deadministration? partment of the Interior Initially there was a neglectful relaWhat did the work involve? tionship with the new Trump adminisI was at [the department of the] intetration; they seemed uninterested and rior for nearly seven years. I started on the amount of scientific advisory board 3 January 2011 – I know the exact date work dropped off. Then, from October because of how excited and inspired 2018, there were the first signs of the I was at the thought of serving in the ideological assault on scientific advice at federal government. I was hired as a the EPA. senior executive to run the Scott Pruitt [then office of policy analysis, administrator of the EPA] which sits in the office of wrote a memo that said the secretary. that researchers that have One of the main areas received grants from the of focus was addressing the EPA aren’t allowed to serve impacts of climate change on panels because of a perin the Arctic, which is ceived conflict of interest.

– Maria Caffrey warming two to three times But there was no prohibifaster than the rest of the tion on industry people planet. Entire Alaska native serving and the number villages are threatened by of them on the panels has increased. It’s rapid coastal erosion and storms because been a way to kick qualified people off they no longer have a sea ice curtain to the boards and get cronies in their place. protect them from fierce Arctic storms in There was a complete turnover of the fall and early winter, and the ground CASAC and it shows in meetings. They beneath their feet is falling away as the now bumble through things because they permafrost thaws. don’t understand the process and the What changed under the Trump Clean Air Act. Political appointees are administration? interfering with the selection of candiThe new Trump team was very thin dates, essentially picking those sympaand most of them knew very little about thetic to the agenda of the administrathe agency mission — they were mostly tion, even if they have fringe views like oil and gas lobbyists and some campaign climate change isn’t happening, that kind workers. Whatever they were talking of stuff. about up on the secretary’s hallway, it I was on a panel looking at the risks sure wasn’t being shared with the career posed by particulate matter. We had a lot staff at the agency. So you basically had more work to do, but we were disbanded 70,000 employees scratching their heads four days before the EPA released an and getting back to doing their jobs assessment that we would’ve reviewed. while a couple dozen political appointees The timing was mind boggling. I found tried to get their act together to lead out by seeing a press release on the them. It was surreal.

EPA website, which was followed by an But this neglect soon turned into email saying our services were no longer scorn, characterized by comments from needed. the new secretary, Ryan Zinke, that the I was also a nominee for a panel on staff were disloyal. Morale began to ozone but then they said they wouldn’t

Sept. 19-25, 2019

We had a conference call and it became clear that any mention of humancaused climate change had been taken out. I was asked how I would feel if they didn’t release the report at all, which felt like a threat. I stood my ground and was told, ‘They aren’t going to be happy about this from above.’ It was never clear who ‘they’ were — perhaps Trump himself or Ryan Zinke [the then secretary of the interior].

I then had a meeting with a senior NPS official who came out from Washington DC. The other report co-authors were there, too. That’s when it all unravelled, it became incredibly hostile. I was told not to attribute changes in public lands to human actions.

I felt like we worked for the American people and I didn’t want to lie to them.

But a superior said that we in fact work for the executive branch, of which the president is the head. The president is the boss and we are going to put our heads down and put out the line of the administration.

A journalist did a freedom of information request and saw all the emails of us fighting over this and asked me for a statement. I ended up going on the record because I thought it was a very important issue. I was aghast I was being asked to lie. These people were violating the mission of the NPS. After I came back from maternity leave I was demoted to be an intern on $25,000 a year. And then in February this year they said there was no money left at all and that I would have to leave.

It was devastating. I offered to work for free as a volunteer but was turned down, which shows that it wasn’t a money issue really. I packed up my office and I was gone. I filed a whistleblower complaint in July.

How do you feel about your experience?

I have faced retribution, I was threatened and placed in a hostile work environment. It’s clear in some agencies there’s a culture of fear where scientists are being intimidated. When I wrote this report, politics was the last thing on my mind, I was thinking about climate change and these coastal parks.

It’s very frustrating, it’s not where I pictured where my career would be at this time in my life. I don’t even know if I have a career anymore. What’s left is in tatters.

The National Park Service did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

9

10

Puzzles

Keeping the Beat

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

Sept. 19-25, 2019

Opinion Culture

We’ve never seen anything like this complete abandonment of science...

News Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Role: A long-term water quality official at the EPA What did the work involve?

I was at the EPA for 33 years, starting in 1984. I worked in the water program and on superfund clean-ups, working on the criteria for drinkable water.

What changed under the Trump administration?

I left in August 2017 and made a very public retirement statement about how bad this administration is and its assault on science. It went viral and since then I spend 20 to 30 hours a week helping the press and Congress understand the impact of what the Trump administration is doing.

We’ve never seen anything like this complete abandonment of science, solely to maximize corporate profits.

Everything changed after the election.

The climate change section of the EPA website came down and Scott Pruitt came in and brought in a bunch of political appointees who didn’t need Senate confirmation.

I was working on a chemical safety rule that was rewritten by Nancy Beck, someone from the American Chemistry Council (an industry lobby group) who Pruitt brought in. It basically repeated the talking points she used on the chemistry council.

Pruitt never spoke to any of the career staff before he made decisions on replacing rules. I worked on a rule that would require coal-fired power plants to treat toxic waste rather than simply dump it into leaky ponds. Pruitt met with Bob

future extreme floods that we’re seeing more of currently and are expected to see more of in the future.

What changed under the Trump administration?

I knew from President Trump, then candidate Trump’s campaign, how he felt about climate change, that I was likely on the chopping block because I was a postdoctoral fellow and my contract was sort of on a year-to-year basis.

And so after the transition occurred, I was there for a couple of weeks and then one day my boss came to my office and said, ‘I think you should probably start looking for another position.’

How do you feel about your experience?

It was a very difficult time for me, absolutely. I was extremely sad and depressed. I really liked the work that I was doing. I felt like I was doing research that was really going to have a significant impact.

I had worked really hard on it. To see something like that just get sort of tossed out the window was really disheartening to see. And the fact that they were just going to completely dismiss this climate-change work altogether was also really disheartening. So, yeah. It was a very sad time for me.

I will not lie.

There’s a ton of different scenarios that have occurred that show that this administration really does not care about progressing climate change or climate Jacob Carter science, in general.

– Betsy Southerland Role: Worked on cliI mean, any time you see mate change impacts upon some sort of report come Superfund sites (toxic areas out of the agency that even requiring federal clean-up) at the EPA mildly mentions climate change and What did the work involve? maybe its impacts to national parks, or I was brought in by the EPA to do something to that extent, the administraclimate change work for the office that tion tries to downplay human connection oversees the Superfund site program, to climate change. They try to downplay which are toxic areas that require a the role of climate change and federal federal clean-up. scientists’ work in press releases.

I was specifically working on the SuThey try to downplay the role of perfund site program because President climate change and research that they’re Obama had issued an executive order funding. So even in grants that the agenfor any federal agencies that would put cies are receiving, they’re now being forward new federal dollars into infravetted by political officials to essentially structure. Essentially, he wanted those make sure that climate change is not agencies to incorporate climate change mentioned in those proposals. It’s not a into flood risk for that infrastructure. great time to be a climate-change scienThe model essentially looks at how tist in the federal government. much sea level rise is expected over the next 100 years. Plus what did the Additional reporting by Oliver Conroy. extreme floods look like in those areas?

And I combine those two sets of data to create a model that is predictive of these

Up Front

Betsy Southerland

Murray (head of coal mining firm Murray Energy Corporation) and decided to postpone the rule and the first we knew about it was when we were asked to check a draft press release about the rollback.

Scientists are really irrelevant at the EPA now, their input isn’t requested.

They are simply directed by the political team to help fulfill the desires of political donors, no matter the cost to Americans. At the moment it’s just a logistical question of how fast they can go on this.

They have something like 70 regulation repeals underway and because it will be hard to do this with legal challenges they want to undermine the underlying science.”

What happened after you left?

Within a couple of days of me leaving an opposition research firm did a freedom of information request for all my emails and the EPA immediately handed them over. I found out they made a big effort to connect with all the right-wing media to trash me. They made up this lie that I was being paid more than a Congress member for every year of my retirement. It got really ugly, so I got off social media.

The same opposition group then tried to find out if any EPA employees donated to [Bernie] Sanders or [Elizabeth] Warren. It’s stunning to target federal employees like that. I’ve never seen that before.

Sept. 19-25, 2019

perience?

The Trump administration is threatened by evidence, by science and by expertise. These things interfere with their ability to hobble government agencies and reduce oversight. It’s mind-boggling and a profound threat to democracy but it also increases risks to American health and safety. Every American should be concerned, regardless of political stripe.

A Department of the Interior spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian: “The department works to ensure that the scientific activities that it carries out uses the best science and are the result of robust and independent processes.”

The department said it was required by law to research and publish reports regarding the changing conditions of the climate and has a “rich and longstanding culture of scientific integrity that prevails independently of individual administrations”

11

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

12

CITIZEN GREEN

OPINION

Love wins, for one day in one particular place

The spare, undulating desert blues emanated from the battery-powered speaker set up at the edge of the parking lot outside Wise Man Brewing, a spidery web of electric guitars, bass and percussion that was bracing and serene all at once, as yogis laid down their mats to begin a session.

by Jordan Green “This music is Tinariwen,” the instructor said as she gestured across the parking lot towards the music venue, where a cluster of Winston-Salem police officers kept a friendly vigil. “They’re playing at the Ramkat tonight. Since they can be controversial, the announcement that they were coming caused some backlash. People said they were Taliban, but they’re the opposite of that. If you see a lot of police officers in the areas, that’s why.”

When the Ramkat started publicizing the concert by the acclaimed nomad desert blues band of the Sahara on Facebook in July, a stream of hateful comments quickly ensued, apparently based on nothing more than that the band members were wearing turbans: “Go home; maybe your country will like your music.” “Gotta bring my AR, too….” “Take the fucking towels off your goddamn heads.” “Shootout at midnight?” Taliban rock?” “Ain’t looking at nothing Muslim. The wannabe religion that’s the plague of the world.” “Or bomb us, your choice.”

The backlash made international headlines.

But on Tuesday, a couple hours before the concert, Winston-Salem City Councilwoman Annette Scippio read JORDAN GREEN The Saharan desert band Tinariwen got a warm reception at the Ramkat in Winston-Salem. a proclamation signed by Mayor Allen Joines declaring it Tinwariwen Day in Winston-Salem. The Winston-Salem Sometimes white supremacy is shut down when community members show up and drive Symphony played a brief fanfare prelude to set the stage for out extremists by crowding them and yanking away their platform, and no one should the proclamation, while Imam Khalid Abdul Fattah Griggs and Wayne Martin, executive doubt that those tactics are effective. But it’s even better when a community comes todirector of the North Carolina Arts Council, brought greetings. gether and makes a statement of affirmative welcome and interfaith, multicultural solidarity At 6:08 p.m., shortly after the ceremony ended, Ramkat partner Richard Emmett rethat speaks louder than hate. ceived a letter from Gov. Roy Cooper. It was addressed to Tinariwen.

“We don’t have to tolerate hate or anything bad,” Scippio told “North Carolina has a long history of excellence in the arts, me after the ceremony on Tuesday. “If people would speak up and we are proud of the diverse community of musicians that and speak truth, and model behavior, we could defeat hate.” have visited our state and called North Carolina home throughTinariwen proved during their concert in Winston-Salem on out the years,” it read. “As you prepare for your performance at Tuesday that the North Carolina Taliban picked the wrong band the Ramkat, I hope that you feel at home here, and thank you for to fuck with. Ultimately, the threats and bluster don’t affect them. bringing your music and culture to our state.”

Ali Rogan, a producer with “PBS NewsHour” who brought a In a political moment fraught with fear, division, distrust and crew to Winston-Salem to capture the scene, told me two memtoxicity, at least for one moment and in one particular place, love bers of the band told her they weren’t even aware of the threats. won.

Among the three lead guitarists, founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib’s While ICE is deported hard-working community members like playing conveys the most weight and sadness — a desert-blues José Samuel Solis Lopez, a labor organizer at the Case Farms meditation reverberating with modulating tone patterns. plant in Morganton, President Trump came to North Carolina This is a man who watched his father get executed by a prolast week, and whipped up fear, declaring, “North Carolina has government gunman in his native Mali at the age of 4, whose released thousands of dangerous criminal aliens into your comband members participated in violent uprisings against the munities, and you see it. The charges against these free criminals governments of Mali and Nigeria in the 1990s, and whose band include sexual assault, robbery, drug crime and homicide. Murmembers escaped the persecution of al-Qaida-inspired Islamists der!” In what has become a regular drumbeat of official hostility in 2013. towards Muslims, a Sikeston, Mo. public-safety officer resigned “I have no hate left for anyone, my soul is confused,” Alhabib after stating on Facebook: “I get to choose whom I dislike and it sings on “Tenere Maloulat,” the opening track on Amadjar — the new album released just so happens to be all muslims [sic] and their beliefs.” on Sept. 6. “I believe in no one now. I’ve become the son of gazelles who grew up in the And on Monday, during a rally in New Mexico, Trump casually demonstrated the meanderings of the desert.” contingent status of people of color in the United States in 2019 when he pointed to CNN contributor Steve Cortes, and asked, “Who do you love more, the country or Hispanics?”

In a political moment fraught with fear, division, distrust and toxicity, at least for one moment and in one particular place, love won.

EDITORIAL

by Clay Jones

Up Front News

claytoonz.com

Opinion Culture

The worst thing a politician can do, in the immortal words of the very mortal Chris Hitchens, is compel a voter to ask: “What does this guy take me for?”

The fiasco last week on the floor of the North Carolina House has incited this question from all corners.

The factual record shows that on the morning of Sept. 11 — an auspicious anniversary for such a miscarriage of American government — while all the Republicans sat in their seats and just about all of the Democrat reps were in committee meetings, at 9-11 ceremonies or otherwise occupied, an unexpected vote was held to overturn Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget. The override, which had been threatened for weeks, passed 55-9 along party lines.

It is known that Rep. David Lewis (R-Hartness) sent texts to House Democrat Leader Darren Jackson (Wake) and WRAL reporter Laura Leslie saying that there would be no vote that morning.

And House Whip Jon Hardister sent a documented email to all House GOP members imploring them to make sure they were seated that day, “not A quorum was only for votes, but in case procedural motions are achieved, but made.”

Also factual: Though a quorum was achieved by more than 3.5 milthe majority party, more than 3.5 million North Carolinians were not represented in that room. lion North CarolinBut here is where the competing versions of reality ians went unrepbegin to diverge.

House Democrats make the claim that there was resented. not supposed to be a vote on Sept. 11, even though there was a vote item on the calendar, as it has been for every morning in the last few weeks of what is becoming the longest long session in the history of NC politics.

House GOP claims business as usual. But remember, this is a party who created and governed under illegal districts for the past eight years, and undertook every legal recourse possible to defend this crime.

While the NC GOP has squandered most of its credibility with anyone but the truest believers, the actions of the Democrats should leave us incredulous, too.

The Republicans should have acted better. The Democrats should have known better. And we all deserve better.

Everybody loses.

Claytoonz

Sept. 19-25, 2019

No winners in slimy GOP gambit

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

13

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

14

Nik Snacks Pumpkin, but make it gourmet

F

all can be a loathsome season. It’s this terrible limbo between blistering-hot days and fog-filled evenings, when down vests and flannel jackets appear while dying foliage swings in the breeze, only to snap off and plummet to its

by Nikki Miller-Ka death. Playing “Is That An Animal Or A Leaf?” while driving impaired with seasonal allergies is no fun either. While winter is coming, there is no more “Game of Thrones” to look forward to.

In autumn, glasses of rosé give way to travel mugs and purses full of pumpkin spice. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves, commonly known as “pumpkin spice” has been cast as an early-aughts girl group that we just can’t seem to shake. Every fall the cadre of spiced products grows longer and larger. Coffee, granola bars, cereal, even dog food and face masks have been infected by the pulverized dust of tree bark — there is nothing left uncovered by the spice blend’s blanket of seasonality.

The call for pumpkin spice that begins in September really is basic — in most cases, actual pumpkin isn’t even present! We’ve come to a point where we have evolved past basic and it’s high time to elevate and bring forth the pumpkin to a meteoric rise.

The distinction between pumpkin and squash is one that is a little muddy, not unlike the color of the subject itself. The most readily available source of pumpkin is via can. According to the USDA’s guidelines for the indigenous gourd, it must be “prepared from clean, sound, properly matured, golden-fleshed, firm-shelled, sweet varieties of either pumpkins and squashes by washing, stemming, cutting, steaming, and reducing to a pulp.”

That vague descriptor means canned varieties could have a blend of winter squash that has no actual pumpkin in it.

A can of lies.

In the spirit of joining them instead of beating them, I hold an annual pumpkin-carving party where guests bring whole pumpkins and everything else is supplied: carving tools, paint, a drill for the adventurous, roasted pumpkins seeds, pumpkin cream-cheese-swirl brownies, popped popcorn and pumpkin chili.

Pumpkin is a squash not unlike the butternut, delicata, acorn or kabocha varieties. And while pumpkins are a visible part of autumn, they don’t actually taste good.

Pumpkins are watery and very stringy; turning them into a delectable dish takes more work than other winter squashes.

Enter my miso pumpkin chili.

The deep, complex and robust flavor of the fermented bean paste is brightened with acid from tomatoes while the otherwise bland pumpkin soaks up flavor from the broth and addition of Parmesan cheese to make this chili a staple all season. Fresh pumpkin is important in the recipe because, as we’ve established, canned pumpkin is not what it seems.

To prepare it, cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds (set aside for roasting) and roast the halves at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, microwave

Miso pumpkin chili garnished with Parmesan cheese and chopped pepperoncini

each half, cut-side up, for 14 minutes each. When cool enough to handle, peel the pumpkin or shave off the skin with a sharp knife and cut into one-inch pieces.

Be sure to use beef stock or add toasted sheets of nori to vegetable stock to round out the flavors and add a little smokiness. Serve with cornbread slathered with butter and you’ll be dipping a culinary toe into the rapidly chilling waters of fall.

If chili isn’t your idea of a good time, try this recipe for pumpkin grits which is covered with a spicy pepper and sausage ragout.

Miso Pumpkin Chili Serves 6 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 cup onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 Tbsp white or red miso paste 1 Tbsp ancho chili powder 1 Tbsp oregano, dried 1 Tbsp cinnamon, ground

NIKKI MILLER-KA

2 cups TVP (textured vegetable protein) OR 1 lb ground lean beef or turkey 1 14.5 oz tomatoes, diced OR 2 cups red tomato, chopped (reserve juices) 2 cups fresh pumpkin, diced (preparation notes above) 32 oz. cup low sodium stock or broth 8 oz mushrooms (crimini), sliced 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp brown sugar Optional garnish: ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, miso paste, chili powder, oregano and cinnamon. Cook until fragrant. Add TVP or beef, tomatoes with juice, pumpkin, broth, mushrooms, vinegar and brown sugar. If you’re using beef, break it up with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

by Savi Ettinger-

H

Up Front News Opinion Culture

Drag queen Kitty Litter fans Begley as she performs on stage at the Idiot Box on Sept. 12.

the red carpet, and her shattered expectations about how the famed entrance works. She works in a bit about standing still next to Dolly Parton for media photos, while the singer whispered to her “Just keep smiling.” Instead of a painful comingout story, Begley describes herself as “in love with all people,” as she sets up stories about sexual awakenings.

“Comedy is how you create joy out of painful experiences,” Begley says in an interview.

In a brief moment of seriousness, Begley takes an aside to address how she entered the business in 2013, after a period of self-reflection following a toxic relationship. Yet she bounces back to the bright side, finding the eve of Greensboro Pride to be the perfect time to crack a few jokes.

“Pride is joy,” she says, “and comedy is joy.”

Puzzles

with a glass of coke.

“I guess we’re going to stop and do this now,” she chuckles.

Begley revels in the moments many people would hide away in embarrassment. She laughs through tales of religious family members suspecting her of being gay as a child, or of the reality of Netflix money. Begley mentions her boyfriend, joking about how he isn’t the type to do cutesy things, but he did once.

“He left me a note written in the shower...,” she trails off, smiling as the comedic aspect sneaks back in. “...with my own hair. It just said, ‘Yuck.’”

She runs her hand over the back wall of the stage, mimicking how she changed the “y” on the shower to an “f,” and added a “u” on the end to leave a reply.

Begley’s brand of comedy basks in life’s awkward moments.

She breezes through a story about getting lost on her way to

SAVI ETTINGER

Shot in the Triad

illiary Begley in a room of drag queens sounds like a scene from the movie Dumplin.

Known for her role as Aunt Lucy in the Netflix film, Begley brought her brand of punchy humor to the Idiot Box on Sept. 12. The comedian, outfitted in leopard-print and rainbow accessories, kicked off Pride festivities over the weekend. Even before Begley entered the comedy club’s front doors, members of the LGBT community and allies stuffed the space to the max, drawn in by drag queens, drinks and Begley’s featured act.

She pauses her routine to grab a redsequined fan from a drag queen named Kitty Litter, offsetting the heat of the room. Eventually, the queen stands, and snatches the fan back, pulling up a barstool on her way to the front. She begins cooling Begley off like a shimmering cool breeze. Begley laughs, hoisting each arm over her head and then raising a bit of the tulle of her skirt to help get the sweat off. For her, the stage leaves no boundaries.

“I am authentically the same person onstage,” she says after the show, “as I am offstage.”

Prior to Begley’s introduction, a trio of drag queens work the crowd. Kitty Litter, with thirty years of experience, riffs off the reactions of the audience for material. Along with Brenda the Drag Queen, the duo parade around mystery prizes in a fundraising auction. They encourage the crowd to offer up more, as one person marks their bid by raising a beer glass, and another by waving their baseball cap above their head.

“It is expensive to put on Pride,” Brenda says to the crowd. “We have to sacrifice 15 straight people.”

In a move that makes the night even more reminiscent of Dumplin, drag queen Fuchsia Rage draws from the soundtrack of the movie. The film, with its Dolly Parton tracks, gives Fuchsia Rage the opportunity to don a blonde wig curled and permed to high heaven, denim and a brown fringe vest. The lipsyncing performer dramatizes Jolene, delighting the crowd, including Begley in the back.

Begley walks to the stage, immediately pulled aside by a woman in the front row who hands her a shot glass.

Her eyes widen as she laughs, protesting that if she’s going to take it, she needs a chaser. Another person quickly runs up

Sept. 19-25, 2019

CULTURE Finding the joy: Comedian Hilliary Begley opens up for GSO Pride

15

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

CULTURE SECCA’s ‘Furnished’ elevates your coffee table to art

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Austin Ballard’s “light forest” hangs in a corner of the gallery, gently illuminating the space.

16

Y

by Sayaka Matsuoka ou don’t really think about it.

You use it to sit, to eat, to sleep. But most of us don’t give a second thought to the furniture we use on a day-to-day basis. Now, an exhibit at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem encourages visitors to reconsider furniture as art.

Furnished, which opened in mid July, runs until Jan. 5 and includes more than 50 works by 15 contemporary artists from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“So I moved to North Carolina and I’m like, ‘What’s with all this furniture here?’

I didn’t know,” says Wendy Earle, the curator of contemporary art for SECCA. “I’ve never lived in a place that had a furniture industry. It’s just like one of those

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

things, like it comes from IKEA like everything else…. They and Cairo. After a war between competing European counmake a lot of it here and they sell a lot of it here, so what’s tries, the railway never took complete shape. that all about? I started looking into the history of it and I “I imagine that the Shilluks, who had always lived there, started thinking, What does that mean for contemporary art?” might have cheekily built a bench like this,” states Campbell in Earle says Furnished is the first SECCA show focused excluthe description. “It would be pleasant to sit on and watch the sively on furniture. boats sail up and down the Nile as they had for thousands of At the bottom of the stairs in SECCA’s main gallery space, years.” twisting curls carved from wood Like Campbell’s piece, much of the suspend a lone bench in the middle exhibition uses furniture in innovaof the gallery floor. The solid plank, tive ways to shed light on complex Furnished runs through Jan. 5 at sculpted to look like driftwood, histories or share unique ideas.

SECCA in Winston-Salem. To learn invites weary passengers to take “It’s sort of showing you that the more about the exhibit as well as respite. world of furniture, there’s a lot more “Bench for the Platform at Fashoda there,” says Earle. “It’s not just like guided tours, visit secca.org.

Junction” by South African artist Gralook at this great designed chair, we ham Campbell imagines the bench can think about a lot of different isas an artifact from a parallel past. sues within the realm of furniture.”

As explained on the piece’s description, the work represents a Nearby, Jose Pablo Barreda’s wall sculptures showcase the bench that could have existed at the proposed Fashoda Juncartist’s creative ability to take old pieces of furniture and detion, a stop on a railway project started by European forces in construct them to create new works of art. the 1880s that would have connected Cape Town, South Africa The head of an alligator juts out from the seat of a chair, his

Sept. 19-25, 2019 Up Front News Shot in the Triad

Still, other pieces don’t require participation to experience at all.

Charlotte artist Austin Ballard’s “Light Forest” as Earle calls it, hangs in a corner of the gallery, gently illuminating the space. Upside-down cones formed from needlepoint sheets stack on top of one another, creating long, dangling columns that hang from the ceiling. Visitors can walk in and out of the suspended lamps, each in different shades of pastel or neon. Alone, the pieces could fit in a modern home above a dining table but clustered together, the columns create a more immersive experience.

“You know, we don’t all have sculptures in our house, we don’t all have paintings or photographs, but we all have furniture,” Earle says.

“We all have that initial understanding of like…‘I know what furniture is.’

Let’s see where else it can go.”

Culture Puzzles

snout protruding into space, his teeth individually carved, peeking out from his mouth. The gentle curve of what perhaps used to be the arm or leg of the chair now creates the bottom jawline of the beast. A slight smile emerges.

His neighbor, a stern bull, boasts equally intriguing features, with the back arch of a chair now used to represent the bull’s horns.

“I think it’s important to understand the creativity of people working outside of what you would think of as the traditional art field,” Earle says. “Even for a functional chair, it’s about craftsmanship, it’s about design, it’s about a real understanding of the issues they’re trying to address… these are people who aren’t usually in art museums but absolutely deserve to be.”

While the entire show is focused on furniture, some of the pieces, like Barreda’s, could be categorized more as sculpture, while others remain functional.

Annie Evelyn’s three pieces in the show blend high fashion and ornamental design with functionality. Using a thick foam covered by intricately painted tile or pristine jewelry, Evelyn piques viewers’ interest by toeing the line between art and craft. Visitors can sit on her pieces, but from afar they look untouchable.

Because of the interactive nature of the show, Earle encourages visitors to attend one of the guided tours so they can touch and sit on the works.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

Opinion

Jose Pablo Barreda’s wall sculptures show off his creative ability to deconstruct old pieces of furniture like a chair to create new works of art.

17

Sept. 19-25, 2019

North Marshall Street, Winston-Salem

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

Ballet Folklorica Alma y Corazon de Mexico performs at the Hispanic League’s Fiesta in downtown Winston-Salem.

PIZZERIA

Puzzles

L’ITALIANO

18

Large 1-topping pizza

11

$

99

Good through 1/5/20

Monday – Thursday

Recycle this paper.

WE !

DELIVER

4-cheese pizza

10

$

99

Order online at pizzerialitaliano.net

CAROLYN DE BERRY

every Tuesday, all day

219 S Elm Street, Greensboro • 336-274-4810

by Matt Jones

Across

EVENTS

Every Thursday

Open Mic

Wednesday Sept. 25th

Laura Jane Vincent 7pm Saturday Oct. 5th

Alice Osborn & Tony Low Saturday Oct. 12th

Mind of the Devil

Up Front

Saturday Oct. 19th

Zach Winters with SYLVIE ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords

(editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

News

602 S Elam Ave • Greensboro

Answers from previous publication.

(336) 698-3888

Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

1 Enough, in Italy 6 Shortly, to Shakespeare 10 Gives in to gravity 14 Groove for a letter-shaped bolt 15 Setting for “The Music Man” 16 Paris’s ___ d’Orsay 17 Concerned question 19 “Back in the ___” (Beatles song) 20 Nixes, as a bill 21 Edit menu command 22 Where harmful skin exposure may originate 26 Electrified particle 27 Moines intro 28 270 are required to win the White House (abbr.)

29 Nine of diamonds feature? ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 30 “American Pie” actress Tara 32 Some karaoke songs 34 Interstellar emissions studied by NASA 39 Former “America’s Got Talent” judge Klum 40 Word on a red sign 43 Pompous type 46 Architect who passed in 2019 47 “Call of Duty: Black ___” 50 Most recent Summer Olympics host 51 Unwisely responding to an online troublemaker 55 Pageant prop Answers from last issue 56 “Yup” 23 Fish eggs 57 “Cantos” poet Pound 24 Pair, in Paris 58 Intermediaries 25 Bon ___ (indie band with the 2019 album “i,i”) 62 Stack of paper 31 Homer’s outburst 63 Map dot 32 Half of MCCII 64 Basketball Hall-of-Famer ___ Thomas 33 Part of PBS, for short 65 Concordes, e.g.

35 Antique photo tone 66 Egyptian canal 36 Appearance 67 Really, really tiny 37 “Got it” Down 38 Entered with much pomp 41 Painting medium 1 “Before I forget,” in texts 42 D.C. figure 2 Cinders 43 Dessert, in England 3 Eastern European language, such as in 44 Confiscates Dvorak’s “Dances” 45 Pirate, in old slang 4 Sacred emblem 47 “That’s awkward” 5 Like some retired racehorses 48 Flippant 6 Broadcasters 49 “Victory is mine!” character 7 Yogurt brand named after a Queensland 52 Small units of liquor beach town 53 Ping-pong surface 8 Newman’s ___ 54 “Wild” star Witherspoon 9 Old horse 58 “Saving Private Ryan” extras 10 Catcher’s position 59 Beavers’ sch.

11 Queensland resident, e.g.

60 Rapper Lil ___ X 12 “Beauty and the Beast” antagonist 61 Just short 13 Sounds in car chase scenes 18 Made on a loom 21 It may start out dry in a box 22 Tree with needles

SUDOKU

Sept. 19-25, 2019

CROSSWORD ‘Evened Out’—following the sequence.

19