TCB Oct. 10, 2019 — Called Out

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point October 10-16, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

FREE

CALLED OUT Novant employee says company retaliated after she reported a co-worker’s racist remark. PAGE 8 High Point election takeaways PAGE 7

Jumping on the Demon Deacon bandwagon PAGE 6

October 10-16, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Trump: He’s no Nixon I was 2 years old when President Richard Nixon’s operatives burgled the Democratic national headquarters at the

by Brian Clarey Watergate Hotel in June 1972. But it wasn’t until two days after my fourth birthday, in April 1974, that Nixon realized he was implicated in the cover-up.

By then, the Senate had been investigating for a year, the Saturday Night Massacre — two resignations and a highprofile firing — had been enacted and seven members of Nixon’s administration had been indicted. A couple weeks later Nixon would release the tapes, recorded secretly in his office, that proved to be his undoing.

After a House committee recommended the first three articles of impeachment — obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress — Nixon got a visit in the Oval Office from Republican House leadership on Aug. 7, 1974, informing him that it was over.

Nixon resigned the next day.

The sole remaining memory I have of this episode happened in the small den of my parents’ house, where our only television broadcast the image of Nixon and his family leaving the White House for the last time. As he passed the Marine guard on the White House lawn, I remember my father saying, “That’s the last time he will ever get the presidential salute.” He sounded sad.

Before he took that final helicopter ride,

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

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Karen Obas claims she was retaliated against by her employer, Novant Health, after reporting a supervisor for racially charged speech. [Photo by Carolyn de ART Berry] 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 Savi Ettinger savi@triad-city-beat.com

2

Nixon, who had just been pardoned by Gerald Ford, spun to face the cameras and gave his signature victory salute: defiant until the end.

Now, watching these events unfold, it’s impossible not to think of Nixon’s final days in the White House, and to see clearly the differences between then and now.

Like now, Nixon’s supporters stuck with him until the last gasp, until it became politically impossible to support him — it wasn’t virtue or patriotism that finally brought Nixon down; it was fear of losing re-election.

And in the end, however ungracefully, Nixon bowed down to the constitutional forces that dictated his demise. Now, things are different.

Thus far, Trump has outright defied any attempts to rein him in — he hasn’t even shown us his tax returns yet. And in his refusal to allow White House staffers to testify in Congress, his demonization of the intelligence community, the media, the Democratic Party, dissenting Republicans and anyone else who dares speak the truth about his deeds, we get a sense of how this might play out.

The Nixon era tested the bounds of presidential authority and constitutional restraint; it left a generation of Americans without trust in our government and other vital institutions. But in the end, Nixon left the republic intact.

But Trump wants to tear the whole thing down as he goes — if he goes — just as our faith in government is at its lowest point in modern history.

We’ve been dismembered. And I don’t see how it all comes back together again.

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.

October 10-16, 2019

3

October 10-16, 2019

CITY LIFE Oct. 10-13, 2019

by Savi Ettinger

THURSDAY Oct. 10 Up Front

Mary Kelly @ Weatherspoon Art Museum (GSO), 6 p.m.

FRIDAY Oct. 11

Gallery 1250 Grand Opening @ Revolution Mill (GSO), 5:30 p.m.

Revolution Mill unveils its newest art exhibition space: Gallery 1250. The night also serves as a reception, featuring works

by Michael Northuis, Roy Nydorf and Jan Lukens in a show titled Triple Vision. Find the event on Facebook.

Opinion

News

Carol Roan @ Scuppernong Books (GSO), 7 p.m.

Artist and writer Mary Kelley leads a talk in conjunction with her exhibit as a Falk Visiting Artist at the Weatherspoon Museum.

Her work involves ideas around collective memory, feminism and identity. Find the event at weatherspoonart.org.

Culture

Tupelo Crush @ Incendiary Brewing Company (W-S), 6 p.m.

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Carol Roan visits Scuppernong for a launching of A Change in the Air, her debut fiction work, published at age 87. The short story collection follows the inhabitants of a reclusive New Jersey village. Find the event on Facebook.

4

This Winston-Salem based band jams out at Incendiary Brewing, carrying the night along with their alt-country and rock sound. The band takes influence from performers like Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. Find the event on Facebook.

Nikole Hannah-Jones @ Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium (W-S), 7:30 p.m.

MacArthur Genius grant recipient Nikole Hannah-Jones invites guests to a free lecture. Hannah-Jones, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, focuses on topics of civil rights and racial equality.

Find the event on Facebook.

Heather Mae @ the Carolina Theatre (GSO), 7:30 p.m.

As part of the Singing Out Pride tour, Heather Mae stops at the Crown at the Carolina Theatre. Mae introduces her pop album Glimmer alongside an all LGBT backing band. Find the event on Facebook.

The Rocky Horror Show @ WinstonSalem Theatre Alliance, 8 p.m.

Catch a performance of this Halloween cult classic, but instead of just watching, join in with audience call-and-response, prop participation and toilet-paper throwing. Live shows run until Oct. 27th. Find the event on Facebook.

flatisback.com October 10-16, 2019

SATURDAY Oct. 12

Cars & Coffee @ SECCA (W-S), 9 a.m.

SUNDAY Oct. 13

Laurette Lee Trio @ Center City Park (GSO), 2 p.m.

Up Front

Leave the Bus Through the Broken Window @ a/perture cinema (W-S), 3 p.m.

Friday, october 11th Indie Night w/ Terms x Conditions, LIMN + (TBA)

Halloween Party w/ The Velvet Devils, Eno Mtn Boys & Wax Imperials

Saturday, November 2nd

Saturday, october 12th The Devils Notebook, Walrus w/ special guests

Friday, October 18th

Zodiac Panthers and Night Terrors

Friday, November 8th Irata w/ Caustic Casanova

Saturday, November 9th Viva La Muerte

Culture

The session: ED E. RUGER w/ PHILLIE PHR3SH, BLACK RAIN, NAS T, KANVAS MUSIK, MAC DEE & VO=KAL

Boo Bash Carnival @ High Point City Lake Park, 3 p.m.

Prepare for a day of spooky hauntings and ghoulish fun with this carnival. Find your way through a fogged-up mini-golf course, or brave a train ride of frights. Stick more to the classic Halloween activities with a trunk or treat and a few rounds of cornhole. Learn more at highpointnc.gov.

Saturday, October 26th Sunday, November 10th

This documentary screening offers up a story of personal isolation as a part of the Southern Arts Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. The film explores the Hong Kong art scene, and director Andrew Hevia’s experience within it. Find the event on Facebook.

Cimorelli (early show)

friday, November 15th 2019 GGF Women’s Party

WEEKLY EVENTS Every Wednesday

Open Mic Hosted by DC Carter

Every Sunday

Puzzles

The Willingham Story Slam @ ARTC Theatre (W-S), 4 p.m.

Settle in for a selection of theatrical storytelling with this sports-themed slam. The New Winston Museum and the Willingham Theatre Advisory Council partner up to present the night. Find the event on Facebook.

Zombie Prom 2019: Mightier Than Me, 2nd Today, Vintage Falcons, & ChristiNZakk

Shot in the Triad

GRAWL Brawl XII: Country Queens @ Gibb’s Hundred Brewing Company (GSO), 7 p.m.

The Greensboro Arm Wrestling League takes on a bit of twang for a benefit tournament. The Brawl raises funds for She Rocks of the Triad, a local nonprofit involved in ovarian cancer research. Find the event on Facebook.

Shagwüf w/ Tide Eyes

Opinion

Fall Festival @ Bur-Mil Park (GSO), 10 a.m.

This day-long party welcomes Autumn with pumpkin picking, hayrides and seasonal shopping. Inflatables, vendor booths and live music fill the park. Snack on funnel cakes, or witness a wildlife exhibit. Find out more on Facebook.

This afternoon outdoor concert provides a chance to unwind and enjoy the sounds of the Laurette Lee Trio. Lee adds smooth vocals over the band’s jazz playing for a well-rounded sound. Find the event on Facebook.

News

Start the morning off with a walk around SECCA’s grounds. Beautiful vintage cars parked along the museum add an extra mini-exhibit for the day, for a chance to get some caffeine and some automobile facts. Find the event on Facebook.

UPCOMING EVENTS Thursday, october 10th Thursday, October 31st

Julian Sizemore series Julian brings out weekly guests

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

5

October 10-16, 2019 Opinion

News

Up Front

The Demon Deacons bandwagon

by Brian Clarey

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Wake QB Jamie Newton has thrown for 1,563 yards, bringing the team to 5-0 before Saturday’s match against ACC rival Louisville.

6

COURTESY IMAGE

I say it all the time: Wake Forest is the 16, all bets are off — we could have the team for the discerning ACC fan. It’s the best college football team in the nation on only one in our market, for one, and a fine our hands. antidote to the Duke/Carolina “controAnd baby, I am in. Won’t you join me? versy” that seems to give such meaning to The first steps of bandwagon fanhood so many people. involve research. Now I know Wake’s got Still, I’ve never been to a Wake Fora powerhouse offense under quarterback est football game, largely because I have Jamie Newton, a redshirt junior who’s alrooted for enough ready thrown for 1,563 lousy teams in my lifeyards and 15 touchtime and I don’t need downs, and that the The Wake Forest Demon any more disappointdefense has allowed Deacons play at home ment. just six sacks.

But hey — wait a Next comes gear, against ACC rival Louisminute! The Demon something basic like ville Cardinals on SaturDeacons are hot this a hat or water bottle day Night at 7:30 p.m. year. Fire hot! They’ve at first. A bandwagon won their first five football fan shouldn’t games in convincinvest too much in ing fashion, they’ve team gear until a little cracked the Top 25 polls, coming to rest later in the season. But if they finish unthis week at No. 19 in the nation, and now defeated and make it to a major bowl, it’s they’re finishing their season with seven okay to go full-on fanatic: hat, shirt, jacket, more games, all against fellow ACC flag, face tattoo, fingernail polish in team teams. A good late-season run could colors, whatever. propel Wake into the Top 10; if they beat Then you’ve got to get to a game. Or, perpetual powerhouse Clemson on Nov. at least, a decent tailgate.

3. Will voters give Jay Wagner a second term?

The math looks daunting. Wagner led the balloting in Tuesday’s primary, with 45.7 percent of the vote, but the combined total of the two Democrats who likely split the black vote comes to 54.3 percent. Davis proved two years ago that a black candidate can at least come close in a two-way contest. But perhaps the primary numbers aren’t that indicative: Turnout will be higher in the general election, and there’s no guarantee that the same kind of voters will show up. In Wagner’s favor, the city finally has some momentum and a reason for civic pride with the opening of a new baseball stadium earlier this year, and related private development in the central business district. It’s easy to forget that 10 years ago, High Point had a city council that was bitterly divided and unwilling to take any initiative to revitalize the urban core. Wagner was alone pushing for downtown public investment. In the 2014 election, his faction won a majority of seats on council, and when he won the mayor’s race in 2017 virtually every council member joined forces with him. It would be hard for any contender to argue that Wagner doesn’t get credit for the city’s progress.

News Opinion

2. Who is Carlvena Foster?

She’s a Guilford County commissioner, and in fact holds the same seat that Davis held before he retired from the board in 2014. Before that, she represented High Point on the Guilford County School Board. She’s the executive director of the Carl Chavis Branch YMCA. Although her platform doesn’t differ markedly from Davis’, Foster named “violence and public safety” as her top priority and has said she wants to investigate

why there are no black-owned corner stores in High Point. Like Davis, she is on record as supporting an affordable housing bond and opposes an idea floated by Mayor Wagner to carve out High Point as an independent school district.

Up Front

1. Bruce Davis, denied again What will it take to get Bruce Davis back in office? The black Democrat capably represented a High Point district on the Guilford County Commission for several terms, and even took a turn as chairman of the board. He made an unsuccessful bid as a write-in candidate against fellow Democrat Gladys Robinson and Republican Trudy Wade for a state Senate seat in 2010.

He lost a Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District when Howard Coble retired in 2014. He won his party’s nomination for the new 13th Congressional District in 2016, but lost in the general election to Republican Ted Budd. In 2016, he got muscled out of the Democratic primary by Kathy Manning’s more formidable fundraising chops. In 2017, Davis lost the High Point mayor’s race to white Republican Jay Wagner by a mere 41 votes. This year, Davis won’t even get to challenge Wagner in the general election because he got edged out by Carlvena Foster, also a black Democrat, by 28 votes in Tuesday’s primary. Davis is probably the most recognized political figure in High Point who’s not in office. Can someone please elect him?

October 10-16, 2019

3by Jordan takeaways from the High Point primary Green

Selling lindley Park Over 100 neighbOrhOOd hOmeS SOld

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Presented by

Frank Slate Brooks Broker/Realtor®

336.708.0479 FrankSlate.Brooks@trmhomes.com

2616 Walker Avenue 3 Bedroom, 1 & 1/2 Bathrooms $274,500

7

October 10-16, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

8

NEWS

Novant accused of retaliation against employee who reported racist comment

by Jordan Green Karen Obas, a Novant Health employee, alleges that her supervisors engaged in a pattern of retaliation after she reported a racially offensive comment by her manager.

A Novant Health employee alleges that managerial staff at the WinstonSalem-based healthcare organization have engaged in a pattern of retaliation after she reported a racially offensive comment by her manager.

Karen Obas, an insurance specialist in the Patient Financial Services Department, told Triad City Beat that she overheard a white manager in her department tell a black employee: “If you don’t stop, you’re going to get lynched.”

Obas said the manager started walking back to her desk, and then turned back, and continued: “And I’m gonna be there.

And I’m gonna say, ‘I tried to warn you.’”

Obas said that what she considered to be unfair discipline began soon after she filed a complaint through the company’s anonymous Alert Line program, and then escalated as she followed up by bringing the matter to the attention of the senior director of patient finance and the director of diversity and inclusion, and then availing herself of the organization’s Employee Relations program.

Obas eventually filed a charge of discrimination for retaliation with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Obas and Novant failed to reach an agreement in federally mandated mediation, the EEOC issued a letter notifying her that she may pursue a claim through the federal courts, her lawyer told TCB. But as a single mother who lives paycheck to paycheck, Obas said she was unable to afford the $400 filing fee or the thousands of dollars she would likely incur to retain counsel through the discovery phase leading up to trial.

Based on her limited financial resources, Obas said she decided her best option for holding the organization accountable was to take her story to the public.

While the deadline for her to file a Title VII claim under the process set up by the EEOC passed on Sept. 26, Obas’ lawyer said she still has the opportunity to file an equal rights claim under Section § 1981 of the US Code, which has a four-year statute of limitations.

“Who else are they treating like this?”

Obas asked in an interview. “Who else

Karen Obas, an insurance specialist at Novant Health, is accusing the company of retaliation after she reported a CAROLYN DE BERRY racially offensive comment by her manager.

has reported things and not had the wherewithal [to pursue legal remedies]?... I have a son to take care of. We all have kids to love and take care of. We all have lives to live. We don’t need to be in an environment where are insulted on a daily basis. So, it’s what’s happened, and the aftermath, and then the overall environment that just makes this whole picture really disgusting.”

Novant responded through a spokesperson on Tuesday: “As an organization, we take considerable measures to make certain Novant Health is a safe, desirable workplace that guarantees respect

for every team member, adheres to high standards of professional conduct and is free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. To help ensure team members feel safe to report any concerns, we have an anonymous alert line and strong anti-retaliation policies in place. When concerns are reported by a team member, we take them very seriously and conduct a thorough investigation.”

The spokesperson continued in an email to TCB: “We cannot provide the outcome of an investigation of a team member to any other team member — or the media — due to the confiden-

tial nature of personnel records. I can confirm, however, as it relates to this matter, that a thorough investigation was conducted and we followed all of our policies and procedures. Because of the same confidentiality concerns, I am unable to comment further on specifics. I can assure you that Novant Health takes all claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation very seriously and takes appropriate action when necessary.”

A growing healthcare company, Novant’s national employee roster has expanded from 26,000 to 29,000 employees over the past two years. The second

October 10-16, 2019 Up Front News

largest employer in Forsyth County after Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Novant’s local presence has also grown — from 8,145 employees in July 2016 to about 11,000 in September 2019, according to the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

In 2014, Novant Health received DiversityInc’s third-place ranking, with the diversity education company lauding Novant’s 12-percent share of black physicians — twice the national average.

Novant President and CEO Carl Armato celebrated the ranking in a blog post shared internally with employees.

“Diversity is in our values along with compassion, personal excellence and teamwork because it permeates our organization and is part of the very fiber of who we are and why we exist,” Armato wrote. “Diversity and its partner — inclusion — are integrated into Novant Health’s DNA.” Armato prides himself on his accessibility and invites employees to comment on his blog. Heartened

by Armato’s professed support for diversity, Obas began drafting a letter to her CEO about what she came to see as an institution-wide failure to uphold Novant’s stated values. She has continued to add to the letter, which is now up to 3,751 words, but ultimately opted to not send it to him.

‘I just wanted a discussion to be had’

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

Continued on page 10

Opinion

The reported comment by her manager about a black coworker getting lynched was shocking, said Obas, who is white. Even if it was intended in a joking manner, she immediately felt that it was nothing to joke about. Obas said she didn’t know how to respond, and during her lunchbreak, she called her boyfriend, who is black, for advice. After her break, she went up to talk to her black coworker, who was the target of the reported comment.

Obas recalled her coworker responding, “Oh, that.

Oh, I just let that kind of stuff roll off my shoulders. I don’t even pay attention to that kind of thing.”

At Obas’ request, TCB is withholding the name of the woman who was reportedly the target of the comment, to protect her from harassment.

“I never dreamed that this is what it would turn into,” Obas told TCB. “I made the decision to use the Alert Line because I felt like that’s the first avenue, and I felt like that’s what I should do because hopefully I’ll fill it out, explain what happened. It will be investigated. This person will be spoken to. My manager will be educated. And it won’t happen again. I couldn’t possibly ask for one thing or another. I just wanted a discussion to be had. I wanted someone to learn something. I did think an apology would be appropriate, but who am I to tell a company how to handle something like that?”

Two weeks after the automated deadline for the complaint to be resolved, Obas said she was written up for low productivity — a sanction that she believed was unfair because she said the entire department had productivity challenges. Because she challenged the write-up, she had the opportunity to meet with the senior director of the department. Obas said she decided to disclose to her senior manager that she had anonymously reported the racially offensive

9

Puzzles

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

October 10-16, 2019

Continued from page 9

10

comment.

Obas said her senior manager looked “mortified,” and told her the complaint should have come to her. Then, Obas said, the senior manager told her that the complaint must have come to the assistant director, who works under her, and that she suspected the assistant manager must have covered up the complaint to protect the manager accused of making the racially offensive comment.

“She took one piece of paper and slid it underneath another to say” that she thought the assistant director covered it up for the manager instead of addressing it,’” Obas told TCB. The directors and manager implicated in Obas’ account could not be reached for this story.

The director “telling me she suspected this happened made me sick,” Obas said. “And it also said a lot to me about the way that department operated, what they’re willing to turn a blind eye to. If she thought that could have happened, then it probably happened before.”

Obas said she told her director she had written a letter to Armato about the matter, but had decided to wait before she sent it.

“Well, thank you so much for not doing that, and giving us a chance to handle it,” the director replied, according to Obas.

Three weeks went by, and Obas said she still hadn’t heard anything. While attending a mandatory diversity and inclusion training, she decided to share her concern about the racially offensive comment to the facilitator, who in turn introduced her to Tanya Blackmon, the organization’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. Obas said she later contacted the organization’s Employee Relations program, at the suggestion of Blackmon’s assistant, and later received an email indicating that “Employee Relations was handling the issue.”

Obas said in April 2018 her team eventually received an apology of sorts from the manager. She said team members were “pulled into a huddle in an area outside of our cube farm,” and the manager came out of her office.

Obas told TCB that the manager said, “You know, it has been brought to my attention that I hurt one of y’all’s feelings.

And I just want to say I don’t remember what I did. I don’t remember what was said, but apparently I said something that hurt one of y’all’s feelings. Y’all know that I love every one of y’all. And I’m very sorry if I offended anybody by something that I said.”

Obas said she felt “highly offended” by the apology.

one of her coworkers to say she was “in trouble,” and she would no longer be able to help the other coworker if it took An alleged offender ‘devasmore than five minutes. tated’ by a complaint The next day, Obas was called into Later, Obas said she found herself a meeting with her senior director and in her senior director’s office to discuss assistant director. another complaint she had filed. At the In a recording Obas shared with TCB, end of the meeting, Obas said her senior one of the directors can be heard saying, director mentioned that she had heard “Not only was it inappropriate to share that the manager had made an apology. that information, but it wasn’t true.”

In response, Obas said she had already When Obas asked what was untrue contacted Employee Relations about the about what she said, the same supervisor matter, which appeared to displease her responded, “There was no coaching and senior director. counseling. There was no progressive Obas said her senior director pleaded discipline, and so to indicate that you with her to accept the manager’s apolwere in trouble for helping another team ogy, while emphasizing how profoundly member is not true.” the episode had affected the manager.

The directors also accused Obas of According to Obas, her senior director displaying disrespect to her supervisor in described the manager as “devastated” a letter. and said she was “so upset she had to go A Novant Health disciplinary docuhome” for the rest of the day after being ment Obas shared with TCB shows that called into her office to discuss it. as a result of the instant message to her Obas also said that her senior direccoworker, she received a written warning tor told her, “There’s and 90 days of promore than one bation. As a reason meaning to the word for the discipline, I don’t feel sorry for a lynch,” appearing to the document cites minimize the com“immoral/dishonest person who is in a posiment, and shared a indecent conduct tion of management at a or story about a white on Novant Health employee who filed property.” billion-dollar nonprofit a complaint about As part of Novant company that does not two women of color Health’s progresspeaking with each sive discipline policy, know what the word other and using the Obas would not be lynch means, to the N-word, which Obas eligible for transfer considered to be a during the 90-day extent that she’s going false equivalency. probationary period. to use it towards a black “I don’t feel sorry Fourteen days for a person who before the end of her person in that manner, is in a position of probation, Obas said and go as far as she went she received an email management at a billion-dollar nonfrom the hiring manwith it. profit company that ager alerting her that – Novant Health employee does not know what the patient-relations the word lynch means, Karen Obas position was open, to the extent that and asking if she she’s going to use it would like to apply. towards a black person in that manner, “I went on that interview,” Obas and go as far as she went with it,” Obas recounted. “It went really well. They set told TCB. up and third and final panel interview.

As her relationship with management Every interaction was positive with this deteriorated, Obas said she learned manager. I got along great with her. I got about a patient-relations specialist along great with the peer that interposition in another office. The position viewed me. I passed the writing test. I wasn’t open at the time, but she said the have all the skills. I have experience at hiring manager advised her to “sit tight.”

Novant.”

In the meantime, Obas said the On a Wednesday in September 2018, manager who had made the reported Obas recalled receiving an email notifycomment and her direct supervisor ing her that her final interview was set pulled her aside one day in May 2018 to for the following Friday, in two days, and speak to her about her productivity. Afasking if it was okay to call her superviter that meeting, Obas instant-messaged sor for a reference. By then, she had five

days left until the end of her probation.

Obas said she readily agreed, and she checked with her supervisor, who told her the probation shouldn’t interfere with her transfer prospects.

Next, Obas said she overheard her supervisor speaking with someone who appeared to be calling for an employment reference. She was stunned when she heard him recommend that they also speak with her manager, the same person whom she had reported for making a racially offensive comment.

About 30 minutes later, Obas said she received an email abruptly canceling the final interview, and indicating, “We’ve decided to move in a different direction.”

Obas recalled, “At that point I decided to file a complaint with the EEOC because that’s my life and my money and my sanity. And I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t just let me go. I felt trapped. I felt completely violated. I have been called a ‘liar.’ I have lost money.”

Obas said she understands that a consequence of speaking to the media could be termination from a job that she desperately needs to pay her bills and support her son.

Alex Kelly, Obas’ lawyer at the Kirby G. Smith Law Firm in Charlotte, said his client isn’t breaking the law or doing anything wrong by speaking to the media, but North Carolina is a fire-at-will state.

“If they’re terminating her for speaking with a reporter, you could argue this is an extension of her opposition [to discrimination], and for them to fire her is another form of retaliation,” Kelly said, “but it’s unlikely a court would agree with that.”

Obas said she believes she followed Novant’s processes and upheld the organization’s service standards. And if the consequence is getting fired, she can make her peace with it.

“I have to uphold humanity’s standards as well,” she said. “It is morally wrong to retaliate and treat people like there’s something wrong with them because they point out a systematic problem that’s not being fixed.”

“People in this area in particular, I think, have a responsibility to speak up to those kind of things,” Obas added.

“And if we have leaders in organizations that are not willing to do that within their organizations, it gives permission to the employees and really to society as a whole because people will take comfort in that corruption, and feel safe in it and protected. Whereas people like me have been pushed out, ignored and treated like the enemy.”

October 10-16, 2019

Take charge of your mind, body and spirit Up Front

Test pH balance, allergies, hormones Balance diet, lifestyle and emotions Create a personalized health and nutrition plan

News

(336) 456-4743

Opinion

3723 West Market Street, Unit–B, Greensboro, NC 27403 jillclarey3@gmail.com www.thenaturalpathwithjillclarey.com

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

11

October 10-16, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

12

CITIZEN GREEN

OPINION

Trump conspiracy theories: Alternate reality for half of us

President Trump’s brazen abuse of authority may well result in impeachment, if not removal.

The president was caught red-handed attempting to leverage US foreign policy for political gain by using military assistance as a bargaining chip to induce the Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on

by Jordan Green his primary political opponent. And then, he doubled down by using a televised press conference to solicit China to do the same.

The situation appears to deteriorating quickly for the president and his minions.

It’s bad enough that Attorney General Bill Barr traveled to Italy SCREEN Fox News personality Sean Hannity is committed to SHOT maintaining the alternate reality created by President Trump. on a mission to prove that the supposed illegitimacy of the Mueller investigation. It’s bad enough that Barr’s Justice Department former vice president told an audience at the Council on Foreign attempted to bury the whistleblower complaint. It’s bad enough Relations in January 2018 that he told former Ukraine President that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the call between Petro Poroshenko: “I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion Trump and the Ukrainian president. We now learn that there’s are dollars. I said ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving multiple whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of the president’s here in,’ I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: ‘I’m misdeeds. leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting Whatever the facts, the president, his political loyalists and his the money.’ Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.” media echo chamber at Fox News are cultivating a parallel narraAs Buzzfeed reported recently, the prosecutor in question during tive that projects Trump’s corruption on his Democratic opponents.

Biden’s 2015 visit to Ukraine was widely criticized for not tackling To watch Fox News commentator Sean Hannity on Oct. 4, you corruption. A Ukrainian prosecutor known for fighting corruption might get the impression Trump was having a pretty good week. quit the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor general in public pro“We have big, breaking news tonight,” Hannity said. “Multiple test, calling it “a hotbed of corruption.” And Victoria Nuland, then fronts. Democrats. The media mobs. Ukrainian impeachment the US assistant secretary of state, said the office needed to be “refantasy. It is as we predicted. It is now blowing up in their faces, just invented as an institution that serves the citizens of Ukraine, rather like the ‘Trump-Russia collusion’ blew up in their faces.” than ripping them off.” Also significant: The prosecutor pushed out And yet cracks are beginning to emerge in the conservative in 2015 was not investigating Hunter Biden or the bulwark. gas company on whose board he served.

No less a figure than Tucker Carlson, a fellow (Since Trump’s election, a dossier on Hunter Fox News personality who has a history of feedBiden was developed under a newer prosecutor, in ing Trump white-nationalist talking points, wrote ‘[T]here’s no way to an apparent effort to curry favor with the US presiin an editorial for Daily Caller on Oct. 3: “Donald dent. That prosecutor, Yurih Lutsenko — who has Trump should not have been on the phone with a spin this as a good also been widely criticized for failing to address corforeign head of state encouraging another country idea.’ ruption — was also fired. Now in London, Lutsenko to investigate his political opponent, Joe Biden. told the New York Times there was never any basis – Tucker Carlson Some Republicans are trying, but there’s no way to for a case against Hunter Biden.) spin this as a good idea.” He went on to say, “Our In the parallel universe inhabited by the MAGA leaders’ official actions should not be about politics. tribe and Fox News, recent congressional testimony Those two things need to remain separate.” by Kurt Volker, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, The editorial can only be interpreted as a tactical may as well not exist. Volker testified, “I have known former vice retreat — a signal to Senate Republicans to stop defending the president Joe Biden for 24 years, and the suggestion that he would president, while still arguing that impeachment is not needed. be influenced in his duties as vice president by money for his son Hannity, meanwhile, continues to amplify the inverse narrative, simply has no credibility.” laying “the corruption, the hypocrisy, the deceit” at the feet of the And yet to listen to Hannity, you would believe that the curtains Democratic Party. were crashing down around the Democratic Party, the “Deep State” “They are the one guilty of real collusion and corruption with and their supposed lamestream media enablers.

Ukraine,” he said. “You have Joe Biden leveraging your tax dollars “The Democrats and the mobs’ baseless claims are unraveling in an obvious quid pro quo, in a shakedown to fire a Ukrainian this hour,” Hannity said breathlessly. “And breaking tonight we do prosecutor. Why would a vice president of the United States ever have new details surrounding the Democrats’ first star witness in want to do that?” their sham of a so-called impeachment inquiry.”

The Trump conspiracy machine has it that Joe Biden’s son, The witness was Kurt Volker.

Hunter Biden, who was appointed to the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company in 2014, is the real story of corruption.

Fueling the baseless idea that Joe Biden intervened to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired so that he could protect his son, the

EDITORIAL

by Clay Jones

Up Front News

claytoonz.com

Opinion Culture

As the specter of impeachment looms that people didn’t already know through in the House, there are whispers of a news reports. constitutional crisis in the air. The execuBut it’s the first we in North Carolina tive branch seems to have opted out of have heard from our senior senator on the whole “nation of laws” idea, and the this business in weeks. Burr has remained only thing that stands between Trump silent while the House initiated an and a short helicopter ride back to loudimpeachment inquiry, while Senate Mamouthed obscurity is the US Senate. jority Leader Mitch McConnell seems to That body has been quiet through the have subverted the Senate’s role in the last couple weeks, but on Tuesday the process — he’s got a campaign ad out Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired now vowing to fight Nancy Pelosi every by our own Sen. Richard Burr, released step of the way — and while our other its report on Russian interference in the senator, Thom Tillis, has blindly sup2016 election, and though it’s sparse on ported the president and everything, no new information, it’s damning nonethematter how improbable, he has claimed less. in the last couple weeks. Sen. Tillis has The 35-page report been tweeting about filing concludes unequivocally criminal charges against the that the Russian governpeople “who made entirely This report is ment unleased a “firehose false allegations against the first we’ve of falsehood” upon the Brett Kavanagh.”

American public, utilizBurr seems to believe heard from ing “useful idiots,” “fellow his committee’s report. But Sen. Burr in travelers” and “agent he has said nothing about provocateurs” to amplify whether he supports imweeks. the message. The goal: “to peachment, nothing about achieve a state in which the the legality of a president average media consumer says, ‘There asking other countries to interfere in our are too many versions of events, and I’ll political process, nothing, really, of any never know the truth.’” substance at all.

Sound familiar?

Like a lot of Republicans who seem The report also asserts that Russian disgusted with their party these days, internet activity “overly and almost inBurr in 2016 announced his retirement variably” favored the election of Donald at the end of this term. Perhaps he’ll find Trump, over his GOP primary oppohis courage before he leaves Washingnents and, finally, against Hillary Clinton ton, DC and muster his fellow senators in the months before the 2016 general in this fight for our republic. Or maybe election. he’ll just shrug his shoulders, point to this Remember, there’s nothing in here report and pretend that he tried.

Claytoonz

October 10-16, 2019

Burr’s final act

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

13

October 10-16, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

14

Nik Snacks Fare to remember — tasting the 2019 Dixie Classic Fair

T

he fare at the Dixie Classic Fair certainly isn’t fine dining. It’s fun dining.

There’s nothing like traipsing through the midway holding onto a cardboard boat lined with foil, filled to the brim with

by Nikki Miller-Ka something crispy and deepfried, brined with pickles, sprinkled in sugar, smothered in chocolate, covered in Hot Cheetos as gusts of wind from a living, breathing, blinking, neon-lit ride swoops over your head to blow your eyelashes back and send chills down your spine. The faint scent of gasoline in the air from the demolition derby in the grandstand gives way to the sweet bouquet of cooked sugar and roasted meats. This is your life now. Eat it.

One of the most exciting parts of the fair besides eating the food is getting to know the vendors and people behind the food, which lends itself to some fascinating stories.

Pat Boodthijak and her husband are first-time vendors from Huntersville. They operate Sticky Rice, the fair’s first Thai vendor in 137 years. With two stadium tents set up next to the education building, they lacked signage and sales the first weekend, but began the week with a new colorful sign written with neon markers, hoping to attract more customers. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of lights at a large venue like this.

Serving up pad Thai, chicken wings, curry with pineapple, crispy pork belly and, of course, sticky rice, the couple has high hopes for their debut this week.

“We tried to get in last year, but our application was denied,” Boodthijak said, describing the process to become a fair vendor. In order to sell food, you have to sell a unique product. They initially wanted to sell fruit smoothies, but there was already a vendor providing that item.

No one was offering Thai food, so their 2019 application was swiftly put in the yes pile.

Mike Neal of Hickory Tree BBQ in Greensboro specializes in smoked turkey legs, but there was already a turkey leg vendor. Neal and his team created a behemoth of a menu idea: stuffed turkey leg. Stuffed with their signature dish, crack n cheese, the leg is as large as human forearm. Sliced open and layered with macaroni and cheese, Eastern style turkey barbecue and garnished with crispy, crunchy bits of turkey cracklin’ skin and a housemade barbecue sauce, it’s a star.

Look out for the Rosy Bib: a burger with jalapeño brown-sugar bacon jam, sweet-potato chips, jalapeño spice rub, havarti cheese and a marshmallow lemoncream sauce or the Fairwheel burger: grilled glazed doughnut bun, sriracha maple-bacon jam, cheddar and sriracha-maple sauce, both at Food Freaks, a popular local food truck owned by Brandon and Marie Cassidy.

The menu that Cassidy and his team put out seems like it’s special just for the spectacle of the fair, but this is the type of creativity and freaky food the truck is known for.

At the fair, an old standby like the steak and cheese shares midway space with the newfangled pickled lemonade.

Chicken on a stick is a classic.

MADISON ROLAND

JERRY COOPER

Crispy porkbelly, sticky rice with house hot sauce from Sticky Rice breaks new ground.

NIKKI MILLER-KA

after their teenaged son. A refreshing combination of “It’s good advertisement. People come by and say, chilled pickle juice and sweet lemonade served over ice, ‘I’ve seen your truck but I’ve never come by,’ or, ‘I saw to this drink customers can your truck at the fair and I add flavors such as strawberry, knew I had to come find you.’ blueberry, lavender and cherry.

It’s good for business,” says The Dixie Classic Fair runs through The dill pickle brine adds a Mike. contrasting salty element to Some vendors employ gimSunday at the fairgrounds in Winthe fresh lemonade in the same micky and novel food tactics ston-Salem. For more information way sprinkling salt on waterin order to get you to come see dcfair.com. melon does. Garnished with and try their food. One year, pickle spears and sliced lemon it was deep-fried bubble gum. halves, it piques just enough Another year it was deepcuriosity of those who seek out the mind-bending crefried butter. This year, it’s pickled lemonade. Vince Willis ations that the fair seems to bring out of local vendors. and his wife Pam run Rocco’s Roasted Corn, named

October 10-16, 2019

Up Front

News

Opinion

Culture

Shot in the Triad

Puzzles

15

October 10-16, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

16

CULTURE Diversity and inclusion emphasized at Rise and Flow yoga

by Sayaka Matsuoka

S

tephany McMillan doesn’t use Sanskrit when she teaches yoga.

Instead, she tries to speak to her students in simple terms that anyone can relate to.

“I don’t use a lot of yoga terminology like you would see in a normal, traditional yoga class,” says McMillan, the owner of Rise and Flow yoga studio in Greensboro. “It’s very criss-cross apple sauce, like get there how you can — fun, free flow.”

McMillan began practicing yoga in 2012 when her neurologist recommended she try it out. She had suffered a concussion her senior year of high school and was still recovering from the trauma. She had always been active, playing volleyball, basketball and soccer, but she says yoga is different from other sports she’s practiced in the past.

“Most people when they start yoga, they may hate it, but I loved it because I’m a big believer in self-discovery and self-reflection,” McMillan says. “For me to find an actual exercise that focused on that self-discovery was just mindblowing to me.”

And that’s the mission of Rise and Flow, which opened in November 2018.

She says she wants her students to focus on mindfulness and bodily awareness.

Tucked into a small strip mall off Coliseum Boulevard, the Rise and Flow studio is easy to miss. But inside, hues of blue and green from a patterned rug to a piece of wall art interrupt the brick wall and cement floors, welcoming visitors who walk through the doors. Sapphireblue exercise balls and rolled-up yoga mats sit in the back of the studio behind a curtain where the classes are taught.

Jhene Aiko’s song fills the room as students trickle in from the gray autumn evening outside.

“I noticed how yoga could apply to life,” McMillan says. “I wanted a space where people could do yoga but not just do yoga, where they could learn what yoga really is. I wanted to have a space where people could come in and brave whatever they’re dealing with and not have to worry about what everyone is saying.”

Having practiced yoga for the past seven years, McMillan says she’s pretty familiar with yoga culture in Greensboro and beyond. As a black woman, she understands that she doesn’t look like the majority of other yoga teachers. When she opened her own studio,

Owner Stephany McMillan opened Rise and Flow to help her students focus on mindfulness and body awareness.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

McMillan says she thought a lot about diversity and inclusion style of teaching. and intentionality.

“Other studios pressure you to be at a certain place in your “Not to say that there’s not a space for everyone but I don’t practice,” she says. “I felt like I had to be something that I’m think there’s one like Rise and Flow,” she says. “Acceptance is not. I feel like I had to conform to what that studio wanted. an easy thing to say but it’s not an easy thing to do. When I There’s always a stigma that yoga teachers are intense but it’s say, ‘I accept you as you are and wherever you are,’ that’s exnot like that here. Here, I can be comfortable with where I am actly what I mean. Sometimes people can say it but not really today.” mean it.”

In addition to yoga classes taught by her and one other Marli Bennett, who has been practicing yoga for about five yoga teacher, Rise and Flow also offers dance classes, massage years, says she’s been coming to Rise and Flow for about six therapy, live concerts and classes for kids. McMillan also offers months. For her, attending a yoga class taught by a woman pre- and postnatal yoga classes. McMillan says anatomy and who looked like her was important. mind-body awareness is important “I wanted to find a space that I to her as a yoga teacher. She admits could be myself,” Bennett says. “I to spending a lot of time researching Learn more about Rise and Flow don’t have to put on or code-switch. psychology and the way the brain We have to do that so much of our interacts with exercise to inform her yoga online at riseandflowllc.com lives. I wanted to find a community style of yoga. or find them on Facebook. of people with similar values, some“With technology and social media where I can be my true and genuine and the amount of things that are self.” catching our attention right now, In addition to teaching without Sanskrit or popular sunwe are overwhelming the mind,” McMillan says. “The mind salutation sequences, McMillan focuses on helping students is something people forget we have to nourish and protect. get in touch with their bodies and to not push themselves too I love that even when we are doing yoga, we are healing the hard. She talks about the ways in which simple movements mind and the brain.” flow into each other without rushing the process or making As she comes up on her first year in business, McMillan says students feel hurried. she’s just excited to continue building community.

“I always talk to different struggles that we all may be going “Sometimes all you need is someone that’s just like, ‘Girl, through or that we all can relate to,” she says. “Yoga is not I understand,’ or, ‘Boy, I understand,’” she says. “That’s the just standing on your head, or it’s not a perfect thing. Some future I’m focusing on. The more I focus on building that, evdays you may hate it and some days you may not want to erything else will just fall into place the way it’s supposed to.” practice yoga, and that is totally fine.”

Bennett says she was really drawn to McMillan’s relaxed

by Savi Ettinger

I

Up Front News Opinion Culture

Proper Pronouns features Mykal Shannon, Dawn Flynn, Liam Hooper and Debra J. Hopkins, current and former North Carolina clergy who are also transgender.

COURTESY IMAGE

Puzzles

causes of the issues people pray about with his own actions.

Hopkins said to TCB. “Those voices needed to be heard.”

“How else to be more authentic and transparent than to be The leader of Essentials for Life Ministries in Charlotte, in a film?” he said to TCB. Hopkins gives sermons and runs There’s Still Hope, a nonprofit On screen, he marches on a city street among a sea of peothat provides resources and emergency shelter to homeless ple. Off on a sidewalk, counter-protesters shout, armed with transgender people. accusations of sin and signs that read, “America’s Judgement is “We’re all cut from the same cloth,” Hopkins said. coming,” in bold letters. Yet, Shannon and The camera follows Hopkins around her others walk past, unperturbed. home. She leads the crew into her room He makes his way up onto a stage at the and pauses by the closet door. Swinging it For more information end of the road, the crowd falling silent. open, the hooks on the door can be seen, about OUT at the Movies, “I am a black man, in a transgender robes hanging from it. The reverend rifles visit outatthemovies.org. body, in the Bible Belt with a pulpit as a through the clothes, searching for a parplatform,” he asserts. “And I intend to ticular item. She finds it, raising her hand take a stand.” with the hanger in it up high, and showing The Rev. Debra J. Hopkins insists that off the stole and collar with her free hand. the experiences they offer up must be acknowledged as being “That’s the robe,” she says, grinning. “I’m proud of this affected by all facets of their identities, including race. robe.”

“I’ve always believed in our story being told accurately,”

Shot in the Triad

like Southern hospitality,” the Rev. Dawn Flynn says on camera.

“I like the laid-back attitude of the South.”

She sits in the front of her Gastonia church, New Life MCC, red carpet covering the floor and a pulpit in the background. She pauses, the cross around her neck shifting slightly.

“Granted, it’s not a place where I would want to wear a tag around my neck saying, ‘I’m transgender,’ because it would be asking for people to kill me.”

Flynn, along with three other current and former North Carolinian clergy members gathered in the Byrum Welcome Center on Wake Forest University’s campus on Oct. 3 for a screening of Proper Pronouns.

The in-progress documentary opened the OUT at the Movies International LGBT Film Fest in Winston-Salem, kicking off the series of 27 films with a focus on transgender clergy members.

“There’s only approximately 30 ordained trans clergy in the country,” Flynn told Triad City Beat.

The group caught the attention of director Meg Daniels, a cisgender woman, during her time in the Documentary Film MFA program at Wake, while in the company of Liam Hooper, one of the first transgender men to graduate from the university’s divinity school. While filming, Hooper worked as a minister, and has since converted to Judaism.

The camera pans over the cobblestone paths and wooden bridge near Old Salem in Winston-Salem. A church with white-slatted walls holds a small, somber congregation. Tealight candles flicker as Hooper looks over the group.

He reads from a stack of paper, rather than a verse or a book.

“I am going to read the names of the trans people who have been murdered, today,” he says.

Each name he reads receives an echo, an affirmation from the people in the pews. Each person walks forward and leaves a small glass bead in a jar, with a wish or a short prayer.

Many of the subjects found the filming of their experiences asked them to be vulnerable. For Pastor Mykal Shannon of Dynamic Faith Ministries in Asheboro, the film allowed a chance to further his goals in raising awareness about LGBT lives in the church. He sees ministry as a chance to not only preach non-denominational Christianity, but to address the

October 10-16, 2019

CULTURE Taking a stand: NC trans clergy members spotlighted in film

17

October 10-16, 2019

Lawndale Drive, Greensboro

Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

Father Drew Harmon communes with a furry friend at the Blessing of the Animals at St. Francis Episcopal Church.

PIZZERIA

Puzzles

L’ITALIANO

18

Large 1-topping pizza

11

$

Monday – Thursday

4-cheese pizza

10

99 Good through 11/5/19 $

WE !

DELIVER

99

Order online at pizzerialitaliano.net

every Tuesday, all day

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

Take charge of your mind, body and spirit Test pH balance, allergies, hormones Balance diet, lifestyle and emotions Create a personalized health and nutrition plan

(336) 456-4743 • jillclarey3@gmail.com

3723 West Market St., Unit–B, Greensboro, NC 27403

www.thenaturalpathwithjillclarey.com

CAROLYN DE BERRY

Across

by Matt Jones

EVENTS

Saturday Oct. 12th

Mind of the Devil Saturday Oct. 19th

Zach Winters with SYLVIE Wednesday Oct. 23rd

Andrew Kasab Friday Oct. 25th

Josh Schicker

Up Front

Wednesday Dec. 11th

Andrew Kasab

©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 “___ Can” (2008 campaign slogan) 6 Shoes in the 2015 “What are those?!” meme 11 Part of MRE 14 Word repeated on “Teletubbies” 15 Accounting inspection 16 FX in the Transformers series, e.g.

17 “Let’s change the subject” 19 Product of the mined?

20 Egyptian cross 21 Scratch or scuff 22 Oregon lake where you can drive around the rim 24 T-bone region 26 They may be pulled 27 “Baby Driver” actor Ansel 30 Private response? ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 31 ___ Laredo (city on the Rio Grande) 32 “Go on! Git!” 33 Perform like Migos 36 Instrument with a conical bore 37 Survey choice found in the four theme answers 38 Dash, for one 39 Pieces to be played 40 Breed like salmon 41 Symbol of Canada 42 State capital where Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock was born Answers from last issue 44 Declutter 12 “Hollywood Squares” option 45 Twain, actually 13 Arena levels 47 “___ n’est pas une pipe”: Magritte 18 Leave unmentioned 48 Outcast 23 Show initiative 49 Half of a dance?

25 Gold, to Pizarro 50 Ice melter 26 Figure above a 9 or 0, for short 54 Magician Shin ___, “America’s Got Talent: The 27 1961 space chimp Champions” winner 28 Auto maintenance task 55 Expression when someone suddenly needs help 29 Type of power in Iceland 58 One, in Italy 30 Either side of Aruba, for instance?

59 Sewing machine inventor Howe 32 Overdoes the fandom, slangily 60 Their work is often in anthologies 34 “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself” org.

61 50-Across, in French 35 Squishy Easter candy 62 Send, as a payment 37 Reason to put up a “Danger” sign on a drilling site 63 Chilean mountain range 38 Marriott competitor 40 ___-Kinney (band that formed in Olympia, Wash.)

41 Dropped item Down 43 Former Big Four record co.

1 When repeated, a “Seinfeld” catchphrase 44 Unwrap hastily 2 “Ghostbusters” character 45 In the high 70s 3 Did well at Battleship 46 Patrik of the Winnipeg Jets 4 Heartfelt sign-off 47 X-ray area, maybe 5 H.S. course 49 It may be spiced with cardamom 6 Settlers of ___ (board game) 51 Waltzed through 7 Industrial region of Germany 52 Troubadour’s instrument 8 Shelley work 53 Julia Roberts’s “Ocean’s Eleven” role 9 Advertisement insert 56 “I Think You Should Leave” star Robinson 10 Clavicle neighbor 57 Superfund agcy.

11 Healing through nature, e.g.

SUDOKU

October 10-16, 2019

CROSSWORD ‘This Or That?’—probably not

19